Being on patrol was something Quinn always enjoyed.
She was a social and friendly person, but she valued the time she had to herself and with Valor, and she would always prefer the raw wilderness to ordered cities any day. Her structured life at the Institute had been dragging on her more than she realized, and she didn't know how much she needed a break until she was worming her way onto familiar paths so deep in the Demacian forest that no one but Valor could hope to find her.
The distinct chill the night air carried was invigorating, and even though they were technically working, Valor would continuously swoop low through the trees to make a pass over her head, letting out small chirps and coos of excitement. It made her heart soar to see the bird so obviously elated, and as they made their way down established patrol routes Quinn would occasionally whistle a tune to Valor that only they knew, waiting for his answering call with a smile.
This was the freedom the Institute didn't offer her- this is why she came back to Demacia.
She thought it was a little silly at first, being pulled back to simply be put on patrol again, but Quinn and Valor's skill was unrivaled, and she knew that Demacia missed the specific protection they had to offer. In truth, they covered a lot more ground than other people could and Valor himself was an invaluable asset, and there weren't a lot of people who took to ranging with the grace and enthusiasm that Quinn did. She loved what she did, and she did it well, and she really didn't mind being asked to take time away from the Institute of War.
The free time was spent doing more than just enjoying the company of Valor; she was, of course, on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary, but she was also thinking of her inevitable return to the Institute, and she was thinking of Lux. She thought of her friend being shipped off to places unknown for an undetermined amount of time, and how terribly quiet and empty she had been the past week. Quinn still didn't know what was going on or what had happened before they left the Institute, but she did have her suspicions; she fully intended on grilling Lux when she returned to the Institute, however distant that time may be, but for now she hoped her friend would find at least some ease to the pain that she carried.
Lux was no stranger to unhappiness, that Quinn knew, and although she wished she could be there for her, Quinn was confident that Lux was the most suited to pull through a dark spell on her own. She had so many times before when she had no one, time and time again, and Quinn thought of her best friend with a fierce pride.
Lux was strong enough to make it through anything- of that Quinn was certain.
It eased her mind a bit to assure herself, and to Quinn the night air didn't feel quite as frigid as before; the wind brought with it a new energy, a new promise of change, and a smile that no one could see tugged insistently at Quinn's lips, an expression of happiness all her own. As if sensing the mood, Valor let out a call that made Quinn wish she could join him in the skies, briefly joining her beneath the trees instead before flying off once more.
Rarely had Quinn ever felt as happy as she did right then.
It made the rest of that patrol that much more enjoyable; she felt very light as she traversed paths that she had made, deeper and deeper into a wilderness that only she knew. It was hours before she heard from Valor again, and it was only a short, brief little warble that wiped away a lot of her earlier lightheartedness. It was the sound Valor made when he found something and couldn't immediately tell if it was friend or foe; Quinn wasn't worried, exactly, but she was much more serious than before, and she shifted her little crossbow from where she'd had it resting on her back to a ready position on her arm. She allowed Valor to lead her farther into the darkness, guiding her to a spot in the woods that was not as black as the rest; the light she saw through the trees should not have been there, and Quinn expertly threaded her way through the foliage until that spot transformed into a small tent, all alone in the unforgiving woods.
Quinn hesitated in the thicker woods surrounding the little campsite, trying to quickly assess the situation before approaching the tent. It was in such an unusual place, too far from Demacia to be casual campers and too well-hidden for it to be a random place to set up camp. Quinn couldn't think of a single person that would want to be this far out, and purposely so, and she held her crossbow arm up while she signaled for Valor to come in close.
This was her job, after all.
Even more carefully than before she crept closer to that small tent, noticing now shadows behind the fabric, stationary except for the distinct outline of one person that moved once or twice. Quinn frowned, letting a low, near silent whistle through her teeth as she abandoned her cover and approached the tent.
"Hello?"
No matter what reason he had for being there, Talon hated being in Demacia.
