Chapter 9
Marcus has been gone all morning having a meeting with the Noxus high counsel probably discussing political nonsense, and that meant that there was going to be no training for Talon today. And what else could Talon do in the Ducouteau mansion but eat and sleep? Nothing else really, and that nothing else is what made him as bored as ever. Talon was laying on the couch starring at the ceiling, and tossing a ball into the air to catch it in his right hand. He let out a sigh of boredom. He was living in one of the finest and largest mansions in all of Valoran, yet there was nothing to do in it,
"There you are," came Cassiopeia's voice as she entered the room.
"Here I am," was Talon's reply. He sat up on the couch.
"I guess there's nothing for you to do since father's gone, right?"
"That's right, nothing at all."
"In that case, I was wondering if you'd like to go on a picnic with Kat and I," Cassiopeia said as she showed Talon the picnic basket she was holding.
"A picnic huh? Not exactly sure what that is, but it's most likely better than just sitting here. Alright, Cass, I'll join you for the picnic," Talon got up and stretched his back.
Cassiopeia smiled, "I'll tell Kat that you're coming along. You could just wait by the front door, 'kay?"
"Sure."
Cassiopeia walked up the stairs into Katarina's room and Talon waited near the front door. After a couple moments, Cassiopeia came back out and down the stairs to the front doors,
"She says she'll be right behind us. Come on, let's set up outside while we wait," Cassiopeia opened the door and walked outside followed by Talon. She pointed to a flat grassy spot in the sun, "We'll set up over there." When they reached the spot Cassiopeia pointed to, she pulled out a large, pink and white checkered blanket out of the picnic basket and spread it atop the grass. Talon and Cassiopeia took a seat on the blanket and set the basket in the middle.
"Now what?" Talon asked.
"We wait for Kat. It would be impolite to start the picnic without her."
After moments of waiting, the red-headed figure, known as Katarina, made her way to Talon and Cassiopeia. She stopped in front of the two and sat down on the blanket.
"Hey, Kat," Cassiopeia greeted.
"Hello Cassy... Hello, Talon." Katarina said, she made her greeting to Talon seem a little harsh.
"Miss Katarina," Talon said politely, ignoring Katarina's impoliteness.
Cassiopeia cleared her throat, "Ahem. Whose hungry? I got a servant to prepare three sandwiches for us," Cassiopeia opened the basket, revealing three ham sandwiches, some juicy fruits, bottles of water, and some napkins. She passed two of the sandwiches to Katarina and Talon, and took the third for herself,
"Thanks Cass," Talon said, taking his sandwich. Katarina just gave a smile of appreciation before taking a bite of hers.
"It's a nice day to be outside today, isn't it?" Cassiopeia said before taking a bite of her sandwich.
"Sure is," Katarina said. "Much better than the usual overly hot or overly cold days. Today it's just right."
Talon grabbed a water bottle from the basket and started to drink it, "This kinda feels like every day if you ask me."
"Really?" Cassiopeia asked.
"Don't listen to him Cassy. Lower class Noxians wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between gold or copper. Either would make them rich down there anyway."
"Kind of like how I can't tell if that was aimed towards me or not?" Talon said, playing along. An insult like that was hardly enough to offend him.
"Exactly."
"Kat... Can't you be a little nicer? I mean, he has been living with us for four months after all," Cassiopeia said with a little annoyance in her tone.
"Whatever," Katarina said after she finished off her sandwich and started eating one of the apples in the basket, "but I still don't see why you invited him to our picnic."
"Talon just looked so bored when I found him in the house, so I thought it would be nice to have him come along."
Katarina laughed at her younger sister, "You're too kind for your own good, Cass."
"At least being kind is better than being mean," came Talon after he finished his sandwich.
"heh, fair enough."
Cassiopeia giggled as she was the third to finish her sandwich. She took the basket and searched its contents. When she didn't find what she was looking for, she then remembered that she forgot to pack it with the other foods,
"You know what? I forgot to bring the sweets," Cassiopeia said as she got up. "Hold on, I'll be right back."
Cassiopeia made her way back to the mansion, leaving Talon and Katarina by themselves. Katarina finished her apple and tossed the core,
"So Talon, what do you do with father when you two leave every day?" Katarina asked.
Talon was surprised by the sudden question, but soon shook it off and answered, "He takes me out to train with him."
"Train for what?"
"He hasn't told you what I do yet?"
"No. He just told Cassiopeia and I that you're his personal assistant."
"Well, he wasn't lying when he said that."
"Then what do you assist him in?" Katarina asked with genuine curiosity.
Talon's voice suddenly became a bit deeper and more serious, "Killing people who don't deserve life."
"What?! My dad makes you kill people?" Katarina asked, obviously shocked by Talon's answer.
"Only the people your father orders me to kill."
