A/N Hey guys! I haven't forgotten, I'm just really busy nowadays. But I will finish this! I promise!
The harbor was still smoking as Jhin and Jinx retreated into the Fyri forest. The setting sun's light filtered through the lush canopy as Jhin led the way back to his cottage.
Jhin had walked through the forest enough to know how to get though without making a sound, but Jinx stomped through with a smile of mirth pasted on her face. "Hey Jhin, when are we getting to your place?" She asked as she smashed a rather thick branch beneath her boots.
"It shouldn't be much farther." Jhin answered as he picked his way through the undergrowth. He pushed aside some branches and looked back as he let them go. "Just push your way through." He said as he saw Jinx level Pow-Pow. "You'll make too much noise if you try to shoot your way through."
"Aww, but there's nobody around!" Jinx pouted. "Why do you care if I shoot up a couple of trees?"
"Because then my hidden home won't be so hidden, now will it? I'd have to move. Again."
"You mean you actually have a house? I thought you lived in a treehouse or something."
Jhin chuckled. "I never liked treehouses. They always seemed so precarious."
Jinx's reply was cut short by a rustling sound in the bushes to their left. Before Jhin could stop her, Jinx swung Pow-Pow around and slung several rounds into the bushes, shredding through trees and foliage in the process. "I SEE IT!" She shouted as she swung Pow-Pow around to follow her target.
Jhin didn't bother to reply. He dove to the ground , and was rewarded by not joining the surrounding flora in their destruction.
After a couple of seconds of continuous fire, Jinx finally stopped. She wiped her brow and swung Pow-Pow onto her shoulder. "Phew, that was close Jhin! It almost got us!"
"What almost got us?" Jhin asked from the ground.
Jinx shrugged. "Don't know. But it was pretty big. It was like this big!" She spread out her arms to illustrate.
"Then why didn't I see anything?" Jhin asked with a hint of irritation.
"Well, you do only have one eye socket in that mask of yours."
An exasperated breath escaped Jhin's lips as he stood and brushed himself off. "Next time warn me before you shoot up the entire forest. The last thing I want is for people to know where I stay."
"Why don't you just shoot them? You do it a lot."
"Because if I just killed anybody who came to my home, then their friends would eventually get the hint and send a small army there." Jhin replied as he started moving again. He let out a sigh of satisfaction. "We are here."
"Let me see!" Jinx shoved past him and looked through the last layer of leaves, expecting to find a fancy house filled with artistic stuff. She was more than a little disappointing that it was merely a log cabin. "That's it? No wonder you travel so much."
"It is functional for my needs." Jhin said as he came up behind her. "Besides, this isn't Jhin's home. It belongs to Khada."
Jinx looked at him, her face wrinkling in confusion. "Isn't Khada your name?"
Jhin smiled beneath his mask. "As I am now, I am Jhin. Under the mask I am Khada."
"Ohhhh," Jinx said as she understood. "So you just change your name when you put the mask on?"
"Precisely. There is a village nearby. Just on the other side of the forest. It is called Grove due to its proximity to the Astral Grove, a mythical and enchanting arboreal paradise. I visit it often, people there know me as Khada, an artist living in the woods."
"What, would they turn you over to the cops if you showed up in costume?"
"There are no 'cops' here Jinx. Ionia is much different than Piltover. Scattered villages like this have security only among their own. The closest thing this nation has to regular security is the Kinkuo Order and even then they are, or were, more interested in preserving balance than solving real issues." Jhin towards his home as he spoke, and fished in his cloak for a key.
"Kinky order?" Jinx asked, barely stifling a giggle. "Maan, I wonder what their initiation rituals are!"
"It's Kinkuo Jinx. They are ninja."
"NINJA!" Jinx shouted in glee, causing Jhin to drop the key in the tall grass. "Ninja are like the coolest thing! Do they have smoke bombs? Can they turn invisible? Can they teach me how to chop a guy in half with my bare hand?!"
The barrage of questions only made Jhin more flustered as he tried to find the key in the grass. Only a frustrated growl was his response.
Only then did Jinx seem to notice that Jhin was irritable. "Watcha looking for?" She asked, bending down into the grass and seeing if she could find it.
"The key to my cabin." Jhin said as he ran his hands along the dirt, feeling for anything key-shaped. "I dropped it."
Jinx tsked. "You really have to take better care of your stuff. I wouldn't have been such a butterfingers."
Jhin gave her a single-eyed glare. "If you have nothing better to do, I suggest that you go to the door and wait for me."
