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Chapter Text

Whenever someone was to get their hands dirty on work no one else in Ionia would take up, they would travel to Weh'le, a place riddled with thieves, assassins and traitors. Most people who ever passed here knew better than to be seen or heard. No one who wasn't supposed to be in Weh'le would find their way to this uncharted town, as it was not on any map, and when you'd ask for directions to it, no one would have any reason to tell you. Shadows, however, always found their way to this quiet port, and with them usually came trouble – either for those who were fleeing Ionia in secret or those who wished to arrive to the land in such fashion. Kayn was perched atop one of the houses overlooking the tavern.

He had entered the town unnoticed, knowing that people usually kept their heads down while walking the streets, making high ground a safe spot for him. Being noticed never concerned Kayn, however it would concern Zed, if he were to hear that one of his students was seen here. Keeping unwanted targets out of Ionia had become the Shadow Order's task in recent years, and Weh'le was their best choke point. The last time he used the port was on a ship setting sail for Noxus to the west, and then once again when he returned carrying a relic that would've certainly caught the attention of many powerful Ionians, had it not been for Weh'le's shroud. And it was that artifact that brought him here once again.

"We should've dispatched the whole group. Now they can go back and bring in reinforcements. Not that I mind more bodies..." a voice spoke from within the artifact, a Darkin weapon that Kayn held firmly in his hand. Its grip was covered in leather strips that concealed the red flesh-like material that made most of the scythe’s body and eventually ended in something that resembled steel, but could never melt or break. In the middle of the weapon’s head, blinked a single bright red eye.

"See that's where you are wrong, Rhaast. Dead men can't fetch more information, and I need more information," Kayn spoke, even though he knew that Rhaast could read his thoughts. Verbalizing their argument made him feel better.

"Did Zed teach you this? It wouldn't surprise me," Rhaast replied.

"You forget yourself, Darkin. There is a reason why I am the one out here, and you are the one trapped there," Kayn said with a bit of snark in his voice.

The scythe was silent, though Kayn could feel Rhaast's disapproval in the depths of his mind. He did not care, however, for the only approval he ever sought was the one of his Master. It was he who first learned of the Navori whispers about the Darkin weapons, and it was he who trusted Kayn to investigate the matter. A solo mission like this was suitable for the successor of the Shadow Order, or perhaps it was because their leader could not spare a whole group on a task that one assassin could do alone.

Kayn's eyes caught a glimpse of a man leaving the tavern, and he sprung into action. He secured Rhaast in his sheath and flung it on his back before sliding down the slope of the roof. The man who just left the tavern, draped in a bright red cloak, was a Yánléi informant who had worked with the order before and Kayn knew he was trustworthy enough - for his sake if nothing else. The information he sought was not confidential, just convenient. The last thing he wanted was sloppy competition, in the form of the Navori Brotherhood, on his hunt. As he approached the bar, he could hear a commotion from within. It sounded like a fight. Perhaps it was luck or instinct that made Kayn side-step at that moment, but he did so just as a man flew straight out of the door, almost ripping off the bead curtain. He raised his brow at the man now lying at the bottom of the wooden steps. Somewhere in his mind, Rhaast seemed rather amused.

"Oh, this will be interesting."

He parted the beads and walked in to find a familiar face fighting off two large men. They were low-end mercenaries from the look of it, some local merchant's bodyguards, and by the outfit on the man that he saw flying out, he could assume that was the merchant. She seemed to have it under control as she had one of them pinned by his arm down on a wooden table, and her foot had just collided with the other man's face as he came for her. Kayn used the moments she was distracted to make his way through the patrons who tried their best to stay out of the young woman's way, as she kicked and punched at her attackers. He sat at the far most corner of the tavern and kept his head low, but couldn't help and watch the way she fought. It wasn't elegant or graceful, she kicked and punched and took a few hits to her face as if she was raised on the streets and not within the high temples of the Kinkou Order. However, Kayn knew better than to dismiss her fighting techniques, as her speed and precision made up for her rowdiness. It was probably the only reason she fended off men twice her size with such ease.

"Well you are enjoying it at least," Rhaast teased.

"No one asked you," Kayn mumbled back to him.

The fight was over quickly as she knocked one of the men out, and the other tripped over himself to run outside. She took a moment to catch her breath and wiped her mouth from the blood, before shouting at the fleeing man.

"You are lucky I didn't have my bag with me!"

Kayn raised his brows and a little smile curled at the edge of his lip. If he was a peasant waving a sword around, he wouldn't want to be in her way either, though he could brag that he has been in this particular girl's way before, which unfortunately went in neither way he hoped it would. Still, he was here for a mission and he couldn't allow himself to get distracted again. He reached for a small crevice in the wall but kept his eyes on the girl while his fingers traced between the wooden planks. The other patrons returned to their idle chatter and the tavern was soon back to the way it was before the brawl. The young woman walked over to the bar and sat down with her back turned to Kayn. This made him think for a moment that he had gotten away with sneaking past her. She told the Vastaya bartender something Kayn couldn't hear, and the Vastaya poured her a drink with a slight smirk on his face. As Kayn was searching for something that should've been waiting for him hidden somewhere in the crevices of the wall, his eyes met the barman's and received a knowing look. This caught Kayn off guard and without any time for him to react, the girl addressed him loudly.

"Looking for something?" she said without even turning around, as she held up a piece of parchment.

"How did you-- Hey!" Kayn got up in a sudden outburst, almost flipping the table over.

"What are you doing here Kayn?" she snarled at him as he approached.

"I go out sometimes too, you know... Akali, was it?" he said, leaning his arm on the bar.

"I find it hard to believe you still don't know my name," she rolled her eyes and took the piece of paper away from him. "Anyway, this is my turf and since you saw what happened to those guys, I'd suggest you get your things and get out of here."

"Well, you see, that's going to be a problem. You have something of mine and I want it back," there was a tone of arrogance in Kayn's voice and an annoying smirk on his face. Akail looked at him from the corner of her eye as she was sipping from her drink.

"Tough luck, you aren't getting it," Akali replied. Kayn tilted his head and looked at all the papers, maps, and notes scattered in front of her.

"What's all this? Looks important," he played coy as he scanned the things before Akali. A letter on the bar bore a familiar seal at the bottom, but he couldn't quite read what it said. Akali pulled all of her papers to the side and stacked them in a messy pile.

"I liked you better when you were desperately flirty and didn't stick your nose in my business," she told him.

"I am versatile," Kayn shrugged, a smug expression on his face as he leaned back on his elbows against the bar. "Now that you mention it, we could make some kind of a deal. Our Masters are not here and we are alone in a tavern, so--"

"You are not hot enough to make this kind of pass at me," Akali let out a mocking chuckle.

"Okay then, let's cut to the chase. I am leaving with that note," his voice grew serious again.

"You tell her Kayn!" Rhaast mocked him sarcastically.

"Nah, you aren't. But you are leaving," Akali seemed unbothered.

"I wouldn't want to fight you over it," Kayn grew impatient and made a weak attempt to intimidate her by raising his voice.

"Yeah, you wouldn't." her lip curled in a smile and she finished her drink.

"Now there's your charm."

"Shut up." Kayn snarled at him and Akali raised a brow, a little weirded out by Kayn talking to himself. She got up and the Vastaya barman picked up the stack of papers, taking them away.

"We could take this outside," Kayn circled Akali.

"I'd much rather kick your ass here in front of everyone," she replied, looking at the Vastaya barman from the corner of her eye as she circled the opposite way from Kayn.

"I don't know if everyone will want to get acquainted with Rhaast. You know, my Darkin scythe, which I am sure you've heard about," he kept his voice low, a grin growing on his face and his eyes fixed on Akali's. If she didn't know better, she would think he is trying to be flirty right now.

"Oh, right, I heard you were like the farm equipment whisperer. Do you only talk to scythes, or shovels and rakes too?"

"I think you should stop talking and either fight her or leave. This is starting to get embarrassing."

Kayn stood there confused, and if someone watched them from the side, they would even assume his posture implied defeat. Akali almost felt bad at the stupid expression on his face. She turned to the Vastaya and signed something with her hands, to which he replied in the same fashion before going to the back room of the bar.

"You just told him to give you your bag?" Kayn asked as if he expected a different outcome.

"Yeah, I mean don't get me wrong, we had a really fun time, but I just don't think it will work out. It's not you, it's me," she added as she saw the Vastaya return with her bag. He threw it at her and she handed him Kayn's note. "Your informant wasn't telling you everything by the way. And since we have a conflict of interests—Bo'lii light it up," she addressed the Vastaya and he threw the note in the burning fire of the oven behind him.

"No—" Kayn almost jumped over the bar when he saw the piece of paper catch fire, but he knew that whatever was on that parchment was gone. He turned to Akali with a resentful frown, but she was already making her way towards the door and out of the tavern. As much as this meeting angered him and set him back on his investigation, he at least learned that they are after the same target which meant that they would cross paths again, but more importantly, that Akali might lead him to more information. Maybe they will finally get the fight that they've been building up to all this time. Bo'lii gave Kayn an annoyed look and his eyes gestured toward the door. Kayn got the message and adjusted Rhaast on his shoulder.

"I don't want to be in your shoddy tavern anyway," he mumbled and walked away. He was going to find the informant and get the information anyway, but it could expose the man to the rest of the town and it was sloppy work. It wasn't how his Master did things. But, it was smart of Akali to slow him down. However she could not walk with the shadows and she did not have a Darkin scythe, so Kayn was confident that he will get the job done without her interfering again.

Across the sea and the valley of blades, high up in the floating cliffs where magic beyond the Ionian's understanding had once touched the land, was a monastery, secluded from the worries and strife of the rest of the nation. And even at such a magical and peaceful place, there were still chores to be done and floors to be swept. A young girl, not even out of her teens, had been working the broom for an hour now, making sure the white hallways of this sword school were clean for the next day. It was her turn to do the job, and a part of her resented every moment she wasn't training with her Master. However, there was something else to this chore, something that disturbed her more than the typical teenage rebellion.

Deep within the halls of the school, there was a forbidden room, locked behind a tall door with scrolls and sigils on it, overgrown by thick spirit vines. A sword school shouldn't have held prisoners, yet whenever the girl walked past this room, the soft pleas of a woman held behind the enchanted door tugged at her heart. Her master, in all his soft and patient wisdom, had warned the girl to not approach this door or try and open it, and out of respect and love for him, she never questioned it. However, she never told him that she can hear the prisoner calling out to her, a secret she only shared with her closest friend. It wasn't that she didn't trust her Master with this, but that she feared that it would upset the woman inside and she would no longer speak to her, something the girl began to find great comfort in during the last few months.

"Has night fallen yet?" the gentle voice with a motherly tone spoke to her from within the locked room as she passed.

"Almost. I have to clean the rest of these hallways before dinner, so I don't know if I can talk tonight." the girl replied.

"I've grown accustomed to this solitude, but I welcome your company, no matter how brief. At least until this... unearned sentence is over."

"Is there no way I can help you?" the girl sighed.

"Not yet, but I am sure there will be a time when your Master will see reason and let me go," the voice added somberly.

"There has to be a misunderstanding… Master Yi would never do this to someone," the girl replied, unsure.

"You believed he wouldn’t exile one of his students either."

"She… left," the girl replied as she stopped swiping the floor "But it wasn't his fault, they argued and she decided to go in the night."

"You put a lot of trust in this man."

"He is my Master."

"His grudge against me is unfounded. If he is to let me go or at least hear me out, he would see my side. I can help him…" the voice told the girl.

"I wish I-- I wish there was something I could do for you. I don't know, it's so hard knowing there is a person trapped here and I cannot help her," the girl sounded sincere, almost teary.

"Do not fret, I will simply wait for the right time. I have you after all. But this has to be our little secret, for now. Until your Master is finally ready to speak," the voice spoke gently and the young girl looked at the door as she was leaning her head against the broom. She nodded a little and continued sweeping the floor. Whoever was locked in there made doubt in her heart grow more and more towards her Master. He claimed that whatever was there was too monstrous, too dangerous for any of the students to even come near – yet this woman sounded sad and desperate. The girl was not sure who to follow – her master or the alluring voice that reached down to her deepest insecurities and soothed them, who understood what was in her heart better than she did? The girl hoped there wouldn't come a day when she'd have to make a choice.

Chapter Text

Kayn could only be guessing which way Akali went since she did have a head start on him. While a side path through the woods, or perhaps even the coast, would make more sense, he figured that she could’ve also taken the main road just to find trouble. He had no interest in following Akali after she made it clear his presence was not welcomed, but unfortunately she was the only one who knew the contents of the note he was supposed to receive. Upon finding the man in the red cloak in Weh’le, Kayn soon learned that the man's Noxian was terrible and the note happened to be in Noxian. Aside from vague directions towards the nearby town and some words here and there, the information did not satisfy him and he decided to trail Akali and have her lead him to his mark. The sun had already set, but Kayn felt most secure in darkness.

However, he didn't have the luxury of a solitary nighttime journey, as Rhaast persistently nagged him along the way, alternating between attempting to ridicule him for his interaction with Akali and trying to seduce him with promises of raw power that could render their investigation efforts unnecessary.

"I hope that once we uncover the identity of these weapons, you won't replace me. I've been nothing but helpful to you," Rhaast feigned hurt as he spoke, followed by a slight chuckle.

"I told you, there are no weapons. It is a weapon. Singular. My informant's Noxian may be rusty, but it served its purpose well," Kayn replied calmly, his tone smug. "I'm surprised they even want you back. They wouldn't have a clue how to handle you."

"And you do?"

"Quite well." Kayn tried to appear confident, but he instinctively traced the scars on his arm. A few months ago, they had only covered his hand and forearm, but now they snaked their way up to his shoulder, growing deeper with each time he wielded Rhaast. The flesh appeared as if it had been rearranged, turned inside out, and then reassembled to resemble a human arm. It bore a vile discoloration, and although Kayn seemed unfazed, the way Rhaast tore through his flesh each time he held him would disturb even the most seasoned Yánléi. It even troubled Zed, although Kayn knew it stemmed more from concern than disgust.

"If the Noxians do find me, don't be surprised if I decide to switch hands, given how difficult you’re becoming," Rhaast sighed, and Kayn glared at the side of the scythe that hung over his shoulder.

"And we're back to bickering. How long was it? Two hours? And here I thought you didn’t want to have a new master," Kayn remarked, almost tripping on something as he failed to pay attention to the road ahead.

"You'd better watch where you're going," Rhaast irritably warned him. Kayn looked down and realized his leg had slipped on a piece of armor. It was a relatively clean leather and wool helmet that seemed to have been recently discarded. Kayn picked it up and scanned the surroundings, searching for any sign of its owner.

"What is it?" Rhaast inquired, unable to see from within his sheath.

"Quiet," Kayn replied as if Rhaast's voice could be heard by whatever danger they might be facing.

Kayn moved forward and he saw a body off the side of the road. He realized they are pretty exposed and quickly made it for the trees and foliage. Carefully, Kayn approached the body and put a hand on it. The man was dead and cold, so whoever passed here was long gone. He made his way through the trees, keeping an eye on the road and came upon the answer to what had happened here. In the middle of the road was a massacre and Kayn could count at least six corpses. Knowing that the assailant was long gone, he approached to investigate.

"I can sense old blood. What have we stumbled upon?" Rhaast inquired. Kayn searched the bodies of what appeared to be ordinary merchants, but the presence of the tattoos and shivs led him to believe that these people were affiliated with the Navori Brotherhood.

"Something of this magnitude couldn't be the work of a lone Noxian. Not without a magical weapon, perhaps," Kayn grimly responded, surveying the scene. The nearby trees bore dents, likely caused by a long blade—probably a sword. Many of the smaller plants had been cleanly cut, indicating a fierce struggle. In fact, some of the deep indentations in the tree trunks suggested that a weapon heavier than a typical sword had been wielded. A fleeting thought crossed his mind that this could have been the work of Akali before he observed the extent of damage inflicted upon the surroundings. She may have been impulsive, but she was also swift and discreet. She wouldn't have left such a chaotic aftermath, and the damage to the tree bark couldn't have been caused by a kama. Kayn searched the area for a while, then pulled Rhaast out of his sheath. Opening the single eye on the scythe, he blinked a few times as if awakening from a long slumber.

"Make yourself useful and assist me in finding any traces left by the attackers—bloodstains, scratches on the tree trunks—anything that can provide us with clues about their possible whereabouts," Kayn instructed, and Rhaast squinted.

"Oh good, I’ve been promoted from a toy to a bloodhound. The things I am forced to do," Rhaast muttered in response, resigned to his fate.

The two of them meticulously searched through the tall grass and undergrowth, but there appeared to be no trace of anyone fleeing in that direction. It was possible that the assailants had never actually fled the scene and simply continued on their way as if nothing had happened. Rhaast squinted as his glowing pupil scanned the terrain, then his eye widened.

"Over there, Kayn. To the right," Rhaast informed him. Kayn initially turned in the wrong direction, prompting a sigh from Rhaast. "My right, not yours."

Rhaast didn't possess a physical body, let alone a right side, but Kayn managed to determine the general area he was referring to. He walked over to the tall grass and noticed the glimmer that Rhaast had spotted. Among the grass lay a well-concealed dagger, incredibly difficult for a human to spot in the middle of the night. Kayn picked up the blade, still stained with dried blood, and carefully examined its sharp metalwork, including the hilt and guard.

"This is Noxian, which means that the man we're after passed through here," Kayn commented as he glanced around, keeping an eye out for any potential presence.

"Then why are we still standing around, Kayn?" Rhaast taunted him. Kayn pocketed the blade, returning Rhaast to his bag. While the dagger had been used in the fight, the deep and savage gashes on the tree trunks and the wounds inflicted upon the deceased were far too severe to have been caused by a small Noxian pocket knife. Kayn was familiar with nearly every weapon, whether Ionian or Noxian, and he knew that something was amiss. Was it a trap, or had a deliberate hint been left for him? Kayn didn't voice his doubts, but Rhaast could slither into the darkest corners of his mind whenever insecurity threatened to smother his confident demeanor. Thus, he did his best to push aside thoughts about the blade. It was going to be a long night, and the path to Bal'koh was even longer.

Kayn and Rhaast arrived at the fishing town during the early hours of the morning, with the sun barely peeking over the sea to the east. At this time, only the bakers and fishermen were seen preparing for the day, so Kayn assumed that anyone else walking around could potentially be their suspect. Instantly, he melted into the shadows, gliding through the walls of a nearby barn and ascending to the roof of a house. Despite the strokes of pink and gold in the sky as the sun rose, darkness still cloaked Kayn, and he preferred perching on higher ground. From his vantage point, he surveyed the area, distinguishing between common folk and noting the more significant locations. Every town had its tavern, a small shrine or temple, a stable, and a market.

Kayn spotted all of these from his rooftop perch, but appeared most interested in the tavern. Not only was it the most likely place for a traveler to visit, but he also noticed some movement in the otherwise empty stable adjacent to it. Recognizing the presence of a human figure, Kayn kept low on the roof, patiently waiting for the individual to reveal themselves. As the sun transformed the cold blues of night into warm morning purples, Kayn caught a glimpse of the figure's legs and sighed in relief. However, that relief was soon replaced by a mischievous smirk as he melded into the roof, walking as a shadow towards the tavern.

If Akali had known what to look for, she would’ve spotted him on that rooftop. She, however, didn’t expect him to actually catch up with her and much less that he would be climbing around – a thing she would surely remember next time. She did not see Kayn when he phased out of the wall behind her, but she felt a chill at her back. It was a good thing he spoke as quickly as he did, because the second his feet touched the ground, Akali was about to strike.

“And who do we have here?” Kayn asked with an amused grin – after which he immediately had to dodge a swing from her kunai.

“You again. Didn’t I show you what will happen if you get in my way?” Akali snarled at him as she pushed the kunai under his chin. He raised his eyebrows and his grin grew wider.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot at Weh’le. You know, when I said that we should collaborate back then, I actually meant collaborate. I think we could work well together, I mean we got this far, right?” Kayn tried his charms, but all he was doing was babbling. Akali on the other hand watched the streets from the corner of her eye and barely paid attention to Kayn’s attempts at flirting with her. Her eyes widened and her pupils turned huge as she spotted something in the darkness far from where they stood.

“Shut up,” she put her hand over Kayn’s mouth and pushed him against the wall to give them cover. He went silent. Not only because he physically couldn’t talk from her palm covering his mouth, but also because this was the first time she put her hands on him, and surprisingly it was not in a fight. As he was trying to make out what she had seen in the distance, Akali moved her hand from his mouth and leaned forward.

“Stay here,” she said and walked away from him.

“Hey!” he shouted after her in a hushed tone and as soon as he took a step after her, he heard the distinct sound of a quiet wind rush made by steel blades, followed by impaling thuds in the wood behind him. She could’ve killed him, but these were not warning shots as he soon realized when he found himself pinned to the wall by several kunai. He looked at Akali, expecting her to say something to him, but she was already gone. He tugged at the blades before he realized they were all going through his pants and Rhaast’s bag. And those were his favorite pants.

“That was pathetic.” Rhaast commented as Kayn was quickly trying to pull the kunai out. It did take him a second to realize that he could just phase through them.

He was free in few moments, but Akali was already long gone. He looked up and made his way to high ground again, phasing through the entirety of the tavern’s height and onto the roof. While he was a skilled master of Shadow Magic, all this shadowstepping took its toll on him as he stood for a moment to catch his breath, watching as Akali disappeared into the treeline far from the village.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Rhaast’s voice nudged him and Kayn sprung into action, jumping with ease from one roof to the other. The sun was already halfway above the horizon and he had no cover of night, however he didn’t need it. If Akali was after this person, that means that it was their target. He followed closely as far as there were roofs for him to jump on and then on foot, merging in and out of the shadows of the trees.

Akali reached a clearing and finally revealed herself to the man she followed the moment he stopped. The older man seemed startled to see her and the way she advanced slowly made him walk back up against his carriage. While for most people the sigil painted in the corner of the carriage's back door would look like the woodworker's seal, Akali knew very well what it meant.

“Starting off early, huh?” Akali boldly addressed him.

“Why-- yes, can’t have the customers waiting,” the man replied with a sweet smile.

“Business is good for-- what are you selling again?” she came even closer.

“Um...fish,” the scrawny man took a step back away from her, his back pressed against the carriage.

“Well it must be the best smelling fish in the whole south, right?” Akali chuckled. Not giving him a warning, she swung her kama at the back of his carriage and broke the lock holding the cargo. On the ground spilled not fish, but dozens of small swords, daggers and kunai. When she looked up at the man, he was tripping over his feet to get away from her. Calmly, Akali approached and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, pulling him up and against the cart.

“I don’t usually give second chances, but I am feeling very nice today, so let’s try this again,” she threatened him, her amusement concealed behind her face mask. The man began mumbling an excuse but both of them quickly turned to the noise that came from the woods. It was a footstep, and then another. Suddenly a man emerged from the shadows, tall and broad, with a brutish face. After him came another man, almost identical, save for his head being shaved.

“I thought you oafs would never come!” the old man shouted at them, his demeanor completely changing. Akali let go of his collar, but she did not back down. What were two men against her?

“We should take care of this first.” the bald one spoke, nodding his head at Akali.

“You are welcome to try,” she replied in a hushed tone and rested her hand on her kama.

“Hear that guys? We have a dangerous one out here?” the man spoke and turned to the woods around them. From the shadows emerged even more brutish warriors like him, Ionian men and women dressed in leather and spikes. Akali could tell they were Navori Brotherhood by the look of them, and she felt confident that she could take the whole group. As they surrounded her, she counted eight and began considering how she would fight off all of them, slowly losing a bit of her confidence.

“Well what is it going to be?” he taunted her once more and she put her hand on her hip.

“Anyone ever told you, you talk too much?” she replied and in an instant smoke embraced her attackers. The Navori drew their weapons and began looking for her, sticking close to each other. The only sound they heard was the flash of steel followed by the thud of a body, and they knew that she wasn’t running. They were now trapped here with her. Every time she emerged even as a shadow, one of them was stuck by her blade and every time they tried to retaliate, they swung their weapons at nothing. The old man grabbed onto his cart and hoped the Navori would be enough to protect him. Akali was too fast, she maneuvered around and even over her attackers with ease, but the smoke was settling and she was out of kunai. Her plan was to grab the old man and make it for the woods, but she found herself in the middle of the group as the smoke began to clear. Taking a couple down was easy with cover, but perhaps now it came down to fighting them head on. A Kinkou trained assassin against a bunch of mercenaries, she should've been able to hold her own.

Then something slashed next to her. It was not aiming for her, but for the Navori that had charged her with his sword. The man dropped to the ground in an instant and only then did she realize the sound the weapon made was not of steel cutting through air, rather it sounded like a demonic scream before it tore the man’s chest open with a violent ripping sound. In this brief second as she tried to gather what she saw – or rather didn’t see – another Navori attacker took a swing at her. She dodged the blow aimed for her head, but his sword cut her across her upper arm and she hissed in pain. Before her attacker could even swing back, her kama already lodged itself in his neck and cut him down. When she turned back at the source of the violent noise, it shouldn’t have surprised her that out of the shadows came Kayn and what she heard was his scythe ripping through the Navori attackers. He gave her a smirk, but he obviously did not expect a hateful glare in return.

The two of them now made a quick work of the remaining attackers and when the smoke finally settled, there stood only Akali, Kayn and almost a dozen of dead bodies. Akali didn’t even acknowledge Kayn’s presence as she made her way towards the old man, who was now cowering next to the cart.

“Game’s over. I'll make you talk by any means,” she said and spun her kama in her hand. Kayn realized she will not get what they need from this man precisely because both of them knew what he was. Before Akali could swing, she found herself disarmed in a second and then with the demonic scythe between her and the old man. She looked at Kayn first in surprise and then in anger, but he spoke to the man before she could do anything.

“As the tree burns, so do we. End the enemy.” Kayn spoke in code.

“Calm is the ocean...before the storm.” the old man replied, “But you are not one of us, Shadow Assassin. I know exactly who you are. Where is your master?”

“I have no master.” Kayn spoke in a calm and almost amused manner.

“If you don’t work for Zed, then what do you want with me?” for the first time since he crossed Akali’s path, the man seemed truly and genuinely scared as the conversation went on.

“I still honor our...patron, despite what happened in Zhyun. And I am after the Noxian who splattered your associates all over the road from Weh’le.”

“So were we before she killed my men. We were gonna track him down to Kosaro--” the man looked at Kayn in desperation, but he just turned to his eyes to Akali.

“Well, then I better take care of our enemy before there are more interference. Maybe you will trust me then.” Kayn replied and the man relaxed, picking himself up from the side of the carriage, knowing that a Shadow Assassin would have no problem taking down a Kinkou. As Kayn swung his scythe, his swing was nowhere near Akali. The tip of Rhaast’s blade impaled the old man in the middle of the chest, his eyes wide and looking at Kayn in disbelief.

“Traitor.” Kayn said quietly before he kicked the man’s body off the weapon and stepped back. It was a task long overdue, but it didn’t hurt that he got the information they needed along the way. However, his accomplice was nowhere to be seen. In the time it took for him to murder the old man, she had slipped in the shadows and made her way to the woods. Kayn couldn’t hold it against her, he didn’t let her in on his plan to trick a former associate and she certainly didn’t appreciate the distraction.

“Doesn’t that make you feel better? The violence, the killing?” Rhaast spoke to him.

“You are going back in the bag.” Kayn replied.

“And here I thought you’d like to know that your friend got hurt. Oh yes she did.” he said almost gleefully.

Kayn looked down at his feet and saw her kama and in the dirt next to it, a trail of blood headed for the woods. He stopped to think for a moment – following her would be against her wishes as they both knew the location of the Noxian now and she made it clear she doesn’t want anything to do with him. A part of him thought that perhaps Akali enjoyed their flirting, but seeing the way she looked at him since they met in Weh’le, he realized she has a good reason to want him gone and he wasn’t going to chase after her. Still, she shouldn't be allowed to interfere with his mission and he had to stop her, even though he wished he could do so without having to fight her. On the other hand, she was injured, unarmed and heading for Navori infested woods. The other part of him could not just leave her like that, knowing that his interference is probably what got her in trouble in the first place. Zed had taught him a lot of things, but it was these small lessons left unspoken that settled in the deepest.

He secured Rhaast on his back, picked up her kama and followed after the bloody trail.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take long before Kayn finally found Akali, deeper into the forest and far away from where they fought the Navori. The blood trail had stopped, but he heard her faint grunts from among the foliage. In a small clearing, secluded among the greenery and hidden from the main road, was a little spring, barely a foot across. There she sat and tended to her wound. Kayn knew better than to assume she didn’t hear him approach, so he didn’t even try walking quietly – rather he made his presence known and approached with arms raised to his chest.

“Took you long enough,” Akali mumbled under her breath.

“You think I want to follow you?” he replied, sounding a little offended.

“Well either that or you are here to finish me off while I am wounded.”

“Not a bad idea to be honest,” Rhaast echoed in his head.

“Shut up,” Kayn told him quietly and Akali glared at him “I didn’t mean you.”

“I mean you can try, why not make it ten dead men today,” she added.

“Listen, I am just here to give you back this,” he took out her kama from the back of his pants and slowly put it on the ground a small distance from her. Akali eyed his every move suspiciously. As he stepped away from her, he noticed how bad her wound actually was – the sword had cut along her muscle and not across, so it was bleeding profusely. The good thing is she wouldn’t permanently lose strength in it.

“Why?” she asked, shaking her head slightly.

“Why what? I mean I can take it back,” Kayn joked.

“Yeah try it,” she rolled her eyes and turned back to cleaning her wound. For a moment she caught a glimpse of his expression when he thought she isn’t looking. The dismissive smugness with which he replied to her, very quickly turned to raised brows in concern as he observed her injury.

“Well then, I hope we don’t cross paths again. It wouldn’t suit someone like me to fight you while you are injured,” Kayn said arrogantly and readjusted Rhaast on his back. He didn’t want to leave her, but he was not in the mood for a confrontation right now. The Noxian they were after was still out there.

“You’d need me to be missing both of my arms to stand a chance.”

"Yeah, okay,” Kayn scoffed.

“Hold on, I am not done with you,” Akali told him and he stopped abruptly, a sly smile creeping on his lip before he turned.

“What?”

“Why are you here?” Akali asked and as soon as Kayn opened his mouth, she interrupted him “No, not the kama or you stalking me. What is your business with the Noxian?”

Kayn frowned a little and watched her body language very carefully. She wasn’t inviting, but when he moved towards her, she didn’t glare at him to move away. Slowly but confidently he closed the gap between them and once he felt he got close enough he stopped.

“Because he is looking for me. I am going to cut his chase,” Kayn told her.

“And the Navori?” Akali asked and Kayn realized she did not know anything that happened at the Zhyun base.

“They are not our allies. I believe they work with no one but themselves.”

“I heard what that man told you Kayn,” Akali was going to get it out of him.

“Master Zed and the Brotherhood have their differences. They don't agree on...some things. Besides, we don’t need ruffians and butchers to get any job done,” he tried not to give her too many details even though he was certain Akali would eventually piece it together. It was better that she didn’t know how badly the Yánléi were doing at the time being, with no allies and no numbers in their order.

“Is that all?” he asked her.

"Yeah. You can go now," Akali replied, and Kayn stood there for a moment. A part of him thought she would ask him to stay when she started this interrogation. Although she had washed the wound, it was still bleeding. From her bag, she pulled out a bandage roll and attempted to dress it herself. Wrapping the bandage around seemed to go well, but she struggled to secure it tightly. The position of the gash on her upper arm made it difficult even when using her mouth. As Kayn watched her, he felt a certain unease in his stomach, something he would later confuse for guilt.

"Let me help you," he didn't ask, he stated, and then knelt down beside her. Akali seemed surprised, but to his amazement, she didn't pull away. Instead, she allowed him to assist her. He tore the end of the bandage in half, pulled it tightly around her arm, and tied it securely. The sight of blood didn't bother him, and he tried to work quickly, yet he couldn't help but be unusually gentle. As much as Akali fought it, the brief display of compassion from him, regardless of his true intentions, made her feel unusually content. A feeling she decided not to linger on. Seeing her bleed, Kayn realized that perhaps it will be difficult to fight or even kill Akali should it ever come down to it. He never felt anything from seeing someone else bleed before.

“I can feel your heart race,” Rhaast mocked him.

Akali pulled her hand away and got up, as if the moment of vulnerability next to him scared her. She circled Kayn who was washing his hands in the spring and picked up the weapon he brought her. For a moment she stood there in silence, glancing between Kayn and the road. Her fixed gaze lit up as if there was fire in her eyes, a cunning idea that popped into her head at that moment, and her lip curled as she looked at him over her shoulder.

“Tell ya what,” she spoke confidently “You know these are spirit woods right? Of course you do, you and your wyrm master are holed up somewhere here. If we want to make it to Kosaro smoothly, it’s best if we travel together.”

“Is that so?” Kayn completely ignored the insult aimed at Zed and asked her smugly.

“Don’t make it weird,” she put her hands on her hips.

“I didn’t say anything,” he got up and casually walked towards her “I mean it’s a great deal, you worry about all of that Kinkou stuff and I will do the killing.”

Akali raised her brow and a grin appeared on her face. Kayn thought for a moment that this was a good thing, but quickly realized that he probably said something wrong. The more she blinked at him the more he figured out that he definitely said something wrong.

“You are incredibly talented at making me regret things faster than I thought was possible,” her grin turned to scowl as she walked away from Kayn “Just stay close and stay quiet.”

Kayn watched her go for a moment and he didn’t need Rhaast to mock him in his mind, he knew that this went terribly. He followed behind her and the two were off to make most of the daylight that only shyly peaked through the dense trees. Akali correctly called them spirit woods, and Kayn knew that Zed favored the roads and the shadows, rather than trekking through territory where beings much more dangerous than the Navori or the Kinkou dwelt. He had no fear however, since he was confident that there was nothing in these woods that wouldn’t split before his scythe. Rhaast seemed to be at ease too and if it hadn’t been for his thoughts in the back of Kayn’s mind, the silence between him and Akali would’ve been deafening.

She kept her eyes on the road and didn’t turn to Kayn, not even a glance. He even fixed his hair just in case she did, but all he got was another mocking remark from Rhaast. Resting his hands on the back of his head, Kayn took to look around the woods as they walked, noting how the trees got taller and denser, almost as if the two of them took a dive in the depths of the ocean. The trees were covered in moss and unlike the elegant white-barked trees Ionia was known for, these had dark trunks and leaves that were unremarkably green. In fact the only part of the nation where the iconic trees with fire-like leaves were found was her heart, around the Navori province. This far south it was just dense, hostile and spirit-riddled forests.

The golden light that managed to fall through the dense vegetation was slowly gone and the sudden glowing coolness of the woods meant that it was evening. The two of them barely exchanged any words the whole way and Kayn started to feel like he wasn’t truly invited on this journey. Perhaps she just felt bad for him and let him tag along. The thought filled him with both embarrassment and disdain. Suddenly she stopped and turned to him.

“I wouldn’t travel this far in at night.”

“If we stop, the Noxian might slip away,” Kayn told her.

“If he took the main road, we are already ahead of him. Besides, foreigners are scared of these woods, so I will be surprised if he even makes it to Kosaro.”

“Don’t tell me you are scared?” Kayn mocked her playfully.

“No, I am smart. Didn’t you say I am in charge of the spirit stuff? Then we do as I say.”

“We can make camp under those roots over there.” Kayn pointed and Akali considered before nodding her head. It was perhaps the first thing they agreed on. It wasn’t like Kayn didn’t want to stop, since he hasn’t slept in over a day at this point, but he had to make sure he doesn’t let Akali see him vulnerable in any way.

She looked around the place while Kayn was looking for firewood. He tugged on one of the branches, pulled Rhaast out of his sheathe and took a swing. Before he swung the second time, Akali shouted for him.

“Don’t cut that! You cut one wrong branch in woods like these and you have all kinds of spirits coming for you.”

“ I am with her, don’t swing me like an axe, Kayn.”

“Right,” Kayn replied “Are the ones on the ground fair game?”

“I guess?” she shrugged.

After a pile of leaves and old branches had been assembled on the ground, away from any kind of dry weeds and grass, Kayn made a little bonfire for himself and found that Akali would not be joining him besides the flames. She had climbed up in the tree nearby and have made herself comfortable in cradle of branches. He kept looking up at her, and every time his eyes were met with a squinty gaze that he felt was suspicious of him. After the fifth time he realized Akali was actually just tired.

“I wonder if I can kill spirits. We won’t know until we try, so perhaps we should give that a try,” Rhaast spoke to Kayn who had his arm next to the scythe that was propped up on the tree he sat against.

“I am sure you, the oversized sickle Rhaast, can stand against any demon or beast,” Kayn mocked him.

“It is in your best interest that I can.”

“Master Zed didn’t need an impudent tool to take down all sorts of Azakana in his time.”

“ Have you actually seen him do it? Or did he tell you stories when you were a child?

“I have,” Kayn replied confidently, though he wasn’t exactly sure he had. Everything Zed did seemed a lot more heroic in the memories from when he was twelve. But Rhaast wouldn’t know that. Zed and the Yánléi did fight demons, but that was different from the tales he told him. Rhaast only wished to flame even the smallest sparks of doubt in Kayn’s mind.

“Are you talking to...the scythe?” Akali asked mockingly from above, interrupting their conversation.

“In my defense, he started it,” Kayn joked and looked up. Her expression didn’t seem annoyed anymore. She was still squinting, but there was a spark of amusement in her eyes.

“He?” she raised a brow and a smile appeared at the corner of her lip.

“His name is Rhaast and he is the Darkin annoyance.”

“ You can mock me all you want, it will not impress her.”

“And good thing you can’t hear him,” Kayn added.

“Hey, listen, I don’t know enough about demon scythes to know if you are crazy or you are really talking to a weapon, so I’ll call it even,” she joked. Kayn’s eyes widened for a moment as he remembered last time she called him crazy. Said he has crazy eyes. He thought that perhaps this will make her understand that he wasn’t talking to himself like most of the people who met him believed – or it will further confirm her suspicion that he is crazy. It’s been almost a year, but that interaction between them still stung.

“He can hear you, you know,” Kayn said.

“I assumed he can only see me. Given the creepy eye.”

“He can hear what I hear, feel what I feel, as long as I am holding him,” Kayn told her.

“ Good thing too. I wouldn’t want to see most of the things an adolescent boy does in his free time,” Rhaast added.

“Well I think it’s sleep time for you,” Kayn picked him up and put him back in his bag.

“ Good riddance,” Rhaast added one parting shot before he was put far enough so Kayn could rest.

“We should make like your scythe and hit the hay too,” Akali told him and she got comfortable in her little branch nest.

