There are many ways to kill, and over the years many individuals had discovered a plethora of methods to end someone else's life. However the universally agreed favorite way to do so was very simple, the razor sharp blade making the soft flesh of the throat its new home. Watching these criminals and scum die by your blade was pleasing and most killers cherished every minute in the act of doing so. The same holds true for the savages at the center of our story. Our story begins as most should, in a bar where several minds from different backgrounds hatch a plot. The small group of rogues at the center of this tale had dubbed themselves the headhunters. They were neither heroes nor villians, just mercenaries who, for the right price, would take anyone's head. The group did not connect emotion with killing, money drove their actions, this is their story, a tale of deceit, blood, money, and sex. This tale begins in Bilgewater, where the young assassin Akali first meets the headhunters and decides to become one herself, causing a chain reaction of events.

The air smelled of sea salt and gunpowder; I hated the smell of gunpowder. I guess you're wondering who I am, Akali is how I'm known by most, and I used to be the fist of shadow, but those days are far behind me. At the young age of fourteen I was initiated into the Kinkou Order as an apprentice. Less than a year later, I was taken under the wing of another Kinkou ninja by the name of Zed. He trained with me, and even showed me things I'd never thought I'd get to see, but one day he vanished, and since then I have been roaming Runeterra looking for him. I severed my ties with the Kinkou, and left Ionia for the first time. Oh did I forget to mention, my mother is the current Fist of Shadow in the Kinkou and forced me through grueling training most of my life?

Anyway, back to my story. So, I paid a small fee to ride a rare from Ionia to another Island and found myself in Bilgewater. Why Bilgewater? Well, I heard reports of an assassin who appears for mere seconds before taking his pray with the blade attached to his wrist. That sounds like Zed, his dual bladed gauntlets were pretty one of a kind. I'm hopeful I can find him. After all, no one else in the world would use that style of weaponry, right?

I walked down the street the downpour of rain leaving my black traveling cloak soaking wet. I glanced down and looked at my reflection in a puddle that had formed. It had only been a few weeks since I had left Ionia, but already I looked different. I had destroyed my old green bodysuit provided by the Kinkou and replaced it with a more travel friendly outfit. The full black suit had dark strips of cloth wrapping my plated leggings and gauntlets, plus I had covered the traditional Ionian white tunic with a darker foreign hardened animal hide chest plate. It was lighter than body armor, and didn't restrict my movements, but a sword would cut through it like butter. I also dyed my hair a different color, I thought it would look cooler that way. It was a shimmering silver color (I was right), but couldn't be seen as my face was mostly hidden by my cloak, the only visible feature were my lips, the soft pink skin contrasting my porcelain-white skin. I stepped in the puddle causing my reflection to disappear and glanced down a back road where I saw a tavern, food and lodging, exactly what I needed.

As I walked in, The bar felt dank and I didnt like the look of the fellow in the corner with the blue and gold plated armor; Demacian or something like that, if I remembered from the textbooks. It felt like he could see my face despite my cloak covering my entire face. Nervously and quickly, I shuffled to the corner and sat down leaving my hood from my black traveling coat up, concealing my face. I slowly raised my left hand, the universal sign for a hostess to assist you.

"Your finest ale and meat," I said quietly to which the hostess raised an eyebrow, "I'm good for the cost,"

"Thanks Shen," I whispered, jiggling his coin purse under my cloak sheepishly.

As I said this I shook my hip purse, the gold making a satisfying sound or at least I thought; the hostess seemed to agree as she smiled and walked off to fetch what I had requested. I cared little for money past meeting my basic needs to survive. In all honesty, I had no use for it, I was nomadic now so I did not need housing usually only taking jobs in each town just to pay for my room and board while I searched for him. Zed and I had become a fearsome duo of rogue assassins, well at least that was what I hoped would be the case when I finally find him. His steel was unmatched to all but someday my blade would beat his; he was everything I strived to be.

