Chapter 3: No turning back

Several, several years later. . .

If there was something that could scare a man such as Talon it would be uncertainty. Uncertainty and craziness. He had dealt his fair share of both stupidity and insanity but it still had not prepared him for what he was hunting. Some crazed maniac dressed as some Court Jester has begun to run amok in Noxus streets. The mass murderer was the definition of insanity and Talon hated to deal with unknown variables and sporadic actions. Talon had given up on his hunt for this mad man; it was not an assignment but simply a "If you happen to make time" order from the General himself. No doubt he wanted Talon to simply focus on the main target rather than go on some wild goose chase. That is, if the goose was some ego maniac that enjoyed stabbing people just for the fun of it.

Talon had no more time to spend on the chase and decided to leave this killer as a job for the Noxus army. He had heard of rising stars in the military and as well as a fallen angel had made herself home in the City State of Noxus. He only met few beings outside from the De Couteau family and their servants, such as General Jericho Swain and Lord General Darkwill. He never associated himself with Military at large, only stealing glances from the soldiers from time to time when General De Couteau would make visits to the barracks and Talon simply became the General's shadow during the visit. There was this woman with pure white hair and tan skin that caught Talon's eyes, mostly her sword that she carried. It was larger than Talon himself. She was a person that Talon certainly did not wish to test strength against.

He sighed to himself as he continued his journey back to the mansion. He had been gone for nearly three weeks, perhaps on the longest absences he had ever been on, he could imagine the trainer's relief and the Headmaster's chuckle at the happy trainers that no longer needed to be practice dummies for Talon. They still have to deal with Katarina Talon mused silently, the little girl with fiery red hair had turned into a fine assassin, perhaps equal to that of Talon himself. He conceded though that her own special skill, nicknamed "shunpo", was deadly effective when closing in on targets and escaping than Talon's own "cut throat" leap was not nearly as fast or effective. Talon chuckled at the fond memories Katarina and he himself had when training once together months earlier. They had developed a fair degree of skill and began to name moves, Katarina suggested that Talon's bleed move be named "Noxian Diplomacy" and in response Talon nicknamed Katarina as the "Sinister Blade" for coming up with some of the deadliest names for one another.

Talon walked near by a restaurant the aroma hit him hard, he surprised himself by this action. He hardly had any effort to reduce his urge for food, growing up on the streets a piece of cheese with the mold only covering half of it was a treat. Perhaps the years spent under the roof of De Couteau had made food such a common item. He had no favorite food, but Talon noticed that his mouth watered a tad whenever the mention of Chicken Alfredo was made in conversation with the cooks. Talon couldn't resist a faint smile, a memory of Cass learning how to cook a few years back. Talon had accidently ran into the kitchen and saw Cass frustrated with a layer of flour covering more than half her body. Talon raised his eyebrows and quietly inquired of Cass's less than perfect appearance. She mentioned how some new diplomat was attracted to pretty women who can cook and Noxus needed some new information about the man. Talon couldn't resist a chuckle and only received glares and a hurt face of Cass, in which Talon quickly apologized for his outburst. Cass had asked if she could make something for Talon and before he could think twice Talon had blurted out "Chicken Alfredo" and Cass smiled widely and searched through the cabinets to look for the cookbook.

To say the least Cass's cooking speed was very fast, in perhaps a few hours Cass had ordered Talon to come down and try out her chicken Alfredo. Talon assumed that he had stomached any kind of foods in the streets and thought that this would be nothing. A few bites in and Talon realized he was dead wrong, even with his will power he could not but help show a slight green tint in his face. Cass was horror stricken and heart broken and Talon spent the next three hours cooing and easing Cass's hurt feelings.

A small tear trailed down Talon's face as he continued his walk, those memories happened before Cass was turned into a half snake half woman. How Talon had been surprised and sadden with Cass, she was so happy and joyful when with him. Now she barely even smiles and when she does it had a cold shiver behind the smile. A bitter life Cass had ended up living. Talon forced himself into a run to quickly shorten the time to get to the mansion.

