Hullo, and welcome back to the story. I am only following Zed and Syndra for the two weeks he is gone.

I will be glossing over the more… in depth methods of training, as I do not know them very well yet. I'm still young, and I haven't gotten to go and train under the arts of Ninjutsu or Jiu Jitsu or Judo. All I've practiced is Karate and Boxing, and learned the concepts of Muay Thai and Aikido. I want to learn most of those other artforms, but until I do, it's mostly guess work.

What's more, I'll be making use of my T rating I've given this story, and using some swear words and whatnot. We have a rating system for a reason people, this is your ONLY warning, although your only warning SHOULD have been the big letter 'T' in the story details. I know some people need it spelled out though and this is me covering my ass just in case.

Also I'm so sorry about the wait, but a lot has happened, and I'm just glad to be back now. Rule of thumb, when I say that it won't be long till next chapter, it's at least a month. If I say it will be a while, it's a few days, tops.

That's pretty much it for the forward, sorry it was so long. Had a lot to cover. Not much else to say, but enjoy the chapter.


-Part One: The Choice-

Chapter 4


As Kayn walked down to the tattoo room to prepare, he thought back to how the week had gone. For such a short amount of time, his students made a lot of progress in combat. Most of them knew all the proper footwork and breathing techniques for their weapons of choice, as well as the basics of unarmed combat.

Most of them were injured at some point, but they were actually improving. Kayn wanted to get them tattooed and training the basics of shadow magic as quickly as he could, for Master Zed's return.

He had already been figuring out just how much shadow magic each student would be able to wield. Overall, nothing incredible. However they all could at least use enough to be useful in a fight, or an assassination.

He began reading the instruction book to the hextech tattoo needles Zed had bought, last time he was in Piltover. Before that, they had used the Tebori needles to embed the shadow magic to the acolyte's flesh, but the hextech device saved countless hours of time.

Soon, everything was prepared. His students were lacking in more areas then Kayn wished, but they did not have time to truly enforce those lessons. Two weeks was not a lot of time, and half of it was gone already. He could only ask Hakoda to make sure they all practiced hard in their off time. Most were lazy and did not. Kayn didn't blame them, although he was annoyed all the same.

He couldn't seem to really get through to these children. They wanted to learn, and respected Kayn, but couldn't seem to grasp the lessons he taught in their minds. He had tried a lot of methods Master Zed had used on him, such as setting specific goals, or focusing their energy on a single specific task, but they learned just as slow as ever. Kayn needed something else. He decided to give them their tattoos, as none of them were powerful enough to misuse the power yet, and he believed it would help encourage and focus the students. Make everything seem more real, and higher stakes then before.

Walking back to his room, Kayn thought to Rhaast, on his back. "So, you haven't seen a null-scroll in days, and I'm yet to see any help coming my way." He prodded, in his mind.

"Well, with an ego like yours, I'm shocked you haven't turned that fact into a complement for yourself yet." Rhaast said, verbally returning fire. "All the same, a promise is a promise. What do you need, best buddy?" Rhaast muttered, curious as to what Kayn's reaction to the sarcastic title would be.

"Best buddy? Don't call me that. That was weird. I know you are just making fun, but it's still weird." Kayn said, shaking his head to get the words off his mind. Many acolytes in the area turned worriedly to look at Kayn. As he noticed, he simply sighed and rolled his eyes. "NOW what will they think?" Kayn said internally.

"Yeah, that was weird for me to say as well. I agree, let's not do that again. As for advice, all I can give at the moment is you are being too broad. Focus in a little more." Rhaast said, sounding shockingly well meaning considering he is a murderous god-warrior who was corrupted and trapped inside his own scythe.

"I've tried to focus on a topic, but it still seems they won't grasp the lesson as well as they should. I don't get it." Kayn whined to Rhaast in his mind.

"Not a topic, focus on a STUDENT you idiot. Everybody learns differently. Free piece of bonus advice? Making that Hack-soda kid the leader was smart. From what I've seen, he learns best by teaching. Keep him as your assistant." Rhaast advised, rather sagely.