And he wasn't even in Demacia, technically; more like traversing the stupidly thick forest outside of it, numbly clutching the map Lux had provided and trying to will warmth that didn't exist into his extremities. He had planned for frigid weather, but thick clothes and his cloak did very little to assuage the cold and every breath fanned out in front of him, and it was a constant effort to keep his fingers from growing stiff beneath his gloves. It was a good distraction, at first, to obsessively check Lux's letter and make absolutely certain he was going in the right direction (even though he knew he was, because Lux's directions were painfully simple to follow) but the sun was dropping from the sky at an increasingly rapid rate, and soon all Talon had to go by was the silvery light of the moon.
He wasn't usually so uncomfortable being in unfamiliar territory (that was certainly nothing new to him) but he eyed the night around him with cautious eyes, warily keeping his head down and his pace swift. It was an unsettling mix of emotions, to be so on edge but at the same time almost painfully excited; Talon's anticipation had the entire trip from the Institute to Demacia to grow, and now that he was here, so close to finally seeing Lux, any patience he had was running dangerously thin. He needed to see her, he needed to know what she had to say, he needed more than anything to sort through the mess between them. It was a heavy shadow that hung over him, knowing that things were bad and not knowing how Lux was or what she was feeling or thinking or anything, and it would be an immense relief not to worry about it anymore.
That was what Talon was hoping for- some sort of resolution to the confusion, some ease to the anger and the hurt.
He was determined now, as well as excited; his silent path through the trees was faster, less wary, and he followed the last of Lux's directions until the inky forest was broken up by something other than moonlight. It was faint at first, just the slightest patch of light threading between the boughs, but Talon recognized the irregularity and made a beeline for it. The spot of not-night turned into a soft yellow glow, promising warmth and beckoning Talon closer, and he hardly even noticed when he broke through the tree line and into the smallest of clearings, because there was a quaint little tent that nobody but him and Lux could hope to find, offering the only comfort for miles around.
Talon could faintly see the outlines of indistinct shadows behind the fabric of the tent, and although they were in no discernible shape, his chest felt oddly tight and the cold in his limbs was chased away. He hesitated at the edge of the clearing, but reminded himself that he'd come all this way to see Lux and there was really no time for delaying now, and he crossed the last few paces to the tent, close enough now to actually feel the warmth of a fire. He lifted his blade-free hand to pull the entrance of the tent out of the way, stepped inside, let all that anticipation he'd been feeling melt away as he finally-
Came to an absolute, abrupt standstill, every thought driven from his mind as cold fingers of ice pulled the air from his lungs and replaced it with an emptiness that made every bit of Talon feel detached.
For one terrible, unimaginably gut-wrenching moment, Talon did think that the other person in the tent was Lux; slim, delicate features, parted lips that mirrored ones he had memorized. He had never, ever been so relieved to be wrong before. The woman in the tent was seated in a simple chair, dressed in warm, expensive clothes, chocolate tresses pulled away from her face and pinned on the back of her head. Her skin was pale, like Lux's, but upon further examination Talon noticed it was sallow and ghostly and lined with age, and stuck forever in a grimace of disdain.
Because that woman's throat was cut into a bright red smile, a bloody grin that taunted Talon for reasons he could not fathom.
It was surprise that kept Talon rooted at the tent entrance, transfixed by the scene that he could not possibly understand; he saw this woman, clearly wealthy and Demacian and very much dead, and he could only think that this is where Lux was supposed to be. This is where Lux sent him. He could never have been more relieved that the woman with the bloody throat wasn't Lux, but the only sense that Talon could make of what he was presented with was that wherever Lux was, she was most likely in the same situation as the woman he was staring at now.