My eyes darted from side to side of the room looking for any sign of him. I suppose you're questioning my decision to look in the bar and under normal circumstances I'd agree this is the last place to look, but Zed was an interesting man. He loved taverns like this, i could remember stories Shen told of dragging him home in his drunken state, and Zed's tales of his drunken exploits with Shen throughout the taverns of Ionia. My thoughts wandered to the conversations Zed and I had back at the dojo, and finally coming to rest on that one night we spent together. I shot my gaze to the floor and but my lip, remembering all the things he showed me, and felt my hands gripping my thighs tightly, wishing he were here to do it again to me. I caught myself blushing and lightly patted my cheeks with my hands, and sighed trying to pull myself together.

"Balance, balance," I changed silently to myself, however my calming ritual was interrupted by the entrance of a few more individuals.

My eyes shot to the entrance when the doors were practically kicked in and 4 hooded figures walked in, normally I would've paid them no mind, just travelers, but the gleam of silver and the skulls hanging from the shoulder of the biggest one caught my attention, as well as the general rowdiness of all four of them.

I nearly gave away my position when the figure dropped his hood and a large cat-like creature looked around the room. Our eyes briefly met and I noticed one eye was yellow and the other blue, clearly it was some sort of battle wound, he's a strong warrior, I could tell at first glance. I quickly broke the glance, but I couldn't help it, my eyes shot back to the humongous skull on his shoulder. Whatever he had killed must have been nearly ten feet tall, the skull had four eye sockets and the upper jaw had two large fangs baring down. What really caught my eye however was the gauntlet on his left arm. It looked like a larger version of the wrist blade Zed had, however on the creatures his was another large knife. These reports of the assassin could actually be this creature, but I pushed that thought from my head, I WILL find Zed.

I almost didnt notice the woman standing behind him, however the majority of the men in the tavern certainly had. The green suit on the second girl hardly concealed her luscious curves, the plating was unlike any design I'd ever seen, it was anamorphic in design contouring to her body. The best armor smiths in Ionia couldn't make armor that anamorphic. The plating was a vivid shade of green, and had ornate gems that shone like lights on the rear of the armor. I briefly questioned my own sexuality finding her suit incredibly attractive in a strictly sexual way. However, I let the thought pass, my attention now drawn to the spear in her hand. It was a wicked looking weapon with three separate prongs, which looked to have barbed tips, and on her hip were several traps. Her darker skin had a thin layer of dark paint over her eyes, a few other designs painted around her eyes; I mentally noted the dreaded hair which was held neatly by a large metal headband. They looked as though even those could be used as a weapon.

The last figure remained hooded, however I caught a quick glance of what appeared to be one of the Eastern country ranged weapons, I had heard them called rifles. Largely they were made in Piltoverm but Zaun also manufactured similar weapons. The red glow of the end of the rifle caught my eye. I swallowed, if a fight were to break out, that hooded figure would cause me a lot of problems.

The last figure was even harder to make out, although based on the man's facial apparatus he must've had at least seven eyes. His blade also had a serrated edge and no sheath, just a small loop to keep the blade from clattering to the floor; the man's small frame and rather large blade also made me feel uneasy.

I know what you're thinking, why am I so cautious of these people? It's not that I'm a criminal or anything, but the enemies of Ionia were everywhere, and I didn't know enough about these other places in the world to be comfortable in a place I'd never been when warriors of foreign countries were in my vicinity. I didn't know if they'd attack me or ignore me. However, despite my cautious behavior the four that just entered did not harbor my same feelings towards me. In fact, if anything it appeared they didn't care about my existence at all. I shrugged and looked down at the meat and ale placed in front of me, resolving that they weren't worth watching at the current moment as I took a large bite of the meat. It was delicious. The seasonings were Ionian in nature, which was strange since I was in Bilgewater.

My eyes darted upward as I heard screaming and banging. The spear wielding girl had begun banging the table, demanding a round of drinks for herself and her three companions.

The rifle wielding one scoffed, and spoke in a rough British accent "I'd rather drink sewage than an ale from these parts. I'm only drinking if there's brandy."

I immediately recognized the accent, it was the voice of a Piltovian aristocrat; there were quite a few Piltovians that had settled in Ionia. I can recall having a few mission given to me from the Kinkou escorting the Piltovians who had settled there across Ionia.

The large cat-monster for lack of a better term to describe the animal, happily accepted the large tankard slid his way by the spear lady. I watched fascinated, the four were the rowdiest bunch I'd ever seen, and i decided the search for my master could wait one night; I wanted to see how this night would go.