"Oh, I get it! His name is Hakoda, by the way. Although, I kind of made him my assistant by chance. He was the only one who didn't grab a sparring partner so I just had him help me." Kayn explained.

"So, your best decision in all the time you taught them was a mistake. Why am I not surprised, Kayn? Can you guess?" Rhaast said very dryly. For an aberration comparable to a demon, he was shockingly good at going deadpan.

"Don't." Kayn said warningly. "Not in the mood for your insults, Darkin."

"I was just teasing, no need to get all butthurt." Rhaast said dismissively. "Like I said. You are obviously in this for the long haul, and while I'd rather take your body as my own now and be done with it, that isn't what's happening. So I'd recommend we try to get along better. Just until I kill you." Rhaast reasoned, offhandedly.

"I couldn't agree more Rhaast. We won't ever be friends, but we don't NEED to annoy one another at every chance, even if it is more fun that way. So let's get along until I kill you!" Kayn agreed, being very clear about his changes to Rhaast's statement. "Thank you for the advice Rhaast, I will consider it seriously. I'll be leaving you in the closet while I eat, but no null-scrolls." Kayn said, pleased with how the normally volatile conversation went.

"Ugh. Fine. I may as well rest." Rhaast said distastefully. Kayn felt Rhaast's presence slip from his mind.


Weh'Le.


Syndra spotted Zed walking out of the tea shop before he saw her. She watched him look around the area for her, before seeing her wave him over.

"So, did they have the Spirit Tea?" Syndra asked her companion.

"Yes. Finally, a shop that was not out of the stuff. I hope we are not too late. The festival ends in two days' time." Zed replied.

"Well, unfortunately due to the war unbalancing the lands, there are far too many spirits who wish to come through, and far too few blossoms. I only hope you find what you are looking for, even if you won't tell me what that is." Syndra said, being lightly passive aggressive with her last comment.

"I'm sorry Syndra. This is not something that is mine to share." Zed replied solemnly. "I wish I could share. I really do. For now, I'm just glad you are here at all. Your support is appreciated."

"Oh please, we don't get many chances to see one another. I'll take anything we can get, regardless of reason. I'm always here for you, Usan. Like you are for me." Syndra said sweetly. A far cry from her normal self, she tended to open up more around Zed. He liked to think it was because she enjoyed teasing him, and that made her look almost approachable to an outside viewer.

Zed knew Syndra loved him, and he loved her. But love is not the reason he was here, even if he agreed with Syndra about taking all the chances they can find.

"Yes, you're right as usual. For now, I must go. I'll meet you when I'm finished in the spirit realm. And… thank you again for coming with me." Zed forced out. Syndra simply smiled and nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want me with you?" She asked for what Zed thought must be the thousandth time.

"Thank you, once more for the offer. But I refuse to let him see further into my soul then he already has. Knowing you would only let him hurt me worse, possibly even by hurting you. That won't happen." Zed spoke the last sentence with such finality that Syndra suspected he left out the words 'I won't let' from the beginning.

"Whatever you think will work best, dear." She said, in surrender. Syndra couldn't help but wonder who this 'He' that Zed had let slip was. Zed however dreaded his expected meeting with the late Master he thought of as a father.

"Particularly," Zed thought. "As I myself am the one who was forced to slay him."

"I'll be going now. I should see you back at the room?" Zed inquired of Syndra.

"Hmmmm… no. No, I don't think so, I rather like the idea of shopping. It's much more fun when nobody knows who I am and runs in terror!" Syndra said, a new gleam in her eye as she smiled mischievously.

"Ha! Well, I'll see you soon, all the same. I just need to wait for the screaming to start, and I'll find you eventually." Zed poked.

"That was ONE SHOPKEEP, and how could I know I had killed his grandfather when I razed that party of adventurers?" Syndra pouted. "I swear, it's like they thought I was some dungeon monster in some silly game. Poor fools didn't stand a chance."