“Yeah,” Kayn replied, lying down and then spoke to her again “Do you still think I am crazy? I mean after learning about Rhaast?”

“Good night, Kayn.” she just told him, but he could hear a slight tone of amusement in her voice.

Kayn looked up in her direction for a second, even though he could only see her legs dangling to the side now. He turned and got comfortable before closing his eyes. Sleeping on the ground never bothered him as he was a light sleeper and even the slightest noise that was not common for the woodlands would wake him up quick enough to draw Rhaast on whoever dared sneak up on a Shadow Assassin. He barely had any rest in the past two days so it came to no surprise that he drifted away rather quickly, almost not noticing as his last thoughts of what Akali said merged with his dream.

With a soft gasp, Kayn woke up from yet another nightmare. It was not unusual for him to be plagued by them, but they seemed to be getting stranger and stranger. It wasn’t anything from his past that bothered him, or yet another dream where he killed Master Zed and took over the Shadow Order, but lately they were of places he had never seen, sand covered landscapes that stretched beyond the horizon, horned monsters and bloody arms reaching out for him. As disturbing as they were, he never let them get to him. He knew Rhaast will certainly take advantage of that.

He could tell by how light it was despite the fire having gone out long time ago, that it was dawn and that they should get going if they want to make it to Kosaro before their target departs. Kayn looked up and Akali was still fast asleep. In fact the first thing he heard was her quiet snoring. As he was about to call out to her, he heard a rustling noise further away into the woods. Even though he could see in the dark better than most, he could barely make the outline of a beast among the shrubbery. What Kayn didn’t realize was that his eyes were searching too low to the ground, looking for a predator on the prowl, but what they should’ve been looking were the huge silver bristles that stood out among the dark green foliage. The beast moved and Kayn was on his feet, Rhaast in hand.

“Rude awakening, Kayn,” Rhaast complained, but he soon became aware of the beast.

Kayn melded in the shadows of the tree and manifested on one of the branches where Akali still slept. He crept closer, quietly as not to scare her and balanced lightly on his toes, leaning on his free hand.

“Akali,” he whispered “Wake up.”

“What?” she stirred and frowned when she saw him in her spot “Don’t come to my--”

“Shhh—” he hushed her and pointed over “Look at that.”

Still sleepy she turned over and from the elevation they were on, saw a beautiful silver sow, frantically nuzzling around in the fallen leaves. When Akali turned to Kayn, there was a wide menacing grin across his face. She didn’t like the look of that. It meant he had some terrible idea.

“Do you think we have time to take her down? The bristles alone are worth a fortune you know,” he suggested, still considering it himself.

“Absolutely not. We are not going to kill the boar!” Akali argued and his grin disappeared when he saw the fury in her eyes. It almost matched the expression she had when she saw Zed and the White Cliffs Inn, and even back then he didn’t want to mess with it.

“Okay, okay!” he backed off and in an instant his feet were on the ground again. Akali followed and adjusted her bag around her waist before lightly smacking Kayn on his shoulder.

“We should go the other way,” she whispered and Kayn obliged without a word, checking to make sure that the distressed animal didn’t charge at the two of them.

They could still hear the boar, huffing with her nose and rustling the vegetation as she paced around something near their camp, something out of sight for both. As they reached past the treeline that obstructed their view of the road, they found that – there was no road. It was another line of trees, eerily similar to the ones before. Akali knew something is wrong, but she kept moving confidently. Kayn followed, not questioning it since he wasn’t sure what he saw. However, when after a moment they walked past the same trees, Akali put a hand in front of his chest to stop him from going forward and gestured at the treeline.

“You noticed that?”

“Yeah,” Kayn replied quietly.

She took out one of her kunai and gently hung it on a small branch, making sure it stays behind them as they moved forward. It took Kayn a moment to understand, but once he did he turned and kept his eyes on the kunai as the two of them moved forward. As soon as they gained some distance, Akali stopped him again. On the same branch in front of them hung the kunai just as she had left it. In fact when they turned, it wasn’t behind them and they could still see the camp and the boar in the distance.

“Great, why do spirits always end up finding me?” Akali huffed.

“Do you know what do they want?” Kayn asked.

“Maybe they want us to sing them a song to let us through?” Akali blinked with a sarcastic smile and then her brows furrowed “I don’t know what spirits want Kayn. It’s probably the branch you tried cutting last night. Or the boar.”

“Well, we didn’t kill the boar,” he argued.

“You thought about it.”

“What, now I can’t think about things just in case I anger the forest?”

“I don’t know if it’s not clicking for you that they are not letting us go for some reason. And that pig appearing right before all of this happened, it has to be connected,” Akali tried explaining.

“It’s just a boar!” Kayn raised his voice and neither one of them noticed that the sow perked its head and looked in their direction.

“I should’ve left you all alone you know, I would love to know how you handle ‘just a boar’ then!” Akali argued back and before Kayn could open his mouth, they both heard the angry huffs of the animal rushing towards them. Akali was quicker and she pulled Kayn to the side, who in his anger just stood his ground to the boar.

“ This would’ve been a dignified end no doubt,” Rhaast commented as soon as Kayn placed his hand on the scythe’s grip.

“Whatever, I am ending this,” he proclaimed and drew the weapon.

“No, Kayn!” Akali shouted.

As Kayn charged, the boar charged towards him in return and Akali broke their collision with few smoke bombs she threw between them. The sudden burst and the lack of visibility scared the sow, but Kayn turned to Akali with an annoyed expression, his eyes glowing slightly through the smoke. In fact Akali could swear his left eye glowed red.

In it’s panic, the sow seemed to have it’s tusks stuck in the greenery and as it pulled, it shook the surrounding trees and bushes. For Kayn, she was the perfect still target, trapped and an easy work for Rhaast. He leapt towards the boar and swung his scythe, however before he came even close to slicing her belly open, Akali tackled him on the ground. The momentum sent them tumbling down where they camped earlier and she was quicker to get her footing. Kayn reached for Rhaast again, but Akali quickly restrained his hands.

“What happened to ‘You do all of that Kinkou magic thing’, huh Kayn?” she growled at him, slamming his wrists to the ground.

“And I will do the killing, if you let me!” he shouted in return. He placed his shin on her stomach and flipped her over his head, after which she softly and unceremoniously landed in the pile of ash and leaves where their fireplace burned earlier. Anger filled Akali, as her clothes were covered in pigments of black and gray from the burned wood, and she launched forward to Kayn once again. She grabbed onto his leg and tripped him over, the ground meeting his chin in seconds. The boar ripped out the bush that trapped her horns and was now charging towards them again. Their fight could not go any further as they were both faced with the sharp tusks of the animal that was twice as tall as Kayn. He, however, was certain he can just kill it right here.

He did not heed Akali’s warning earlier and this time whatever force kept them locked in this corral with the sow interfered. A giant root erupted from the ground, pale and glowing in ghostly blue shades. Akali was unharmed as she rolled to the side, the boar stopped in it’s tracks and Kayn was thrown in the air. He landed with a loud thud, but the assault was hardly over, as the root descended on him.

“Move Kayn!” Rhaast who was faced upwards warned him.

Left or right wouldn’t be fast enough. His body became one with the shadow as he phased through the root as it split the ground with a thundering blow. Akali’s eyes widened thinking the spirit vine certainly splattered Kayn with how hard it had landed, but she felt slight relief when she saw him hop on top of it. It’s not that she cared about him getting hurt or dying, she convinced herself, it would’ve been a very anticlimactic conclusion to their rivalry. Kayn took a second to collect his strength and looked at Akali, a little triumphant at his quick escape. Her eyes darted to his left and he realized too late as another spirit vine slammed into him and sent him flying. The two tendrils continued growing from the ground as if they spanned endlessly underneath the soil, twisting and turning around the site, around the camp and the trees. Akali jumped over one and slid right under the other, making it to the foliage where Kayn was thrown.

“Akali!” he shouted for her and she found that he is somewhere below. Quickly she saw that among the leaves and fallen branches, there was a hole and his voice echoed from within. Rhaast was thrown to the side, but she chose to go for Kayn first.

“There are even more of your pigs down here!” Kayn yelled and felt her hands grab his own. He was clawing at the dirt of the hole, his feet inches away from the wooden spikes that were placed at the bottom of the pit. A hunter’s trap. Something to capture and injure big prey. However among the widely spaced spikes were little piglets with brown bodies and backs lined in silver lines and dots. Kayn was too out of breath to phase through the dirt and he held onto Akali for dear life.

“Good thing you aren’t wearing a shirt, it would’ve been a shame if I could grab onto something!” she said though her heavy breaths, pulling on his arm and shoulder.

“I almost got a footing.” Kayn replied. He felt something wet dripping on his skin and down towards his elbow and back. Akali’s wound was bleeding from the effort. Luckily with the last pull he managed to lodge his foot in a stray root and make it up. The two of them knelt for a moment, catching their breath before the sow was onto them again, charging with the fury of a mother protecting her young. That was it, that’s what she was circling around the whole time. Without their mother nearby, the piglets began screaming which only added to Kayn and Akali’s tension. And on top of that more spirit vines were popping out of the ground, wrapping around the trees, twisting their way between the trunks as if they were vowing a trap for their prey.

“The tree!” Akali shouted at Kayn and the two quickly ran from the boar, climbing the cradle of branches Akali slept in earlier. The animal returned to circling the trap with her young as soon as the danger was out of sight, but what concerned Akali more were the vines that were closing the space more and more. There was no way through them and the two of them were surrounded by closing walls of snaking roots. Fear struck and she clenched a small kunai on her belt, too small to be a weapon and certainly too small to do anything against this spirit. For the first time Kayn saw concern in her and knew they were in serious trouble.

The boar was distracted and he saw Rhaast on the ground not too far from them. Kayn jumped down and Akali was going to shout for him. Then she saw him grab the scythe and in an instant he bolted for the wall of spirit vines. Her surprised turned to anger and her fist slammed against the trees trunk. He was leaving her.

Turning into a shadow just as he met the wall, Kayn phased through it, much to his surprise. It burned more than what it usually did when he had to phase through things, and he had to put more effort in making it to the other side, but once he was out he saw it in the distance. The road. He ran towards it, and the road was actually closer. The illusion was broken and he made it out.

“ Good, we made it out. Somehow...” even Rhaast sounded worried. “Back to work Kayn.”

Seeing the walls close in on her, the boar crying out, the prison she was in not by her own fault made Akali curl up against the tree. Kayn was gone like a cowardly wyrm, just like his master, she thought, and she was back here again. She clutched the kunai amulet in her hand, but nothing happened. All of Shen’s lessons, everything he ever told her, it all came back, but she felt powerless to follow through. There was only one other time she felt this frightened and weak. And she could never allow herself to feel this way again. How could she be so stupid, how could she do the same mistake again.

“You are a stupid girl Akali. This plan of yours was never going to work with a Yánléi,” she mumbled to herself, still clutching the amulet as if she waited for a miracle to happen, or perhaps needed the little bit of comfort that small object gave her. She had to get out of here, and then she would find Kayn and gut him for this. Looking at the sow in the distance and the walls closing in on her, she had a plan, one that did not work ten years ago – however it had to work now, just for her.

Suddenly she felt a chill in the air behind her, only for a moment and then a shadow that gently landed on the branches next to her.

“So, about that Kinkou stuff?” Kayn looked at her and his lip curled, not in arrogance, but perhaps for the first time since they met, in a genuine smile. Surprise washed over her as she did not expect him to return, but that meant they had to execute her plan right now.

“The spirit probably imprisoned us here, thinking we trapped those piglets,” she told Kayn, pointing over to the hole the sow was circling.

“What now?” Kayn asked.

“We free them,” Akali replied determined.

“Can you even lift them with your arm?” he asked her, a slight concern in his voice.

“Maybe not, but you can,” she told him, her eyes lighting up with mischievous energy that positively frightened Kayn.

The setup was simple, Akali would distract the boar, and Kayn would get the piglets out of the hole. And the way she was going to keep the sow’s attention long enough was the same brilliant idea she had all those years ago. Grabbing a vine from the ground, she lured the pig away from the hole again and climbed one of the nearby trees. The boar circled for few more moments and the second she turned, Akali leapt on her back, grabbing onto the bristles and the silver fur. The animal started running and kicking, but Akali held on tightly with her calves, squeezing on the boar’s sides. She pulled out the thin vine and spun the loop she had made in the air few times, before it landed right around the sow’s muzzle and tusks. With one pull, the vine tightened like a rope and now she had control of the beast.

“Go Kayn!” she shouted and he leapt down. He realized that the trapping vines began snaking their way towards the tree where they were hiding and knew they didn’t have much time. He slid down in the hole using a rope made from one of the vines, trying to walk between the wooden spikes and made it to the scared piglets. They screamed for their mother, but Akali had a tight grip on the sow’s muzzle and did not let her turn.

“You are heavy little bastards.” Kayn realized when he picked up the first and struggled to carry it up. He went back in the mud and dirt for the second piglet, and then the third, already breathing and panting heavily from the effort. Akali was doing a good job holding the mother, but upon seeing three of her babies out of the hole, she tugged on the improvised reins a little too hard, setting Akali off balance and sending her on the ground. The boar now charged towards the hole just as Kayn was struggling with the fourth piglet. Thinking quickly, Akali grabbed on the rope, deterring her for a moment, but the beast was so powerful it dragged her across the ground. While the boar stopped and gave Akali a little warning charge, she ran around the trunk of the tree she jumped down from, once and then one more time. The rope tightened and she dug her heels into the ground. No matter how much the sow tugged, she couldn’t go free.

“Move it, will ya!” Akali yelled for Kayn. The sow realized she is being held against the tree and charged at Akali once more, but Akali was quicker and with the rope, circled her, tripping the huge boar as her legs got tangled in the vines.

“I’m on it!” he shouted back, bringing up the fifth and last little piglet. He jumped out of the pit and saw that the little animals were huddled together, waiting for their mother. Gaining some distance he called for Akali to set her loose.

“Its done! We have to go!” Kayn said, feeling like the air has been kicked out of his lungs. Akali let go of the vine and ran from the frenzied mother. When the boar turned for them, she realized all her babies were right there, scared but unharmed. And Kayn and Akali were at a safe distance. The spirit vines however, were still closing in on them and for a moment Akali was not sure if it worked. She feared that perhaps she should’ve paid more attention to Shen’s lessons.

“Whaddya want now!? There are your pigs, perfectly fine and dandy. Now let us go!” Akali shouted at the vines, the trees and the dirt. She stood in front of Kayn, who she feared was the culprit for their misfortune “We didn’t even set up the stupid trap. Balance has been restored, now stick to your end!”

As if the woods heard her, the vines began retracting back into the ground. In fact it was magical how the huge holes they erupted from fully closed, as if the woods never awakened in the first place. Kayn watched in awe as the blue glow the tendrils carried faded away and the woods returned to normal. It was night and they didn’t even realize. There was no sun, only an endless sea of blacks and blues from the dark green foliage. It was never day to begin with, just the illusion the spirits created. The silver boar huffed at Akali and Kayn and then gently nuzzled her offspring. Her eyes met Akali’s with a surprisingly gentle gaze and then Kayn’s. He felt something pierce through him from the animal’s parting look. Almost as if she was going to say ‘thank you’. And just as she came, the sow and her piglets were gone in the night.

Kayn and Akali did not linger in that spot for a second longer. Tired, breathless and beaten, they rushed towards the road and made their way into another part of the woods. Akali would’ve insisted for them to carry on all the way to the village, but she saw how utterly tired Kayn was, no matter how he tried to hide it. Rhaast almost slid off his shoulder along with the bag a few times. Seeing this, she decided it will be best for them to rest one more night, as risky as it was.

They hid among the trees and opted out of lighting a fire as nights didn’t get that cold in the middle of summer. On top of that, their blood was already running hot from the adrenaline that they didn’t even need a fire. Akali just propped herself against the trunk of a tree and Kayn sat down next to the tree adjacent to hers.

“You know, I think pig herding would’ve suited you,” Rhaast commented as Kayn set him down.

“Not now Rhaast,” Kayn replied and Akali chuckled a bit.

“Settle down, farm boy. I would’ve preferred if we slaughtered our way out of there, but you know it was almost touching at the end. Almost,” Rhaast added in a mocking tone. Kayn just set the bag far enough to not hear him anymore.

As Kayn’s corruption slithered away from his body and back into the scar on his lower arm, Kayn felt the energy drain from him completely. His eyes burned and he wanted to sleep for days. He was covered in dirt from the piglets, the pit and even Akali’s dried blood, but he didn’t care at the moment. She wasn’t faring any better, as her clothes were dusty and torn from wrestling the boar.

“Why were you so adamant not to kill her? Did you know?” Kayn asked.

“I know that whenever someone tries to kill a Silver Boar, bad things follow. You can say it’s from experience.” she added, trying not to share too much. She reached in her bag and checked her weapons and smoke bombs. Then from a little pouch she pulled out some dried salted meats and after putting one in her mouth, she stretched out her hand to Kayn and offered him few. He was surprised, but he didn’t refuse.

“Don’t tell me it’s pork,” he commented as he bit on the meat and after realizing it was pork, he began chuckling.

“Yeah, yeah I know! I mean I’d much rather have some pork in a noodle soup. With eggs. But it is what it,” Akali replied and she snorted, trying to hard not to laugh with him. She cleared her throat and pretended that didn’t happen. Kayn looked at her for a moment while he ate and his eyes softened.

“That pig wrangling thing wasn’t so bad. You are pretty crafty with a rope.”

“Would you believe me if I said it’s not my first time?” she said with a playful tone.

“Really?” he raised his brows.

“I mean what did you think I did all of my childhood?”

“Didn’t think you wrestled boars.”

“You would be surprised the kind of spirits Shen made me deal with," Akali replied, hiding the truth behind a confident demeanor. Kayn could tell that there was more to this than she let on, perhaps a lot more. No one just defends a random animal so fiercely for no reason. Definitely not someone who defected from the Kinkou.

He leaned his head back and looked at her, eyes half lidded from exhaustion. Akali knew he is looking at her, but for the first time she didn’t feel like his eyes were crazy and his stare piercing and irritating. He looked so vulnerable like this. He came back for her at the woods. Deep down she hated that because it was so much easier to hate Kayn. What right did he have to prove her wrong? She justified that perhaps he had hidden intentions, but it would still mean that whatever he wanted from her was worth risking his life. Putting his trust in her. And for a change, her plan worked. Akali took in a deep breath and was going to say something to Kayn, something regrettable and stupid no doubt, but she found him with his head slumped to the side and his arms limp. For a brief second she looked at his stomach and when she realized he is breathing, she raised a brow in both amusement and pity. He was fast asleep and after a moment, the snores came along too.

For the better, Akali thought. This will keep him quiet. She tried distracting her mind from the pain in her arm and the tiredness in her bones. For a moment back at that tree she felt vulnerable, lost, abandoned. Not because Kayn left, as she couldn’t care less, but because she was not trapped by the spirit roots on that grove, she was trapped back when she was only nine years old. And when she learned that her mother cared not for her. When she lost her only friend. What good was the triumph over the pig, when this animal had heralded her misery at the lowest point of her life. She was just a child and she lost everyone. And the student, the successor of the man she blamed for it slept mere feet from her. She could’ve slit his throat, leave him in the woods with that cursed weapon to rot. It would’ve been an eye for an eye. Revenge for what Zed took from her. Yet she found that she couldn’t do it. His Master was a wyrm, but Kayn came back for her when he could’ve left. He had honor. And he had done nothing to her.

Akali’s eyelids grew heavy as she looked at him. The scowl on her face relaxed and she curled to the side, letting sleep embrace her. As she drifted off, she thought about so many things that could’ve gone differently when she chased that cursed boar as a child. Things that would mean her mother and her best friend would still be by her side. Was that animal a bad omen, or a good one? She thought if she was doing the right choice letting Kayn live, but her thoughts faded into slumber before she could answer that.

Chapter Text

At the first sight of dawn, Kayn was the one to wake them both. He wasn’t sure how many hours have passed, but he felt invigorated again even before he picked up Rhaast. Akali did not say a word as the two gathered their belongings and set off on their way in silence. The woods were deep and unforgiving where they slept, but it wasn’t long before the trees became sparse and fields of wheat were visible in the distance. Soon, the small woodland paths were replaced by a proper road that appeared before them, and the dense foliage was replaced by the countryside houses and barns. The rosy shades of the morning sky did not call only for Kayn and Akali, but for the many villagers and farmers that were preparing for the long day of work. As the two passed, they got looks from beneath wide-brimmed straw hats by curious men and women who seldom saw two travelers arriving to this town on foot, certainly not from that direction. A child called out to his father and pointed over at the strangers. Akali knew that if people could see the two of them covered in blood and dirt, their presence would’ve brought concern rather than curiosity. Luckily for them, the morning light was still dim and the shadows were their cover.

“You are right at home Rhaast,” Kayn joked quietly with him “I mean look at all this wheat. Doesn’t it call out to you? Don’t you just want to run your edge through it?”

“ Is there anything that will humble you?” Rhaast replied irritated.

“No, not really,” a smug grin appeared on Kayn’s face. He was satisfied whenever he annoyed Rhaast for a change.

“You are not helping your crazy case,” Akali said without turning.

“Well I am not talking to myself now am I? You are here,” Kayn spoke, surprisingly energetic for this time of the day.

“I don’t even know you man,” Akali joked and moved away from him, pretending she is going in another direction. Kayn rolled his eyes and dismissively waved his hand at her. He could tell by the way Akali held her head that she was just as amused as he is.

Their short journey through the countryside provided them the necessary peace and a much needed moment to breathe. Kayn walked with a confident stroll, with Rhaast across his shoulders and his hands resting on either side. Akali thought if the scythe was not an evil demon with a single blinking eye, Kayn could pass as a farmer – the shirtless look included. She made sure her little kunai amulet was secured on her belt and tried stretching her arms only to find out her wound has only gotten worse. She had to find a healer. Kayn noticed that and he slowly came closer.

“That looks bad,” he spoke in a hushed tone.

“I’ve had worse than this.”

“Alright,” Kayn played it off, but his gaze trailed over to her arm few more times.

Finally as they left the countryside, the large town appeared before them. Guarded by the towering mountain range to the north and the strait between Tonta and Bahrl to the south, this town had only two sides to defend. Unlike the towns of central Ionia the two of them were used to, the houses this far south were made of stone, elevated from the sea level and the streets were designed in such fashion that they could sustain the flooding that came with the monsoons. The great island Bahrl guarded Kosaro from the harsh ocean winds that made the west of Ionia difficult to sail, which is why this seaside town was the main harbor for the region. Akali kept that in mind when she realized their target was headed this way and she wondered if he was perhaps going to hitch a ride across the strait and somewhere else in Ionia. After all, most people who arrived to Wah’le traveled north and not east.

As they came to the streets themselves, they could see that the town was heavily decorated with lanterns and flowers everywhere, and the people were out and about on the streets. Chattering neighbors, parents out with their screaming children, traders offering their wares and travelers mounted on the backs of all sorts of creatures, from oxen to giant long necked lizards.

“A blossom festival,” Akali commented. Kayn have heard of it, but he never actually attended such a thing. Most people who came here certainly did not come for the festival, and the region could sadly not offer tourists the sight of falling pink petals they probably heard of. In fact the trees here bloomed in white. Yet, the amount and diversity of people was surprising, Kayn thought, as he curiously looked at a woman with over dozen small purple creatures with big eyes and even bigger ears all over her, all looking right back at Kayn. He raised a brow and the woman seemed unbothered as she passed him.

“Last time I was at one of these Jhin blew up the whole harbor. I mean I wasn’t actually there during it,” Kayn told her.

“Well, let’s hope it’s not an annual thing,” Akali replied and the two continued. It wasn’t hard to blend in with the crowd, even in their poor state, as the streets did not lack battle worn travelers among the regular folk dressed in colorful silken robes.

“I will go find a healer for this. If ya got nothing better to do, we can meet up at that tavern over there in about… say an hour,” Akali turned to Kayn, pointing over her back with her thumb at the small wooden tavern that was at the docks bellow.

“Not a bad idea,” Kayn smirked and Akali put her hand on her hip. She had her reasons to travel with him and she didn’t want to let that get to his head, which was obviously already halfway there.

“You can go jump in the sea to wash up while ya at it,” she said and moved away, disappearing in the crowd that towered over her. A Vastaya woman with long red mane and pointy ears walked past Kayn and her cat-like nose wrinkled at the smell. He was covered in mud and pig dirt, so perhaps Akali was right about him needing a bath.

More than an hour had passed and Kayn just stood against the back wall of the tavern, waiting for Akali. He even took the time to wash up, no longer looking and smelling like he was rolling in a pigstry. If she was going to come to this tavern there was only one way to reach it, the small stone steps that circled around a large tree with a fountain flowing through it, which Kayn noted was where people both watered their steeds and let their kids play. For a moment he thought that perhaps she just wanted to get rid of him and she wasn’t going to come. If that was the case, he wasn’t going to chase after – even if he actually ran into her. Not again, and not anymore. It wasn’t only pride, though his was wounded at the thought, but it was one of the few things Zed had taught him on the topic since he entered his teens. Topic the two of them barely discussed.

“ Will you stop fretting ? It’s giving me a headache,” Rhaast spoke to him.

Suddenly Akali appeared, still in her dusty clothes, but she seemed to have cleaned up too and there was a certain spring in her step. Kayn made note of it and guessed that she must’ve been in pain before, which would explain her rather withdrawn and passive posture. A part of him he didn’t know was there before this moment, felt happy seeing Akali stroll with the same confidence and swagger she carried herself all those times they met in the past. What he forgot was the ridiculous wide brim hat that he got for himself, something to keep other people away from his personal space when walking through crowds, in case someone accidentally touched Rhaast.

“You...” Akali stopped and a slight grin appeared on her face “Look ridiculous.”

“Thanks, that means it’s a good disguise,” Kayn replied confidently and Akali shook her head as she walked past him.

The two of them sat at one of the many outdoor tables as the weather was warm and there was a slight breeze, carrying the salty smell of sea air with it. The only downside about eating this close to the sea were the seagulls that Kayn and Akali could hear even before they got seated. Akali left her bag to the side and Kayn took off his oversized straw hat.

“So, where do we start searching?” Kayn asked her instantly, rubbing his hands together.

“I have to eat first. And I guess the tavern, you always start with taverns,” she leaned back in her seat and began looking around for the server.

“I was afraid you’d say that. I am way ahead of you,” Kayn crossed his arms.

Before she could speak, a big man approached their table with a tray and laid down two bowls of noodles. Akali was puzzled for a second and Kayn thanked him. When she looked up at Kayn, he had a satisfied grin across his face.

“I see,” she said and raised her brows, squinting a little at him before nodding “You had this whole thing planned out huh? Fine, you got me, and only cause I’m starving.”

“To tell you the truth, if you didn’t show up I was going to eat both myself.”

Akali was not kidding when she said she was starving, as she instantly began eating, burning her tongue few times.

“It’s pork,” she said with her mouth full “With eggs… How did ya remember that?”

“What do you take me for? I am an agent of the Yánléi, I remember more than you think,” Kayn replied, trying to play it off.

“Except my name, right? In Wah’le?” she gave him a cynical smile and continued eating.

“You should focus on eating, here I thought you were starving moments ago,” he rolled his eyes and looked at her as she ate.

“Exactly, so be quiet. I have to savor this moment,” Akali added and continued eating with great delight, almost as if Kayn wasn’t sitting right across from her. His gaze lingered, but he tried not to stare, though her noises were distracting. It hit him then that he hasn’t eaten in two days and the noodle soup was looking a lot better suddenly. Akali’s chopsticks reached over to his bowl and she took one of his pieces of pork.

“This is for me pulling you out of that pit,” she said without even looking at him and put the pork in her own soup. Kayn just gave her a playful frown, but not like he was going to fight over a piece of meat. As the two ate, he got a strange feeling in his chest, not from his belly finally being full, but from the fact that this moment was unlike anything he had since… well, since he could remember – no fighting, no Yánléi, no Rhaast whispering in his ear, it felt like he was a different person in a different world parallel to his own. The feeling got uncomfortable for a moment, disturbingly foreign.

“Yep. That was good,” Akali said, wiping her mouth and leaning back a little. “So you getting dessert or what?”

“Oh I am getting dessert? I mean yeah, sure, why not,” Kayn was caught off guard and sprung up from his seat. In other circumstances he wouldn’t have, but he was carried by the strange feeling he had through this whole ordeal. “Just don’t touch my bowl. I’ll finish it,” he warned her, trying to sound intimidating, but it was obvious by his tone that he was joking.

As he approached the tavern, he circled around to the door and from the corner of his eye saw a bunch of kids looking at him. He looked at them for a moment, watching them whisper to each other and the eldest girl from the group approached him.

“A man with a big scythe, that has to be you. What is your name?” she asked.

“I don’t tell my name to children. It’s best you run back to your parents,” Kayn replied to her in a low tone.

“The man that gave me this told me you might say that. Your name is Kayn, right?” she asked and his amber eyes widened. Who was this child and how did she know his name? Did they walk into some kind of trap?

“Who sent you?!” Kayn asked her, raising his voice.

“He only gave me this! I don’t know him!” the girl gave Kayn a piece of paper and turned to run. He shadow stepped forward and grabbed her sleeve.

“Who?! What did he look like?!” he asked her again and this got the attention of other patrons. Some of them reached for the hilts of their weapons as they watched it unfold. From the corner of his eye, Kayn saw Akali, standing there and looking at him with what he could only describe as both disappointment and scorn. For a moment she also thought that she and Kayn could get along, got that same strange feeling he had when they sat at the table, but this was a painful reminder that he was Yánléi. That he was Zed’s student. It wasn’t unlike Akali to roughhouse commoners when she needed information, but she drew the line at kids. Kayn realized that he was still holding the girl with his scarred left hand and slowly he let her colorful long sleeve slip out of his grasp. She seemed scared, looking at him with wide eyes. In Akali’s disappointment, he felt someone else’s disappointment too, even if he wasn’t here.

“Tell me what did he look like?” Kayn asked her again, now with a softer tone, as he knelt down to meet her frightened gaze. He relaxed his previously threatening posture and the girl calmed down.

“He wore a colorful robe and a wide hat. And he had black hair. He spoke in Ionian, but I don’t think he was from around here. He sounded weird.” she told him. Kayn knew that it must’ve been the Noxian. He clutched the paper she gave him in his hand.

“Thanks. You are a tough kid. Don’t talk to strangers.” he told her awkwardly and the girl gave him a half smile. The change in his demeanor confused her too, and she wasn’t sure if he was dangerous or just weird. She quickly ran back to her friends and began telling them about the encounter.

“What was that?” Akali stood right next to him.

“Our Noxian target gave her this. He told her my name,” Kayn said.

“Great, he knows more about you than we know about him.”

“I have nothing to do with this. I would never work with a Noxian. I don’t know how and why he knows me, but I have to guess the name of the wielder of a Darkin weapon is easy to come by these days.”

“Well, what are you waiting for, read the note,” Akali gestured to him. He almost forgot he was holding it in his hands.

“To find me, you have to go back to your past. Follow the lights to their beginning, where you’ll see your own reflection,” Kayn read the note and Akali rolled her eyes.

“A Noxian trying to write in Ionian code, what’s up with that? Couldn’t he just say, oh I don’t know, ‘Meet me at the tavern at sundown’?”

“At least we can know for sure he is the Noxian by how ridiculous this is,” Kayn added.

“The lights must be the lanterns for the festival,” Akali tapped her chin “They are not on yet though. They will light them up later, so I am guessing the bastard wants to meet us at night.”

“I don’t get what does this have to do with my past, or my reflection.” Kayn scratched his head.

“Listen, we got a whole day to kill and unless you want to walk in this blind, we should try and get ahead of this guy,” Akali told him.

“I am listening?” he turned to her, crossing his arms.

“I will go ask around the town, try and find the town Elders, ask in taverns, libraries, shops. They never turn away the Kinkou. You, with your creepy shadow walk, should check the lanterns and everything around where they start and where they end. Or find things that you can see your reflection in. Mirrors, fountains, I don’t know. How does that sound?”

“Could work.” Kayn replied and he seemed awfully amused at Akali taking on the leadership role. “If I do find him, I can’t promise I won’t be the one to split him down the middle when I see him.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.” she frowned and gave him a cheeky smile.

“Where do I find you?” Kayn called after her when she turned.

“Right, hm...” she looked around and shrugged “Why not right here at dusk? No fancy riddle or anything.”

Kayn chuckled as Akali waved him off as she was leaving. He took a moment to watch her go, a certain somber look slowly dawning on his face as he felt the warmth from their previous encounter fade, leaving only his ever-present determination for action and violence. With Rhaast securely on his back and his wide-brimmed hat to make sure people wouldn’t get too close, Kayn made his way through the streets of the town. He only needed to turn a corner and vanish into the shadows, escaping the dense crowd and appearing on a nearby awning. The strings of lights stretched along every single street and alley of Kosaro and Kayn made sure to check every beginning and end of the long lines. He easily moved from awning to rooftop and then to another, making sure to avoid the windows and ledges, as to not expose himself to the commoners. There was nothing, no note, not clue, no surface to see his reflection on. Kayn didn’t enjoy how exposed daylight made him feel, especially with crowds of people right underneath him, going on about their day. Had it been dusk, he could’ve even pass for one of the lamplighters.

“You missed that one on the left.” Rhaast told him.

“What? I am sure I checked,” Kayn replied and then paused. Rhaast was in the bag, his eye covered; he couldn’t see anything. This thought was followed by Rhaast’s deep chuckle echoing in Kayn’s mind.

“I always find your lack of quick wit entertaining. I mean, can you imagine how I feel dangling off your back, not even being able to see where we are? But oh, I am sure this town is pretty,” Rhaast spoke, sounding a little jealous, or perhaps even a little hurt.

“You don’t give me a lot of reasons to carry you out of your bag.” Kayn replied, jumping down from yet another dead end.

On the other side of the town, Akali was waiting in front of the guard station. The young rookie she found assured her he will fetch a senior officer that could tell her about any unusual visitors to the town, Noxian or otherwise.

“Just tell them you are Kinkou, like they’ll know. And then straight to the point. No jokes, no explanations, be boring like Shen,” she mumbled to herself as she waited. The approach of a well dressed older man stirred her from her seat, but she soon figured out that he was certainly not an officer.

“I apologize for the wait, who are you again?”

“I am Kinkou. I mean I am with the Kinkou, I am from the Kinkou Order… and we are here on official business sent by the Eye of Twilight,” Akali spoke, mixing up her words the more formal she tried sounding.

“Right—” the man raised a brow and looked behind her “And where is your Master? Or the rest of your group?”

“I am a Master. Ugh!” Akali replied and stomped her foot “Okay listen here, there is a Noxian spy in the city and I need information about any foreigner entering this place. Or would you prefer to have your guard ambushed, with the only one who can help being the girl you pissed off?”

“Young lady, even if you are telling the truth, we cannot help you. I will need official documents from the Eye of Twilight himself before we can release any information on our visitors. We have to protect the privacy of anyone that came here for the festival. I mean, take no offense, but you are no more than a tourist yourself.”

“Do you not get the urgency of the situation?!” Akali raised her voice.

“The town’s guard has everything under control. Besides, with the amount of tourists we have from Piltover, Noxus and Demacia this year, I doubt anyone here can tell you who is a Noxian spy. And a single man is hardly a threat. We have our own way of handling these affairs. If you want, you can wait here while we send a letter by hawk to your Master--”

“Forget it!” Akali threw her hands up and walked away from the guard station. Out on the street the first sight that greeted her were a bunch of Piltie tourists, all eyes turning to her as she stormed out. While they haven’t done anything, she was already worked up and they were in her way.

“What do you want? Beat it!” she shouted at them and the group parted for her to pass. There were still places she could visit, inns, shops, the library. If she was treated with this much hospitality everywhere else though, it was going to be a long day.

Kayn took to the streets, walking where there were less people and stepping through whatever wall he could, away from curious eyes that might notice his shadow magic. He thought that perhaps if he couldn’t find anything with the lanterns, looking for a mirror shop or a very reflective fountain would give him a clue. He tried to avoid crowds, but inevitably someone would bump into him now and then. Most people were apologetic and would go on their way, but one girl almost took his shoulder off as she passed. In fact he felt pain radiating through his left arm, all the way to his heart. And felt something tug on the strap from Rhaast’s bag.

“Do they not know I can turn them inside out if they touch the hilt?” Rhaast commented, clearly annoyed. Kayn realized that someone did try and steal the scythe. He turned and saw the woman that last bumped into him, long dark brown hair and a lithe figure dressed in red, walking away from him.

Eyes fixed on his target, Kayn gave chase, quietly as to not alert her. He moved swiftly among the mass, even shadow stepping at the right second to avoid collision, however the crowd was so dense that he couldn’t make his way through before her red robe got lost in the sea of faces and colorful garments. While he searched around for the woman, he didn’t even notice the young girl that was at his feet, collecting something off the ground. The crowd noticed her however, and soon a circle formed around the two, as everyone tried avoiding running them over. Before Kayn’s feet were many little metal amulets, made with painted glass and brass, scattered on the stone pavement. She picked them up and placed them in the box she carried around her neck, apologizing profusely to him. Kayn realized in his chase, he must’ve bumped into her. He wasn’t going to waste time with this. He felt metal scrape under his boot and lifted his foot to see a small amulet he had stepped on. It was dented on the side and he lightly kicked it towards the girl. His eyes made out the shape, a winged tiger curled around a circle made of green glass, while the tiger’s stripes were painted in shades of orange and blue.

“I am sorry, it was my fault,” the girl spoke and finally her voice came through to Kayn. “I thought if I sell my amulets here, more people will see them, since my family’s stand is all the way up the road. But now I feel like I am just standing in people’s way.”

Kayn felt guilty for some reason, even though he didn’t think it’s his fault she interrupted his pursuit. She couldn’t be more than fifteen and she seemed polite. In fact, if Kayn could guess by her appearance, she was at least part Vastayan. Zed’s speech about the moths, the beetles and the spider came to mind. He bent down and picked up the dented little amulet.

“I’ll take this one,” he told her, his eyes gently examining all the tiny painted details on the small brass tiger.

“Oh?” the girl looked at it and sighed “It is broken, I don’t think I can charge you for it. I always make these for the Blossom Festival, they are good for holding flowers in your hair in place. Or your clothes. But not when they are broken.”

“Oh I can feel your heart melting Kayn. Not in a good way, sadly. You should drop this matter and focus on the task at hand. Like the woman who tried to steal me.” Rhaast scolded him. Kayn reached for his pockets, looking for any coins he had left and handed few to the girl.