Ice again filled his veins the longer he stood there, his feet stuck in place no matter how much his mind told him to run, run, run. He couldn't explain why he lingered; maybe he still stubbornly believed that Lux was going to show up, that she would explain to him who this woman was and why she was dead, but Talon was also aware that he was very far away from any safe place and that he was somewhere no one was supposed to know about, alone with a dead Demacian. No matter what had actually happened to her, he knew that this was not a situation that would be favorable for him to be caught in.
And he might have left right then, returned to the Institute in the hopes that Garen had news of where Lux was and if she was okay, except his thoughts kept repeating "she should have been here" over and over and the longer he stared at the ghostly corpse, the more and more he realized that things were so much more complicated than simply 'Lux wasn't here.'
It was that gash across the woman's throat, so clean and meticulous and careful. Practiced. It was a quick and easy way to end a life, and Talon couldn't help but appreciate the neat line of red that graced otherwise smooth skin- because he'd put that same exact mark on dozens of necks. If he didn't know any better, if he didn't know with absolute certainty that he'd never seen that woman before and that he was only here to see Lux, he would have thought that the wound was put there by himself. He had no trademarks, no giveaways other than merciless efficiency.
Something that someone had gone through a lot of trouble to replicate.
Still reeling from the relief that it wasn't Lux sitting there with her throat slashed open, Talon couldn't even begin to make sense of what was happening; there was nothing else in the tent besides the body and one low fire, and he had seen no one else on his way to the location Lux provided. It was very out of the way, deep enough into the Demacian wilderness that no one else could really hope to stumble upon it by accident. There was a reason that Lux had put this place in her letter- it was supposed to be difficult to find unless you were looking for it.
So where was she?
It was the question that kept repeating itself louder over all of the other ones racing through his mind, but Talon had no answers other than he needed to not be where he was. He had no way of finding out where Lux was, but the last thing he needed to was to be caught in Demacia, alone with a corpse that looked so convincingly like it was his. He took one step backwards, began to turn around and run back the way he came when an oddly familiar and tentative voice shattered the night stillness.
"Hello?"
Talon whirled, cloak fanning around him as he turned to face the entrance of the tent, and he realized very quickly why the voice was familiar; Quinn stood at the mouth of the tent, holding one of the flaps up but not stepping any closer. From the look on her face, she was no less surprised to see Talon there than he was to see her. Her mouth popped open and a frown creased her brow, but whatever she'd been about to say died on her lips; her eyes flicked from Talon to the woman behind him, and he visibly cringed when he realized what she would be seeing. What it looked like.
"Quinn, it's not what you-"
At the sound of his voice, Quinn's eyes jerked back to Talon, and in a flash of movement he wasn't anticipating, she ducked out of the tent. He didn't hesitate this time, like he did when he first found the body; Talon knew that if he let Quinn get away thinking that he'd murdered whoever that was in the tent, he would have much bigger problems than wondering where Lux was. He sprinted out, catching a glimpse of her running form at the edge of that miniscule clearing and tearing after her.
He was at a distinct disadvantage considering that this was Quinn's territory and that she was every bit at home in these woods, but Talon was an expert at hunting down people who ran, and he did so now with a desperation he never had; he could tell, and she could tell, that he was gaining on her, and he paid no mind to muscles that screamed the harder he pushed them or the chilling air that had turned to knives in his lungs. He kept Quinn in his sights, put on one final burst of speed, threw out his left hand to catch her shoulder, and the second before he connected, Quinn spun around and leveled her arm at him, and the last thing Talon registered before running into her was a quiet hiss of air and a sharp, terrible pain as something connected with his thigh.
And then he ran into her.
He'd never tried to before, but Talon was especially mindful to keep the blade on his arm from unintentionally harming Quinn; it was almost impossible to pin her without really using one arm, but he'd hit her hard, and she was off balance after lining up the shot to his leg. There was a brief scuffle when they fell to the forest floor, but Talon had enough weight on Quinn to keep her pressed to the earth, maneuvering so that the knee of his uninjured leg was weighing down on the forearm strapped to her crossbow, the other one kept at an awkward angle because of the pain it was in. Straddling her midsection, it was easy for Talon to fit his left forearm against Quinn's chest, and as if that didn't make it hard enough for Quinn to move, he brought his blade to bear and very carefully pressed the tip of it to Quinn's throat.
