Time : Episode 13 - The New General

Episode 13-The New General

September 3^rd, 1898

Altair sat motionless in his cell. His wrists were chafed from the chains that held him to the floor. His unmoving eyes were solemn and grey. Even though he was still, his mind moved a million miles a minute. He kept running through the previous events in his mind. The pain of Anna’s death, the comfort of Elaine, the disgust towards Sirius, the hatred of Apex, and the satisfaction of breaking the jerks neck. He smiled, remembering lashing out with his feet onto Apex’s unexpecting shoulders, and moving his feet in a twisting motion, dropping Apex to the floor and then watching the life leave his eyes. Altair looked over in the corner of his cell. Two empty wooden bowls were stacked in the corner, two days since he had been literally thrown in the cell. Altair smiled and laughed in his head. It was September 3^rd, his birthday. It had been 20 years since his father taught him how to fight. He was ten at the time, but it felt like yesterday. He remembered his tenth birthday. Coronado had made him a necklace out of stone and leather. He wore that necklace every day until it finally broke when Altair was 15. And Sirius had made him a pie and sewed him a blanket that went on his bed. Altair thought about how through the years, Sirius had never failed to give him a birthday present. No matter how mean Altair was to him, he would always come back to give him a gift on his birthday. Last years was a rope that was over 50 feet long, and that Altair used until the day, well, until the day Anna died. No present this year, Altair thought. He should return the favor someday. Maybe he should pass on what he learned, even though Altair had no idea what that meant. Teach him how to fight? Tell him how to shoot a crossbow? Maybe show him how to use a rope as a lasso? Altair had no idea. Maybe Sirius isn’t that bad after all, thought Altair. Altair chuckled and drew the numbers 3 and 0 on the dusty floor with his finger.

     “Happy 30^th, old boy” Altair whispered to himself. He sighed and leaned back against the stone wall, thinking about what he had seen when he was knocked out. “Pass on what you have learned”. He repeated those words in his mind over and over again. Altair’s train of thought was interrupted by the sound of movement. He looked up and saw General Bane strutting over to him. Bane smiled and spoke softly to him. “Hello there, my old friend.”

Altair snarled and spat at the ground. “I am no friend of yours.”

Bane sighed and shook his head.

“Do you not remember all those battles we fought side by side? All the training missions we went on together? Remember?”

Altair glared at him. “Things have changed, Bane. Our friendship is done.” Bane pulled up a stool and sat on it, the only thing separating Altair and him was a iron bar door.

     “Oh but Altair, you and I are far from done. I mean, how can you be my second in command when you and I are not friends?” Bane questioned, sincerity in his eyes. Altair chuckled a mocking laugh.

     “Ha. Me, work with you? You’ve got to be out of your mind. Why would someone like you want to hire me? I just killed my previous General, what’s stopping me from killing you?”

     “Apart from these iron bars, nothing much. But that’s what I like about you. You have power, and you are not afraid to use it. You have been a loyal soldier in the past, and although you’ve had a rougher time lately, I think we can fix that. You are a superb soldier, without a question one of the best here. You’re obviously the perfect choice.”

     Altair stared at the floor and thought for a moment. After a couple minutes of silence, Altair looked up and spoke. “If I say yes, can I come out of this cage?”

     Now it was Bane’s turn to think. “Not immediately, as you DID just kill one of us. But I definitely think that you would be wiped of your criminal record once the administration approves it, which I know they will. They know how much of a worthy fighter you are as I do. But yes, you will. I couldn’t do all my work with you in the cage here, could I? So, what do you say? Would you like to join me, be able to help command our army?”

     Altair got up and locked eyes with Bane. His voice rang out cold and clear. “I’d rather rot in this cell for eternity than join you. You’re no different then Apex. You’re just a cold-blooded killer, and you’d most likely backstab me first chance you get. I’m sure you want revenge after what has happened.”

     “Funny, I could say the same things about you. Well, I see you’ve made your choice.” Bane’s face suddenly shifted to a more chilling expression. His cold voice spoke “No point in trying to argue with a madman. Your execution is in a day.”

Altair was disgusted. “A day? I thought it was on the fifth!”