“Here, take them.” he said awkwardly. A part of him tried really hard to sound polite, but in truth, these kind of things were foreign to him. He probably wouldn’t have done it in other circumstances, but having been away from home for weeks now, made him sentimental about Zed’s lessons. How he would frown upon and forbid the Yánléi from harassing the commoners without reason. How he always spoke about protecting the moths and killing the spiders. Master Zed was raised in a Kinkou Temple, by a father who was a lord. He had honor and a reputation to uphold, but most of the Yánléi did not. However Kayn was different, he was more than just Zed’s student and for that, even in his Master’s absence, he had to do right by the man that took him in. As these thoughts crossed his mind, it reminded him of Jovn, his giant burly friend that used his Shadow Magic to get them free drinks – something Zed scolded him for every time. A big guy like that left a big void among the Yánléi since his death. Zed’s grounded gaze lingered in Kayn’s mind, even if he wasn’t here. Or perhaps it was someone else’s eyes on him now.

Dusk slowly settled and the town sank into a peaceful silence. The loud buzz of people talking on the streets, the children’s laughter and the town’s hum all quieted in the afternoon as most folks were resting before the festival. Some were still rushing to get home from their long day at work and the merchants were sorting out their wares and shops for the inevitable rush that will come in the evening. And then came the lamplighters, climbing the ropes skillfully to light the lanterns, as if to remind Kayn that he failed to follow through with his part of the riddle. He thought that perhaps Akali had more luck.

She was sitting on the fountain behind the tavern, the one that was full of children earlier, absently playing with the kunai amulet she carried. Kayn approached carefully, not to startle her, but as always, she could tell he is coming.

“By your slumped shoulders I’ll take it you had no luck?” she asked, not even turning to him.

“Did you?” Kayn sounded defensive.

“Nope. Because everyone in this town just decided to be unhelpful today. I don’t know how Shen does it,” Akali said, crossing her arms.

“That’s cause he is the Eye of Twilight. People will always listen to him. My Master would’ve done things differently,” Kayn told her.

“What? Kill everyone and then realize there is no one left to tell him what he needs to know?” she scoffed.

“No,” Kayn’s voice sounded dark “He would’ve shadowed them until they lead him to what he needed.”

“But you are not like that, you like waving your creepy scythe around.” Akali turned to look at Kayn.

“And you are?” He raised a brow.

“Nah. I mean it’s fine when my enemies can’t see me coming, but I like dealing with things head on sometimes. You should ask that innkeeper how he feels about my methods, if they got him off the floor yet.” Akali replied and the corner of Kayn’s lip curled.

“What? He was rude and I was already worked up. This is why I am not Kinkou--” she said and frowned at Kayn “And why I am not Shadow Order. I draw the line at killing innocents.”

Kayn raised his hand as he was going to argue, but he didn’t have anything to convince Akali otherwise. And he was exhausted, not physically of course, but he felt like his mouth was too tired to part. His shoulders slumped a little as he put his hand down. Zed was against killing non-combatants and it was why he had his fall out with their former patron in the first place. However, he had the blood of his allies on his hands – traitors or just cowards. What good was arguing about any of that with her? Akali felt that perhaps this was too harsh and heavy, especially after they spent the whole day running around the city, finding only dead ends. More tension wasn’t doing either of them any good. Kayn noticed that her eyes softened as she looked away from him, almost apologetically.

“What now?” he asked.

“We wait for sundown and then we hope that somehow we get lucky and ambush the Noxian before he gets us.” she replied.

“Hey, maybe head-on wouldn’t be so bad this time. Could be fun. After all, what is one Noxian against the two of us,” Kayn told her.

“Oh yeah, I think we can both agree on that.”

Chapter Text

Distracted by the thoughts of the Noxian spy that waited for them in this city, Kayn and Akali didn’t even notice when the streets filled with people, the first stars that shyly appeared on the sapphire sky calling out for the crowd to gather just in time for the festival. Once again there was children’s laughter, gossip and idle chatter among the market stalls and taverns, and once again Kayn and Akali found themselves in a sea of colorful robes and smiling faces. Above them shone the lanterns in many shades of pink and yellow, and men and women handed out flowers to everyone that passed by, throwing petals on the welcoming festival-goers. A woman with fancy decorations in her hair handed Kayn a pretty flower, one he could put behind his ear. He held it for a moment as she passed and then tossed it over his shoulder. The streets were already covered in them, so hardly anyone would notice.

“This festival is making things harder,” Akali commented. She had the unique challenge of being short and having a hard time seeing anything that wasn’t directly in front of her. Kayn noticed and found it endearing. They made it to a clearing where dozens of people sat underneath the trees, eating and chattering.

“We should find high ground, look for anyone standing out in the crowd. Anyone standing near the lanterns or just away from the festivities,” Kayn suggested.

Akali walked up to one of the stands and got herself some food. If they were gonna stake out the festival all night, she wasn’t going to do it on an empty stomach. The rice balls on a stick and the fish-shaped cake looked really good and she couldn’t help but get some. Kayn stood to the side and watched her. She tilted her head at him as she waited for her order and spoke to the cook once again, something Kayn couldn’t hear over the noise of the other patrons. After few short moments she walked away from the stand with two plates and found a place to sit at the park in front of the booth. Pillows and small wooden tables were laid out on the grass under the trees as it was common with these festivals. In fact these small grassy spaces were the only places not filled to the brim with people.

“I don’t like being in debt to anyone,” she shrugged and put one of the plates across from her. Kayn didn’t even realize that a dumbfounded smile appeared on his face before he sat down on one of the pillows, crossing his legs.

“It is beneath me to consider a bowl of noodles something that I am owed,” he replied with slight arrogance in his tone.

“Oh yeah, and the puppy dog eyes you gave me while I was buying were just like that? They are worse than your crazy eyes. I’d rather not see either, so we are even now,” she played off this gesture as something she did because he irritated her, rather than something she did because she wanted to.

“It’s not bad,” Kayn commented with his mouth full as he took a bite from the fish-shaped cake. He then pointed at the small bottle she got for herself “None of that for me?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself there,” she replied and took a sip from the liquor.

“What? It would make all of this more bearable. Don’t tell me you like this?” with the fish cake in hand, he pointed at the festival.

“I don’t really feel a strong way about Blossom Festivals, Kayn. I used to like them when I was a kid. I even had this robe I called a shiipo, so I’d pretend I am going here.”

Kayn nodded, chewing on his food, but otherwise had no idea what to say.

“You have never been to any festival, I can tell,” Akali replied with her mouth full “There’s special dresses and all that. I kinda outgrew that Blossom Festival phase when I turned thirteen.”

“If there’s special clothes, I hope they look like this,” Kayn gestured at his bare chest and his dark pants.

“You will not miss an opportunity to show off your abs,” she said and Kayn waved her off with his hand.

“I’ve never been to festivals. I don’t know, never had the reason to,” he tried to move the conversation away, though what he said sounded a lot better than bringing up Zed again, and how there was always some mission to be done during these fancy celebrations, some target to be killed.

“Am I covered in petals?” Rhaast asked.

“If it bothers you, then yes,” Kayn replied, turning his head back at the scythe on his back and Akali found it funny.

“Didn’t get him a plate too, hope he ain’t mad.”

“I can still hear her,” Rhaast scoffed.

“He is a little mad I think,” Kayn grinned.

The air was fresh thanks to the breeze carried by the sea, so much so one could say it was almost chilly. Kayn and Akali felt it as they were sitting down, away from the crowd and the action. It was almost serene, watching the lights in the water, the flower petals carried on the wind, the people having fun despite the hard times ahead in their homeland. Kayn’s idea of relaxation and fun usually involved sitting outside of the Yánléi temples with his closest companions and chatting or showing off their weapon skills. He didn’t actually know how to be part of anything else, much less events or social gatherings such as these. This was certainly the fanciest outing he has been to, as Zed’s usual stops when they traveled were dingy and shady old taverns or the ever reliable side of the road. Boys his age got to be just boys sometimes, blissfully unaware of the kind of burdens he carried with him all the way from Noxus, burdens that still followed him even in these moments of peace. People like him and Akali didn’t have that luxury.

“You know, I was thinking,” he began, brushing his hair back.

Akali looked in his direction and frowned. He was unsure if she was frowning at him or behind him, but he stopped his sentence and reevaluated what he was about to say. Her gaze was fixed and it unnerved him.

“What?” he asked and she pointed behind him with her head. When he turned he was expecting to see a menacing man standing there, ready for a fight, but it was just the sea with it’s gentle waves, lanterns in all colors bobbing on the surface. And that was it – the lanterns.

“Follow the lights to their beginning,” Akali said pointing at the line of lanterns on the water.

“Where you will see your own reflection. He meant the water,” Kayn added and without waiting a second, they grabbed their food and rushed to the shore. There were many boats that waited the festival-goers, but neither Kayn nor Akali had the coin to rent one. Instead she just jumped on the first boat, followed by Kayn and then the boat owner at their heels.

“Sorry! We will give it back!” Akali shouted at the man and he argued with her from the edge of the water as she paddled the boat towards the sea. There were dozens of boats already in the water, gently floating on the waves. Families with kids and lovers who wanted to steal a moment away from the noise and the crowd, all turned when Akali stirred the boat right between theirs and towards the lanterns.

“Do not drop me in the water!” Rhaast sounded nervous as Kayn tried balancing the small vessel so they don’t flip over.

Once they gained enough distance and the lanterns were within reach, Akali stopped and put the paddle down.

“We can either start from the east side, or the west one.” she pointed at the both ends of the line of lights.

“East, seems closer.” Kayn said and took the paddle from in front of her. Gently he rowed them down the shore, the lanterns on one side and the barricade of the dozens of colorful rowboats on the other. Akali reached in the water and inspected the lanterns, wondering if there could be a message hidden inside.

The lanterns to the east yielded nothing useful, as the trail ended in the open sea. West looked promising, and slowly they made their way there. While Akali was busy with the lanterns, Kayn looked at the crowd gathering by the shore. He was alert, wondering if there is a commotion going on in the town, perhaps something related to their suspect. Akali raised her head too and noticed that the people seemed to have gathered to watch something. He grew nervous, thinking that it was something to do with the two of them.

However within moments they saw an avalanche of white petals traveling on the air and towards the waves. A particularly strong wind had blown throughout the city and it gave all those foreign tourists the kind of sight they came here for.

“Yeah, Blossom Festival, makes sense,” Akali shrugged.

Kayn raised a brow as he watched it unfold. What was the point in any of this? He glanced to the side and noticed that despite her comment, Akali seemed to be looking in a bit of wonder at the sight. Her otherwise sharp stare was softened and her brows raised, eyes following the petals that fell near them. He leaned his head on the paddle of the boat and looked at her for a moment, watching her gentle features, her unkempt messy hair, her strong arms. He couldn’t care less about the flowers while she was sitting right there. Kayn had looked at many people before, from fellow Yánléi, to barmaids, farmers or girls selling wares at the market, however he never felt anything at those encounters. He didn't feel anything more than just physical desire for her until very recently too. These couple of days of traveling together only made things worse for him. There was something he couldn't put into words that was just different from anything else. A part of him hated it, but a part of him was curious where it would lead.

Akali noticed him looking and blinked few times. He cleared his throat and looked away, paddling the boat slowly. Her gaze was fixed on him for a moment and she did not want to ruin the silence between them with some snarky comment. The flowers kept coming, but she had to keep looking for clues in the lanterns.

Kayn reached for his bag, propped against the side of the boat and opened the front where Rhaast’s eye was. The scythe blinked few times and the eye darted at the sight of the blossoms in the wind. Perhaps he thought that this is as ridiculous as Kayn did, but Rhaast was quiet as he watched. He probably had never seen a Blossom Festival either.

“Let me,” Kayn told Akali, seeing that she wanted to watch the show and offered to look in the lanterns himself. After a brief exchange of looks, she nodded and he handed her the paddle.

“Didn’t think you were the type. For flowers and all that,” she remarked lightheartedly.

“Me? Nah. They are kinda blocking my view,” Kayn deflected. He picked one of the lanterns up, a drawing of a horse and a wolf in endless chase decorating the side. He then turned it to Rhaast so he can see it as well. The eye on the scythe blinked slowly and then squinted, however he still remained quiet.

“Maybe the Noxian is waiting for this to be over too. If he was smart he would’ve used it as cover,” Akali replied.

Like snowfall the petals landed on the water only to bob on the shiny dark surface along with the lanterns and the boats. As the waves carried them to the beach, Akali and Kayn cut through the specks of white in their pursuit for the clue. She reached in the water and picked a petal up, before putting it back down. Carried by the strange energy of the festival, they didn’t even realize they were almost at the end of the line of lanterns and not anywhere closer to uncovering anything about the Noxian.

“So, when are you going to give her your little gift?” Kayn’s mind was filled with Rhaast’s deep and booming voice again.

“What?” he mumbled.

“You know what – the little metal thing you picked from the girl at the market. You think I wouldn’t notice? Your adolescent crush has been mildly entertaining,” Rhaast mocked him and Kayn reached for the amulet in his pocked. He clenched it in his fist and hesitated. Akali was looking towards the shore, and he felt confident for a moment, a confidence that would soon fade in Kayn’s deepest insecurities he hid even from himself. She was Kinkou and he was Yánléi. There was nothing more to this.

“What is he saying?” Akali asked.

“He hates flowers,” Kayn replied in his smug manner.

“Coward,” Rhaast barked.

“Like scythe, like wielder I guess,” she shrugged.

So what if he was Yánléi? She wasn’t even with the Kinkou, not officially. She was as much of a killer as them, she fought for the same ideals. And he wasn’t his Master. He wasn’t Zed. Why would she defend Shen’s honor when she barely respected him from the brief interactions he saw between the two. In fact, Akali had no idea that Kusho was not killed ten years ago. That he was alive till recently and that in fact, he was behind all those things that caused her grief. Behind Jhin’s attacks and the Navori Brotherhood’s militarization. Maybe if she gave it a chance, if she gave the Yánléi a chance, she could forgive Zed after learning this. Yes – that was going to fix everything. But Kayn wasn’t going to be the one to dishonor his Master by telling her. Only if he could do something else to get her to join him.

“Akali—” he began and she turned to him, brow raised. He clenched the amulet in his pocket and thought about what to say. “Remember when we met and I asked if you wanted to collaborate, and then you called me crazy. I really meant that. Work together, like we do now.”

“You sound like you are going to ask me to marry you,” she laughed at him a little.

“What? No,” he scoffed “Don’t mock me. I mean we can do what most Ionians dare not, hunt down every Noxian or Navori brute that threatens this land. Protect this--” he gestured at the festival “From people like that.”

Akali tilted her head and looked at him, her eyes growing sad. It’s not that she disagreed, but she began to realize that he doesn’t understand the kind of hurt Zed’s order caused her. Perhaps he would never understand. Which was a damn shame, because had it been in any other circumstances, she wouldn’t mind traveling with him. Kayn’s eyes grew wide as he leaned forward, his breath caught in his throat. Akali looked to the side and away from him, unsure if she can bring herself to tell him everything.

“That’s him…” she mumbled.

“What?”

“That’s our guy. Over there!” she grabbed Kayn’s arm and turned him to look in her direction. At the end of the docks, away from the crowd stood a man dressed in a colorful robe, a hat concealing his face in deep shadow. He was looking right at Kayn. The moment Kayn saw him, the man turned and left in the crowd.

“Oh no you don’t!” Akali snapped and in an instant she jumped from their boat onto the closest one, and then the next. From one boat to another she quickly made her way towards the docks, surprised gasps and screams coming from the people whose boats she rocked with her jumps.

“Wait!” Kayn realized what’s happening after a second as his boat shook and he grabbed Rhaast quickly. Like a shadow he moved on the water’s surface, parting the white petals in a straight line as he made for the shore. His magic allowed him to walk on water, which prompted even more surprised gasps from the onlookers.

Akali was there first, but he caught up to her.

“Take the right!” she shouted for him.

Through the crowd, Kayn searched for the same color and pattern of the man’s robe, which proved difficult in the hundreds of colorful garments. He pushed through the people, human and Vastaya alike, who shouted after him in annoyance. He just needed to reach the row of houses and once he did, in an instant he phased through their walls, climbing up and up to the roof for a better view. He could no longer see Akali who disappeared in the crowd, but he had no time to look for her. Far away from where the people gathered for the celebration, among the vendors and street merchants, he finally saw the man. Kayn was quick on his feet and caught up just as the man turned in one of the dark alleys. Rhaast came out of his sheathe and as silently as he ran, Kayn landed gracefully on his feet right in front of the man.

“Don’t worry I am not going to kill you. Yet,” Kayn said, lowering his head “First I am going to cut everything you know about this weapon from you.”

“I am not worried, Kayn,” the man replied calmly.

“How do you know my name?” Kayn snapped.

“The same way you know mine. Well, my actual name,” the man reached for his hat. Kayn took an offensive stance, his feet threatening to part from the ground in an instant should the man make a sudden movement. Once the hat was off, Kayn was a bit confused as to what he was looking for in this man. He looked about Kayn’s age, perhaps slightly older, with dark hair tied back neatly. He was tall and lean and his features were unremarkable to Kayn.

“Enough talk,” Kayn tried to intimidate him.

“You don’t remember me do you? You don’t remember your friend?” the man spoke softly and Kayn’s eyes widened. No, of course not. That was a long time ago. That was another life.

“I am no longer that child,” Kayn replied.

“Even for your old friend Royce?”

It was involuntarily when Kayn took a step back, the previously stiff hand holding Rhaast now loosening at his side. Royce . He knew that name, he remembered it too well. He never told anyone about this friend of his, not even Master Zed. In fact the only people who knew the names of the arrow fodder were the ones who ran the books. It was impossible for anyone other than some old Noxian war-accountant and Royce himself to know this.

“Ten years ago, all of us died on that field.”

“And yet here you are,” Royce replied.

“I am different. No one else made it out,” Kayn slowly circled the man who stood calmly.

“Some of us did. When everyone was dead, they dragged us back to the camps. Few years down the line made us proper soldiers. That could’ve been your fate,” Royce’s eyes followed Kayn.

“That was not the path for me,” Kayn tired so hard to be emotionally distant, but he felt his face burning as he furrowed his brows.

“You haven’t changed a bit,” Royce commented.

“And you have changed a lot. Before me stands a man I do not recognize.”

“I have a feeling you are going to let me go. But your friend might not,” Royce turned and towards them rushed Akali, kama and kunai in hand. “Tonight, at the cliffs to the east.”

Kayn had no time to hesitate or think this over as Akali struck. The man dodged her first attack which caught her off guard.

“Akali no!” Kayn shouted and Rhaast’s sharp underside met her kama, deflecting the blow and disarming her. She did not expect Kayn’s interference and his block set her off balance. Before she could do anything, the man was already gone from the alley and probably lost in the colorful crowd again. Kayn turned to make sure he was gone, but what he didn’t expect was a full blow to the chest from Akali, pushing him back.

“What do you mean Akali no? We had him right there, what is wrong with you?!” she shouted and pushed him again before he made some distance.

“Stop! He knew more than just my name, he knew everything about me. He told me a name that no one should’ve known,” Kayn tried to explain.

“So what, you just let him live? He is a Noxian hostile!”

“We needed information out of him Akali.”

“No, you needed information. I wanted him dead because he is a threat to every person on that festival.”

“You don’t know that. The name he told me, it was a name of someone I knew.”

“Oh, so you know him? This was a mistake. I should’ve known this is some of your Yánléi business, I shouldn’t have helped you. If it wasn’t for me you’d still be running around Wah’le with your tail between your legs. Or maybe that spirit would’ve killed you in the woods,” she pushed him as she walked past. “Whatever happened to you, at least you wouldn’t have been my problem.”

“You are the one who took something that belonged to me, from my informant. You involved yourself in this.”

“And good thing too, given that you work with Noxians. Imagine if no one was here to stop you.”

“So what now?” Kayn furrowed his brows, his stare following her as she walked.

“I go kill him, and unless you get out of my sight, I’ll kill you too,” she snapped.

“So everything that happened these past few days, was that not proof that I can be trusted as an ally? Did it mean nothing to you?”

Akali stopped and pursed her lips before she turned back to him, eyes filled with scorn.

“Was that what you thought this is? The food, the boat, looking at me with your crazy eyes under the fall of petals, you thought this is a date?” she squinted and Kayn’s face dropped. He didn’t say a word and Akali chuckled, shaking her head “You did think this is us getting to like each other? You actually thought that? You know what, I feel kinda bad for you now.”

“So what, you are just going to let her talk to you like that?” Rhaast interfered, feeling a little protective of Kayn.

“Shut up!” Kayn shouted, realizing that she was right. He thought for a moment that they could be normal, like one of the many young people at the festival. For a moment he wouldn’t be Zed’s student and she wouldn’t be a Kinkou. Akali just shook her head and turned to leave.

“Goodbye Kayn.”

It was lonely and quiet at the cliffs where Kayn sat, far east of the town. The festival was still lively and the lights shone bright in the distance, among the houses and along the shoreline. He felt bad, about the things Akali said, the pathetic things he did. Perhaps even the large gash in the stone of one of the houses that Rhaast’s sharp edge made wielded by Kayn’s anger once she was out of sight. Not that he regretted them, more so that he let someone see him this way. He was Shieda Kayn, he wasn’t going to run after Akali like a lovestruck fool. Whatever they could’ve had, was said and done in that alley. Right now, he had to face his past.

From the woods came out Royce, no longer in the colorful robes, but instead wearing Noxian military leathers and a long red cape. Kayn was on edge, Rhaast in hand and ready to jump at the slightest provocation. The Noxian did not seem fazed as Kayn’s entire left arm, shoulder, breast and face were covered in thick Darkin metal like scales – the eye glowing an unnatural and unnerving red.

“Do not trust him Kayn,” Rhaast spoke.

“I am sorry about that whole thing Kayn…” Royce began.

“I don’t want your pity. I want answers. How can I know you are him?” Kayn asked firmly.

“Because I know your name is not Shieda Kayn. I know you didn’t have one. We called you Vindor because that’s where Noxus plucked you from. Our handlers called you by your number.” Royce said and Kayn’s eyes started filling with tears. He frowned and looked down trying to hold back the anger and memories this brought.

“I have a scar across my back, when we were running away with a stolen loaf of bread. You were too skinny to hold onto my hand so I fell and broke through a bunch of barrels. I know that you fed a stray cat and named her Midnight – until our headmaster had her taken away. Who else would know of these things?”

“Stop! Just stop!” Kayn shouted and turned to the side, his chest heaving “How do you know about Rhaast? Why did you come Royce?”

“Rhaast?”

“The Darkin scythe.”

“You didn’t think that went unnoticed? Noxus very much wants him back, they know a boy from the Yánléi has it.”

“Is that why you are here?” Kayn sprung from his seat as Royce approached.

“No! Of course not…” Royce raised his hands “When I heard about this, when I heard the way they spoke about this Shieda Kayn at the camps, I had to find him. I had to see if it was you. I thought you died.”

Kayn’s emotions were getting to him, his nose and eyes red and struggling to maintain his posture. Something nagged him in the back of his mind, not Rhaast’s mistrustful voice, but something else. Something far more primal and instinctual.

“We have a lot to catch up,” he said.

“We can sit out here, away from the people.” Royce gestured and Kayn gave him a hesitant nod. The two of them sat on the edge of the cliff, legs dangling off the side and began talking about the ten lost years.

After leaving Kayn in that alley, Akali chased after the Noxian man for a while. She lost every possible lead, she didn’t even get a good look at his face before he vanished. After a few curses and some punches throw at the nearest wooden surface, she decided to head to the closest inn for the night, ask around, clinging to some hope that the Noxian would be stupid enough to actually stay at an inn. She barged in, kicking the door on her way and made a beeline for the bar. There wasn’t time for pleasantries, so she slammed her whole forearm on the counter, impatiently waiting for someone to come serve her. The place was empty except for a lonely drunk in the corner, who obviously missed the festival celebrations.

She could hear voices from the back, so she knew the innkeeper was here. Once again her fist crashed on the counter top with a loud thud as she tried peaking in the rooms behind.

“I told you hundred times to stop taking Noxian coin. What are we going to do with it?” a muffled man’s voice shouted.

“With how many guests we don’t have, any coin is welcomed,” a woman argued back.

“Not Noxians! Never Noxians.”

“Not all of them are bad! Some come for the festivities.”

“We can’t exchange these, we can’t even use them. You let one of those rats in, then they all start pouring. We will be a Noxian inn in no time,” the man continued.

“You are being dramatic. The man left and the other one was gone since the afternoon. If they go towards Thanze this time of year, the spirits will certainly get them before the Shadow Assassins do.”

“Good riddance. And don’t ever let Noxians in my inn again.”

“We have guests,” the woman’s voice sounded calmer now.

“I’ll see to them.”

The second the man appeared, Akali’s hands grabbed onto his shirt over the counter.

“Not you again!” he shouted, recognizing her from earlier that day, the girl that threw him on the floor after a rude remark.

“You have to tell me about these Noxians.”

“What is going on?” the woman appeared and gasped at the sight. Akali let go of him and turned to her.

“I’ve been after these Noxian men all day. I am with the Kinkou, I can help stop them, stop whatever it is that they want to do.”

“I don’t know anything child!” the woman raised her hands “They came in last night, three of them. Two Noxian men and an Ionian girl leading them. They got into a shouting competition just before the festival. One of the men, a young lad with long curly hair, left. The girl vanished and the other Noxian left not too long ago.”

“You should’ve told me,” the man interfered, addressing the woman.

“Did he say where he is going?” Akali asked her.

“Just asked me if there is a way out of town to the east. Only the young lad paid for the stay.” the woman added.

“This is why I tell you to not let in Noxians!” the innkeeper shouted at her.

“Do you have the coin he gave you?” Akali asked.

“Yeah, give her that damned coin,” the man threw his hands in the air and walked away.

“Yes, here you go dear. Rather not hear about these coins anymore,” the woman sighed and gave them to Akali.

“Thanks, you were the most helpful person today,” Akali nodded at the woman and turned to leave in a hurry. The fact that there were three of them, lead by an Ionian and the fact that Kayn was now alone with this man changed everything. She hated herself for what she was going to do, but Kayn did go back to save her in the woods. And she wasn’t about to let him have all the fun.

As he sat at the edge of the cliff, Kayn was tossing stones in the water far below while Royce talked about the years in the Noxian army. He got up from next to Kayn a while back, now pacing around nearby as he spoke, while Kayn sat seemingly calm. It was far from it however, as his thigh shook under the stress and tension of all his muscles, the adrenaline rush from meeting someone from his past, a past he hoped to have left behind a long time ago.

“Kayn, you have to listen to me,” Rhaast spoke again and Kayn ignored him “You can sense his heart when your hand is on my handle. The blood rushing through his body. Would a friend of yours seeing you after all these years remain so calm?”

Another rock hit the waves below as Kayn pondered over Rhaast’s words. Something did not feel right.

“You should’ve sent me a letter Royce,” Kayn chuckled “I mean had I known you were coming, I would’ve asked you to bring me something from back home. I don’t suppose they kept all of my wooden knives I had under the bunk, though I was hoping at least you took Lord Drakken with you.”

Royce stopped in his tracks. He didn’t say a word.

“You know, that little soldier toy I stole when we were six,” Kayn added, his voice having lost the bit of sadness it carried before.

“Oh, that was clever. Reel him in with a lie,” Rhaast remarked.

“Oh right! That thing! Yeah, I didn’t get the chance to go back to take any of your things. But hey, I think you are a little too old for that thing anyway,” Royce let out a nervous chuckle. He noticed the slight change in demeanor as Kayn’s previously slumped shoulders shot up and the way his foot was now propped against the rocks. He was about to get up, and not calmly. Royce reached for something in the back of his pants as he came closer to Kayn.

“His heart quickened,” Rhaast said. Kayn knew this. And he turned swiftly just in time to deflect barrage of flying daggers, the blade of the scythe singing as it hit all of them. In his charge, Kayn had no time to swing back, but his foot collided with Royce’s chest, sending him back.

“You have never set foot in a Noxian orphanage. I can tell,” Kayn spoke through gritted teeth. The sadness he felt, the nostalgia, the hope that he met an old friend, someone who might’ve survived the heartless massacre of children by Noxus, turned to fury against the liar before him. He was not Royce.

“Oh, now you are smart,” the Noxian clenched his fist and in a blink of red magic, all the daggers he threw returned to him “However I will be the one leaving with the Darkin weapons.”

Weapons. There it was again. Straight from the Noxian’s mouth. It wasn’t only Rhaast. The man was after something else too. Kayn didn’t wait for this exchange to continue, as much as he wanted to. He shadow stepped, and appeared at the Noxian’s flank, swinging Rhaast swiftly at him. The man turned quickly and vanished in a flash of light, leaving only red smoke behind. When he manifested out of thin air, another set of daggers traveled towards Kayn, almost impaling him as he flipped backwards to dodge them. Some kind of Noxian magic no doubt, nothing like he has seen from any Ionian.

“I think you have something of mine!” the Noxian grinned and when he called back the daggers this time, a sharp pain cut through Kayn’s outer thigh, right out of his pants. The dagger he pocketed back at the road from Weh’le found its way to its owner. Despite the gashing injury, Kayn was more than ready to go at the Noxian man again. Every time the two clashed and locked blades, the Noxian would just disappear in thin air and reappear where Kayn least expected. Even though Kayn got a few hits that almost cut open his heavy leather armor, the daggers nicked him one too many times which only angered him.

“You have to channel your anger Kayn! Towards him! Let me show you...” Rhaast whispered.

“No!” Kayn resisted and the second the Noxian released another flurry of daggers, Kayn passed through them as thin as a shadow and appeared just in range to make a painful slash across the man’s chest, ripping parts of the leather armor off.

“Good! More, Kayn, turn on him again!” Rhaast encouraged.

As he was about to take another swing, pain seared through his left arm, the one that was corrupted and covered in thick darkin scale like armor. It could still hurt and bleed, but it was the blow that set him off balance. He didn’t even see the attacker.

“It was about time Ionian,” the Noxian spoke and next to him appeared a lithe figure, her face concealed behind a mask.

“Humble yourself, you couldn’t take out one shadow assassin,” she snapped back.

Against the two of them, angry and injured, Kayn grinned. It was in these moments where he truly felt alive. If this man really was Royce, a Noxian boy tied to a tree by his neck like Kayn, he would’ve known better than to corner him. He stood against dozens from his own order – what chance did these two stand? Kayn slashed and hacked as he spun Rhaast around, hearing the rip of flesh and clothes whenever his two adversaries would drop their guard for a moment.

But he grew more tired than he realized, no longer focusing on the best time to disappear into the shadows. In fact his fighting lacked any elegance of a shadow assassin. He was a butcher. He thought for a moment that even if this was his childhood friend, for this insult alone he would halve him.

“If you let me lead Kayn, we are going to dispatch them faster,” Rhaast urged and Kayn was almost willing to give in. In a second he felt himself lose control, felt Rhaast’s dark grip choking the air out of him. And then in a flash of red, his back hit the ground, the scythe dropping out of his hand. The Noxian landed a blow and he was going in for another. Despite Rhaast being out of his hands, Kayn could still feel the grip on him. Something was tugging at his very soul, pulling on his flesh as if it was going to rip it from his bones. His left side was in searing pain and he reached for the very thing that caused it. His only hope.

Suddenly the attack ceased as the three of them were enveloped in thick smoke. What followed was the flash of steel and the surprised gasps of the Noxian man. Kayn’s bright eyes widened as he saw the shadows clash faintly. Despite the pain, he reached for Rhaast again, and the burning in his arm ceased as he gained control.

“I tell you what to do Rhaast. You hear me!” he snarled and joined in the fight. As the smoke settled he found himself back to back with his rival. His ally.

“She is good. Better than you,” the Noxian man spat blood and revealed the gash on his cheek that she just made. Akali frowned, her snarl concealed behind the mask. It was only a brief moment before her blades clashed with the Noxian’s and Kayn took it upon himself to ward of the female attacker.

While his swings took momentum and were slower, Akali was quick enough to keep up with the Noxian magic and the man’s disappearing tricks. The swordswoman fighting Kayn had hard time keeping up with the Shadow Assassin and she slowly edged towards the woods. Akali kept up with the false Royce, but she was out of Kunai and he kept summoning his magical blades to him. What got Kayn’s attention was the first thud of Akali’s body as she hit the ground. And then the second. She should’ve run, she knew better than to stand her ground in this situation. But fury overwhelmed her, some kind of confidence that she can do it, as well as the need to be the one to catch the Noxian. Not Kayn, but her.

“You will have to give in Kayn, if you want to save her,” Rhaast’s voice, now amused, whispered.

Kayn bared his teeth and launched an attack on the woman with the sword, hitting her from the side and to his surprise, slashing her across the stomach. She gasped, a moment of child like fear in her voice which lead Kayn to believe that she was not experienced in a fight. Even though he couldn’t see her concealed face, he knew that she looked over to the Noxian. This brief moment of distraction was enough for Kayn to strike once more, hoping to catch her off guard. Instead of standing her ground, she dodged his blow and made a run for it in the woods. He had to catch her. Every fiber in him wanted to naturally vanish into the shadows and give pursuit. But Akali came back for him. He wasn’t going to leave her a second time.

Kayn did vanish into the shadows, only to turn on the Noxian. Akali held her ground well, given that she had only her Kama and her fists. The man had managed to lock his daggers with her steel, but a quick headbutt to his nose set him back from pushing into her. And then came a kick. And another. She almost overwhelmed him, almost brought him down when she felt the gush of wind next to her head. His magical blades flew, missing her face by less than an inch, however forcing her to dodge on the ground before the rest of them found their way to their chest. She was gonna get to her feet fast, she was going to get him again. And then he pulled them back with his magic.

It was in a blink of an eye where she rolled backwards to avoid them before she realized that something had also pushed him away from her. Kayn sliced at the man and managed to break the fight. The second swing of his scythe was dodged and what followed was a punch to the face, one Kayn did not expect. He was tired, his mind was racing and the last thing he thought he will get is good old Noxian street combat. The punch had him thrown to the side, his body sliding dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.

“How truly hopeless this land is…” the man panted as he approached Kayn “Years of training here, and you are no better than the arrow fodder they sent.”

Akali rushed to grab some of her Kunai off the ground. Kayn’s grip on Rhaast was firm and ready. The man attacked and instead of striking, Kayn dodged, using the man’s momentum to push him off the edge of the cliff. And in the final second of his fall, the Noxian’s hand found its way to Kayn’s ankle. First his chest met the hard edge of the rocks and then he felt himself in free fall.

One hit against the side of the rocks, then another and finally a splash in the cold dark water below. Kayn knew better than to gasp for air. He had to orient himself and swim up, even with Rhaast in his hand. But first, he had to kick the Noxian off his foot. The man’s other hand grabbed his pants and the hand that held his ankle now grabbed the end of his hair. He was pulling him down. Kayn could tell where he is. He knew that he is unarmed. The man made an effort to restrain his hands and in the struggle Kayn needed only one moment, one slip to strike.

He could’ve slipped into shadows. He could’ve disappeared and swam up, waiting patiently for the Noxian to sink or float. The man still had information they needed, so it would’ve been wise to bring him alive. Instead, Kayn decided he was going to end him. As the Noxian’s grip went loose on his hand for a moment, trying to readjust, Kayn broke free. A sound of violent ripping of flesh broke the otherwise deathly silence of the water as Kayn drove Rhaast through the Noxian’s chest. The glow from Rhaast’s eye illuminated the man’s shocked face, and then Kayn drove the scythe further in, almost carving his chest open. The last thing the Noxian was going to see was the flash of red in Kayn’s eyes. The violence that was born and raised in the land he came from. The violence that now ended him.

The two were soon covered in crimson as the man’s blood painted the water, and Kayn realized that his grip weakened. He couldn’t feel his arms or his legs. He couldn’t breathe. The Noxian man’s corpse slowly slipped from Rhaast’s edge, and Kayn could not gather the strength to kick his legs and swim up. The grip on the scythe loosened as well. How long was he under the waves? Too long for the air he took on the way down.

“Kayn? Kayn! We cannot sink here, Kayn!” Rhaast shouted in the back of his head, yet all Kayn could hear were muffled sounds. A dreadful realization of what this violence brought him came over Kayn as his vision faded. And then the water returned to it’s still and deafening silence.

Chapter Text

Quiet sobs filled the dark stone hall of an old temple. It was a room for peace and meditation, but for the young Noxian, it was a sanctuary away from the other students. The boy, no older than eleven summers, sat by the edge of a calm pool of water, looking at his bloodied face in the reflection. His tears rippled the surface and he was quick to wipe them.

“Thought I’d find you here,” a voice spoke from behind him. The shadow of a man darkened the large doorway where only the amber rays of the setting sun illuminated barely half of the hall. The man then stepped forward, his metal boots landing surprisingly softly on the cobblestone floor below his feet. He had the confidence of a leader in his stride, but moved as quietly as a shadow.

“Master Zed!” the boy exclaimed and he quickly wiped away his tears, smudging the blood further.

“What happened?” Zed stopped next to him, his height towering over the thin child that sat curled up on the steps of the pool.

“Nothing,” the boy began, speaking in broken Ionian.

“Your face is covered in blood,” the man raised a brow, looking at him.

“I fell during training,” he deflected.

“You must not hide these things from me. I heard there was a fight.”

Zed slowly sat down next to him and reached out to see the extent of his injuries. As he made a move, the boy flinched, pulling away from him. Concern fell over Zed’s face as he furrowed his brows. These injuries probably paled in comparison to what the child had seen in his past. Again he reached out, slower this time and gently cupped the boy’s face, raising his chin so he can have a better look.

“Will you let the healer see you?” Zed asked him after he established that nothing was broken. The boy remained quiet. Zed tried to smile at him, but the child looked away.

“<Ren called me a Noxian dog. I had to punch him,>” the boy answered, now talking in his native tongue.

“<You should’ve come to me. I admire your will to fight back, but Ren is older than you,>” Zed replied in Noxian.

“<Master Zed, they know I am not like them. When I fought with Ren, everyone else just watched. They probably thought the same. They know he is right… I will never be like them,>” the boy’s voice trembled as he was fighting so hard not to cry before his master.

“<No. If they question your place as my student, they question me,>” Zed’s words were short, but there was a comforting tone to them.

“<I am not stupid, Master Zed, I know what I am.>”

“<Listen to me,>” Zed sighed and reached out for the boy again, this time slowly and gently. He put his arm on the child’s shoulder and tilted his head to look at him “<What you are is my student. And a very brave young man. You and those children both lost everything in the war, no matter what side you were on. If you could choose, would you choose to fight for Noxus?>”

“No!” the child shouted in Ionian before continuing in Noxian “<I hate them!>”

“<You don’t choose where you are born, you don’t choose your country or your parents. But you choose what you will become. I took you in because you deserved that chance. You still have that choice.>”

The boy looked at him with his wide amber eyes, tears rolling down his nose and cheeks. This man had saved him, fed him, gave him a home. He never looked at him with fear or prejudice. For the first time in his life spent through orphanages and child soldier camps, he finally felt like he belonged somewhere. How could he choose anything else?