"Yes, well. I'll see you soon, Syndra." Zed said, as he began to walk towards the secluded river. Syndra ran up behind him to hug him goodbye.

"See you soon Usan." She spoke, before heading in the direction of the town center.

"Down to the riverside… drink the tea… meet Kusho. Easy, right?" Zed thought.


Temple of the Order of the Shadows.


Kayn was annoyed. Today was the day his students got their shadows, and he was sure that would motivate them, and he would finally be able to truly get to them. They were certainly motivated, but he still couldn't get to them. And Fessa had stolen an item from everybody at least once. Kayn had immediately started teaching her as much about stealth as he could, and as expected, she was a prodigy. Today however, he was using her and Hakoda as his helpers and examples to train the rest of the class in stealth. It wasn't going well.

"No, you stay in the corner until they turn completely, or else you look like a fool, Jin Wu." Kayn sighed.

"But, Master? You told us that you need to predict your enemy and move before they turn completely!" Jin Wu said, completely missing the problem.

"Yes, when ATTACKING, and they are turning TOWARD you. Your goal here was to move unseen, not to assassinate me." Kayn spoke, exasperated. "OK CLASS, GATHER ROUND!" He shouted.

The karambit group and Kunai group were both in stealth that morning, while the Shuriken group did their daily fifty laps around the courtyard that the class had demanded of them. They would catch up that evening, skipping their chance for free time.

"Ok, so let me explain what Jin Wu did wrong. I should have explained this before, but better late than never. There are two kinds of stealth. Ionian stealth, when there are no bodies for the guards to find, and Noxian stealth, when there are no guards left to find the bodies." Kayn chuckled at his own remark.

"I have already taught you combat, and Hakoda has made sure you have sparred every day and sparred each of you individually. You can use stealth to gain an advantage in combat yes, but first I'll teach you how to sneak in the first place. No combat yet." Kayn explained.

"Yes Master." they responded as one. Kayn saw the Shuriken group file in the room.

"Fessa, your group is here. Why don't you brief them on what has happened?" Kayn instructed her. She nodded and walked to her classmates who arrived late.

"To begin, we will-" Kayn started but was interrupted.

"Master Kayn, why don't we just learn this AFTER we get Shadow Magic? It would be a lot easier and more straight forward" Asked Kade. It was obvious the boy didn't respect Kayn, although Kayn couldn't fathom why.

"Don't speak over Master Kayn like that, idiot!" Snapped Hakoda, who respected Kayn more than he probably should have. Kayn knew no reason why, once again.

"The dynamic between those two is mildly funny." Kayn mused to himself.

"No, it's a valid question Hakoda. If you learn this now, then you will not be the wasted speck of nothing that you are currently. If you lose the power over the shadows, what will you do? Wait for me to give it back, when you are two years undercover behind Noxian borders?" Kayn asked. "I should hope not, or else I would need to reconsider how worthless you already are. And besides, not all Shadow Magic helps with stealth. Some of it is more aggressive and some, like mine, is more passive. You must make whatever you can work for you." He explained, all in a very kind voice which didn't match his crueler words.

"Although, yes," He continued. "If you interrupt me again I will shove Rhaast up your ass. Blade, LAST." Kayn said, smiling happily.

"HA! He would probably moan!" Said Bhumi, always one to jump on a joke, funny or not. In this case, not. The class turned to stare at him and he turned away.

"Aw, screw you all, that was funny!" He said before the class turned to Kayn once more.

"Kayn, please don't threaten that, the idiotic boy isn't the only one who would be punished by that." Rhaast groaned.

"Well now I know what to do for your birthday!" Kayn said with only the most charismatic voice he could muster. The class began to stare questionably at him, and he realized he had never properly introduced Rhaast. "Er… right. This is Rhaast, he is my blade." Kayn said.

"What does 'Rhaast' mean, Master?" Kartu asked.

"Hm. That's a good question. I'm not sure." Kayn responded slowly.