The yelling and screaming was nearly deafening, tankards toppled smashing and spilling their contents on the cobblestone floor. Fists were thrown, and couples left in droves. It was an intense display, and I silently observed from my corner of the room, my steak gone however I duly noted my cup had been refilled. Unlike Zed I was not much of a drinker, especially since the Kinkou frowned upon it. However as it is customary to order alcohol with your meal I usually do during my travels, or at least in the recent past I have been.

I slowly began to sip my drink, and leaned back in the chair. As I did so my hood fell backward, exposing the delicate fair skin, to which many of the males immediately noticed.

I became slightly panicked as several drunken males made their way to my table, I did not want to draw any attention to myself and before long several drinks found their way into my mouth, and as I became more intoxicated the closer these men seemed. The situation had quickly spiraled out of control. One male reached forward and grabbed me. I didn't like that, I jumped out my seat and whipped my leg around the heel of my boot slamming into the man's face sending him spiraling to the cobblestone floor, so much for keeping a low profile.

The other men looked around shocked, suddenly one of the men yelled out, "hey bitch! What'd you do that for?"

Suddenly another voice rang out, "This wench seems to think that us Bilgewater rats aren't brawlers. Bar fight!"

The bar turned into a violent tornado of bodies as everyone in the bar began brawling, I vaguely heard a man yell, "hey everyone get in here!"

I effortlessly sidestepped a wild haymaker thrown by a drunken male and responded by bringing my knee to meet his body between his legs, feeling the squishy organ crush on my knee, another kick to the chest sent him flying backward, crying out from the blow I had dealt to his manhood. Before another fellow could swing I leapt to the rafters. I quickly surveyed the room and nervously noticed the girl with the spear staring directly at me; I needed to find an escape route, now.

Couldn't find one and in my drunken state, I tripped over my own feet, and slammed down unceremoniously on a table smashing it to pieces beneath myself. To my horror the spear lady landed directly over my her faces inches from mine. She smiled and ran her hand up and down my face.

"You're a cute one aren't you," she said pushing my hair out of my face, "I want you to myself, and I don't even know who you are."

I swallowed, "w-who are you?"

"Me?" She asked jokingly, "I am a headhunter, some call me Nidalee, but you may call me mistress, if you so please."

I could feel my cheeks flushing a bit, what a forward woman, how does one respond to that.

"I'd rather not," I replied coolly, although my heart betrayed me.

"I can smell it on you," she responded icily, "you're pheromones are begging you to mate. I could find you from across the continent."

"I, uh" I couldn't concentrate, this situation was so unfamiliar to me. Luckily the bar fight brought my salvation when someone threw a tankard.

Nidalee sensed it and leaped back, the contents spilling all over my cloak. Curse this alcohol, I should've sensed that as well, this is the exact reason I dont drink, everything feels so fast and I feel sluggish.

Shaking my head I groggily leaped through an open window on the second floor, landing in a pile of garbage, "some ninja you are" I murmured to myself in disgust.

I quietly stood up and staggered down the street. I had forgotten to rent a room, so I wandered around the town for a bit looking at the nightlife of Bilgewater. I had abandoned the hood concealing my face, and found myself in another tavern, the crowd in here seemed much less friendly than the previous bar. I tried to ignore the uncomfortable stares and slowly pulled out a few gold pieces.

"What'll it be miss?" The barkeep asked me, leaning on the bar.

"Well-I-uh," I hadn't thought this through the alcohol I had previously consumed was already clouding my judgement. I had never been this drunk before, And I had no idea what to drink; glancing around I saw an aggressive man seated next to me and pointed at his drink, "I'll have what he's having."

The barkeep smiled, "alright little lady, "doesn't seem like your type of drink but enjoy."

He slid the drink down the bar which I caught in my hand. I took a sip and nearly threw it up, it felt like I was drinking liquid fire. The man next to me had turned to look at me, "little lady." He said to me calmly.

I looked over at him playfully, "hey little guy."

He smiled again, "you ain't from around here are ye? That's Cap'n GP's firewater. The most alcoholic beverage you can find this side of Demacia."

I swallowed heavily, I had already drank almost the whole glass, I was scared to move from the bar, I didn't feel any more drunk, although I did feel significantly hotter and wanted to take my cloak off.