Talon decided to give the trainers and his headmaster a headache and opted to go through the back entrance of the estate. He made quick work of maneuvering through the walls and quickly hid in the shadows of the orchids. The sun was setting and Talon hoped that he had enough shadows to mask his presence. Strangely enough Talon moved through the orchids easily and without trouble, in fact Talon grew curious of this and searched out the guards and the training assassins that would patrol these grounds. He couldn't find a single soul. Fear struck Talon like nothing else, he sprinted his way to the mansion and quickly gave a sigh of relief upon seeing the Headmaster standing tall and gazing around the De Couteau estate and training grounds.

"Talon, you're back." The Headmaster said, his voice low and solemn, as if dread filled this man.

Talon hesitated, he slowly moved towards the Headmaster and nodded slowly, the General had picked this man for his brutal training regimes and could possibly be a top assassin if not for his urge to train then to rather master his own skills. "I have, what has happen to the guards and other trainers? The General would be most displease to see his estate so unguarded." Talon asked.

The Headmaster raised one eyebrow and his face fell upon some realization that Talon could but only guess what. "Talon. . .I have forgotten you were away, you see the General. . .has disappeared. Presumed dead." The Headmaster responded.

Talon simply stood there, his face harden as ever and his mind trying to understand what had just been said. General Marcus De Couteau dead? Impossible for Talon to believe that such a man like the General could had simply been killed. Even after years of service and training Talon had not thoughts that he was anywhere near the level of the General and doubted even with Katarina's help neither could best the General in combat. "Katarina and Cassiopeia? How do they fare?" Talon finally asked, his mind back in some order.

"Cassiopeia now remains locked in her room, she has not once visited the gardens. Katarina has become elusive and I have not yet seen her since the news. Possibly hiding in the shadows and dealing with her grieving alone." The Headmaster said.

Talon nodded, but something else bothered him, "But the guards and trainers? By Noxus law Katarina now owns the mansion and estate." Talon asked.

The Headmaster opened his mouth but stopped to weigh his words, "She is but has yet taken her role. Noxus High Command has taken her show weakness and began to strip nearly everything that made the General such a feared assassin. The trainers and myself included will now train assassins for Noxus High Command personally rather than through General Marcus, they possibly want me to make caliber assassins such as you Talon and Katarina." The Headmaster said, his hand reached out and patted Talon on the shoulder, "As if I could, if I could somehow make an assassin with a fifth of the skill you possess Talon I would be honored." The Headmaster added before turning around to possibly finish packing.

"See you later Blade's Shadow. May your blades always be true." The Headmaster said, his farewell to the feared assassin Talon.

"Good bye, Headmaster." Talon said in response.

Talon moved quickly inside and ascended up the stairs to reach his room. True to the headmaster's word the Mansion was deserted of both servants and butlers. Inside was dark, only a few lights remained lit and Talon maneuvered his way up the stairs. He felt a cold shiver and before Talon could react he nearly bumped into something. Talon's eyes adjusted quickly and realized he had ran into Cassiopeia's tail. Cassiopeai turned her head quickly and her shocked expression stayed frozen on her face. Talon stood there as well, still and unsure of what to do. They had not spoken in months since her transformation and now Talon was without words.

"Talon" Cassiopeia said slowly, breaking the silence between them. She rushed the man and wrapped both arms around Talon, her tail slithering closer to her body.

Talon returned the embrace, and though she was a cold blooded now Talon wish nothing more than to keep the warmth between them to last forever. He pulled himself slightly off to take a good luck at Cass and Talon stared into her eyes. Her eyes were no longer blue, but shined bright white but Talon looked passed her scales and transformation and remembered the little girl with large blond curls that would bounce, her voice of laughter and joy whenever Talon would play "Darkwill Says", "Hide and Go Seek" or "Demacia Fall downs" . How Talon wished for those years back for Cass, he felt something warm when he embraced Cass tightly, his cheek felt a warm tear. Cass slowly moved apart and sniffed as she began to wipe her tears away.

"I miss him Talon, I miss father." Cass said, her voice soft and so little.

