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I miss video games

Who: Errybody
What: HOT SPRINGS: HOT SPRINGS EDITION
Where: Hot springs. Different hot springs. Not the hot springs that turned everyone into six year olds.
When: March 25th - March 29th
Warnings: Cursed springs. Sex swapping.

Right outside the resort is the main attraction, a collection of natural hot springs, separated by gender with a co-ed spring in the middle. Despite it being late March, there's still a dusting of snow on the ground, making the warm springs all the more inviting.

If the main resort area is too crowded for you, there are whispers of a secluded, private spring down a secret path. It's supposed to be very nice--if you can find it.

title or description

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When Connor was told everyone was going on a trip out of blue, Connor had no idea how to feel.

What?

Everyone was taking a trip for leisure? Now??

WHY?

Connor didn't want to have any part of this. He would've vocally expressed on how much he didn't want to go and how ridiculous it was.

...Until someone (can be whomever), would force him to get on that damn bus and lighten up. Killjoy, thy name is Connor.

He stayed quiet and kind of unsocial until they reached the destination. He skipped the hotel for now, and instead surveyed the place.

...The resort was...nice?

And there were hot baths here that admittedly took Connor's attention. The warmth of the water beckoned him, and he would soon learn that it would soothe him so well.

But he was unsure if he wanted to bathe right now. That is, until he found an empty spring deep in the resort as he almost aimlessly explored.

Huh.

...

...

After looking around, he took off the clothes he came with and hopped right in.

He was right to assume this would soothe him. It felt...so good. The heat calmed his muscles and his nerves seemed to leave him.

He closed his eyes and drifted off a little even...this felt, nice.

It will take just a bit for the, ahem, effects to get a hold of him. Care to join him?

Eventually...HER??

The air was getting warmer and stickier as Haytham neared the springs. Odd, considering he was walking through snow, until he saw the source of the steam and understood. He quietly approached the heated pool, thinking maybe he could at least use the water to get some of the blood off of his ruined clothing, but stopped at the edge when he realized he was not alone. He blamed the heavy steam for keeping him from noticing sooner, but there was a naked woman resting in the water. He nearly turned away out of courtesy, but something made him look again at that woman with dark skin and freckles and--

Oh no. No. That's impossible.

Haytham stepped closer to the water, his heart pounding anxiously. Impossible. She still looked so young. It couldn't be Ziio. She was dead. He hadn't seen her die, but he could imagine her burning with horrific clarity. So was he now imagining her alive? Was the blood loss finally getting to him? Or had she come back... the same way he had?

The sight of her just lying there with her eyes closed pained him. It had been decades, and her hair was different, but he still knew her features. He had to say something, but he hesitated.

"I thought you--... I... I'm so sorry, I know you do not wish to see me... but, please, just a moment..." he stammered in a rush, standing there awkwardly in his blood-drenched clothes.

Edited (oops somehow missed that yours was prose, so fixing mine to match) 2013-03-26 13:14 (UTC)

Connor was indeed drifting off into near sleep (bad Connor, bad). The sound of a voice woke him up from his almost unconscious daze.

But it wasn't the kind of voice waking you up that would make you just stir about. No. This one voice made Connor jolt up awake. He heard a voice.

That he should not be hearing.

His face wasn't looking up at him yet. Was the relaxation the spring was giving him getting to his head? That was when he got a good look at himself.

That was when he jumped out of the pool, his heart racing a thousand beats a minute. What...w-what...

"What had happened to me??" Connor exclaimed outloud, his face showing more anger than fear. Even though he was hella scared right now at what just happened. His voice had even changed. His hands. His body. He was...

Oh...OH NO. Connor took another second to gaze at himself again in the pond, he...he looks like...

He can't claim to remember how she look all the way, but he did know that...that face, these eyes...he looked like...

When that stone hit the bottom of his heart, that was when he looked up.

To see this man covered in blood.

"Y...You..."

No. This cannot be. This. Cannot....

He was. NO.

Okay, forget about his new womanly figure for just one second. Amazingly, because something even scarier was standing in front of him.

And Connor, to be quite frank, was not only in denial but his heart seemed to race even faster.

And he cannot show that fear, so his face was showing more of the anger and defiance.

"What are you doing here?"

Connor said, he was seriously demanding an answer.

Haytham mistook her jump from the water as her meaning to flee. He reached out ineffectually with his good arm. "Wait, please."

Was her voice a little different than he expected? Maybe, but he hadn't heard her in 25 years so he couldn't say. Time and a veil of steam hid any signs for doubt.

"Please," he begged again, "don't leave. I only wish to talk."

He reached up to his collar and one-handedly unlatched his cape and mantle, which were fairly clean in comparison to the rest of his outfit, and humbly held them out in offering so she could either cover or dry herself if she wished. He didn't think Ziio was particularly modest, and it wasn't like he hadn't already seen her naked, but it was cold outside the pool.

So many emotions were rushing right now. So much that Connor didn't know what to deal with first.

