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Description
"Ready."

Ezio looked up from his blade to see Natalia standing in the doorway. "That was fast," he remarked.

Clean and dressed, Natalia de' Pazzi looked less like a beaten up child and more like the survivor her age she really was. Her hair was pulled back and fell to her collarbone level. Her right eye was no longer swollen but bore an angry red line from her temple to her cheekbone. Ezio suppressed the urge to touch his own scar. She was dressed a lot like a boy, he realized. When he'd taken her here in the night, it had been too dark to notice. She was clothed in a grey shirt over fitted pants not unlike his own. In one hand she carried a dark grey overcoat that looked like it reached mid-thigh. Brown boots laced up to her knees. She looked healthy and confident, although her free hand was pressed against her ribs. He guessed she wasn't completely healed.

"What are we doing first?" she asked.

In answer Ezio tossed her a belt, which she caught easily if surprised. "Target practice. Follow me." He headed to the basement.

"Use ACTUAL targets this time, not my sketches!" Leonardo called.

Ezio laughed a short laugh. "I will do my best."

Leonardo's basement was full of papers. Old sketches of failed or rejected inventions, scribbles of ideas he'd had at three in the morning, decoded ciphers. Together the two friends had cleared a space in the back corner, lit up by four oil lamps. A large window provided a relaxing glow to the room.
This was one of Ezio's favourite places to be in all of Venezia. It helped him relax, and at the moment he was the farthest thing from it.
It was going to be a long day.

***

As Natalia followed Ezio down the wooden staircase, she began to wish Leonardo was with them.
Growing up, all she'd heard from Vieri, aside from the angry comments regarding her family, was about him. If he wasn't complaining about her and her traiterous parents, he was complaining about Auditore. He'd come home bruised and bloodied, swears directed to them on his split lips.
And then, he'd killed them. Her uncle and cousin. They were evil, she knew, and they died for a reason. But still... She didn't know how to feel about this young man. He seemed cold and distant - well, to her at least. Did he do that to everyone?

A thump roused her from her thoughts, and she looked up. Ezio was playing at something on his belt, and on the far wall and knife was still vibrating in the center of a small crudely drawn circle. "Knife throwing," he said without looking up, "is particularly useful when you need to get rid of someone quickly and quietly. Pistols can be far too loud, and sometime close kills are no option."

Natalia nodded, but her hands shook as she maneuvered the belt around herself. She didn't really want to kill anyone, she thought, not again. She just wanted to be safe.

As if reading her thoughts, Ezio looked up at her. "Killing an innocent is the worst thing you can do," he said. "Only use your blade to spill the blood of those who have to die. Your life is far more important than theirs." Then, with a flick of his wrist, another life embedded itself into the wall. Natalia stared in amazement - not just at his impeccable aim, but at his indifference to it. His body was perfectly still save for that one small movement that could cut another's life short.

Ezio threw another few, then stepped aside. He motioned to the knife pouch secured at her waist. "Go on, then."

She carefully took out one of the small blades. It was about five or six inches long, perfectly balanced and razor-sharp. Natalia braced herself, took aim and threw the knife. It bounced handle first off the edge of the paper target and clattered to the ground. She sighed and waited for the string of insults her cousin had accustomed her to: "Useless.. weak... no good... a disgrace..."

Ezio strode over to the fallen knife and picked it up. "Try again," he told her quietly, handing her the knife. He did not look at her, or he would have seen the shock in her eyes.

"That's it?" she asked.

"What's it?"

"No insults? You're giving me a second chance?"

Ezio raised his gaze. His eyes were a greenish hazel today, she noticed. They showed the fatigue of the past few days, and burned with the slow fire of a man who had seen things he could never forget. "What would be the use of not giving you a second chance?" he replied. "It will not do you any good in combat. Now try again. Take a deep breath. Bene?"

Natalia did as she was told. She twirled the knife once, and took a deep breath. Her ribs screamed in protest, but she ignored it. There was no way she would show herself to be weak. She wasn't like Vieri. She wasn't -

Thwack.

She blinked. THe knife was dug into the target - the top right corner but on the target nonetheless. Natalia was amazed. She hadn't even realized she'd thrown the knife. Ezio's expression flickered to an impressed one for a brief moment. "Better," he commented.

Natalia rolled her shoulders. For a second she thought she'd seen him smile.