Talon nodded and reached out to give her a reassuring hold on her shoulder. "I am sorry." Was all Talon could muster. He had never known his true mother or father, but General Marcus seemed like a perfect father to Talon.

"Are you-are you leaving?" Cass asked, her voice filled with fear and uncertainty.

Talon was taken aback at her question, he shook his head. "Your father has given everything to me, I must seek those responsible for his disappearance and protect you Cass, and Katarina." Talon responded.

A small smile invaded Cass's grim face, "T-thank you, Talon." Cass said as she slowly moved towards the staircase.

Talon moved quickly and placed a hand on Cass to motion her to stop. Cass looked at Talon curious, before she could respond she felt herself being risen from the floor as Talon picked her up. Talon certainly was strong, but Cass was a lot heavier since she was turned into part snake but Talon refused to let her slither down the staircase. "Let me walk for you Cass, you need to keep your strength for these next weeks," Talon said.

Cass simply nodded and buried her face into Talon's shoulder and wrapped her snake tail around Talon's waist, not tight but to simply not let her tail drag on the ground. Talon continued to walk down the stairs and pushed through the double doors with his back as he walked into the kitchen. He slowly let Cass down as he began to search for pieces of chocolate and milk. He poured it into a bowl and quickly heated up the milk. He stirred the contents together and in perhaps minutes later Talon offered Cass a mug of hot chocolate. Cass's smile crew larger and once she began to sip the contents inside her mug her smile grew larger and Talon smiled because her glow was back from when she was little. Talon picked up Cass once more, her hand still clutching her mug of hot chocolate as Talon walked towards Cass's room. Talon laid her on her own bed and brought a blanket to cover Cass. Her hand reached out and pulled Talon closer to her, Talon inclined his head down to be eye leveled and before Talon could say a word warm lips kissed his cheek. His cheeck's quickly redden at the kiss and Cass let go of her reach on Talon.

"You are the only man I would never seduce to get the chance to kiss Talon, you are so much more." Cass said softly, her head slowly turning away and slowly dropping on her pillow. Her eyes fluttering close and Talon simply stood there as Cass slept. Talon dropped his head and softly planted a kiss on Cass's forehead.

"And you Cassiopeia are still beautiful, even if you don't see yourself as, you far stronger than I because of your hardships." Talon said softly, he walked out of her room and slowly shut the door. Talon could not believe how this could happen and then Talon began to search the mansion for Katarina. The Headmaster had spoken to him that she has yet made herself known to anybody since the news of her father's apparent death and disappearance.

Talon searched her room and quickly looked through several study rooms and guest rooms. He could not find the woman and Talon sighed deeply, then a thought struck him. He quickly ran into his room and opened the window. He jumped up and grasped the ledge of the roof and quickly pulled himself up. And there she was, Katarina De Couteau was simply sitting on the roof gazing at the stars in the night sky. Talon noticed that Katarina has yet changed into anything but her skimpy assassin outfit. Talon walked over to her and sat down next to the red hair woman. She barely took notice of the man and simply turned her head ever so slightly to acknowledge his presence. Talon simply wrapped his arm around Katarina's shoulder, along with cloak, and pulled her in close into his embrace. Talon but could only remember the large emerald eyes, and now Katarina still had her eyes but had a scar running down her left eye. It was a battle mark, a war scar, one that Katarina wore proudly. Talon offered a small smile and used both arms to pull the grieving girl closer to him. Talon had never felt such pain as this before and but could only guess at how she felt about her father's disappearance. Damn him if Talon would ever think that the general was dead. "Kata, it's okay to cry."

Tears fell on both assassins, their cold exterior broken by feelings of pain and of comfort of one another.

A/N:

A Tad long I know, but I needed to finish this part of Talon :/ Perhaps I may of made Talon too emotional or fluffy. *shrugs*

Also cookies to those that can guess what champs I was talking about in the start. (Too easy I know :P)

Please I enjoy any comments and reviews. I know I am not the best writer in the world but it certainly means a lot to me to know how I can improve to bring further enjoyment to my readers.

And Next chapter will be on Riven! Yeah! Bunny powers! :3