Author's note: Ehh, not my longest chapter. But at least I got it up on time (despite being sick). Hope you enjoy.

The two yordles stood in stunned disbelief at the sight before them, unable to take their eyes off of the prone form tucked securely amoungst the mounds of blankets and medical machines.

Finally, Haybai found her voice, "But, I don't understand. We were told he was dead."

Satisfied that the equipment was all in working order, Shen turned back to face them. "Yes, and I apologise for any grief that deception caused you, but it was necessary."

"Why?" the accusation was clear in Haybai's voice. The normally level-headed and respectful yordle's ire rising with a swell of protectiveness.

However, before Shen could answer, Nemr spoke up. "It's because of the assassin isn't it," he said, piecing together the information.

The blue ninja nodded. "After Chirik got him stabilised, we concluded that his best hope of recovery was if the assassin didn't know he'd survived. She's a very skilled warrior; good enough that neither Akali nor I are guaranteed to best her one-on-one. Now that we know she's here, we will be able to watch each other's backs fine. But in his current state, we would not be able to protect Kennen as well as ourselves for long. Eventually, the Noxian would find an opening and it would likely cost Kennen his life."

"So you made it seem like he'd died and hid him up here," Nemr summarised. The orange and black yordle narrowed his eyes in thought. "Who else knows about this?"

"Only Chirik, Akali and I. We figured the fewer who knew, the better his odds would be."

"So why tell us?" Haybai asked softly. The monochromatic female had moved closer to the bed, gently stroking the younger yordle's hair.

"Akali and I cannot risk approaching him with the assassin still around and as chief medic, Chirik can only spare so much time here before someone becomes suspicious. But we still need someone to watch over him, to ensure his physical and mental state doesn't deteriorate. You two are familiar to him and low ranked enough not to draw suspicion from other clan members or the Noxian, making you ideal candidates. Plus, I know you will take care of him."

At Shen's words both yordles gave him sincere and serious nods.

"You can count on us," Haybai promised.

"I know," the blue ninja responded. The earnest moment was ended as Shen briskly headed for the door. "I have to go now. Akali's distracting the assassin but I don't want to leave her there alone for too long. Good luck." And with that he left the small group of yordles alone.

Flipping, twisting and weaving out of the long-reaching weapon's range, Katarina tried to put some distance between her and the irate ninja. But Akali wasn't letting up, matching the assassin's speed and dexterity as they parkoured around the destroyed training field.

Now Katarina was starting to get a little worried. She was by no means a slacker when it came to close combat and endurance, but very rarely was she locked down in a fight with one enemy. Katarina excelled at striking quicker than her opponent, slipping past their defences before they could react. But with her anger boosting her reflexes, Akali was meeting her blow for blow, and leaving her with no openings, nor the time to creatively make one. And the longer this went on, the more likely it was that help would arrive. She needed to end this, fast.

However, luck was apparently not with her this mission. As she came out of a backflip, her foot landed on an unstable perch, sliding away with her sudden weight and almost taking the Noxian with it. Her hesitation, while brief, was all the opening Akali needed; swinging her kamas at the distracted woman.

Katarina looked up to see the horizontal blades cleaving towards her, knowing she did not have the time to dodge. Instead, she activated her shunpo device, dropping down into the instantaneous portal before the blades decapitated her.

A moment later, she landed on one of the support beams, out of sight of the confused ninja down below. Muting the hiss of pain that almost escaped her, the Noxian grasped her upper arm from where she hadn't quite evaded the last strike. The cut was wide and bleeding fast, but thankfully, it wasn't deep. She could deal with it later. Right now was her chance to end this.

Readying the device again to teleport to the green ninja's open back, the red-head froze as a familiar voice called out, "Akali!"

Cursing her bad luck as the Eye of the Twilight strode into the room, Katarina slowly started easing her own way out, deciding to look for an opportunity later. Right now she was tired, injured and outnumbered. Better to come back when she wasn't at risk of being so sloppy.

Akali's tense form spun at the sound of her teammate's approach, however, after a moment identifying him, her body relaxed just slightly. Shen's eyebrow quirked upwards (not that she could see it) at the sight of the destroyed training room before he asked mildly, "Feeling better?"

Looking around at the wreckage Akali shrugged. "A little," she answered honestly. Turning back to her teammate she got straight to the point. "She got away again."

The blue ninja sighed, "That was expected."

"How did your end go?" Akali queried as they started making their way out of the wrecked room.

"Everything's set up as planned. They'll take care of it."

Shen watched as the last of the tension drained out of his partner but made no comment on the almost indiscernible change.

"So what now?" the green ninja asked, turning her attention forward now that she was satisfied with the safety of their third member.

"Now, we go see Bear. I'm hoping he can provide some useful insight into the situation. Or at the very least, provide a safe place to plan our next move."

With nothing left to say, the pair found themselves travelling the short distance to Bear's forge in silence. The tense quiet finally broken when the massive blacksmith opened the door.

"Friends," he smiled, but it did not reach his sombre eyes. "Come in."

