Chapter 1: Misconceptions and Mercy

"Find the assassin!" That was all that she could hear as she darted through the darkened woods on the outskirts of the city. Katarina Du Couteau had been in and escaped plenty of tight spots already in her young career as an assassin, but she feared this mistake may have proved to be fatal. She was only 18 years old, daughter of revered Noxian general and legendary assassin Marcus Du Couteau, and the youngest ever Noxian commander. For all her brilliance she could still be immature at times and her petulance was the cause of her very predicament. "Why did I have to be so stupid" Katarina muttered to herself. The footsteps and shouting had died down so she decided to catch her breath and assess her situation in a crevice at the base of a large tree. Katarina looked down at the whole arrow that was lodged in her knee and groaned as the pain began to set in after her rush of adrenaline depleted. A long red streak had formed down her left eye that severely stung, a souvenir she picked up from her target. She was in a wooded area just outside the massive capital city of Demacia, the direct and biggest rival of her home Noxus. Katarina had been tasked with eliminating a Demacian Lieutenant who was marching on to Noxian territory, but her arrogance led her astray when she heard of a Demacian general in the area. Recognizing the chance to flex her talents, she easily took out the general only to find out that the original target marched into Noxus and destroyed a valuable military base. Katarina felt personally responsible for the loss and tracked the Lieutenant back to the very heart of Demacia where she found herself now. She had killed him, but was now under hot pursuit by a huge Demacian military contingent. She had been wounded in her escape and was now stuck in enemy territory. Moving quickly was becoming more and more difficult with the injury, and the chances of making it out alive were quickly declining. Katarina knew by now that the soldiers had surrounded the exits of the forest and would soon come for her. She was trained all her life to be fearless in the face of death, but now that it actually confronted her it was an entirely new feeling. She sat there unable to move, deciding whether or not to take her own life before she was tortured for information and then killed. Getting it over with quickly seemed like the best option, but it was still hard to accept. Her thoughts were disturbed when she heard the distinct crunch of leaves under foot. Even in her panic Katarina had made a decoy trail away from her actual location, so it was surprising to see a brain dead soldier able to actually track her. She sat holding her breath while the footsteps got closer, and she prepared to do what she could to avoid capture. In a flash Katarina darted around the tree and thrust her blades at the throat of the Demacian soldier. It was a simple and effective maneuver, one that she had successfully executed many times before. This unlucky soldier should have been dead before he hit the ground, but he was stunningly quick. Katarina's daggers instead met air as her momentum carried her past her foe. Before she could turn around the Demacian shoved her into the ground and kicked her square in the ribs expelling what seemed like all of the air in her body. She rolled over expecting to see the soldier with his sword drawn ready to finish the fight, but instead he was still. It was dark, and all that she gathered about him was that he was tall and had deep blue eyes, which the moonlight reflected off. "Crownguard! Did you find anything?" a voice demanded from the distance. Katarina fully expected this soldier to call his friends over to assist in her capture. "It was a false alarm! There's nothing over here, she must have escaped"

the Demacian yelled back. "I thought you were supposed to be an expert tracker! What should we tell the Colonel?" His comrade asked. "I'll tell him it was my fault and she must have escaped by now" "Crownguard the Colonel will have your ass for this if you tell him that!" "I'll deal with it". Katarina was shocked by this entire exchange. What did this Crownguard character have to gain by letting her free she wondered. While she was thinking of reasons why she was spared, the Demacian reached down snapped the arrow that was jutting through her knee in half and removed it causing her to wince. He then tossed her a roll of bandages and left his flask of water before jogging back the way he came. Katarina sat there and processed all that had just happened. The name Crownguard seemed so familiar to her but she couldn't understand why until now. The Crownguard family was one of the most powerful and respected royal houses in Demacia, and word had spread around the Noxian military of a skilled military officer from that same lineage. Garen Crownguard "The Might of Demacia", Katarina had heard the stories about him. The youngest lieutenant in the history of the Dauntless Vanguard, Demacia's elite fighting force. He was the same age as her, but had already earned a reputation as a brilliant soldier and leader. He was known to be ruthless and efficient, and had recently led a series of devastating campaigns into Noxian territory. Katarina should have felt grateful that he spared her life, but instead she felt enraged. It must have taken overwhelming arrogance to think he could just toy with her life like that. She hated being at his mercy, and she swore to herself that if they ever crossed paths again, she would show him who was really in control. Garen's mind wandered as he made his way back to his rendezvous point. If anyone in Demacia found out what he had really just done, he would be banished if he was lucky. Not even his connection with the crown prince of Demacia Jarvan Lightshield would save him. Ever since he was a child, the sentiment of hating Noxians was drilled into him, just like every other Demacian. But he could never understand why he should unconditionally hate anyone without a good reason. Garen believed everyone had good in them, and in Demacia this was a very dangerous opinion to possess. He made his way through the crowds of soldiers at the rendezvous until he found his commanding officer. "Crownguard, what's your report?" demanded the Colonel. "She escaped through the woods there was no sign of her anywhere" Garen offered. "I find it hard to believe that a tracker as skilled as you was unable to find any trace of a sloppy rookie spy. Maybe you aren't as good as they say you are. I sure as hell ain't seen you do anything special; you're just some upstart who got here because his friend is the prince." Garen took the insults unflinchingly. He was used to them at this point, the Colonel was a jealous man who couldn't stand the fact that Garen was likely to become the next Commander of the Dauntless Vanguard ahead of him. "Or maybe, your loyalty is just as flimsy as your father's and you chose saving some little girls life over doing your duty." The other insults Garen would take without reaction, but this one he would not stomach. "Don't ever question my loyalty or my fathers again." Garen said coldly. The Colonel was surprised by this response. He was trying to get a fiery outburst out of his lieutenant, but was instead treated with a cold, unfeeling, command. "I'll question whoever's loyalty I god damn want to!" The Colonel screamed inches from Garen's expressionless face. "I'm the Colonel of the Dauntless Vanguard!" "Yes, but you are not the Commander and likely never will be." Garen knew what he was saying would likely have severe consequences, but he decided he didn't care. "I heard you were once a great and respected leader, and you were on track to eventually command this unit. Now I wonder what they ever saw in you." "Have you lost your damn mind boy!?" The Colonel questioned threateningly. "Maybe I was right to question your loyalty after all Crownguard, just like your father, you insolent little shit. " Rage boiled within Garen at the slandering of his father, but he had gotten under the skin of the Colonel as well, this was very dangerous territory, but it was too late for him to back down now. "With respect Colonel, you're a vindictive asshole and my father is twice the man you ever were." "Is that so? Well I'm sure he would like to know that his son is doing so well on patrol duty in Bilgewater. Because that's where you'll be headed." "Yes sir" Garen replied flippantly before walking away. It felt good to say what he did to that dickhead of a Colonel, but he was pissed that it cost him his position. He fell in line and continued the march back to the Demacian capital city. As he walked he contemplated his decisions of the last few hours. Why didn't I just kill her? He thought to himself. Although he knew deep down he probably couldn't have done it even if he wanted to. She looked hurt and scared, probably around the same age as him, she was just stuck in this pointless conflict. She didn't deserve to die because of the actions of her higher ups. Garen didn't know it at the time, but that girl, Katarina DuCouteau, was someone he would regret showing mercy to.