That was when Quinn stopped struggling.
The threat was clear, even if they were both too breathless to speak; ragged gasps broke over both of their lips, and little white huffs filled the meager space between them. As close as he was, Talon could clearly see Quinn's eyes, wide with fear and anger, and how they flicked continuously between his face and his blade.
He had a feeling this was not the way he was going to convince Quinn that he was innocent.
He didn't move while he recovered his breath, but he tried very hard to ignore the fire in his thigh and a rib he was sure Quinn had bruised sometime in their fall, and in the time it took him to painfully gather his breath Quinn all but spit at him.
"Get off of me, Talon!"
She tilted her head so that it wasn't as close as it was before to the sharp edge of his blade, but they both knew she couldn't get out from underneath him. Actually, only Quinn knew that; Talon knew that the arrow in his leg was a lot more serious than he thought initially, because the longer he sat there making absolutely sure that Quinn could not escape, the colder his leg grew and the harder it was to keep it in position. Talon knew it was only a matter of time before he wouldn't be able to move it right, and Quinn would realize that she could get away.
Which meant he had to talk, and do it fast.
"Quinn," he said, still so out of breath and doing his very best to sound calm. "That wasn't me."
She didn't believe a word he said, that much was clear from her expression; most of her fear gave way to fury, and she gave a sudden jerk beneath him.
"Off! Now!"
The movement made his leg flare with fresh pain, and Talon grit his teeth as exasperation colored his tone.
"I don't have the time to chase you down again, Quinn! I need you to listen!"
This time, Quinn didn't answer; her breathing was a whole lot more even than before, and even though there was still fear contorting her face and anger twisting her mouth, she waited.
"I didn't kill whoever that is. I know what it looks like, but it. Wasn't. Me."
Talon tried to be as convincing as humanly possible, hoping the truth in his words was evident; he hoped that Quinn could see he was just as confused as she was, that he had absolutely no idea what was going on other than how bad it all looked. Again Quinn chose to stay silent, but there was a flicker of confusion on her face, and Talon took that as a sign that something about this didn't make sense to her, either.
"If I killed her, I wouldn't be here convincing you. I would have just killed you, too."
As if to prove his point, Talon pulled his blade away from her neck, holding it up so that she could see it was nowhere near her anymore. He didn't let her up, but she was visibly relieved when the cold steel was no longer touching her skin, and the doubt on her face was much more pronounced. He didn't think that that was enough, that if he let her go right then that she wouldn't just immediately run off again, and Talon really couldn't go after her; already his leg was growing numb, and the rib he thought was bruised ached more with every breath that resonated in his chest. He was in bad shape, and if anything, he entirely relied on Quinn now.
And then he remembered the letter- if Quinn didn't believe him, she would believe Lux.
"I have a letter," he said, and he couldn't help the pain that edged into his voice this time. "It's from Lux. She told me to meet her here."
To Quinn, that probably didn't sound much more believable than him saying he had nothing to do with the dead woman; to her, there was no reason that Lux would ever have anything to say to Talon. She was terrified of Noxians, so why would she invite one to Demacia? And yet, there was no flash of surprise across Quinn's face like that was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. Of everything that had happened in the last few minutes, this bit of news seemed like it shocked Quinn the least.
She was very compliant when Talon removed the arm he had pressed to her chest and retrieved the well-worn letter from within his cloak, and since he was trusting that Quinn was doubtful enough by now not to run off the second he released her, Talon rolled off her chest and tossed her the letter. She moved away from him a little until she was sitting a more comfortable distance away, sitting up and rubbing the spot on her neck his blade had been touching. She gingerly picked up the letter, reaching around in her coat for a moment before producing a lighter and flicking it open so that she could read. All this Talon watched from where he was sitting, trying to subtly inspect the damage to his leg in the dark all the while keeping a sharp watch on Quinn, preparing himself to stop her should she try to run again.