Description
"Ready."

Ezio looked up from his blade to see Natalia standing in the doorway. "That was fast," he remarked.

Clean and dressed, Natalia de' Pazzi looked less like a beaten up child and more like the survivor her age she really was. Her hair was pulled back and fell to her collarbone level. Her right eye was no longer swollen but bore an angry red line from her temple to her cheekbone. Ezio suppressed the urge to touch his own scar. She was dressed a lot like a boy, he realized. When he'd taken her here in the night, it had been too dark to notice. She was clothed in a grey shirt over fitted pants not unlike his own. In one hand she carried a dark grey overcoat that looked like it reached mid-thigh. Brown boots laced up to her knees. She looked healthy and confident, although her free hand was pressed against her ribs. He guessed she wasn't completely healed.

"What are we doing first?" she asked.

In answer Ezio tossed her a belt, which she caught easily if surprised. "Target practice. Follow me." He headed to the basement.

"Use ACTUAL targets this time, not my sketches!" Leonardo called.

Ezio laughed a short laugh. "I will do my best."

Leonardo's basement was full of papers. Old sketches of failed or rejected inventions, scribbles of ideas he'd had at three in the morning, decoded ciphers. Together the two friends had cleared a space in the back corner, lit up by four oil lamps. A large window provided a relaxing glow to the room.
This was one of Ezio's favourite places to be in all of Venezia. It helped him relax, and at the moment he was the farthest thing from it.
It was going to be a long day.

***

As Natalia followed Ezio down the wooden staircase, she began to wish Leonardo was with them.
Growing up, all she'd heard from Vieri, aside from the angry comments regarding her family, was about him. If he wasn't complaining about her and her traiterous parents, he was complaining about Auditore. He'd come home bruised and bloodied, swears directed to them on his split lips.
And then, he'd killed them. Her uncle and cousin. They were evil, she knew, and they died for a reason. But still... She didn't know how to feel about this young man. He seemed cold and distant - well, to her at least. Did he do that to everyone?

A thump roused her from her thoughts, and she looked up. Ezio was playing at something on his belt, and on the far wall and knife was still vibrating in the center of a small crudely drawn circle. "Knife throwing," he said without looking up, "is particularly useful when you need to get rid of someone quickly and quietly. Pistols can be far too loud, and sometime close kills are no option."

Natalia nodded, but her hands shook as she maneuvered the belt around herself. She didn't really want to kill anyone, she thought, not again. She just wanted to be safe.

As if reading her thoughts, Ezio looked up at her. "Killing an innocent is the worst thing you can do," he said. "Only use your blade to spill the blood of those who have to die. Your life is far more important than theirs." Then, with a flick of his wrist, another life embedded itself into the wall. Natalia stared in amazement - not just at his impeccable aim, but at his indifference to it. His body was perfectly still save for that one small movement that could cut another's life short.

Ezio threw another few, then stepped aside. He motioned to the knife pouch secured at her waist. "Go on, then."

She carefully took out one of the small blades. It was about five or six inches long, perfectly balanced and razor-sharp. Natalia braced herself, took aim and threw the knife. It bounced handle first off the edge of the paper target and clattered to the ground. She sighed and waited for the string of insults her cousin had accustomed her to: "Useless.. weak... no good... a disgrace..."

Ezio strode over to the fallen knife and picked it up. "Try again," he told her quietly, handing her the knife. He did not look at her, or he would have seen the shock in her eyes.

"That's it?" she asked.

"What's it?"

"No insults? You're giving me a second chance?"

Ezio raised his gaze. His eyes were a greenish hazel today, she noticed. They showed the fatigue of the past few days, and burned with the slow fire of a man who had seen things he could never forget. "What would be the use of not giving you a second chance?" he replied. "It will not do you any good in combat. Now try again. Take a deep breath. Bene?"

Natalia did as she was told. She twirled the knife once, and took a deep breath. Her ribs screamed in protest, but she ignored it. There was no way she would show herself to be weak. She wasn't like Vieri. She wasn't -

Thwack.

She blinked. THe knife was dug into the target - the top right corner but on the target nonetheless. Natalia was amazed. She hadn't even realized she'd thrown the knife. Ezio's expression flickered to an impressed one for a brief moment. "Better," he commented.

Natalia rolled her shoulders. For a second she thought she'd seen him smile.