Rise from the Darkness

Music Suggestion: Heretic- Avenged Sevenfold

Chapter 3: This isn't a tragedy. Its just a new beginning.

This fucking sucked.

No, really. Talon's streak of bad luck had officially just hit its apex.

As if his miserable life hadn't been difficult enough, fate decided to rake him over the coals yet again.

He just had to bump into her, quite literally, in a place filled with Noxian Generals and their finest soldiers.

He may be able to take a few of them out. But an army?

No. Chance.

So now he had come to an impasse.

Either he killed the white haired commander, causing the remainder of soldiers to kill him. He may be fast, but not that fast.

Or he ran, in which case they would surely give chase.

If he was in the slums, escape would have been an easy option. He knew every alleyway, every secret tunnel, every scalable building. They had long been burned into his memory.

But he knew almost none of the architecture of the higher district. And they surely did. They lived here, after all.

Fleeing would result in capture, and he had committed an enormous amount of crimes throughout his days. He would easily be sentenced to execution. Or worse.

Hell, even if he did get away, many people had seen his face by now, including the white haired woman who currently stood in front of him, staring incredulously at his eyes. He would have to leave Noxus. Permanently.

That simply wouldn't do. The slums of Noxus were his domain, his haven. They had not been kind to him throughout the years, but one does not simply abandon their home. Even Talon.

Besides, there was no other city-state he could move to and resume his current line of work. Demacia and Piltover didn't have a lower district like Noxus. At least not to the same extent of the slums. Noxus turned a blind eye to the crimes committed in the slums, because, well, it was the only way to survive down there. Hardly anyone had an actual source of income, let alone revenue. Stealing and killing was simply the way of life, and Talon thrived because of it.

Zaun was a dangerous wasteland, and although Talon considered himself a decent assassin, he didn't quite like the idea of living there. If he didn't die from the locals, surely he would from the poisonous gases that flooded the region.

Ionia? Forget that. They would skin a person like him alive since he would directly violate their preachings of peace and balance and all that other useless bullshit.

No, Noxus was the only place for him.

So what the fuck do I do? Every outcome possible ends in failure.

An idea came to his head, one that he would have to use as a last resort. The only shimmer of hope he had was to resume their conversation and pray that she would not recognize him. She hadn't seen his face, right? Perhaps there was a chance yet.

Deciding to bite the bullet, Talon left his thoughts and came back to reality.

…

"Huh?" he said plainly.

"What do you mean 'huh'?" Riven asked, glaring daggers into him. "Have you even listened to anything I've said for the last minute?"

"Sorry," He chuckled. "I zoned out. I get pretty nervous at these sort of things. Its actually my first time attending a ball like this."

Her face lit up. "So you're new in the military?"

"Uhhh… Yeah, you could say that." He put a hand behind his head.

"In that case, which General are you working under?" She asked.

And that was the moment Talon's heart sank.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuck. Think think think. THINK!

He tried to will his mind to think of a famous General. Any would do. But he had lived on the streets all his life. Reading and hearing stories about famous Generals was a luxury he could not afford.

"Uhhhh…" He trailed off.

"It isn't a difficult question. " Riven said, getting more and more suspicious.

"Well, I…"

Slowly, her hands made their way to her sword's hilt. A brief look of shock crossed her face as she felt nothing but cold air by her side. She had worn a dress to this event, and even though she had wanted to bring her sword, Swain had told her it would be a breach of chivalry.

She really regretted that she hadn't brung it now, when the man responsible with her friends' gruesome deaths stood before her.

"You know, I thought you looked really familiar when I saw you."

Talon slowly slid a blade from his sleeve and carefully into his hand. The girl had yet to notice it.

"When you actually engaged me in conversation, I thought there was no way you could be the man who I had initially mistaken you for."

His grip tightened, knuckles turning white.

"You almost fooled me, too. But those eyes of yours give it all away."

He staggered a foot and slightly put a bend in his knees, waiting, like a predator for its prey.

"But I can see it now. I remember you. You're the criminal that killed my whole squad, aren't you? The man Noxus want ever so much?"

He sprung, like a piston, and in a moment his blade pressed to her throat and his face was uncomfortably close to hers. He clamped his free hand over her mouth before she could say anything more and hoped no one had noticed. His back blocked the view most of the party had of them, so if luck could be on his side for just once, he may be able to pull this off unnoticed.

