Quinn looked around, frowning as the fire started to climb higher, licking at the wood and putting off a decent billow of flames. Lambert lay next to the flames, wrapped in a heavy blanket, his hands tied and his wounds tended to. They wouldn't get infected, but they wouldn't be healing any time soon either. The wounds were disabling enough that all Quinn had to do was bind his hands and his feet and he was unable to move. The tracker smiled to herself; the Noxian looked like a stuffed chicken where he lay on the ground, but he had obviously just given in to his exhaustion and passed out despite the pain. Valor's wounds had been tended too as well, and while the bird could not fly at the moment, he sat perched near the fire, nestled in a makeshift nest of leaves that he had collected, stuffing them into a bowl in the snow he had dug out. Valor had made his roost between Quinn and Lambert, ensuring that the man, no matter how injured, would have to go through him first. The eagle had tucked his beak into his his wing as he slept, his chest rising and falling deeply..

Sleep well, friend. You've more than earned it.

Quinn pushed herself to her feet, and started away, pausing for a brief moment as Valor shivered, shaking his feathers out before tucking his beak under his wounded wing. Quinn stifled a giggle and a smile as she stepped away from the camp, pushing through the snow as the sun started to rise over the hills that had formed the small bowl Quinn had sought shelter within. In the dark of the night the last of the cloud cover had been pushed off by the heavy winds over the coast, though much of the wind slowed as they approached the jagged coast line and struggled to make it over the sheer cliffs. Some of the wind made it all the way over the forests, cliffs, and mountains, but by the time it reached this far inland, it had been bleached of all of its sea-side charm.

Quinn paused in a small clearing and looked about, scanning the trees for movement. Something shuddered in one of the trees, but a gust of wind shrouded the sound and Quinn couldn't pick it out from all of the other trees that circled the edge of the clearing.

"Talon?" Quinn took a deep breath and looked around, hoping for a response. She waited for a few moments, holding her breath, but no response came. "Talon, I know you're out there! I only want to talk to you!" Quinn listened intently for several long moments, but no sound could be heard amid the rustling of the trees billowing against the gentle wind. Quinn frowned as she stopped, dropping down to a squat, hugging her knees to her chest. She ran a hand along the surface of the snow, her fingers following the contours of the older tracks that had been left in the snow. She frowned as she examined the boot prints; there was something slightly off about them. Quinn ran her fingers along the inside of the tread and smiled, there was a slight indentation in each tread mark.

He's somewhere around here…

Quinn padded about slowly, looking at the snow and examining the areas around the trees. Under each, there was ice and the frozen drips that had fallen into the snow leaving a jagged, wild pattern all around the base of the tree. Quinn ran her fingers along the top of the bumpy surface of the ice, but they came away clean and only slightly damp. She frowned as she pushed herself up and moved to another tree, continuing to run her fingers along the ice. Nothing a second time. Quinn approached the third tree and kneeled down, going through the motion of running her fingers along the ice, but she had already seen what she was looking for. There were fresh pine needles along the surface of the ice and faint crushed remnants of bark that dirtied her fingers when she ran them along the ice.

Bingo.

Quinn rose up and backed away from the tree as she had done with the previous two, though she did not proceed to a new tree this time. Quinn dropped her hand to her hip and flexed it around the grip of her crossbow, her smile growing on her face. Quinn spun and raised her bow, snapping off a shot at the trunk of the last tree she had check, the heavy thunk of the bolt striking heavily and shaking the branches.

"Son of a… fuck!" The deep voice barked a stream of expletives as a cloaked figure dropped from the tree and landed on his tail at the base of the tree, a gentle rain of pine needles following him down. Talon threw his hood back and glared up at Quinn with anger in his expression. "What the hell was that for!?" He snarled, glancing from the tree, back to Quinn. "You nearly hit me you crazy-..."

Quinn dropped to a knee in front of Talon, lowering her crossbow towards his knee. "You really want to finish that?" Quinn asked with a withering frown.

Talon glared up at her before sighing heavily and shaking the pine needles from his brown hair. "You're crazy, you know that?"

A smile spread on Quinn's face as she nodded. "But I never miss." She giggled softly as she offered a hand to the Noxian. Talon glanced at it but shied away, instead choosing to push himself to his feet. Talon started to stand up, but received a fist to the gut, dropping him back onto his ass. Talon exhaled heavily as he slid back through the ice a short distance before coming to a halt. He groaned as he looked up at Quinn a mask of confusion covering her anger.

"What the fuck was that?" Talon snarled. Quinn stuck a hand into his face, the tracker's pissed off demeanor clear in her expression. Talon grumbled but accepted the hand this time, letting Quinn help him to his feet.