For one, he could tell it was likely that Haytham didn't recognize him, understandably. Connor doubted if he knew it was his son that had tried to kill him...and as far as he knew he succeeded in doing so, Haytham might not react this way. This was the man whose last words were that he was proud of him, but should've killed him a long time ago. Haytham himself tried to slay him. They were trying to slay each other.

Their father and son relationship. Had been pretty ruined.

Rooting from that same thing was that Haytham probably mistook him for...h-his mother. Connor was so tense inside anyway that he wouldn't tell if another body part got screwy at this moment. If he could notice, his stomach might've churned. But again, it wasn't like it wasn't churning to begin with.

This just cannot be happening. Connor wasn't taking the cape. His clothes he came with were unfortunately behind Haytham. He cursed himself in his mind that he was forced on a trip...and all of his weapons were in his dorm room he just barely got to settle in. He could grab a pointed rock. In fact, he could see one in the spring. He could just rush and grab it if Haytham started to catch on and attack. He was sure, if his bloodied garb was any indication, that Haytham had his weapons. Connor was fast. He can do it. He was sure he can. If not, he can barrel out of here through the trees and find some other substitute for a weapon.

He wasn't going to die here, he just knew that for a fact.

The defiant glare never left him, "Why? You should not be talking. You should not even be here!"

Edited 2013-03-26 16:27 (UTC)

"I know. I know you want me gone, but only listen to me for a moment."

Dejected, he lowered the hand holding the cape. Her anger hurt, but it didn't surprise him. He had no excuses, he couldn't apologize for being part of an Order she despised when he never had any intention of abandoning those dreams. Now her ghost was haunting him.

He started to move forward, but thought better of it and stayed in place. She might run if he approached, and he didn't think he was in good enough condition to keep up, especially if she took to the trees.

"I cannot tell you why I'm here, because I don't know. However, you shouldn't be here either. You were burned to death many years ago. ...If only I could have done something, but I didn't know... I'm so sorry."

Connor made note of Haytham's condition. Now, how did THAT happen? Seriously, Haytham had been dead for two years. Connor saw him draw his final breath. He saw his grave. He saw Lee nearly weep from the loss, and furiously might he note. So why was he injured?

This...doesn't make sense. Connor had collected himself enough to know that it was all nonsense.

Haytham must have been poofed here like himself. But just...how and why?

When he spoke next and spewed his mother's death. Well, there goes those feelings again. This was what he said to him when they were talking while looking for Church. Those words were said differently and in different context, but it was the same message.

He didn't know his village was destroyed. Or that his mother was burned alive.

Connor's thoughts didn't waver since last time. It didn't matter. Washington led the attack. It had been done. After so many years, apologies were far too late.

He wasn't sure why, but that comment just made him angrier. He was wanting to say so much. But was it wise to say what he wanted?

"I am aware of what happened to my own village, and of those responsible," Connor said as he stood right where he was. In a defensive stance though. He was readying himself, ignoring the cold air that just now started to freeze him.

"I am not who you think I am. I know of what your stance on it all was. I heard it all straight from you."

Pause, face becoming more intense.

"I saw her die right before my eyes. As well as you..."

...

"...Father."

Edited 2013-03-26 21:58 (UTC)

"What do you mean?"

That didn't make sense. Now Ziio was talking like Connor? Haytham quieted as he reevaluated the situation. No, really, nothing made sense. He had always been clear of mind, but now he was wondering if he was losing it. Maybe the loss of blood, or strong illusions brought on by his brush with death...

Haytham dropped the cape next to him--she obviously wasn't taking it anyway--and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the same hand. It alleviated some of the pressure behind his eyes. Ridiculous, how raw he felt. He had truly missed Ziio, after all. But what did this all mean?

Well.

To be fair here, you ARE seeing your son for the first time in this weird place in the body of a chick. Who looked like a dead familiar one.

Unbeknownst to either, how exactly weird this place was.

And well, Connor wasn't making any heads or tails here either. You aren't exactly alone.

You actually stumped him a bit, as he isn't sure how to even explain.

"...I am Connor."

Well, this. This just now got super weird. Somebody. Anybody. Send help. Anger didn't go away though, but now confusion is mixing in and now it's just worse here. He wondered if an explanation was really in order on his end. Or not. Or. Maybe he's still super pissed at the man in front of him.

Or...Or...

"That's not possible. You're..." Okay, deep breath. Maybe he was losing his mind, maybe it IS Connor, and he's seeing him all wrong. He was seeing his son. ...As Ziio. ......Naked.

"Do you expect me to believe such nonsense?"

Now he had to get closer, to confirm for himself and shake away the illusion. Frowning with his gaze fixed on "her" face, he walked around the edge of the pool, moving closer at a cautious speed, one hand up with the palm out in a nonthreatening gesture, while the other remained clutched in against his stomach as it had been this whole time.

OH...OH NO.

No. No no no no no no. Connor did NOT give Haytham permission to get closer. He was starting to see this as a threat. A terrifying threat.

Connor's hands motioned defense as his injured father got closer to him.

"You keep your distance! I mean it!"

