Chapter 12

The blood of the target's throat spilled onto the ground when a sharp piece of metal was slid across it. The target fell limp, blood still flowing out of the victim. Talon wiped off the blood on his armblade with a piece of cloth. He had been ordered by his master to kill this man. Supposedly, the now lifeless corpse was on his way to assassinate the Ducouteau family. Unfortunately for him, the assassin was the one who was to be assassinated. That seemed to be the last person on Talon's mental list of assassinations, so that meant that it was finally time to head back.

Talon left the body for the sewer rats and starving desperates. It would've taken him too much time to dispose of it anyway. This whole month, Talon has been taking out Ducouteau's enemies, which were mainly those who wanted Marcus's place among Noxus's high command and were willing to resort to killing him to do it.

Talon hasn't been back at the mansion for the entire month due to his targets being so far away. It brought back some memories-having to live on the streets again, except he had a goal other than just surviving another day. Talon looked at his arms, and frowned at how dirty they were. His whole body was covered in the filth that plagued the lower city. He will probably need a well deserved bath when he gets back to the mansion.

Talon made it back to the in the early evening. As much as he wanted to take a bath and have an edible meal, his duty as Marcus's personal assassin has to come first. He knocked on the door to Marcus's office to give him his report,

"Enter," Came a voice on the other side of the door.

Talon opened the door and entered the office. He closed the door behind him, knowing that his master preferred it shut. Marcus looked up at Talon and gave him a small grin,

"You're back," Marcus greeted. "I assume you finished your work?"

"I killed all of them. Just like you told me to," Talon said, standing in front of Marcus's desk.

"Good. Did you bring back Aego's prized blade?"

Talon pulled out a decorative golden sword. One of Talon's targets was a corrupted general that took his loyal portion of the Noxian army and (if it weren't for Talon) was going to take out the other generals until he was the only one left and became the grand general. He always carried the decorative sword with him, so when Talon had it in his hands, it was a clear sign that he had been killed.

Marcus took the blade from Talon and set it aside, "You outdid yourself again, boy."

"I only did what you told me."

"Yes. I suppose you did," Marcus adopted a serious face, "and now I need you to do something else for me."

"Yes?"

"I received a message from General Swain while you were gone. He has requested your service again."

"What does he want me to do?" asked Talon. He didn't seem too enthusiastic about his duty as a Crimson Elite, but his master wanted him to join the organization.

"If I knew, than you wouldn't have to go."

"Right."

"He did send you this, though. He wants you to wear it during Crimson Elite affairs."

Marcus pulled out a wooden crate from under his desk and placed it on top, in front of Talon. The boy rolled his eyes. The Crimson Elite just seemed to be getting less and less appealing to him,

"Then I'll take this up to my room, sir," Talon said before grabbing the crate and exiting the room.

Talon hauled the crate up to his room. He pried the wooden top off and inspected the contents. The uniform inside was mostly black leather with parts of it being dark red. A golden helmet was under it all. There were also pieces of black metal armor for his arms and legs. Talon changed into the new clothes, after taking a bath and eating a small meal. It fit nicely, and the style wasn't all that bad either. Now that he could get a better look at it, he noticed that the armor on his arms had streaks of silver on it. His chest had a strange silver design on it too. The red leather was also outlined with gold. Maybe it seemed a little flashy for an assassin, but it wasn't a terrible look for him.

Talon made his way out of his room and back into his master's office to tell him that he'll be leaving,

"I'll be going to Swain's headquarters now," Talon told.

"Indeed," Marcus said. He was too busy writing on official papers to notice the boy's uniform.

"Uhh, sir?" Talon asked. A thought popped into his head. "Do you have another one of those bladed capes I could borrow?" Talon went a whole month without one. Ever since he lost his in the fire, he felt unbalanced without it. Almost as soon as he got back to the mansion from Swain's pyromaniac problem, he was sent out again to deal with Ducouteau's enemies, so he couldn't ask for a new one.

Marcus looked up from his desk, "You lost your last one?"

Talon nodded, "In a fire."

Marcus rubbed his right wrist as if it hurt from writing, "I'll need to order some seamstresses and leather workers to make another if you want one exactly like the last," Marcus stood up from his seat and made his way to the ever-so-handy wardrobe conveniently placed in his office. "But, if you just want any bladed cape," Marcus opened the wardrobe and pulled something out, "then you can wear this." He put the cape in Talon's hands. The cape was of the same basic design as the last. Five strips of leather with blades at the end. Instead of brown leather, it was black on the outer side, and red on the inner. The metal blades on the end were much less bulky than the last, and they seemed sharper too.

