• The night was quiet and still, not unlike most nights there in Venice, Italy. The stars in the sky were clearly visible, a sea of diamonds visible through a blanket of pitch black silk. There wasn't a cloud visible anywhere, and there was a gorgeous full moon above the city. The light of the moon cast an almost eerie light upon the streets below, glistening on the water of the famous Venice canals. As peaceful as the night appeared to be, not all was as it seemed. The truth was, there was a hunter of sorts on the loose. His white hood shielded most of his face from view, his tunic a magnificent silvery color in the moonlight. A blood-red silk belt was around his waist, a strange buckle resembling an "A" at the front of it. The hunter's name: Ezio Auditore di Firenze. He was a man unlike any other, with a deep, aristocratic voice, but a resolve unlike any Venice had ever seen before. He was on a mission of sorts. A quest for revenge... for justice.

    The man skirted around a corner into one of Venice's numerous alleyways, his boots oddly silent on the stones beneath his feet. A quick glance around, and he spotted it: a ledge he could use to get up onto the roof of one of the buildings. He ran toward the wall and jumped up quickly, firmly grabbing hold of the ledge with both hands. Slowly, he made his way up the side of the building, using any foothold he could to ensure his success in his endeavor. Once, his foot slipped, but he quickly caught himself and pressed close to the wall. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, remaining still for a moment before continuing. Soon, he pulled himself up onto the roof with ease and stood up, getting his bearings on where he was in relation to his target. During the past twenty-four hours, he had learned much about his current target, including where he was at different parts of the day. This bit of information was very useful because it allowed Ezio to see the perfect opportunity to strike without being noticed. Such information was crucial for a man like him. One false move would jeopardize the entire operation, and then he would have to lay low for days before attempting to strike his target again. This had only happened a couple of times in the past, though, as he was very skilled at what he did.

    Upon figuring exactly where he was, Ezio moved swiftly but carefully across the rooftops, jumping from building to building with the ease and grace of an acrobat. As he neared his target's home, however, the number of guards patrolling the rooftops grew to a point where he knew it would be risky to approach any further without proper action. His eyes narrowed under his hood as he hid in the shadows, trying to pick out the easiest route to his destination without alerting the guards of his presence. Finally, he grinned a bit under his hood when he saw the perfect opening. If he looked down from the roof he was currently on, he could see a series of balconies and ledges that hung well below the view of the rooftop guards. If he were to travel closer to his destination using this method, he may just avoid detection. It was worth a try. He waited for a few minutes to be sure that none of the guards would see his movements before swiftly running to the edge of the roof and dropping down to hold onto the ledge. He looked down to be sure he wouldn't miss his mark and let go, landing on the balcony below. Using the pathway he had discovered, he jumped with ease from balcony to balcony, occasionally miscalculating a jump and narrowly being able to grab the edge of the next balcony to keep himself from falling into the canal below.

    He rounded a corner, and there it was: the home of the man he was hunting, in plain sight. Its brightly-lit windows seemed to call out to him, beckoning him closer. I'm almost there, he thought to himself, brow furrowing. There are bound to be guards patrolling his home as well... How should I go about getting into his study unnoticed? After much careful investigating, he had learned that between the hours of ten and midnight, his target was in his study reading. It was the only time that Ezio had determined to be the best time to strike without being discovered. He clenched his hands into fists before jumping down to the street below, landing in a crouching position to absorb the impact of the fall. Standing up straight, he remained close to the buildings as he made his way toward the estate. It didn't take long for him to arrive, but when he did, he remained hidden. He narrowed his eyes and looked around carefully for a way in that would allow him to avoid the guards. He knew for a fact that the grounds were heavily patrolled at all hours of the day, so he had to choose his next move wisely if he were to come away from his vendetta successfully. Unfortunately, he could find no easy way past the gate.

