Out of place; inspired by the colab ponyfall

My eyes eased open, the bright light of the morning filled my eyes. The sounds of chirping birds filled my ears. I squinted and looked around me. I wasn't in my bed with Twilight though. I don't think I was even in Clinton township anymore. I rubbed my eyes, staring at what surrounded me. Beautiful buildings of reds, browns and whites. Decorated bricks and woodworking. Even people. They all wore strange, old clothing. Loose baggy clothing in mixture of dark colors. Groups of people walking about and enjoying the early day, speaking a language I didn't know and couldn't seem to place.

I looked down to myself with minor surprise. I was wearing heavy wool clothes with some similarity to everyone else, except, mine had been adorned with leather armor of some kind, with old runic symbols that seemed familiar. My clothes held a dark blue color to them and seemed like they were made for some other place entirely. But that wasn't the half of it. Instead of some form of pants I wore a knee length cloth around my legs, made of a heavier wool, in a flannel pattern. A similar material was in the form of a sash around mt torso. I sat on a stone bench.

"Why the hell am I wearing a kilt?" I asked myself.

People walking past began to take lingering stares. I couldn't quite blame them either. I scratched my jaw and found another surprise, my face was soft and felt bushy. I realized I had a small beard too. I stood up from the bench shaking my head.

"Me and the fucking dreams." I muttered.

I walked around a bit taking in the site of all the buildings and their designs. A few men in stand like buildings called out to me, I walked close and looked at the goods they had available. One had what seemed like old swords and other weapons, as well as armor. They all seemed old but in peak condition. Elegant, well made, lethal. Another had a smaller shop that had a few large rolls of fabric and many displaying clothes, along with many belts and pouches. A man behind him was working on some sort of robe. I walked on and continued looking around.

I still couldn't figure out what everyone was saying.

"With those clothes it's pretty easy to spot you amico." A friendly voice said behind me. I turned around to see a man a little shorter than me wearing red and white robes with a hood than ended in a point.

"Well I could say the same about you." I said rolling my eyes. "At least someone here speaks English. Sort of."

"Lucky you then." He laughed. "It is a pleasure to meet you signore" He said nodding.

"And just who may you be?" I asked.

"Ezio, Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. At your teachings mentore." He said bowing.

"Teachings? You?" I asked.

"Si, Gilberto said I had become to attached to these contraptions of Leonardo." He said holding up his left forearm, a decorated bracer around it. "He told me you had plenty to teach me about with my hands."

"I have no idea who you're talking about." I said looking off. "I don't even know exactly why I'm here."
"Dreams."

"Are you sure? I've heard the thieves and mercenaries speak highly of you. They have stories of your skills. They tell me you can kill a man in a single movement of your hand."

"Hey, hey, don't say that sort of thing out loud." I said nervously.

"Why? No one knows of what we are saying." He said gesturing to a few passerby's.

"Right. Hey, wait, how can you anyway?" I asked.

"Oh, a friend of mine, Leonardo, he taught me. He has heard of you as well. He finds your abilities fascinating. Speaking of which, he and one of his apprentices would like to observe us at work and perhaps ask a few questions. That very student was the one who taught him, she's a peculiar girl that one."

"Great." I said sourly, my shoulders sagging. "Fine, fine, I'll teach you. Not like I have anything better."

"Grande, my thanks to you master." He said bowing again.

"I've never heard someone call me that, but I could get used to it." I said perking up. "Tell me more about your friend."

"Certamente, we'll walk and talk. Oh, I almost forgot. Benvenuto to Firenze." He said leading me down the street. "He's an inventor and artist. A brilliant mind he is. Quite a few aspiring youths come to him for teachings. La signorina di Twilight seems perfect. You'll like her just as much."

"Twilight?" I thought. "Figures she'd be there."

"The things he's created, you could only dream of. He's even been working on this contraption that could allow a man to fly."

I snapped out of my thoughts and continued listening.

"He'd gladly allow us the use of his courtyard for practicing."

"As long as no one sees us, I don't care."

"Understood, ah we're here." He said stopping at a fairly small looking building.

He led me to the largely decorated wooden door and knocked. A few light footsteps came from the other side and a man with a red beret and a short beard opened the door with a bright smile. "Ezio, Benvenuto amico mio, entrare. Oh, I see you have gathered our foreign guest." He said looking to me.

"Si, this is Leonardo." He said gesturing to him.

"Hello." I greeted as we walked through the door. I was taken quite aback at the sight of all the unfinished paintings, sketches, diagrams, and models of life.

"Twilight, venire, i nostri ospiti sono arrivati!" Leonardo called into the shop.

"Venendo signore leonardo." A soft, familiar voice replied. A young woman with long navy hair hurried into the room carrying a few roles of parchment. She smiled at our sight. "Ciao signore Ezio," She said nodding to him. "Hello." She greeted to me.

I smiled and nodded.

"Alright, why don't we get to work?" Ezio suggested.

"Uh, sure." I said turning to him.

I followed out to a small courtyard where there were a few training dummies set up. "You go first and I'll watch." Ezio said.

Twilight and Leonardo stood by watching curiously. I stepped up to the dummy and turned it around. "Alright follow my movement." I said placing my hands on the chin and back of the head. "This is quick, but often blood spills from the mouth, so it's not the most optimal." I said twisting.

Ezio nodded and continued watching.

I flipped the dummy back around. "Now this," I said making my right hand a fist. " is something you can use quickly to dispatch a guard, but only in a hurry." My middle and index finger, still bent, extended out. I wound back my arm and punched at the neck, the neck in turn bent a bit and drooped lamely. "You could also use it as a desperate move in a fight."

Leonardo cleared his throat. "Just how much force would be necessary to properly crush the larynx when doing so?" He asked.

"Very little force. That's why it's so lethal." I said turning to him. I looked back to Ezio. "It would take a few seconds to kill the person, but it's quiet and clean."

He nodded. "Bene, I could use that some time."

Twilight quickly wrote down a few notes and went back to watching.

I decided to leave the dummy for this. "Alright, this one is good for knocking someone out but won't kill them. I can't really show so you'll have to get this one on your own. Place your hand to your throat." I ordered.

He placed his hand to it and waited.

"Now moved you fingers and thumb along it."

His hand moved around his throat.

"What you need to do is use you four fingers to hold on like a ledge and push with your thumb. Hold tight and muffle the persons mouth with your other hand and you'll knock them unconscious for roughly an hour. It's fairly quick, quiet and clean, just hide the body and you're good."

"Fascinating." Leonardo said taking down notes of his own.

"Practice for a while and I'll show you more." I said.

He nodded and practiced the neck snap on one of the nearby dummies.

I walked over to Twilight and Leonardo. "So, I heard you had questions?"

"Why yes." Leonardo answered cheerily.

Twilight simply smiled and nodded.

"Since I have time I might as well answer a few."

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Leonardo. "Splendid! I'll get us some refreshments." He said walking off.

"Alright, you're open, speak up now that he's gone." I chuckled.

She smiled a bit. "Not many of mine were, per say, related to this. I was more curious about your home land."

"Alright, ask away."

"Well, I was wondering if I could do a few things while asking them."

"Sounds reasonable" I nodded.

Leonardo came back with a few beakers of wine and a couple scrolls and quill pots. He took seat on a bench and looked up to me smiling. "Could you describe the sound of a human neck vertebrate upon breaking?"

I sighed and thought about it. "Like an old tree branch snapping off."