"Every wound will shape me. Every scar will build my..."
Throne
Quinn groaned in pain as she tried to pull a thin blade from her calf but it just wouldn't budge. She muffled her sobbing with her hand, giving it another strong tug. If she made too much noise, he would find her. The scout heard her flesh slide across the steel as it slipped out. Quinn huffed a sigh of relief when she finally yanked it out. She examined the bloodied dagger with a hard glare.
The Demacian threw the blade as far as she could. She held her wound tightly, trying to gather herself. She didn't want to run from him, but she needed time. If there was a slight chance for her to outsmart him, the scout had to figure it out now. Quinn had to keep going if she wanted to live. She got to her feet easily but struggled to take a step forward. Her dragging boot caught on the forest grass, tripping her. The impact of her fall was cushioned by a thick patch of wildflowers when she lost her balance.
She had to admit she was thankful for that, anymore pain and she would have passed out. Everything in her body ached and bleed—this game is going to kill her. She clutched the grass in her fists as she forced herself to crawl. The scout only made it about three feet before she had to stop to catch her breath.
"Come on, Quinn." She said to herself, "Get up or that stupid man is going to catch you."
"Stupid?" A deep voiced chuckled in darkness, "I'm not the one with her face in a bunch of weeds while being pursuited."
The scout weakly lifted her head and saw Talon stepping from the shadows of the forest. He had that familiar smirk across his face as he approached Quinn. The scout didn't even attempt to move—she was caught. The assassin stopped and lifted her face up with his boot.
"Poor thing. Any more of this and you're going to die." He mocked her. Talon kicked the girl over to her back, earning a low growl from her. He sat down beside her battered body and sighed. This was the first time he'd sat in hours. The assassin glanced down at Quinn and noticed her ugly, bloody scowl. "Don't look at me like that—you brought this all on yourself."
"If you had any pity in your heart, you would have killed me ages ago." The scout spat, weakly tossing grass at Talon.
"While you're not wrong, there would be no fun in that."
"You damn sadist." Quinn cursed him, managing to move her stiff legs. She kept her groans of pain subdued as she sat up. The scout glared back at Talon while he watched her, obviously amused she was in serious pain.
"You knew what you were getting into when you challenged me, right?" The assassin crossed his legs, "Let us recap all the dumb shit you did the passed few hours. I disarmed you and you still tried to fight me with no weapon. You didn't even try to hide from me. You also let my ranged attacks hit you. Honestly, kid, I don't need to kill you—you're doing it yourself."
"These wounds won't keep me from kicking your teeth in." The scout huffed. Talon glanced down at her blood pouring from her thick gashes onto the white flowers, turning them a bright red.
"I think you should just give up. You're not going to beat me."
"Demacians... never… never surrender." Quinn growled through gritted teeth. "You could throw me to the wolves and I will come back leader of the whole pack. I'll do what I can to win!"
"I admire that courageous attitude you got there, little girl, but if you were smart enough you'd just give up before you bleed out." Talon sighed, scratching the back of his neck with his blade. He watched as the scout fell back on the flowers passed out. He chucked, "Well, kid, you didn't give up."
Talon grunted as he got to his feet and cracked his fingers. He looked down at the Demacian's paling face before he reached down to pick her up. The Noxian threw her over his shoulder, adjusting to her weight while he began walking to the teleporting platform they came on.
"If I had no pity in my heart, I would just leave you here." Talon snickered. The Noxian whistled as admired the wildlife in the forest. He noticed a stag and doe carefully keep their eyes on him as he passed. "We got a ways to travel before we get back to summoning platform, so you might as well relax."
His mind wandered while he brought his attention back to the worn trail. He saw patches of blood soaking the gravel, they obviously came from the girl on his shoulders. Talon shook his head, glancing at his hand and saw the it was bright red. He had to get her back to the magical platform before she actually did die—not that he really cared. The girl knew what she was signing up for when she challenged Talon to a one on one match after an altercation.
Talon snickered lightly as he recalled the incident. The assassin and scout were participating in a match on Summoner's Rift, facing off in the more lonesome Northern lane. Both were equally matched when it came to hand to hand combat, but Talon had more of an advantage when his sister, Katarina, came to assist him. He knew he didn't really need her help, but double teaming an opponent was a strategy that usually guaranteed victory—which it did for Talon. He remembered Quinn claiming he couldn't beat her without help after the fifth time the Du Couteau siblings killed her.
She challenged him to a duel and he accepted. His only stipulation was if he wasn't allowed help than neither was she—meaning Valor was not allowed to participate. Quinn agreed without any hesitation.
Talon let out a sigh of relief when he spotted the magical stone platform in the distance. He picked up his pace when he himself began to feel weary. The assassin walked up the steps, instantly feeling the warm, healing aura on his skin. He rested the girl in the middle of the aged runestone and took a seat beside her. The assassin watched as the magic closed her wounds and clear her fair face of bruises. Talon didn't want to admit to it, but the summoners of the Institute of War were talented. For them to heal others without physically being there was fascinating to him.
His eyes looked out to the open forest cleaning the runestone platform rested in. This wasn't a naturally grown forest—it was an arena created by the summoners for one on one combat situations like this one. Talon wasn't even sure if the fauna were created by the summoners as well. He turned his attention back to Quinn when he heard her starting to groan. The assassin turned and saw the girl rubbing her forehead, eyes blinking open. She suddenly sat up with a loud gasp.
