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Altaïr stared down at the babbling man, known as 'The Doctor', in front of him. Little he said made sense, and the assassin was wondering if perhaps the man infront of him was as insane as he acted. He was mildly taken aback when it appeared the strange person knew he was an assassin. Those who knew were either friends of the assassins, or else were well-informed enemies. Somehow, he doubted this man was an enemy.
"I am of the Order of the Hashshashin, under Al Mualim in Masyaf. How do you know of our order?" He asked, calmly enough, but then frowned when the man started babbling again. Shaking his head in annoyance, he glanced to the Master, wondering how he could put up with such a fool, and then turned his attention to Gene at his enraged shout.
He stared blankly at him, and then glanced down to the Doctor as the smaller man got in between the two. Alright. He was insane, then. He knew Altaïr was an assassin, and yet he'd get in his way?
He looked back at the approaching DCI, calmly moved one hand and placed it on the Doctor's shoulder, then pushed the smaller man out of the way as he made a sprint right towards Gene. Ducking his head slightly and bringing his hands in, elbows out, he tackled the man and flung him to the ground. Gene was in no way a light-weight, but years of training made Altaïr stronger, faster and more agile than most men.
He stopped a few paces away from Gene, now between the DCI and the car and Sam. For a moment, it seemed as if the assassin was going to finish the prone detective off, but then he just turned and walked to the bonnet. He only had 5 throwing knives, so it would be best that he retrieved any that he used, in the event that he could not find more.
Reaching down, he grabbed the knife by the hilt and, with a slight grunt of effort as he twisted the blade, tugged it out of the bonnet. Not even looking at the damage done - it wasn't his fault these men were inside this damned hellbeast - he placed the knife back amongst the others at his belt, then turned his attention to Sam.
"I have no reason to kill you or your companion, yet, but if he attempts to harm me again, I will kill him," he said, his voice calm once again, and then turned and walked towards a building.
"I shall see if I can spot anyone else in the area," he called back as he reached it. Looking up, he frowned as it lacked the uneven stones and handy decorations that were common on the buildings he was used to. Nevermind. He would not be Altaïr if he could not climb this.
He took a step back, then moved and ran a few paces up the wall, just enough to bring his hands in contact with a small ledge he noticed. Pulling himself up, he continued climbing, using any ledge, any window sill, any loose brick to make his way to the top. Pausing under a balcony around 3 storeys up, he looked up to it, readies himself, then leapt and caught hold of the very edge of it. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he then pulled himself up and continued to the roof.
Reaching the top, he hauled himself up, then sat crouched on the ledge, looking out and around the area. He was around six storeys up now, but height was no problem for this assassin; roof-top chases along thin beams often do that to you. He looked down to the group below him, almost missing them due to the fog that filled the place, then looked around, as far as he could see.
There did not seem to be a living, hah, soul in this 'Hell', other than those he already had encoutered. Just strange buildings, some more of those metal beasts, and lots of fog- No, wait. There was something. Some movement caught his eye and he scurried along the parapet that surrounded the roof to another corner, then made a leap down to the roof of another, lower, building to get a better look. Yes. Three figures, almost invisible, and a much smaller one heading towards them. To Altaïr's surprised, the last figure appeared to be a box moving at high speed....
He looked down, annoyed at the lack of ladders, but then blinked as he noticed a fire escape stair case. Jumping down onto the top level, he paused as it shifted under his weight and made a rather loud and annoying screech, a few of the bolts that kept in it place pinging out. Waiting for the noise to die down, he then began making his descent, keeping close to the wall in the event the whole structure would indeed collapse.
Making a jump at the very end, he landed with a roll on the floor, then sprang back up and began moving around the building to where the others were. He did not usually work with other people - they were never as skilled as him, and often got in the way - but it appeared he may have to for once. For now though, he thought as he turned the corner to where the others were, he would settle for using them as sword-fodder and let them go investigate those four while he kept back and stayed watchful and onguard. Yes, that seemed to be the best option for now. He looked up to them and stopped walking, his stance relaxed if still imposing. If they died, then no matter. It was more likely he would be the one to kill them, after all.
~
Jeir's smile soon turned into a more nervous one as both Winchester brothers claimed she wasn't a vampire. Oh dear. And it appeared that whatever vampires they had met in the past were nothing like how she and the other vampires on the Disc were.