But she didn't.
The letter was short, and Talon had it almost memorized by now; without context, he knew Quinn wouldn't know what it meant or why Lux was apologizing to him of all people, but she would see that Lux did ask him to be there, that the map she attached led right to where they were sitting. It was written in Lux's hand, it was signed by her. Everything Talon said was true.
But still Quinn frowned at this letter like she half expected it was fake, and when she let the lighter click closed darkness and silence enveloped them both. There was only the sound of Talon's ragged breathing, which he couldn't seem to steady. He waited for Quinn to say something or do anything, but she took her time processing the information, and the longer they sat there the more Talon felt the irrepressible urge to move.
"This doesn't make any sense," she whispered, and her voice was laden with doubt and confusion. "Why would she send this to you?"
Talon couldn't help the sharp sigh that escaped him, because he didn't have the time to explain to Quinn anything about him and Lux. Right now he needed her help out of Demacia, because he was too injured to leave himself.
"I'll explain that when I'm not bleeding in the middle of the woods."
He couldn't tell how much blood he was losing, but Talon wasn't going to risk it; Quinn made no movement to get up, however, and Talon was starting to get desperate.
"How long have we been here?"
Talon had absolutely no idea what that question had to do with anything; he tried to keep his frustration out of his tone, he really did, but the pain he was in wasn't getting any better and he couldn't make it out of Demacia on his own.
"Why does that matter?"
There was a shuffle in the dark, and Talon just barely caught Quinn shifting her position.
"I sent Valor for help when I found the tent. He'll be back with soldiers any second now."
Talon couldn't have possibly imagined the night getting any worse than it was already, but evidently it was possible. His first instinct was to run; if he had a head start, he could avoid any other patrols and get back to a train station outside of Demacia. Only Quinn knew it was him there, so feasibly he could get away and no one would know he'd ever been in Demacia in the first place.
Except that he was injured, and he wouldn't be outrunning anyone.
They both realized this, and neither of them moved despite how badly they wanted to seconds ago; they both knew it would be too late. Talon wasn't going anywhere.
Dread settled heavy and low in the pit of his stomach, because Talon had never been caught before; he knew what would happen to a Noxian assassin on Demacian soil, especially with that body. He couldn't run, and he very much doubted he would be convincing anyone else of his innocence.
"You can't run," Quinn whispered, as if he didn't already know.
He was going to be captured. Talon, who had never, ever even come close to something like this before, was going to be caught.
And he felt oddly calm, not panicked like he would have thought, and he ignored his labored breathing and the injured leg and could only think of one thing.
"Do you know where she is?"
It must have sounded strange, how even his voice was, and stranger still what he was asking for; he saw Quinn shake her head, and again that fear that Lux was hurt somewhere twisted deep in his gut, and painfully so.
"She should be at home."
There was so much confusion in Quinn's voice, because previously she was convinced that Lux was in Demacia- this letter filled her with doubt, and she couldn't be sure of where Lux was or what she was doing.
In the terrible silence that followed Quinn's answer, the previously still night air was broken up by the distant baying of hunting dogs, a noise that instinctually made Talon's muscles twitch, made his brain scream at him to move. He didn't, however; he took another breath, a little more ragged than the last.
"Hide that letter," he breathed, and he didn't have to explain why; if someone other than Quinn thought that Lux was involved with all of this, then Lux would be in just as much danger as Talon. If anything, he was going to keep her name out of it.
Quinn folded the letter and tucked it into her coat, slowly getting to her feet and offering Talon her hand. He hesitated at first, then cautiously accepted the help, painfully standing and doing his best to keep his weight off of his injured leg. Neither of them moved while the sounds of approaching dogs and soldiers grew ever so louder, but they faced each other in the darkness and there was a worry on Quinn's face that, although nothing else had, hit home just how much trouble Talon was in.