"Finally awake, I see." Talon said, resting back on his hands. "I was starting to worry I would have to resort to mouth to mouth."
"Uh, how long was I out?" Quinn glanced around on the runestone she was sitting on, "How did we get in a magic fountain?"
"To answer your first question, only a few minutes. As for the second, take a wild guess." The assassin answered. Quinn's golden eyes narrowed at him while she tried to stand, only to fall back on her rear.
"You could have left me to die, you know. That is how we end this contest." The scout said disdainfully.
"Where would be the fun in that?" Talon snickered, "I kind of liked kicking your ass."
"You had the advantage of a weapon!" Quinn growled as she pointed at Talon's long arm blade. He looked down at it, slowly rubbing his thumb over the sharp edge. The assassin sighed as he unclasped the leather straps holding the weapon to his arm. "What are you doing?"
"Evening the odds, obviously. Since we a both fully healed, why don't we start this match over?" He asked, jumping to his feet with lighting speed. "Think about it, you get another chance to prove yourself."
"Alright… get to the middle of the clearing then." Quinn commanded. The assassin raised a thick brow at her but began walking. Quinn followed behind them, both their steps scaring butterflies and birds from the tall grass. Talon stopped a few feet in front of the girl and turned to face her, hands in his pockets.
"Any more rules, your highness?" He asked with a smirk.
"Remove the blades." The scout said as she pointed to his cloak. She gave a small chuckle, "Also, don't cry when you lose."
"Okay, I'll try not to." Talon rolled his eyes while he unfastened the straps holdings his clock on his back. He shook his shoulder with a sigh, seeming somewhat happy to drop all that weight. The assassin opened his arms, "I'll let the lady have the first move."
"The battlefield is no place for your chivalry." The scout growled before she charged towards Talon, her hand rolled into a fist.
Talon sidestepped the girl's attack, causing her to stumble to a halt. Regaining her footing, Quinn flipped around, using her leg offensively this time. The assassin sprung backwards and caught Quinn's ankle. He yanked her forward, causing her to hop to keep herself from falling. Talon laughed at the scout struggling. She growled and used her other leg to sweep underneath his feet. The assassin grunted as his back hit the grass, seeing the girl standing over him.
"Stop dodging and engage me!"
"If you insist." Talon said, yanking the girl down to the ground by her forearm.
They rolled over each other as they tried to overwhelm the one underneath. Quinn held onto the assassin's collar, pushing him away when he got on top of her. He wrapped his large hands around her wrists while he tried to pry her off. Talon managed to get the girl's claws out of his shirt and pinned them by her head. Quinn looked up at him, panting heavily.
"Don't glare at me when you asked me to fight you." The assassin huffed, still holding onto the Demacian's hands. He watched the girl underneath him turn a bright red and avoid his dark eyes. Quinn turned her head to the side, trying to regain her breath.
"Talon, kiss me." She whispered. Talon leaned back, her words surprising him. The air around them remained silent aside from the loud cries of cicadas somewhere in the grass.
"Do you mind repeating that a little louder?" He smirked when the girl underneath him growled.
"I said kiss me, you—" The scout's insult was cut short when Talon laid his lips on hers.
She remained still for a few seconds before she raised her head from the grass to deepen their embrace. The assassin released her hands and she instinctively wrapped them around his neck. Talon placed his fingers under her chin, lifting her chin up to kiss her neck. The scout mewled when he bit down on her soft skin. He came up again, kissing her cheek.
"Where did this sudden change of attitude come from?" Talon smirked between kisses, "Did you finally fall in love with me, sweetheart?"
"Not exactly." Quinn giggled as she pulled down his hood, running her fingers through his hair. "I said I would do anything to win."
"What the hell does that—" Talon groaned loudly when Quinn's knee crushed his gut. He rolled over, holding his stomach. The assassin glared at Quinn as she got to her feet, "You sneaky, little scout."
"Next time, don't let the thing below the belt interfere with taking down an opponent." She laughed as she patted the dirt off her legs.
"Maybe that is how I was going to take you down. Although, if that was the case, you'd be begging me not to stop and this match would be lasting a lot longer."
"Learn when to stop talking, Talon."
"You want me to prove it?"
"You wish." The scout laughed.
"Alright, then..." Talon slowly got to his feet, holding his gut. He looked up to the sky, "I forfeit. End the match so I can ice my—"
The two were quickly teleported back to the Halls of Justice. Quinn sighed, rubbing her neck as she stepped off the stone platform. She walked over to retrieve her crossbow from a bin. The scout grabbed Talon's cloak and turned back to him. Quinn threw the blades over his back and fastened the strap on his chest.
"I hate to admit it, scout, but that was a hell of a move." Talon sighed. Quinn patted the metal buckle on his chest and chuckled.
"When I said I'd do anything to win, I didn't mean use a kiss." Her golden eyes glimmered mischievously. The scout's hand lightly touched Talon's check before she turned to walk down the steps.
"If that's the case, you sure you don't want to take me up on my offer?"
"Please stop talking."
Notes: The lyrics at the beginning of the story is "Throne" by Bring Me The Horizon, my favorite band.
You should do what you can to win, even if it means doing something a little crazy.
I hope you all have a great day and I will see you next time.