"I've been a vampire for two years, since I was 18. Trust me; dying and coming back as a powerful immortal being with annoying and rather painful allergies and a blood addiction isn't something I'd make up," she said reproachfully, hugging her cloak closer around her. "I can tell you're brothers, for instance. I can smell it in your blood."
"Clearly this is not Ankh-Morpork, so it's possible something thaumaturgical happened, with perhaps a few quantums thrown in..." she blinked, then groaned and brought her hand over her eyes. "Ye gods. It happened again!"
A year or so ago, Sir Samuel Vimes, Commander of the City Watch, was apparently transported back in time during a storm similar to the one she had been in. Well, that's what the wizards said. So the 'Trousers of Time' theory was possible, but perhaps there was a 'Trousers of Reality'? The did keep mentioning about multiverses, after all, so perhaps it was possible as well...
She sighed and lowered her hand, looking down and shaking her head. She ignored the two as they moved away from her and began talking, and tried to think. Vimes returned after about half an hour, yet he claimed he had been gone for a few days. So, it was still possible she could just return home just as suddenly as she arrived. She brightened up a little at that. She could treat this like a little holiday, perhaps, just as long as the Lu-
She looked up and gave a toothy grin, which was not exactly a pleasant smile on a vampire, and turned her head to look down the street. After a few short moments, there was a loud creak, and then the sound of many, many running feet could be heard, getting nearer.
Jeir's Luggage was annoyed. First it was left in a bedroom, away from its mistress, and then it couldn't find her on the Disc. It broke through a wall, ran through a damned hail storm, nearly got ran over by a speeding carriage, broke through another wall, ran past a group of startled wizards, and dived into the Library, where it disappeared.
Now it was in a strange city, alone, and its mistress was no where nearby. Being a chest of sapient pearwood, its thoughts weren't really what you could call thoughts. All it knew was that it needed a master; someone to belong to. The rest of the world could get trampled.
And now it had finally found her...
The young vampiress beamed happily at her Luggage as it reached her and skidded to a halt. The little feet moved in a complicated fashion so that it turned its lock-side towards her, and then retracted its legs and sat on the ground. Jeir gave it a gentle pat, receiving a faint creak in reply, and then opened the chest and rummaged inside.
Thank the gods for sapient pearwood! At least now she could get some proper clothes on. Reaching up, she unclasped her cloak and let it loose from around her, but at the same moment she blurred into near-invisibility before reappearing before the cloak had a chance to fall more than a few inches.
Catching up the cloak, she clasped it together again, then turned back to the brothers. She was wearing another set of her silk assassin's clothes, black shirt and trousers with black boots. Stepping towards them, Sam's cloak now in her hands and the Luggage, lid closed, following behind her, she tried to give another friendly smile. She was getting a tooth ache, and in a vampire, this was a lot worse than poor dental hygeine. At least the Luggage had a flask of cocoa inside it for an emergency. This did not stop her gaze wandering to the necks of the two young men, though.
She stopped a few feet from them, then held out the coat to Sam. "Thank you for letting me borrow this, milord," she said, then gave a sigh. "Perhaps I can explain what I believe is going on? I am originally from the Discworld - a disc-shaped world that sits on the back of four elephants, on the back of a giant turtle. In my world, magic rules, if you don't count in narrativium, at least. Before arriving here, there was a great thaumaturgical storm - a magic storm, if you will - and I was caught up on it. There must have been a large discharge of magic and I ended up here. Perhaps something similar happened where ever you are from?"
"As for my vampirism...well, if you want me to fly, turn into bats, mist or a pile of ash, just say the word. You'll need a stake for the last one, though, as stabbing one through the heart, plus the aforementioned ways of strong sunlight and garlic, etcetera, is the only way to temporarily kill a vampire where I'm from. But I would prefer that you just took my word for it."
She paused, realising something, then looked down to her Luggage. "This is my Luggage. It follows me everywhere I go, stores my items, and tends to eat people, so please don't annoy it or threaten me."
Looking back to them, she smiled brightly. "Now, if it's alright with you, gentlemen, I'd like to go and collect my weapons, and then we shall see just who made that noise, alright?"
((Long post is very long.))
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