Aerith & Elario

[Elario Luminus]

Firenze quickly closed the door behind Valentina as she came through, and turned around to face the room they'd entered. It wasn't large, like the one they woke up in. In fact, it was a little cramped. And in the center of the room was a glass case which held what looked like an incredibly old book. Firenze carefully walked up to it, and gasped a little when he saw the Assassin's brand on the hard-bound leather cover. Gingerly, he took hold of the glass case and lifted it off. Too late, he saw the pressure plate security system under the glass, and as he noticed it, alarms sounded.

[The Painted Lady]

"Nice one," Valentina muttered. She darted forward to take the book from its stand.
Might as well leave with the goods...
"Time to go."

[Elario Luminus]

Firenze put a finger to his mouth. Silence on a mission was a must; it disabled any Templars trying to listen out for their voices in public. He pointed up to the glass ceiling overhead and clicked his wrist-mounted pistol into action. He fired up into the sky, sending the ceiling raining down onto them like millions of sparkling drops of water. The master Assassin leaped up onto the wall and began climbing towards his recently-created exit.

[The Painted Lady]

Valentina rolled her eyes. Yeah, silence was going to do them a world of good with all these sirens sounding. Securing the book in her clothing to give her use of both hands, she followed Firenze up the wall.

[Elario Luminus]

Firenze pulled himself up onto the roof, out into the early morning. Finding the Bureau easily, he turned and helped Valentina up, then gestured for her to head to the Bureau.
'I'll hold them off, and rendezvous with you back at the Bureau.' he said. 'Get the book to the Bureau, and hand it to the Master. The three of us will look it over together later. Now go!'
Looking down into the hole they'd just climbed through, Firenze saw dozens of guards looking for them. One looked up and spotted Firenze's dark shape against the already brighter sky, pointed and shouted 'Assassins! Get them!'

[The Painted Lady]

Valentina didn't pause to question. Firenze said he'd make it back, so he would. He didn't need her help. Highly conscious of the book inside her cloak, she dashed off, before the soldiers would see her form and go in pursuit of her too. With light feet, she scaled a higher building to ensure she left unnoticed.

[Elario Luminus]

The guards had all started drawing their various weaponry on Firenze. Looking down, he'd seen that the guards in question were the Templar Masters Honour Guards, who only used swords at all times. Shrugging to himself inwardly, Firenze drew his sword and eagle dived into the room. Catching onto a steel cable, he swung down and into one guard, stabbing him through the chest. Flicking out the hidden blade on his left hand, he took a defensive stance as the other guards surrounded him. Confident in himself, Firenze beckoned the coming slaughter.

[The Painted Lady]

Valentina's getaway had been short and uninterrupted. With barely a sound and not a soul in sight, she had slipped into the open roof of the Bureau. With a deep breath, she removed the Assassin's book from her cloak, moving into the Bureau and placing the book on the counter of the room within.

[Elario Luminus]

About an hour later, Firenze dropped down into the Bureau, breathing heavily. He had a cut across his left arm, but he was indifferent about that. He knelt down in front of Valentina.
'Did you make it okay? No-one followed you? And is the book safe?'

[The Painted Lady]

Valentina observed Firenze with a quirked eyebrow.
"I'm here, aren't I?"
She nodded over to the tabletop, where the leather-bounded book rest.
"I wouldn't make a terrible delivery girl, do you think?"
Another sarcastic shot at humour.
She took hold of him arm, staring spacily at the blood for a moment before she spoke.
"Best get you patched up before infection gets to that."

[Elario Luminus]

Firenze spotted the book over his shoulder and smirked.
'Good work. And next time I need a meal delivered to me at speed, I'll be sure to request you.'
Chuckling to himself, he sat down and removed his chestplate armour and shirt, revealing a very fit, but somewhat scarred, torso. His left arm throbbed in dull pain, and blood was seeping out of it steadily, but Firenze sat quite still while he waited for Valentina to patch him up. He always preferred that she do it, rather than someone else or himself; she had a penchant for such things.

[The Painted Lady]

"I wouldn't push it," Valentina replied casually, straightening and moving to retrieve the equipment the bureau had on hand for just this kind of situation. When she returned, she made no hesitation to pour antiseptic liquid over the wound.
"This may sting," she said unhelpfully, after she had started pouring.
She then produced a needle and thread to sew up the wound.
"Sit still," she instructed.

[Elario Luminus]

Firenze felt the sting, but took the pain without so much as a hiss of pain. He'd learned long ago to not care about pain. He did eye the needle warily, however, just to make sure of what Valentina was doing, then calmed.

As she threaded his arm back together, Firenze sighed as he watched her. She had an unnatural beauty to her, Valentina did. Even in the earlier years of training, she'd fascinated him.
'You know, you have a knack for this.'

[The Painted Lady]

"The amount of times you get yourself hurt, you'd hope I would," Valentina replied quickly. She gave a small smile though.
"Took you a while to give them the slip. Are you losing your touch Firenze?" she teased, knotting the thread and breaking it off.

[Elario Luminus]

Firenze chuckled as he flexed the newly fixed arm and shook his head.
'Not a chance, lass. There were just a lot of them, and when they're everywhere around you, it's hard to evade and avoid them. Though, I must admit, I did stay for a little while to play with them. One got lucky. After that though, any guard that came near died.'
He stood up and randomly did a backflip and a dive roll. Satisfied he could move his arm without it splitting open again, Firenze slipped his robes back on.
'Ready to take a look at this book?'