Assassins in Gaia

Desmond led the group of four through the forest. He observed his team and made profiles on them, a habit from the past. He could not break it even if he wanted to. They had been teaching Cloud how to fight and move stealthily, from all the street brawl styles to the methods that the Creed used. He took to learning them like he was born for it and despite it only being a year, he was pretty decent at the beginner techniques. As for Ace, he had a lot of knowledge on training methods and fighting techniques, the only problem was he lacked practice and experience using them. And finally Tifa, she had been training under Master Zangan but even she did not have any real experience. The reason being her father going overprotective Papa wolf on her. The profiles were as follows in his head.

Name: Cloud Strife
Age: 12
Species: Human
Status: Beginner
Skills: Stealth of a beginner Assassin, beginner materia user, beginner fighter.
Magic Abilities: Healing spell
Battle Equipment: An Assassin blade, Heal materia and a hunting Dagger.

Name: Ace Miles
Age: 13 (currently)
Species: Human, formerly ancient artifact
Status: Unknown knowledge of fighting styles and training methods
Applicability level: Unknown
Skills: Stealth, Observation, Materia finder
Magic Abilities: Fire and Healing Spells
Battle Equipment: Assassin's blade, Magic Materia, Heal Materia and a Trench knife.

Name: Tifa Lockhart
Age: 11
Species: Human
Status: Beginner martial artist
Skills: Hand to Hand combat
Magic skills: None
Battle Equipment: Fighting Gloves and Boots

Name: Desmond Miles
Age: 18
Species: Human
Status: Assassin
Skills: Street fighting, silent kill, stealth, hand to hand combat
Magic skills: Eagle vision, Thunder spells
Battle Equipment: Assassin's blade, Thunder Materia and personally crafted hand gun.

As the four trudged on Cloud and Ace were telling Tifa about the Eagles Vision, while Tifa told them about the training she had to do at the dojo. It was a very lively atmosphere and Desmond relaxed and smiled listening to the chatter behind him as he lead the way. Tifa was also giggling while gushing over Cloud's disguise which made him turn pink while asking about their ability.

Tifa, "I followed you a few months ago."

Ace, "I had a feeling someone was following us."

Cloud looked at him in disbelief, "You did, why didn't you say anything?"

Ace, "The Eagles vision did not show her as an enemy, only curious."

Cloud turned pink again, "But but still. That was embarrassing."

Tifa, "It was not that bad, plus you looked so pretty in that dress, I especially loved the wings."

Ace preened, "Why thank you ~ I had to mess around with my materia and manipulate my magic quite a lot to get it right."

Cloud conceded, "It was very impressive, I bet the vision helped too. I can't wait to get mine."

Tifa, "So, are you close to getting the vision, Cloud?"

Cloud nodded, "I think so, I just don't know how to activate it."

Ace pat Cloud on his back, "Don't worry, when you are ready, it'll activate itself. Just follow your instinct and do not force it."

Cloud smiled, "I'm getting better at casting heal and cure as well."

Tifa, "I have been wanting to ask... Where did you get the materia? They don't just appear out of nowhere."

Cloud looked at Ace who answered, "We actually got them from fighting monsters."

Tifa stared in disbelief, "You got them from monsters."

Ace shrugged, "Yeah?"

Cloud answered, "That was kinda my reaction too, Tif. I just rolled with it."

Tifa however was stumped, "But how? Master Zangan has been taking care of the monster problem for months now and he never got a Materia."

Desmond looked back at that, "Sometimes luck plays part in it. We have three types of Materia in the group currently."

Desmond pointed at each person as he did a head count, "Cloud has heal, Ace has Fire and heal and I have Thunder."

Tifa looked pumped up, "I'm getting myself a materia too, then. I don't know, which one I'll get but I'm definitely finding a materia."

Ace smiled, "I'm sure, you will find one Tif. It seems to be a running theme with our group. Funnily enough, Desmond has two lightning based Materia, Cloud has two Healing based and I have one Heal based and two Fire based."

Tifa grinned at that, soon they came across some monsters that looked like an unholy cross between a balloon and an octopus. Desmond did not even bother finding out it's name before gathering the team.

Desmond, "Alright, Ace take the three in the left, Tifa the two on the right, Cloud take care of the one in the middle. I'll step in if you need help."

The three nodded and Ace and Tifa went around to surprise attack them from the monster's blind side. Cloud waited till the monsters were distracted enough before going in as stealthily as possible and cutting it's head off in one swift move without allowing the monster a chance to attack. He turned to check on Ace after collecting the 3 Gil the monster had dropped. Ace was moving through the three monsters dodging their attacks and attacking them as if he was just taking a stroll. Cloud marveled at the smooth movements and swore he would be able to do the same one day. He turned to Tifa, she had punched one monster down and now was dodging the other monster's attacks.

Cloud then noticed she had a burn on her leg probably from the monster attack. He took out his heal materia and took aim at Tifa before releasing the heal spell to heal her bruise, unfortunately giving the monster an extra boost by accident. When Tifa saw Cloud healed her, she gave a nod of thanks and fought with more vigour and defeated the second monster. Cloud saw Desmond watching them as well as keeping an eye on their surroundings. He took care of any extra monsters that wandered in because of the commotion. Cloud noticed Desmond never cared about the monster's names and could not help but sweat drop. And before you know it the fights were over.

Tifa was excited, "That was so much fun."