"If you don't do anything stupid, I won't kill you. I just want to leave this place, okay? Can I trust you won't do anything?" He whispered into her ear.

At this close of a proximity, she could feel the immense heat radiating off of his body. It was a stark contrast to his cold eyes.

She glared at him with angry eyes and murmured something that sounded a lot like "fuck you", but came out more as "shuck you" due to his hand covering her mouth.

He sighed. "Look, I get it. You must really hate me for killing your friends. Hell, If I had friends, I may even be able to empathize with you a bit. But don't call for backup after I release you. I can tell you're a woman with honor. Fight me another day on better terms. Don't reduce yourself to cowardice."

Her eyes still remained angry, but seeing that he had no other option, and coupled with the fact that the longer he held this position the higher the chances of someone seeing were, he reluctantly removed his grip over her mouth and slowly brought his knife to his pocket. He turned on his heel and slowly walked off. After a few steps and no incident, he smiled. Perhaps luck had shone down on him this evening. Perhaps once in his shitty life fate had actually threw him a bone.

But then it all shattered in one fell swoop.

"Guards! Seize that man!" He heard the woman yell from behind him.

He didn't even turn around to confirm if he was being pursued, instead choosing to break into a sprint and round the corner. He heard footsteps behind him and yelling, so he ran even faster, eyes looking for an exit. A pair of heavily armed soldiers came out from the door in front of him, so he did a 180 and was met with several other soldiers running towards him. To his side was a window, and although he was on the third floor, he decided it was time to do something desperate.

The window shattered as he slammed his weight into it and felt gravity's effects pull him closer to the ground. He barely had enough time to get his feet under him before he hit the ground with a painful thud. A cry of pain escaped his lips, and he grasped his calf which had a very large shard of glass embedded into it.

"He's injured, hurry!" Came from a guard who was staring down from the window.

Quickly, he pulled himself to his feet, and limped as fast as he could to the gate, ignoring the sharp pain in his leg.

…

"Riven!" Swain said sternly, voice edged with irritation. "What is the meaning of this?"

"General! Its him! The man from the slums!" She responded, exasperated.

Swain's eyes widened just a bit. "The Blade's Shadow…?"

"Yes! We have to kill him!" Riven said hysterically.

A smile crossed Swain's old features. "This is just too perfect. He seems to have fallen right into my lap." Swain cleared his throat. "Soldiers!" He said loudly, capturing the attention of the remainder of warriors at the ball. "It is imperative you capture this man! Alive! If any of you kill him, I will personally detach your limbs from your body and let beatrice feast on your innards! Are we clear?!" His voice demanded respect, and the soldiers most certainly respected, or at the very least feared, Noxus' most renowned general.

"Sir yes sir!" The soldier said in unison, then departed to search frantically for the man.

An exhausted guard ran up to Swain. "General!" He said, trying to catch his breath. "The man who escaped is injured. Seems he ruffed his leg up."

"Excellent. Riven, inform the squad leaders of this, then report back to me." Swain said.

"Sir? You would not have me out there looking for him?" She asked, confused by his decision.

"If you found him you would kill him, or he would kill you. Either way its a loss I'm not willing to take."

"Sir I urge you to reconsider-" She started.

"No, my decision is final. Follow your orders, commander." Swain said resolutely.

"Yes, sir."

...

Talon ungracefully came to a screeching stop in a dark alleyway. He looked around for any means of concealment, an abandoned building, secret tunnel, hell, he'd even take a putrid dumpster at this point. Unfortunately, the more civil side of Noxus didn't provide such luxuries. Building didn't get abandoned here. Rather, they were renovated quickly and sold to the next entrepreneur looking to start a successful business. Tunnels were unique to the slums, mostly due to the fact that almost none of the people here had any use for them. Dumpsters? These people held their heads way too high for such cut rate things.

He heard the shouts of men. They were close, very close. Feeling the dark grip of desperation, he attempted to scale the side of a building. Finding a foothold, he pulled his injured leg up and put his weight onto it. Immediately he was met with a burning pain in his calf. The shard of glass that had made its home in his leg had long been discarded, but the wound had yet to stop bleeding profusely. Trying his best to ignore the pain, Talon climbed half his way up the wall. But it was too much. It was all too much. His plan, the commander, the pain. He could feel his hands slipping, his mind blurring white from the pain.

