User:Slate Vesper/Sandbox 3.01

Because one can never have too much sand, right?

Nesty's Fanon of Awesomeness
This fanon will deal with the experiences of a British Assassin family – the Thornfields.

Chapter 1: A Thorn is Born
It was the twelfth of June. Rose would remember that day for the remainder of her life. She had been strolling through the streets of London all day, enjoying the sounds around her; merchants yelling for the attention of everyone passing by, children screaming as they played tag in the narrow streets, the gossiping of women in front of their houses, the dull thud of hammers striking wood.

When Rose returned home, her parents were sitting at the table, waiting for her to join them for dinner. She felt slightly guilty about being late, though her parents never seemed to blame her for it.

"How was your day, love?" her mother asked.

"It was all right. I didn't really do much, to be honest."

"Your father and I need to talk to you for a moment."

Now Rose started to worry. Sentences like that always introduced bad news. No exception.

"Yes," her father started. "Rose, my dear, do you remember that book we gave you a few months back? We were wondering whether you had already finished it."

Rose thought back for a moment. Yes, they had given her a book. An old book, by the looks of it. And it seemed very important to them that she read it. And so she had done so without asking questions. In fact, she had finished the book within the week, but had forgotten to mention it to her parents. It had been a strange book about a sect in some Middle-Eastern country – she couldn't exactly remember which – who had been fighting another secret organization. The protagonist, a man by the name of Altaïr, had been sent out to kill men who were a threat to the world – or something like that.

"Yes, father. I have read it."

"And what did you think of it?"

Her parents seemed to get more tensed every minute now.

"It was a good book, though perhaps a bit far-fetched."

Her parents glanced at each other.

"What would you say if we told you the events in that book had actually happened, about four-hundred years ago?"

"I would say that surprised me, father."

"And what would you say if we told you that both organizations still exist?"

"I would say that you had gone mad, father."

"Well... The events in the book have actually happened, and both organizations still exist."

"That surprises me. And you have gone mad."

"Yes, yes... I know... It's a little hard to grasp. I had the same reaction when I was your age. But will you hear me out?"

"Of course, father," Rose replied. She loved a good story before going to bed.

"Long ago – no one knows exactly how long – an organization surfaced. Their objective was to achieve world peace. However, their methods were... questionable at best. They would achieve world peace by robbing everyone of their free will. Not long after that, another organization came into being. They also wished for world peace, but they also promoted free will. These organizations would soon become known as the Templars and the Assassins respectively. The Assassins remained in the shadows, fighting the Templars any way they could. But the Templars were powerful. They finally managed to make some progress under the leadership of a man called Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad. Somewhere around his time, the Templars were driven into hiding, becoming a secret organization. The two organizations continued to fight over the centuries, and continue to do so now."

"But, father, what does that have to do with us?"

"Your mother and I, we are Assassins."

"Pardon me?"

"Assassins, my love," her mother replied.

"Yes," her father continued, "it is hard to believe. And you do not have to trust us on our word alone. Take these documents. Have a look at them whenever you have the time. They will make things clear, put things into perspective. But never take these papers outside the house. Nothing good will come of that."

Rose went to bed early that night, taking the folder with papers with her. As she lay in bed, she looked over the documents. There were explanations of organizations – parliament, the Royal family, Dukes and Barons. There were descriptions of murders, thefts, and disappearances. She had been skeptical at first. But now, little by little, her belief started to grow. She had spent the entire night looking at the information that was given to her, but eventually, at six o'clock in the morning, Rose went downstairs. There, she was surprised to find her parents at the table, much like the day before.

"Father."

"Yes, dear?"

"Who else?"

"Who else what?"

"The Assassins. Anyone else I know?"

"Let's see. Your Uncle Jonathan is an Assassin, as is Aunt Lily. Your grandfather used to be an Assassin, but he grew too old and went into hiding. Other than that, I think only Mister Evans down the street. All of the others you have never met."

"And now?"

"We gave you that book with a good reason, my love," her mother answered, "we want you to join as well. You are an agile girl. With the proper training, you could become a great Assassin."

Rose doubted for a while. She did not want to become an Assassin. But from the files she had read, there were people included whom she had known, whom she had loved. Parents of classmates that had been killed, older brothers that had suddenly disappeared. The death of her grandmother, who had been burned alive in her house, unable to escape. The Templars had caused it all. And someone had to make sure it stopped.

"Okay."

And so, Rose Thornfield spent the next year of her life on the countryside with her Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Lily. She was taught to run and climb so that no one could ever catch up to her. They educated her about poisons and antidotes. They trained her in combat. They watched as she mastered archery. It was a tough year, but Rose felt like she had finally found a purpose.