“Thank you Zed,” he said, wiping the tears away. Zed’s head perked up with a slightly amused spark in his eyes. The boy didn’t call him Master.

“Your Ionian improved,” Zed added.

“Yeah, your Noxian is not so bad either,” the boy chuckled.

“You need to see a healer.”

“I think I got off better. Ren should see a healer.”

“Now there is that bold tone again, I really missed being disrespected,” Zed turned his head away to hide his growing grin, but kept looking at the boy from the corner of his eye. He rubbed the child’s shoulder and then ruffled his hair which prompted a little giggle.

“You know boy, you’ve been here for months. I don’t think its suited for you to be called by some Noxian name. I will give you one, but a name your Master gives you is a gift. You don’t have to accept it and you can always change it.”

The child’s eyes widened and the playful expression faded in surprise. He was unsure how to react or feel about this. He knew it meant a lot, but was he ready? Of course he was – this was his choice.

“Hm.” Zed thought for a second, though it became obvious he has thought about this a lot longer than he let on “How bout… Kayn?”

“What does it mean?” he asked.

“That is up to you. And I have no doubt you will live up to it,” Zed smirked and turned to the boy, to Kayn, his eyes meeting the beaming grin that replaced the tears as he looked at him. The kind of smile he once had, years ago. He knew what this moment meant for Kayn as it once meant to him, but he did not want to have his students see him be soft. They needed a grounded leader, so he tried his best to deflect the situation.

“Now about that healer,” Zed raised his brows.

“Do I have to?” Kayn tilted his head.

“Yes. I’ll come with you. Mostly so you won’t run off with your face caked in blood,” Zed nudged him up and put his hand on his back as the two walked.

“Will Ren be in trouble?”

“You will both be in trouble.”

“But Ren will be more in trouble?”

“Don’t gloat.”

“Not even a little?”

“Kayn.”

“Kayn? Kayn!”

He tried opening his eyes as he felt something smack him across his face.

“Are you dead?”

Kayn coughed out some water and felt Akali push him on his side. She then smacked his back a few times, with the last one being so powerful he felt like he will expel his own lungs. He was out on the rocky beach, completely drenched, but alive. Rhaast was not within his grasp. It was dark and he could only see what the moonlight illuminated around him. Panic washed over as he thought he dropped Rhaast.

“Your evil scythe washed up down the beach,” Akali spoke as she walked past him.

“Akali?” Kayn whispered now that his chest no longer burned with each breath “Why did you pull me out?”

“Don’t think anything of it,” she replied, squeezing the water out of her hair few feet from him. She didn’t just pull him out, she dived in to save him. Kayn remained quiet, catching his breath as he pulled himself up to his feet. He caught Akali’s eyes glancing at him before she looked away. The moonlight outlined her brows that were furrowed in concern. As his eyes met hers, he just nodded a little and then rushed to find Rhaast.

Across the rocks laid the scythe, the waves gently washing over it as Rhaast blinked his eye at the salty water. Suddenly he felt Kayn approach and prepared to give him an earful the moment his hand touched the handle.

“What was that, Kayn?” Rhaast began.

“I am not in the mood for your whining.”

“I felt the rage that overwhelmed you Kayn. You were so close.” he snarled.

“Disappointed?”

“ Annoyed. The only Ionian with a Darkin weapon and you almost dropped me at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Oh, so you don’t like that? Good to know if I ever want to get rid of you.”

“ I know you won’t do that. I saw how much you crave this power.”

“You underestimate how much you are getting on my nerves, Rhaast.”

“Kayn…” he felt Akali nudge him and snapped out of his argument “Once you are done talking to yourself, we should go back to town.”

“I was talking to Rhaast,” Kayn replied in haste and as she walked past him, his head perked up “We?”

Akali didn’t answer and left him standing there, dumbfounded. She only took few steps before turning over her shoulder, and gesturing with her head for him to follow. Kayn didn’t wait a second as he slowly went along with her.

It was almost midnight when they returned to Kosaro, and you could tell by the streets that were slowly emptying. The people have gathered to watch the fireworks and the first whistle followed by a bright red flash and fizzle startled both Kayn and Akali, who were already on edge. They were soaked and it was a chilly night, so they sought shelter at the edges of town. The fireworks continued, and the two stopped briefly to watch them. Kayn remembered the time Zed first introduced him to these colorful explosions when he was only a child. He looked in wonder back then, but all he remembers is how Zed tried avoiding them. It was only less than a year ago that he learned why. And yet, his Master would still linger a few more minutes so that Kayn could watch.

Akali’s gaze on the fireworks stayed as she turned to walk after Kayn, something he made note of. Perhaps these brought a memory for her too. Those few minutes weren’t going to change much, so he stopped in his tracks and stood by her. The two watched the fireworks in silence and she stole a glance at him, a surprising softness in her eyes she was not going to let him see.

“Eh, not bad. Should’ve used more colors,” she commented as the wooshing and crackling slowly ceased and Kayn noticed her little grin.

They went all the way to the Vastaya district, behind the houses that bordered the mountain, and to their luck, there was an empty barn behind one. Even if the residents did discover them, they would be gone like a shadow at first light. It only mattered that there was no stinky cattle they would have to share the hay with all night.

“I should’ve pocketed someone for coin.” Kayn mumbled to himself.

“Really? Your Master is teaching you that now?” Akali glared at him as she tried making a little bed for herself in the old dry hay.

“Nah, Zed would nag me about it. But what he doesn’t know...”

“I take it the great and mighty Kayn is above sleeping in a barn?” she said as she plopped down.

“I was going to say the same about you,” Kayn replied with a cheeky smirk.

He sat down, leaving enough room between himself and Akali, but didn’t see her move away. Perhaps that was a good sign.

“Are you gonna toss me to the side again?” Rhaast complained.

“You are right at home among this forage.” Kayn replied and Akali understood the context, so a brief chuckle escaped her.

“ Not even a near death experience will deter that annoying attitude of yours. I should try harder.”

“Good night, Rhaast.” Kayn said and put him to the side on a small bed of hay he made for him. The eye widened and then squinted as if he could feel that he was laying softly and was not in fact just tossed somewhere.

Akali sat and watched Kayn as he interacted with Rhaast, carefully observing his movements as he came to sit by her. She tilted her head to the side and kept her eyes on him until he noticed.

“About earlier,” Kayn began and cleared his throat “I was under no impression that what we were doing was a date. Why would I? A few falling petals and some food cannot sway me into that. Besides, now that this Noxian business is done with, I will leave you be in the morning.”

Akali’s face soured a little, words that would make him stay not coming out of her throat. Instead she had something else that bothered her. Kayn left out that he was probably going to hunt down the mysterious swordsman that fled the battle, but he didn’t want to give Akali any ideas. After all, that’s what she would’ve done to make sure their paths won’t cross.

“So you are saying you know that no matter what, you and I can’t be anything more than this, right?”

“Where did you get the idea I want anything more?”

“Good. Then why did you do something stupid like tackling that Noxian before he killed me? I am your enemy remember? I want your Master dead.”

“Well, I am not my Master.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“I have more honor than to let a Noxian kill you,” Kayn shrugged “I mean if this is your way of showing gratitude--”

“Don’t ya get ahead of yourself there,” Akali cut him off. She reached in her pocket and felt the coins. The sound of their faint jingling reached Kayn’s ears and he squinted. Akali pulled the three Noxian shillings out and looked at them.

“Wait, so you did have coin all this time? Then why the barn?” he paused and raised his brows “Not trying to get ahead of myself here, but...”

“I overheard your conversation with that guy. Well a little. But I figured it out, pretty much. You are Noxian aren’t you?” she turned to Kayn and he braced himself for a scornful gaze. “I mean word on the street was that you are a foreigner, I gathered that much, just didn’t expect this. Not from your wyrm Master.”

“I am not Noxian.” Kayn’s tone got serious “Sure I was born there, but I have nothing to do with that place. I came here with no name, no home, no family, until Master Zed took me in. You can call me many things, but not a Noxian.”

Akali looked at him as he spoke, and saw something other than smugness or anger in his amber eyes. He seemed sad. As if something was cutting along his throat with every word, but he tried so hard to conceal it from her. Her frown relaxed and her brows furrowed in sympathy. For a moment she felt bad for that boy Zed saved. And for a moment she understood why he would be so loyal to a man like him.

Kayn saw this in her eyes, but none of it mattered. Akali was going to go her own way in the morning, and he would go his. He was a Yánléi, and despite everything she would always be Kinkou. He learned that no matter how often he offered or perhaps wished to change it, neither side would give. He turned around and laid down in the hay.

“I—” Akali began but she stopped herself from saying something stupid “I don’t think this is over. When I left you at that alley, I searched for the Noxian and by chance ran into the same inn I trashed this morning.”

Kayn slowly turned to her and saw that her concerned gaze was still on him. She turned forward quickly and tossed the coin in her hand few times.

“What I overheard is that there were, in fact, two Noxian men lead by an Ionian woman that came to the inn. One of them paid with this coin and left before the other two. So if anything, I want to know who he is, why were they aided by an Ionain swordswoman and what do they want with him.”

She pointed at Rhaast and Kayn sat upright again. He ran his fingers through his hair and he wanted to say something very regrettable once again. Luckily for him, Akali was going to break the ice.

“They are obviously after your scythe. And that thing is obviously very important and given how much you want it, very dangerous for everyone else. So I am coming with you to find them. Or rather, you are coming with me. How does that sound?”

“Oh, and you are still the one in charge of this?” Kayn’s smirk grew to a grin and there was a playful mockery in his tone, but he quickly cleared his throat to sound more serious “I mean I knew you’d come around, it was a matter of time.” he shrugged and got a little kick from Akali.

“You need to learn to quit while you’re ahead Kayn,” she smiled and Kayn laid back down, looking at her. “Consider this a once in a lifetime ex-Kinkou and Yánléi cooperation, at least until we solve this. But afterwards, nothing changes. Do we have a deal?”

“I was gonna add some of my demands, but sure, you can tag along,” he joked and she extended her hand.

“Shake on it.”

Kayn looked at her a little confused and then at her palm that was right in front of him, and then back at her again. He rose up from his bedding once more and took her hand gently with his and the two sealed the deal. She didn’t pull back immediately, but he didn’t want to give the wrong impression, so he broke their handshake first and watched as she laid down.

“I even shook you with my good hand,” he added and Akali looked at him with a slightly amused expression. She seemed tired so she just closed her eyes and wiggled a little until she found a comfortable position. Kayn watched her for a moment, his eyes glowing slightly in the dark before he laid on his other side so that they will face each other through the night. It was not wise for an assassin to expose his back, but he didn’t care.

Pain shot through his left arm, and he thought that it must be an injury from the fight, the hit that he took from the swordswoman. He tried adjusting so he can sleep on that arm, just so he won’t turn his back on Akali, but it felt uncomfortable. The adrenaline faded and the pain got noticeable. It certainly didn’t hurt like an injury from a sharp blade, and perhaps it could be described as a dull ache. When he pulled his hand out from underneath his body and the hay, he noticed that it was not a wound that ached. Rhaast’s corruption always scarred him, but it retracted when he let go of the weapon and put Rhaast away. Sure, the scars would get worse over time, but never like this. The lower part of his arm, the top of his hand and up towards the elbow was still raw and red, and he could see the bones on his knuckles protruding – not bones but plates made of some strange material that was neither metal nor flesh. He couldn’t let Akali see this, and he had to figure out what to do about it in the morning.

Tiredness overtook him despite the pain, so he found a way to comfortably bury his arm in the hay, and felt sleep take him as soon as he closed his eyes. The discomfort from the ache and the straw of his bedding poking him were nothing as he drifted off into what would probably be yet another nightmare, one like he had every night. Much like the scars on his arm, they only ever got worse.

“Master said today was the fastest I’ve ever been. I think I am still catching my breath, but he sounded impressed! He sounded proud of me...” the young girl told the prisoner behind the forbidden door, leaning on the wall right next to it.

“The news you bring me of your training make this confinement worth while. I never doubted you would exceed even his expectations,” the voice from within spoke sweetly.

“I wouldn’t say exceed…He did dodge every single one of my attacks,” the girl smiled nervously “Didn’t even have to put down his tea to do it.”

“Oh you know how swordsmen are, always cocky, always arrogant,” the voice scoffed.

“Do you know many?”

“Only one my dear, and that is one too many,” a chuckle came from behind the door.

“Master Yi is not like that, he is not arrogant. He can be witty, but is quite kind,” the girl’s voice sounded as if she tried to convince the person of her Master’s virtues.

“The only thing that baffles me about your Master is his ideology. He teaches you peace as well as wielding a deadly weapon. Are those two not contradictory?” the voice’s tone shifted, only a little, yet enough to unnerve the girl.

“The way of Wuju is not like that. We practice with a dull blade and only when we are ready, do we receive a sharpened sword. Only when we can control our strikes not to hurt, but...to protect,” the girl defended Yi.

“Yet it is still a sword.”

“Noxus will not lower theirs, so we have to defend our home, don’t we?”

“Violence for violence, and the cycle goes on. Until someone steps up to break it. Those people believe in their ideology as much as you believe in yours. The soldiers you would fell are someone’s children, someone’s parents. People.”

“I know!” the girl snapped and quickly covered her mouth with her hand “I know… But what choice do we have?”

“We always have a choice. Peace is an option.”

“You said you’ve lived through conflict and strife, have you never fought?”

“I was a healer,” the voice told her somberly.

“I see…” the girl looked to the side, almost ashamed of having made such an accusation.

“Your Master is afraid of peace. He is afraid to trust in the concept of it, afraid that something awful will happen if he is the first to lay down his sword. He is afraid of me. But if he were to let me go, to just listen, I could help him stop what’s coming. I can help you stop this war.”

“My Master told me that fear leads to violence,” the girl found her confidence to stand up to this being.

“Is this imprisonment not violence?”

Her voice suddenly caught in her throat and she was short of words to say to the woman behind the door. Whatever she did, whatever she was going to do, there was nothing in the way of Wuju that asked for something like this. For what sounded like years of solitary confinement.

“Your friend Sadako, the one who your Master exiled--” the voice began and then cut off the girl as she tried speaking “Do not talk, he is coming right now. Just listen to me. She understood that no matter what you choose, your path will lead to violence. And she was punished for it. So now it falls onto you to make the right choice. To save him, and to save all of them. You are a smart and skilled young lady Jun, I know you will do what is right.”

The woman’s voice faded as gentle footsteps echoed on the other end of the hallway, getting the young girl’s attention. She turned to where the sound came from and saw her Master walking gently towards her, hands folded behind his back and soft smile on his lip. He was not an old man, but his long black hair that was neatly tied in a ponytail was adorned with thin gray streaks on his sides. Jun was aware that he knew more than he let on, not just about the woman behind the door, but about her own presence in this exact hallway, yet his nature did not let him be confrontational.

“You sweep this floor so much Jun, someone will end up slipping and sliding all the way from Bahrl to Navori,” he chuckled. Jun tried her best to be serious, keeping in mind what the voice told her, but she couldn’t help and laugh at what he said.

“Oh, I just come here to clear my head. Ting is very, very--” she paused “Sorry for saying this, but very loud. Sometimes I need a little break.”

“Hm,” Yi scratched his beard as he already closed the distance between the two of them “Perhaps we could take a little hike up the mountain soon. Would give you the chance to meditate in peace, and Ting the chance to get all that energy out of him.”

“I don’t know…” Jun was hesitant, fearing that the voice behind the door would be locked tighter while they are away. It was an irrational fear, but for some reason it clouded her mind. Yi knew very well what was going on here, his eyes concerned as he looked over her. Last time he confronted the issue, he lost a student. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. As he took the broom from her hand, he decided that he will slowly guide Jun away from this obsession, like a gardener turning the pot of a tilted flower until it followed the sun and straightened up on its own.

“It is going to be part of your training. You cannot open your mind’s eye to the spirits if you are holed up in this windowless hallway,” he said, placing his hand on Jun’s back and nudging her to walk with him. “Have I told you of when Master Doran took a hike with me? I was about your age too, perhaps a little younger, and what a hike that was. I just think I couldn't look at rice cakes for the next few weeks.”

"Why?" Jun chuckled.

"You'll find out," he replied with a playful tone.

"I would love to hear about it,” Jun’s head perked up and there was a curious spark in her eyes “Maybe during our journey.”

Master Yi smiled at her, a weight lifting off his heart seeing that Jun was not yet lost to him. There was a chance to turn her away from this thing, at least until he found a way to move it and bury it even deeper into mountain, at the depths of the Temple no one would ever dare look into. It was a dangerous task, but he had to find a way to protect his students.

“Now you better run off to dinner. I hope there is something left after Ting stormed the kitchen. Again,” he made light of the situation and Jun grinned.

Right before they turned the corner, Jun took one last glance at the overgrown door, one more moment where the woman’s words echoed in her head. The sword school might’ve rested along the mountain far above the spirit mists of the valley below, but Jun felt as if the fog was in her own head.

Could you betray the man who cares for you, gave you a home, a family and a purpose? Could you betray your Master?

Chapter Text

Kayn and Akali weren’t far from Kosaro when trouble found them once again. Or rather, they found it. It was a call for aid by the young heir of a wealthy merchant’s family in the countryside. They saw it as an opportunity for some coin and dispatching the gang that was holding the family hostage seemed like easy work. Akali was a bit irritated at Kayn’s methods, since she preferred to do her work quick and clean, but he had to make a show of jumping out of someone’s chest, which is probably why he was now covered in blood and entrails. It didn’t help that his shadowstep landed him right in the pigstry, so add a layer of mud on top of it and you had the unrecognizably dirty figure that sat on the little stone wall by the road. Akali, who remained clean much like her kills, was in the village getting some food and supplies for the journey. Rhaast was by Kayn’s side, though he was probably not aware that he, too, was covered in the same grime as his wielder.

“Why every time I am with this girl I end up dealing with pigs?” Kayn said, trying to wipe the dirt off his face to no avail.

“ At least she had a good laugh.”

“Yes, at me.”

“Would you rather go back to her hating you? Laughing at you is a step up, don’t you think?” Rhaast replied.

“You aren’t looking much better yourself.”

“I am not the one trying to impress a girl.”

“I am not trying to impress her. We are beyond that now,” Kayn looked to the side.

“Oh I know. I mean when it came to her you had only one thing on your mind. Well two...” Rhaast spoke and Kayn gave him a glare which he knew the eye could see “But now, your mind is a mess of thoughts I didn’t think someone like you could have. It’s a little pathetic. Not even your nightmares seem to bother you.”

“I think you should mind your business Rhaast.”

“My business is sadly tied to yours.”

“She could be a valuable ally, and her joining the Yánléi is still not off the table. Besides I do not think horned demon women count as nightmares. You can do better than that,” Kayn scoffed.

Rhaast remained silent. Kayn waited for another snarky reply, but he turned to look at Rhaast when he got none.

“Rhaast?”

“ What?”

“You got awfully quiet.”

“ Do I have to reply to every stupid thing you say?”

Kayn felt the tone shift in Rhaast parting shot, but decided not to respond when he saw Akali approach down the road. He caught himself staring at her relaxed and confident stride, but quickly looked away.

“Why is it every time I am with you I end up covered in pig dirt?” he complained as soon as she got in earshot.

“I think it’s charming,” she joked.

“Ha-ha,” he rolled his eyes “I look like shit.”

“You smell like shit too,” Akali stepped away from him as they walked.

“You are very nice today.”

“What are you talking about, I am always nice,” she grinned and Kayn shook his head. “Come on, we will find some pond to throw you in on the way.”

And a pond they found deep into the woods as they traveled northeast towards the Navori province. Just a bit further north and they would reach the open plains underneath the mountains, where the old temple of Thanjuul stood on a cliff that threw a long shadow over the valley below. That was the place that both Kayn and Akali could call home, but sadly at different times of their life. A home for him that was stolen from her. And now, it was no longer his either, as the Shadow Order traitors have laid claim to the base after Kusho’s death. Of course, Kayn would not bring any of this up with Akali, for fear of her uncovering the truth and also to avoid the discomfort of whatever she had to say about his Master. Thanjuul was nothing more than a cliff with broken oaths and promises, of strengthened bonds and spilled blood. Perhaps one day soon, it will feel like home again.

Akali was prepared for the trip with all necessities, armed with more Kunai than Kayn could see on her, food for both of them and a map. While she sat on a large rock formation that lined the pond, sorting her things and snacking on some dried pork, Kayn was considering a dip in the shallow, clear water. He propped Rhaast further away from them and made sure his eye was looking at something so he won’t be bored.

“How do you like the view?” he joked.

“Breathtaking for sure,” Rhaast replied sarcastically.

When Kayn returned to the pond, he took off his girdle and his shoes, but stopped before he undid the rope that held up his pants. He looked at Akali and she looked at him, both confused and unsure of the situation.

“Hey, don’t mind me,” she said and pretended to look at the map, occasionally glancing at him “You know how I feel about your abs.”

Kayn was going to flirt in turn, however he quickly remembered he was covered in pig excrement and mud and was probably not the best sight. He tightened the rope of his pants instead, and jumped in the pond with them still on. Akali looked over at the rippling water and saw him emerge once it calmed down.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna join me?” Kayn said, washing his face and sliding his hair back “The water is great.”

“I’m good up here,” she replied and leaned on one arm, tilting her head to the side as she watched him.

“Your loss,” he replied and undid his braid, letting his long hair loose in the water as it snaked around him, making him look like some kind of sea monster. He washed his body and his hair until they were clean and Akali didn’t even pretend to not look at him this time. For most of it he didn’t notice, but the time he did, he made sure to run his fingers through his black strands really slowly. He only got a playful eye roll in response.

While she was looking at the map, dipping her feet in the cool water of the pond, he swam around and picked up few stones from the bottom, the shiny ones he could see.

“Do you know how to toss pebbles? You know, so they skip on the water?” he tossed one and it jumped three times before sinking. He felt really proud of himself.

“Used to, not sure if I remember. I mean I am good at throwing things, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. Give me one,” she said and Kayn brought a little stone. She tossed it and it sank instantly.

“I mean it’s a pebble not a kunai, you don’t have to aim like you want to kill the fish,” he joked.

Akali kicked her feet and splashed him with water as he approached her, prompting a sweet little chuckle from Kayn.

“Give me another,” she told him. Kayn obliged and she tossed it again, this time further, however ending in the same result.

“I wasn’t joking, you are tossing it as if you throw a blade. You have to angle your arm like this, keep your hand low to you hip--” he showed her and Akali couldn’t help but watch the way his arm muscles flexed and relaxed as he was demonstrating “And try to keep it in line with the water.”

He tossed another stone that skipped three times before sinking. Akali asked him for another and he gave her a pretty little black pebble. She followed his instructions, as much as she remembered between looking at his toned arm, and this time the stone skipped three times as well.

“Got it,” she sounded satisfied and gestured at Kayn once again “Give me another, I gotta beat you at this now.”

He dipped in and got few stones, putting them next to her on the rock where she sat. Akali tossed one, then another and when she reached for the last one she found that it was not a smooth little stone, but an amulet. The one Kayn got for her back in Kosaro.

“Did you find this?” she asked, looking at the pretty little tiger and the painted glass. When her eyes looked up at Kayn, she briefly saw a soft and sweet expression, one that perhaps had a bit of uncertainty and fear behind his eyes. As if he was asking her if what he did is okay, if it's something she would want. Quickly he composed himself, and began thinking of a reply.

“Yeah, thought it might suit you-- I mean I did not find it in the lake, I got it in Kosaro…” he began stumbling over his words “I don’t know you look like a tiger girl. I mean a girl who would like tigers. Yeah,” he added confidently, brushing his hair back.

Akali was quiet for a moment, looking at the small thing. Kayn felt stupid and frowned, thinking how ridiculous all of this is and how pointless these ritualistic endeavors are. This is exactly why he never bothered with such things in his life. He tried not to show it as he got out of the water and squeezed his hair dry. Akali sat there for a moment, holding the little amulet in her hands and turned to him.

“The buckle of your bag was broken, I just thought you’d like it,” Kayn mumbled, clearly a little disappointed. Akali paused, leaving them both in silence as he brushed through his hair with his fingers.

“Thanks. Green is my favorite color. I mean you can probably tell,” she said, with a soft and genuine tone. Kayn’s eyes widened and he turned to her, watching as she secured her bag buckle with the little pin. He didn’t say anything and she met his eyes in a gentle acknowledgment. The silence between them that followed allowed for both to savor the moment.

They didn’t hit the road just yet after Kayn’s dip in the pond. With hair that long, he had to dry it first before braiding it, as the weight would slow him down. He was sprawled on a big rock that was hit directly by the midday sun, on his stomach and with his hair falling over his back and legs. Akali was relaxing next to him and took a little nap while they dried.

She was awoken by Kayn gently nudging her and the first thing she saw was him braiding his hair. For some reason she expected someone else do to it for him, but Kayn seemed rather proficient at it and was almost done.

“We have a long way to go,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Akali turned to watch him braid his hair for a moment when she noticed something glistening in the sunlight that fell over them. He sensed when she crept next to him and her hand reached for the strand of hair that fell over his right eye. This surprised him as he stopped braiding right before the end and raised his brows at her. She tilted her head and seemed curious.

“Did you always have this?” she asked.

“Have what?”

“This blue streak here,” she told him and Kayn tried looking at it. No, last time he checked his hair was black all over.

“I am not sure,” he commented “Does it look good?”

“I mean...” Akali stopped to think “If it means that you will become some kind of shadow monster, then I guess it does.”

“Nice,” he said quietly and then tried to look at it again “It could be part of the shadow magic you know. It means it’s growing stronger inside me.”

Akali didn’t seem impressed at that as she watched him fix his hair, but another thing caught her eye. She reached out again and took his left hand by the wrist.

“Maybe it has something to do with this?” she looked him in the eyes, her tone suddenly deathly serious. For a moment Kayn was made aware of the grisly scar that he left uncovered, traveling from his hand and up his arm. It looked even worse in the daylight than it did back at the barn. No argument came from him, no flirt or an attempt to play it off, only silence that hid his deep seated fear.

“I think using that scythe is killing you Kayn,” she still held his hand, but this time he pulled away.

“No, I can revert it. I did it before. You saw what happens when I use him in battle, the way his influence tries to corrupt me, but it goes away once I drop him. Once I win,” Kayn explained, getting worked up over the issue.

“Doesn’t seem like it went away now. I can see your bones fused with...something.” Akali replied, looking a little concerned.

“Well I don’t know, maybe it’s cause I dropped him in the water,” Kayn tried to reason.

“Aren’t you tired of fighting him whenever you fight anything else?” she wondered and he got up from where he sat, quickly tying the end of his braid before it got undone.

“I hope to tire him out.”

“Why are you even doing it? Isn’t your Shadow Magic enough?” Akali’s eyes followed him as she was still seated.

“If Noxus did all of those horrible things ten years ago, I am sure they are going to come with even more powerful weapons, kill even more Ionians. I took this weapon from their homeland and I’ve seen the fear in their eyes. This scares them,” Kayn kept talking.

“Now you sound crazy again,” Akali looked away.

“When I win over Rhaast, I will turn him against them. I will take down all of them,” he sounded so confident, as if there was no doubt that scarred his heart the same way the weapon scarred his flesh.

“And if you lose?” Akali slowly rose to her feet. “If they take it back?”

Kayn stopped for a moment and pondered. They did come close. Disguised as someone from his past, trying to get to him through the places his darkness did not shield him, the places only he and Rhaast knew to be there – weakness that were love and hope. But as long as he denied having those emotions, deny yearning for them, both the Darkin and his enemies were powerless – or so he firmly believed.

“They won’t. That’s why we are after this Noxian right? I know the Kinkou disagrees with what we do, but the Noxians won’t fight fair. We got to do whatever it takes to stop them.”

“I know,” Akali said raising her chin, her voice calm and surprisingly agreeable “There is a reason I left. But I don’t know if I trust something that would invert my flesh like that. Trust that it won’t turn on the people I am protecting.”

“That is why I am chosen to tame this weapon. No one else but me can win this fight,” a smug and confident reply came at Akali as he closed the distance between them, looking her in the eye, not to intimidate, but to convince. She only returned a frown and he moved away. Deep down however, Kayn’s fears were ignited, even if just as a spark. He picked up the leather wrap and secured it around his hand and wrist, covering the worst of the scar where he could see the inside of his own flesh and sinew. And then with only a second of hesitation, he picked up Rhaast and put him on his back. Akali stood next to him, arms crossed and lip pouted as she thought about the last words they exchanged. Kayn and her were surprisingly in agreement on many things and a part of her wanted to believe that underneath his crazy talk, he had this under control. But what she saw just gave her a bad feeling, and there weren’t many things that made the hairs on her neck rise like that.

The air grew too tense between them, and Kayn wanted to break the tension with something, maybe even add reassuring words that he will win the struggle with Rhaast and it will all work out for him. For them. Fortunately or unfortunately, the growing pressure was broken when they heard couple of voices talking in a foreign language and whistling. Kayn and Akali looked at each other and in a moments notice they crept down from the rock and into the treeline. The source of the voices wasn’t far and Akali decided to get to higher ground the second she saw a tree with branches that allowed her to climb up. Kayn’s shadow reached her and once he was close, she put her hand over his mouth. He knew he must stay quiet, so he pushed her hand down gently as they looked at what seemed to be two young Noxians among the foliage. They were dressed in military clothes, however ones belonging to low ranking officer. A couple of rookies. And their horses were not tied too far from their camp. They spoke and joked around, trying to cook something in a pot.

“Noxian militants,” Kayn said quietly. “Shouldn’t be hard to take them out.”

“I don’t know, they look young,” Akali’s voice was uncertain.

“You don’t think they would want to kill us if the tables were turned?” Kayn looked at her.

“I do, but look. They don’t have weapons. That one is carrying a gauge and paper. I think they are making maps,” Akali explained. Kayn tilted his head, surprised that she was defending two Noxians.

“That’s still bad. It can aid war efforts. I think we need to stop them somehow, like it or not.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know about killing some unarmed boys. It’s not smart to start shit with Noxians without a reason.”

“The reason is that they are Noxians,” Kayn told her in a low tone.

“I think we should take their equipment. And their horses for good measure. I kinda got tired of walking.”

“Will you just do something already?” Rhaast complained on Kayn’s back.

Kayn pondered for a second and he sighed, gesturing at her to lead the way. The two waited for a bit, saw an opportunity when one of the young Noxians went to do his business behind a tree, and then they jumped down. The Noxians probably didn’t even realize what’s going on with how fast Akali and Kayn swept their camp. Kayn took everything that seemed important (and foreign) to him, and Akali untied the horses from the tree they were secured to. She jumped on the long legged dun mare and tossed the reins to Kayn who quickly sat on the back of the dark brown draft horse.

“Thanks for the things!” Akali mockingly shouted at the two boys before she spurred the horse into gallop as they desperately ran after her, shouting pleas in Noxian. Kayn followed, whipping the reins until his horse, too, galloped after Akali’s, quickly making their way out of the woods. She found the trail that the two Noxians rode along, and it lead them right to the open fields and out of the forest. To their left were mountains, but before them were meadows as far as their eyes could see.

Kayn finally caught up next to her as the horses galloped and he seemed to fiddle with the reins and the saddle.

“Have you ridden before?” Akali asked with a chuckle.

“Of course I have,” Kayn replied, even though he seemed to be unsure how to use the Noxian reins with their many straps.

“Stop pulling on the reins. Hold with your calves. Lean back in the saddle,” she said and spurred her horse even faster.

“I said I know how to ride!” he frowned and shouted after her. He finally untangled the reins and the horse stopped struggling from the discomfort, making the ride easier for them. Kayn has been on horseback, but it wasn’t the preferred method for the Yánléi to travel. Zed had a certain affinity for going everywhere on foot until instructed otherwise.

“Can you watch the road? I am going to get sick back here from all the trashing!” Rhaast complained and Kayn laughed once he reached Akali. Now that he had it figured out, he realized she wanted to race him. He was going to oblige and the two of them were soon galloping across the field as the wind rushed against them.

The soft fertile soil that had recently been planted disappeared from under their horse’s hooves in an hour’s time and was replaced with ankle deep murky water among endless fields of white clay that surrounded the river they had to cross. Akali finally slowed down when she felt the horses were getting overworked, but they still kept a fast pace as they watched the hooves of the animals splash from one pool of shallow water to another.

The fields of clay were once again replaced by fertile soil where the wheat had sprouted high up and seeing the houses in the distance, Akali and Kayn knew they were now running through someone’s farmland. It was already nightfall, with the last of the red sun rays barely visible over the horizon, and the animals were growing tired. While Akali was thinking about whether they should walk through the night or stop at the farmstead and rest there, Kayn was trying to figure out how to make the horse slow down as pulling the reins tighter did not seem to work.

“What do ya think about sleeping on horseback? It ain’t that bad,” Akali shouted over to Kayn.

“I don’t need to sleep,” he replied absently because the more he pulled the reins, the faster the horse went. He pulled them to the side and the horse turned it’s head as it ran, which set Kayn off balance. When he released them, the horse sprinted and Akali started laughing.

“What are you doing?!”

“I don’t know!” Kayn replied holding on to the saddle, a wide grin on his face as the horse raced forward. As he sat awkwardly on the back, the horse got agitated by his lack of riding skills and with a swift kick of the hind legs, he bucked Kayn right off and into the tall wheat. Akali burst out laughing and stopped her own horse, waiting for his head to pop up somewhere.

“Oh man you should’ve seen the way you flew off,” she laughed as she came closer “Kayn? I am pretty sure I saw you land like a sack of potatoes.”

There was no response, so she walked up to where he fell and dismounted. Kayn was lying flat on the ground among the wheat, motionless. Akali rolled her eyes and approached, leading the horse behind her.

“The mighty Kayn, killed tragically in a field of wheat,” she joked and leaned over him “Come on, we gotta catch your horse.”

Kayn still laid there without moving, lips slightly parted, eyes closed shut. For a second Akali grew concerned. Perhaps last week she would’ve wanted him dead, but the idea that he might be seriously hurt made her feel like there was a stone at the bottom of her chest.

“Hey?” she said, kneeling next to him “Kayn? You okay man?”

Akali put her hand gently on his chest and shook him a little, but when she got no response she leaned her head forward, trying to hear if he was breathing. Kayn was silent and as soon as she brought her ear close, she felt a gush of wind blow at her, followed by a hearty chuckle.

“Bastard!” Akali punched the laughing Kayn on the arm.

“Ow—” he faked being hurt “I got you concerned didn’t I?”

“No, I was just checking to make sure you are dead. Or if I need to put you out of your misery,” Akali replied, her cheeks turning red as she tried to hide her face away from Kayn.

“I don’t know, you sounded a little concerned,” Kayn jumped to his feet and dusted himself off.

“You are using this to hide the fact that you got bucked off a horse,” she scoffed.

“Perhaps,” he replied smugly, walking over to her. Akali pretended to fix the saddle of her horse when she felt him approach and turned her head slightly. He could tell she was trying so hard not to smile, but eventually it came through as a little giggle. She quickly cleared her throat and corrected it, forcing a mean frown back on again.

“Get on the horse idiot,” she said, jumping in the saddle and looking down at him from above.

“Alright then, scoot over,” he said, reaching for the front of the saddle.

"Oh no, you ride in the back,” Akali held the reins tighter.

“What? Really?” Kayn seemed offended. For some reason he thought he would naturally be the one holding the reins and she would hold onto him.

“Or you walk. Your choice,” she raised her chin and grinned smugly at him.

“Fine,” with only a bit of reluctance, Kayn grabbed onto the saddle behind her and thought for a moment where he should put his hands. From where he was sitting, for the first time he had a close view on her back, the gold-lined dragon tattoo clearly visible as it snaked its way across her toned muscles. The saddle was meant for one rider and the horse shifted uncomfortably from the two of them. Whatever they did, this would be an awkward ride, so he decided to slide off the seat onto the rear of the horse and grab onto the sides of the saddle.

“Try not to fall off again,” Akali said once she felt that he settled and she spurred the horse. They darted across the field and towards where they could see the other horse running in the distance.

The dark brown stallion made his way towards a nearby farmstead, with Akali and Kayn catching up to it. They thought that some of the farmers that tended to these fields would surely grab the reins before it causes chaos through the pastures and crops. As they got closer, Akali had a growing tightness in her chest. Kayn squinted, as if he could see what was wrong before she did, but it was all revealed to them as they got to the dreadful sight. There was no farmstead, just charred ruin, scorched earth and dead livestock. Kayn felt Akali gasp a little and she just hurried the horse.

As soon as she slowed the horse down, Kayn jumped off and grabbed the reins of the other steed, looking around the carnage. Something went through this, something that targeted these couple of houses and barns, and destroyed them. The ashes left behind were cold so it wasn’t something recent, Akali thought. There was no one left they can help, no one left they can hunt down for this.

“What happened here?” Kayn asked her, as if he didn’t know.

“Navori, demons? Noxians? Take your pick.” she said as she dismounted.

They walked through the charred ruins, looking at the household items left behind, clothes, bedding, children's toys. If these people left, they left in a hurry. If not, that means that nothing of them remained. Akali looked at the half burned horse toy in the dirt and her heart sank when she thought a child got hurt. Suddenly in the mud, Kayn noticed footprints. They were dried and partial, but he could tell they were done by heavy boots and horseshoes.

“Look at this.” Kayn called out to Akali. When she noticed the hoof prints, it occurred to her and she lifted her horse’s front leg. The dark iron horseshoes matched the prints. Now she knew who did it.

“Noxians it is.”

“Yeah. I could tell by their boots,” Kayn lowered his head. “This is why you don’t let any of them walk. We should’ve killed those two back in the woods.”

Akali remained quiet. She agreed, had she known this is the gift Noxus left for them, she probably would’ve been less merciful. What did these farmers do to deserve this? Insult the Noxians? Refuse to provide them shelter? They had every right to do so, but Noxians, much like the Navori Brotherhood, liked to punish the common people for their disobedience.

“We should get out of here Kayn,” Akali replied, obviously saddened by the sight, but as she did with most things, she tried to hide it. Kayn picked up on this and turned to her, no longer interested in the burnt houses. His attention was now to the distress in her voice and the change in her demeanor.

There was nothing snarky or dismissive that he could say, nothing left in him but disdain at the sight. He quietly watched as she mounted up and tried searching for hoof prints or footprints in the mud outside of the farmstead. It seems that there was no trace of where the attackers left and she nervously made her horse trot from left to right. He mounted up too, and she whistled at him to follow as she rode down the road the came from. Kayn followed without making a fuss as he looked at what remained of the carnage.

