day 001 | OPEN

[foolnornovice]

At first, things simply do not... make sense.

This was not Jerusalem, not Arsuf, nor Jerusalem. Yes, perhaps the architecture and material of the walls and floor seemed familiar, but the atmosphere was completely different. This was not home, not even close to what he regarded the term as. At first, he did not take the item beside the bed, chose to explore the room instead. Searching for an opening, something that would give him an idea of what exactly was being dealt with. Nothing. So he returned to the object. Upon picking it up, he examined the item, tried to make sense of it. To no avail at what appeared to be witchcraft, he left it alone in one of the bags across his waist, continued out of the room.

From there, it had been observation. This had been the process for the first few days.

Finally, by the third day he pulled himself out of whatever comfort he had achieved and began to speak to others. Not so many that he was overwhelmed with this information. Just enough to give him an idea of the situation so that he could figure things out, get even more of a hold on things, if that was possible. Some information had been gained, but it left him with more questions, some bordering on the side of philosophical and worrisome.

He needed to clear his mind, else these thoughts distract him, get him injured, sidetracked, worse than anything. So he took to exploring the castle further. Several times he passed through the same room as a result of taking the wrong turn, not realizing that he was going over his footsteps again and again. At one point he scaled the walls to get somewhere higher, and it was a success. Wandering, he came across an open floor, ruined beyond recognition. Rubble was scattered across the floor, the stairs appeared fragile and even as he drew close to them stone fell, the structure shook. Keeping his distance, he turned the other way.

More holes in the ground. More things falling apart at the seams.

A sigh and he adjusted his belongings, his robes. He moved to jump back down to the lower level, began to simply... walk, looking for someone else to speak to, exploring more of the castle that he could not explain.

Comments

[kaderp]

Kadar's had some time to deal with his feelings about Altaïr. Yes-- the man is, at least in part, responsible for his death; Kadar knows that Malik holds bitterness towards him because of it, but Kadar... well. Kadar followed Altaïr willingly, and from what he's learned of the future, Altaïr has more than redeemed himself-- so Kadar is glad that he is the one who died, ultimately. The fact that he had more time means that he brightened when he saw Altaïr, taking another step forward.

"Altaïr!" Kadar stopped a few feet away from him. It had been hard enough to convince Desmond and his brother that Kadar wasn't a hallucination-- the last thing he wanted was to spook Altaïr. "Welcome to-- the castle."

[foolnornovice]

This one still believes himself fully responsible for Kadar's death, no matter how much he has changed, tried to. So this was more than unsettling for him. Breath caught in his throat, he turned to face the other fully, unsure of what to believe, understand of what was happening. The younger one came closer and for it, he was tempted to move back to keep the distance. Instead he stayed and heard his voice again, found it more difficult to accept this as a dream with how real it felt.

This was not an illusion, instinct was telling him that.

How unfortunate, one thought rang out. How strange, how.. terrifying this was, almost. He kept composed however, and paid little attention to the welcoming, only to the other.

A step towards him, and he lifted a hand. Gingerly, it settled on that shoulder, barely there. "What? How did..." He cleared his throat. Of all things, he should have been able to make a complete sentence at least!

"--You are alive." Not the most tactful; he scorned himself.

[kaderp]

"I am." Kadar's smile was gentle. He was getting used to this reaction-- from Desmond. From his brother. He himself had to admit that he had died; that he remembered bleeding on a dirty stone floor, that he remembered hearing his brother's footsteps fade and the vulgar French words from the templars as they left-- or, perhaps, as he fell unconscious. It was hard to tell, from his hazy memories.

"This place has many powers! It brought me back--" and here Kadar faltered, not able, still, to say that this place brought him back to life. "--from the Temple. My brother is here as well, as are many others!"

He decided to leave the entire subject of Desmond alone, for the moment.

[foolnornovice]

He caught that moment, found the tightness in his chest had refused to leave and instead grew worse. It clenched at the assassin's lungs and reminded him that his own feelings were not of the topic. It was Kadar. He lived, he was breathing there, right in that spot in front of him. How was he to feel, was it a miracle, a warning?

Whatever it was, it was Kadar and for it he stilled. At the mention of Malik however, his thoughts sank in and time caught up with him. He was quiet for a moment, eyes refusing to leave the sight of the younger man. A nod to the words. "...Kadar." His throat was dry.

"I know I cannot take back my actions but, I would be a fool not to ask forgiveness." It still plagued him, and with the reminder of what had happened... Regardless, he wanted to find comfort in knowing Kadar was here, somehow. Things were becoming blurred.

[kaderp]

Kadar smiled faintly, shaking his head. "That you need to ask for my forgiveness at all means that you deserve it," he said, quietly. It was truth: Altaïr had never been the sort to ask for forgiveness, as far as Kadar knew; he didn't make apologies or excuses, he simply was, in a great whirlwind of power, talent, and-- as much as Kadar overlooked it, and as much as Malik hated it-- arrogance. For him to ask now, and ask so genuinely, Kadar knew it was meant.

"I am sorry that my absence caused you pain," he said, carefully, considering his words for a moment before saying them. "But even so, I do not regret following you into the Temple. I am glad that you could make it out."

[foolnornovice]

The reply silenced him. He searched for the words, tried to make sense but all that came out was nothing. A mere breath and he watched the other. The longer he stood there and spoke with him, the more it sank in that the other was here, living, breathing... Simply here.

Yet what they talked about implied a different situation. "You need not apologize," the reply was low, brief. He could not figure out how to word what it was he wished to say. So he tried to slip away from the topic, shift. "You... are well here?"

His brows furrowed for the slightest moment, caught between regret and concern.