Jinx rolled her eyes. "Whatever Mr. Grumpy." She sauntered over to the door and leaned in close to look at the lock. "Well Fishbones, what do you think of it?"
"Well, this seems to be a high quality door fashioned from fine Ionian Mahogany." Fishbones replied. "The grainwork here-"
"Hey know-it-all! I need to know about the lock! I don't care about what the door is made of."
"Um, it looks like plain iron."
"Hmm. You may be right Fishbones." Jinx eyeballed it. "Looks like it's made in a single piece. Custom made too. I know my locks, and this one isn't standard. Oh well, I've gotten into safes with better locks than this. You thinking what I'm thinking Fishy?"
"Actually-"
"Great!"
Jhin stood up at last. "Jinx, I have found the-" BOOOM!
Jhin's words died in his throat when the explosion occurred. Despite being nowhere close enough to the blast to feel anything, and despite the blast being much smaller than he was used to, Jhin was distraught. "key." He finished weakly.
Jinx gave him a smile as she put Fishbones away. "Don't worry partner! I got the door open!"
Jhin walked wordlessly to the doorway to inspect the damage. His grip on his key tightened. The fine Ionian Mahogany door was nothing but a pile of splinters now. The doorway was a little wider, and everything smelled like smoke.
"Hey, you had the key the whole time!" Jinx said, pointing to Jhin's key. "You should have told me before I blew up the lock. Oh well, learn something new every day!" She ran in with a whoop.
Jhin simply stood there in the doorway, wondering if taking Jinx as a partner was such a good idea. Sure, she was the embodiment of chaos to balance out his guardianship of order, but did they really have to live in the same house?
He walked in and made a note to have the craftsmen of Grove make him a new door. Preferably when Jinx wasn't around. He wasn't sure he could explain her pale skin to them. The superstitious among them might mistake her for a demon.
He made a sigh of relief when he saw the painting hanging on the wall opposite the doorway. Despite being directly in the line of fire it was undamaged.
Jinx already made herself home, kicking off her boots and lounging on the couch by the time Jhin walked in. The smell nearly floored Jhin. Being around Jinx in nowhere but open spaces before, he only now realized that Jinx rarely showered. "Gods Jinx! Take a bath!" He said as he tore off his mask to pinch his nose.
Jinx wrinkled her nose. "Eww, I don't need a bath. I'm not that dirty."
"When was the last time?" Jhin gasped as he removed his cloak and stowed his equipment beneath the floorboards.
Jinx thought for a minute. "Um, I'm pretty sure I got caught in a rainstorm last week."
"I mean a real shower." Jhin said as he started to remove his armor. "One with soap."
"Oh! Well then I don't think I took one of those this year."
Jhin turned his head towards her slowly. "Upstairs there is soap. Go take it and a towel and go to the lake two minutes away from here and bathe. Now."
Jinx raised an eyebrow at the demand. "Do I have to, 'Dad'?"
"Look, if you're going to be staying in my home then you will do your part to make sure people don't find out I kill people."
"What does my bathing have to do with people finding out your big secret?"
"It's a figure of speech. What I mean is you smell like a corpse."
Jinx made a show of sniffing her armpits. She shrugged. "I got nothing."
"Probably because you killed your olfactory senses long ago." Jhin murmured. He was clad in nothing but his black bodysuit now. Aloud he said, "Please, do it this one time. Trust me, for the things that we will be doing tomorrow we have to not draw attention to ourselves."
"But I like attention." Jinx insisted.
Jhin looked at her for a minute longer, then turned to leave.
He came back downstairs wearing casual Ionian dress and with a bar of soap and a towel in his hands. "Here, I went through the trouble of getting them for you, now please get cleaned up."
Jinx's eyes widened slightly when she saw him. "Wow. You do not look at all like I was expecting."
Khada smiled slightly. "My features are quite plain, yes I know. However I have discovered that my unremarkable features lend themselves to my work quite well."
"I don't think they're unremarkable." Jinx said as she opened up Fishbones and fiddled with him. "You look nice. I wasn't expecting you to look like Jayce or anything."
Khada didn't know who Jayce was, but he took the compliment in stride. As his eyes started to water an idea came to mind. "It's getting late. I have a guest bedroom you can use."
Jinx looked up from her work. "You mean, like a real bedroom? With a real bed?" She was genuinely interested.
Some small part of Khada felt pity on the poor girl for not sleeping in a real bed for who knows how long. But he was on a mission. "Unfortunately I keep the beds very clean. They are for clean people only."