“You came from this. And if you do not heed me, to this you will return.” Rhaast told him.

“No. This is the carnage I’ll bring on them, with or without you Rhaast,” his heart raced the more he remained here. The nightmares, bloody fingernails clawing at cold iron, weapons too heavy for emaciated hands that grew lighter with every swing. Blood of villagers pooling at a child’s feet. Kayn pulled on the reins for a moment as he felt the anger and the fear build in him. He couldn’t let Rhaast see it. But Rhaast knew. Kayn’s breathing got shallow and his limbs grew numb from the tension. The horse grew unease, trashing it’s head and walking backwards as Kayn’s grip tightened.

“Kayn?” he heard a voice echo. It sounded like Rhaast for a moment, but suddenly he realized the pitch was higher. It was comforting even, differently from how Zed’s voice comforted him.

“Kayn? Hello? Didn’t you see the big Noxian no vacancy sign? What are we doing?” Akali rode up to him and his arms relaxed. He looked up to her with golden eyes and she frowned. There was that scary look about him again, the one he had whenever he held the Darkin weapon.

“Ride out. We are getting out of here,” he replied absently. Akali kept her eyes on him for a moment and noticed when his brow relaxed. She wasn’t going to question it. She hated the smell of burnt wood and bone, so she rushed ahead. Kayn followed, feeling like his body slowly sank in the saddle. He felt tired at the end of it, and he just let the horse follow Akali’s mare. The weakness he just experienced was foreign, yet deeply familiar to him. Whatever it was, he swore he can’t allow himself to feel it again.

Far from the village and near the woods that lead north, Akali and Kayn decided to camp for the night. Both were too tired to continue and they needed to save their energy for what awaited them ahead. They were shielded from the road and the fields by a huge stone statue, a head with gentle features and broken horns, with fangs that came from doll like lips. Overgrown and ancient, it too was a corpse of something once great. While Akali was sharpening her kunai by the campfire, Kayn sat quietly and played with the rope on his sash, trying to gather his thoughts about what happened earlier. Rhaast was placed away from him as he had no intention of arguing with the Darkin at the moment.

“Do you think they were real?” Akali broke the silence.

“Hm?” Kayn raised his head.

“The Titans. These guys,” she said, tapping the enormous stone head.

“Perhaps. If they were, they were a bunch of losers. Being this big and still losing to some Vastaya?” Kayn scoffed.

“I don’t know, sounds a lot like a story someone would make up to motivate us Ionians, right? Like no matter how big the threat is, we will overcome it, or whatever.”

“Now that sounds like something a short person would say,” Kayn replied with a hint of smugness in his voice as Akali turned to meet his grin. She let out an irritated sigh and he leaned back on the rock with his hands behind his head.

“You got some nerve saying those things while I am holding a weapon,” she warned him. Kayn chuckled. Silence fell upon them again as only the sound of Akali’s blades being sharpened was heard. The horses' soft huffs and thuds on the ground in the distance also faded among the sounds of insects and night birds that echoed from the woods and the fields.

“Master Zed made me read all these books about the Titans and the history of Ionia, I guess because he wanted me to learn to read,” Kayn began and Akali perked her head “So I would tell him that I didn’t understand some bits, that I didn’t know how to read them and he would take the book and read them for me. After the fourth or fifth time, he gave up and just sat there with me, reading the whole thing. I can’t believe he fell for it.”

Akali watched as Kayn chuckled to himself. For a moment she had forgotten who he was talking about, that the man in question was her enemy and that where she was standing, this was not a sweet little story. Despite the hurt and the pain, Akali refused to share this with him, not until they were done with their mission and went their separate ways. The man that Kayn spoke of might as well have died at Thanjuul. And worst of all is that she knew him as a child, under a different name, but she was too young to remember if any of his kindness was ever truly kindness. Kayn noticed the absence in her gaze, but she quickly pushed her feelings aside and replied.

“Don’t worry, Shen used to read me bedtime stories when I was a kid too.”

“What? No, they weren’t bedtime stories. They were books about war and stuff,” Kayn got defensive and Akali grinned.

“Oh sure, yeah, you are the one who tricked him. Yep.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” he scoffed.

“Yeah, yeah,” she kept grinning as she was packing her weapons away. While securing the kunai on her person, she took out the small pendant she always carried and held onto it for a moment, tracing the sides with her fingers as Kayn spoke.

“Didn’t take Shen as someone who would do something like that. Actually, didn’t think you’d be down for that. Do you even like the guy?” Kayn tilted his head.

“What makes you say that?” Akali pulled back, clutching the kunai pendant in her hand.

“I mean you left the order, you don’t listen to him--” Kayn began.

“That has nothing to do with it. I don’t see eye to eye with my former Master, but I can still feel how I feel about people even if I don’t agree with them Kayn,” she told him and Kayn rolled his eyes dismissively. He followed Zed because he believed in the cause, he believed in Zed’s methods and because it was an honorable thing to do after everything Zed had done for him. What more could there be? Why else would people follow someone?

Akali sat briefly with the pendant in hand, thinking about the things they saw, the things that transpired between them and the things that awaited. She also thought about Shen and how he would feel about this. He didn’t kill Zed even when he had the chance, so maybe even Shen would think that this collaboration of theirs was necessary. That Akali wasn’t doing this just because it stirred something in her. That despite everything that was going on between her and Shen, working with the student of his enemy was not betrayal.

“Is that from the Kinkou?” Kayn’s voice snapped her back to reality and his tone seemed genuine and curious.

“It’s a gift that I got when I was a little girl,” Akali replied.

“You seem very attached to it, I’ve noticed,” Kayn told her, not with the intention to offend.

“You are telling me about attached?” she joked, trying to lighten the mood, as she gestured with her head towards Rhaast.

“I think he would disagree with you,” Kayn’s lip curled at the edge.

“Sometimes feelings change. People change. But things like this don't. It’s a little comforting, to be able to hold something in your hand that will stay the same forever,” she finally added as she packed away her pendant, and began preparing her bedding.

Kayn would think about that as Akali quietly laid down and curled up around her bag. She was tired and for what they were going to do, she knew it will be a long day. On the other hand, he looked over where they came from, towards the farmstead and the familiarity of Noxian warfare. He laid down with his back to Akali, looking away in the distance. Amidst the anger, fear and uneasiness he tried to hide, there was another feeling he had never felt before. He couldn’t quite describe it, and he certainly would never speak of it out loud, but it felt like the cool waters of that pond and the endless meadows they rode on. A part of him hated it, but a part of him yearned to feel it again. It was that little thing he wished he could hold in his hand like the pendant, a thing that could never ever change.

Chapter Text

With horses saddled and reins tightened, the woods beckoned for Kayn and Akali even before red morning hues painted the summer sky. There was nothing but trees and foliage stretching out as far as the eye could see and it was this monotonous landscape that awaited them for the next few days of travel. For most people, monotonous would be a good thing, as it meant that there would be no war torn village or burned down temple to remind them of the brewing conflict, but for young people like Kayn it meant having to live with only his thoughts in the absence of violence and conflict. As they were headed north, the mountains slowly walled off the sea, stretching far up and concealing the coast they left behind.

Akali’s mind was still troubled from the night before, not only from the sight of Noxian carnage or from the unknown feelings that were stirring inside her, but what bothered her like an itch she couldn’t scratch was the question if she was betraying Shen by traveling with Kayn. If she was betraying her family. A part of her had convinced herself that working with him was not betrayal and another reasoned that it was only for the time being. Until they found this Noxian. After all, Shen worked with Zed on their hunt for Jhin, so her situation was not much different. And then it would be back to how it was, enemies or at least something close to that.

While the mountains to the west were a certainty on this journey all the way to the Placidium, the hills to the east of them slowly created a choke point in the region, forcing Akali and Kayn to stick to the main road as they rode. They have both been here before, they knew a large town was laid out between them and the Navori province and passing through was the only way to reach the heart of the land, without having to go all the way back to the coast and take up another route. The two of them were quite familiar with the place, albeit for different reasons.

“This Noxian wanted something of mine and so earned my ire… but you, you have no reason to be here. Unless you do like all this fighting and running around? Perhaps enjoying our little time together?” Kayn broke the silence between them.

“What are you, some kind of a seer now? If there is a Noxian out there interested in your weapon, that makes him a bigger problem than the usual bunch. And someone has to solve these kinds of problems since I don’t trust you’d do it. I don’t trust that thing either,” Akali replied as the two rode towards the town.

“Who, Rhaast? Nah, he is harmless, isn’t that right Rhaast?” he mocked him.

“You don’t think that when you point me at people, do you?” Rhaast replied, sounding a little bored.

Akali turned to them briefly, acknowledging the weirdness of the interaction, as she slowly held back the reins of the horse. Something in the distance didn’t seem right, there were too many people dressed in red and black for your typical Ionian settlement.

“Check that out,” she told Kayn.

“Noxian war horses, if I had to guess. Along with the riders,” Kayn squinted.

“Could be the ones that burned down that farmstead,” she added.

“Great, that solves the problem of hunting them down,” Kayn said, reaching back for Rhaast.

“We still have to pass through you know,” Akali replied, dismounting. “I’ll go to the town, see what’s going on and if we can do anything without raising suspicion.”

“And you are going to leave me behind? Don’t think so,” Kayn jumped off his horse, holding the reins.

“You just want to walk in a town with a bunch of Noxians while you have that thing with you?” she argued, referring to Rhaast.

“Well, yeah, exactly because I have this thing with me,” Kayn scoffed.

“Sure if there are dozen of them, but what if there’s more? Not like we have a vantage point to see the whole town from here.”

“Must we always do it your way?” he argued.

“ Fair point, she has been the one in charge a little too long in my opinion.”

“Because my way is usually the right way. Now stay here,” she threw him the reins from her mare and walked towards the town on foot.

“I am not going to wait for you here like some mutt waiting for his owner in front of a tavern,” he wanted to follow.

“Oh so you want me to tie you to a tree then?” Akali took a step back towards him and he stopped in his tracks “Listen, if I don’t get back in an hour, you can come rescue me and kill all those Noxians or whatever fantasies you have going on in your head, okay?”

“No—”

“Good,” she turned around to leave, not giving him the chance to protest.

“ Well...”

“Don’t say a word.”

When Akali was close to the town, she made sure to stay out of sight of the Noxian troops. The main gate was blocked by a group of soldiers, checking the travelers that were coming in and out, and much to Akali’s dismay, this particular settlement had tall stone walls – a sight unusual for Ionian towns, but necessary since the Noxian war. The few Noxians she saw at the entrance were easy to sneak by, and Akali used the cover of a small worax-pulled wagon to make her way in unnoticed and vanish in the shadows before they realized. The streets were surprisingly empty, absent of chatter or child laughter which is what one would expect from a busy Ionian town before noon. The only thing she heard were boots against stone, and a lot of them.

Trying to get to high ground, she climbed a clothesline between two small houses and then jumped on the nearby wooden balcony. Slowly she made her way along the side of the house, carefully stepping on the protruding branches that have been weaved in the wooden facade and once she got a good look at the main streets, she realized the town was full of Noxians. A lot more than she and Kayn could take on together, and certainly not either one of them alone.

Quickly she made her way to the other building and inside the first open window she saw. A woman screamed and Akali realized that she had walked into the town’s inn, or rather in someone’s private room. Trying to avoid another scream from the surprised woman, she rushed downstairs, hoping to find the innkeeper and ask what has become of this place. The main floor of the building was filled with people who were drinking and dining, yet there was no cheer or laughter among the patrons. They all minded their business quietly and the atmosphere was heavy and filled with barely concealed frustration.

“Can I help you?” a woman’s hushed voice spoke to Akali with a slight irritation in her tone.

“What is going on here?” Akali asked.

Well, we have Noxian guests in town, as you might’ve noticed.”

“An occupation?”

“Not for the time being. The Elder allowed them in. They are investigating the murder of some Noxian nobleman. However, we are obviously not pleased with their presence. Ten years cannot heal the scars for most of us.”

“So this place is like a powder keg waiting to explode,” Akali mumbled.

“You are an assassin aren’t you? What business do you have here?” the woman asked.

“I am after a certain Noxian,” Akali replied, looking around.

“Then just go out there and take your pick. We could sure use less of them here,” the woman forced as small laugh.

“Did any Noxians come before this troop?”

“Plenty. This group came from the north before they closed the town, but a lot of Noxians passed through here from the south. Some knew better than to stay.”

“The ones from the south, do you remember any of them?” Akali grew desperate.

“Girl I get dozens of patrons daily, I don’t remember all of them. I have to say, I did have to warn a bunch of foreigners to avoid Phanjuul pass to the east. Some decided they rather take their chances with the spirits than with the Noxians.”

“Phanjuul pass…” Akali whispered to herself, trying to remember where she had heard the name before. Their conversation was interrupted when the two women spotted a rather tall and well armored Noxian man that just walked in the inn.

“I need to not be seen,” Akali pleaded and the woman just pushed her head down and shoved her under the bar.

“<Good day… again,>” the Noxian addressed the woman, who Akali gathered is the barmaid, and leaned on the counter. She couldn’t see him, but she heard the wood of the bar cracking under the weight of his steel armor.

“<Another of the same, I suppose?>” the barmaid asked in Noxian.

“<That would be excellent, thank you.>” the man replied as he waited, tapping his fingers on the counter while she was pouring his drink.

“<So…>” he began again and Akali listened to him carefully from underneath the bar “<You come here often?>”

“<I work here,>” the barmaid replied, raising a brow.

“<Oh right, yes, that makes sense. By the way, your Noxian is excellent,>” he added, sounding awkward. Akali realized what this man is trying to do and there was clear disgust on her face.

“<Thank you, this is only my second Noxian invasion,>” the woman slammed his mug on the counter before him.

“<Oh, no, no this is not an invasion. We are only here for this dangerous murderer really,>” the man said, taking a sip from his drink. “<In fact, Ladius said that he saw someone sneaking in here, so I thought I might take a look.>”

“<We have no vacancy in this inn, I don’t think anyone would be sneaking around,>” the woman glanced down at Akali, who was now worried about putting these people in danger if they were to be discovered housing someone who was beginning to look a lot like a fugitive.

“<I told him that, but I think he is just showing off really,>” the Noxian man continued “<I can just take a quick look and then I’ll be out of here,>” he added and tried going around the bar.

“<Actually—>” the woman stopped him, leaning forward and gently grabbing his hand “<Can you come closer?>”

The man leaned in and she whispered to him.

“<It was a shadow assassin, and she threatened my life if I were to tell you!>” she woman spoke with a hushed, but urgent tone. Akali’s breath caught in her throat.

“<Where!?>” the man reached for his sword.

“<In the back garden, behind the inn. Quickly, over there!>” she gestured in a completely opposite direction and the man turned.

“<Do not worry! It’s a good thing we are here then!>” he said, drawing his weapon and rushing through the screen door, almost ripping it off from the wall.

“Thank you…” Akali whispered to the woman and got up.

“Now get out of here before he returns,” the woman urged her and Akali did not wait a second.

Kayn stood with the horses outside the town, watching carefully as more and more Noxian soldiers were appearing. What would prompt so many armed Noxians to make a choke point here? The proximity of the other war steeds made the horses uneasy, so he had to take cover in the foliage. Despite them standing there waiting for a while now, Rhaast’s snarky comments were unusually absent.

“You’ve been awfully quiet,” Kayn told him.

“That’s because you toss me aside like a sack of dirt first chance you get, just so you can talk to her, ” Rhaast’s irritation grew “This crush of yours is becoming an infatuation. That is a problem for us , aside from making you look pathetic.”

“Do not pretend to know what it’s like. Besides I don’t nag you about the Darkin weapons the Noxian mentioned. Oh, yes, my memory about that is good as ever. I do want answers for that Rhaast. Weapons. Plural,” Kayn jumped.

“There are no weapons, Kayn.” Rhaast’s voice sounded unsure.

“Is that so? It sounded like he said weapons to me,” Kayn replied “You are telling me there aren’t more of your kind out there?”

“Perhaps, but I am the only one that should concern you,” Rhaast told him.

“Are you getting jealous?” a smirk appeared across Kayn’s lips “Is it at that white haired monster woman from your nightmares? I sure know they aren’t mine.”

“If there are other weapons on this fetid island of yours, it is in your best interest not to antagonize me,” Rhaast’s tone sounded surprisingly serious, which Kayn noted. It was rare to hear him this way, a touch of concern in his voice that was usually absent next to the smugness and aggression.

“You can tell me while Akali is not here to listen to us, you know,” Kayn spoke with an unusual softness in his tone “I mean you already poke through my thoughts, you owe me as much.”

“ If it comes to that, you will be the first one to know.”

“I will know your secrets Rhaast,” Kayn replied smugly at the scythe on his back as if Rhaast could see him. If there were other weapons, they were to be handled by him and the Yanlei.

“ And I wish I could unlearn yours. Speaking of which, you should tell her about your little infatuation. Given how once you do find the Noxian, you will probably be back at each others throats, you want to spend this time you have together...wisely. And maybe afterwards we could go back to business as usual.”

“Killing?” Kayn asked.

“ Oh yes.”

“And speaking of killing, she’s been gone for long. Hope she isn’t having all the fun without us,” Kayn noted.

“Perhaps this killing will come sooner than I thought,” Rhaast nudged him.

“Good.”

Once out the same way she came in, Akali took to the streets. She began to realize that she walked into a terrible decision. Blaming it on Kayn distracting her or the tiredness of days on the road was enough to convince herself that she would never do something so utterly stupid in any other circumstance. As she walked the cobblestone, she noticed that a blockade of several soldiers cut off the alley from the main street. Behind her, there was a carriage with two war horses blocking off the other way. Taking the third road among the buildings lead her to a narrowing stone path where she was met with two marching soldiers.

The moment they spot her, they drew weapons and Akali vanished in a cloud of smoke before the thud of their bodies was heard. She had very little choice – it was going to be either them or her, and she had to be quick. Two less Noxians would not be mourned. What followed was the sound of Noxian boots closing in. If she had to fight, she was going to fight. She made another turn between the houses, trying her best to get away, but it seems that the whole block was surrounded.

Looking up, she reached for her kunai and considered climbing up by stabbing them in the wall. However two more Noxian soldiers appeared just around the corner and she was forced to hastily move away in a cloud of smoke. While she seemed composed, her heart was racing from this game of cat and mouse between them and she felt like for once, she was the one hunted. She leaned against one of the stone walls of the houses and stood quietly to catch her breath, listening for every sound that was almost thundering among the empty and quiet alleys.

Suddenly a chill up her spine, a hushed whisper like the wind and a gentle hand over her mouth made her freeze for a moment. The realization was almost a relief, but also a source of annoyance. The audacity this man had to come and help her out. Kayn stepped out of the wall behind her and moved his hand off her mouth once he was certain she won’t yell at him.

“I wasn’t gone that long, you should’ve stayed with the horses,” she scolded him in a hushed tone.

“That’s a lot of words to say ‘thank you for saving me Kayn’,” he replied “I can go back out you know.”

She turned to him with a frown, her demeanor alone making him step back against the wall, as if that sudden burst of confidence faded at her scowl.

“We should get out of here,” he told her and offered her his hand. Akali looked at it, her eyes darting at him and then back at his hand again before she took it. In a moment’s notice he vanished in the wall again, the shadows climbing upwards, however his ghostly hand was holding Akali’s as he helped her climb up along with him.

From stone to branch, she scaled quickly as he held her hand firmly, and in seconds they were up on the roof. Kayn’s body assembled from the shadows right next to her as they looked over the town.

“What could call for a whole battalion upon this town?” Kayn shook his head.

“They are here for some murdered Noxian,” Akali told him and Kayn’s eyes widened.

“I think they are too stupid to look up at the roofs, we can make a run for it,” he turned to her.

“Any second now...” Rhaast sighed.

“Let’s go,” Akali jumped up and he followed after.

The two of them made it from roof to roof, their footsteps as quiet as a shadow while the Noxians gathered below, searching for Akali. They were almost out of the town, the only thing standing between them and freedom being the stretch from the final rooftop to the town’s wall. Akali reached out and grabbed Kayn’s hand and he turned to her surprised. There was no time for them to linger on this, as he knew he has to shadow step and pull her with him if they want to close the gap. When their feet touched the edge of the last rooftop, they both jumped, Kayn vanishing in dark blue smoke as he pulled Akali with him. With an unceremonious thud they fell on the top of the wall itself, still holding onto each other. This is what made the Noxians finally notice them.

“You are both equally inept, you do deserve each other,” Rhaast scoffed.

“<Up there!>” one of the Noxians shouted in his native tongue and Kayn and Akali jumped down from the tall wall into the grass.

“They are over there!” Kayn pointed out the location of the horses to Akali and she made a run for it. He followed, but his ears picked up the shouts from the soldiers and the whistling for their horses.

Suddenly he dug his heels in and turned facing the oncoming Noxians. His heart was pounding and once again he felt the muscles in his legs grow stiff and numb. However, Kayn was best when he was cornered and outnumbered. A wide menacing grin grew on his face as he drew Rhaast, waiting alone against the rushing Noxians with their weapons drawn and ready. He was going to take down all of them.

“I am now willing to go back in their bonds!” Rhaast warned him.

“You won’t.”

“ I will if you aren’t smart about this.”

“Is that fear in your voice Rhaast?” Kayn almost chuckled, watching the thundering hoofs closing in on him.

“No, but that is fear in your grip!” Rhaast growled at him. “You will lose.”

This altercation was cut short when Akali rode between Kayn and the Noxians and threw him the reins.

“Come on! I am not going to die here with you!” she shouted at him and rode off. Kayn was snapped out of his blood lust and mounted up the dark steed, rushing after Akali without argument. It seemed that for once Rhaast was right.

The two of them rushed back from where they came, but Akali took a sharp turn around the beginning of the treeline and headed east. This confused Kayn, but he didn’t question it. With the little he knew of the region, he reasoned that if they got lost, so would the Noxians. She spurred the horse with her heels and the beast galloped harder, forcing Kayn to catch up with her. From the path she cut among the trees with Kayn right behind her, they were drawn further and further east when the terrain itself kept forcing them to go towards another choke point.

The pass the innkeeper mentioned, Phanjuul pass or what the foreigners so obviously called “Serpent’s pass” was so aptly named as it looked like a large snake had made it’s way through between the mountains and hills. Turning behind them, Kayn noticed that the Noxians were no longer following close by and in fact he hadn’t heard them in a while.

“Akali!” he called out to her to stop and she pulled the reins.

“What?” she asked and he hushed her.

“Shhh. Listen,” he whispered and the two stood there in silence, trying to hear every single sound. No hooves, no whistles, no Noxian shouting. However there was a void of other sounds as well, no birds or insects, even the leaves on the trees didn’t rustle.

“The woman at the inn told me that this pass leads to the other side,” Akali spoke to him.

“And yet the Noxians did not set up troops to guard it here. There is a reason they would avoid it, and a reason they wouldn’t expect anyone else to come this way,” Kayn spurred his horse and slowly closed the gap between himself and Akali.

“Yes, spirits,” Akali said quietly.

“So it’s either that or fighting the Noxians back there?”

“I’d take my chance with the spirits,” she started walking slowly, heading towards the narrowing that guided the two into the pass itself “If they are going to harm anyone, it will be the Noxians.”

The treeline slowly began to fade into tall, wall-like rock formations that created the pass. Though they started off small, they would soon reach taller than the trees themselves, only allowing low vegetation to thrive on the sides and very little light to break through.

“Easy girl,” Akali calmed down the mare she was riding, as the horse began to throw it’s head at the slightest sound. The air was heavier than out in the woods, and it almost seemed like a mist was descending upon them.

Suddenly Kayn perked his head up when he heard hooves and whistles in the distance and noted that the sound was closing in fast.

“We have to go!” Akali shouted after him and the two spurred the horses once again.

The emptiness of the pass was filled with the thundering sound of galloping hooves that echoed among the tall stone walls, getting louder and louder as the vegetation was no longer as dense as it was in the forest bellow. The horses were tired from this constant gallop, and the Noxians had no problem catching up.

“I feel a presence Kayn…” Rhaast warned him.

“What?!”

“I don’t know. It does not smell like blood. I would know if it was blood,” he added.

The pass got narrower between the stone walls, and the space itself became like an echo chamber. It was only the breathing of the horses paired with the galloping hooves that echoed into the seemingly endless road ahead. Akali was focused, but she kept turning to check on Kayn, growing a little concerned at his behavior. She knew he was itching for a fight, and she also knew that fighting in this pass would not end well for either of them.

“Did you hear that!?” Kayn called out to her and Akali remained silent.

“No!” she shouted back after a pause “There is nothing Kayn. Keep up!”

“I don’t like when you hear things that are not me,” a slight sense of worry appeared in Rhaast’s tone.

Kayn tried focusing ahead. He was not scared, he was agitated. If there was something, he wanted to be ahead of it, he wanted to be the one to ambush the beast, spirit or demon alike. He could hear the Noxians, but he could also feel something else. Not having the high ground was a foreign concept to him, not being the one that creeps in the shadows and breathes fear into his enemies, being this exposed and vulnerable. No one since Jhin dared to hunt a Yánléi.

Suddenly from the corner of his eye he saw a shadow, quick and agile, as it jumped over the rocks to his right. Without any consideration for their pursuers or Akali, Kayn gripped Rhaast in his hand and jumped off his horse. In a cloud of smoke he vanished without touching the ground, and in mere moments he phased through the stones of the wall, hoping whatever hunted them was on the other side. The horse continued on and Akali had not noticed his absence until the dark stallion rode right next to her and she saw the empty saddle.

“Kayn!” She called out for him, grabbing the reins of his horse. The stallion pulled forward, away from whatever presence was behind them, and the mare halted at Akali’s hand on the reins. She hesitated whether to turn for him, or keep running away from the Noxians. He made his choice when he jumped after whatever he saw, and certainly he could handle himself, but something didn’t let her leave him behind.

The Noxian horses closed in and she stood there frozen, seeing their faint outlines in the distance. They have reached the same fork in the road and given how quiet everything was, she could clearly hear them.

“<We should split up,>” the older man spoke in Noxian.

“<We should turn back, I say,>” the other man replied “<I am hearing things and I don’t like that.>”

“<Hearing things is good when you are chasing someone, don’t you think?>”

“<Not here. Why you think General Gravanos sent us? Because this pass is cursed I tell you. We should go back,>”

“<I will not be swayed by Ionian superstition. Move out left soldier, I will take the right,>” the old man concluded and the two split up.

Only two Noxians? It was after all the echo that made it sound like a whole army was in pursuit of them. Akali’s lip curled now that she realized she could take them, quickly and quietly. The younger man was now galloping towards Akali, his horse’s hooves echoing among the rocks. She picked up the pace again and let go of the stallion’s reins, the spooked horse running away deeper into the pass. She had to ambush this man first and then find Kayn. Pulling out her Kunai, she took a deep breath and turned her horse around, galloping back towards the Noxian. Ready to jump at him, she pressed the mare one last time until she realized that the road ahead was suddenly so strange. It seemed unfamiliar, taking a sharp turn right and as she followed, Akali realized she came back where she started. There was no Noxian, yet there was no other path he could’ve taken. No sounds of the horses hooves either. He was right there at her heels moments ago, yet now he was gone.

“Great. Not this again.” she mumbled, recognizing the obvious signs of what they ran into.

Kayn walked through the dense form of the stone wall, the darkness of the rough material embracing him before he emerged once again as if to take a breath from deep water. There was nothing on the other side. The thud of his boots landing on the soil below echoed along the empty pass and he found himself surrounded by nothing but silence.

“Akali?” He called out, eyes darting to find her.

Suddenly he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as he heard a sound behind him, like wind cutting through air. There was something else to the familiarity of it, something he couldn’t recognize, but as soon as he turned, he was met with a figure he knew well.

“Master Zed… What are you doing here?” Kayn questioned it, raising his brows.

“Looking for you,” Zed replied, his voice distorted underneath the heavy metal helmet. “This place is unwelcoming even for shadows.”

“Well how did you find me?” Kayn remained skeptical.

“I’ve made this route a hundred times, I knew as soon as they told me where you’ve gone that you will foolishly pass through here,” Zed’s voice remained low, almost threatening.

“Yeah, I bet,” Kayn squinted.

“Come on,” Zed encouraged him, extending his arm. Kayn slowly began approaching his Master, glancing down at the scythe in his hand.

“I am still not finished with my mission Master,” Kayn came to a stop “One of the targets escaped. He has information about Rhaast and I can’t let him walk.”

“Hunted from every side, the Order needs it’s successor more than before, and yet you choose to chase ghosts because of that weapon. Is it that powerful to challenge your loyalty to me?” Zed’s voice was cold and unwelcoming. The weapon, Kayn thought, something was not right with the weapon.

“Rhaast…” he whispered “Say something.”

From the other end came silence. Something that has not happened ever in the years of having Rhaast, especially not while wielding him. The Darkin always had something to say. Kayn touched his arm and felt the scar ending before his elbow, not extending as the vile corruption all the way to his shoulder as it usually did. He stood his ground firmly.

“I know what this is, Master Zed,” he spoke mockingly “Or whatever your name is, demon. You do a very poor job impersonating him by the way. Oh and my scythe Rhaast has a big glowing eye in the middle. Do better,” Kayn scoffed, pointing the scythe at the being, the eye clearly missing from where it used to be.

“That will not save you,” the demon wearing Zed’s flesh replied, drawing his blades.

“I don’t need the scythe to best you, but I guess it was the only way you could even out the playing field,” Kayn cracked his neck and took a fighting stance. The demon stroke and instantly threw him into the stone wall behind, Kayn’s back colliding with a loud crack. As he fell to the ground his eyes widened at the speed and strength this demon had. He brought himself up to his feet and locked eyes with whatever was behind Zed’s mask. Kayn planned how to strike, prepared and as soon as he started running, he felt as if he was running in place, like his body was slowed down and drawn back. And then another kick threw him across the ground.

Now he knew. It was a dream. The demon was not Zed nor did it take Zed’s form. It was all in his mind. And his waking body must’ve been somewhere in the pass.

“I’ve had nightmares more entertaining than this, but nice try,” he told him mockingly and before another blow came from the creature, and then another, tossing Kayn around as he could not fight back due to the nature of his state.

“Fool. Everything I draw is from your dreams. This fight between Master and student, is that not what you want deep down? Is Zed’s death not what haunts you? Is his cold steel against your throat not the source of your nightmares?” the monster spoke in Zed’s distorted voice as he pressed Kayn down on the ground. He felt paralyzed, unable to draw breath. Beneath him the soil felt both painfully firm and yet a sensation in his chest and head made him feel like he is sinking. The demon was not lying as this feeling was all too familiar from his nightmares. The ones he never told anyone about, the helpless moments before he fully awoke when he felt as if he was trapped in a prison of his own mind, unable to breathe, scream or move. If he wanted this to end, he had to wake up and defeat this demon in the waking world.

Akali on the other hand did not have a moment of confusion or hesitation that they’ve been intercepted by a trickster spirit or maybe even an azakana. Perhaps something even more powerful than the guardian of the grove when they saved the Silver Boar’s piglets.

“Okay, act’s up! You can show yourself now, let’s get this over with!” Akali shouted into the pass, her voice echoing in the distance. There was no response. Just silence and the sound of the rock debris sliding down the sides of the pass. She got off the horse and let go of the reins, grabbing a kunai in one hand and her kama in the other.

“What is it going to be? Beast? Some tree creature with vines and roots? Or maybe you will get creative and try and impersonate Shen? Maybe Kennen. No...Kayn. Yeah I bet he will try to kill me,” she added sarcastically.

A gush of wind blew along the pass, disturbing the horse and raising the dust off the ground. As it settled, Akali’s eyes widened at the sight before her. Standing elegantly, with a scythe in hand and long flowing silken robes, the figure of a woman with salt and pepper hair stood not far from Akali. Her faced showed graceful aging and her eyes looked piercingly cold, having always lacked the warmth a child might’ve sought. Akali’s breath caught in her throat and her heart quickened at the sight. No longer with the cocky tone she usually spoke with, Akali just muttered:

“Mother?”

Chapter Text

The pass felt as if it had only grown quieter, even the sound of the horse’s breathing had ceased and the only thing that Akali could hear was her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. The reins from her hand were gone as if they were never there and only then she gathered her thoughts and remembered that she was in the trap of some spirit – or much more likely a demon. The lithe elegant figure of a dark haired woman that stood before her was not in fact her mother, but a trick on her mind.

“Nice try, but I won’t shy away from striking you down even if you wear her face. You taught me this much,” Akali replied, tightening the grip on her weapons.

“I have no intention of deceiving you,” her mother spoke “You were surprisingly correct in your assessment that we are not in reality, but we are in yours. And I would like to see my real daughter now.”

Akali’s nostrils flared as she awaited what would follow, turning around. Her eyes met the stare of the same eyes on the other side, the same nose and lips as if she was looking at a mirror. But the hair of this being was neatly tied back and the armor bearing the Kinkou marks was properly fitted and elegantly styled. Akali met her own face, a sense of smug arrogance behind the half smile that came from the other side. The perfect daughter.

“Well I’ve had enough. I am ending this charade,” without a warning she turned and struck at Mayym, only to have her kama swiftly blocked by the back of Mayym’s hand, which promptly sent her flying to the side. A blow that mild should’ve hardly deterred her, yet she felt like she was hit with a boulder. This couldn’t be right. No, it couldn’t be real, because it wasn’t. It was a dream.

“A little bit predictable.”

“She could’ve mitigated that blow.”

“I think she was too quick to strike, she would’ve done better if she looked first.”

Akali was hearing the voices of the two women surrounding her, trying to distinguish them from each other. Mayym’s voice echoed loudly, but the tone was stranger than how she remembered it.

“You will make this fun huh? Fine,” Akali picked herself up and spun the kama in her hand.

“Impatient as always,” Mayym commented.

“Nope, just quick,” she dropped one of her smoke bombs and appeared behind Mayym, hoping to strike her. Her kama cut through the air as Mayym ducked the blow and grabbed Akali’s leg before she landed, throwing her against the stone wall of the pass.

“Perhaps if she had magic--”

“She would’ve been even more reckless.”

Akali grunted and huffed, getting up again.

“I am growing tired of this. Akali, show her why she shouldn’t have slept during training,” Mayym gestured at her daughter and she bowed her head with a mean smile. She turned to Akali and before she picked herself off the ground, the other girl was already beating at her. Had this not been a dream, they might’ve been evenly matched, however right now Akali kept getting beat down over and over.

“You should work alone. That way you won’t get anyone else hurt.”

“Is the Yánléi boy really trustworthy?”

“How quickly you’ve forgotten what he did.”

“You are smarter than to travel with a Shadow Assassin. People like that want only two things.”

“Are you done!?” Akali shouted at the other Akali, feeling as if a weight was pulling on her and making her hands sink in the soil, even though the other girl stood few feet away. Suddenly a falling sensation made Akali’s head spin, yet it still would not wake her up.

“Abandoned your master and for what? This? What did you amount to?”

“Shut up! Shut up, shut up!” Akali screamed and turned to Mayym, tears forming in her eyes.

“All this Kinkou training and you did fall for the tricks of a spirit,” Mayym smiled.

“I just want you to shut up. She was really good at not talking!” Akali snarled.

“Oh, but I haven’t said anything,” the demon with her mother’s face replied, putting her arm around the shoulder of the perfect daughter. Akali’s eyes widened as she stared at the grinning monster before her and suddenly a realization sank in, a feeling worse than the sensation that pushed her into the ground earlier.

“Yeah? I will shut you up anyway--” Akali spoke, kama and kunai in hand. She charged at the mirror image of herself, kunai in hand and threw her weapon at the throat of the other girl bearing her face. The other Akali swiftly dodged, but Akali was relentless. She was going to silence her, she was not going to hear any more of this.

“Stop!” another voice shouted. Before even turning, Akali’s eyes looked into the eyes of her mother, rather of the demon pretending to be her, and the smug expression was exchanged for genuine confusion and fear.

“You have to escape Akali--” the voice continued and she turned. The image she saw was unclear, like the way faces appeared in dreams. Blurry, vague, yet surprisingly specific. Like a ghost, the mirage of the person who called her pleaded with Akali. Suddenly and for a moment, there stood a young girl of thirteen summers, a blue tunic that complemented her short dark hair that was tied neatly. She was lithe and in the brief second she appeared, Akali saw the bow in her hands.

“Faey…” Akali whispered, her voice shivering.

“You don’t have a lot of time,” the voice urged, the image fading in and out of existence, but even though Akali could not make out a face, she knew deep down that it was Faey. The demon with Mayym’s face screeched and stroke at this invader, but something deterred it like a flash of light.

“It feeds on your pain, your suffering, do not hurt yourself,” the voice continued, however now weak and fading.

Akali tried reaching out for the strange being, but in moments she was gone. ‘Don’t hurt yourself’ Akali thought, refusing to accept what this meant. She was going to struck at herself, at Mayym’s perfect daughter that didn’t exist. She never existed. The grip on her weapons tightened, her knuckles turning white as Akali held back the tears that were threatening to fall down.

Suddenly she dropped her weapons and turned to her mother and her own self. How could she hurt them? No matter what happened, the part that Akali tried so hard to kill and bury still loved those who hurt her. Those who weren’t there. They were never there.

She sat down cross-legged as Shen taught her, as the Kinkou did and pulled out the kunai pendant that was still with her, the steel glowing a faint hue of purple.

“No!” the demon screeched.

Akali took a deep breath and with all her might, suppressed her anger, sadness and hurt just for a moment. That’s all she needed. Like the second you emerge from water and pull in the first breath of air.

“You are too late!” Mayym’s voice, twisted and darkened called out to Akali one last time.

With a loud gasp, Akali awoke and felt her body ache as it laid in the dirt. Once her eyes adjusted, they focused on a horrible, twisted face was right above her. The face was that of a rat, or perhaps a snake – yet it looked eerily flat and human like, with two wide human eyes that stared right into hers. She felt that her legs were weak and her arms were shaking. All energy was being drained out of her body, and she understood why the demon was stalling in the dream. Her fingers traced across the dirt, eyes locked on the horrible beast without blinking, in fear that if she closed them she would sink back into the dream and be lost for good. Suddenly the tips of her fingers felt the rough leather of her kama and with the strength she had left, she swung it at the demon, cutting it across the neck.

The beast recoiled with a horrifying shriek and Akali rolled over, crawling away from the spot and readjusting her weapon. When she turned back she saw that the terrible head was attached to a long feathery neck that stretched from over the rocks, draped on their edges like the body of a heavy constrictor snake. The demon hissed and black gunk fell on the ground where Akali’s blade had seared it’s physical flesh. Seeing the neck slithered to the other side, another realization came to Akali.

