morðingja- Assassin

Icelandic

We all have secrets; some are just a little darker than others.

Chapter 1

The majority of memories people typically retain from their childhood are from things that impacted them drastically, and Tony Stark will never forget the day he first met Nyx. He was four years old when she first appeared on his doorstep.

Even at a young age, he remembers the way she was clothed in solid black and moved like a shadow through his brightly lit house.

He'd then been forced into another room with one of the maids, while his parents went into another room with the mysterious woman clothed in black. The maid had tried desperately to entertain him, but Tony's extremely advanced mind was stuck on the dark figure that'd randomly appeared in his house.

He decided he wanted to know who she was, and he wasn't getting an answers stuck in the other room. He then looked innocently at the maid and begged to play hide and seek. After that it was just simply a matter of sneaking out of the room while he was supposed to be hiding.

Four year old Tony the snuck, as quietly as he could, towards the room where he knew his parents were.

Tony peeked cautiously around the corner into the room where he heard his parents' voices from. He was able to pick up on the distressed tone of his other's voice from where he stood.

He then heard the stranger's voice and felt goose bumps break across his skin. Her voice was like silk but with an obviously deadly quality. Even at his young age, Tony could sense the air of grace and power that radiated off of her.

He peeked around the corner and spotted the hooded woman sitting with her back to him. Despite being in the house, she kept her hood up, obscuring her face. His mother was seated across the room facing towards Tony enough so that he could see her worried expression.

He was about to move further into the room, when suddenly the not-so-amused maid discovered him and pulled him away. He didn't resist, despite it being his natural tendency as a four-year old. For once, he obediently followed the maid back into the room and didn't attempt to escape again. His parents never mentioned her visit, so Tony eventually stopped wondering about it for the most part.

Tony didn't see the mysterious woman again until his fifth birthday. It was five months after the first time he'd seen her, and he'd basically forgotten about her.

Tony had just celebrated his birthday like a normal five year old kid, however this was the moment that his life would lose any semblance of normal it previously had.

This was the moment Tony Stark would begin his training as an assassin.

Five-year old Tony found himself alone in a room with mysterious woman. He was instantly a little on edge because he remembered the first time she appeared on his door step without a reason.

"Relax Litla." She spoke noticing Tony's obvious discomfort, "My name is Nyx. I'm here to teach you your new way of life."

All Tony could do was stare. She then smiled and removed the hood for the first time. Tony was surprised to find himself looking into the face of a surprisingly-young woman. She looked like she was barely in her twenties. Yet, she moved and spoke like someone of much more experience and wisdom.

She had jet-black hair and vibrant, green eyes that seemed to catch every subtle movement Tony made.

For some reason, she seemed less intimidating with her face visible and Tony felt himself relax slightly. She had seemed almost surreal because it was hard to judge a person when you couldn't see their face. The appearance of her face made her seem more human and less threatening to Tony.

"I will be training you to protect yourself and others. Your parents have discussed this and we all feel that this is the way you will be best off." Nyx continued. Then she smiled at Tony's apparent lack of words.

"You have a strange name." Was the first thing that escaped the five-year-old's lips when he seemed to deem Nyx trustable.

At this she simply laughed. It's hard to get mad at that adorable of a child. "Nyx means 'goddess of night'. I am going to teach you the ways and lifestyle of the ísveiðimenn. A notorious group of the most-skilled, deadly hunters in the world. You will become a part of our family of warriors."

All Tony could do was stare, while he attempted to process and decipher all of this starnge information given to him by Nyx. Nyx smiled at him before standing and returning her hood to her head.

"I will be back next week, Litla, I hope you're ready to start your training."

Tony then watched as she swept silently out the door. He had so many questions. Tony Stark was not used to being this confused. Starks were supposed to be smart enough to figure everything out, right?

.

A week later, true to her word, Nyx made another appearance into Tony's life. However, this time it was different. She did not leave after a few hours. Tony's parents gave her one of the many guest bedrooms, and she, then, became a constant presence in Tony's life. She changed from a mysterious woman to Tony's mentor and teacher.

Due to his natural smarts Tony had no problems with school, so Nyx began to teach him foreign languages. Which were also not a problem to Tony. He adapted quickly to the languages and after six months he could speak Icelandic and German almost as well as English.

Nyx continued to teach him many different subjects, however as Tony began to age, the subjects began to become more focused on war strategy and war history than anything else. Nyx seemed to focus the majority of his teachings around either self-defense or war in some way. She gave him documents on spies and assassins the told of their fighting styles and work. Nyx's teaching was giving Tony advanced foresight that she knew he'd need some day if he was to become an assassin like her.

Tony was eight years old when the Nyx's purpose for teaching him all of these skills finally made sense. For his eighth birthday Nyx bought him a bow and an assortment of arrows. She also bought him multiple throwing knives. Tony's mind was able to make connections on some level that all of the war strategy and self defense styles he'd read about were not just fictional stories for fun. They were about to become Tony's reality very quickly.

Tony's training then became more physical and active. Nyx set up targets in his backyard for archery practice and to throw the knives at.

Tony distinctly remember the disapproving yet acceptant look on his mothers face the first time Nyx let Tony use the bow and arrow.

Even as a child Tony was quick to adapt to the bow. The first time he shot it, he missed the target by almost a foot, much to Tony's immediate frustration. However, after a week he was able to fairly consistently hit the target with steadily increasing accuracy.