Katarina calmed down a bit, then asked, "Do you like killing people."
"Not in the slightest. Taking someone's life is something I don't exactly enjoy to do, so I only kill when I'm ordered to."
"Does Cassiopeia know this?" Katarina asked, becoming worried.
"No. I figured she was a little young and innocent to know any of it," Talon said reassuringly.
"Whew... That's good to know. Promise to never tell her?"
"I don't plan to."
Cassiopeia came back out holding a box and set it down on the blanket, "I got the sweet- hey Kat are you okay?" She said as she spotted Katarina.
"Y-Yeah. I'm fine!" Katarina said. She looked a little pale, but quickly turned back to her regular color. "What's in the box?"
"I got Dad to order some cookies from a bakery called Sinful succulence. Weird name, but I heard that the baker's sweets were delicious!"
Cassiopeia opened the box to reveal an assortment of different cookies and cupcakes. She took one of the big cupcakes and bit it. Katarina and Talon both grabbed a cookie,
"Not bad," Talon said when he ate his cookie.
"It's actually really good," Katarina added.
"Glad you guys like it," Cassiopeia said. "We can have as much as we want."
Talon, Katarina, and Cassiopeia stayed out for a couple more hours. When they were done, they cleaned up and went back inside. Talon dropped onto his bed, bloated from all the sugary food he ate. The galloping of horses could be heard outside, and Talon looked out his window to see Marcus's carriage pulling up to his mansion. Marcus rushed into the mansion and immediately jerked open Talon's door. Talon jumped up off his bed in surprise,
"Talon, I need to see you right away. Walk with me to my office," Marcus said hurriedly.
Talon walked out the door and followed Marcus to his office,
"What's so urgent?" Talon asked.
"Have you ever heard of Demacia?"
"Noxus's enemy country?"
"Yes."
"What about it?"
"Demacia has established an outpost on the outer region of Noxus territory, and the other generals and I have been discussing a way to eliminate it."
"What does this have to do with me?" Talon asked, curious to know.
Marcus took a seat behind his desk and started to shuffle through a pile of papers,
"Well you see, all the generals except for me think that the best way to eliminate this threat is for an assault on the outpost, but both you and I know of a better way to deal it."
Talon then realized what Marcus wanted him to do,
"It would take too long for an army to capture the outpost," Marcus continued, "but one man, with the right skills, could find a way in and eliminate all the occupants that resided in less than a day." Marcus found a map of Noxus and drew a red "X" on the western border and handed it to talon, "You leave tonight."
"Tonight?! Why tonight?" Talon asked.
"The other generals plan on sending a portion of the military tomorrow afternoon. I want you to eliminate the outpost before they get there. It will take you awhile to travel to the western border, and a while to eliminate the Demacians. It's best you leave tonight."
"But how am I going to travel that far in just one day?"
"You will be riding one of my horses. It will get you to the outpost in two or three hours if you can keep it running with little breaks. I'll have the horse ready with some bags of food and water. You go get your blades and come out to the stable when you're ready."
Marcus got up form behind his desk to tell a butler to get a horse ready for Talon. Talon went up to his room and grabbed as many blades that could fit on his person. He grabbed his armblade and decided that he'd strap it on when he gets to the outpost. He hurriedly rushed out the mansion and to the stables, where he found a butler preparing his horse,
"Your ride is ready," said the butler.
"Thank you," Talon said as he jumped on the horse's back and placed his armblade in one of the saddlebags. Talon walked the horse to the front gates of the Ducouteau manor and saw Marcus waiting for him,
"Ride swiftly, boy," Marcus said when he opened the gates.
"Yes sir,"
Talon commanded the horse to a running speed, and he took off to the outer city. Talon rode for hours, dodging the busy streets and only stopping a couple times to give the horse some water and a brief rest. He finally reached the end of Noxus's walls and was now on its grassy plains. He spotted the Demacian outpost in the distance. He rode his horse swiftly, but quietly, as close as he could to the outpost. He dismounted and grabbed his armblade from the saddlebag and tied the horse's reins to a nearby tree. It was now dark out. Perfect for someone who wanted to sneak into a heavily armed outpost. Talon strapped on his armblade. He had to deal with the patrolling guards first, then he could get in. Talon stalked over to the two guards nearest him. He grabbed one of the guards and crushed his windpipe so he couldn't scream. He then delivered a knife to the back of his head, killing him. The other guard lunged his spear at Talon, but he was too slow. Talon stepped out of the way and grabbed the spear by the staff and yanked it out of the guard's grip, also pulling him forward in the process. The guard landed face down on the ground, and Talon gave him a hard kick to the side of the head, making sure he won't wake up. Talon moved on to the next group of soldiers. There were three of them. He could take them out easily. Talon threw a shuriken at one of the soldiers from afar. He went limp immediately. The other two soldiers started to freak out when they couldn't find their attacker. Talon used this as his advantage, and shadowstepped behind one of them and slit his throat wide open. Talon kicked him forward onto the ground. The other guard turned around and swung his sword at him. Talon grabbed the man's arm stopping him from swinging his sword and stabbed him in the stomach. The man let out a cough full of blood as Talon pulled his armblade out and let him drop to the ground. That was it for the guards on patrol, now he had to kill everyone else. Talon made his way into the outpost killing the two guards standing watch at the front gate. So far no one has been alerted about Talon's arrival, so most of the soldiers were either asleep, or on guard duty. Talon masked himself in with the shadows provided by the tents and a light from a campfire. Talon sneaked up behind a man on guard. He wrapped his palm around his mouth and pulled him into the shadows so no one will notice his death. Talon looked around at the campfire. Five Demacians were chatting around the fire and were totally oblivious to his presence here,
"-and then I told him that his new haircut was awful," said one of the Demacians, "but did he listen to me? Nooooo, I-" He stopped himself as one of the men suddenly fell forward into the fire. A dagger was imbedded into his back.