“Shit,” she cussed, realizing that maybe the demon already got Kayn. With her horse nowhere in sight, laying in the dirt among the mist and silence of the pass, Akali had to run on foot if she had any hopes of finding Kayn or whatever was left of him. As she got to her feet, she felt them disobeying her, shaking and stumbling with every step, but whether she went for Kayn or ran away, she had to will herself to walk.

Going back for a bit, she found the fork in the road, the one where she split from Kayn and took the other turn, a path covered in dry bush and sharp jagged rocks. There laid the body of one of the Noxian soldiers, the one that went after her. He was pale and skeletal, all life drained from him by the demon, probably before it got to Akali. The poor bastard laid there as a reminder of what could’ve been of her and of what can become of Kayn if she doesn’t save him. But why should she? Was the Yánléi boy trustworthy?

The strength in her limbs returned enough for her to run, and she sped down the path, cutting every piece of dry foliage that got in her way. From the corner of her eye she noticed a shadow, moving along the rocks. Her eyes darted, trying to make out if it was Kayn, however what she saw was a terrible talon and a feathery long body stretched over the sharp rocks. It was the body of the demon, the beast that was draped on the rocks that made the divide in the road, with it’s head on either side of it. Not far into that path lied the body of the other Noxian solider, equally drained and skeletal as his comrade.

She stopped suddenly, considering going after the demon as she had her kama in hand and before that decision was made, she saw something on the ground ahead. A faint red glow, almost flickering in the dust. Akali made her way to it and she saw Rhaast, laying in the dirt without his wielder in sight. The bright red eye widened and darted further ahead, back and forth as if he was trying to tell Akali to go there. She raised a brow, thinking that the harvest tool trying to communicate with her was just a trick of her mind, so she jumped over the scythe and moved onward.

Not far ahead she saw the long neck on the beast, and on the ground where the head stared, was Kayn, asleep and having his energy stolen by the demon as well.

“I’m not done with you,” she spat and charged at the beast, however suddenly something intercepted her jump and threw her against the stones. She coughed out and when she looked back up and the dust settled, she noticed that the beast had two identical heads, both with an ugly rat-snake like face, human eyes and mouths and long feathery black necks. That’s how it got both of them at once, both over each side of the pass. A demon that made itself unavoidable, perched up on the stones and observing both sides of the road.

She clenched the kama in her hands and pulled out a kunai with the other, ready to fight. As the creature lunged one of its heads towards her, Akali believed she can take it even as it unhinged what previously looked like a human jaw to reveal a frightening amount of teeth leading to a black chasm that was the throat, however she would not find out what was at the end of their clash. Instead of striking, she cut the underside of it’s throat and quickly threw a smoke bomb at it’s ugly face.

In the cover it provided her, she found Kayn who was laying limp on the ground. Quickly she shook him, calling out his name in an effort to rouse him.

“Kayn!” she gently smacked his cheeks, but he seemed to be in deep sleep “Come on you idiot, I said I’m not dying here with you!”

The demon was looking for her through the smoke and she only had seconds to get to him. She leaned forward to his ear and spoke directly to Kayn, as if trying to reach to him in his nightmare.

“Whoever you are fighting, you have to stop! It wants you to fight, that’s how it traps y--” she could not finish the sentence before the demon’s sharp teeth grabbed her leg and dragged her away from Kayn. She tried to set herself free, cutting at the monster’s hideous face with her kama and once the strike tore at it’s eye, the beast threw her in the air and against the wall.

She landed awkwardly on her feet, which was surprising given the circumstances, but still felt the pain of the impact. Weapons in hand, she was ready for it to come again, knowing that the only way through this pass is by slaying this demon. The other head now roared as it unhinged it’s jaw and charged toward Akali. Before it’s teeth collided with her, something as quick as a shadow pulled her out of the way.

It took a moment for Akali to realize what happened and she found herself next to Kayn, who had pulled her to the side by the strap of her bag. They didn’t have much time to argue as the other head attacked and Kayn pulled on her bag again, the two making a run for it.

“We need to find higher ground,” he told her holding onto the walls of the pass as he too found it difficult to walk after waking up from his dream. He stumbled few times, and reluctantly Akali helped him back to his feet. Being in the dream took a toll on his body as well, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Akali looked to the sides and saw a stone that gave her the perfect opportunity to jump up. She jumped and Kayn had to let go of her bag.

“I can’t shadow step—” he spoke out of breath and she extended her arm for him to grab. There was only a brief second of hesitation before he took her hand and she pulled him up just one of the monster’s heads came crashing behind him. The two tried climbing up and only now could see the extent of this beast’s body, stretching out so far that it was bigger than most of the regular beasts of Ionia. With what Akali thought to be a tail, the beast was almost as long as the stones that divided the road.

Kayn and Akali looked at each other, her hand still holding his, when the creature’s other head came crashing down on them, breaking the rocks and sending both tumbling down the pass wall. Kayn grabbed Akali by the bag and pulled her to him, shadow stepping only briefly to slow their fall before both hit the ground. He cushioned her fall, holding her close and she had grabbed onto the strap of Rhaast’s bag. She helped him up, but they realized they were surrounded by the two heads now, both with eyes fixated on them and jaws unhinged.

Suddenly one of the heads let out a brief, horrifying shriek that was cut off before it tumbled down towards Kayn and Akali, clearly severed from the neck. Akali used the opportunity to strike at the other head while Kayn stumbled the opposite way to get Rhaast. She made quick work of the head, slicing at it and once the demon was wounded, it’s mortal body began fading from the world in amber glow, like fire burning through paper. All that was left was ash where the severed head had laid and the dirt that the fight rose.

However Akali was far from done. There was someone else with them, the person who stopped the beast and she suspected to be another Noxian from the group that chased them. She jumped out of the dust, weapons drawn and aimed at the large stranger who now stood there. He was covered in Noxian armor except for his face, where his brutish wide features were adorned by curly long hair that fell over his shoulders in locks. Only then did Akali realize that he was not just any Noxian, but the Noxian she’s been after, the man she heard about from the woman at the inn. Finally this chapter of her journey was going to be closed.

“Wait!” he cried out, voice deep and raspy, almost like a growl.

Akali jumped and struck at him, disarming him from the large curved axe that he carried. It was surprising that he didn’t even try to fight her back, so she struck again, cutting his hand and disarming him from the other axe as well. He backed off in confusion at her action and as she was about to strike at him again, she heard Kayn call out.

“Akali wait!”

“What?!” she shouted “He will get away!”

As she turned and charged at the Noxian again, Kayn shadow stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. He made no attempt to block her hand or grab her weapons, however Akali held back, taking a step away from him.

“This again? What happened to not letting any of them walk?!” she argued.

“I’ll let you take care of him, but first I have to make sure of something,” Kayn replied and without a warning, vanished into shadowy mist, appearing in front of the Noxian who stood there with his hands raised. Kayn knocked the larger man down, and kicked him over on his stomach. Akali approached and watched as Kayn drew Rhaast and cut the straps of the Noxian’s armor, exposing his back.

“Hey!” the Noxian complained, but he still laid there unmoving as if he wanted Kayn to see.

“Well? Can I kill him now?” Akali crossed her arms.

Kayn’s breath was caught in his throat and there was doubt in his grip. He could not produce the sound necessary to answer Akali’s question.

“The resemblance from your dreams is uncanny. That is exactly who you think it is Kayn,” Rhaast whispered.

“Get up!” Kayn commanded him and the Noxian rose to his feet, pulling the top of the armor back over his body, trying to cover himself. He breathed heavily, nostrils flaring and his big muscular chest rising. In his eyes, Kayn was met with familiar warm eyes, dark brown and pleading at him. No, not for his life, but for a revelation. For something long left behind. For a friend from another life. Kayn tilted his head and Akali looked at him concerned, her posture relaxing. She watched as Kayn’s arrogance and anger softened on his face and his breathing was shallow. With the uncertainty of a child, Kayn whispered.

“Royce?…”

“It is you... What do they call ya now? Kayn?” Royce spoke, arms raised defensively as he laid on the ground.

“Are there any more Noxians you wanna introduce me to?” Akali asked Kayn, weapons still firmly clenched in her hands.

“There was no one but me that survived back then,” he replied to her in a softer tone and then turned to Royce, looking down on him “How did you find us?”

“The horse--” Royce began, eyeing Akali as for some reason she frightened him more than the man with the Darkin weapon before him “I saw it run as I was making my way down the pass. Saw the saddle with no rider. Thought there might be someone that needs help back here.”

“Ah, so just a good Noxian trying to help unfortunate travelers, how sweet,” Akali spoke sarcastically.

“You mind also telling us the ‘why’? Why were you here?” Kayn threatened.

Royce was about to open his mouth when he eyed Akali head to toe, observing her weapons, and then looked at Kayn. Despite not being Ionian, he knew a thing or two about the recent events in the land as any well informed foreigner would, and was no stranger to the Shadow Order and their adversaries.

“She with you?” Royce asked.

“Kinda...” Kayn began.

“For now,” Akali added. “If I wasn’t you’d be dead, so that worked out for ya.”

“I am not from Noxus really, I grew up on Bahrl, in the colonies. That’s where Ronius plucked me from.”

“Who?” Akali asked.

“Young Noxian guy, dark hair, about my height. Fancy cloak ‘n all,” Royce told her.

“Ah, yeah. That guy,” Kayn turned to Akali.

“He is a little dead,” she added.

“He is a lot dead, actually,” Rhaast jumped in with a chuckle, even though only Kayn could hear him.

“Damn...he was a general’s son. Trained at the best schools in Noxus. Or whatever they have there. You know where they train them to fight--” Royce mumbled.

“Yeah I know,” Kayn replied dismissively.

“And you killed him, just like that? You two must be some fighters,” Royce added, a tone of amazement in his voice.

“So that’s what that blockade was about? They mentioned some general...Gravanos?” Akali finally relaxed and crossed her arms.

“Yep, that’s him!” Royce confirmed.

“I want to hear everything you know about it, Royce,” Kayn told him firmly, almost growling his name.

“Yeah, yeah! Why wouldn’t I tell you?” Royce replied, now sitting on the ground rather than cowering from them both.

“Maybe we should take him prisoner and move on for the interrogation. Spirits have this funny thing where their physical body can die, but they live on in the spirit realm. And then they get really mad at whoever did it, so they come back to finish you off,” Akali told Kayn.

“He won’t be going anywhere,” Kayn reassured her and flashed Rhaast to intimidate Royce.

“Oh, look at us. We are so scary,” Rhaast mocked them.

“I don’t trust your Noxian friends. I’ll make sure if he tries anything, I will be the one with steel,” she picked up his axes and circled around him, keeping her eyes fixed on Royce who kept his head low as she walked past.

“On your feet Royce, we have a long journey ahead,” Kayn followed Akali, walking past him. There was a little smirk on his face and Royce did not like the devilish look in his eyes. But then again, perhaps it was a spark of that was always in him ever since they were children.

The three of them did not spare time for arguments or pleasantries along the way. Very soon they reached the spot where Royce had tied the mare to a withered tree. Akali took her reins and secured Royce’s axes on the saddle, climbing up and riding on ahead.

“What about the stallion?” she asked, almost concerned for the animal.

“You can’t be serious,” Kayn scoffed and received a glare.

“Almost ran me over, he did, but I couldn’t catch his reins,” Royce told her and Akali nodded at him before spurring the mare.

Kayn walked next to him, but he seemed more focused on every sound the pass made, so Royce did not even attempt to start a conversation. The silence between the three of them only raised the tension and made the foggy eerie feeling of the area even more dreadful.

It was nightfall when they reached the end of the pass, and in the distance they could see the comforting dark green hues of the forest. The stone walls that mapped the pass got smaller and smaller until the trio could see over them, looking at the pastures to the east and the woods that stretches up the mountains to the west. They walked for few more hours, to make sure they were as far away from the pass as they could, before Akali decided it’s good enough and they agreed to camp.

“You know, I thought you were dead when you dropped me back there,” Rhaast told Kayn, who was looking for a good log to sit down on.

“You are not getting rid of me that easy,” Kayn replied.

“I believe that is my line,” Rhaast mumbled. “You are lucky your friend is as resourceful as she is. She did save you. For the second time. Or was it third?”

“Oh, so you are keeping score now?” Kayn sounded offended.

“ Well, not much else to do. Besides, thought you’d be interested in knowing that.”

“Why so?” Kayn seemed genuinely baffled.

“Oh you know why. The two of you are at war. She had few opportunities to leave you to die and have one less thing to worry about, yet she didn’t. I know why you didn’t leave her, but her actions surprised me,” there was a hint of amusement in Rhaast’s voice as he played coy. Kayn blushed a little and felt as his heart fluttered, which was both sweet and frightening.

“Aw,” Rhaast added and Kayn snapped out of it.

“That just means she is smart and she made the right choice allying herself with me,” a rather mechanical answer came from Kayn.

“ Oh please, you can do better than that.”

Back at the camp, Royce was seated against the tree with his hands tied behind his back – clearly Akali’s doing. The horse was secured all the way across the campfire and far away from Royce’s reach. He didn’t even seem to struggle against the bonds as he just sat there, looking at Akali like a kicked puppy. Kayn dragged a small log he planned to use for both sitting and sleeping and rolled it over next to Royce. Akali was on her knees in front of the mare and gently patting her nose. The horse sniffed her and nipped at her hair as she talked to it in a sweet tone. Kayn’s eyes lingered on Akali while she was playing with the animal and Royce watched him, eyebrows raised and a puzzled look on his face. Once Akali felt their presence, she got up and quickly pretended as if she was only checking something, giving the horse a half-hearted tap on the neck.

“So...” Kayn began.

Akali threw one of her kunai at the trunk of the tree close to Kayn. She then ran a little and used the kunai as leverage to jump up and climb the tree, grabbing on the first branch. The crown of this particular type was not as dense as the ones back in the woods south, as they had to resist stronger winds, and Akali had a hard time finding a comfortable spot to sit on. Kayn looked up at her and understood that her gesture was both of distrust and disapproval for bringing Royce alive to their camp. But it was certain that whatever information they’ll get out of Royce would be wroth the trouble.

“You’ve gotten big,” Kayn sneered, turning to Royce.

“Huh, I guess I did,” Royce replied, sounding genuine.

“My memory is a little fuzzy, would you mind telling me a few things? You know, to make sure,” Kayn squinted.

“I—” Royce paused “You know what? Everything that other guy said, he knew cause of me.”

“So you told him how to trick me?!” Kayn raised his voice, sounding both arrogant and agitated.

“No! I mean, I told him because he asked. In my defense he sounded genuine at first. Said that he heard of a Noxian foreigner that was kept by some Shadow Order. The Inlei or somethin’.”

“Yánléi,” Kayn cut him off.

“Yeah, that!” Royce replied enthusiastically “He said that I was lucky that the Noxian army found me when they did. His father lead them you know.”

“Well I don’t look kidnapped, now do I?” Kayn still seemed suspicious.

“I didn’t know. All I know is that he asked if I remember about any of the kids from our group. He even brought a list he did, from back in the day. They had some of us by number, some by location, few by name. I told him who I was sure were dead and who I didn’t know. Then he asked me about every one of them, one by one, insisting that he cared about these kids and wanted to find and bring all of us together. Told me we were war heroes, that we were gonna get honors in Noxus!”

“Hah,” Kayn scoffed, unconsciously clenching the sides of his pants. War heroes? Only a fool brainwashed by the Noxian Empire could believe such a lie. ‘Once fodder, always fodder.”

“Well yeah, I guess,” Royce shrugged, realizing that he was no closer to a war hero right now than he was back when they were kids “I don’t mean to interrupt this, but your friend is gone.”

“What?” Kayn looked up at the tree, now vacant of Akali, and jumped to his feet.

“You should go after her,” Royce told him.

“Why?” Kayn growled.

“Because she might be doing something important?”

“Maybe,” Kayn considered “But if you try to get away, I will hunt you down and I will flay you. Starting from your legs and making my way up.”

“Alright,” Royce seemed unbothered and he just leaned back onto the tree. Kayn gave him another serious stare, picked up Rhaast and left in the woods.

Not too far away there was a small clearing and a little pond that glistened under the moonlight that could peek through the leaves of the trees. The vegetation around was tall and lively and the sounds of the forest animals could be heard clearly, the crickets, the croaking of the frogs, the chirping night birds, the gentle coos of the bush monkeys and some other sound that Kayn could not quite make out. He approached the pond and noticed Akali sitting in the dark, curled up with her knees up to her chin and staring at the water.

“Hey...” he whispered and she perked her head up.

“Are you still stalking me?” she spoke, trying to sound angry but her voice cracked.

“I was just--” Kayn began and frowned “You know what, brood all you want. I don’t care.”

“Then why did you come?”

“To gloat at your misery, obviously,” Kayn scoffed.

“Fuck off then.”

“Wouldn’t dream of staying.”

“I don’t see you going?”

“Bye!”

“Good,” Akali replied finally and Kayn clenched his fists. He turned around and began walking towards their camp, no longer careful as to not disturb the woods.

“This game the two of you are playing is insufferable and annoying, however--” Rhaast whispered to Kayn “I felt the blood rush through her when you spoke. Make of it what you will.”

“Kayn, wait…” Akali sighed and called out to him softly. He stopped in his tracks and turned slowly, readjusting Rhaast on his back. He was still a little riled up from the way she spoke to him, but at the same time a small part of him perhaps hoped for something never shown and something never felt. Akali wiped her eyes while her head was turned and looked over her shoulder at Kayn. Their eyes met and hers darted to the side and back at him again, an unsure, but obvious invitation. Kayn slowly approached and stood still next to her.

“So is this what we’re gonna be doing now?” she asked with a hushed tone.

“Argue? I mean if you can keep up--”

“No, Kayn,” Akali scowled at him “I meant back at the pass. You know when the rocks fell and you-- You know what you did,” she crossed her arms, her eyes fixed on him.

“Oh—” Kayn cleared his throat “I mean why not, why would I leave you to get hurt? The two of us can cut through a whole troop of Noxian soldiers and a band of Navori. You stopped an Azakana. What foolishness would have me waste talent like yours?”

Akali tilted her head at him, her eyes slowly widening. Her face seemed softer, but also tired, her cheeks glistening in the light from the tears she wiped. Kayn slowly brought himself down, sitting right next to her with his feet near the water.

“That would’ve been honorless behavior.”

Akali sat silently, looking forward, but not shying away from Kayn’s closeness to her. He watched her from the corner of his eye, anticipating what she would do or say, would she push him away again or perhaps they would reach some kind of long sought after understanding.

“The Kinkou are fools, but you think differently from them. With your skills, you would make a frightening Shadow Assassin.”

“Is that your way of thanking me for saving you?” she glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

“What? No--” he scoffed “That demon was no match. He brought Zed to me, as if I am an idiot who won’t see through the deception.”

“I don’t think it was trying to deceive us. Just keep us from waking up while it sucked all of our life-force out.”

“It was trying to deceive me. Poorly,” Kayn added and turned over to Akali. Her expression was bleak and her stare absent as she looked in the distance beyond the pond and the trees.

“What did you get?”

“Nothing,” she cut him off.

“You were not caught? Is that a Kinkou thing?”

“Nope,” Akali took in a deep breath “One of the good things you learn from those fools at the Kinkou, right?”

She brought her knees close and rested her arms on them, extending her hands forward. Kayn was puzzled for a moment as he has never seen Akali this way. It was very unusual to see the usually rude and rowdy girl show any sign of vulnerability, not the one of the flesh, but one of spirit. Taught to expose and exploit these moments, Kayn did not know how to act. In the loss of words, Kayn acted without thinking and he gently placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing for a moment and then letting it rest softly.

Akali perked her head a bit at his touch, but she did not object. In fact she leaned in it a little, thinking of how warm his hands felt against her skin. Their eyes met once more when she looked at him over her shoulder, and he seemed just as unsure about this. They sat in silence for a bit longer before Kayn pulled his hand away, slowly sliding it down her arm and Akali spoke to him.

“I mean you said it yourself, I do the Kinkou magic thing or whatever.”

“And the killing,” Kayn added.

“It comes naturally to me. You’ll gotta find something else to do I’m afraid,” she joked.

“I am the assassin with the demon scythe, I think I’ll manage,” Kayn scoffed, feigning arrogance.

“To be fair it was your friend that killed the Azakana back at the pass.”

“Right,” Kayn got thoughtful, “I wonder what is his angle, what is he trying to do?”

Akali paused, her playful demeanor gone once again as she furrowed her brow. Kayn noticed this just as he started to relax.

“Is it really your childhood friend? Don’t worry I won’t give you crap for him being a Noxian.”

“The boy who came from Noxus had a friend bearing that name. I am no longer that boy.”

She grew quiet again and Kayn became uneasy. His eyes glanced at her quickly, the silence becoming unbearable.

“Royce is your friend. Or at least someone who really knows you and cares for you.”

“How do you know?” Kayn sat up, leaning towards Akali.

“The letter I took from you, back at Weh’le? It was addressed to him, begging for his help again, imploring him that finding you is for your own good. That they wanted to find all the arrow-fodder Noxian children from war. Mentioned the woman with the sword too. I can tell the penmanship of a Noxian noble and sleazy words used to coerce someone. It didn’t mention you by name, but it mentioned Darkin weapons and it was signed by Lord Whatever that Royce told us about. The way the man spoke, it sounded like Royce saw thought his shit every step of the way. He practically begged a commoner for help.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Kayn’s nostrils flared.

“I needed leverage.”

“It would’ve changed nothing for you,” Kayn spat.

“Because I didn’t trust you Kayn.”

“And yet you still traveled with me-- Wait.”

He squinted his eyes and Akali shrugged. A brief moment of anger washed over him, but then a grin crept across his face.

“You decided to travel with me because of the letter. Of course you did…”

“Ouch.” Rhaast, who was quiet the whole time, finally added.

“Did you really think I needed your protection just because of a cut on my arm? I had to sniff out the extent of your involvement with these Noxians, and in my defense you were conveniently right there.”

“I would’ve done the same,” he replied with a low tone.

He looked away bitterly, feeling the way her words cut at him. The only reason he felt this kind of hurt is because he let himself be foolish and vulnerable, thinking she could’ve liked him. But he was impressed with her cunning and her skills as an assassin, so Kayn respected that as much as it wounded his pride.

“If you couldn’t trust me, then why didn’t you kill me?” Kayn asked, certain that this question will trap her in admission.

“Because I am not a killer,” her eyes narrowed as she looked at him “If the tables were turned, would you have killed me?”

Kayn looked in the water, watching the gentle circles that formed whenever the small creatures inside the pond came to the surface for a breath of air. He trapped himself in admission. The answer was yes, but he couldn’t vocalize it. Akali knew.

“There is no point in killing an ally, unless they are in your way.”

“You are surprisingly not angry.”

“I am impressed. I wasn’t kidding when I said you should work with the Shadow Order,” he replied bluntly.

“Yeah, speaking of your Order, what are you going to do with Royce?”

“I don’t know. I don’t doubt it’s him, but I am surprisingly not thrilled to kill someone who shared my fate. They brought us together on those boats and tore us apart on the battle field. Is it wrong to feel...sympathy?”

“You can afford it. Don’t take friendships for granted, Kayn... People would kill to have the friends they lost back,” Akali got up and stood next to him. She extended her hand and Kayn looked at her for a moment, raising a brow. He grabbed onto her forearm and she to his as she pulled him up from the dirt bank next to the pond.

“We should make sure he hasn’t run off.”

Surprisingly, Royce was just as they left him, sitting quietly with his hands tied. He had attempted conversation with the horse, but the mare would mostly ignore him as she was peacefully grazing. Even so, Kayn was a bit on edge as he approached, his hand ready to reach for the Rhaast’s handle at any second.

“Oh you are back, thought ya left me out here tied up. Wouldn’t be a first,” Royce called out to them, sounding genuine.

“You aren’t getting off easy Royce,” Kayn told him.

“Didn’t think so. Wasn’t here to get off anyway,” Royce shrugged.

“So aside from telling the Noxian all about me, how do I know you aren’t playing the same kind of game?” Kayn circled around Royce, while Akali climbed back up to her spot on the tree.

“Can I say anything that will make you think otherwise? Oh no, I am not a spy for Noxus. Would that convince you?” Royce seemed serious.

“It’s just strange that we ran into you in all of Ionia.”

“Stranger things have happened.” Royce’s eyes followed Kayn who restlessly walked around, Rhaast in hand. “At first I thought Ronius wanted to find the lost kids, us arrow fodder. Then that swordsman woman came--”

“What do you know about her?” Akali interfered.

“Not much. She and Ronius were close, talked in hushed whispers away from me. Then they said that we have to find you right away. That you were held and used by the Ionians as a weapon, whatever that meant. So when we arrived in Kosaro and I saw you, you didn’t look kidnapped to me. I demanded to know what was really going on and Ronius told me that I am out of line. I told him to stick his knives where the sun don’t shine and left. I am pretty sure that is treason and I would’ve been executed, so I fled here.”

Kayn slowly turned to Akali, a certain look of vulnerability in his eyes, knowing that Royce’s story matched what she told him at the pond. She only nodded softly at him and glanced back at Royce, as if confirming to Kayn that he is his lost childhood friend.

“Towards a pass riddled with monsters and demons?” Kayn slowly continued.

“No, just towards Navori. Heard the Navori Brotherhood always looks for fighters. Also there was an arena lead by some pit fighter guy. Could’ve made use of the muscle.”

“The Navori would’ve killed you on sight. You are Noxian,” Kayn spoke.

“Why not stay at the colony? Looks like you were doing fine,” Akali asked from above.

“I had to see for myself if the man Ronius asked after was Kayn.”

“With Ronius dead, you could still go back you know,” she added.

“There is nothing for me back there. I was always gonna be a runt, treated as a deserter for being a scared child,” Royce replied to her and turned to both of them “You think every Noxian likes the Empire? They chained us by the neck to a tree, left us to die. We were children! We were children… Some of us were barely old enough to walk.”

Kayn scratched the front of his neck, as if he could feel the cold tug of the chain Royce mentioned. Akali’s eyes turned to him with a sympathetic stare as she realized the horrors they might’ve faced at the hands of Noxus. A part of her began to realize why Kayn was the way he was.

“If you are going to kill me, fine, do it now. I’d rather die by the hands of someone who knows my suffering, than by Noxian or Ionian blade.” Royce added and leaned back against the tree.

Kayn stood in silence, clenching Rhaast in his hands. Akali watched him carefully, and even though she wanted Royce dead from the moment she saw him, she was concerned Kayn would do it. If he did, she would’ve had all her suspicions about his character confirmed.

“And somehow to my surprise, both of your companions are truthful,” Rhaast finally spoke in his head.

“What?” Kayn whispered. Royce stood confused as he watched this unfold. He looked up at Akali and she just tilted her head, as she knew what is going on.

“ Little Akali was right, and your friend here is not lying. I can tell doubt in someone’s voice, or lack there of.”

“You’d benefit more if I was dead. Both of you. Why should I trust you?” Kayn spoke quietly to him.

“ Oh you are as a frightened child Kayn, so scared that your past is staring right at you. Despite all proof to the contrary, you hope that it wouldn’t be your friend so you will feel better when you drive me through him. ”

Kayn remained silent and thought about it. Royce grew anxious and Akali leaned over to watch.

“Besides, I do like your shadow magic. I’d rather be at the bottom of a volcano than let another Noxian wield me. They are so weak and pathetic.” Rhaast added, almost comforting Kayn to trust his decision.

Royce’s breath caught as Kayn moved Rhaast and swung him around, gently securing him back in the sheathe. Akali raised her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised by his restraint. Kayn turned to her, looking up at the tree, and even though no words were exchanged, she knew he is admitting that she was right about Royce. However, none of this meant that he wasn’t here to backstab Kayn and that he wasn’t working for the enemy. That kind of wound would’ve cut far deeper now that he knew all of this.

“We can take shifts guarding him,” Akali told Kayn.

“I’ll go first,” Kayn replied to her, not planning to sleep at all “And I’ll wake you when I get tired.”

Akali looked down at him before she got comfortable in her spot. Kayn understood that the trust between them was built on lies and deceit, and that all that they went through stood on pillars of sand. However a part of him hoped that now they could perhaps start building something based on their true opinions of the other. It was wise to take shifts watching him. and her perch up on the tree did give her a good vantage point. He sat down against the tree, leaning on the trunk and placing Rhaast right next to him. Royce waited to see what he will do, and Kayn just turned slightly to him, crossed his arms and stared unblinking. The way his golden eyes almost glowed in the darkness made Royce uneasy, so he closed his eyes and turned his head, trying to sleep. Kayn just looked at him, and even though his stare was focused, his mind was absent. All he could think about were Akali’s words about losing an old friend, about Royce’s return and what that would mean. As much as he denied it, deep down Kayn wanted to trust Royce, wanted Royce to be a part of the Yánléi, for them to get revenge on Noxus together – but how could he trust anyone? How foolish would it be to think something good would just happen out of nowhere? Everything he got in this life, he got because he fought for it, by his skill and strength alone. Good things didn’t just happen, you had to spill blood for them, and he knew this better than most.

Chapter Text

Night fell all across Ionia, yet sleep escaped those troubled by guilt and lingering thoughts. In the sword school among the clouds, far south from where sleep had taken Kayn, young Jun was sat on the edge of the balcony, overlooking the sea and the Noxian colonies far below. Like a wall, the mountainside shielded this sacred place from the influences of Noxus, yet she was not oblivious to the sheer amount of lights that were dancing at the coastline of Bahrl. Not the ones from the homes and shops the Noxians have built since the war, but the ones from torches and campsites, foot soldier patrols and borders, as if this land was theirs to take. It has been few days since she heard the woman's voice from behind the door and Jun wondered if she had insulted her terribly at their last interaction. A part of her worried that something happened to the woman, however she did not find the bravery within to ask her Master about it. If only she knew the lengths Yi went to ensure that weapon is better hidden and far away from the students, if only she could understand that this was not an action of malice, but one of care.

She felt slight breeze at her back, knowing that someone had opened the temple door and had intruded on her solitude. However, she wanted someone to come, someone to see what lied in her heart, to soothe her fears and to listen about her day. Oh, how she missed the woman behind the door, yearning to talk to this motherly voice again.

"You wouldn't have me holed up inside a temple on a night like this either,' Yi's voice softly addressed Jun.

"I feel like I spend so long inside those wall, I forget how big the world is out here. Every time I look at the sea, I am reminded," she turned to him, watching as he gently walked over to her and sat by her side.

"Have you considered that hike I mentioned?" Yi asked.

"We should do it," Jun replied with determination "Either that or Ting will drive me mad."

"It matters more what you want Jun," Yi tilted his head to look at her.

"Oh," she paused and turned to him "I mean, I want to go too. It will be relaxing. It's good to get away from all of this," she exhaled and Yi's shoulders dropped. Escapism and compromise weren't the kind of motivation he had when he was her age. It killed him to see her spirit slowly extinguished this way. A part of him hoped that perhaps once they were out in the untamed wilderness, she would see things differently. He looked over in the distance and once he saw the lights, he knew exactly what is bothering her. The kind of burden he was forced to carry a lot later in life.

"Is the war unavoidable? Is violence my only path?" Jun asked, her voice quiet and haunting.

"You think about traveling roads not yet revealed to us, Jun..." he spoke quietly, unable to bring himself to confirm her fears.

"What if there was a chance for peace? Eternal peace, for a chance to never lose anyone to war ever again?"

Yi's eyes widened at her words, at the passion in her voice. This was what sparked her spirit? She was what sparked her spirit. He had heard these words before. It scared him then and it still scared him now. How far was he to take that cursed weapon before it stopped influencing the minds of his pupils?

"Things such as those Jun, they come at a price. One that is often to steep to pay," Yi warned her.

"So is the price to be paid in blood?" she turned to him, eyes pleading for comfort "What if they come for us? What if they hurt me, Ting, you Master? If there is a way to stop them wouldn't you do it? Wouldn't you do anything to protect your family?" Jun pointed over at the lights on the coastline and when Yi turned to look at them, he was reminded of the fire and bloodshed that awaited had waited for him when he returned home all those years ago. The kind of pain and anguish he wanted to protect his students from.

"They will not come--" he began.

"Every day I see them more and more, with only these mountains between us. Is it fair that we think of peace and they think of war!?" Jun pulled her legs back from the edge and dragged herself away from the lights, as if she got scared suddenly. Yi moved closer to her and seeing her in this state of fear and panic, the only thing he could bring himself to do is embrace her. Jun was now shaking, both in anger and in fear and he held her close to him. She buried her face in his shoulder and grabbed tightly to his robe.

"I promise you this Jun, no one will hurt us here. Never again," Yi comforted her, though he feared that he tasted a lie. Could anyone truly make such a promise?

The two of them sat and embraced for a bit, before Jun calmed down and felt a little foolish for letting her Master see her this way. She knew that he was also uncertain of the future, and she knew that it will fall upon her to help him just like he would help her. But Yi was wrong. Peace was possible. True peace. And she was going to find a way and prove it to him.

"Kayn."

Kayn stirred, his eyes opening at the whisper.

"Pssst. Kayn."

He turned to the side and saw Royce calling out to him. Royce was still tied up, sitting exactly where they had left him, resembling a loyal dog waiting for his master.

"What do you want?"

"Your friend left."

"What?" Kayn jumped, looking up and noticing that Akali was no longer in her safe spot at the top of the tree. How stupid he was, of course she would leave after what she told him at the pond. There was nothing keeping her here. In fact, her leaving without trying to kill them was a miracle on its own.

"When did she go? Did she say anything?" Kayn inquired.

"No, not really. It was a while ago, but I didn't want to wake you," Royce shrugged. "She did leave the horse."

Before Kayn could unleash his frustration on Royce for not alerting him sooner, Akali emerged from the treeline, carrying a bunch of fruits. She arched an eyebrow, and that's when Kayn realized a faint smile had crept onto his face upon seeing her. He cleared his throat, and she tossed one of the fruits to him. Royce glanced at her with a forlorn expression, knowing there was none for him.

"Can you come here for a moment?" she motioned to Kayn with a nod of her head. He sprang up and glanced at Royce to ensure he was still sitting there before joining Akali. She moved farther away, making sure they were out of Royce's earshot, and Kayn followed suit.

“What is it?”

“About last night,” Akali began.

“Oh, I take it this is some sort of apology?”

“Do you know how to shut up and listen? I am trying to say that I didn’t mean that I was only trailing you because of your connection to the Noxian in the letter--”

“Mhm” Kayn’s voice was suddenly amused, expecting what she will say.

“Hey, hey, don’t make this hard okay. I am really trying here.”

“I can see, keep going,” Kayn replied smugly and brushed his hair back.

Akali sighed and frowned at him. She took a bite from one of the fruits and watched him straight in the eye as she chewed.

“I think you should take Royce with ya, to your wyrm lair and decide what to do with him there. Your Master took you in despite you being a Noxian. He will maybe have some honor in him to do the same with Royce.”

“Since when do you advocate for the Yánléi?” Kayn asked her, a little suspicious. Akali just turned away from him and walked around slowly.

“I have two choices. I either leave, or I kill you both. And we might be sworn enemies, but I am not an asshole,” she turned to him, bringing the half eaten fruit to his face “Despite my reasons, I still stuck with you. And not like you helped me out of the goodness of your heart either.”

“What makes you say that?” he asked, walking towards her with his hands behind his back.

“Are you going to deny it?” she shrugged.

“After all of that you still think I am a merciless killer unless I want something?” Kayn took a bite from the fruit she gave him as the two headed back to where Royce was seated.

Upon entering the campsite, Kayn noticed that Royce was talking to the scythe. Only then did he realize that he left Rhaast propped against that tree, a mistake he would’ve never make otherwise. Judging by the track marks in the dirt, Kayn suspected that Royce tried to reach it.

“What is going on here?!” Kayn asked, grabbing Rhaast with the bag.

“I didn’t think you two would come back so fast. Was wondering if I can talk to that thing like you do. Tried poking him with the stick. Does it really talk to you?”

“Do not touch the scythe. Ever. If you wanna walk out of this, it’s in your best interest to not get anywhere near the handle or the blade,” Kayn warned him, his amber eyes wide with barely concealed anger.

“Okay, okay man. I won’t,” Royce replied, pulling his leg back up to him.

“You forget I exist because of a girl and then you get all possessive,” Rhaast joked.

“Here’s the plan,” Akali interrupted the exchange, approaching Kayn “About a day north from here we should be at the border with the Navori province. That’s where we will part ways. Royce goes with you, but his weapons stay with me.”

“That’s not fair,” Royce objected.

“Would you rather stay tied here?” Kayn turned to him, receiving no response but Royce lowering his head.

“If that’s all, then we best head out while we still have sunlight,” Akali nodded at Kayn and he gave her a half smile. Not that he was taking orders from Akali, but it was a force of habit to just go with whatever plan someone else made if he agreed with it. A habit he picked up from following Zed all these years.

They got on the road quickly, putting the campfire out and packing everything on the horse that was now lead by Akali. Kayn untied Royce, and the two walked together few paces behind her, giving them enough time to catch up. However their conversation felt a lot less like catching up, and more like an awkward discussion regarding random sights they saw on the road and even the weather. Akali listened to them, and she found it funny how their communication was lacking until Kayn got into a monologue about Rhaast and how exactly he got him, something she never heard before and was quite curious about. So even the weapon came from Noxus? No wonder they wanted it back. As much as she hated Zed, she had to admit that disarming their mutual enemy of something like that was rather wise, even if it was now in the hands of the most arrogant, overconfident and audacious Yánléi in Ionia. What Akali wouldn’t know were the few details Kayn left out as he boasted, the part where he was faced with the decision to spare or kill his friend Nakuri. The first of many choices he was forced to make since he got the Scythe.

As the sun sank beyond the mountains, Akali knew that the horse was too tired to push through the night and they would have to make camp again. Surprisingly, this did not upset her, even though she’d have to be in the company of Kayn and his awkward oaf of a Noxian friend. Upon telling the duo of the change in plans, they quickly found a good spot to camp off the side of the road, hidden among the foliage and this time Royce was instructed to start the fire. Akali shared with Kayn her rations of berries and fruits she picked up earlier and he brought them over to Royce while she was securing the horse.

“Thanks, can you imagine how starved I am?” Royce said as Kayn handed him some.

“I can, given how tall you are,” Kayn replied awkwardly.

“Tall? That’s a nice thing to be called for a change. I’ve been called brutish, wide, big, a worax.”

“You are much too quiet to be a worax,” Kayn smirked and turned to Akali, watching as she was trying to find a good spot up on the trees where she would rest for the night as she always did. The trees had their crowns very high up and the branches were so sparse that she wouldn’t be able to sit comfortably.

“Akali,” Kayn called out to her, with a soft and hushed tone “Join us.”