Talon strapped on the new cape. It was lighter, but he felt a bit more balanced now.

"You can keep that one," Marcus said, "and I'll have a new one made for you when you get back."

"Thanks," said Talon. He was about to leave, but Marcus stopped him.

"Before I forget," He started, "I want you to use this instead of your usual armblade."

Marcus grabbed a rather skinny blade and handed it to Talon. The shape of the blade resembled the shape of a katana, but edged to a point rather than curved. Talon fastened it onto his arm. It fit nicely. He could tell right away that this armblade was meant for faster actions and less combat, as it didn't provide that much protection. "Try it out. I'm sure you'll like it. Now go, General Swain hates waiting."

Talon nodded again and headed out to Swain's headquarters. He didn't bother knocking on the door to Swain's office. Swain knew he was there. Instead, Talon just turned the knob and entered the room. Swain was standing in front of his desk, acknowledging Talon in the office,

"What took you so long?" Swain said in his usual tone. "It's been a week since I called for you and you decide to show up now?"

"I was busy doing more important things," Talon said.

"What could possibly be more important than your duty in the Crimson Elite?!"

No answer.

Swain took a deep breath to calm himself, "I was just about to send someone else on this mission instead. In fact, she's on her way here as we speak."

"So am I not needed?"

"If I let her do it alone, it might get done," Swain stroked the feathers on his bird. "But, if I send both of you, then the success rate for the mission will dramatically increase."

"I do better alone, Swain."

"It's General Swain to you!" Swain cleared his throat, "Ahem! Like it or not, you'll be working with a partner on this."

Ugh. "Fine. What do you want?"

"Wait for the girl to get here. It shouldn't be long."

A brief moment passed by before a knock on the door was heard.

"The door's unlocked," Swain said.

The door came open and a woman stepped in. the first thing Talon noticed about her was the huge rune-engraved sword she was carrying. Like Talon, she was wearing a black leather uniform with parts of it red. She had a golden headpiece with a golden shoulder piece. She was also wearing a large, silver gauntlet on her right arm that produced a bright glow.

"General Swain," the girl bowed.

"Now that you're here, we can start."

The girl noticed the caped man standing next to her. A few questions arose, but she decided to just ask one, "Uhh, General, if you don't mind my interruption: who's he?"

"Ah yes. I forgot the introductions. Talon, this is Riven," Swain said proudly, "One of my top soldiers in the military. She's only sixteen and she is already of the strongest Noxus has yet to see," Talon didn't know why he was introducing the girl to him. She was the one who wanted to know who he was, not the other way around. "Riven, this is Talon."

"Talon? That's it? Nothing else?"

"I wasn't told too much about him."

"Kaw!"

"...Right," Swain said, as if understanding his bird, "We've gone off track. Riven, you and Talon will be working together."

"I thought you said I would be doing this alone," Riven said.

"Originally, this mission was for Talon, but he decided not to show up until after I gave it to you instead. Both of you will be going now. We need this mission to be a success."

"Understood."

Swain cleared his throat again, "Ahem! As I trust you both know, Demacia is the enemy of Noxus, and it is our job to make sure it crumbles. It may be years before I can see a full-scale assault to bring them to the ground, but for now, we have to settle to just weakening their numbers and fortifications."

Riven was standing at attention awaiting orders while Talon just stood there, "So what do you need m- us to do?" Talon asked impatiently.

"I was getting there. Learn some patience," Swain said in his angry voice. "A spy has reported that a caravan will be escorting a Demacian diplomat to Piltover in a week, but that was ten days ago. I could only conclude that this diplomat intends to bring Piltover to their side. It takes roughly a week to travel there from Demacia, so you only have four days to catch up to them. Piltover, being the city of progress, would be in our best interest to keep neutral," Swain handed Riven a map of Valoran with a red line going along a road from Demacia to Piltover. "Your task is simple, somewhere along this road, there's a caravan escorting the diplomatist. Capture the diplomat, and kill all the soldiers within the caravan. There is already a carriage waiting outside. It will bring you to Piltover before the caravan does, and you can start looking for it from there."

"Yes, sir," Riven said, "but... everyone part of the caravan are soldiers, right?"