The throwing knives were more of a challenge, and Tony didn't quite adapt as quickly as he had to the bow. Tony's youth and lack of needed strength in his arms and wrists made the knives extremely difficult. On more than one occasion, Tony almost took out Nyx with the knives on accident. She would only laugh after jumping out of the way with practiced ease.

Nyx grew extremely close to Tony, and he would often confide in her instead of his parents. He still loved his parents, but his dad was becoming increasingly distant with each passing day and constantly turned to alcohol, and his mother seemed to keep to herself more and more as days went by. Nyx became like an older sister. She always protected Tony, and he trusted her with his life.

When Tony turns ten, Nyx takes him away to a sort of secret training camp for the first time. The trainees aren't allowed to the camp until after their tenth birthday. This is where he first meets other children his age, who are receiving similar training. They will all some day become assassins, like Tony. Tony is unsure of what to expect going in, but Nyx promises that he will love the camp.

Nyx picks him up from school on Friday, and they leave to go to the camp. Tony is excited to get going, however about a half hour into the trip he finds himself drifting off to sleep. When he wakes back up, he finds the car stopped in an unfamiliar setting. There are plenty of trees and forest, but no signs of anything else. Nyx then leads him on a mile long walk down a small, worn path through the trees. Eventually, the trees thin out and Tony catches sight of multiple log cabins and open space.

Tony walkes in to the camp next with Nyx, who is soon greeted by a large man, who attacks her with a bear hug. This is certainly not what Tony expected. He is shocked at how normal each person here seems. He can see groups of them laughing and talking amongst themselves like normal kids. When Nyx told him they were going to a training camp, he'd expected it to be similar to military boot camp. The trainees seemed to have large amounts of freedom. Due to the fact that it was almost dark, training seemed to have ceased for the day and everyone was gathering around a bonfire being built up by some of the older assassins. Tony realized that he might actually have a chance at enjoying himself here and truly fitting in. It wasn't that he had trouble fitting in at school, it was just that he had a hard time not viewing the other students as mentally inferior. These other children seemed capable already though Tony hadn't truly met them. He'd just gotten better at reading people's actions and determining what type of person they were thanks to Nyx's training. He didn't see any of the signs that he'd discovered people of lower intelligence seemed to exhibit. Honestly, most of the people were difficult to read. They were a challenge and this piqued Tony's interest in them. Complex people tended to be more fun anyways.

"Litla, this is Andras." Nyx says with a gesture to the man who'd hugged her. He appears to be around the same age as Nyx, despite their apparent height difference. Nyx was nearly a foot shorted that the tall, but surprisingly lean, man. She then turns and addresses Andras, saying, "Andras, this is Tony. I've been training him." There is a hint of pridein her voice, which increases Tony's confidence. Nyx's approval meant more to him than his parent's approval.

Andras begins to drag Nyx off in the direction that the majority of the people were in. Tony follows after them, lacking anything better to do.

Tony soon finds himself next to a huge bonfire along with about twenty others. They are all dressed in the black garments that Nyx always seemed to wear. She'd given Tony similar clothing before they'd set out, and upon putting it on, Tony had discovered that it was extremely comfortable and easy to move in.

Tony turned around to ask Nyx a question, only to discover that he was alone. Tony sighed. This was great, Nyx had abandoned him and he didn't know a single person. Knives and self defense he could handle without a second thought, but this? Tony hated being alone, and that's just what he was.

"Hey." A voice sounds from Tony's right, startling him. He wasn't used to being snuck up on. Nyx had taught him to remain aware of his surroundings, and it surprised Tony that someone had surprised him so easily. He turns and sees a small, dark-haired girl. She had brown eyes like Tony, and he instantly liked her due to the bright, happy look on her face. "I'm Lilia, but everyone calls me Lili." She spoke with surprising confidence for her petite stature. Tony was at least six inches taller than her and he was only average sized for a boy his age.

"I'm Anthony, but everyone calls me Tony." He responded to Lili. "Today's my first time here." He admitted looking around uncertainly.

"You must be Nyx's student then." Lili said with a smile, "Andras said Nyx would be here today. He seemed pretty happy about it too." She said with a suggestive look on her face that earned a fit of laughter from Tony. She appeared so innocent and naive at first, but Tony found himself liking her more and more.

"You should come meet the other students that are our age. We train together sometimes" Lili said without giving Tony a chance to deny her offer, she was dragging him over to a group of three kids sitting on a log next to the fire.

Lili then introduced them as Alec, Col, and Maya. Alec had blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He was a good bit taller than Tony and more muscular. Col had dark brown hair that was maybe a shade darker than Tony's. He had pale skin that contrasted his bright green eyes. He was only a few inches shorter than Alec, but not as muscular. Maya was about the same height as Col, but significantly slimmer and more graceful. She had blue eyes and medium brown hair that reached all the way down her back. She was already beautiful even at such a young age.

Tony easily made friends with them and they talked until the fire died down and they were all ushered into a cabin, where they were to spend the night. Tony didn't have the slightest clue where the camp was, as he'd been asleep most of the trip. This left his over-active mind to try to piece together what information he had to try to determine a location. Tony let his mind wander until he finally drifted to sleep in the unfamiliar cabin with his new friends. Tony was going to like this camp.