Arno was fast. Probably one of the fastest assassin in the french creed. But he was also reckless, pushing his luck with bigger and bigger jumps. Miraculously you never once saw him with a broken bone, not even a bruise. Either he was exceptionally talented or very lucky.
Until that one day.
The frenchman went on a solo mission. His task was rather easy. Assassinate the target and then go back to the base. Nothing hard, he thought, and he was right. His target wasn’t strong or heavily armed. Arno got to him quickly. However, nobody seemed to inform him about the half dozen guards who were about to kill him. Fleeing was his only option.
But at the outer districts of Paris that wasn’t easy. The roofs were further away from each other, but the buildings were almost as tall as he got used to. He only realized that after one particular jump.
He ran towards the edge of the roof, continuously looking back, searching for templars with his eagle vision. Arno had no time to think about how impossible the jump that he wanted to attempt. A dirty canal between the buildings made the distance bigger. But stopping only would’ve meant that the guards reach him within a second. So he jumped.
For moments it seemed like a good idea. That window was soo close, a great hiding spot for the assassin. He almost caught it, but his fingers merely brushed the ledge. And there was nothing under him to cushion his fall. Hardly reaching the ground he heard a loud crack and felt a stinging pain in his right leg. Arno almost couldn’t hold back his painful shouts. Knowing that the templars can reach him at any moment he crawled towards the canal. He couldn’t stand up, he tried but he couldn’t. That made him a bit scared.
Arno got to the canal just in time, ungracefully descending into the water. At least it was shallow. Above his head, the guards run by, not understanding how he got away that fast. The assassin finally could take a look at his wounds. He cut open his trousers with the help of his hidden blade, revealing a big area of bruised, black, swollen skin. It was definitely broken.
“Merde…” The frenchman cursed silently. “No way that I can go home like this.” He attempted getting on his feet again, failing miserably. He had to wait for somebody to come and save him.
Its been almost two days since Arno left, you couldn’t stop wondering about what happened. His task was fairly easy, he should’ve come back a long time ago. You were concerned, he never done something like this before. Also the two of you came close in the past few months, however, he looked like he only wanted a solid friendship from you, that didn’t stop you to fall for him. Asking the council about the location of his mission you headed to the outer city of Paris. After some interviewing, you knew that somebody did die here by the hands of a mysterious hooded figure. But where the killer went, nobody could tell. It happened at night.
You almost gave up when walking along a wide canal you discovered a body of a man, lying in the water. He wore a blue hood and carried a sword.
“Arno? ” Not believing your eyes, you jumped down into the dirty water. “Arno!”
He seemed to be unconscious, almost dead, but to your words, his eyelids fluttered.
“(y/n)?” His voice was raspy, dry.
“What happened to you? I thought you died or worse!” That’s when you discovered his bruised leg, in an awkward pose. “How did you do this to yourself?”
“I fell.” Pointing to the tall building below the two of you he answered the question. “From there.”
“No man would’ve been able to make a jump that big. What were you thinking?” Realizing, scolding him wouldn’t help the situation you took a few deep breaths to calm yourself. “I have to get you back to the base.”
“I think I must inform you that I can’t walk.”
You looked at his leg again. It was definitely broken if he’s not lucky enough an injury like this possibly could end his career as an assassin.
“We have to try. I’ll catch a carriage for us when I see one.” You promised him, then climbed back to the street level. “But now I have to pull you out from there. Why did you jump down into the canal in the first place?”
A faint smile crossed Arno’s features. He was delirious, mainly because of the medicines he took to ease his pain.
“I had to hide, the canal was close.”
“Well, if you have any open cuts those are probably infected by now, this water is full of dirt.”
“Je connais.”
As gently as you could you grabbed his robes, hauling him up next to you. Only a small yelp escaped his mouth, other than that Arno kept his emotions at bay. Standing up was rather hard, but leaning on you he managed to keep his balance. He almost blacked out, with you barely being able to hold his weight. Looked like that the painkillers weren’t effective enough, they made him sleepy but nothing more.
“Concentrate, because if you fall I don’t think I’ll be able to catch you.” You warned him. Arno answered with a slow nod while limping next to you.
Finding a carriage was harder than you thought. By the time you reached the river, you still walked on foot. The medicine in Arno’s body started to wear off, making him tremble in pain.
“Stop.” He pleaded… again.
“Arno we literally just did that ten minutes ago!” You were annoyed and tired but laid him down to the ground nonetheless. The two of you were struggling along the riverbank for an hour at least.
“You should leave me.” Arno’s expression was pained, it looked like he already gave up. He knew well that an injury like this could demand his job as an assassin. No more missions, no more sunsets with you on top of the Notre Dame. He wasn’t ready for that life.
“No way, I’m not leaving you.” Glancing around you spotted a few boats nearby. You were way below the street level, nobody would notice you taking one. “I got a ride for ourselves.”
“What? A carriage?” Arno was genuinely surprised since he saw nothing that would’ve been suitable for travel.
“We are going to use a boat.” You helped up the male assassin and got closer to the water.
“Are you sure that this is a good idea?”
“I’m not, but if you don’t fall into the water and drown nothing bad will happen.”
“Génial…” Arno sat in the boat awkwardly, the uneven movements of the river made him nervous. He was a good swimmer, but not in his current state. Climbing next to him you cut the ropes and headed to the base. Traveling that way was faster than limping through the city, so by the evening, you reached your destination. Two assassins waited for your arrival, they pulled the boat to the shore and then helped Arno to get inside. He had some problem at the stairs, leaning on the novices, completely guided by them. You headed to your chambers, knowing that Arno wouldn’t want you to see him weak while he getting his leg fixed. He was a master assassin, after all, let him keep some of his dignity after a fail like that. You’ll visit him the next day, but for now, you needed a bath and some sleep. A lot of sleep actually…
You woke up with the rising sun. First, you couldn’t quite recall what happened last afternoon, but after a couple of seconds, you remembered. Visit Arno, that was the main point of the day, everything came later. Gathering your (f/c) colored gear, you changed clothes then left your chambers. Arno was probably in the medical area still. You hoped he didn’t need to pay too much for his injury that he could have prevented.
After asking one of the nurses where your friend could be located, you entered the right room inside the medical area.
“How are you holding up?” You looked at Arno, who laid motionlessly in his bed, his broken leg between two wood boards to keep the bones in the right place until they heal.
“I’ve been better.” He answered with a light smile playing on his lips.
“Will you be able to climb again?”
“If I lay here for three months without moving an inch.”
“Mon Dieu…”
“It’s not that bad, after all, we can spend a great amount of time together if you like me oh so much, as I hear.” Arno’s smile only grew bigger as he looked at you dead in the eye.
“Who told you?” You froze in place.
“I figured.”
“And… do you feel the same?”
“I think… I just fell in love. Quite literally.” Then he grabbed your wrist and pulled you close to plant a small kiss on your lips.
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