He went in the opposite direction. He was DEFENSELESS. This didn't bode well. Suddenly, that pointed rock was looking better and better.

"Ziio--"

The name came automatically, even in his confusion. He was starting to get exasperated by the mystery. He couldn't focus with all the steam drifting between them, but what could he do? He stopped his pursuit and stood still on the bank of the spring, waiting.

"...Look, if what you say is true-- if you really are Connor... then, you should understand."

Haytham rubbed his neck, smearing blood away. There was a mark, a pink scar, but not anything like a gash or hole. It looked... healed, despite the presence of somewhat fresh blood.

"You would understand that we have unfinished business, thanks to your sloppy aim."

The truth was that Connor's aim was perfectly lethal, and he had even thought so at the time. But how else could he explain his own life?

Edited 2013-03-27 02:44 (UTC)

Mockery.

Now we were getting somewhere.

We were getting to that place Connor felt they HAD to go but he didn't WISH for it. He didn't wish for any of this. Angered more and now insulted, Connor lashed back.

And officially, he went and quickly snatched the pointed rock from the spring as if in reflex.

"That is what is impossible. You died. You gave no breath. Lee held your funeral."

And please tell me he's STILL DEAD.

"Obviously I'm alive, don't you think?" he snapped, watching carefully.

He was starting to believe in his identity now. Such stubborn impudence could only belong to his son.

"What are you doing with that stone? Don't you have a blade lying around here? Really, I can wait while you get it."

Haytham stood his ground. He sighed, almost leisurely ejecting the hidden blade from his uninjured wrist, and held the metal out so Connor could see it. Even with his words, Haytham did not look thrilled about this. What madness was it to draw a blade against a woman with her face? He had never felt a weaker resolve against all his targets than this.

"I hope you are aware that you will never get the same chance at my throat again, much less with a piece of rock. You only insult me if you think I'm that easy."

Edited 2013-03-27 03:11 (UTC)

The metal from the hidden blade shone even through the fog of the springs.

Connor was right to assume Haytham had his weapons and he was also right to assume that this rock he held was a stupid choice, yet the only one he had.

This was where Haytham was right, Connor might as well have had nothing. His only chance was to leave and find something else. Close enough to his clothes now, he swiped them. Now he won't freeze. Or at least, freeze less.

"Yet I am not the one wounded, Father."

Cool, there is a tree. Hello, tree. An escape route. Let's see what Haytham does though.

Edited 2013-03-27 03:19 (UTC)

"A minor hindrance," he corrected, as if the inability to use one arm was only an annoyance.

Now that he was no longer looking at Connor like his former lover, he started to wonder if this is what it would be like if he had a daughter. Now that he was looking for it, he thought he could see some of the Kenway line of features in that face, and not just Ziio's.

He continued standing, waiting for Connor to make the first move. Normally he would do it himself, but he had to reluctantly admit to himself that he just didn't have the heart to slice his blade at Connor while he looked like his mother.

That may or may not be your downfall. There was only one feasible thing to do right now.

Rock, we may have had our differences, but you must not fail me now.

The moment Haytham's face went into view, the rock was hurled at it like a pro ball player.

And whatever window he had, he went for the tree. He tried to take advantage of his father's wounds and make a break for it in a way in which it was hard for him to even follow in perfect health.

Since he was watching Connor, it was simple enough to duck aside from the rock, letting it splash back into the pool behind him.

"Really?" he sighed loudly, withdrawing his blade and reaching for his pistol in the same movement. He pointed it at the backside of the retreating figure in the trees.

...And sighed again, lowering it without firing. Not just because he was seeing Ziio, but because his son deserved a little bit more than a shot in the back.

He expected they'd see each other again before long anyway. Maybe they would then both be better prepared, and could face each other more honorably with blades.

When he couldn't see sign of Connor anymore, he shook his head and turned back towards the pool, simply standing contemplatively with his better hand behind his back.

Thanks a lot, Connor. Now he'll be thinking about Ziio for a long time today.

Stupid...stupid...stupid

Just as he was about to get out of sight, Connor caught Haytham's pistol on his peripheral.

But...he didn't shoot. Why...why not?

Connor was the perfect kill, he knew he would be. He had nothing, he regretted not having anything and having to resort to desperate measures as he did. It was humiliating for an Assassin. Never again. Never was he going to get himself be taken away on a useless trip at least not without having anything.

It was also inevitable...they might run into each other again. But the better question was, was Haytham here to stay? How on earth is this going to work out? Connor wanted to believe he was too strong of heart to get emotional about his Father...having to kill him. Kill him twice. But it picked at his heart, he may not even notice it himself.

He's a Templar. The Assassins always fought them.

Were they going to seriously have to fight to the death again? Were his other companions back here too?

Just...so many questions that flared in his mind.

Oh.

Yeah, and this turning female thing was an issue too. Yep.

Next time, Haytham. Next time.

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I miss video games

25th; Secret Springs...eventually moves all over the spring grounds, intital swap and then swap

AC3 spoilers incoming

Ladies and Gentleman..."The Worst Thing Ever" Part 1.

Part 2.

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