Chapter 2: Without Thorns
The time had come to return home. Her Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Lily kissed her goodbye, assuring her that they would see each other again soon enough. She stepped in her stagecoach, which was quite a happening for her. Her family was not a rich one. Her father was but a working man, and her mother took care of the household chores. She had never had the chance to be in a stagecoach, and she did not know how her relatives had been able to acquire one, but her inquiries remained unanswered.

Her homecoming was a joyful one. It became apparent that her parents had missed her a great deal, and she knew she had missed them. No questions were asked about the training she had received. No remarks were made about how much she had changed. Her mother asked about the food they had given her, and her father remained silent for most of the day. It took Rose until late that night to gather the courage to bring the subject up.

"So... I'm an Assassin now?" she casually asked.

"Yes, love," her mother replied. "There used to be an induction ritual, but it has long since been abandoned."

"Not abandoned officially," her father interrupted. "I'm just not a great fan of mutilating someone's hand and giving our secret identities away. And our colleagues happen to agree with me. It is simply safer this way."

Her mother merely nodded serenely and Rose decided not to continue talking about mutilating induction rituals. "And what now?"

Her father looked up. "Mister Evans will come by tomorrow to discuss a few things. He is the leader of the Assassins in this part of London. In fact, you will meet all of the Assassins from western London tomorrow. Just make sure you get up in time."

"What time do we leave?"

Her father took out his watch. "In about four hours."

Rose's mind was still foggy as they walked down the street. She was not used to getting up at three o'clock in the morning. She did, however, understand the need of secrecy. The images that had been shown to her still dwelled in her head. They walked through the mist, down to Mister Evans' house.

They were allowed in, and led to a large room in the basement.

The room had been furnished scarcely; a chandelier on the ceiling, a long table in the middle of the room and twenty-or-so chairs around it. Most of the chairs had already been taken, and Rose took a seat between her parents – a seat that seemed to have been reserved for the three of them.

"Welcome Assassins," Mister Evans started, "I am relieved to see that all of you have survived long enough to attend this meeting. But first things first; I would like to introduce all of you to our newest member. This is Rose Thornfield. Obviously the daughter of Thomas and Adelaide Thornfield, niece of Jonathan and Lily Thornfield – whom, as you know, live outside of London nowadays. She has completed her training a few weeks ago, and is now a full member of our Order."

There was some muttering around the table.

"Come now, that's quite enough. She may be young, but Jonathan's training has never failed us. Let us have a little bit of faith in him. And in Rose too, for that matter. Now, Powell, what can you tell us about your findings?"

A young man, not much older than Rose, rose from his chair. "Well, we now know that Abe Bennett is in possession of the stolen money. However, we're still unaware as to where he and his associates are keeping it. Until we discover that, we cannot act."

"I see," Mister Evans answered. "Keep working on it. We could do with that money. Or at the very least make sure that they do not put it to use. What do we know about our primary targets?"

A dense silence descended on the room. Rose wanted to know, but dared not ask, the identity of the primary targets.

Evans shook his head. "Nothing yet, it seems. Anything else anyone wants to mention?"

"Yes, sir."

"Speak, Dixon."

"Judge Allen James has been corrupted by Templar coin. In his office should be a list of Templars that are set to appear before court. James is to make sure that none of them are convicted for the crimes they committed."

"Is he himself a member of the Templar Order?" Thomas Thornfield asked.

"We do not know."

"As usual."

"Indeed."

Evans nodded. "I see. We will need to get our hands on that list. That will give us more Templar names to target. More opportunities to weaken their position. We will not kill the judge as long as he cannot be dissuaded to turn away from his corrupt ways. Any volunteers?"

Before anyone had a chance to respond, Rose stood up.

"I can do it."

The meeting had ended, and most of the Assassins had left. Rose had gotten permission to steal the list, and she looked forward to it. This was what she had been training for.

"Does she know about our objectives?"

Mr. Evans' voice startled Rose out of her deep thoughts.

"No, not yet," her father answered.

"Come, child. Follow me. As you know, the Templars are organized much like we are. And in their ranks, as in every organization, some men are more important than others. These men are our primary targets. They are amongst the men and women leading the Templars. There are undoubtedly more, but those we do not know of. For now."

Together, they walked to the far wall, where several paintings hung in the darkness.

"William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth. He controls the money of the Royal House, making him a formidable foe. Next to him is John Whitgift, who is the Archbishop of Canterbury. I assume I need not tell you how much of a threat he is. Then we have Francis Walsingham, the principal secretary to the Queen, as well as a masterful spy. And then there are William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. Both poets and playwrights, using their influence on the crowds to sway them to any cause the Templars see fit."