Jinx immediately frowned. "But beds are meant for sleeping. They don't have to be clean."
"They are meant to let the human body rest. I will not stand to sleep in filth. It is a breeding ground for disease and I'm surprised you're not swimming with illness."
"You may not, but I'm totally fine with it."
"My sheets are clean and they will stay this way."
Jinx looked at him intently for what felt like a long time. Then her face turned devilish and she got up and bolted, speeding past him up the stairs.
Khada turned and frantically tried to catch up. It was too late however, as Jinx threw open the first door she ran into. Unfortunately for her it was a walk-in closet.
"Sorry Jinx. This is the correct door." Khada said as he turned the key into the guest bedroom lock to secure it closed. He then casually stepped to another door and dashed in, closing and locking himself in his own bedroom.
"Hey! Open up!" Jinx shouted from the other side.
"Not until you clean up!" Khada shouted back. Part of him feared she was going to simply blow the door up. The next half-hour felt like four times that long.
Soon he heard a knocking on his door. Bracing one foot next to the door to prevent a forced entry, he gingerly opened the door and was pleasantly surprised by a grouchy Jinx wearing a towel with her hair completely wet and straight, reaching down to her ankles. She wordlessly held out a hand for the key.
Khada gladly produced the key and pressed it into her palm. "You will find the accommodations most pleasant in the guest bedroom."
Jinx took the key. "Thank you." She said sarcastically. She then turned and walked down the hall.
Khada closed the door, eager to have a night of long-awaited sleep. As he climbed into his cozy bed and closed his eyes he heard a knocking on his door. Wondering what it was Jinx wanted, he got up and went to answer.
"The door won't open." She said simply, her voice tinged with frustration. "The stupid key is stuck."
Ah yes, Khada thought, That happens sometimes. "Let me help." He said as he followed Jinx down the hall to the guest bedroom.
Sure enough the door was still locked, only this time the key was stuck halfway partially turned.
Khada shook his head in amazement. He would need to get a different locksmith if things like this kept happening. He reached for the key and prepared to wrestle it out of the lock; he was surprised when the key turned easily. He pushed open the door and saw the room had evidence of Jinx.
He didn't put two and two together until he heard his own bedroom door slam shut and the sound of a turning key made his heart sink.
"Nighty Night!" Jinx's suddenly chipper voice shouted from down the hall. "Sleep tight!"
Khada was furious, but his anger quickly gave out to his fatigue. Willing to sleep in any bed at this point, he resigned himself to sleep in the guest bedroom. He flopped onto the bed and closed his eyes, resolving to getting his room back in the morning. Despite his cabin being a rather peaceful abode, Khada never felt like it was worth staying in for more than a few days, as his work required him to travel. He didn't mind, as he found his home merely functional. It was a place he could say he lived to answer any questions asked, and it gave him shelter and rest. Other than that he disliked that place. He had always found it incredibly dull.
Just another thing Jinx turned on its head. Khada thought as he turned over and went to sleep. I just wish she would stop making things exciting at my expense.
Jhin was back in the theater.
He glanced at the theater program, and was a little disappointed to find out it wasn't Soraka.
The swords-master of the winds will perform!
Surely his technique is a new art-form!
The curtain raised and Yasuo appeared, dressed in a traditional Ionian robe and brandishing a blood red sword.
Jhin wasn't particularly interested in the show however, as this performance was more at the request of his employers. He was however pleased to find Jinx next to him.
"This guy's pretty good with a sword." Jinx remarked. "Pretty boring though."
"Yes, he is a talented swordsman." Jhin agreed. "However his performance tomorrow will be his last and his greatest."
"Cool." Jinx mumbled past her popcorn. "Are we doing this tomorrow?"
"We are." Jhin confirmed. "Our show tomorrow will be extraordinary." He breathed.
"Want some?" Jinx asked, offering him popcorn.
"Of course." Jhin said, reaching for some. He took the popped kernels and sniffed them, expecting to smell the sweet buttery scent of popcorn. Instead he smelled smoke.
"Jhin, Jhin, Jhin, hey Jhin."
Khada awoke to Jinx poking him while whispering his name constantly. "What?" He mumbled as he turned over. It didn't occur to him to ask how she got in the room.
"Um... What do I do when this happens?" She pointed out the window.
He turned and looked out the window, and let out a choked cry of alarm. The forest was nearly an inferno. He looked to Jinx with a mixture of both incredulity and anger.
Jinx raised her hands defensively. "Don't look at me, I didn't do all of it!"