The Apprentice Assassin (Complete but editing) MxM

"How would you like to make a martyr of your father, instead of just another casualty of the Flara's cruelty?" The man behind me asked, slinking into the alleyway behind them.

"M-My father?" I asked, choking on my breath as his eyes bored into me. The other robed man quickly made his way into the alleyway we were in. "What does my father have to do with any of this?"

The mysterious man took in a soft breath before stepping away. "He has nothing to do with anything, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to die for you. You attacked a Flara recruiter team, people saw you running from them and marked you a thief. You're alive, and their entire party is dead. What does that say about you?"

"That I have really good fighting skills?" I responded in a weak voice as the picture of my dad laying dead in his chair came to mind.

The second robed man let out a short laugh earning him a glare from my master. Turning his attention back to me, his penetrating gaze seemed to pin me to the wall. "No, that's not what I was trying to say. No one local can take on that many people alone, that's why the Flara picked this town. The only people who could take on such a group are people who are trained to fight. If you've been trained by somebody who isn't them. Well then you must be an enemy, or worse a sympathizer for the Mantine Order..."

"The what now?" I asked, confused as the second man began looking around the alleyway. "I'm not a sympathizer for any cause. I'm just a horrible thief who's trying to help keep his father alive. This damn plague has been keeping him from working, and that means he can't buy medicine."

"Well on the bright side, your father won't be suffering from the plague for much longer!" The second man said in a cynical tone earning him another dirty look.

"Shut up," My master ordered in the same cold tone that he had used before attacking the guards. Holding his gaze, the man brought his head closer to my own and lowered his voice until it was barely a whisper. "This is your decision to make little one, but what I can tell you with certainty is if you stay here you will die. Your father is probably dead already, but you can still make a martyr of him. If you come with us..."

I opened my mouth to argue when a gust of wind blew his hood back, revealing his face. His eyes were blue, darkened with the large hood still shadowing him. They looked like a turbulent ocean that had just grown still. He had a short stubble of beard hair, giving him a masculine warrior persona. His nose at one point was sharp, but years of fighting had turned it into an angled mess, and his lips had curved down into a stern grimace. "Wh-who are you?" I stammered as he quickly pulled the hood back forward, extinguishing the visible portions of his face.  I tried to keep looking into his eyes, but I couldn't see them. I felt my heart beginning to pitter weakly, and I couldn't help but look down at the ground.

"I am an assassin." The man replied before taking another step towards me. "My name does not matter, for I am expendable. What matters now is you have to make a choice. Do you leave this alleyway now, and die alongside your already dead father? Or do you come with us, and join a group who are doing what needs to be done to protect this country before it's too late?"

The seriousness in his voice sent shivers down my spine. I didn't have an answer for him, what could I say? Nothing I could have said would do justice to the feelings that silenced me. A few moments passed, but it felt like an eternity before the scraping of boots behind me shook me from my stupor. Looking over, I noticed the robed man's partner had begun climbing up the wall beside them. "H-how do I know if I can trust you? You saved my life sure, but you look like your part of a, a cult or something!" My mind froze, and I watched him sigh through pursed lips. I felt fear grip in the pit of my stomach as he took a step towards me. "I mean, I'm sure it's a great cult, but I-"