The shurikens embedded themselves into the wood of the tiny shack to a constant beat to which one could set a metronome. Despite the predictable nature of the dull thuds as they stuck into the wall, Irelia had decided she had enough after the third strike, lashing out at the shadow ninja.
"Would it kill you to sit down and actually help me figure this out?" she demanded, gesturing at a few documents that lay on a table in the middle of the room. The increasing heat of the stuffy room did nothing to help her patience, and she had carefully removed her jacket, hanging it on her chair. The swordswoman had her gaze focused on a snapshot of the murderer's latest crime, a young woman mangled in the middle of a forest clearing with the shape of a lotus carved into her chest right where the heart lay. Around the picture, Irelia had brought a couple of surveyor's maps of the surrounding area, her work for the past hour focused on trying to find a correlation between the Golden Demon's past few 'commissions' in order to predict the location of his next victim. Khada Jhin himself had proclaimed four as his favorite number, so with three deaths already lined up in the past week, Irelia knew that the final act had yet to come.
Explaining how she had come across the Master of Shadows in the middle of her sleuthing would take a substantial length of time, a luxury she couldn't afford. Ordinarily she would avoid association with Zed if she could, but he had saved her from one of the Virtuoso's mountain traps and had insisted she accompany him. Now they shared relatively cramped quarters as they retreated from the scene of the last crime, their apparels a disastrous contrast. How he could survive with that black armor on in even the most extreme conditions, she would never understand. She wished she had chosen a more practical outfit underneath the jacket, but at this point Irelia didn't really care that Zed could see her in a low-cut blouse and very form-fitting pants. Supposedly, they had things to accomplish. They both worked towards the same goal, it was true, although both had very different outlooks on what they wanted from Jhin's capture. For one, justice, to the other, revenge, a debt to be paid.
"Speculation on the basis of sensible principles will get you nowhere." He had, at the very least, stopped throwing shurikens. Irelia almost didn't recognize the voice; Zed speaking with his mask off actually sounded like a normal human being with none of that metallic aura shrouding his voice. "The only thing he abides by is the meter of his tempo. Four. Any further attempts to get into his head, trying to figure him out, will drive you insane." His eyes glinted a dangerous obsidian shade. "I have seen it happen before."
"And how is throwing weapons at the wall supposed to be any more productive?" If Zed tried to frighten her with ghost stories of the Golden Demon's previous exploits, it would hardly get under her skin. But even though he told her that he wished to make the artist atone for his crimes, the ninja certainly didn't act like it.
Zed merely gestured to the punctured wall boards. "These three shurikens are the locations of the first three murders." Irelia followed the slant of his arm, seeing the points displayed on the side of the wall. If she did look at it that way, without the burden of the extra details of the maps confusing her, it did seem a lot simpler. "Surely you can see the geometric intention."
They had created a V-shape, three points equidistant from an imaginary center, which led Irelia to believe that a fourth would form a diamond shape encasing the perimeter between all four. "It looks like you would put the last one there," she said, pointing to the empty space in the wall. "But I thought you said not to read into this assuming that Jhin will follow any set pattern."
"And he will not. Tell me, where is the location of this supposed fourth murder?" Zed quizzed her, taking a step closer and matching her gesture.
Irelia racked her memory for the layout of the area around the last mark. "That is the residence of the newly elected statesman." A deep breath. "His wife and children are overseas, visiting a sick relative. It would make for a perfect next target. The other murders happened to people who weren't outcasts from society, just people who happened to be alone at an unfortunate time. Surely we must make sure he's-"
"No." Zed stepped between her and the wall, cutting off her train of thought. "That is the crux of his philosophy. He will give you every reason to believe that he will go towards one path, and then deviate from it without a second thought. The Virtuoso calls it avant-garde. I call it disgusting. Undisciplined.
The swordswoman crossed her arms, a frustrated huff escaping her lips. She could hear his measured breathing from where she stood. "Then where, Zed? This isn't just about assessing his nature correctly. It's figuring out a murderer's intent and defeating him before he can even load a bullet into that hextech gun of his."
His armblade rose as he pointed it towards her neck; she hardly flinched as she readied her blade to counterattack. Irelia didn't understand what provoked this sudden aggression, but she knew that he wouldn't lose his cool to go off on a fit of violence, especially against her. For all intensive purposes she considered them an equal match, and so she forced eye contact with him, watching to see when he would relent.