"That makes us even, right?" Quinn said with a cheeky grin. Talon's face blanked for a brief moment, and Quinn took the moment to laugh aloud at the dumb expression. "Come warm up by the fire and talk with me for a few minutes. I'll get your arm patched up."

"Tch." Talon disappeared with a swirl of his his cloak, leaving Quinn standing along in the clearing.

"Wha-... what?" Quin blustered, color flooding his face as she stomped a foot. "That jerk!" She hissed, looking about. "I was trying to help him, too!" Quinn paused, fingering the knife that was tucked in the pocket of her cloak. It belonged to Talon, one she had taken when she had tried using her feminine charm, and while their little game of tit-for-tat was mostly bluster, she had wanted to return the weapon so she wouldn't truly be in his debt. She frowned and posted her hands on her hips. "Fine. Be that way. It's not like I was just trying to be nice. ...idiot."

Quinn walked back into her makeshift camp and dropped down next to the fire, clutching her knees to her chest. She pulled out the weapon that she had used to turn the tide of the battle in her favor, running a finger along the side of the blade. It curved up to a point at one tip, though the majority of the blade had a gentle, inward curve, leaving the weapon with a very shallow angle, the handle at one end, the tip at the other. The was a shallow fuller in the blade, and the weapon had been built for utility not just combat. The angled blade would give the swinger leverage for chopping through underbrush or something larger, more fleshy, and decidedly more gruesome. Quinn was fingering the blade, imagining the possible uses as a light gust of wind brushed up against her.

"What did you want to talk about?" Talon asked from beside Quinn. Quinn yelped and jumped, Valor squawking and flapping wildly for a brief moment before settling down in his roost, looking about. He squawked at Talon, but the assassin held up empty hands, showing his palms to the bird and Valor dropped his head back down to his side, though he kept an eye glued to Talon.

"You really like startling people, don't you?" Quinn muttered with an accusing glare, breaking the awkward staring contest between Talon and Valor.

Talon shrugged as he narrowed his eyes at Valor for a few moments before turning back to the tracker. "What can I say. You're cute when you're surprised." Talon sucked in a breath and glanced away as he blushed.

"What was that?" Quinn asked with an amused, almost predatory grin, despite the color flooding her face.

"Nothing." Talon said, coughing into his hand. He cleared his throat, returning the deep, angry tone to his voice. "What do you want?"

"Take off your shirt." Quinn said, turning herself towards Talon, an excited smile on her face as she dragged her bag towards her and the Noxian.

Talon blinked once before he toppled backwards and rolled to the side, stunned. It took him several long moments of scrambling before he managed to right himself, coming up with a brilliant red face. "What!? Why?!"

"W-wha-..." Quinn blinked twice before her face turned red. "N-no! Not like that, i-idiot!" Quinn managed to connect a punch on the assassin's arm, and she was rewarded with a hiss of pain escaping Talon's lips. Quinn sunk back in surprise, blushing slightly. "Sorry… I suppose I've been in company with people who can take a punch a bit better than you. Are you alright?"

Talon wore an indignant look on his face as he puffed out his chest. "I'm fine." A grin started to spread on Quinn's face. "Because you hit like a girl. No way that could hurt me."

"Why you-…" The seething in Quinn's voice was obviously enough to scare the Noxian, because he raised his hands in surrender. Quinn scowled at him before surging towards the assassin and started tugging Talon's cloak off. "H-here, idiot. You got wounded helping me. I just want to bandage your arm, you dirty minded old man."

"Old?" Talon turned and glared at Quinn. "Who are you calling 'old'? I'm only a few years older than you!"

"Sure whatever." Quinn said, rolling her eyes and trying to play it off, despite how furiously she was blushing. She ducked away, making a big show of digging through her bag, pulling out gauze, bandages, some soap and a small pan. She scooped some snow into the pan and then set it on the fire, the remnant snow off the outside of the pan sizzling away as it got lost in the smoke rising from the wood. "Just take it-your cloak-off so I can clean your wound and bandage it up. It's the least I can do as thanks for saving me."

"I thought we were even?" Talon said, raising an eyebrow as he slid the cloak off and peeled his tunic off, revealing a bloody mess down his front. Talon frowned, glancing over at Quinn. Her cheeks were blushed and she held something to her chest that he couldn't see, but the nervous tracker suddenly had become a far more daunting opponent than before Her eyes were a bright golden color, shimmering a smooth orange in the fire light, and her dark hair had a warm, sunny sheen to it despite the darkness of the early, early morning.