Bane sneered and spoke “Your snide attitude has lost you a day. Enjoy your final hours, Altair.” Bane stood up and threw the stool aside. He shouted as he left. “Next time be more friendly to your elders! Oh wait, there won’t be a next time. Shame.” Bane laughed cruelly as he strutted out of the prison. Altair was left with, for the third time, shattered hope and almost no time left to live. He shuddered to think about his execution. He would most likely die from sadness before they killed him. Oh Anna, how I wish you were here right now. And Sirius, I wish I could tell you how sorry I am. How sorry I am for being the worst brother ever. A single tear fell down Altair’s cold cheek. Would he ever get to see his friend again? Only time will tell, He thought.

Time - Episode 12 : Murmurs

Time - Episode 11 : Not Yet

Episode 11 – Not yet

Oct 14^th, 1879

“Son, I am impressed. You really used your skills there. But now is not the time to use them, and Sirius is not the one to use them on. Your time will come soon, my boy. Just you wait. Let’s go inside, Sirius should be done cleaning up by now.”

Olympics and Website Updates (Update #4)

Olympics and Website Updates (Update #4)

Time - Episode 10-It Has Only Just Begun

Episode 10- It Has Only Just Begun

Date Unknown

     Altair looked up. He was at the bottom of a cliff. Or was it the top? He couldn’t tell. There was a man down below him. Or above him. He didn’t know. The man flew up towards Altair, his eyes closed. Was he falling? Altair reached out to grab the man, and caught him. Immediately everything changed. He was with two men, one with wooden teeth, another with an eyepatch. He was sitting next to a fire. There was a teenage boy asleep on the floor. Altair stood up, and the man with the teeth noticed him. Altair heard a gunshot and ducked. He felt someone push him into the fire, and Altair was burning. The orange and black was over-taking him. The orange and black..had claws? He was confused now, and he punched the orange beast. It growled. It was then gone. Altair saw a man with a beard lean over him, and he noticed it was Sirius. “Clean it up.” Spoke Sirius, “I’ve been cleaning up your mistakes for you my whole life. Now it’s your turn. Your turn to pass on what you have learned.” The words echoed through Altair’s head. He heard more words, somewhat recognizable.

“…Broken….Don’t know if we can fix it…His arm is broken….He is discharged, we don’t ever want to see him here again. Wait. I won’t ever see him again. Kill him. Kill him now. Blow his brains out, that’s an order.” Altair heard those words and opened his eyes, ready for a fight.

Time : Episode Nine - Sticks and Stones…

Episode 9 - Sticks and Stones…

August 31^st, 1898

 “Altair! Get yourself over here right now! I would like to talk to you privately!” barked General Apex. Altair walked out of formation and dragged his sword behind him, scratching a trail in the stone ground. “Pick up your weapon, soldier! Do you want to PAY for this floor to be redone?” Apex’s distinct tone rang through the fort. Altair felt all of the other soldier’s eyes on him. He didn’t care. He learned to move past things like that. “What has gotten into you? You used to be my best soldier! Now you can’t even move your feet without messing up. You are breaking formations, you don’t follow orders, and you suddenly act as if you don’t give two bullets about us! First it was Tabit, and now you…And I thought of you as the one who would stick with us to the end.” Altair’s face suddenly looked interested.    

“What happened to Tabit?”

     “I don’t know what happened to him. He got soft. He lost his son or something. Personally, I don’t care what happened to him. He was never a good soldier anyway. Only thing he was good at was fixing people up.”

Altair looked insulted. “He was my friend.”

     Apex stared at Altair with a twisted smile. “If you don’t get your act together, feel free to have as many tea parties with him as you want, because I WILL DISCHARGE YOU. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Apex stood taller as he shouted, some salvia escaping out of his mouth and onto Altair, who was not flinching or even twitching a facial muscle. Apex lowered his voice and moved his face an inch from Altair’s. “I don’t care what happened to that stupid dame of yours, but if that is going to effect your attitude as a soldier, then you can walk right out of here and never come back.”

Altair’s eyes glared at Apex’s, now fueled by a new anger. But instead of responding, he turned around and started to walk back towards the other soldiers, now slightly out of position and watching the events in front of them. Altair turned around, unsheathed his sword, and raised it above his head, bringing it back and ready to launch it at Apex. Apex smiled a cruel smile and chuckled. “Are you going to kill me? Just like you killed your poor innocent wife?”

