Artwork from the Water

[Catone[Inactive]]

There. No one could possibly resist his challenge. "What is greater than God, more evil than Lucifer, needed by the rich, possessed by the poor, and once eaten, you die?"

Catone waited the answer. This was probably the toughest riddle ever conceived, which is why he often saved it for last. Muscles worked as the gondola continued cutting through the canal. Things had slowed down now. It was nearing lunch and passerby were heading indoors to eat. Staring at the woman, he began his whistle again and gave her time to think.

Softly, his tune echoed through the canals. For a moment, all of his troubles faded away. It was just him and this strangely endearing courtesan. No secret war, no outside woes. Just... nothing.

[Rosa Giovanno]

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, contemplating. Greater than God... the rich need it... if you eat you, you die. It just didn't make any sense to her. She closed her eyes and listened to his tune, as if the wordless notes would give her some kind of clue. No. Nothing. Rosa bit the inside of her cheek and looked at the floor of the boat. More evil than Lucifer... it just didn't click in her head. She could feel him watching her, waiting for an answer that wouldn't come.

"Alright, Gondoliere, you win." she sighed, giving up. "What is it?" She watched his arms tense and relax as he propelled them further along the waterway, and then her gaze shifted, wondering where the artists shop could possibly be. She wanted to hear the end of this riddle before they reached it, though. And this funny but frustrating gondolier was putting more questions in her head than answers now, which she would seek on the ride back, as she would employ him again to take her as close to the end of the city as he could. He was charming, and off-setting. Confident and nervous. Forward, and discrete. He seemed about as confusing as his final riddle. And Rosa wanted to know the solution.

[Catone[Inactive]]

Really? She was giving up? Catone let out a surprised murmur before he gave the answer. "Nothing."

Passing a church, he gestured lazily. "The priest would have you believe that there is nothing greater than God and that Satan is the epitome of evil."

Nodding to a nobleman walking alongside the canal, he continued. "Rich people have need for nothing. And the beggars have too much of it."

His stomach growled. Laughing at the timing, he smiled at her. "If you eat nothing, you'll die sooner or later."

Catone steered the boat nearer to some stairs. Pulling it to a stop, he calmly pointed to a shop across the square he docked at. "Petrucci's Paintings. This is your stop, Bella. Unless... You wish to hire my services again?"

It was a statement said rather as a question. Hopefully, she would like transport back. Catone rather enjoyed her presence.

[Rosa Giovanno]

Slowly she nodded her head. It made sense now that he said it, now that she saw it. For a riddle, it fit the bill. But in application she knew it wasn't true. There were many things the rich still needed, things money and power couldn't buy. And as far as 'more evil than Lucifer' was involved, Roma ran a very close second. The poor had only close to nothing, but what they did have, they were thankful for.

"Thank you, Gondoliere." she said, and retrieved the full twenty-five florins from her pouch and paid him for his work. "And yes, please, if you wouldn't mind waiting just a few minutes. I'd like you to take me as close to the city gates as you can." She let the opportunity to flirt with him again pass her by, feeling she had already exhausted the joke. And although she was calm again now, he flirtatious attitude had also passed, replaced by a curiosity about a topic than had only been touched at the surface. A topic into which she intended to pry deeper.

Rosa stood carefully and left Catone and his gondola behind, walking the first few steps uncertain in her direction until she spotted the shop of the little old painter. Knocking on the door, he opened it and greeted her, and then moved aside so she could enter the humble building. He was a funny looking man, slightly hunched over and very old. Specs of paint colored his whitish-grey beard. His clothes were worn, but his eyes were bright and young. He set one box of paintings on the table, and Rosa decided to inspect them.

There were beautiful pieces, some done in oils, others in just regular paint. But her favorites were the watercolors, the light flowers and the fields he captured on canvas. There was even one done of Venice, its beautiful city with its most proud buildings, and the water than was ever present in lieu of streets. A little boatman oared along one waterway, a large group of nobles as his passengers. Then she flipped through the next several paintings rather quickly, because their images made even her blush. Those, she knew, were for the more private rooms in their little house. And to be left hanging on the walls if there was ever a fire. She moved them to the very back of the box, and paid Mr. Petrucci. When she tried to lift the box, though, he stopped her. "No no no, I've got it." he said, lifting the heavy thing himself and following her out of the shop. For an old man, he certainly hadn't lost all of his strength.