Ace was searching the monsters, "Just got a few Gil this time."

Tifa, "Yeah, only ten Gil. But hey, my first earning."

Desmond, "Not bad for first fight as a team."

Cloud grinned at that, "I agree! Shall we move on?"

Ace, "Yes!"

Tifa, "Of course!"

Desmond nodded and started to lead them deeper into the forest. Cloud looked around and saw they were in a unused part of the forest. Desmond moved like he was familiar with the place however.

Cloud, 'Huh! Never been here before. I wonder, if Desmond was here though. He's always going to train in the forest.'

Ace, "You're a pretty strong fighter, Tif. I'm very impressed."

Tifa, "Thank you. I saw your fight it was beautiful, like you were dancing. And Cloud, thank you for healing me."

Cloud nodded, "No problem. And I agree Ace what style is that."

Ace grinned at the praise, "I just mixed dancing with my fighting style, mind you I had to experiment a lot before I was actually happy or confident enough to use it in a real fight. It can be pretty exhausting and dangerous if you are not careful."

Tifa, "Dangerous?"

Ace gave a wry smile, "You could end up pulling a muscle or end up tearing a ligament."

Desmond snorted remembering the late night practices they did. Some nights, Desmond was unable to sleep because of certain memories and nightmares. Those nights, Ace would drag him out and they would train together till they were exhausted and ready to drop. Desmond's nightmares varied from Altair's memories of being betrayed, to Ezio's despair and pain in seeing his family being hanged, to Connor watching his village burn to the ground and in worst cases his own death. At one point, two months ago, he had even asked Ace, if he had the ability to erase memories.

Flashback:

It was dark out in the clearing where Desmond and Ace just finished training their hand to hand moves. They had lately made it a habit to train everytime the nightmares struck. It was not often however but it happened from time to time, like once a month.

Desmond sat up contemplating, "Hey Ace!"

Ace looked at Desmond, "Yeah?"

Desmond, "You know the Templars used you to mind control others right."

Ace hissed, "Don't remind me. Their bloody audacity and arrogance still pisses me off a lot."

Desmond laughed bitterly, "Yeah, they were one of a kind huh? Anyways, I was asking if you knew how to block or erase some memories."

Ace looked at Desmond seriously, "I advise you to never ask for that. Erasing someone's memories is not as simple as it sounds. And I have absolutely no idea what part I'm erasing."

Destiny looked at him, "What do you mean?"

Ace sighed taking a stick and making criss cross on the ground, "Memories are not a singular structure. They overlap each other. Some more than others. If suppose I erase a small part here then it'll cause the entire memory to collapse. I may erase something very basic and important like how to walk or eat or something. Also, you would not be you anymore."

Ace then spoke quietly, "I resisted them a lot, you know? Everytime they tried using that ability. I hated it. A lot of people have so many beautiful memories."

Desmond gave a smile, "Ah! Well, figured I could ask though. Thank you, Ace!"

Ace looked at his brother, "Don't mention it. Also we are in this together right?"

Desmond smiled back at him, "Yes."

Flashback end!

The two of them had returned home late that night to find their Aunt waiting for them. She had not said anything just gave them an understanding look before ushering them to wash up and go to sleep. It had been a few weeks since that talk and Desmond could honestly say he was very relieved he was not alone in this world. The group came across three grasshopper like monsters in the next clearing.

Desmond stopped them, "A few monsters ahead. Unlike the previous ones these are fast and have sharp blades."

Ace crouched down, "So what's the plan?"

Desmond, "Cloud and Tifa you attack from the front Ace and I will attack from the back. Don't let your guard down, these buggers are fast."

Cloud nodded, "Got ya."

Tifa, "Ready, when you are."

Cloud held the blade he had started to use tightly while Tifa readied herself to attack. Desmond and Ace went around to attack from the back. They gave Cloud and Tifa the signal and they burst from the foliage surprising the monsters but not much to catch them off guard. The two of them killed two monsters by slicing their head off. Cloud's blade clashed with one of the monster's blade while Tifa engaged a another monster in a fight. As one more was about to attack, Ace and Desmond attacked with a Fire and a Lightning ball frying it to a crisp on the spot.

Ace moved to help Cloud while Desmond moved to help Tifa. The two of them were holding their ground quite well despite fighting with a stronger monster. Ace used another fire attack in the shape of fire stars to weaken the monster while Cloud gave it a final attack. Desmond in the meantime, took out his blades and swiftly cut off the monsters limbs while it was focused on Tifa making it easier for her to punch the monster unconscious. Desmond then killed another one of the monster using his blade and the battle ended.

Tifa sat down, "Phew! That was exhausting."

Cloud who had laid down, "No need to tell me."

Ace searched the monsters, "No materia yet Tif, but we collected around two hundred Gil from all of them and I'm not sure from where it got this phoenix feather. Here's your fifty Tifa."

Tifa perked up at the money, "Cool, but a phoenix feather? You sure?"

Cloud and Tifa looked at the feather Ace held out in awe. There was not much available out in the Nibel mountains or forest. So to see an item like a phoenix feather was pretty rare treat.

Tifa mumbled, "Ah! You guys really have the weirdest luck ever. I don't know, whether to be exasperated or weirded out."

Cloud, "Welcome to my life."

Ace and Desmond laughed at that statement before turning to follow another path. Both Tifa and Cloud got up and followed the two away from the clearing they were just in, excited about the next adventure.