She stood there for a moment, brows furrowed and a mean smile at the corner of her lip as she considered, unsure if she wanted to let herself be friendly with the two. Eventually she walked over, slowly at first and then she just plopped on the dirt next to the campfire that Royce had set.

“It’s more comfortable down here,” Royce commented.

“I prefer my own company up there,” she replied.

“If you snore as you used to, I might climb up a tree myself,” Kayn turned to Royce with a mischievous grin and Akali snorted a little.

“I remember you as a quiet kid, didn’t know they made a comedian outta ya in Ionia,” Royce joked.

“You won’t believe the jokes he can come up with,” Rhaast added, even if Kayn was the only one that could hear him, as the scythe was right next to his leg.

As the fire lit up, the atmosphere died down and the awkwardness between the three of them grew. Akali looked at Kayn in glances, making sure her stare did not linger and he would occasionally catch her from the corner of his eye. Even though he had no name for it, nor could he say what it was, he felt that she seemed more content in his presence now, no longer defensive and no longer wishing him gone. As the light of the fire danced on her face, he noticed how red her eyes were in the flame. Akali was to him a challenge, a catch, someone he found admirable for her skill, precision and merciless killing, but now all he could think was how funny and captivating she was just sitting there. She snored when she slept and snorted when she laughed and chose to help him even though there was nothing for her in it. Chose to spare the two Noxian boys, and chose to spare Royce. And by the lake she hid hurt that was running deep in her bones, not from him, but from herself. He knew this, because it was something he felt and something he did as well. How could he ever go back to feeling about her like he used to when they met at White Cliff, and how could he ever stop feeling about her the way he felt right now? His heart ached as if it would dissolve in his chest and burn through his ribs and skin.

“So,” Royce interrupted their moment and Kayn snapped out of his daze “I guess we can kill some time with this--”

Akali’s guard was up as Royce reached for a pocket below his Noxian leather skirt and pulled out a small box, decorated with vines and a nicely carved landscape in the middle. He opened it and inside were hundred and twelve thin cards made of thick paper, separated in four colors – red, green, white and yellow.

“Ah, I haven’t played that in a while,” Kayn commented.

“It’s no use, I’ll fold both of you,” Akali grinned.

“What about Rhaast?” Kayn jested.

“He can play too, I mean it’s called four colors. Four is in the name.” Royce said, playing along with the idea that Rhaast is sentient enough to play cards, as he began shuffling the deck.

“That’s what Noxians call it,” Akali added.

“Do you want to be the dealer? You are the only girl,” Royce asked, innocently, prompting a confused look from Akali “I mean unless Rhaast is also a girl.”

“Rhaast are you a girl?” Kayn asked jokingly.

“No,” Rhaast replied nonchalantly.

“Then it’s all you Akali.” Kayn turned to her.

“So he doesn’t have hands and I get the most annoying job?” she rolled her eyes, but still took the cards from Royce and continued shuffling. She began dealing the deck, and Kayn propped Rhaast up against a piece of wood, so that he would be facing the bit of dirt next to the fire where they decided to play.

“So I am now part of this party of yours? Invited to play this game?” Rhaast asked and Kayn could sense uncertainty in his voice.

“Yeah, unless you don’t actually want to do anything other than stay in that bag Rhaast.”

Rhaast fell silent and Kayn thought that he did not wish to participate in this, which is why it came as a surprise when Rhaast spoke to him again.

“I don’t know the rules Kayn.” he said quietly, very unusual for the raspy deep voice that he otherwise spoke to him with.

“Well you better pay attention then,” Kayn said and picked up a handful of the dealt cards much to Akali’s annoyance. He mumbled something with Rhaast, showing the eye the different colors and symbols that were painted on the cards and Royce turned to Akali in confusion. She smirked and shrugged, already used to this, as if letting Royce know that this was perfectly normal. Rhaast has become such a presence to her too since they began traveling with Kayn, that she no longer thought anything of it. Sure, Kayn could be crazy for talking to the scythe, or it could really be sentient, but she was no longer bothered. As Rhaast got the briefing on the rules of the card game, Akali took back the cards and dealt them again, twenty for each and one more for herself.

She went first and the four of them began to play, taking one card each from the deck and throwing one down on the pile.

“You are the last person I’d expect to carry a deck with him,” Akali spoke to Royce as she was putting together the melds in her hand.

“Not much else to do in the colony. Not many folks our age, so I got around to playing cards with the older folk. That and working.”

“What did you do exactly?” Kayn asked.

“I was a butcher,” Royce replied as the four of them were playing, putting down cards in the middle of the dirt circle and planning their melds.

“Like an actual butcher?” Akali asked while Kayn was busy trying to find the card Rhaast said he wanted. Royce and Akali turned their attention to the two of them and she let out a little snorty chuckle, realizing how funny it was that Kayn played for Rhaast given that the demonic thing didn’t have hands.

“Yeah, the family that took me in after the war had a butcher shop. Nice people. I hope nothing happens to them because of all this Ronius shit.”

“You don’t get to look like that just by being a butcher,” Kayn turned to him as he put down a card. Akali quickly picked it up and revealed her first meld. With her next card, Rhaast told Kayn to pick it up and place down his own meld.

“Okay, you got me, I used to go lift logs in the woods after work. Thought that one day I might have to fight Noxians or Ionians or whatever. You will be surprised how relaxing working out can be.”

Akali and Kayn glanced at each other and she lifted a brow. It wasn’t like they didn’t grow up training every day for hours just to hone their skills almost to perfection. They knew a thing of two about working out. Royce took a moment to realize this and looked to the side.

“I mean, you sure know that. It was a figure of speech...” he said and put down a meld of his own.

“Don’t look at my cards Kayn,” Rhaast told him as the eye squinted at the three of them.

“I am beginning to grow annoyed at you bossing me around, Rhaast,” Kayn replied.

“Pick up the card your friend put down and meld it with the three on the left from my pile,” Rhaast added calmly.

The four of them continued playing for a short while before Rhaast somehow ended up melding all of his cards, clearing his own hand and scoring a victory.

“Ha! I win!” he exclaimed loudly in Kayn’s mind.

“Ugh, he won,” Kayn rolled his eyes and tossed his cards in the dirt.

“The scythe actually won,” Akali sounded puzzled.

“Maybe I should’ve looked at his cards,” Kayn grumbled.

“I mean, he did kinda win fair and square,” Royce defended Rhaast.

“And I will beat all of you again. Good to know I still got it,” there was a certain boastfulness from Rhaast that was unusual even for Kayn to hear, despite having him in his head for couple of years.

“Why am I the only one that finds it creepy that the scythe actually won. Either that or Kayn, you are crazier than I thought,” Akali still seemed bewildered at the idea.

“What do you mean you still got it. You’ve played cards before?” Kayn asked.

“I have done things you would not be able to do in thirty lifetimes,” Rhaast replied.

“I guess that’s one for team, ugh, Kayn and Rhaast?” Royce was also confused at the interaction.

“Well, best three out of five and then we call it a night,” Akali added and picked up the cards, shuffling them so she can deal again.

The five games passed rather quickly, with most of the conversation shifting between the disturbing nature of Rhaast and Royce’s life in the colonies, something Akali seemed to be unfamiliar with despite her adventures across Ionia and her disdain for Noxians. In fact most of the people in the colonies were not the same people that fought in the war, the majority of them were farmers, craftsmen and innkeepers. However, to Akali it was all the same. You don’t always take over a nation by bringing an army to its soil. These thoughts distracted her from the obviously disturbing fact that the scythe could be truly sentient or that Kayn could be truly insane. She wasn’t sure where to place Royce in this Noxian issue. He was a Noxian, yet he didn’t seem to care for the Empire. Perhaps if more Noxians felt that way, there wouldn’t be a second war.

The three of them were resting as the fire began to die down, preparing for the final stretch of their journey together. Royce was fast asleep, evident by the loud snores and Rhaast was back in his bag, safely near Kayn’s reach, but not close enough to bother him throughout the night. Akali slept on the ground for a change, a bit further from the two of them, yet she didn’t have her weapons out. She even turned her back at Kayn a few times, which he took as a sign of trust between them.

The fact that he observed all of this was because he couldn’t sleep. In few short hours he would part from Akali after everything they went through together, unsure of where they actually stood at the end of it. Was she just going to try and kill him again the next time they met? Will he once again act like he is the one giving her the privilege of his time and doesn’t even remember her name? No, there was no going back to how things were. He was going to return home with the burden of their unsure relationship. And on top of that, he was going to bring Royce back with him, facing the backlash from the Yánléi and perhaps even his Master. Royce was nothing more than a stranger to him after ten long years, yet there was something so familiar about the way he felt the moment he saw him. Something as deep as the pain and fear he tried concealing and as vivid as his nightmares of the burning fields where he was tied up.

Akali turned to face him in her sleep and he saw that her eyes were open. She looked at Kayn and he couldn’t really tell what she was thinking. Her face seemed soft and her brows made her look almost sad. Their stares parted with a little frown from her as she closed her eyes and buried her face in her arm, returning back to sleep – or at least convincingly pretending so. Kayn rolled over on his back to look at the stars, finding the vastness of the unknown above less daunting than the proximity of the unknown below, the things currently surrounding him as if they were walls closing in. He shut his eyes, and decided to sink yet into another uncertain nightmare.

It felt like morning came in minutes, and the trio were already packed at first light. Akali seemed groggy, as if she barely got a moment of rest and Royce seemed in good spirits – quiet, yet having a certain positive energy about him. Kayn felt like a shadow to both, walking silently with them as the sun slowly rose. He reached out with his hand and let his fingers trace Rhaast’s hilt.

“You are awfully quiet today,” Rhaast commented, receiving no reply. “Your nightmares still trouble you? Oh wait, not nightmares. Plans,” he mocked him, letting out a deep chuckle.

“Don’t pretend you aren’t enjoying this,” Kayn mumbled.

“ Your interpersonal drama? No, not really. You are the one that wanted to talk to me. I figured that what troubles you is leaving her, and possibly leading him to his death. It is not as interesting as you think.”

“Thank you for your input, Rhaast.” he added, moving his hand away from the hilt.

As they continued on, in the distance before them they saw a seemingly endless stretch of red, burning with the rising sun rays. Royce approached Kayn, tilting his head to look at him as if inquiring why the horizon was on fire.

“The Navori province is further ahead,” Kayn told him, pointing over at the trees. Their crowns carried leaves in such deep hues of red and orange that the horizon really seemed like it was set ablaze.

That was the most certain way for one to know they have reached the heart of the land, the way the green leaves on the trees were slowly replaced by those burning reds only found on the white-barked vegetation of the Navori province. Akali glanced behind her as they kept walking, noticing the awe Royce watched the sight in and Kayn’s darkening gaze.

No more than couple hours of walking, before them appeared the main roads, stretching all the way north and forking west and northwest to the left, with one smaller road to the east. With the sun already high in the sky by now, this was the road Akali was hoping they find, one that will lead them out of the wilderness and back to something a little more familiar.

She stopped, halting the horse by the reins and turned to Kayn and Royce who slowed down behind her.

“This is it,” she said.

“Yeah,” Kayn added bitterly.

“Well, we will probably run into each other again. Probably Kama against Scythe next time. How it was supposed to be,” she added, and walked over to Royce, putting the horse’s reign in his hand. Kayn felt as if she didn’t even want to look at him.

“I won’t hold my breath,” he spoke quietly to her.

“See ya around Kayn.” she added, turning away from the two of them quickly and walking down the road leading northwest. She took in a deep breath and stretched her arms above her head, trying to seem cool and casual, as if she wasn’t hurting from this abrupt parting.

Royce looked at Kayn and seeing that Kayn refused to acknowledge this, he grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. Offended, Kayn was going to argue, but Royce put the horse’s reins in his hand. Without uttering a word he gestured with his head at Kayn to follow Akali. Kayn pulled away and shook his head. Royce’s eyes widened as he gestured at Kayn once again. A word did not leave Kayn’s lips, but he raised his hands as if they were in the middle of a heated argument. Royce stood his ground, holding the rein. Finally, Kayn threw his hands up, grabbed the reins and walked towards Akali.

“I know you want to,” Rhaast told him, surprisingly not with a mocking tone.

“Akali,” Kayn called out to her. Her head perked up, her breath hitched, but she did not turn immediately.

“Did you forget something?” she asked, glancing a little over her shoulder.

“You should probably take the horse. Not like me and Royce can share it, I mean have you seen the size of that guy?” he joked, trying to lighten the mood. She turned slowly and waited for him to come closer. He held out the reins, scared to move forward as if touching her would cause an implosion with the how much tension there was in the air between the two. Akali closed the distance, reaching over and taking the leather strip. She turned again without a word and after a few steps she sighed, looking back between Kayn and the road ahead. She tied the horse’s rein on a nearby bush and patted her own bag few times as she walked to him.

“You will probably need these more than me,” Akali told him and handed him her food satchel that had some bread and fruits inside. “I’ll be at the nearest town in few hours anyway.”

“You don’t have to…” Kayn commented but she pushed the satchel at his chest until he took it.

“So yeah,” she added awkwardly.

“This was fun. I mean the whole thing,” Kayn spoke, scratching the back of his neck.

“Wasn’t so bad,” she mumbled, watching him as she secured the satchel to Rhaast’s bag which he now held in his hand.

“I will look forward to fighting with you next time,” he swallowed, looking to the side.

“Maybe not,” she said, unsure as she thought her words over.

“Depends,” Kayn mumbled.

“Maybe we will work together again by some miracle,” Akali’s tone picked up and she sounded both agitated and excited for some reason. It confused Kayn who eyed her suspiciously.

“You would work with me?”

“Kayn look, I was trying to say that maybe collaborating with you wasn’t so bad after all. And that if we weren’t at war right now, I’d willingly do it. Out of my own free will.”

“It’s not like you and I are at war, now is it?”

“But also don’t think I am oblivious to what you meant back at White Cliff when you said collaborate. I know very well, and first of all, ew, what were you thinking? But also, not like you got any less hot since.”

“What was that?” Kayn’s eyes widened, unsure how to feel about her sudden change of mood.

“Don’t make this worse. You know the fact that you grin all creepy and talk to your scythe was the deal breaker for me, but I said what I said. I think you being covered in dirt, getting all those piglets back to their mother, braiding you hair like that, it really didn’t help my case.”

“So what then?” Kayn asked, playing coy as he put two fingers on his lip. He was beginning to catch up.

“You came back for me. In the spirit woods. And when the Noxian had me cornered. When the rocks fell in the pass. You knew there is nothing for you here and you still did it. And not knowing why is killing me.”

“I was raised with honor, even for my enemies,” he spoke firmly, but his posture eased as he closed the distance between them. “But we aren’t that, are we?”

“Maybe we can meet halfway with this collaboration huh? Just to see how that goes, if we were missing anything.”

“Hmmm.” Kayn leaned forward, his eyes trailing upwards as if he was considering.

“Before we go back to being what we are, we can just give it a shot? Out of curiosity if nothing else,” Akali confidently closed in the small distance between them, standing right in front of him.

“Yeah, it's always curiosity, isn't it?."

"Yep, this is purely that. I am just curious."

"Do remind me Akali, give what a shot?” Kayn asked, even though he felt the answer to that question rush through him like a wave, sudden almost unbearable excitement and warmth rising from his stomach all the way up to his neck. He knew what she was going to do, and he invited it.

“This,” Akali said and without any other warning reached her hands out to the sides of his face, cupping his jaw and pulling him in for a kiss. As this was something he had always anticipated, Kayn was frozen in surprise only for a second, but quickly leaned back into her, returning the kiss as he dropped Rhaast’s bag on the ground. He brought his arms awkwardly next to hers, scared to touch her and ruin the moment. Despite all the boasting and flirting, Akali could tell that he was not an assertive guy, so she lead him, moving her hands from his jaw towards his coarse hair, brushing it back before she let her arm rest around his neck. She was shorter and Kayn had do bend down quite a bit to let her do this, but every touch from hers made that warmth in the pit of the stomach more and more intense. Akali pulled back for a second to see his confused face, her eyes looking for permission to do this again and this time Kayn leaned forward to her, his movement gentle compared to her roughness, and with newfound courage to touch her, his hands traced her arms all the way to her back as their lips met. Her skin was warm and he could feel her scars, her muscles and the texture of her tattoos under his fingertips. He grabbed a little at her, thinking that if he lets go now this moment will go through his fingers like smoke, and in return she dug her fingers in his hair.

What felt like forever ended in only few moments when Akali pulled back from the kiss, resting her hands on his bare chest. She looked at his lost and confused face and chuckled a little, furrowing her brows.

“Don’t tell me this is what it took to disarm you?”

Kayn just looked at her and shook his head a little, his chest heaving under her touch. For a moment there he couldn’t clear his head and gather his thoughts, but when he did, he closed his eyes and frowned, as if trying to find the words to say to her.

“Will I see you again?”

“I told you, we will certainly end up fighting,” she replied and he just traced the tattoos on her arm with his fingers, gently caressing her skin as he thought what to say next.

“I meant like this Akali.”

She paused and looked at him before her eyes darted to the side. She wasn’t sure. She didn’t think it through this far, she just wanted to feel him at that moment before they parted. In fact the reason she went for it was because they were going to part, probably never to see each other again until the day they fought to the death. It was how it’s meant to be.

“Maybe,” she said and his arms dropped down to her hands, gently holding her by her fingertips.

“I mean now at least you know what you’ll be missing if we don’t, I’m just saying,” Kayn joked, as a wide grin crept on his face and Akali gave him a light nudge on the shoulder with her hand.

“You are terrible.”

“Is that why you kissed me?”

“Maybe,” she replied and turned to leave slowly. Her hand was still in his and he held her for a moment, prompting her to stop and turn to him. She gave him a smirk and he let go of her fingers, watching them slip out of his grasp. She walked up to the horse and got on.

“Maybe if you keep being terrible, I’ll have a reason to see you sooner,” she joked and pulled on the reins.

“Don’t doubt me,” Kayn grinned as he watched her ride off, but his smile softened the further away she got. She turned a few times over her shoulder, glancing at him and he could notice she had a smile curling the edge of her lip before she got too far for him to make out her features. Akali slowly disappeared down the road, yet Kayn stood there watching her until she was out of sight. And until Royce came up to him, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. Startled, Kayn pulled back and frowned at him.

“You will not speak of this,” he threatened.

“Okay, okay,” Royce backed off and Kayn picked Rhaast off the ground.

"You too," Kayn added for Rhaast.

"Given that you tossed me like a sack of dirt yet again, I don't even know what happened. Oh I could imagine. But I'd rather do anything else than that. Ugh," Rhaast commented, clearly annoyed as he realized the reason Kayn dropped him.

“We are heading northwest, over those hills there.” Kayn told Royce, pointing towards the darkening hills that were stretching away from the burning red heart of the land.

“I see,” Royce swallowed.

“Don’t worry, no one will do you harm without my permission,” Kayn’s tone was anything but reassuring, in fact it was unnerving and a little dark “Prove yourself worthy, and my Master might even take you in.”

Royce understood that, he was aware what he was getting himself into, but a part of him trusted Kayn. A part of him knew the boy before he was Shieda Kayn, before the Shadow Order and before the scythe. That’s the person Royce set off with twice in to the unknown, on the Noxian vessels ten years ago and now once again. The person Akali chose to trust despite everything pointing to the opposite. As the two of them traveled deeper and deeper into the hillside forests, Akali rode off to the open fields, along the bright smooth cliffs that shone against the midday sun and past the beautiful landscapes speckled with the old temples and ruins. Before her opened endless fields of white, the greenery in these regions having and almost snow-like sheen on the otherwise green blades of grass.

In couple of hours Akali was already at a town, a typical Navori settlement with houses made of wood that was twisted and shaped into the desired architecture. Outside of the town stretched smooth pastures and on them all kinds of animals grazed, cows, worax and horses. As she rode by, slowing the mare’s gait down to a trot, a dark stallion separated from the herd and pranced towards the road. He kept his distance because the pasture was fenced off, but flared his nostrils, huffing and circling in place. The mare Akali was mounted on responded in kind and Akali stoke her neck.

The horse seemed to be familiar, almost similar to the one they stole from the Noxians. Perhaps someone from the village found it running amok and took it in. With a sigh, Akali got off her horse and gently scratched the sides of her cheeks.

“I can’t take you with me you know, not like I have anywhere to keep a horse. I think you’ll be better off with this farmer.” she told her and undid her tack, pulling the bridle off her head and sliding the heavy saddle down. Feeling the weight lifted off her, the mare ran up to the fence and then along it, the stallion following her from the other side. Akali just watched her go for a moment as she placed the tack on the fence and hoped that the farmer will take her in with the rest of the herd, and give her a home.

She adjusted her bag and with eyes on the town before her, she continued down the road, returning to the safe and familiar, the Ionia she grew up in. In this moment Akali felt as if she was leaving something behind, as if she forgot a very important thing yet couldn’t remember what it was. Regardless of how she felt about Kayn, of her disdain for the Yánléi and her hatred for Zed, for the past week Kayn has been a near constant presence in her life – for better or worse. How do you let go of something like that so easily?

Chapter Text

The further east you traveled, the taller the trees got, the deeper the woods and the harsher the shadows. Unlike the lush foliage they just escaped from the south, forests where the hues reflected on your skin with how green they were, the trees of the east had sparse branches and dark crowns. Their barks were sturdy however, their trunks strong and good for tree-shaping and building. As such, these trees were woven in the very architecture of the east, found in every house, tavern, barn and temple. Kayn got used to these buildings, to the smell of these woods and to the sight of the long darkening shadows they threw. Still, it was the open fields and the tall cliffs that he was most familiar with, the Temple of Thanjuul being the place where he grew up and trained. The place he used to call home.

However in the past eight months, Zed dispersed the Shadow Order to several locations – one far north in the snowy mountains, where only a person like Mistress Shi and her pupils could dwell, one small temple near the Kashuri region and their current main temple just southeast of the Navori province. While many would think it’s unwise to be so close to the group of very angry ruffians and mercenaries that want you dead, Zed considered hiding in plain sight to be the best course of action. After all, an old Kinkou ruin, abandoned for years, is probably the last place the Navori Brotherhood would look. In fact, only Zed and few other Kinkou members, most of them no longer alive, knew that this temple even existed.

After Kusho’s death, the Temple of Thanjuul was burned down by Zed and the whole region overrun by the Navori Brotherhood and the Shadow Warrior traitors. They would never let Zed have it back. But Kayn had a suspicion that Zed did not even want the place. Regardless of Kusho’s final act, he was still the man that raised him and Kayn knew that killing him weighted on Zed’s heart even if he could never admit it.

Despite all of this, the road to their new home was peaceful, nothing but the woodlands, the sounds of the forest creatures, Royce’s chatter and the thoughts about Akali that occupied Kayn’s mind. He kept touching his lip, thinking about their kiss, thinking about her riding off with that uncertain goodbye. The thoughts were so loud in his mind that they drowned out any word Rhaast tried to get in.

“We are almost there,” Kayn told Royce, seeing the familiar trees and the hidden signs that only Shadow Assassins could follow to their lair.

“Um… it’s a nice place,” Royce replied nervously, looking around the trees.

“If you are going to become part of the Yánléi, you have to learn to hide the fear in your voice,” Kayn added.

“Before we get there, I just wanna say Kayn...” Royce stopped, addressing him with a serious and firm tone. “I know you don’t trust me, but I am going to follow you if you’ll have me. Over those hills, over the sea, even back to Noxus if I must. There is nothing for me here. People like us weren’t meant for this world, yet you carved your path. I can do it too, if I just have the chance. I am not sure what I will be walking into here, but I put my trust in you.”

Kayn turned to him and saw the fear in his friend’s dark eyes, tension in his shoulders and heard a slight crack in his voice.

“ He is bargaining for his life. I admit, I do like seeing you strike fear in the hearts of those who care for you.”

“Then we are just wasting time standing around. Nothing will change between here and the Temple. What happens afterwards is up to you,” Kayn added, not ignoring Rhaast’s words in his mind. Fear commanded respect, and respect brought loyalty. Love often lead to betrayal. Putting Royce on a trial and bringing him to what could be his death was the only way he could prove that he does not spy for Noxus. They were friends once long ago, but things change. People change. Every day, ever moment, every interaction was a test for those changes.

Few more hours and they arrived at the truly deep part of the woods, the shadows growing so dark that sunlight could not reach through the leaves as the air grew cold and unwelcoming. Kayn took a deep breath, knowing that he was home. Before them appeared an old stone wall, so tall that neither could see what is on the other side, overgrown with all kinds of vines and covered by the foliage.

“Try not to panic. Or struggle too much,” Kayn gave Royce a warning.

Before Royce could speak, two shadows manifested at his side. In an instant they covered his head and seized his arms.

“He is an initiate. Bring him to the dungeon alive and unharmed,” Kayn didn’t even turn around to address the two Yánléi, but his tone was firm enough to let them know he was serious.

They dragged Royce away before he could let out more than few muffled cries, disappearing into the dense foliage. Kayn didn’t have to watch this unfold, he was aware that outsiders could not just enter the Temple, much less see where the actual entrance was. For a Yánléi of his rank, the door was where ever he wanted it to be.

Adjusting Rhaast’s sheathe on his shoulder and brushing his hair back, Kayn took a confident step forward and with a prideful stride he phased through the thick outer wall of the temple. When he emerged, he found himself in the middle of the temple’s courtyard, suddenly surrounded by dozens of Yánléi, some training, others meditating and few just relaxing.

As he walked with the confidence of the heir to the Master of Shadows, he heard his name whispered from around the yard, everyone turning to watch his return. Friends or rivals, all were more than glad to see Shieda Kayn back at the Temple after few long weeks of his absence. He made his way around the yard, keeping his gaze fixed on the large stairway leading up to the main building and the heavy wooden door that was slightly parted as if awaiting his return.

“Master Kayn, Master Kayn!” a young girl, probably not more than ten summers old, ran up to him as he walked, trying to keep up with his pace “I practiced my dagger technique while you were gone, every single day. Just how I watched you do it! I’ve been waiting all this time to show you!”

Kayn heard what she was saying, but he didn’t have the time to deal with this child. He untied his heavy girdle and handed it to her, the girl almost falling back under the weight of the metal.

“Take this to the blacksmith to have it fixed by morning,” he instructed.

“Yes, Master!” the young girl obeyed and ran off, dragging the heavy piece of armor with her.

As he approached the stairs, another man walked towards him, almost as if he was prowling with the way he moved his shoulders. He was tall, only shorter than Kayn by an inch or two, with a strong wide chest and muscular arms. While he did cover his face often when they were on missions, in front of his fellow Yánléi, the man wore only a hood over his head, concealing his short red hair and pale face with heavy shadow around his eyes. Much like all other students and acolytes, his bare chest was covered in dark tattoos that slightly shifted and moved as he did, almost as if they were alive. What separated Kayn from this man and all others was the fact that his skin was untouched by ink, unmarked by tattoos as the ichor ran through his veins instead.

“If it isn’t Shieda Kayn,” the hooded man spoke, cracking his neck as if he was preparing for a fight.

“Ren,” Kayn replied, a grin creeping on his face as he lowered his head, eyes fixed on the other man “Did you stand here by the door waiting for my return?”

When the two of them finally came up to each other, Kayn extended his arm and Ren grabbed it, bringing it to his chest and pulling Kayn into a half hug. Ren was strong, very strong in fact, and Kayn could feel that when he gave him few taps on the back. A chuckle escaped Kayn as he put his arm on his friend’s shoulder.

“I have no one to spar with when you are gone. No one that can match me,” Ren told him, his voice hushed and raspy despite his young age.

“I knew you’d miss me, you can admit it,” Kayn joked “Where is--”

Before he finished his sentence, at the top of the stairs appeared a figure dressed in worn red robes, if what the man had draped over his pants and vest could be called as such. He held himself with the dignity of a leader and as he took few steps down, not a single piece of metal that covered his boots and forearms could be heard clacking. Despite being the center of attention to the whole yard of Yánléi, the man moved like a shadow. The students that were nearby stood at attention, and Ren lowered his head in respect, putting his hand over his chest and the other behind his back, as it was the way the Yánléi greeted their superiors. Kayn followed, however his was more for a show – the way he looked up with a wide smile and soft eyes at the man showed that there was no need for such gestures.

“Master Zed,” Kayn addressed him with a certain playfulness in his voice. As Zed made it to the bottom of the steps, Kayn approached him.

“You’ve returned,” Zed said, trying to hide the urge to smile as he put his hand on Kayn’s shoulder.

“If you had sent me across the sea, I would’ve been back sooner,” Kayn replied. Ren raised his head to watch their interaction and the other students returned to what they’ve been doing before, leaving Zed and Kayn to themselves.

“Two weeks is a long time. You must have quite the stories to share,” Zed spoke, gesturing at the temple “Join me at my study when you’ve settled.”

Kayn nodded and followed his master up to the temple. The building itself was made of the same dark bark as the woods outside the walls, shaped by the tree-weavers into beautiful architecture that withstood decades without losing its sturdiness. It was overgrown on the outside with velvet-like vines, but the inside was clean and warm, thanks to the efforts of the young Yánléi in the past few months.

The main hall opened before Kayn, tall dark pillars of twisting branches holding the roof, stairs of fine gray stone that only got smoother with use and the gentle light of the torches that lined all sides and illuminated the red walls. Zed’s quarters were directly at the back of the main hall and the rooms for the Yánléi were to the sides – only for the high ranking warriors that is, as the new acolytes and initiates slept in the adjacent buildings that were not connected to the temple. However, Zed made sure they were just as warm as comfortable as the main structure and so far Kayn have not heard any complaints even in whisper.

As Zed walked towards his study, Kayn lagged behind when he noticed one of his fellow Yánléi, sat on a pillow down at a wooden table in one of the side aisles of the hall. She had few candles next to her and was surrounded by a mound of scrolls and books as well as many empty ink bottles. Kayn smirked and confidently approached her.

“What have you done to deserve this punishment?” he asked.

“Kayn, you’ve returned,” she perked her head up at him. She always wore a hood and her hair underneath made it seem like she has two cat ears. Her hands were covered in tattoos and while she was very skilled with quill-daggers, Kayn was not sure that extended to doing paperwork.

“What will you do without me around here Maeko?” he added, coming closer to her little desk. She reached out and touched his forearm and he responded in kind. That’s when he noticed that her other arm was tied securely against her body and completely immobilized.

“Is that why you are doing Zed’s paperwork?” he asked.

“Oh this?" she looked down at her injured arm "Yeah, pretty much. I am not allowed on missions. I am not allowed to even go to town in case I get ambushed. And on top of that, Master Zed never seemed to learn how to do paperwork, leaving me to fix archives that are more than fives years old. But...don’t tell him I said this. I wish I broke my other arm.”

“How did that happen?” Kayn asked, crossing his arms.

“Funny story, you see I was part of the group sent to the Kashuri province to negotiate the price of weapons, and now that I am doing the books, I know we couldn’t afford them. We meet up with this creepy robot lady with many eyes and this young girl and they show us the guns. Just like foreigner weapons, long, precise, and absolutely not safe. They introduce us to this new gun. Ask me to try it and boom, I fire and the recoil took my shoulder off.”

“Ouch,” Kayn flinched a little, but a little smile crept on his lip as the story was quite ridiculous.

“I don’t know if it will even heal. It’s just me and Keiko here. And Master Zed’s paperwork. Lovely, isn't it?” she sighed and patted the fat sleeping cat next to her.

“Well, good luck with that,” Kayn nodded and walked away before Maeko had a chance to talk his ear off.

He went to his quarters first, a huge room that he had all to himself. There wasn’t much to it, except that he preferred the walls bare and unpainted, where you could see the dark wood and stone. On the old furniture and desk laid a bunch of papers and books, some spilling on the floor. There was an old mirror in the corner by the door, and around the door frame dozen of scrolls and runes, preventing any of the other Yánléi from entering.

The bed was unmade, just as he left it, but the air was fresh even if the window was closed and the black curtain drawn – someone was in his room and he opened the windows to let the air in. Someone who didn’t touch anything else, but wanted Kayn to return to a comfortable place.

Even though the room lacked décor, the walls were covered with mounted weapons. All sorts of blades, kunai, sickles, even maces and flails. Only Kayn’s knife collection took more than half of the wall. He was pretty proud of them, mounting them as he mastered each and every one since a young age, but there was a safe spot for the one weapon he had yet to tame.

In the middle of the wall right adjacent to the bed was a huge metal wardrobe, secured into the wall with bolts that were obviously added by Kayn and were not part of the intended architecture. The metal cage had no holes and several locks, and was covered in runes and scrolls. Nothing could get in and nothing could get out. Kayn unlocked it with the several keys necessary, put down his bag and took out Rhaast. The eye blinked a few times and squinted as he was gently placed on the padded wooden rack within the metal box.

“So that’s it? You will leave me here again?” Rhaast asked while Kayn’s hands were still on the handle.

“Don’t worry, there is always something to be done,” Kayn reassured him with a slight mockery.

“ Oh right, take out old Rhaast when you need him, toss him around when you don’t.”

“You aren’t exactly tossed, more like...gently placed. It’s nice and warm in here and aren’t you glad to get rid of me for a while?”

“I suppose,” Rhaast mumbled and Kayn let go of him, the corruption that was spreading slowly up his arm fading back into the weapon, leaving only the scars he had before. He closed the metal box, locked all locks and made sure it’s secured tightly.

Kayn took some time to change his pants, wash up and make sure the keys to Rhaast’s containment were with him before he was gonna join Zed. He looked in the mirror, now noticing the blue streak that Akali mentioned, shining in his hair against the light. It didn’t look bad and he kind of liked it. What concerned him was the growing scar on his arm every time he picked up Rhaast, and he took the time to observe the severity. It was worse than back at Kosaro and he could see the way his scarred flesh melted into itself, metal protruding from his knuckles. It was unsightly, and to Kayn’s surprise it was warm and painful to the touch. He washed it, bandaged it up and then wrapped it in dark hand wraps as to avoid questions from the other Yanlei. The compression surely helped with the pain too.

Looking himself in the mirror before going out, he noticed the few hairs at the corner of his lip. While the hair he grew was sparse, the last time he looked at his face and shaved was back at Kosaro. And to think Akali saw and kissed him like that? Red with embarrassment, he took care of it and made sure he looked good now that he was finally home.

There was an almost uncomfortable silence between Zed and Kayn as they sat at Zed’s war table that doubled as a dining table for the moment. It’s not that the silence was due to animosity, it was just that Zed seemed to be deep in thought and Kayn just calmly ate his food, watching him closely.

“So,” Zed began and looked up at Kayn.

“I dealt with the Noxian,” Kayn stated, trying to get to the point, hoping once that is out of the way Zed would talk more.

“I wouldn’t have sent you alone if I doubted you will,” Zed told him, a slight amusement in his voice. He took a few bites from his pork, but seemed uninterested in the food.

“And as you might’ve seen, I brought in a new recruit,” Kayn continued.

“I would’ve assumed he is a prisoner,” Zed replied with obvious snark in his tone.

“I had to scare him a little,” Kayn grinned.

“I was made aware of the fact that he is a Noxian.”

“He is, but I know him. He was a friend, back when we were children in Noxus. Now that does not mean anything by itself, but he betrayed the Noxian I was after. A Noxian named Ronius Gravanos. Some General’s son. And he did it to protect me,” Kayn explained.

Zed’s brow furrowed and he pouted his lip, considering what Kayn told him. He trusted his judgment, otherwise he wouldn’t have made him his successor, but he was worried that Kayn’s perception might’ve been skewed by his previous friendship. He knew something about that all too well, about diving after his best friend instead of catching the crazed killer on the loose.

“He shared the same fate as me Master Zed, when you found me as a boy,” Kayn was almost pleading.

Looking up at Kayn, seeing the same amber eyes that met his own ten years ago, the eyes of a child who was willing to fight and to live, a child who deserved the second chance he got, Zed knew that he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“He will be your responsibility.”

“You are saying that as if I am getting a pet. Yeah, I will be responsible and will make sure he doesn’t do anything, as well as supervise his training,” Kayn assured him.

“This might be a good opportunity to start building your own group of disciples too,” Zed added. A smile began appearing on Kayn’s face, one excited at the prospect of becoming a Master himself, leading elite warriors into battle alongside Zed, claiming victories and chasing glory for the order until everyone whispered his name in either fear or adoration – and then Zed’s voice snapped him out of his fantasy.

“It’s good to start with your Noxian friend.”

“Of course. I was thinking few of the others might begin accompanying me on missions, Ren, Maeko, Chatri, Phiriya…” Kayn began.

“We have to be act wisely these days. We are few in number and our enemies are many,” Zed warned him “We are fewer than when you left.”

“What happened?”

“A certain Vastaya…” Zed gestured with his head towards a feather that seemed to have been stabbed in the war table “Made things more difficult.”

Kayn picked up the feather that had a magical pink and purple glow and recoiled when he touched the edge, drawing blood from his finger. With a frown, he stabbed the feather back in the table.

“Things would’ve been different if I was there,” Kayn told him, gritting his teeth a little. They have slain Vastaya before, why was this bird any different?

“I don’t think this war between us and the Vastaya rebel is over. Seems that we are making enemies everywhere we go.”

“Are you alright?” Kayn asked before he continued shoveling rice in his mouth.

“Yes,” Zed’s reply was short and sharp as ever “But my priority now is strengthening the organization from within. So perhaps your friend came to us at the right time.”

“I will get him started right away,” Kayn added, eyeing Zed’s food.

Zed remained quiet, watching Kayn when Kayn thought he is unobserved. He was looking at Zed’s war map, studying all the planned and all the failed attacks. The Yánléi have not had a single victory since Kusho’s death and they have been forced into hiding it seemed. It ate at him that he spent so long chasing one Noxian while he could’ve been helping his order. But, that wasn’t all he was doing.

“There is something else,” little reluctant, Kayn added. Zed perked his head. “Someone that is in a way affiliated with the Kinkou interfered with my investigation.”

“Kayn I would rather not have them at our backs right now. With everything that happened, Shen has been surprisingly absent from hunting us down, and for the time being, I would like it to stay that way.”

“I didn’t do anything to her,” Kayn spat out “We had a common goal. She aided me and then we parted ways. I was not followed, and our Temple remains hidden from them.”

This seemed to concern Zed the most, and Kayn could tell. It was the way Zed furrowed his brows at the information and the way he pushed away his bowl of food. Shen was more than an open wound to him, it was a wound with the knife still plunged in and every mention of him, of the Kinkou or of Kusho just pushed the blade deeper. But, he had to know. There was nothing Kayn hid from his Master, even though he left out some of the more personal details about the encounter. He was certain that he had this under control and that Akali will not become a problem for the order. What Kayn didn’t know is that his whole demeanor changed, the pupils in his eyes widened and he was concealing a smile. Subtle things Zed easily picked up, hinting him that there might’ve been more to this Kinkou.