She quickly regretted her decision, even though she had a resolute will and the fortitude to not falter. Zed was a completely different opponent, and she could feel the intensity of his stare backed not by mental strength of his own, but the unbridled hatred for the Golden Demon flowing through his veins. Against every ounce of her good judgment, she couldn't tear herself away from him, not because she didn't want to lose the mental contest, but because his gaze had riveted her in place.
And Zed didn't let up. "Don't think for a second that your little detective work will come close to understanding what a terror this man is. If you give Jhin an inch of ground to work with anything you hold sacred, he will find a way to tear the beauty right out of it and shred its wings." Towards the end of the sentence, he savagely lashed out - but only at the air above her shoulder. "You and your elders speak of balance? What balance could you find in the shambles of Zhyun villages? In the desecration of the gods that your worship on your altars?"
"Put away your childish aspirations of figuring him out, placing a light to quell this shadow. If you want to truly understand his perversions, you would have to witness each step of his insane method." The inexhaustible fire in Zed's eyes would only sate itself with its own ambition - not any tempering inhibitor.
"I've seen the murders up close," she tried to argue, but even Irelia felt her conviction beginning to fade. An exhilarating terror rushed through her, but she didn't feel the fright that would bring out her innate flight tendencies. No, instead she wanted to reach out and grasp it, examine it for herself, feel the desanctifying mark of the virtuoso indelibly placed within the scars on Zed's face. His perceptive eyes matched her curiosity, wandering towards parts of her that made it clear that Zed had a very invested interest in her femininity. Her womanhood.
The ninja began to unstrap his armblades, tossing them onto the table as he forced her back, Irelia feeling her shoulders making contact with the wall. "You saw an exhibit. You didn't see the show. And without a proper seat in the audience, there is no way you could ever understand the message." His gloved hand grabbed her arm, and she made no effort to stop him.
"Tell me, Zed," she croaked, "what you wish to show me." What he wished to do to her.
His breathing had become staggered, lips tightly clasped shut as Zed struggled against some invisible force, some demon of temptation clawing at his morality. "Khada Jhin aims entirely for the effect. The sensations he creates to captivate his audience." The hand ran up her arm, onto her shoulder and towards her exposed neck. A hungering predator, static from his fingertips making the hairs on her skin stand on end. "And his only goal…" Irelia found herself in the middle of a breath, something that Zed wouldn't let her release as he pressed her further and further into the wall.
"...is corruption." Malignant hands tore at the top of her blouse, the ninja's body advancing to grind against hers, his mouth hungrily moving to lay claim to her neck. She leaned back, lips parting as she uttered a sigh. Wanting to reach out and draw his head closer to her, Irelia quickly found her arms already pinned to the wall, the ninja grabbing control of her by the wrists.
She could hear an animalistic growl rumble from his throat, and Irelia wondered if it expressed satisfaction or anger. His right hand had moved up towards her neck, the hold on her not quite tight enough to constrict her breathing, but forceful enough to make her widen her eyes in anticipation. Zed looked intently at her, as if looking for some kind of affirmation. The pause in his passionate advance had surprised her; she hadn't expected him to grant her even a moment of respite.
"Make me understand him," she spoke boldly. "Make me understand you."
"You naive little mouse." His thumb reached up to graze a spot behind her ear, causing her to shudder in pleasure. "This entire maze had been set up for you to wander step he has planned ahead of you, waiting for you to come to your conclusions. And it will make sense in your mind. You will think you have figured him out, but that is the exact idea that he has placed in your mind."
His other hand had released her arm, not needing force to keep her in place, and had made its way towards her breasts, exploring them, relishing his possessions. "Even without my help, you would have figured it out, rushing to that house to save that man. But Jhin would be the one waiting to stop you. Once the trap was sprung, there would be only one thing left to settle." With every sentence his mouth inched closer and closer to her lips, and now Irelia sensed only the smallest and most imperceptible distances between them.
"Capturing his prey." In truth, there probably hadn't been any divide between them once he had set his sights on her. A man who had orchestrated the downfall of the order to which he had previously belonged had no problems in setting his mind to a task and carrying it out without any difficulty. And it just turned out that Irelia had become his next target. Nothing like the targets that Jhin sought in his quest to set humans to artwork, no, Zed acted nothing like Jhin, if the taste of his lips on hers was any indication. The way of the shadow just demanded total subordination, a surrender for the master to achieve possession of the servant.
And Irelia understood that that night she had become his to serve.
A/N: this is what happens when you go on tumblr you waste time rping with other people and weird ideas like Zed x Irelia pop into your head. I really should be getting back to Guns & Roses I had like 1/3 of it written then I got carried away. Really sorry for the wait but I hope you'll be glad I'm not dead.