"I wanted to return something to you." Quinn said softly, holding Talon's knife out for the assassin to take back. "I know I stole it, but I'm returning it now and I hope I can even the score up when I bandage your wounds. Sound fair to you?"

Talon accepted the knife, surprise plastering his face. "Wait, but when did you manage to steal one of my knives?" Talon murmured slightly bashfully.

"When I kissed you on the cheek." Quinn said, blushing slightly. "I needed to distract you and make Lambert angry so he would swing more wildly. His rage was making him lose control…" Quinn giggled nervously. "It worked, I guess."

Talon blushed as he remembered the kiss she had given him. There was in the chill in the air as Talon went to pull his cloak tighter over his shoulder, but he froze. Wait, what? Talon looked down. "My shirt! But wait, where did…" He glanced over as Quinn whistled innocently to herself, folding the bloodied tunic up and setting it on top of his neatly folded cloak. "When did you…" He ran a hand over his face, running it up through his bangs. "How exactly did you manage that?"

Quinn blushed slightly but she gave Talon a superior grin, turning her nose up. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Quinn looked proud of herself as she drug the last of her supplies to her side.

Talon glanced over at his cloak and a grin broke out on his face as he looked at where a throwing knife from inside his cloak had disappeared from its holster. "A distraction? Smooth as silk. I am impressed." He started to turn to look at Quinn but the tracker pressed a pad of gauze onto his shoulder. Talon hissed angrily, though he caught Quinn blushing a furious shade of red. She pulled it back and it came away clean bloody. "Now if only you would do that with my pants." Quinn pushed the gauze firmly against his shoulder. "Ow, ow, OW, OW! That hurts!"

"Stay still or it'll hurt even more, idiot!" Quinn snapped as she pulled some gauze away and pulled the pan from the fire. It was steaming, but it hadn't been allowed to reach a boil. "Lean towards me, I need to clean the wound. This might sting a bit, but you can take it right?" Talon bit at the inside of his cheek but nodded, leaning towards her. Quinn lifted the pan of water and poured a little over his shoulder, using some of the gauze to scrub away dried blood. Quinn watched as his muscles tensed and flexed with every brush of his gauze and felt her cheeks burn with color. Satisfied the majority of the blood was gone, Quinn sat back and let the shoulder dry in the warmth of the fire. She glared at Talon, the young assassin glancing about sheepishly, refusing to meet her glare.

"Sorry." Talon muttered, his shoulders drooping as he finally met Quinn's glare. "Force of habit. In Noxus, strength is everything, but intimidation is just as powerful. I hope you don't think any less of me for it."

Quinn's frown slackened and she shrugged after several moments of searching Talon's face for sincerity. "I understand. I'm used to it. In my village, we often had new soldiers coming and going, seeing as we were relatively close to the border, and it didn't help that the main road lead to one of the border fortresses. Growing up around so many soldiers only forces you to adapt to the culture that much quicker. That's why I wanted to be a knight. The knights were always so proud and regal… they were the pinnacle of justice and morality compared to the glorified thugs that served as the infantry on the front lines."

"When did that change?" Talon asked, his attention settled on Quinn now. The tracker glanced over at him and blushed slightly at how rapt his attention was settled on her.

"Well…" Quinn frowned for a moment before sighing and shrugging, holding a rolled up bandage in one hand and a wad of gauze in the other. "There was a period of time after I lost my brother to an accident that I was bound and determined to be a doctor so I wouldn't let anyone else die if I had a choice." Quinn's hands convulsed around the medical supplies as she glanced down as if she were fighting back tears. "My mother was a nurse of sorts. Not quite a doctor, but for most of the year she was the best medical treatment available to the village. We didn't have money for doctors or fancy health potions and the like, so we had to make due. I poured over her medical textbooks for hundreds of hours, endlessly teaching myself everything I could read."

"I suppose that explains your skill with medicine." Talon mused, glancing down at Quinn's hand as she ran it gently over his shoulder. He blushed, but Quinn ignored him and dragged him closer with the wounded arm. "It doesn't explain your brutish bedside manner."

"I can use this gauze to shut your damned mouth if you would prefer." Quinn said with a smile that sent a shiver down Talon's back.

Talon shook his head sheepishly. "No ma'am."

"Good, good." Quinn laughed lightly, easing the mood. Quinn set about the bandages and started to wrap gauze over and around his shoulder. The wound was high on his shoulder, just beyond his collar bone, and Quinn had to wrap bandages all the way around his chest to ensure it wouldn't slide off if he moved. She looped it around his chest and shoulder a few more times, finally tying the bandage off over his shoulder. Every time Quinn had to lean against Talon's arm to get all the way around his chest, she could feel the assassin tense up. She realized what was happening though the last time she pressed up against him, her chest pressed firmly against his arm. "You talk a big game, Talon, but you're not very good around women, are you?"