"I doubt anyone other than members of the Demacian military will be traveling with the diplomat. Now get the job done. Demacia cannot have Piltover."

Talon was already out the door and was heading for the carriage. Ugh, why carriage and not horseback? Talon hated carriage rides. The last one he took was when Ducouteau was picking him up from the streets and into the mansion. It was also the first time he ever rode one. Talon stopped in front of the carriage and was about to step in when he heard someone yelling at him,

"Hey! Wait up!" Riven yelled. She was just coming out of Swain's headquarters. She stopped in front of Talon and gave him a friendly grin. "We didn't really get to introduce ourselves back there. I'm Riven," Riven brought her hand up, offering Talon a handshake. "Talon, right?"

"That's me," Talon grabbed Riven's outstretched hand and shook it. "We should get in. It's a two-day trip to Piltover from here."

"Agreed."

The two got into the carriage and it took off. Talon took off his helmet and shook his hair. He didn't need it on for a simple ride. To Riven's standards, the assassin looked rather handsome, but she pushed this thought away. There wasn't a place for love in her life. It was considered weakness in Noxus after all, and being considered weak by others is the last thing she wants. The strong survive and rise to power, while the weak starve and die alone.

Neither one of the two made an effort to start a conversation. It was quiet, and the only noise was the sound of galloping hooves and the occasional neighing from the horses. Roughly two hours passed and it was beginning to turn dark out. The carriage slowed to a halt. The carriage driver gave the horses some food and water,

"We'll rest here for tonight, and travel the rest of the way tomorrow," said the driver. He tossed Talon and Riven some sheets to sleep in for tonight. Then went to set up a tent for himself.

Riven looked at the map of Valoran. They had just made it over the Ironspike Mountains, and without disturbing anything in the process. She put the map down and closed her eyes, falling into sleep. Talon did the same, knowing that staying up all night won't do him any good.

Talon woke up just before the sun came into view. He wanted to get an early start and get to Piltover as soon as he can. Riven was still asleep, but she wasn't the one who needed to get up. Talon stepped out of the carriage and shook the tent the driver was in,

"Wake up!" Talon yelled.

The carriage driver rolled out of the tent like it was on fire, "Augh! I thought you were a starving bear!"

"Good, you're awake," Talon said, walking back towards the carriage. "Let's start moving."

The driver packed up all his stuff and got back into the driver's seat. The carriage started to move again. Riven woke up to the sound of the horses and turning wheels. She pulled her sheet off and sat up straight in the seat,

"The sun is barley up and we're already moving?" Riven asked.

"If we started any later, than we wouldn't have gotten to Piltover until tomorrow," Talon said.

A few minutes of silence passed by,

"So what's the plan when we get there?" Riven asked, trying to break the silence.

Talon thought for a moment, "When we get to Piltover, we start on the road Swain said the Demacian caravan will be coming from. We're bound to run into them somewhere along the way."

"And then what?"

"And then we kill them."

"That's a terrible strategy."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Not that Talon cared. He knew his method of killing would work. It always has.

"Well, I'm sure that there are more than just two soldiers guarding the caravan, so we'll be easily outnumbered. We need a strategy," Riven started thinking. "What do you do?"

"I'm an assassin. I kill those I'm ordered to kill."

"And how do you kill?"

"I strike from the shadows where no one can see me. I go for a vulnerable spot that's unguarded by armor. When they are dead, I move onto the next."

"Then maybe we-"

"Riven!" Talon interrupted. "I'll kill them. You can just wait at the city."

Riven's eyes widened. She took Talon's orders as an insult, "What? You want me to wait for you to do all the work? That's stupid! Why am I even coming along then?"

"I never asked for you to come. That was Swain's idea," Talon let out a deep breath. "I could do this alone. I don't need your help."

"We're supposed to be a team for this, Talon. General Swain ordered us to work together, as teammates."

Talon's voice started to rise a little, "The last person I teamed up with, I ended up taking his life! Teammates just get in your way, and they will eventually get you killed. His mistakes almost got me executed. I barely escaped with my life," Talon let out another deep breath. "The harsh truth is, is that you're better off alone. Partners are just another burden that will drag you down. It's why I work alone."