Not good.

And then he fell. His hands skid away from the ledge and he felt himself plummeting. The fall itself wasn't too bad, but what came after was much, much worse. He landed on his lower back, and it took the brunt of the impact. His body rebounded off the ground once and then landed again with a sickening thud. The shouts had gotten closer, sounding mere feet away at this point.

He didn't care.

His world got dark, eyes teetering between squinted and closed. His ears rung a high pitch, deafening him. He felt warm liquid he could only associate with blood pouring from his back and down his legs.

There goes the warranty on this suit.

He vaguely felt hands grip him and drag him off, but he had no idea to where. It did not matter now. What only mattered was how he was going to escape. And escape he would.

His head spun as everything came crashing down, and then he was gone, faded into his subconscious.

…

"When can I see him?" It sounded more like a demand than a question.

"In due time, Riven. His wounds are still healing, and I instructed them to take extreme precaution for his treatment. We can't have him dying on us. At least not yet."

"I must see him."

"Why? So you can kill him? If this is about revenge-"

"I assure you, General, its not about revenge. I just want to speak with him."

Swain chuckled. "Good luck with that."

"What does that mean?" Riven asked.

"He hasn't spoken a word since he arrived in the E.R. three days ago. I've tried everything… Women, diplomats, war heroes. I even went myself. He does not talk, merely stares."

"Stares?"

"Quite. And, if I may add, with the angriest eyes I think I've ever seen."

"That's… unsettling."

"Indeed." The old General spoke. "But… If you really are honest in your words of not harming him, I can possibly have you see him later today."

Riven's face lit up. "Great! Where can I find him?"

"He will be moved into the N.C.C.C. AN: (Noxus Criminal Correctional Center) in just a few hours."

"What?!" She asked, taken back.

"Did you not hear?"

"No I heard just fine, but… General, that's the place we send some of the biggest and most dangerous criminals in Noxus, nay, Valoran. Is he really worthy of such a high security prison? Surely you know the other convicts will not take a liking to him. They may even try to harm him. Or worse."

"Do not worry, my dear. He need not be afraid of the other convicts." Swain's eyes gleamed. "But they… They should be most afraid of him."

...

Things had taken an interesting turn for Talon. He expected to be executed or recruited after being captured, but instead he was handcuffed to an operating bed and held captive in a hospital for the last few days. Tended to by nurses and doctors, bustling into his room with blank faces and empty stares. There were needles in his arms, drugs in his system, bandages over his wounds. He had yet to look at them, but assumed they must've been pretty bad. People had come to talk to him; he assumed it was some play by one of the Generals trying to get on his good side. Beautiful women attempting seduction, war heroes feigning friendship, politicians offering money. Do they really think I'm that weak?

Talon hadn't said a word to any of them. He didn't care if it may cause his situation to worsen by refusing to cooperate. He hated Noxus. The city reeked in malevolence and its denizens carried the stench of betrayal upwards. He always wondered when he would be stabbed in the back, ratted out, blindsided. The people of this country had no morals; Any piece of trash meandering the streets would gladly sell a man out for the money in his pocket. Not to say he was any better than them, because he wasn't. But at least he was honest about it.

That was all Noxus would offer if he joined their ranks.

Betrayal.

Death.

Failure.

That was all the city's inhabitants could do.

I work better alone.

That was how his day started, anyway. Around midday, a group of four heavily armed soldiers escorted him from the complex to a vehicle waiting outside. He thought of making a break for it, but decided against it since he had shackles on his ankles and wrists. The vehicle drove for about ten minutes until it stopped by a complex he knew all too well. The N.C.C.C. It was akin to a myth back in the streets, and when he was younger he would always hear stories of it being a place for the most dangerous men Noxus could fester. They say that it is where your soul is sent to die. Too bad for them, a soul was something Talon didn't particularly have.

The guards brought him in, had him change into an orange prison uniform, and guided him to his cell. He was sealed in tight behind several inch thick bars of iron. Didn't seem like escaping was an option. A hand on his shoulder alerted him of the other men on the room.

"Oi kid! Howya doin?" Came a husky voice. He looked up, eyeing his fellow inmates. There were three of them total, aside from himself. They stood tall and large, big and burly. Their bodies were covered in tattoos and scars and their eyes stared at him hungrily.

Ahhh. I see. I'm the new guy. The fresh meat.