"But Master, didn't you name the blade? And what's more, 'He'?" Asked Budi confusedly.

"Well, no. He, yes HE, named himself thousands of years ago. He is a Darkin, an aberration from…" Kayn paused. "Where are you from again?" He asked Rhaast.

"Originally? Shurima. And Rhaast means 'Obey'." He answered shortly. "Also, you were right to scold that mouthy one. It looks like he will learn after he respects, or at the very least, fears you." Rhaast said, trying his best to be helpful. It sickened him.

"Right! Rhaast can talk to me, and he said he is from Shurima, and his name means 'Obey'. Any questions?" Kayn asked. "Wait, don't answer that. I don't have many answers about Rhaast and he is normally unhelpful, although I appreciate the exception you have made today, Rhaast." Kayn quickly added.

"Anyways, me and Rhaast argue and talk, so don't worry if you see me talking to the scythe. And if you think I'm crazy, that's fine as well. Just know that even if I was crazy, which I'm not, it's only in regards to the scythe and has no bearing on my teaching." Kayn said all in one breath, eager to change the subject. "Moving on, you will all have made it across the room before Hakoda spots you by mid-afternoon or its 200 reps of the starter workout for everyone!"

They got to work fast.


Weh'Le.


After an hour, Zed made it to the riverside and sat among the blossoms. He searched for an hour more before he spotted it.

He saw a blossom glowing, and for a fraction of a second, he thought he saw Master Kusho's face in the glow. His old Master, before he had succumbed to the shadows. Even before Zed had pretended to kill his master and still thought his every word almost holy.

He picked the blossom and sat, slowly pouring himself a cup of tea. As he slowly drank, he tried to think of his best memories with Kusho, and even training with Shen, which never would have happened without their kindness. But all he could think of was how often Shen must have come here, trying to reach his father, not knowing he was alive until recently.

Zed felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, and strangely a primal instinct within him told him not to open his eyes. It told him to run away. He pushed these feelings down, dismissing them as his mind not wanting to face what he had done.

Zed opened his eyes.

Before him stood Master Kusho, or at least, Kusho's head floated in the air in front of him. He looked well. No shadows ran across his face, or beneath his flesh.

"Master!" Zed said, startled and happy to see his father figure in good health. Apart from being dead that is.

"Zed!" The late master snapped. "Zed! You insolent brat! I never should have brought you up from the streets you were meant to die on! You got me killed!"

"But Master, the shadows had-" Zed started.

"Not the shadows, idiot! YOU! YOU brought those shadows into my life, YOU convinced me that this was the right way. I left my birth son, and pretended to be DEAD!" Kusho shouted. As the last word left his mouth, a loud rumble shook the ground, from right in front of Zed. Almost as if Kusho had slammed his fist on the ground, but many times larger and stronger.

"Master I… I'm sorry, forgive me. You kn-" Once more Zed was cut off.

"FORGIVE YOU? I never loved you. I was wrong Zed, you were never my son. Shen was always better than you, and he always will be." Kusho said, harshly.

Suddenly his face swirled and changed, and it was Shen's head that now floated in front of Zed.

"Hear that, Usan? Or should I say GOVOS? I'm my father's favorite, and always have been. You aren't even his real son!" Shen taunted.

"Somethings wrong. Shen hates me, but would never sink so low as to this…" Zed considered. He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts by the face changing again, and another rumble. Almost as if a creature was sitting in front of him, instead of the heads of his past. He looked but saw nothing.

"Zed, you fool. You could never lead us properly, I'm following Master Kusho now. Prepare to die, old man." The head said. Recognising the voice, Zed snapped his eyes back to the face and was shocked. It looked just like Kayn. Zed shook his head in fear and confusion and stood to try and leave.

"You can't be real, any of you! Shen and Kayn… they are alive… what is this?" Zed shouted.

"I'm alive? How are you so sure, Zed?" Said two voices at once. The face swirled and morphed into Shen, but the left half of his face stayed as Kayn. "Maybe we died, and you simply are too weak to stop it, and too disconnected to care enough to find out?" Said Shen's voice.