“Are you going to finish that?” Kayn asked, referring to the bowl. Zed gave him a confused look for a second before he realized, and the edge of his lip curled a little.

“No, go ahead,” he placed the bowl before Kayn and Kayn didn’t wait to dig in. He watched his Master carefully as Zed seemed to have sunk back into the same deep thought he has been in since the beginning of their chat and was now looking at the war map.

He got up and took a piece of parchment from his desk, writing something down, reading it over and walking back and forth around the war table as Kayn observed him. He knew that Zed was not in his element and he couldn’t blame him. In fact Zed was out of his element ever since Kusho’s actual death. While he didn’t let on that it affected him, not in a way anyone but Kayn could tell, it certainly did. No one who is not affected has his students polish and paint a whole training room for two weeks. Most surprisingly he even joined in on the effort, spending whole nights just filing old wood while everyone was asleep. However, Kayn had things to keep himself entertained with now, he had Royce to train and a team to assemble. Perhaps with him present here, Zed was going to snap out whatever he had fallen into and return to his usual self.

As Kayn finished his food, Zed realized he impolitely left him to eat alone.

“Did you want to tell me anything else? Any trouble you got yourself into?” Zed asked, trying to sound encouraging towards Kayn.

“More like ask. How bad is the Noxian war?” Kayn wondered, looking down at the war map.

“We are not at war, not yet,” Zed replied as he approached, worried about what news Kayn would bring. For men like them, the war never ended.

“We saw evidence of a Noxian patrol that burned down a whole village, somewhere around here,” Kayn marked it on Zed’s map. “They made a blockade further down at this town, a blockade to find the killer of the Noxian I dispatched. Obviously, I was not seen or caught.”

“When Noxian forces are allowed to roam our land in time of peace, Navori fighters will strike at them. And Noxus will always fight back with twice as much force,” Zed replied.

“And thus a war is inevitable. Kusho knew this. You know this,” Kayn frowned.

“This is why I am strengthening our Order from within,” Zed sighed. He did what he had to do to stop a monster within Ionia, but in doing so, he created a void that was surely going to be filled by more such men and women. And thus he created a bigger burden on himself.

“Then I better make sure our Noxian is behaving,” Kayn told him with a bit of playfulness in his voice as he got up. Zed nodded as his gaze lingered. Kayn could feel his stare on him and he turned just before he exited, seeing Zed’s content look as their eyes met. He was never good with words, but Zed was proud of Kayn deep down. He always has been. And with Kayn home, he knew that the Yánléi will be alright.

The creaking wooden door covered in magical scrolls opened and light poured in Royce’s cell. He was sitting on the floor and sprung up the moment he saw a figure darken the doorway.

“Thought you’d forget me down here,” Royce spoke.

“Nah, everyone is talking about the Noxian I brought,” Kayn replied, stepping away and letting Royce out.

“Compared to what Noxus has, your prison down here is like a mansion,” Royce told him as the two walked.

In fact, the place where Royce spent the day since their arrival was not a prison, it was an improvised holding cell – in case they needed to interrogate someone or even deal with a Yánléi who has succumbed to corruption from the Shadow ichor. It was a terrible condition that befell those who were initiated too soon into the order, or drank too much from the Tears of Shadow. However, with the majority of the ichor gone, no one has been struck with this ailment yet.

Up above, Royce was introduced to the back courtyard which was just as big as the one in the front. He wouldn’t know that, since he was brought with a bag over his head, but Kayn noted that Zed has pushed for more renovations of the place. In the middle there was an atrium where a garden once bloomed, that was now re-purposed as a closed off sparring ring. Around it were more rooms for the Yanlei that encased the ring from all sides, the hallways in front of each room serving as space for the students and acolytes to watch those sparring below. And beyond this whole complex was the actual backyard – a garden only kept by few disciples and the Keeper of the Box herself, the place where the Yánléi went to escape chores and training.

“So where do I start?” Royce asked.

“Well first I have to introduce you to your new roommates,” Kayn told him as he opened a small wooden door to what looked like a wine cellar. He came back up and threw a broom and a bucket at Royce. What was excitement on the young man’s face mere seconds ago now turned to disappointment.

“Broom and bucket are every new recruit’s best friends,” Kayn dusted off his hands with a satisfied grin.

“Even for me Kayn?” Royce seemed annoyed.

“You think I didn’t have to mop floors when I joined? Listen, just do some work until I get you settled and find sparring partners that are at least two thirds of your size,” he told him, referring to how big and bulky Royce was.

“I’ll let you know I am going to be the best broom and bucket guy in your whole school,” Royce joked as he took off his Noxian leather coat and shirt and began working. As Kayn walked past him, he looked at the scar across his back, standing there as proof of a bond they once made as friends. It was Kayn who came up with the plan and it was Royce who suffered the consequences. He remembered the cries from his injured friend as the metal and wood of the barrels had lodged into his back, but more so he remembered the way their handlers called him a monster for it, locked him in a dark room for days without letting him know if Royce was alright.

Shaking off the thoughts about his past and his friend’s return, Kayn sat near the armory and sharpened some of his knives. He used to do this when he needed time to think since no one would approach him for small talk next to the loud sounds of the spinning whetstone. However, there was one man who never shied away from confronting Kayn with anything.

“You brought a Noxian in our Temple and you have him sleep in the barracks with the other recruits?” Ren’s raspy voice called out to Kayn.

“The Noxian is my friend,” Kayn replied as he stopped working on his knife.

“Your friend Kayn, not ours. I am not comfortable with this.”

“Where would you have him stay?” Kayn got up, walking up to Ren.

“If he has to stay at all, the dungeon is preferable,” he huffed.

“Royce… the Noxian and I are made of the same metal. Only he is unsharpened and I am perfected. He has no more reasons to be loyal to Noxus than I do. We suffered the same fate,” Kayn told Ren, trying to sound surprisingly compassionate to his plight.

“I’ve known you for years. I don’t know him. He could be a danger to everyone here including you Kayn,” Ren reached out and put his hand on Kayn’s arm “Reconsider this.”

“We’ve had our fair share of fights when I arrived too. It might get him accustomed,” Kayn joked.

“We were children then. The others will not just let him sleep there, hell I don’t know if they will let him sweep the floors in peace.”

“Fine,” Kayn looked away “Do tell everyone else to not mess with Royce. He is under my supervision and I am responsible for him. If they have a problem, they come to me.”

“Hope you are not making a mistake,” Ren replied, tapping Kayn on the arm as he departed. Kayn took in a deep breath, his chest rising and once Ren was out of sight, he let out a long sigh. This was already becoming a very long day.

Kayn decided to retreat back in the main building of the Temple, perhaps to consult Zed on the matter or simply ignore it until the morning as he was getting awfully irritated. He returned home and all everyone asked about was Royce.

As he walked, a shadow swung past him and landed on a nearby training post, then on the fence wall, then down to an awning and another post. He moved fast, and Kayn could follow him only because of the lit torch he carried. As night fell, one of the acolytes was responsible with lighting up the lanterns around the Temple and that duty most often fell to Duangdi. He was quick and light on his feet and he loved swinging around. Not to mention that with his cheerful personality, he lit up more than lanterns and torches as he swung by.

“You almost took my head off, Di,” Kayn shouted out to him and Duangdi swung right back to him.

“Why don’t you try swinging and jumping around in the dark, see how many people you run into,” Duangdi replied, spinning the torch in his hand.

“Nah, I’d rather hang out down here with your sister,” Kayn told him and grinned.

Wherever Duangdi went, you knew that his sister Phiriya was already there. The two of them were twins, identical in fact, tall and lithe with long faces and features. While he wore his long hair loose, Phiriya wore hers short and neat. Duangdi was an archer, but Phiriya preferred pole arms and spears to arrows – she claimed that when she would throw one of those, there was no chance it would miss.

“Hey!” Duangdi faked being offended at the remark and just jumped away again, going on with his lantern duty. Kayn replied in that fashion simply because he sensed Phiriya’s presence next to him.

“Well you are a hard guy to find. Everyone wanted to see Shieda Kayn return home,” she teased.

“What, really? Here I thought everyone wanted to ask me about the Noxian I brought,” he scoffed.

“Everyone including me,” Phiriya turned to him.

“Then you can probably guess it's in everyone's best interest to house him with the students. Find anyone that is willing to be bunk mates with him,” Kayn’s voice grew serious.

“Oh, no problem. Then I will also get the Noxian Grand General and The Eye of Twilight to come over for tea with us. Since I can apparently make the impossible, possible,”

“I am serious, I know you can get it done,” Kayn came closer to her, a slight desperation in his eyes to have this problem solved.

“Yeah, cause I will. I always do,” she replied in a hushed tone “Can I at least know his name?”

“Royce.”

While Phiriya without a doubt would find a solution, it wouldn’t be as fast as Kayn hoped for. Certainly not for the evening. And in order to not step on the toes of his friends and comrades, Kayn had to make a reluctant compromise.

He laid in his bed, arms under his head and staring at the ceiling. Right next to him, on a bamboo mat were few blankets and pillows and on top of them laid Royce, almost in the same position.

“It’s not so bad. Just like old times,” Royce tried to ease the situation.

“It is not about you being here Royce, is that I want the others to trust me and my decisions. Without me having to get Zed involved,” Kayn replied “Besides, when we were kids you always took the top bunk and I would have the dent you made in the bed swinging over my head the whole night.”

Royce laughed and watched Kayn from the corner of his eye. In the faint moonlight that barely peaked through the drawn curtain, he could notice that Kayn had a wide smile too. He missed those time. In fact the only good thing about his Noxian life were these few good moments.

“Where is the Darkin by the way? Rhaast?” Royce asked.

“Safe and secure,” Kayn replied sharply, eyeing Royce “I wouldn’t concern myself with him.”

This was not said in dismissal, but as a warning. Royce picked up that Kayn did not want others to even look at the scythe and knew better than to ask again. However, there was another matter he was curious about.

“What about Akali?” his voice asked, now soft.

“What about her?” Kayn suddenly grew defensive, trying to seem unbothered, yet he felt his face getting hot.

“Well, do you think she will come around?”

“I don’t know, but it’s not something that’s worth my time thinking about,” Kayn replied, trying to hard to hide his emotions.

“Well, I liked her. Would’ve been nice if she came with us,” Royce added, a smile curling on his lip.

Kayn remained silent as he laid in bed, trying to keep that kiss out of his mind. Dealing with the Royce problem all day made it easy, but now that it was about to get quiet (save for Royce’s snores) he knew that the only thing that would be on his mind is what could’ve been if Akali wanted to be a part of his life, if the two could work together all the time. Would it be better or worse? The ceiling he was staring at faded slowly as Kayn didn’t even realize he drifted away in slumber, his mind once again clouded by the very familiar nightmares.

Days passed and it felt as if nothing changed – Royce was still an issue, he still swept floors and slept next to Kayn’s bed and Zed was still distant and seemingly lost in his war planning. The other students remained more interested in the issue with the Noxian than they did in Kayn’s return or whatever it is that he faced, and for a moment Kayn considered opening Rhaast’s cage just so he can talk to him. The Darkin was the only one that understood and actually heard what Kayn was saying. Sometimes just thinking.

It was night at the Temple and Kayn sat alone in the courtyard. Duangdi swung around lighting the flames, Phiriya was reading a book on a nearby roof, Ren was showing off to his impressionable young brother and the one person who approached Kayn was the Demacian girl. Her name was Lauren, or at least she signed that name in the books Maeko kept, but everyone called her the Ranger because that’s what she was in the past life. Because of the necessity to drink poison in order to suppress her magical abilities, she was rendered mute – however now free to use her magic, she felt unstoppable among the Yánléi. This is why when she just walked up to Zed, demanding to be taken in, he couldn’t turn her away. Almost everyone learned to sign with their hands in order to understand her, but even without saying a word you always knew what she was saying just by the way she stared. Her always unimpressed face was adorned with long black hair that she tied in three knots. It was not really black, she was originally fair haired, but she dyed it black to fit her newfound style as a Shadow Assassin.

When she approached Kayn she offered him a whiff from the pipe she smoked. He wouldn’t have turned her away otherwise, but he wanted to enjoy his own thoughts with a clear head. He declined her offer and she just grinned at him, taking another smoke and walking away. This was as close to affection Lauren ever showed.

He laid down on the wooden walkway, blocking the path for anyone that might’ve passed here, though most left Kayn to his solitude. It was an old path, but so masterfully crafted that it was still sturdy all throughout the five buildings it connected. One of Kayn’s hands was under his head and the other rested off the edge of the wooden planks beneath him, touching the overgrown grass and wild flowers.

How could he not think about Akali, about what she said, what she did. The brief time they had together was like nothing he’s ever known. It felt so different, so strange – sometimes invigorating and other times frightening. Even though he would’ve never admit it to himself, he missed it. It felt like that was a different Kayn he left behind in Kosaro, on the fields of clay, the ponds and the meadows, and the old Kayn marked by heartlessness and cruelty returned back home to his pack.

And then he heard someone running. He got up and saw Maeko making her way down towards him, obviously in a hurry, and by the looks of it she has been running a long way. She left in the morning to pick some items up from the nearby town, and seeing her this frantic concerned Kayn.

“What is it?”

“We are at war with the Kinkou! I mean more than usual! They definitely openly invite us to a conflict!” Maeko panted as she was telling Kayn. She leaned forward to catch her breath and Kayn put his hands on the side of her arms, pulling her up.

“Slow down and tell me what happened?”

“I went to get ink, because of course the one school that has black ichor we tattoo in our skins does not have ink! And then I was ambushed and had this kunai thrown at me!” she pulled out the weapon from her pocket and Kayn took it from her.

“There is some message inside, a warning written in--”

“Code,” he finished the sentence as he unwrapped the parchment that was secured to the handle and read what it said. His eyes widened at the words and his lip parted. He looked up and past Maeko, considering if he should follow it.

“What will we do?” she asked, trying to get his attention.

“I’ll deal with this,” Kayn replied, a playfully menacing grin appearing on his face. His eyes widened and he gently squeezed the paper and kunai in his hands, bringing them to his chest for a moment which confused Maeko. Without waiting, he picked up a sickle that was stabbed in one of the training dummies in the yard and phased through the thick stone wall like a shadow, leaving the Temple in an instant. Perhaps a bit of that Kayn he thought he left back on the road, finally found his way back home with him.

Chapter Text

Like a bolt fired from a crossbow, Kayn set off to follow the trail in the riddle at first morning light. If it took Maeko several hours to reach the town, it would take him a little less than that to reach the location the note stated. Rhaast would not be joining him on this journey as he was safely tucked back home, but Kayn still armed himself since trouble had a funny way of finding him. Maybe he was running towards it.

Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, he thought as he believed it was better to tell Zed where he went after his return. After all, Zed looked like he lost sleep over less in recent time. Kayn’s trek through the forest and towards the town was uneventful. He chose small paths, mostly made by hunters or the prey running away from them and avoided the main road. Unlike before, this was one mission he did not wish to be seen on.

By midday, Kayn had already reached the town and was making his way towards the described location. He found the exact tree from the note and found it amusing that the person used similar code as the one they mocked back in Kosaro. What a funny coincidence that was. Leaned against said tree, Kayn waited and waited, until the sky got rosy shades and the farmers began returning from their day out in the fields. Perhaps he arrived too early, he thought, why else would she not show up? After a bit he walked down the stone covered path, looking at the other trees just in case he was wrong about the instructions. As that yielded nothing, he returned to where he originally waited, however this time something about his surroundings was different.

Kayn felt her approach, but he feigned obliviousness, letting her do whatever she was going to do. Of course he was for some reason trusting that she won’t kill him, but more so he was confident that he would outdraw her if it came to that. A hand went over his mouth and pulled him back towards the tree.

“If you want to live, you better come with me,” Akali said with a playful grin on her face.

“Oh, what an intricate way to kidnap me,” Kayn joked the second she moved her hand off his mouth.

Akali followed the man-made road for a bit and then jumped over the low wooden fence into the fields below. Kayn was right behind her, keeping pace, curious about where she was going. The grass around them was reaching up to their shins, but the further the went, the shorter the grass got, patchy even. This seemed to be grazing grounds for some large herbivore, Kayn concluded, observing the sparse hoof prints and the height of the weeds.

“Where are we going exactly?” he finally asked.

“In the middle of a field,” Akali replied, leading.

“And what’s there?”

“Nothing!” she told him with a playful tone and continued on.

They finally arrived to what could’ve been called the middle of the meadow and there really was nothing, save for a really big rock, slanted on one side and with little tree protruding from the other. Akali climbed up first and Kayn followed, watching her as she seemed very familiar with this particular rock judging by how fast she found a spot to sit. She looked up at him and tapped the spot beside her. Kayn tilted his head and after brief consideration, he sat right next to her with his legs crossed.

“You weren’t kidding when you said there is nothing. Why here?” he asked.

“Well there is nothing for miles around us. No trees, no houses, no barns. That means no one can sneak up on us, enemy or otherwise.” she replied.

“I see. Wouldn’t be my first choice to hide, but if it works for you,” Kayn shrugged.

“I don’t want anyone from the Kinkou to see us talking.”

“Oh so you don’t want to be seen with me?” a usually smug question came from Kayn.

“Of course not. What we are doing, dies with us,” Akali replied “Besides, did you go around with your Yánléi buddies, telling them all about this?”

“Pfff, no,” he scoffed “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Really?” she raised a brow.

“This time,” he added with a grin.

“Anyway, I was thinking about the mask the swordswoman wore, you know back at Kosaro? Or at least what I could remember from briefly seeing it,” she began.

"This is why you wanted to meet?" Kayn tried his best not to sound hurt.

"Yeah? I mean I'd hate to have a loose end. Or let you have all the fun," she smirked. Kayn sat there pouting his lip, but he wasn't going to let her think that he came here for something else.

“It had those three glowing lenses,” Kayn added.

“A mask like that on a swordsman makes me think of the Wuju order.”

“Or the Kashuri,” Kayn told her.

“The Kashuri?” she raised her brow.

“We used to work with them,” he crossed his arms “Their observers, these bird creatures, they have lenses like that. And the woman that did business with us.”

“Exactly like the girl’s? The Kashuri checks out, weapon makers, interested in a rare weapon and all,” Akali scratched her chin as she was thinking.

“Do the colors matter? The Kashuri have always used some kind of purple or pink shade,” Kayn leaned towards her, adding.

“And the girl had green. The Wuju Order would make no sense." 

"Why?" Kayn didn't understand what would absolve the Wuju from wanting his weapon.

"Small history lesson Kayn - they were all killed during the war with Noxus. No one survived but one Master.”

“Renegade students of their's then? Has Shen told you anything about them?”

“They’ve been gone for years, but as far as I know the Wuju style demands some kind of pacifism. They train with dull blades and never kill. But that girl wanted us dead,” Akali told him.

“We find this Master and we pay them a little visit,” Kayn concluded.

“Good luck on that,” Akali pulled out her map and unrolled it before him, pointing over Bahrl. What Kayn was looking at were the many little notes she made over several places. She had few ‘X’ marks where she thought the Yánléi resided – and she was off by quite a bit. It made him grin knowing how hard she tried to find Zed and wasn’t even close.

“The Wuju temples are somewhere here, in these mountains, but no one actually visits them uninvited. Most Ionians do not want to disturb them. And right here, this valley is covered by spirit mist that lifts only once a year. A trek to this place would be hard. Very, very hard.”

“Then send a hawk. Marked with the sigil of the Kinkou Order, they will not turn it away. And in the mean time, I will look into the Kashuri,” Kayn instructed her for a change. Akali’s eyes widened, but she didn’t object.

“I guess. I mean do I just write ‘Dear Master, one of your students tried to kill me--’,” Akali began.

“Then add, “If you will not deal with her, I will’,” Kayn joked.

“You really have a way to convince people.”

“I prefer the word intimidate,” he brushed his hair back. “Is that not how you do it?”

“I flash my steel and people do what I tell them. Or my fists, depends on how I’m feeling. But bad people Kayn, not the Wuju Order.”

Kayn tilted his head to look at her and Akali glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She began packing her map and he leaned back on his hands, stretching out his legs with eyes softly fixated on her. Suddenly he felt vibrations under his palms that only got stronger. He turned to Akali with wide eyes and her expression told him that she felt them too.

The two of them turned and were met with an avalanche of white, brown and gold, moving fast towards them. Akali instantly knew what it was; and once they came close, Kayn could see that it was a huge herd of worax, obviously spooked by something that was causing them to flee in a stampede. The two stood their ground on the rock, expecting the herd to disperse around it as it was a big obstacle in their way, but they overestimated the intelligence of these animals. They didn’t disperse and they kept rushing towards the slope of the rock.

“These creatures are so stupid,” Akali commented as she grabbed her bag “Get down!”

She pulled Kayn and the two jumped off the rock and hid behind it. Kayn got a terribly strange feeling when Akali pulled him with her and laid her whole upper body on his, pinning him down. How was he supposed to feel about this? Above their heads was only fur and hooves, dozens of these beasts jumping from the rock and landing with a heavy thud on the ground in front. After all, these were their grazing grounds.

It surprised Kayn to hear Akali laugh at the sight – she was really having fun. She still had him pinned for some reason as she looked at the worax jumping and he just laid there, trying to understand why suddenly he felt so strange at her touch. She kissed him once and he thought he had won this game they were playing since White Cliffs, but right now it felt more like he wasn’t even close to understanding.

As the stampede settled, the worax returned to their grazing, completely calm and unbothered as if none of that happened. These were huge animals, bigger than bovines and had horns like goats, curling few times in a spiral. Their bodies were mostly white with gold and dark brown on their backs.

Akali sat up a little, propping herself on her arm while her other hand was still on Kayn’s chest. He looked at her with what could only be read as a frightened look in his eyes, and obviously not from the stampede. Akali just kept laughing.

“Have you ever seen a worax?” she asked.

“I didn’t plan on getting familiar with their undersides,” he whispered.

“I wonder what scared them?” as Akali asked, she heard two voices close to them. They sounded like young boys and they seemed to have an argument.

"Do you hear--” Kayn began, but she quickly put her hand on his mouth and pulled him up against the rock.

“They are Kinkou,” she whispered, visibly scared that they will get seen. Kayn could not reply as she was holding his mouth shut, but it was clear in his eyes that he is wondering if she knows them and their business here at this very moment.

“Maybe old Bai can get herself a shepherd dog. I am tired of herding her worax every day. They aren’t even scared of us anymore,” on of the two Kinkou said, a young boy that was barely into his teens.

"I’d rather she give us the rice cakes, than to some shepherd dog,” the other young boy replied, this one taller than the first.

“You have to hide!” Akali spoke in a hushed tone, urging Kayn to move somewhere. He could make like a shadow, go through the rock and disappear out of sight. As he was about to do that, the two boys appeared right next to the rock, their eyes meeting Akali’s.

“Master Akali!” they spoke in unison, clearly shocked.

Thinking quickly, Akali kicked Kayn away from her onto the grass and drew her kama.

“Go, get reinforcements quickly! I have this Shadow Assassin cornered!” she shouted and Kayn realized what she is doing.

“Cornered? You only cornered yourself!” he responded, disappearing in a shadow and appearing in front of her. He pulled out the sickle he brought with him on the trip and the two clashed blades.

“We will help you Master Akali!” the shorter Kinkou kid said as the two rushed Kayn.

“What?!” he was suddenly alarmed as both kids tackled him.

“No, no! He is the most dangerous assassin ever, you have to run!” Akali tried to deescalate suddenly, not expecting the two to actually be so brave “Kamon, Linh, that is an order!”

Kayn disappeared from under the two children, much to their surprise, and black shadows gathered around where he appeared. They lingered on Kayn’s body for a second and his eyes almost glowed in yellow against the dark that enveloped him.

“You better listen to her, because I have thirteen ways to kill each one of you.”

“That’s twenty six!” Kamon gasped and Kayn rolled his eyes a little.

“Yes. So who do I start with?” he continued with a frightening tone and a menacing grin appeared on his face. The children screamed and fell over each other, struggling to get up as the began crawling away from him. In fact, Kayn’s display scared away the worax, which were now running in a completely different direction.

Akali tackled Kayn.

“Oh yeah?! You have to go through me first!” she shouted and watched from the corner of her eye as Kamon and Linh gathered their bearings and ran towards the nearby town. Beneath her, Kayn began laughing with a terribly mean-spirited laugh.

“We could make for good sparring partners you know,” he told her.

“All of this is not gonna work on me like it works on kids, Kayn,” she scoffed.

“Oh, don’t worry, I have thirteen more just for you,” he joked.

“You are such an asshole,” Akali said, sitting on him as she held his wrists.

“Oh, like you don’t like that?” he looked at her with a smug expression “Admit it.”

“I’d sooner die,” she sneered and realized she is still holding him down.

“Then why did you kiss me when we parted?” he asked, though Akali could feel the smugness of his voice fading. This was a genuine question. She opened her mouth to say something smart and looked at Kayn, but was met with wide amber eyes that almost seemed scared. Scared of the answer – whether it was good or bad. She let go of his wrists and leaned with her elbows on him.

“I don’t know,” she replied “I do things sometime that don’t mean anything. Mostly when I get curious.”

As she placed her hands on his chest, she could feel his heart pounding. A little smile appeared on his face as he tried to keep up that suave facade, but she truly couldn’t tell how he took what she said. He didn’t seem mad, or disappointed. And in truth Kayn was relieved. He had no idea what he would’ve said, much less done, if she were to say that the kiss meant something. What more could people like them have? War broken assassins didn’t get to have normal relationships.

“Then what is stopping us from doing it again? Since it means nothing?” he asked.

“Good question,” Akali replied and leaned forward, kissing him softly. Her hands moved along his chest to his neck and finally his face, her fingertips gently finding their way along his jawline. He slowly moved his hands up her legs and then her hips as she was straddling him, before he suddenly sat up and pulled her along with him. She wasn't caught off guard by his move and only leaned into the kiss harder, stopping only to give him few small kisses at the corner of his lip. Kayn was many things, irritating, arrogant, cruel and cocky, but unfortunately there was some kind of unexplored softness to his touch, some warmth to his lips and tenderness under his fingertips. Akali would never expect that from a guy like him.

Kayn felt it too. Akali was rough and so were her kisses, but there was something more to it, something he couldn’t pin down. When she kissed him, arms around his neck, hands roaming along his back and through his hair, he felt embraced. He felt safe, but also vulnerable. And this feeling scared him, so much so that he couldn’t linger on it for too long.

Akali felt that suddenly he grew distant to her kiss and she pulled back, wondering what was wrong. He looked to the side and she leaned her face against his, her nose brushing along his cheek. Kayn hated that he was so scared of how warm her breath was and how soft her skin felt against his.

“You sent those kids to get Kinkou reinforcements,” he mumbled “I should go before they get here.”

Akali understood and she got off him, dusting her pants from the grass and the dirt. She hid it well, but he saw that she was worried she had pushed this too far. If only he had words to tell her, to tell himself, that he yearned for this for so long, that he wished he could have it every waking moment since she first kissed him. He didn’t understand this feeling, but his eyes pleaded for more, for a chance to explore it where it felt safe to do so.

“Yeah, won’t be easy to trick them like we did those two,” she agreed and Kayn slowly got up. He felt safe again, not from her, but from the feeling he couldn’t explain, yet a part of him wanted to reach out with his fingers and trace her skin, have her body against his for a second longer. For all the times he fought Rhaast for control over the weapon, this was the inner battle that seemed most utterly lost. Akali noticed the slight sadness in his eyes and she tilted her head. Seeing him this way, Akali wished to reach out and gently touch his face, push his hair away, have this asshole of a guy open up to her and show his vulneurable side, but she respected that for reasons only known to him, he pulled away.

“How long will it take you to send word to the Wuju Order?” he asked “Ten days?”

“A week to return,” she replied “The birds must cross the strait without rest and then fly up the mountain.”

“Then in a week we can meet at the tree by the road,” Kayn told her. Akali could not think of a funny response – his voice sounded surprisingly soft and sincere.

“Sure. We’ll compare notes. Just do your part of the work, Kayn,” she tried deflecting.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Kayn raised a brow.

“I don’t know, this is the first time I work with someone and I am really trying to get used to it, okay? Cut me some slack,” she joked.

“I think you are doing pretty good, though your communication is a bit flimsy,” Kayn chuckled.

“Oh yeah? Didn’t like my code?” Akali rolled her eyes with a smile.

“You threw a kunai at a random woman,” Kayn scoffed.

“What makes you think I didn’t know she is a Shadow Assassin?” Akali leaned towards him a bit.

“Well, well, who is stalking who now?” he sneered “Don’t be late in a week...”

Kayn gave her a half smile and as he took a step he vanished in shadows, disappearing from the field and probably appearing somewhere where the moonlight couldn’t shine through the branches.

“Show off!” Akali shouted after him and smiled, standing alone on the stretch of meadows with only herself and the rock they sat on throwing harsh shadows upon the grass. She was going to have to make up some crazy story about fighting off a Shadow Assassin and winning once the Kinkou finally reached her. It was always better for people to think she and Kayn hated each other than to even suspect anything else. Better for them, better for Kayn and better for her.

Kayn returned to the Yánléi temple in the late hours of the evening, phasing through walls just so he will make it to his room unbothered. He was in a sour mood and did not wish to explain himself to any of his companions. However, he almost forgot that Royce was still sleeping there and that he would be present just as Kayn manifested in the room, stepping out of smoke and shadow and startling Royce.

“By the stars Kayn, why you guys gotta do that!” Royce shouted and Kayn hushed him.

“That is the whole point of being a Shadow Assassin, don’t you think?” he replied, taking off his weapons and girdle. Royce was sitting on the floor where his makeshift bed was, watching him and Kayn could feel that there was something unsaid that was waiting to come out.

“What is it?”

“You were with Akali, weren’t you?” Royce finally asked.

“Why does it matter?”

“I was just wondering.” Royce shrugged.

“This is a little tip, since you are a new initiate - most of the other Yánléi stay out of my business,” Kayn warned him and Royce seemed unfazed.

“By the way, your friend Ren brought you dinner by the door, but I didn’t open so he won’t see me. It’s only been couple of hours so it’s still good, maybe a little cold,” Royce went and picked up the tray, bringing it over to Kayn. He just raised his brows and remained quiet, feeling like despite everything that has been going on as of late, Ren valued their companionship. They were sparring partners and he considered him a friend, but Royce’s arrival at the temple created a certain unease between the two.

“How did you survive the mess hall anyway?” Kayn joked, moving away from his feelings.

“Well, I didn’t,” Royce began “But it’s fine, not like we aren’t used to it.”

Looking at him, Kayn furrowed his brows and let out a sigh, his chest dropping along with his shoulders in what was read as defeat only to him. He took the tray and put it on the ground before he sat cross-legged opposite of Royce.

“Just like old times,” Kayn commented as he gestured to the tray. Royce got the idea that the two of them are going to share and a little smile appeared on his face. They both divided the food in half and dug in, however Kayn’s eyes lingered on Royce, watching him as he ate. He began to realize that no matter where he turned these strange feelings followed him. And what was worrisome was that a part of him that returned from Noxus would’ve never trusted to take food from another student or to share a room with a Noxian defector. He would never trust to travel, sleep next to and roll around in the grass with an enemy. There were stranger things in Ionia, but among demons and gun-wielding serial killers, these moments baffled Kayn the most.

However a part of him that had taken root in this land that was now his home, was okay with this. In fact it was inviting and he sought shelter in the warmth it brought. Kayn thought that perhaps he should see Zed in the morning.

Making his way towards Zed’s quarters, Kayn saw the way the candles that were sprawled around the hallways moved. The desk in the middle of the gallery among the pillars was empty, save for Maeko’s papers and her fat cat Keiko that was now sleeping on top of them.

Someone else was walking down the hallway and up to Zed’s room. Kayn could make out it was Maeko and Phiriya and he decided he will walk in after them, but not interrupt whatever they were going to Zed for. He phased through the wall once they were inside and caught some of their conversation.

“Lord Huang refuses to support the Yánléi further, in fact he even refused to let us on his property” Phiriya told Zed, standing before his desk with her hands folded behind her back.

“I expected as much,” Zed replied, leaning on the table and looking at his war map.

“And Madame Chaidee claims she does support us and has in fact let us reside on her estate. I believe she is being tricked by the Navori Brotherhood or the Shadow Warrior traitors, believing they still work for us.”

“And what is the situation in our temple?” Zed rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“If we include the rations we currently have at the temple and the ones promised by the people of Tonang, we should be set for...two more months. Three if we ration it wisely,” Maeko added, as if she feared his response.

“We will not cut portion sizes from the acolytes just to be stretched thin.” he told Maeko “Do you have any... good news for me?”

Maeko wasn’t going to answer, but she picked up the slightest sound from behind her, like wind moving through the smallest crack under the door, and she knew they weren’t alone.

“Master Kayn is here,” she told Zed, who knew this already.

“If our benefactors do not wish to help us willingly, we can make them Master,” Kayn spoke, taking his place between the girls as they all stood before Zed.

“Thank you Maeko, Piriyah,” Zed nodded at the two, dismissing them.

“Master,” they both said and walked away politely, turning few times at Kayn and wondering what they were going to discuss in private.

“I’ve been absent too long Master, let me handle this,” Kayn was trying to convince him.

“Perhaps, but not alone. It will be a good exercise in your ability to lead your own group. And put your Noxian friend to the test,” Zed added.

“Oh come on, not about him again,” Kayn scoffed.

Zed smirked at his protest, finding it endearing how Kayn was agitated that he was no longer at the center of attention now that there was a new student at the temple. No wonder he tried so hard to get into the leader role so suddenly, he wanted to have everyone ask about him again for a change.

“I take it I should no longer worry about our rations?” he asked.

“Nah, consider it done. Come midday tomorrow,” Kayn said, taking the quill from Zed’s desk “You can cross Lord Huang and Madame Chaidee off your map,” he said as he looked over where exactly they were located and circled their names.

Zed looked at him with a smirk and he took the quill out of his hand, shaking his head a little.

“With as little bloodshed as possible, Kayn.”

“You know me, I will just have a nice friendly talk,” Kayn grinned and walked backwards away from Zed’s desk before he vanished as a shadow through the door.

That night Kayn laid in his bed in excitement, at the prospect of a fight the next day and at the idea of leading a group of Yánléi on future missions just as Zed taught him. No doubt Zed will one day step down, and Kayn dreamed of the moment when he would take the mantle as Master of Shadows, not through force or spilled blood, but given freely to him by his own Master, pride in his eyes for what Kayn had achieved. On top of that, it seemed that Akali enjoyed spending time with him, more than he expected her to. More than he knew what to do with. It sometimes disturbed him whenever Akali was close, for she made him feel a certain way he never thought he would feel. It frightened him to feel vulnerable and he mistook the emotions for a weakness. Yet there was curiosity in it, so alluring and so tempting that he couldn’t stay away from her. As thoughts raced through his mind, he felt Royce’s eyes on him as he was still residing on the floor next to his bed.

“You better get a shuteye, Royce, it will be your proving day tomorrow,” Kayn warned him.

“I thought it’s kinda funny that you were grinning to yourself, is all,” Royce replied, getting comfortable on his sleeping roll.

“I wasn’t,” Kayn deflected.

“If you say so,” Royce shrugged a little “Is it because of Akali?”

“Will you let that go?” Kayn turned to him a little, his eyes almost glowing in the darkness “Besides, I am thinking of our upcoming mission. Planning. I kinda missed wielding Rhaast.”

Royce just smiled at Kayn and the two exchanged a look for a moment before Kayn turned on his back once again, staring at the ceiling and trying to get comfortable. Royce followed suit, but something was bothering him as he kept looking at his friend. Kayn noticed this and he tried to ignore it, but ever since he was a child, Royce had this look in his eyes that resembled a kicked dog and Kayn was not immune to such manipulations. After what seemed like a very long silence, he turned to him once again and laid on his side.

“What is it?” Kayn whispered.

“Do you have nightmares Kayn?” Royce asked softly.

“Why?” he squinted in reply.

“You thrash and kick in your sleep...and I hear you cry out at night,” Royce looked him in the eyes and Kayn saw what seemed like genuine concern.

“I dream of fights, that’s all,” he tried dismissing it.

“I have nightmares too you know. They seem to have gotten worse since I came here,” Royce confessed and Kayn rolled his eyes. He wanted so hard to pretend that he didn’t care, but he knew what it felt like. Deep down, he and Royce shared the same scars.

“Thought maybe you want to talk about it,” Royce added, “But if you were to fall off your bed, I’d push you up.”

“Oh thanks, what would I ever do without you,” Kayn sneered, but in few short moments his demeanor was once again mellow. Royce rolled on his side with his back turned to Kayn, hoping to get some sleep before his big day tomorrow. Kayn laid there, looking at him and finally unsure words escaped his lips.

“I have this dream I dream often,” Kayn spoke with the fear of a child, “I am in Noxus once again, fields covered in ash like snow. And I am on this big horse, that is just rushing towards an abyss. It will not stop no matter what I do on his back.”

Royce listened to him and Kayn could tell by the way he slightly turned his head, shifting in his bed, even though Kayn could not see his face.

“It’s not a nightmare, but it’s just baffling. Once the horse plunges me in the abyss, I feel myself falling and falling. As if I sink in my bed, but I can’t wake up. I despise that dream.”

“Maybe it’s the Vindor in ya,” Royce replied, turning over his shoulder a little with a silly grin on his face.

“Did this satisfy you Royce? Are you done… bonding?” Kayn instantly defused the situation.

“I just thought you might wanna share Kayn,” Royce replied with a somber tone and turned away once again, “I’ve been dreaming of some monster woman with white hair. Been wondering if it’s Ionian demons.”

Kayn’s eyes widened at Royce’s words and he considered if he should ask him about it further. No, he would look insane, perhaps even paranoid and delusional. But what were the chances of them having the same dreams? All this time, he believed those to be Rhaast’s nightmares, yet how would they haunt Royce?

“Good night, Royce,” Kayn spoke quickly and sharply. Royce smiled to himself and closed his eyes to slumber, yet Kayn’s were wide open. Nightmares were one thing, but these strange dreams he had of late, the horse and the white-haired woman, they made him wish he was plagued by vision of a battle against Zed or standing alone against an army of Noxians, overwhelming him as he fought them. He began to feel as if there was some other force at play here, something that brought him and Royce together in this exact moment in time. While Kayn was not the one to believe in destiny or fate, his former best friend was right here with him and it was through luck alone. Cautiously reserved about this string of good fortune that came his way, Kayn looked at Royce with what could only be described as a softening gaze as he slowly closed his eyes and sunk into sleep. Perhaps this time the nightmares will be a little more telling.