Katarina limped towards the Noxian capital that finally appeared in the distance. It had been 2 weeks since she was almost captured in Demacia and she was glad to be back in familiar territory. The arrow wound in her knee was painful, but it had almost healed without permanent damage. When she approached the gates the guards saw who she was and immediately helped her to a healer. "You're lucky you escaped with your knee like this," the healer mentioned as she continued her treatment. Katarina laughed slightly in agreement remembering just how she escaped. Garen Crownguard had made her feel weak and powerless, and she hated him for it. She was thankful that she was alive, but was determined to show herself that she was in control of her own destiny. "Now let me work on fixing that cut on your eye." "Actually it's fine you don't have to" replied Katarina. "Are you sure? It will scar if you leave it." Insisted the healer. "I'm sure, sometimes it's good to keep a reminder of your mistakes," said Katarina. And a reminder it would be she thought, to be more disciplined and less emotional. After getting treatment Katarina made her way home through the streets of North Noxus Prime. The city of Noxus Prime was huge and expansive, to an outsider it could look intimidating and unwelcoming, but to Noxians it represented everything they valued most. Strength, power, courage, race and gender meant nothing to them so long as you could prove yourself. In that way, it was one of the most inclusive cities in all of Valoran, even more so than the virtuous Demacian capital. The city center had skyscraper-sized buildings with the Noxian grand general's palace positioned in the middle. This area was where all the royal houses of Noxus resided. The buildings were made of a lighter colored stone, which gave the area its nickname; The Ivory Ward. Katarina's ancestral manor, belonging to the royal Noxian house DuCouteau was located here. When she got to her grand estate, she was met by servants who ushered her through the gates. "Your father is waiting for you," the head servant of house DuCouteau mentioned. Katarina rolled her eyes "of course he is. Thank you for the heads up." She reluctantly entered the house fully expecting to be berated and belittled almost immediately. Instead, she was met with a warm embrace from her father. "Are you ok?" With a worried tone in his voice. "Yeah dad I'm fine, I thought we weren't supposed to show weakness like this." Her comment elicited a funny look from her father. "Kat, just because we are assassin's doesn't mean we aren't human. Besides, nothing is more important than family, not your loyalty to Noxus or anything else" he said decidedly. "But now I know that you're ok, what in the hell were you thinking? You had those orders for a reason." There was the Marcus DuCouteau Katarina knew so well. "I'm sorry, I saw the chance to take down a higher ranking officer and I took it. It seemed like the right play at the time" she insisted. Marcus looked unimpressed, "you disobeyed orders and failed your mission. I have no choice but to suspend you for the next few assassination missions." Katarina was stunned, "But I killed my target and eliminated another high ranking officer, if anything you should be promoting me!" She screamed. "That was only after your original target decimated your unit completely and obtained something very valuable from that base you were protecting" Marcus proclaimed sternly. "Wait what? I thought it was just a base, I was never told I was protecting something" Katarina was genuinely confused, the military base she was protecting just seemed like it was valued for it's position. When she looked over at her father he looked slightly conflicted. Eventually he sighed and said "Yes Kat, the base you were protecting had an ancient artifact that's said to have some great power or something. I don't exactly know, I stopped paying attention during this part of the meeting with the high council, but you get the picture. I was told that the artifact is only a part of a whole relic."

"So do we know where the others are or…"

"We're working on it, the artifacts seem to cause strange events in the areas they're located."

"What kind of strange events? And why haven't they come up before?" Questioned Katarina.

"Rifts to the void have been opening up and letting in some ghastly creatures. As for the second part of your question I have no idea. All I do know is that everyone in Valoran is after these artifacts now. And although I suspended you from action officially, Grand General Darkwill wants this done off the books, so I need you to go retrieve an artifact."

"From where?" Katarina asked inquisitively.

"The sulfuric flats of Zaun" Marcus replied.

"Ok when do I leave?"

"Now hold on, take a few days here to rest, and then go when you're one hundred percent."

"Alright sounds good."

Katarina didn't want to show it but she was secretly ecstatic. Sure it wasn't really being an assassin, but it was much better than being on the sidelines. She had a new sense of purpose now; finding the artifacts, and this was a mission she was determined to complete.