Altair’s face was red with anger.

“Her death was NOT my fault!”

     Apex laughed menacingly. “Sure it wasn’t. Whose idea was it to bring her to the city, where the Americans would be targeting? Oh yes, it was yours, wasn’t it? One of many useless ideas from you. I wouldn’t be surprised if you brought the whole town down. Whose life are you going to end next? Your brother Sirius?”

Altair spit on the ground and yelled, “No, yours!” Altair threw the sword at Apex, the silver weapon spinning through the air. Apex calmly held up his arm and the sword hit it. Altair expected to see his limb fly into the air, but instead the sword connected with it and the iron weapon fell to the ground. A loud metal clang was heard. Apex pulled down his sleeve, revealing an iron wrist gauntlet.

“You..You tried to kill me… Goodwin! Ethan! Kill him now!” Apex’s voice echoed throughout the building. Flapping of wings were heard as birds flew away in fright. The two soldiers walked towards the unmoving Altair, their hands on the swords. Altair moved with the speed of a cat towards Ethan, who unsheathed his sword. Ethan swung at Altair, who grabbed Ethan’s wrist and kicked it, knocking the sword loose. Altair caught it mid air and connected it with Ethan’s neck, dismantling the poor soldier’s head. Altair ignored the fountain of red and threw his sword at Goodwin. It connected with his chest. Goodwin staggered, then fell back, his eyes forever gazing up at the sky, his mouth in a permanent expression of surprise. Altair casually strode towards Goodwin, who sputtered words beyond recognition. Altair grabbed the hilt of the sword and pushed Goodwin to the ground, pulling out the stained blade. All of the other soldiers stared at him with a mix of fear and astonishment.

Apex sneered coldly, paying no attention to the events that had just occurred. “You crossed the line, soldier. Bane, take him out!” Altair heard a gunshot and felt something in his neck. He pulled out a small dart, and snapped it in half in his anger. He yelled and ran at Apex in rage. He heard screaming, but it sounded distant. He heard more shots, but he felt nothing. He was suddenly slow. He couldn’t move his feet from the ground. Apex seemed farther and farther away. He noticed his arm was bleeding, but he felt nothing. He could hear nothing. He looked up, and noticed all the other soldiers were gone. Apex was nowhere to be seen either. He was alone…he forgot where he was..he saw someone at the end of the…wherever he was… It was a girl..or a guy with long hair. It was Anna! No, it wasn’t. It was a girl though. Maybe it is Anna.. Was he in heaven? The girl walked up to him, her black hair blowing in the wind. A man was with her. She leaned over him, and her hair fell on his face. Her hair was getting blacker and blacker, everything was dark. The blackness was over-coming him, everything was fading away…

Time : Episode Eight - A Nice Family Dinner

Episode 8-A Nice Family Dinner

Oct 14^th, 1879

 “Hey! How come he gets more meat?” A young Sirius was complaining at the dinner table. His hair was a light shade of brown.

Altair smirked and said “I’m older, and I need the meat more than you. All you do is girl stuff, like make clothing and cook.” Sirius’s face got angrier.

“If mom hadn’t left dad because he’s a drunk, I wouldn’t have to do any of this!” Coronado stood up from the table and hit it with his fist, shaking all the dishes.

“It’s not my fault Marena left me! Do NOT put that on me. And I am NOT a drunk!” Sirius smirked and said

“Fine. It’s not your fault dad, it’s Altair’s.” Altair stood up just as Coronado sat down.

“How is it my fault? What did I do?” “What do you do for the family, Altair? All you do is play outside with your stupid sticks and poles. I’m the only one in this family who does anything.”

“That’s not true!” Altair screamed and jumped across the table, tackling Sirius. Altair grabbed Sirius’s wrists and brought them behind his back, stretching his arms and restraining him. Sirius kicked on Altair’s knee, shoving him back and letting go of Sirius. Sirius stood up and threw his plate at Altair, the meat flying through the air. The plate shattered on Altair’s hands, which were blocking the shrapnel from his face. Sirius picked up a spoon and threw it at Altair, who caught it in the air and threw it back at Sirius, hitting him straight in the eye. Coronado was watching Altair and Sirius with a strange expression, somewhat of a crossover between a smile and a scowl. Altair turned around and picked up a cutting knife from the floor and brought it behind him, ready to throw.