As if sensing this the man next to me offered to take my cloak, I obliged, arching my back slightly as he slowly removed the cloak exposing my slender shoulders and arms. Everything about my figure was petite, from my arms, to my small breasts, to my legs. The man smiled taking in my appearance. I blushed. He bought me a drink. He said some nice things to me. I laughed. He looked very attractive to me; he looked just like Zed. Maybe he is Zed. No, no he couldn't be. I wonder if he thought I was cute? Why does that matter? He doesn't have Zed's scars. Why is it wet? I looked up and I realized we're outside. Where were we going again? I don't remember him telling me. There's a woman with red hair on the other side of the man I met now. We turned into an alley. Why are we here?

The man reached behind a dumpster and pulled out a strange looking tube. The woman next to him pulled out two weapons that had large cylindrical contraptions on the bottom. I felt uneasy, something didn't seem right. I fell and I felt my consciousness fade.

Nidalee leaped onto a ledge, in her drunken state it was less graceful than she had intended, "I need to find that girl. Her scent is...intoxicating."

The beast nodded his head, adjusting the blade attached to his wrist, shaking the dreads on his head, "I can smell her from here, very drunk, very delicious."

The third member of this small party raised an eyebrow, "what exactly can you smell?"

Nidalee smiled, "a killer. Not just that, she had a similar scent to that boy that was also here a few weeks ago. The ninja. He's not as delicious as her though...I want her so much more. Also it seems she's been in close contact with the other boy. Perhaps we could use that to get to her."

The fourth shook his head, "she seems unstable, her balance is hindered not only from the alcohol but from some inner turmoil. I'm sensing she's in some sort of danger."

Nidalee shook her head, "I don't care Yi, she is definitely headhunter material, I can feel it."

He laughed, "I suppose you are the one with the hunter's eye, so shall we find her?"

The large monstrous beast dropped to a knee and placed his paw on the ground, "I shall track her tomorrow, for now I wish to drink and tomorrow we hunt!"

"Calm yourself Rengar," came the British accent from under her cloak, "suppose we do pick this little girl up for the headhunters, what's your plan then?"

Nidalee smiled, "I know you've heard about it Caitlyn. That boy, the one we found, have you heard what he's been up to lately? He's been building an army of ninja, and I have a feeling this girl is connected to him. I want to see this little story unfold."

Caitlyn nodded, "I suppose. But that leaves the issue of what if she says no, or worse what if she's a Kinkou assassin sent to kill Zed? We need to be sure."

Rengar nodded, "let me find the girl, I have an idea on how to determine her threat level."

Caitlyn sighed then looked from Nidalee to Rengar, "well seeing as it's already been decided by you two, I suppose I have no choice. There's your mission for tomorrow, Yi I'm going to need your help tomorrow as well."

Master Yi nodded, "my blade is yours...for now let's enjoy this fine ale and fine company, huzzah!"

"Did he really just say huzzah?" Nidalee snickered at him.

"Is that not a customary cheer?"

Nidalee laughed harder snorting beer from her nose, coughing up a lung as a result, "oh...my...God..." she managed to pant out between coughs, "we need another round..."

Rengar cheered, and the four continued to enjoy the night unaware of the predicament Akali had managed to find herself in.

Cold water splashed my face violently waking me up.

"Good morning sleepyhead," came a man's voice.

My eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the dimly lit room. As I started to regain my senses I realized I was tied down, my wrists and ankles bound to a chair.

"Where...where am I?" I stammered weakly, I immediately felt the familiar weight of kamas missing, making me very uneasy.

"In quite a predicament I'd say," came the man's voice back at me smugly.

"What do you want from me?"

"Oh nothing really," the man walked up to her, placing a hand on my shoulder, and slowly running down coming to rest on my breast. I winced as he squeezed it hard, "nice, I like it."

"What do you want?" I asked again, trying to kill him with the poison in my voice.

He smiled, "from you, not much, maybe your body. The Ionia;s really make their women nice, keh keh keh. But what I really want are those twin kamas on your hip. Ionian, and if I'm not mistaken looked to be Kinkou. Those would fetch quite a pretty penny on the black market. Or should I say, they did."