Rose marveled. All of these men were so immensely powerful and important. She never imagined the Templars reaching this far. It was astounding.

The following night, Rose stood on the corner of street in the outskirts of London. From her position, she could scout the office building across the street. She just hoped no one would notice her, standing in the same spot all night. The day after, she did the same thing. By the end of that night, she had devised a strategy. She had to take the list without anyone knowing it had gone missing. She had heard the judge whispering that the list was in the green map. She knew the guards stood near the front door. Two of them, who walked up and down the street and the nearby alleys every five minutes. Her best bet was to get in through the roof, via the roof of the office building next to it. And thus she started making preparations.

She took her bow, five arrows and her dagger. That would have to be enough. She managed to get into the neighboring office building during the afternoon, and spent a few hours in an uncomfortable closet with brooms. Then, when everyone had left, she emerged and made her way to the roof without any trouble. The jump to the roof of her actual goal was an easy one. She had been forced to make trickier jumps in the first week of her training. And from that roof, finding the office she needed was as easy as tying shoelaces. Her gaze then wandered to the green map, which stood on a shelf behind the desk. Taking it, Rose opened it, found the list, and swapped it with an empty piece of paper. From there, she left via the same way she had gotten in, and managed to return home without getting noticed.

The list was returned to Mr. Evans, who seemed to have been expecting her. He did not show any sign of surprise on her success, and nor had her parents. Rose felt that being an Assassin was not so hard. But then again – it had only just begun.

Chapter 3 - Thorn Lady
Several weeks passed, in which everything seemed quiet. Rose often wandered the streets, hoping to discover signs of the Templars somewhere. Then, out of the blue, another meeting was called. It was the middle of the day when the Assassins gathered in the dark and dusty basement again. As always, Mr. Evans led the meeting.

"Welcome, all of you. I am very sorry for calling you here on such short notice, but we seem to have a lot of work to do. Also, please welcome Jonathan and Lily Thornfield, who have decided to stay in London for a while, helping us with all the work that needs to be done. You will all be glad to hear that Rose was successful in retrieving the list of the judge, giving us more Templar targets."

Several Assassins smiled at Rose, and there was some murmurs of appreciation.

"Now, Bertram, you and Kelly are in charge of assassinating the men on this list, there are seven in total, so you must make haste."

An old men rose from his chair, took the list from Evans, nodded politely, and sat back down.

"Moving on, one of our supporters in the street, a herald named Lindsay, has been taken prisoner. We have received word that she is being held in the basement of a Templar safehouse. I have a map detailing the location here. William, you are to free her and kill as many Templars as you can. Then, we have finally discovered the location of the money Abe Bennet stole, so Johnson and West are to kill him and retrieve it."

There was some unrest as everone accepted their assignments, until Evans beckoned everyone to be silent.

"Finally, this assignment came straight from Pemberley Manor. Somewhere in this city is a Templar spy, a woman named Jessica D'avoir. We are to find her, capture her alive, and deliver her to Pemberley. Jonathan, you will be in charge of this. You can form a team with the people who do not yet have assignments. I think I don't need to remind you that we do not want to fail this..."

"I'll take care of it, sir," Jonathan replied solemnly. "As for my team, I'll keep it in the family. My wife Lily, my brother Thomas and his wife Adelaide, and their daughter Rose."

Evans nodded. "Very well, that is all. Meeting adjourned."

As expected, the Thornfields went home, immediately convening and making plans for their assignment.

"Okay," Jonathan started. "We don't want to fail Pemberley Manor. We seem to be in luck, D'avoir is not a common name in London so we should be able to find her relatively easy. Then again, London is a big city..."

"What is Pemberley Manor anyway?" Rose asked.

"It is a large manor outside London, on the countryside. A lot of land surrounding it too. But more importantly, it is the home of the Magnus family. They are the ones leading the Assassins in most of the Kingdom, and they keep in contact with the Assassin branches in other countries," Lily answered.

Jonathan continued. "Okay, Thomas, I need you to contact any spies you may have in the city, ask them about Jessica D'avoir and see where it gets us. Adelaide, you are to infiltrate Templar events, parties, soirees, dinners, anything. See what you can learn. Lily and I will check out known Templar organizations within the city. Rose, I need you to continue your strolls through the city, keep your eyes and ears open and bring any information that seems relevant to us."

And thus Rose spent her days on the streets, blessing the good weather, hoping to find out anything about Jessica D'avoir. She checked birth registries as well, but it didn't bring her any closer to her goal; apparently Jessica had not been born in London. Rose then spent a lot of her time in the public park, where it was always bustling with children, young lovers and businessmen on lunch. She talked with construction workers, restaurant-owners, barmen, and towncriers - but no-one seemed to have heard of Jessica D'avoir.