She led him back towards the steps to the water, but paused for a moment as they passed another little shop. Bidding him wait for just a moment, he set the box down and she went in quickly and came out a minute or two later with a small, fresh loaf of bread. Then they continued slowly, to Mr. Petrucci's pace, until she was back at the gondola. He put his precious work carefully into the center of the boat, and bid them farewell.

Sighing inwardly, relieved to have her purpose completed, but sad to have to be leaving back to Rome, she carefully climbed back into the boat, taking Catone's arm again as she had before so she wouldn't fall. Then she handed him the bread. "For your 'nothing' problem." she smiled.

[Catone[Inactive]]

Catone had watched her leave with a somewhat wistful air as he pocketed the money. What was wrong with him? With a sigh, he grabbed the knife and wood under the seat. Waiting wasn't as long if you had a project. The gondolier sat and whittled with a whistle.

Every now and again, he would look up for her arrival. It didn't necessarily take too long for her to return, an older man trailing behind her. Looks like even elders tried to impress a beautiful lady, he surmised with a glance at Petrucci's shaking legs and trembling arms.

Surprised, Catone accepted the bread with a pleased chuckle. "My thanks, Bella."

Depositing the half-finished carving back under the seat, he dipped his blade into the waiting waters to clean it and expertly cut the bread in two. "A 'nothing' problem that everyone shares."

The Assassin tossed her a half and grabbed his oar, his own snack held in his mouth. Around the loaf in his teeth, he spoke. "To the gates?"

[Rosa Giovanno]

"You're welcome" she said, and thanked him as she tossed half of it back to her. She hadn't been expecting that, and hadn't known she was hungry until she took a small bite of it, nibbling at it leisurely. She smiled when he spoke with the loaf in his mouth, slightly muffled by the food. "Yes, to the gates. But take your time and eat if you want, I'm not in a hurry to leave your beautiful city." she said, savoring her final sights and sounds of Venice before she would depart for Rome in whatever short time they would arrive at the gates. There, she would reluctantly travel with a horse-cart driver back to the capital.

"As it happens, anyway, I thought I might ask you some questions." She said, making herself comfortable and draping her arm across the back of the seat, leaning on it and crossing her legs at the ankle, where her feet rested against the box of artwork in the middle of the boat. Rosa was quite for a minute, thinking of how exactly she would phrase her questions, so that he wouldn't be able to avoid the answer but wouldn't be too put off by the thing itself. He was, after all, like no one she had ever met before. "Tell me, where does a gondoliere like yourself learn phrases about what you mentioned earlier, about what is true and what is not?" She asked it casually, but truly she wondered. No one picked that phrase up unless they had met someone or were themselves involved in the Brotherhood.

[Catone[Inactive]]

Taking her advice, he sat down once he had pushed them away from the sides of the canal. His gondola floated away as he chopped down. "Oh? Questions?"

There were was really one way he could answer while seeing her own allegiance. It would be confusing, but hopefully it would work. Catone shrugged and stood back up at his post, finishing the last of his small snack. "The Creed is something I familiarised with when the men who followed it almost killed me."

Technically, he was telling the truth. After the whole incident with the mistaken identity, he was recruited. Now, it was time to see her reaction. If she should welcome him, she was a Templar. And she would die.

[Rosa Giovanno]

Her spine went cold, and it spread instantly through her body. Her shoulders stiffened. Though she tried her best to keep smiling, it too slowly slid from her face. Instinctively she untied her fan from her waist and started fanning herself again, the metal tips shimmering only faintly in the sun. She was no Assassin, she didn't have it in her to commit murder herself. Rosa was a lover, not a fighter. She didn't have the strength, or the discipline, or the emotional rigidness it required. But she admired those who did, and assisted them in all the ways that she could. Her fan was only a gift - a tool of self-defense given to her by one devoted Assassin customer, a tool she had never actually had to use.

She clutched it now in her hand, her movements brisk and short. The air she actually did move towards herself was minimal. Her jaw set in a way that may have betrayed how incredibly pissed off and disappointed she was in the Gondoliere. And here, she had begun to like him. But still something gnawed at her, something that just didn't fit the bill. He was a puzzle, truly he was. This was just another stupid riddle. And she worked her mind around what he had said.