"Maybe, we hated you so much, we died out of spite, as to avoid living in the same world as you." Kayn's voice jeered.

"No… you aren't real. KAYN! SYNDRA! HELP ME!" Zed shouted as loud as he could. The head threw itself back and began to laugh.

"AHAHAH! YOU IDIOT! They can't hear you, you may as well be dead. You soon will be, too!" The creature said, and suddenly something rumbled again. The beast came forward from the spirit realm where it hid its body.

Zed saw four large paws bigger than that of a Scaled Snapper, and furry as well. Thick, well muscled legs rising up to meet a body similar to a Zephyr Sage, but blood red and had small, sharp white spines all over it. A short stubby tail swung back and forth as it looked at its prey, looking like a cat's tail that had been mostly cut at birth.

As it got closer, he saw the face melt into an amorphous blob of features, and the creature laughed from whatever mouth happened to be morphed on to its face.

"FACE YOUR DEMONS, WEAKLING!" The Azakana shouted at him, and lunged.

Zed disappeared, leaving a shadow clone in his place, and tried to slash the beast from a distance, but when the demon stood up, Zed's shadow had gone.

The beast's sharp spines turned grey after standing, and tried to swipe at where Zed stood. Zed leapt up onto the creature's back and stabbed it with his wrist blades, but one shattered, and the other simply knocked some of the monstrous thing's spines off.

Zed felt the spines underfoot begin to rise in an attempt to hurt him, and so he jumped away, and placed a shadow behind to strike from. Zed and his shadow both launched massive twin shuriken at the demon, aiming for its amorphous head. Zed's blades simply bounced off the face it wore at the time, however his shadow shuriken thrown by his clone passed into it's head from behind.

It's face dissolved into a black swirling darkness, and the beast attempted to draw up a new horrific face. "FOOL!" It shouted, although it didn't have a mouth on its face yet, so Zed was mildly curious where the words came from.

Zed saw this wasn't working fast enough. It would take a lot of energy out of him, but he needed to use his Death Mark.

Disappearing into the raw shadows in the world around them, Zed rushed forward, into the beastly demon's body. It was difficult, almost as if the body didn't even exist. It felt to Zed like he was using shadow magic to invade the body of another shadow, as illogical as that seemed.

Reappearing behind the monster, he threw a cluster of shadows out to as many shadowed spots as he could muster. He was fortunate it was evening. It made it much easier to spawn his shadows, the darkness requiring less energy than forming them in broad daylight.

All the Zeds around the riverbank threw their shuriken simultaneously. Zed knew his own physical pair would simply bounce off again, but he didn't care. He saw how his shadow shurikens went into the beast's skin.

All but three of the shuriken struck true, and flew straight past the demon's flesh. All of a sudden Zed heard the familiar sound of his mark reactivating, and knew the creature would at the very least be very injured from the pain of over a dozen shuriken hitting, redoubled by his Death Mark.

Suddenly the beasts grey quills turned red, as its crimson fur and feathers melted into pitch black, the same color as the shadows Zed struck with. The beast grew in size, almost doubling its already intimidating height, and towered over the trees nearby.

It yowled triumphantly, and Zed expected more insults, but it seemed the amorphous face had settled into a frozen face of rage yet also euphoria, and was unable to move its mouth very much.

"It… grew? Did it eat my shadows somehow? This beast must have absorbed them. My blades cannot slay it and my shadows feed it. Can I run? This monstrosity must be fast, but can it follow me through my shadow teleportations?" Zed thought, words flying through his mind at an increasingly rapid pace.

The adrenaline of a fight, so familiar to Zed, was allowing him to stay focused and think quickly. He knew he couldn't win, and he simply didn't know enough about the Azakana to know if running was safe, but it was his only option.

As Zed built up the energy to teleport away, the beast leapt at him once more. Zed was forced to abandon his escape attempt to teleport a much shorter distance away, a couple of feet behind the monster.