A grin crossed Talon's face. A cocky, shit eating grin that could make the most calm of men irate. His new cell buddy didn't take to kindly to it. A heavy fist came down quicker than Talon expected and it struck him across the cheek, effectively bringing him to his knees.

"I'll rip that smile off yer face!" His voice boomed again and his two buddies gathered around Talon.

Talon chewed his cheek, testing the damage done, then spoke. "You guys are monsters…"

"Haha!" They laughed in unison. "Yer damn right about that!"

Talon's smile returned in full force. "But you have it all wrong."

The leader cracked an eyebrow. "Eh?! What's that supposed to mean, boy?!"

"You seem to think I'm trapped in here with you." Talon's words slid off his tongue, dripping with an eerie lack of emotion. "But that's not the case… You're trapped in here with me."

…

Riven's soft footfalls were the only sound that disturbed the hanging silence as she walked down the long white hallway in the N.C.C.C. Swain had stayed true to his word and granted her an audience with Talon, just the two of them. She had been thinking about it for awhile, and felt the only way to get closure on the deaths of her friends was to confront their murderer.

I should be getting close…

She rounded the corner and was met with a lone cell, fitted with hefty iron bars and 3 cots. The first thing she noticed was the solitary man sitting on a small chair in the middle of the cell, slightly hunched over, head hung low. She approached slowly, trying as best she could to make no noise. But as she got within a couple feet, the man spoke without lifting his head.

"You here to kill me?"

Riven did not respond, rather observed what she could. His face was not visible, but his dark brown locks were, and guessed they reached down to his shoulders. He had taken off the shirt portion of his prison uniform and tied it around his wrist. This allowed her to see some of his upper body. It had not been what she was expecting.

She thought he would have been scarless and unblemished, mainly due to his prowess in their fight. How could a man that beat her lose to simple street thugs? It never once occurred to her that perhaps the reason he was so strong might be because he had lost so much.

His chest and shoulders showed that he had lost, quite a lot. Long, jagged, angry scars adorned his arms, abdominals, chest, etc. Some had faded quite a bit, some looked recent. She couldn't help but notice the way they sprawled over his muscles, which were not anything to laugh at in the slightest. Another expectation of hers was that he must have been very athletic, after all, he did fight her for around thirty minutes. This assumption was correct, more so than she even thought initially. His arms were cut and defined, hardened after years of brutal work. His chest stood high, and his abs were nothing short of a 6 pack. If he wasn't a psychopathic serial killer, she may even consider him attractive.

That's not what I'm here for.

Her eyes flowed back to his left hand wrapped in his shirt. She saw a small amount of blood leaking from it.

"Hurt yourself?" She asked.

He chuckled a hollow laugh, void of any real emotion. "Nah, I'm not injured. Might wanna check on the other guys, though." He nodded his head slightly backwards, and she looked behind him.

What the fuck?!

Three corpses lay behind Talon, sprawled roughly across the ground. She must have overlooked it earlier because she had been so focused on him. The men were large and burly, looking like they knew their way around a fight.

"You did this?"

"They started it."

"You don't have to kill everyone who tries to fight you. Sometimes dealing mercy is more powerful than dealing death."

"Who are you to judge me?" Talon stood, his full height putting him a couple inches higher than Riven. He walked up to the bars, mere inches away from the commander, whom was very flustered now. "There are only two types of people in this world." His eyes stared intensely through hers with that eerie coldness about them, but she sensed a hint of a fire brewing in them. She saw just the faintest sign of anger emanating out of his chocolate brown irises. It was almost a relief, in a way, because he had finally shown some sort of emotion. His words broke her from her trance.

"There are those who live to die, and those who die to live." He said coldly. "Would you care to tell me which one you are, Riven?"

A/N: Sorry I'm a day late. We have Mardi Gras break (For those who don't know, its basically just a ton of parties and parades and drunkenness for a week) starting this coming weekend, and because of such, school has been piling on tests. Hope this chapter wasn't too bad, I'm not too sure how I feel about it. As you can probably tell, I'm diverging from Talon's actual lore and revising it. Sorry for all you Kat X Talon shippers, but they probably won't really have a huge part in this story. FYI, I'll be changing the title of this story in a day or two when I think of a good one, because I hate the current one.

Anyway, reviwerino pls. I live for your feedback.

-RDR