Riven looked away for a moment. Is this guy serious? Teammates aren't really like that, are they? No. No they, aren't. "You're wrong," the girl said. "Sure, maybe sometimes a partner could get in the way and possibly get you both in trouble. But the reason people form partnerships is so they could watch each others backs. To help pull the one another out of harm's way. To help each other... And maybe that partnership could become a friendship," Riven hesitated, trying to think of another idea. "Didn't your old teammate ever help you out?"

In fact, he did. Kavyn did help Talon escape angry merchants he stole from sometimes, and he also gave him a decent place to sleep when he needed one. It was just all the things Kavyn didn't do as a teammate that made Talon dislike partnerships. "...You can come, but I'm not going to burden myself with watching your back."

Riven seeing that Talon got her point, smiled, "I'll be watching yours though."

Within a few hours, the carriage finally arrived in Piltover. The city looked much different than Noxus. Cleaner would be the first thing that would come to mind. The people seemed different too. Unlike Noxus, the city that is driven by power, Piltover's people aim to improve technology and broaden their minds. The security here was also... tight, to say the least, but not tight enough for Talon, who was able to slip himself (and Riven) inside without alerting any police.

"We're inside," Riven said. "Now we need to find where the-" She paused. Her stomach started to grumble a little. Her cheeks turned slightly red. "Ah, maybe we should eat something first."

Talon was about to say "No," but he too felt his stomach growl. "Do you have any gold on you?"

"Um, no. I didn't think we would need any. We could just sneak back out and grab some food from the carriage."

"It would take too much time to get out and back in," Talon remembered his days when he was on the streets. "Stay here," he told Riven.

Talon spotted a couple people carrying pouches of gold. He mused on how the people her were far less alert than those who live in Noxus. This should be simple. Talon casually started walking next to a man who had a pouch of gold coins strapped around his waist. He took a knife and made a cut at the bottom of the pouch, spilling all the gold in it. Talon had his hand out under the severed pouch and caught all the gold that fell out. The unlucky fool didn't notice anything, so Talon turned around and headed back to where Riven was waiting.

"Where did you get that?" Riven asked, pointing to the handful of gold in Talon's hand.

"Are you hungry?" Talon gestured to a nearby restaurant.

"Yeah, but-"

"It was commandeered."

"You stole it, didn't you?"

"Do you want to eat or not?"

"...Yes."

The two of them entered the restaurant. It seemed more like a bakery, with all the bread around. On a counter were ready-to-eat deli meats and cheeses.

"Hey, kids!" a man behind the counter said, "How may I help-" he stopped himself. He must have been intimidated by Riven's giant blade. "Er, h-how may I help you today."

"Give us something you could make quickly," Talon said. Riven nodded in agreement.

"R-Right away."

He immediately prepared two loaves of bread and cut them in half. He slid in some of the deli meats on the counter and then handed them to Talon.

"How much?" Talon asked.

"I-It's on the house! J-Just as long as you take this order to-go." The man hurriedly ran out the back door. Riven looked at Talon in confusion. He didn't know either, so he just handed her a sandwich and went for the door.

"We can eat on the way."

An hour passed by of Talon and Riven getting to the other side of town to get to the road they needed to travel on. They probably would have gotten there faster, but they had to avoid guards and police on the way. Talon looked towards the sun,

"We have around a half an hour until the sun sets," Talon said.

"Are we going to camp out until tomorrow? Because they'll take two more days to get here."

"Swain was off . Look over there," Talon pointed towards what looked like soldiers on the road. From where they were, the soldiers look like tiny dots, but the shiny armor they were wearing made it easy to see them.

"You knew they'd be here sooner?" Riven questioned.

"It was just a hunch. We need to wait until dark now, so no one from here sees what happens."

"We should probably start on this road then."

They walked on the road and agreed to hide when they get close to the caravan. They were walking for around twenty minutes when the sun went down and they were getting close to the caravan. Talon and Riven went off the road and waited for them to draw closer,

"You ready for this?" Riven asked.

"Try not to get killed. I'd hate to be the one to have to tell Swain that he lost his prized soldier," Talon pulled out a throwing knife, readying himself for an attack.

"That goes for you too," Riven readied her rune blade. She was able to hold it in one hand with ease.

'She must have a strong arm,' Talon thought.

The caravan was close enough to attack now. Talon counted seven Demacians and two horses pulling a wagon. He could only guess the targeted diplomat was sleeping soundly inside the wagon. Most of the Demacian soldiers seemed tired. Perfect conditions for an ambush.

"Try and keep up," Talon told.