It was true that she would never say anything to betray the Assassini or any of their creed. But when it came to her self-interest, she had little care. And when it came to times when it would be better if she would just bite her tongue and bear it, Rosa had a very big Italian mouth, compliments to her life in Roma. Especially when she was pissed. Her eyebrows narrowed at him and then went higher on her forehead, almost mockingly. He had insulted her. It was difficult to insult a whore, but he had managed to do it. "How dare you, Gondoliere?" she said coldly. "Here I had thought better of you. But do not lie to me. What kind of man are you to tell such blatant lies to a lady? To me?" Subconciously she had stopped fanning herself, and just held it there in her hand. "I asked you where you had learned your phrases. If the Assassins had wanted you dead, you would be dead. And they wouldn't have spilled out the lines of their creed to a gondolier!" She huffed, and scoffed after she said it and looked away from him. There. She had said it. How stupid did he think she was?

[Catone[Inactive]]

A pleased smile broke out on his face. Her initial shocked fear had told him enough. Peals of laughter burst from behind his lips. Scoffing in mock hurt, Catone jokingly placed a hand against his heart. "You hurt me, Bella! I'm many things, but a liar and a simple gondoliere I am not."

He sat, laying his oar across his legs with a rougish grin. "When I said they tried to kill me, they didn't know who I was. It was a misunderstanding."

Leaning back, he visibly relaxed. "That was how I first met the Brotherhood. From there, my relationship with the Creed became more personal."

His left hand came up, showing her the scar on the bottom of his ring finger. It was one of the only reminders of the old days. That, and his hidden blade under the seat. Suddenly, he jumped up, rocking the gondola. "Let's get you to the gates."

Before his oar hit the water, he paused. "I am sorry. Had to make sure. After all, you're not the first beautiful face to house a Templar."

[Rosa Giovanno]

She bristled when he broke into laughter. Really? Really? Rosa failed to see anything funny about the situation, and only glared at him further, crossing her arms in contempt.

But when he sat down and explained himself, she relaxed a bit, but her face remained until he apologized. "Yes, well, I suppose that's acceptable." she said grudgingly, and forgave him despite her stubbornness. It was still difficult to conceive how the Assassins could make such a grave mistake. Their work was so thorough, and they protected the innocent. They weren't careless. She looked at him. Well, she supposed, they didn't actually kill him, after all. He was alive, so no rule was technically broken.

Tying her fan at her waist again, she continued her questions. It was clear to her now that he was indeed an assassin. No one could take a blade like that from one of them while they breathed, and it was highly unlikely that he had managed to kill one and take it from his body. But she asked him now with a new respect, leaning forward casually to talk to him. "So, what made you join?" she asked, finishing off the last of her bread.

[Catone[Inactive]]

That was an interesting question. Settling into silence, he began reminiscing to deduce something he didn't even know himself. Memories flooded his mind. Aching bones and a panicked guy sitting across from him. Another stroke of the oar.

Joining in some training out of boredom. Learning how to throw a knife and the satisfactory clunk of the blade embedding in the wooden target. The day when he was free to go, but he didn't. It was actually a pretty cloudy day, almost raining he remembered. Everyone was saying goodbye to the guy who was only there for his own safety. As he reached for the door, he stopped. Catone remembered the question that sprung from his mouth and the response that answered it. He punted further along the canal. "Home."

Not waiting for her questioning stare, he launched into an explanation. "I really had nowhere else to go. They had taken me in when I was in trouble and took care of me. Granted, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been in danger, but I digress."

Distant, he surmised more to himself than to her. "Most join up because of morals or the cause. Sure, I agree with it, but the main reason I'm here is because I felt like I belonged. Ever felt the need for that, Bella? Just to be wanted for no reason other than you?"

Another chuckle. "I'm scared to think where I'd be if the Templars found me first."

As the gondola sliced through the water, he trailed off into his own thoughts for a moment. It was a scary prospect that haunted him from time to time. Was his allegiance to the first comer? Something of his nightmares, really. "And you, Bella? How do you know of the Brotherhood? I doubt you're the killing type."

[Rosa Giovanno]

A quiet understanding formed within her as he explained, and she decided not to press into him the questions that popped into her mind. Where was his family? Where was he, that he would be so near to someone targeted by the Creed? The rest of his story made her wonder how loyal he truly was to them, then, if he had only joined because they took him in. But when he flipped the question on her, she understood.