"Damn it, the Kinkou are the only ones equipped to deal with these beasts! I barely even remember what Kusho told me they were called! Ha, probably for the best that Shen became the Eye of Twilight and not me." Zed thought, his tangent surprising him.

The demon, having missed his lunge cackled. Zed had been forced to dodge to a nearby point, and thus was in the creature's range. It's quills raised up and launched off in a surprise attack.

Zed knew he had no way of blocking the attack and hoped that his light armor, hidden underneath the traveling cloak he wore to hide himself, would take the hit.

It didn't need to.

A powerful gust of wind blew the quills off kilter and they sailed into a nearby stone, sticking many inches deep into it. Zed then knew for certain it would have wounded him, possibly fatally if he was extremely unlucky. At the very least it would have made the fight a lot more difficult, if not unwinnable.

He looked up from where the quills stuck in the stone, and saw a figure in white bandage rush across the ground and strike the demon with a red sword, and block a claw swipe with a more mundane metal sword.

The demon shrieked in agony and its face unfroze and took the shape of a handsome man, with scars on his face and a large amount of hair tied up over his head.

"Brother, don't! It's me in here!" It said.

"Do not lie to me demon, I know your falsehoods!" The man shouted, before dashing right past the monster, a trail of wind following and yanking the creature into the air behind him.

"Die, HUNTER!" The demon said, before letting off all of his sharpened spines. The man, who Zed could now see clearly had a red mask on his face, simply slashed the quills in front of him out of the air, and pushed his red sword into the demons ever changing face.

Suddenly the creature disappeared, and the man was left holding a very ornate mask, which seemed to have no face.

The red masked man, the 'Hunter' turned to look at Zed. He nodded, and in a swirl of wind, he was gone.

"I'm not sure if I bought bad tea, or I fought a demon… but that man saved me. I should get back to town. This… this was a mistake. That… thing, it took Kusho's face, and Kayn and Shen's too. It can't be real, I just need to work this out in some other way." Zed muttered internally, trying to rationalize what happened.

Zed looked down at his shattered wrist blade, and realized one of the shards and cut the back of his hand deeply. He hadn't noticed in the fight. "I fought a demon. Definitely not bad tea. So, THAT was an Azakana. Terrifying. And that man… seemed to know a lot more than the Kinkou ever seemed to know about them. I better just focus on my problems before I go taking on new ones." He reasoned.

Turning around, Zed started walking back to town. "I wonder how nobody saw or heard that. Possibly I was partially in the spirit realm? Not in the true realm, but half way there? Yes that makes sense."

Zed wrapped his sliced hand up with a torn part of his cloak. He needed to talk to Syndra.


Temple of the Order of the Shadows.


The students all seemed to be grasping stealth a lot better now that Fessa had gone first, and showed them some tricks she had worked out.

"Alright class, split off into your groups again, it's time for combat stealth. I want each group to take out both other groups, and stay as unseen as possible. The courtyard has plenty of hiding spots and is large enough and with enough obstructions that you should be able to keep some measure of secrecy about your actions from the other groups." Kayn said, leading his students to the mostly empty courtyard.

"These nooks and hidden areas are meant for us to use in case the temple is attacked, so this lesson will double as a defense drill." Kayn explained. "Are you all ready?" Kayn asked.

"Yes Master!" They responded. Suddenly an acolyte walked into the yard, and up to Kayn.

"Young Master Kayn, I have a letter for you." He said. "It was addressed to 'The idiot with the scythe'. I am not calling you an idiot of course, sir, I'm not!" He blustered.

"Thank you, James. I understand. Nobody else uses a scythe in this temple." Said Kayn. "In fact, it's rare to see someone use a scythe even in the other cells of the Order. Not that they are our allies anymore." Kayn mused.

As James walked away, Kayn read over the letter.

'Kayn, It's me. I want to talk outside. I'm in that tree that looks like a banana. -Akali'

"How odd… what is she doing in this area? She may not be Kinkou anymore but she knows the Order doesn't take kindly to visitors." Kayn thought slowly.