"Assassins," said one of the men.
The remaining four got up and drew their weapons, ready for an ambush. Talon jumped from a nearby tree and landed on one of the soldier's shoulders and cut his head clean off. The other three charged at him, but Talon kicked the headless body forward into them, making them stumble back. One of the men swung his sword horizontally at Talon's head, but he ducked under and kicked the man's legs out from under him. The man fell on the ground with a thump and the other two men attacked together, Talon rolled back onto his feat and impaled a knife into the hand of the man on the right. He yelped as he dropped his weapon. Talon swiftly got behind him and pushed him into the man on the ground. The third soldier thrust his sword in Talon's direction, but to his surprise, he was no longer there. Talon appeared behind the third man and threw a strike at the back of his neck, knocking him out. He heaved the man onto the other two and stabbed a sword through all three of them and into the ground. Sticking them together,
"What's all that racket?" a soldier came out of his tent rubbing his eyes. He looked around and saw the bloody mess Talon made. His eyes widened, horrified at the sight, "Everybody up! We're being- plfaugh!" Talon threw a knife into his throat, killing him.
'Great,' Talon thought. 'Now they're all awake.'
Talon quickly took a torch from the fire and lit as many tents as he could, cremating the people inside. Soldiers came out of the tents Talon couldn't get to in time and surrounded him,
"Hands up, villain," said one of the soldiers surrounding him.
Talon made a mischievous smile as he brought his hands up. The soldiers came closer too him to restrain him, but what they didn't notice was the several shurikens Talon was holding in his concealed palms. With a spin, Talon disappeared, throwing shurikens all around him killing almost everyone and injuring the rest. Those who were injured ran in fear for their life, but Talon was too quick. He reappeared behind one of the injured soldiers and gave him a fatal blow to his back, killing him. He then threw a dagger at another fleeing man, hitting him square in the spine. The last two remaining men turned around to face him. They were either brave, or stupid enough to do so. Neither mattered to Talon, they would die anyway. The two men charged together. When they came close enough, Talon disappeared again, then reappeared behind them and plunged his armblade into one of them. The other soldier turned around, but was too late. Talon stabbed him with a dagger to the heart. Both men fell to the ground, dead. Talon looked all around himself. There was no one left it seems. He killed every single one. The sun was coming up, and Talon collapsed against a wooden wall. Sweat covered his whole body. He hadn't realized how hard he strained his body fighting everyone at the outpost. The fires on the tents started to die down and the horrible stench of dead corpses started to surface. Blood painted the entire ground and the dead bodies. Talon's clothes were also soaked in his sweat and the blood of others. The next thing he could remember was complete darkness.
Talon woke up several hours later. He must have passed out from exhaustion. He stood up and noticed that just about every muscle in his body was soar. He made a mental note to not shadowmeld too much next time, as shadowmelding did use an extreme amount of energy and it could kill the user if used too much. Talon made his way to the tree he tied his horse too, but noticed that it wasn't there. The horse must have freed itself of its reins while Talon was storming the outpost. Now Talon had to walk back to Noxus, but he was tired and his throat screamed for water. Talon started his long walk back to the Ducouteau mansion. He has been walking for at least half an hour when he ran in to a group of Noxian soldiers making their way towards the Demacian outpost Talon was coming from. The leader of the group rode up on a horse towards Talon,
"You don't look Demacian," He said, "What are you doing out here?"
Talon took off his hood, showing his sweaty hair, "Take me back to Noxus, I took care of the Demacian problem already." He said exhaustively.
A/N: I think I may have made Talon a bit overpowered for someone who's still in his mid teens. :/ Oh well, he's learning from the great Marcus anyway, so why not let him take down twenty people who are twice his age. XD Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter and please review. I like reviews. :D