“Altair. That’s enough.”

“I should do it. I should throw it at him. He deserves it.”

     Coronado’s face was hard to read. “No,” he stated, “You should not. He is your brother.” Altair spit on the ground.

     “No brother of mine acts like this.”

Coronado sighed and motioned for Altair to come to him. “I would like to talk to you privately.” Altair slowly walked across the room, stepping on plates and spilled drinks on the ground. Coronado put his hand on the shoulder of Altair and lead him outside. “Sirius,” yelled Coronado as he closed the door. “Clean up this mess.”

Next time…Sticks and Stones

Sorry! (Update #3)

I’m gonna be gone again until the 9th, which is when the next episode is out. I apologize for this, but I promise you the two best episodes you will EVER read are coming up, on the 9th and the 12th. Until then, BAI

Time : Episode Seven - Call Of Duty

Episode 7 - Call of Duty

Oct 3^rd, 1879

“Nice stance. Bring your legs closer together. No, not that close-wait. There we go. Now bring your arm forward in a straight line, focus all your energy on your shoulder. Brilliant! Now, try it with the other arm. No, you’re a bit wobbly. Hold your arm still. Still. Good, now do it faster. Perfect. Bring your leg forward a bit. Other leg. Son, you are a born warrior. Keep up the good work. You might even be better then your old man.”

“You aren’t old!”

“Ha, I’m older than I’d like to be.”

August 23^th, 1898

*Knock-Knock*

 “Who is it?” grumbled Altair’s gruff voice.

“It’s me, Elaine.”

Altair opened the door and smiled. “How are you?”

“I’m good, worried about Sirius. He seems distant.”

“I’ve learned to stop caring about that lame excuse of a man. He let my father down.”

“Don’t say that! Sirius is a great man. And a wonderful husband.”

“You deserve better.”

“So did you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You said that a couple nights ago. Anna loved me. Is that not true?”

Elaine sighed and sat down on a wooden chair next to the table. She changed the subject and said, “I see you cleaned the house. That’s good.” She picked up a notice on the table. “This is from General Apex…He wants you to come back, or you’ll lose your position.”

“I know what it says.”

“But do you know how to follow directions? Altair, your life is crumbling and you are doing nothing about it.”

“What’s there to live for?”

“What’s to live for?! What about you brother?”

“He is not my brother.”

“Yes, he is, and you should treat him as such.”

“He is pathetic.”

“What about Anna? What about your father? Live for him.”

Altair suddenly stood up with anger in his eyes. “You know NOTHING about my father! What do you know about my father?”

“I know enough. I got Sirius to finally talk about him.”

“What excuse does that swine have to talk about my father?”

“It’s his father too! You need to let him be. He is a great man, and you know it!”

“HE IS A DISGRACE TO THE FAMILY NAME! Why should I even talk to him? I don’t even want to be near him. That’s why I kicked him out years ago.”

Elaine looked on the verge of tears. “If you can’t bring yourself to be with him, I can’t bring myself to be with you.” Elaine turned around and slammed the door. And with that, Altair was again left with nothing but lost hope and a cold conscience.

Next time.. A nice family dinner

Time : Episode Six - Goodbye

Episode 6 - Goodbye

August 16^th, 1898

The wooden door creaked as it was opened, letting the cold air and rain inside. Altair liked the rain. No one could tell he had been crying. He didn’t bother to wipe his feet. His hut was dirty enough as it was. He looked over at Elaine and noticed she was packing up her belongings. “Are you leaving?” Altair asked questioningly.

“Yes, I promised Sirius that I would be home at sunhigh, and it is almost that time.” Altair reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Don’t go. I enjoy your company. Stay another day.”          

“I’m sorry Altair, but I have my husband to be with. It was nice, but I have to go. I’m his wife. Goodbye,” she said with a hint of sadness in her eye. She opened the door, letting in a woosh of chilly air that felt as sad as Altair was. The door closed, but he still felt just as cold.

Next time…Call of Duty