"Don't say anything to anyone. If you have no choice, then I found you, I shot you, and that's all we know. Do you understand?"
And Talon was hardly paying attention now because the noise that was distant before was crashing around them, voices and footsteps and dogs and all the sounds that filled him with fresh panic. It was almost painful for him to repress instinct and stand there, knowing full well that he was about to be captured.
"I'll find her," Quinn promised.
And that was the last thing she had the time to say before the soldiers surrounded them, before he was thrown back to the ground and restraints were tied around his wrists and he was dragged back to Demacia.
And what an unforgiving place that was for assassins with blood on their hands.
A/N: I'm attempting this "plot" thing, please don't make fun of me. I for one am a HUGE lover of cliffhangers like these, but don't worry, the next chapter is basically written. I just want to let you guys (Caroline) stew a little :^)
Reviews-
Talon- EwwwWWW you're not allowed to agree with him!
Guest- Thanks- I completely understand! If anything, this chapter was completely fine to skip because it was basically "we're all very sad babies who make bad decisions."
TheMIxKage- Oh ty ty. 1v1 ME IRL BRUH. Will do my friend ^~^
PikaPown- aww ;-; Thank you so so much! Sometimes I'm afraid I'm making her a bit TOO relatable (it's a little too easy to write about depression sometimes, ahh) but this way of writing Lux is so fun and I've enjoyed it so much, so it makes me so happy to read reviews like this. Thanks for the kind words and the follow!
BurningVengeance1719- I would agree with this review wholeheartedly (because I've admitted to that specific fault before) except that you posted it for chapter 24, one of the only chapters where Talon and Lux ONLY interact with other people and not once with each other. Also, in the first 200 words of the chapter Quinn says "suspicions that'd been picking at her for weeks." So yes, I know that champion interaction still needs work, but I'm not sure it applies to the last chapter? Thank you, though! I'm keeping it in mind for the future.
Ulcaasi- Aww, bb. It's the not sleeping bit that's the worst, which I'm sure you understand *^* Eh, home is just stressful. There was a suicide attempt in my immediate family recently and I've been struggling with depression myself for years now, and the stress of school and a family that doesn't get along just really gets to me sometimes. It helps a lot that you care, so thank you ;-;
He's getting his shit together, no worries. I CAN'T TELL YOU, SORRY.
Anthropomancy- Ahh, if you want context you'll have to read the reviews for yourself lol. It takes a while to type out responses, and it's hard to recap most of the reviews. Thank you!
iFireLightning- ooooh yay c: I definitely love you, and thank you! I'd pm you but I am honest to god LITERAL garbage and I can never keep up with conversations or PM's or anything for too long. But really, thank you so much. It means a lot to me.
Antonio - a Fanfiction Reader- I'm assuming you didn't mean for your review to come off as rude, but… Oh boy. I've said more than once that updates are going to be longer than you guys expect as a courtesy- I don't have to say anything, or provide any kind of warning. I just thought it would be nice to let my readers know to expect a lag in updates. And if me not finishing the fic makes me a teen/not a real writer, then so be it? I've said multiple times that I was going to finish the fic, but if I ever thought I would be better off or that it would be better for my mental health to stop, then I would. I love and appreciate all of my readers but this fic is not my priority in life lol. Again, I assume you weren't trying to be rude, but you really need to think about what you write before you post it.
Talon x Lux FTW- :3
JeffTheKiller- Aww, thanks so much! I was excited to write more, and thank you for the well-wishes ^-^
Met-a-mawr-fuh-sis- Same? Though? SAME?
Haylex213- THANK YOU ;-; That's definitely the goal here! I'm honestly baffled that this fic has the support is does already. Aha, another person against Ezreal! My master plan continues to unfold. Seriously, thank you so much! This review was wonderfully kind and so nice to read, and I really appreciate it!