Talon hung his head and blushed slightly. "I get more than my fair share of punishment in the form of my adoptive sisters. One is massively domineering… the other is half snake."

Quinn laughed, catching an odd glare from Talon. She shook her head and offered his an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I'm just laughing at how similar we are. You serve Katarina, and I Jarvan. Your sister is half snake… Shyvana is half dragon. We both sneak around, watching people and taking orders from them both."

"It hurts to think about it when you say it like that." Talon said, sinking down. He hissed slightly at the pain in his shoulder, shivering slightly against the wind. "Can I have my shirt back, please?"

"Let's check." Quinn mused as she poked the wound with a firm but slow motion.

"Ow, ow, enough already. It already hurts enough." Talon growled, sinking away from her finger. "You don't need to make it worse."

Quinn jabbed him in the side and caused him to jump "Shut yer trap or it'll hurt more. I was just checking to make sure the gauze won't move and to make sure the bleeding has stopped."

Talon rubbed his side but shut his mouth, grumbling under his breath.

The sun just broke over the edge of the horizon, rays of light cutting through the sky above them. Quinn glanced up and pushed herself to her feet. "Valor." The bird sat up instantly and hooted at her. "I know you're still tired, but we're not done yet. We still have to deliver our charge." The bird snapped at her a few times but got onto his talons and started hopping around. "Go find Colonel Jerome and guide him here. I don't feel like dealing with dragging all this dead weight around." She kicked Lambert once, the man groaning and shifting slightly against his bindings. Valor squawked at her once before spreading his wings and taking to the sky.

"You won't have much time left." Quinn said, handing Talon his cloak and tunic. "The trap will start closing soon and you don't want to get caught in it."

"You're letting me go?" There was a moment of surprise in Talon's voice.

"You saved my life once. I'm merely returning the favor." Quinn offered him a smile.

"I'm not leaving in your debt." Talon said, grinning crookedly. "Here, take this." He held the knife out to the tracker. "You broke your other one right? The least you can do is use it till you replace it."

"I… uh…" Quinn blushed slightly as the assassin pushed the blade into her hands, color flooding her cheeks. "Thanks."

"That makes us even then." Talon announced, as if he were relieved. Quinn frowned slightly as he turned away. "Though if it weren't for the charity I would be in the lead." There was a smugness in his voice that struck a nerve with the tracker. A sly smile spread over Quinn's lips.

"Hey, Talon." Quinn said as she grabbed his good shoulder. The assassin turned.

Quinn leaned forward and kissed Talon full on.

The tracker was blushing furiously as Talon stood, frozen in his tracks, aghast. Quinn smiled up at him as the shock slowly melted from his expression. "I guess that leaves me in the advantage, huh?" Quinn said, her voice ever so sing-song in tone as her grin turned cheeky. "I guess we're rivals now, right?"

"Uh…" Talon mumbled, dumbfounded.

Valor screeched from above as he circled once and then departed towards the horizon a second time.

"Valor says that Demacian forces are closing in on us now." Quinn said, sighing softly. "You should go. I've got more than enough to turn into them with this fool." She prodded Lambert with a foot. The man grunted but said nothing in his still dazed form.

"Oh." Talon said, dismay sneaking into his voice. "I guess this is goodbye then. Will I see you aga-..." Quinn pressed a finger to his lips and shook her head.

"No goodbyes. Not yet." Quinn said, pain creeping into her smile.

"We part ways as rivals, Talon, because that's all we could ever be. Maybe in time you'll be able to out do me, but for now I leave with the advantage. Now go, before the dragnet closes. If you make for Golden Crossing, you'll have to deal with Garen's vanguards, but I think with the coming storm, and with a little help from Lambert here," she kicked the Noxian at her feet, "I should be able to lift the heat on you."

"I hope." Talon grumbled, shaking his head. "It's bad enough that Katarina and that infernal lunkhead of a Demacian Captain see something in each other. Me personally? The only thing bigger than Garen's sword is his ego."

"Scandalous." Quinn laughed, grinning at Talon. He returned the smile, bringing a tinge of color to the tracker's cheeks. She turned away and forced herself to take a deep breath. "Go, before I decide that your bandage needs to be rewrapped."

"Take care of yourself."

"You as well." Quinn waited for a response, but there was nothing waiting for her but the cold bite of the wind. She sighed softly, looking back over her shoulder.

Talon was gone.