Kayn looked around, and spotted Carudyn walking around the outskirts of the yard.

"Cara! Get over here!" Kayn said, raising his voice. Cara walked over and looked at him questioningly.

"Yeah, Kayn? What's up?" He asked.

"I need to go to the forest, watch my students for a little while. Hakoda will tell you what's going on." Kayn hurriedly explained.

"Class, this is your substitute teacher, Carudyn. Back to the exercise. Hakoda, you are on the Kunai groups team for this lesson." Kayn said, before walking away, straight into the walls of the courtyard, and towards the entrance of the temple.

After a few minutes, he reached the entrance and stepped out onto the path leading up to the temple. He walked down the path for quite a while until he came to the forest that guarded the way up to the Yanléi's home.

Turning left, and off the pathway, Kayn walked past many gnarled old trees, many of which were very useful types of wood. Either for firewood, weapons, or even just being thick enough and uncooperative enough that nobody else wanted to try to do anything with the land. It made a natural border against the mass townsfolk who wanted to live alongside the forest. Of course, the random wanderer goes in alone every now and again, but they decide to go far enough to warrant capture.

The only people who ever made it past the forest, up the mountain, and to the gates of the Order, were those who knew it was there, or those who suspected and wanted to join.

After a short time, Kayn found the tree Akali had mentioned in his letter. He didn't see her, so he reached for Rhaast instinctively before remembering he had left him in the classroom, before taking his students to the courtyard. Kayn grabbed a shuriken from his pocket just in case.

"Akali? I'm here." Kayn said, testing the waters.

"And I'm not there. I said I was IN the tree, not NEAR the tree" Said a voice from above him. Kayn smiled and phased into the tree's trunk to climb quickly.

Sliding out of a slim shadow near where Akali sat, he nodded to her in greeting. "What's this about, Akali?" He asked.

"Oh not much, I just wanted to see how close I could get without anyone noticing." She said, grinning a small smug smile.

"Then why write the letter?" Kayn asked confrontationally.

"Oh, that. I just wanted an excuse to call you 'The idiot with a scythe', and imagine the face of the person who had to tell you." She said, snickering. "Was it funny?" Akali asked.

"Admittedly yes, James fumbled over his words trying to explain." Kayn said, adopting a wry smile as well.

"Anyways, what are you doing? I'm bored, and the Kinkou don't want to hire me right now. Can't find any decent freelance missions either." Akali drawled. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I split off from them, but I admit that I wasn't bored very often when I was with the Kinkou." She said.

"Well, I was training some students that Master Zed has put under me!" Kayn said proudly.

"Ah. So they're screwed. Got it." Akali said, completely deadpan.

"How rude. I'll have you know, Dae Hon can use shuriken more accurately then most masters I've met!" Kayn defended. "And Fessa is the stealthiest girl I've met at her age! And she has almost kicked her kleptomaniac habits!" Kayn said, revealing far more than needed.

Suddenly they heard crunching in the ground behind them, and somebody called Kayn's name.

"Bye, Akali." Kayn said, then turned. "OVER HERE, CARA!" He shouted.

Carudyn emerged from the foliage and rushed to him. "IT'S FESSA! You need to come, quick! Fessa slipped away and tried to steal that scythe you always mutter to, and now she is having some kind of seizure!" Cara said, all in one breath and turned to run back without checking to see if Kayn was following.

"Kicked the klepto-streak, eh, Kayn?" Said Akali's voice from the leaves behind him.

"Shut up. We'll talk some other time." Kayn said, and rushed after Cara.


Weh'Le


"And THIS is why I wanted to join you!" Syndra yelled, frustrated.

"I know, and maybe you were right about needing to confide in you as well. I am the one who killed Kusho." Zed grimaced as Syndra tied the bandage tighter around his wounded hand.

"I already knew that idiot. Anyone who knows the name 'Zed' knows that." She muttered angrily.