After a few days, having scoured every part of the city, she still didn't have any success, and the same could be said for her relatives. It seemed as if Jessica didn't even exist. Deviating from their usual activities, Rose decided to go to the neigborhoods that were somewhat poorer, where criminals often gathered and men went when they couldn't spent the night with their wives. And there she heard it.

"Man, I sure had a lot of fun tonight! That girl, the French one, what's her name again... Caddy!"

"No, fool. Candy. It was Candy. And sure, she was nice to look at. Though not worth the price she wanted if you ask me!"

A French girl. D'avoir is a French name, Rose figured, so she should check it out. It wasn't difficult to find where the men came from. There was a bar down the street, its windows adorned by images of scarcely-clad women. There she hoped to find Candy.

The bar was dark, despite the small lights that had been placed on all the tables. There was a spotlight illuminating the stage, where a half-nude woman sat singing a sad song. Her voice flowed with a strong French accent, and Rose wondered whether she could be the Templar lady she had been searching for.

"That's all, gentlemen! If you want to have some fun with Candy backstage, talk to the bald man next to the purple curtain!" a voice rang through the bar.

Rose quickly went home, where she found all her relatives gathered.

"I think I may have found her!"

Jonathan quickly rose. "What? Where?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I found a woman with a French accent in a gentleman's bar. They called her Candy."

"I'll go and take a look. Thomas, you better join me, just in case."

The men left immediately, leaving the women behind to wait. It took them little over two hours to return, side by side, with a woman in a long overcoat between them. They held her arms behind her back.

"Hello again. Meet Candy. Though I think we should just call her Jessica from now on. Or Miss D'avoir, perhaps? Seriously though, we should immediately bring her to Evans."

They soon left Evans' house, Jessica still with them. Evans had suggested that they'd bring Jessica to Pemberley Manor themselves, believing it to be faster and safer to do so. They took Evans' stagecoach, which was considerably larger than the one they owned, and rode to Pemberley that same night.

The gates to Pemberley opened as they drew near it, without anyone having to identify themselves. The road went on and on, through a dense forest, over a river, past a lake, and eventually stopped near a beautiful building. The doors of the coach were opened for them, and they were led inside, where they were greeted by a man in a black uniform.

"The Lord and Lady will be with you shortly."

The Thornfields were all intimidated by all the wealth around them, and hardly managed to mutter an answer. Shortly afterwards, they were greeted by a tall and handsome man with a beautiful lady by his side.

"Welcome. I am John Magnus, and this is my wife, Helen. You arrived here in the stagecoach of William Evans, so you must be part of our Order. Tell me, what can I do for you?"

Jonathan stepped forward, still holding Jessica.

"We have come to deliver a Templar spy you had requested. Her name is Jessica D'avoir."

Both John and Helen Magnus raised their eyebrows slightly. "Already? We didn't expect you for another two weeks."

"We aim to please, sir," Thomas spoke.

"Very well," John replied. "I'll take her now. Riley, get over here!"

From the other side of the corridor, a voice answered. "Coming, father!" And within seconds, another young male entered the room. He was clearly the son of John and Helen, bearing a striking resemblance to both of them.

"This is our son, Riley Magnus. Also part of our Order," Helen spoke.

"Riley, I'll need our help in bringing this spy to the dungeons. We will interrogate her tomorrow to see what she can tell us."

"Yes, father," Riley spoke quickly, taking Jessica from Jonathan and Thomas' grip and escorting her down the hallway with his father.

"Now, you must be exhausted." Helen spoke softly. "Come, we have tea ready."

The Thornfields followed her to a nearby room, where they all sat down on comfortable couches, sipping their hot tea. The adults discussed all kinds of Assassin affairs, and Rose could hardly keep up. After ten minutes, John and Riley joined them. where Riley sat next to Rose as John took control of the conversation, asking all kinds of questions about the Assassins in London.

"Don't let him fool you," Riley whispered to Rose. "He acts all big, but my mother is the boss of the family."

Rose and Riley both bursted into a fit of giggles.

"I think it is time for us to return home," Thomas said, looking quite displeased.

"Oh, no, no!" Helen quickly interrupted. "It is far too late to return to London. You can all sleep here, await the interrogation of the spy tomorrow, and then return home with the information."

And thus they were led to their bedrooms. Rose had a room for herself, which was furnished with real antiques and was about as large as all of the bedrooms of their house in London together. However, for as opulent as her room was, Rose dropped her head on the pillow and quickly dozed off, her eyelids heavy from an eventful day.