    That was when he came up with a plan. Grabbing hold of a low window on the building he was firmly pressed against, he made his way back up to the rooftop above, taking care to be very discrete and silent. Upon reaching the edge of the roof, he carefully peered above to see if there were any guards on the rooftop. There were. Excellent. He waited for one of the guards to draw near to where he was, his muscles tensing and relaxing as he waited. A guard came close to the edge of the roof, and that was where Ezio struck. Lightning fast, he let out the hidden blade attached to his left wrist and shot his arm up toward the guard, getting him right in the stomach. The guard barely had enough time to choke out a pained grunt before Ezio had yanked him over the edge of the roof and thrown him into the canal below. The ensuing splash alerted the other guards on the roof and they rushed down from their posts to investigate.

    His work done, he pulled himself up onto the roof when he saw that the remaining guards had returned to the streets below to investigate the splashing sound before looking down at the gate of his enemy's estate. Sure enough, the guards guarding the gate from any intruders had also gone to investigate. He had to act quickly if he hoped to get inside. He climbed down from the rooftop and touched down upon the street, glancing about quickly to make sure no one was looking his direction. Sure enough, everyone had gathered at the canal to see what all the commotion was about. Casually but quickly, he climbed over the gate and onto the estate grounds. Now he only had to worry about the guards within the building, seeing as those outside had already run to investigate the loud splashing sound nearby. He began making his ascent up the side of the building, using every little crack in the stone to assist him. Strangely enough, the window of the room his enemy was supposed to be in was wide open. Was this mission really going to be so easy? He shook his head and frowned, climbing up to the open window without hesitation. He had come for revenge, and he wasn't about to back down now...

    His fingers touched the windowsill and he pulled himself up only enough to peer inside the room and make sure his target was there. Sure enough, there he was, sitting by the fireplace with his back to him, a book in his hands. A slow grin graced Ezio's lips and he pulled himself into the room quietly, standing up straight. He slowly made his way toward the man by the fireplace, his eyes blazing underneath his hood as he approached. He was hungry for the man's blood... and he would get it without fail.

    Sensing another presence in the room watching him, the man turned to look over his shoulder and opened his mouth to cry out in alarm for his guards, but the sound had barely made it out of his mouth before he saw a flash of metal before his eyes and a sharp, piercing pain as his throat was slit. Choking out a bloody gurgle of pain, he fell to his knees before the assassin and managed to utter a single word when he caught a glimpse of the face under the hood.

    "Y-You..."

    The assassin's eyes were cold as ice, empty of remorse. He let the man suffer the agony of feeling his blood quickly draining from his neck from the wound that was left there by his blade before driving the hidden blade deep into the man's throat. That wound was what ultimately killed him. He turned the dead man onto his back and used his fingertips to shut the man's eyes. He could hear guards running down the hall to the room and cursed quietly to himself. How had they known he was there?! He ran to the window and jumped out, landing in a bush down below and luckily having his fall broken. He remained in the bush until he heard the guards on the grounds of the estate calm down as they searched the city for the one who had killed their master. Believing it safe enough to come out of his hiding place, he jumped out of the bush and walked to the gate, walking through it since it was now open and heading down the street. He tried remaining as inconspicuous as he could, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to himself, taking a lot of back alleys to stay out of sight. He was lucky that none of the man's blood had gotten on his sleeve when he had killed him. If he had, he would definitely draw the guards' attention to himself. Suddenly, he heard someone following him, and he whipped around to see who it was that was following him. Seeing no one, his eyes narrowed and he continued on his way. Had he been imagining things?

    Not three minutes after hearing the noise behind him, he felt something sharp dig into his back and he cried out briefly in pain, wincing. One of his hidden blades slipped out from the contraption on one of his wrists and he whipped around to attack whoever it was that had dared attack him. However, he stayed his blade when he saw a figure that was hooded much like himself, and his eyes narrowed somewhat. The figure was much too small to be a man, and the bodice around its torso suggested that it was a woman. A woman? But, who is she... and why did she attack me? Brow furrowed, he retracted his hidden blade and swiftly disarmed her by grabbing her sword arm and turning her around, almost painfully pulling her arm back so that to her, it would feel as though he were trying to pull her shoulder out of its socket. She gasped sharply in pain and promptly released the blade, which clattered to the stone below their feet mere moments later. Turning her back around, he forced her against the alley wall with both hands firmly on her shoulders and glared down at her.

    "Who are you?" he demanded. "And why were you following me?"

    It was then that the woman lifted her hands slowly and removed her hood...