The cool metal felt almost soothing against his neck. The pressure being put on the blade was light enough to be threatening. No, it was light enough to be a promise of things to come.

"Is that fear I smell?"

A female voice spoke in his ear. Much lower than Luxanna's bright tone, Varus noted. His eyes shifted as far as they could and he made out striking red hair.

"Katarina, it's almost been a week. Is this really the speed of Noxus' finest assassin?"

Yes, he was hoping to distract her. Pallas was fuming, sending images of ripping the woman to shreds. It wanted to taste her blood. Needed to taste it. They had taken great pleasure in shooting down the Sinister Blade during matches, but to truly kill her would be exquisite. Not only that, but the spirit had a certain distaste for being captured.
Varus was fighting the urge, however. Demacia's Little Light had been so aggravated by his desire to kill Swain that he wondered if he would further incur her wrath by killing this woman.

"The Grand General ordered me to bring you back alive, says you two have unfinished business" Katarina growled.

She paused for a moment, reaching to grab a pair of cuffs from her pouch.

"Though, the General did not give a reason for why you were there in the first place. Care to enlighten me, filth? Why is it that I'm not killing you right now?"

Of course Swain would not reveal his plans. The man was well known for being a tactician, which meant that this woman was probably a pawn with too much power. Had the general sent her here to capture him, or sent her here to die?
As he felt the bite of cuffs starting to lock the assassin froze. Light was emanating from her and Varus casually stepped around the blade. Turning to face the enraged woman Varus couldn't help the smirk that grew on his face. She was bound with light magic.

"Let me enlighten you, Noxian scum. You're not killing him because I said so"

Really, did the girl need to sound so smug? Lux plucked the cuffs out of Katarina's frozen hands and proceeded to use them on their owner, forcing her hands behind her back. Another quick cast of binding light stopped the woman from being able to move and Lux started to divest her of her equipment.

"Blades, rations, a bed roll… Oh! Poisons! Excellent. I guess I'll have some antidote research to do once I get back, how kind of you Katarina" Lux simpered, playing up the gratitude until it was almost nauseating.

Katarina spat on the ground, "Demacian! By the strength of Noxus, I will not suffer this insolence!" The red head started to struggle as the light around her faded, only to freeze when she noticed a corrupted arrow being casually aimed at her.

Lux glanced over at Varus and smirked before going back to the woman's pack.
"Nothing else of interest here, too bad. Were you only expecting one person, Katarina? Seems like the General sent you here on a rather futile mission, wonder if he was hoping you would be killed?"

Luxanna's light tone, one that was almost mocking, was a shock to Varus. She never acted this way in the games, always seeming naïve and jovial. Even in the last few days she had been nothing but pleasant. It seemed, the cursed pair noted, that the Little Light had claws under her gloves. Katarina did not appear shocked; seemingly unsurprised that Swain might send her on a suicide mission. It was strange, Varus thought, wouldn't Swain try to keep one of his best assassins alive?
Pallas twitched, and Varus pressed down on the spirit. If Swain wanted Katarina dead, then it would not do to oblige him.

Luxanna did not seem to share his thoughts. She seemed to be preparing to attack the bound woman and flinched when a claw grabbed her shoulder to stop her. Her eyes were cold, little chips of fury that turned on him.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, "This is a Noxian. Don't you kill Noxians?"

The thought that came into her head next was definitely not her own. It was the image of taking candy from a child, then another of a priest denying his baser urges. Followed by an image of the Sinister Blade on her knees, surrounded by shaded figures. Blazing white on their cloaks was the symbol of Demacia.

Varus looked down at his hand in confusion. Was Pallas talking to her? The look in her eyes mirrored those he had seen years ago. Those who bore the weight of Pallas' whispers for brief periods of time before he returned to his post looked just as she did now. Mostly, she looked as if she was going to be violently ill. An alien presence in the mind tended to do that, he thought wryly.

His eyes shifted to meet Katarina's calculating look and noticed the small movements she was making with the cuffs behind her back, preparing to escape. He released the Little Light and drew his bow again, making the Noxian assassin freeze.

"I would not, Ms. Du Couteau. My arrows always find their marks" he commented idly, taking up Luxanna's casual countenance towards the woman. The false pleasantry felt leaden on his tongue.

Lux was still staring at him in a daze but at his words seemed to shake herself out of it. "Yes. Right. Well, that… That is a good idea. You're our prisoner now! We're taking you back to Demacia!" Lux declared.

The other two stared at her, the comment coming from nowhere as far as they were concerned. Pallas seemed to ripple in pleasure and Varus wondered if it was the spirit's advice that Lux was taking. He hoped not. He was a container for the beast, meant to be the only one who could hear its whispers. If Pallas could communicate through touch then it could also corrupt through touch.

Using her staff, Lux nudged Katarina forward. "You can walk ahead of us, I'd like to keep an eye on those cuffs"

The Du Couteau woman held her head high and proceeded forward. Lux smirked at that other woman's proud stature, marveling a little at Katarina's composure. As the trio moved forward Lux placed a hand on her shoulder. Those images hadn't been Varus. The man didn't have any magical capabilities. Which meant it had to have been the spirit he spoke of. Which meant that it wasn't just a source of power, it was alive and it had thoughts that were very logical. She glanced over at the creature walking next to her and shuddered. If Swain had succeeded she did not want to think of what he would have done with the spirit of Pallas. Maybe it was a good thing that such power was housed in a man with such simple desires.

She shook her head and focused back on Katarina. It wouldn't do to dwell on the mysterious Arrow of Retribution. Lux made a note to search Katarina when they stopped, the woman would have hidden tools and daggers on her person. If they wanted to survive the night then she would have to be very careful.

Varus watched the Little Light sigh while they were walking. He felt their thoughts were in accord, this was going to be a very long trip.

And then there were three! Any and all comments are greatly appreciated.