Of course she had felt the need to belong, to be wanted just because she was Rosa. Look who he was asking, a courtesan. She thought of her sisters at the Blooming Rose, the strange little family they had accepted her into. They were a dysfunctional group, but who wasn't? And they took her in when she was on the streets, showed her how to support herself and make money. And, as was her job, she had become wanted 'just because she was Rosa', but wanted by those who didn't truly care. And yet, she had found something better. Her little misfit family wanted her simply because she was one of them, another rebel child fallen under the feet of the city. She gave no verbal answer to his question, just a quiet nod as she listened to the rest of his words.

"You would have seen what filth they are." she said, speaking from experience. She had met many from both sides of the divide, and enough to show her the clear cut difference in human beings they were. Some of the Templar men were gentlemen, she would admit. But their ideas and the way they talked were so far-fetched, no sane person would believe such lies. And the majority of them were simply pigs. The assassins, on the other hand, protected their brothel from those who were too vile even for women of their standing. It was a symbiotic relationship. The assassins protected them, and the courtesans provided information, stealth, and shelter, among other things.

"It's one of the perks that comes with the job." she joked, but truly it was a blessing that she had met the Creed through her work. They were among the only things that gave Roma its redeeming qualities. No, they were the redeeming quality of Rome. They were like humble heroes in the dark. "We protect each other. Our two factions go hand-in-hand. We provide the intel, our discretion and our protection. They provide the blade, the security and the relief." she said. "And no, I am not a killer. But it is good to have friends who are." A smile spread slowly over her lips, as it did before she told her jokes. "And killers make the best lovers, anyway." she chuckled at her own crude humor, because laughter was the only thing a woman so low as herself could do. To make light of things. The other options and outlooks would only drag them down.

[Catone[Inactive]]

He didn't voice the suspicion that he wouldn't have seen. It would give her some small satisfaction that he guessed she needed.

What a morbid sense of humour. Good thing that he held the same kind of sentiment for darker jokes and joined in her revelry. "I am no love expert, but blades is something I'm completely familiar with."

It wasn't unheard of for the Brotherhood to work with various groups, although Catone rarely dealt with them as he was just a good an information handler as any thief. Crossing the Grand Canal once more, he nodded at a figure running across a far rooftop. "Speaking of friends."

In a flash, the figure disappeared. "Probably off to take care of some job. Lately, the city has been in great shape. Most of us here have to travel to other areas of the world and the farthest I'm willing to go is Italia's borders."

Turning his attention back to her, he questioned, "and where do you hail from?"

[Rosa Giovanno]

The fact that he appreciated her joke pleased her. The fact even that he hadn't just scorned it was enough to make her grin just a little bit more genuine. "Oh?" she said, and then bit her tongue. She wasn't about to tease him for having morals she wished she had. If anything, it was respectable.

She watched the assassin go as he pointed him out. He was like a flash, gone in an instant as if he hadn't been there at all. Rosa smiled as he disappeared, wondering where it truly was that he was going, knowing all too well the gruesome terrors that the men launched themselves into. She could never do it, but she was happy to contribute what little she could.

"The borders of Italia?" she repeated him. "If I were you, I would never leave the walls of this city." But work was work, and duty was more important in this world than leisure. She understood why the Assassins would be needed elsewhere. Where this city surely had some underlying flaws of its own, as all cities did, Rosa wasn't in a hurry to discover them. As a visitor, it was so nice just to enjoy the wonders it had to offer.

"I am a Roman." she said with sarcastic pride. I am a product of the city itself, she mused to herself even further. Look at me, look at what I am, and how much I hate Rome; how much I love Rome. You would see the city itself. In all of its turmoil and despair known only to its true inhabitants, hidden behind the facade of glory and splendor it bore to the world. "And you? Have you always lived here, rowing and reciting riddles for the citizens from these waters?"

[Catone[Inactive]]

Stay in Venezia? If only he had that luxury. No, as an Assassin, he does as needed and goes where he's directed. The Assassins aren't some thugs you hire, but rather a group of concerned citizens.

Roma. Catone remembered the city without any fondness. Too many bandits or nosy guards. Plus, the vast size of it confused any non-locals. It certainly made his job a lot harder whenever his mission led him there. Suddenly, a small memory surfaced. "Any way you're associated with the Rosa en Fiore?"

Giving a small chuckle, he nodded. "Born and raised on these canals. Not always rowing though."