Talon dashed out onto the road, Riven was close behind. He threw the knife at a Demacian, and he fell as soon as it connected with his skull. The rest of the soldiers turned around and saw the assassin,

"Ambush!" One soldier yelled.

"Protect the caravan!"

Riven swung her sword at a Demacian. The soldier brought his sword up to try and block the attack, but the force of her rune blade was too much for him. The soldier's sword broke and Riven's blade crushed him, spilling blood everywhere. Two of the remaining soldiers ran towards Riven, weapon's raised. Riven dashed at them and released a greenish energy around her. The energy rushed through the two bodies of the soldiers, slowing their movements. Riven swung her blade at one of the soldiers. The soldier tried to move out of the way, but his body wouldn't listen. His torso was removed from his legs before he could react, and he fell dead. The second soldier shook off the energy that refused to let him move, and jumped at the girl. Riven sidestepped his swing, and with a swing of her own, jumped into the air and slammed down on the ground, wrecking the earth around her. The soldier was flung back as he felt the force of Riven's attack. He felt his spine break when he hit the ground. He let out a scream of pain. Riven made one more swing with her blade, ending the soldier's suffering.

Three of the other soldiers went after Talon. One of the soldiers was foolish enough to lunge at the assassin. Talon sidestepped his attack, then plunged his armblade into the man's back. Talon kicked his body forward and pulled his armblade out. The other two Demacians attacked at the same time. Talon blocked one sword with his armblade, and the other with a knife. He pushed both of the weapons aside and disappeared. The two soldiers swung their heads, trying to locate where the assassin was. One of the soldiers suddenly fell over, a knife was imbedded in his neck. Talon appeared behind the last soldier and brought his armblade around his throat. He swiftly cut open his neck and let the corpse fall to the ground.

"That was easier than I expected," Riven said, cleaning the blood on her rune blade with the grass on the ground.

Talon stood in front of the wagon. The horses must have freaked out and ran off, leaving the wagon here. Talon swung open the door, and there he was. The Diplomat was cowering in the corner of the wagon. Talon delivered a hard punch to the side of the diplomatists head, knocking him out, "Swain wanted him alive, right?" Talon asked.

"I think so."

"Let's get him back to the carriage then," Talon lugged his body out of the wagon. He noticed a letter inside. He took it, thinking that it might be a letter to Piltover requesting their aid.

The two Noxians made their way back to the carriage. Talon set the diplomat inside, and ordered the driver to head back to Noxus,

"Good job, Talon," Riven said. "You killed those three Demacians easily."

"I suppose you did a good job too," Talon said. "Handling the rest of them."

The next day, they made it back to Noxus. Both Talon and Riven entered Swain's headquarters. Talon dropped the body of the still unconscious diplomat on Swain's floor,

"Did anyone survive?" Swain asked.

"No."

"Good, we can't have anyone know that Noxus attacked them." Swain looked at the drooling body on his floor. "I'll take it from here. You two are dismissed."

Riven bowed and Talon went for the door. Riven caught up to Talon when he was outside,

"Good job, again," She said.

"You too. I'm going home now," Talon replied.

"Yeah, me too. Bye then."

Riven turned and went in the direction of where she lived. Talon made his way too the mansion to deliver his report to Ducouteau,

"...And that was it," Talon concluded his report to Marcus.

"So he wanted you to stop Piltover from joining Demacia?"

"Yes, sir."

"But what does he want with the diplomat?" Marcus trailed into thought.

"I found this with the him. Swain doesn't know about it," Talon pulled out the letter he found and gave it to Marcus.

Marcus looked at the letter, "...Are you sure he doesn't know about this?"

"Yes."

"...You're dismissed."

Talon bowed, then went up to his room to get some sleep.

A/N: Heads-up: I'll be making a long time skip soon. Mainly because I'm running out of stuff to wright while Talon is young... Oh! And one more thing: romance: we need to talk about it. I'm not quite sure who Talon's special someone should be. XD So I guess I'll give you girls and guys choices. I was thinking Riven, Fiora, or Quinn. Not Katarina or Cassiopeia because I want to keep them on the family level (so apologies to anyone who wanted to see that...sorry). I'm leaning towards a Talon and Riven pairing myself really, but I guess I'm fine with any of the three women I listed. Anyway, that's all.

P.S: I'm not a TalonxLux fan so I'll ignore votes for that pairing.

P.P.S: I love reviews!