"Thank you Bear," Shen dipped his head as the two ninjas entered the modest house. "Are we alone?"

The specifics of the question went unsaid, but none of the occupants needed them, all too aware of who he was referring to. Instead, the giant's bright, blue eyes grew far away as he scanned the area. "The assassin is currently heading to the north edge of the village. No one is eavesdropping on us."

Relaxing minutely, Shen took a seat at the simple wooden table. Akali, however, was still too high strung and, despite the assurances, instead situated herself up against the wall near the window.

Bear turned to put the kettle on, leaving his guests to their thoughts briefly as he busied himself around the small kitchen. Once satisfied with the hospitality, he turned back to the sombre ninja, his expression becoming serious. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to send a letter to Karma, warning of a potential Noxian invasion."

Despite Shen's calm demeanour, his words perked both of their interests, causing Akali to turn from her watch to regard him. "So you've decided to send the letter anyway? I thought we didn't have enough validation to go off of yet?"

"I don't think we have much choice," the blue ninja steepled his fingers together as he spoke. "After what we saw in Zaun, the sudden appearance of a Noxian assassin here of all places is too much of a coincidence to risk not alerting the Ionian council. I would have liked to learn a little more before sending the warning – such as a place or a time – but we haven't been able to glean any further knowledge from the assassin."

Akali scowled but nodded nonetheless, as he continued. "And with the assassin's undivided attention on us, it is too risky to investigate ourselves. Which means our best course of action is to warn others and leave the investigation to them. At least this way it should hopefully mitigate the damage done, if and when the invasion does occur. Though, I will admit, I was also hoping you may be able to provide us with more information Bear."

An uncharacteristically intense frown took over the giant's dark face. "No, I'm afraid not my friend. My Sight has become clouded recently. I cannot See as far as I used too."

The two ninjas straightened in surprise, sending each other a brief glance before Shen quietly asked, "Do you know why?"

"No," was the grim answer, the blacksmith's gaze locked onto something neither Ionian could see. "But I fear that something big is stirring at home. I did not want to get involved again, but it seems it's become inevitable." The big man sighed. "I'm sorry, I had not planned on telling you so soon, not until the Noxian assassin had been dealt with, but it seems fate has once more played its hand. I will deliver your letter but then I must leave. I don't know if I will return."

Again, the two ninjas exchanged looks. Bear was being uncharacteristically frank. The enigmatic smith was usually reluctant to reveal too much about his past. But neither ninja was concerned about that at the moment, both too focused on the implication of the man's words.

"If there is anything we can do to help," Shen started, but Bear's good-natured laugh stopped him.

"No my friend, though I appreciate the offer. Even though you're tasked with keeping the world in balance, there are some things too big for you to do much. Besides, I'm sure it's just a minor problem, something that should only take a short time to fix – well, by my standards anyway."

"And if not?" Akali asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"If not?" Bear answered, expression turning grave, "Then in the end, we may all be fighting for our lives. I doubt it will come to that, but I must go anyway. Tell that bundle of energy when he wakes up that I said goodbye. And take care of yourselves, my friends."

"You too Bear," Shen shook the smith's hand.

The shrill whistle of the kettle broke through the stretching tension, allowing the blacksmith to leave the two ninjas alone as he once more busied himself around the kitchen.

Akali shifted by the window, turning to her companion and pulling Shen from his deep thoughts in query.

"So now what?" she asked quietly, and Shen knew that her broad question covered more than just the current situation. Still, he could offer little advice, instead offering all that he could.

"Now?" he echoed. "We wait."

Katarina trailed overhead of the two ninjas, deep in thought. It had been several weeks since she'd finished her first target, but despite a couple of small altercations things had been relatively quiet. Having wizened up to her strategy, her remaining targets had stuck together like glue, knowing that she could not attack them both together. However, they had also been unable to find her, and with the threat she posed hanging overhead, they could not afford to leave the village, leaving them in an uneasy stalemate.

The Noxian felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. She hadn't had a job this challenging in a long time. Still, this stalemate was starting to get on her nerves. Not because she wasn't getting the job done. In fact, technically she was being just as effective at eliminating her target's influence currently than if she had killed them already. No, it was because the stalemate was boring and no fun. It was time to shake things up. Which meant splitting her targets up.

Her smirk grew into a full grin as an idea started forming. It wasn't her usual style, but then again, this wasn't one of her usual jobs. With that in mind, she left her targets to begin setting up for the end.

Getting pretty close to the end here. I'd say only a couple of chapters left (Which is good cause I'm starting to get tired of writing fight scenes :P).

Now onto the reviews.

Steamingc: I try to get a chapter up every 2-3 weeks. Used to be 2, but this year it's extended to 3 while I get used to working full time. Last chapter was an unusually long time coming because of extenuating circumstances :).

Cici: You have no idea how much your review made my day :). I'm honoured that I was able to have that much of an impact on you (though to be fair, Kennen is one of my favourites - I love watching him played on the pro scene and playing him in arams). Congrats on making M7, and I hope I can continue to produce more stories as great as they've been from day 1 too :).