"No, not then. A few weeks ago. He joined me, years ago when I supposedly killed him. Stayed secret, and helped. But he grew power hungry, and my shadows corrupted him. He was a pure and good man. So pure, that even a taste of the shadows tainted him to the point of evil, much like a drop of dye can turn pure water to black." Zed told her.

"Recently he grew restless, and tried to steal all the shadow magic he could, and drank it raw. I was forced to slay him. I made the legend I built come true." He continued.

"And I assume you came here to make peace with your actions?" Syndra said, her expression softening a bit.

"Yes. But maybe the Spirit Blossom Festival was the wrong place to go. So much energy and magic pent up for years since the war, and it seems to be venting out all at once now. It really is no wonder that the Azakana are growing stronger, although I'm shocked one followed me, if it knew I was once a Kinkou. The very order meant to deal with threats such as them." He said, going on a small tangent.

"Yes well, maybe you need a more healthy way of coping with all of this. Like, for instance, TELLING ME ABOUT THIS BEFORE YOU GET KILLED BY A MINOR DEMON?" She said, smacking him with her pillow as she said the last part.

"Yes, I get it, I will, stop hitting me!" Zed cried. He knew she wasn't truly angry or else he would have been cast out of the room. Through the window. While it was closed. However she wasn't joking either and he knew he needed to confide.

As the couple laid back to rest, Zed began telling her what happened in the spirit realm.

Below the Temple of the Order of the Shadows.

"Congratulations," Kayn said. "you will be getting your shadow tattoos now. Unfortunately Fessa will be under medical attention for a longer time then normal, and will gain this honor when she has recovered and caught up. Take that as a lesson, and don't touch my scythe." He spoke, turning to face the students sitting in a circle around the hextech needle, and dark looking box. Even with the room lacking much light to begin with, the box seemed... too dark to exist. Almost as if somebody magically cropped the area it took up out of existence.

"Just because you have the magic doesn't mean you will magically be better, you will still need to train and practice WITHOUT the magic. You will still learn as normal, however you will be given work to complete after class as well, incorporating the shadows into what you learned that day. Additionally, I will be having a late night class to help master your own shadows, without the combat or weaponry complicating things." Kayn lectured. "Questions?"

Bhumi raised his hand, blank faced.

"No, you cannot get the tattoo on your penis." Kayn stated, without even looking at him.

Bhumi slowly dropped his hand again.

"Moving on, not all of you have the same limits for shadow power. I myself, can hold a great deal of it. This is due to many factors, such as my natural affinity with them, my mindset and motivations, and the age at which I achieved these powers. Some people are born with more natural ability over the shadows then others." Kayn explained.

"Most of you are around average, and can get a reasonable size tattoo. A few of you may even be able to hold enough shadow magic to enter someone's body and mind via the shadows. Only those who can command a large amount of power can do that, without self risk. Entering one's mind is a two way road. But that lesson is for a time far from now." Kayn said, stopping before he derailed his own momentum.

"Let's begin. Hakoda, step forward." Kayn said, powering on the needle.


-End Chapter-


Alright so, this took a while, however with Valentines coming up, a special chapter will be made for the occasion. Nothing romantic will happen, and nobody will get any more relationship plot building. I don't care for the holiday. However it is also my birthday, and as such, that is why a special chapter will be made. Nothing to do with that other holiday in that time frame.

My gift to myself is this chapter, and the next one done before my birthday comes around, and MAYBE to have finished off the brunt of this teaching students arc.

Anywho, I hope you have all enjoyed and frankly I enjoy writing this. I should do it more often…

Also for context as to just how long this chapter took(due to my hectic and very poor scheduling ability and lack of a sense of time), I started it in October 2020, and said I didn't know Jiu Jitsu, and finished it in February 2021 when I am currently learning Jiu Jitsu. I'm still a white belt, so I suck, but better than nothing. And I won't quit until I'm a black belt.

Goodbye, and see you in my birthday chapter(which will have a little gift at the end for you loyal readers who didn't abandon me after the first month or so of dead air), chapter 5.