"My weapons!" I cried out, writhing in anger under my constraints.

"Yes yes, it's very sad, but now we have no use for you, unless. Would you like to become a whore for Gangplank's crew? It's not as bad as it sounds, just dozens of men ravaging your body daily, keh keh keh. You can start by pleasuring me. Welcome to Bilgewater little missy."

I could never, and I spit at him, falling short but the response being well received, "that's unfortunate girly. You are quite an attractive one. Oh well."

I closed my eyes as the man raised another one of those long barreled cylindrical weapons, kind of similar to the one I had seen the previous night, but much more barbaric looking. I quickly formulated a plot. Was there any way I could kill him? How could I escape? A million thoughts raced through my mind, as I sensed my imminent death, although by what method I didn't know.

"Where are we?" I asked to keep him talking and give myself more time to think.

"The slaughter docks," he replied, "I suppose you're wondering how I'm going to kill you. Well I was going to use Betsy here, but I think a shotgun isnt a fitting death for such a pretty young lady. So, as a welcoming to Bilgewater, let me introduce you to our local wildlife. The slaughter docks have a lot of sharks and razorfin in the drink, and" he grabbed two buckets and dumped their contents onto me.

I almost vomited, it smelled awful, "what is this?"

He covered his nose,"chum. Don't worry the sharks love it. It'll be quick sweetheart, unless the razorfin get ya, then it'll be long and painful."

He laughed as he kicked me out the back of the warehouse. My stomach lurched as I watched the door close I raised my head to see the ocean was six or seven feet from where I had been pushed, and as I splashed into the water the chair smashed on a large protruding rock. I was quickly submerged and saw the first shark make a beeline for me. I looked around and saw the chair arm I had been tied to had left a slight jagged edge attached to my wrist. I gripped the wood as the shark approached, shoving the wood up through the roof of its mouth as it reached me. It appeared to work as the shark stopped coming, and i used the opportunity to clamber back up the rock the chair had smashed on previously. Tears streaming down my face as I watched the shark I had killed get devoured by a group of sharks which had come over in response to the blood. I curled my legs to my body and wrapped my arms around them.

"I'm never drinking again," I vowed.

"Really miss? A night of drinking left ya fish food in the drink?"

I looked up at the voice, a hairy man with a cigar in his mouth was looking over the side of the pier at me, "you want some help there little miss?" He called down.

I nodded my head, and the man obliged. He disappeared from view, then came back moments later tossing a rope down.

I grabbed it and began the climb to the dock he was standing on. When I arrived I rolled onto my back, panting from exhaustion. My headache was head splitting as well, I could hardly concentrate.

"Malcolm Graves," the man said nodding his head in greeting, "cant lie and say I've never had a morning like this before, so what'd you do? Steal something? Killed someone? Or just look at someone the wrong way?"

I shook my head no silently, I was too tired to question this man, "my weapons. He wanted my weapons."

"Ah I'm sorry to hear that miss," he responded solemnly, "whatever they are they are halfway to the Freljord by now.

"Freljord?"

"You dont get out much do ya miss? It's halfway around the world and on the northern side of Valoran. Lot of stuff going on there, i just came from there actually."

"Malcolm..." My voice trailed off and i winced in pain, looking down I was horrified by the large gash on the inside of my leg. I didnt even notice it, it must have happened when i hit the rock on my way down. The skin from just above my knee to just below my crotch had been peeled back exposing the meaty inside of my thigh. I winced as some of the salt water dripped into my leg.

"Jesus!" Graves cried out, cigar dropping from his mouth, "alright come on little miss we gotta get you patched up."

Without another word he grabbed me and picked me up using his arms to support my legs and the center of my back. With me in his arms he took off down the street, and I silently mused at the irony of the situation. I soon blacked out again but could faintly here Malcolm calling out to me to stay with him. I'll try, but I felt my consciousness slip for the second time in the past two days.

End of Chapter One

A/N: Hey guys I'm back with a new story. Unfortunately I lost my inspiration on the Betrayal series, so I started writing a new one with the hopes that it would give me a chance to really get back into it. As a result I've created this piece. This is my ninja story and this universe is not canon with my last two. I hope you all enjoy and please feel free to leave me feedback it's always appreciated.