Hey dear readers and let me welcome you all to a new chapter!

First off, Why did I decide to update this so fast? Because I need some time to collect my thoughts on my other story lol.

Also, I'd like to share an idea of mine for a new fic I'm planning on writing after I'm done with all of this. Please do leave your thoughts on my idea if you'd like to see it as a story or not.

Title: Undecided as of yet [Give suggestions pls]

Summary: A man kidnaps 11 of Valoran's greatest and drops them into a circular room. Everyone chained to the walls by collars on their necks, they must endure days of torture as the man plays out his twisted research by dosing them with random serums. Bloodlust, Lust, Anger, Depression, all of these must be endured as Talon has only one thought in his mind; Protect Katarina.

Pairings: Talon x Katarina, Lux x Ezreal, Jarvan x Shyvana

Characters: Talon, Katarina, Draven, Darius, Leblanc, Ezreal, Garen, Lux, Jarvan, Shyvana, Fiora.

Genre: Horror

Rated: M for intense gore, sexual scenes, violence.

So guys, what do you think? Keep it in mind while you read the story~ Enjoy!

Special thanks to Skij Leonhart for being my alpha-reader!
Now my story is free of stupid errors! Yay!
[It had stupid errors in the first place because I'm too lazy to read it again _]

[Also, during the later scenes, Only Italics means it's a summoner while 'single quoted italics means it's Zed.' ]

The Shadow that Watches

Chapter 6: Running from oneself, no longer.

A knock was heard on the door of the training room as Zed sighed, his body relaxing with the exhale. He was dressed in his usual armored outfit, minus the helmet although he had his facemask on. To train in his battle armor was considered to be true training for him.

"Enter." Zed said as a worker of the institute entered.
"Zed, I hear you had requested some medication for a hangover?" The summoner asked, a bright looking man with blonde hair and green eyes. He looked young for a summoner. Perhaps he was a protégé or a very gifted young man?

Zed turned his head to the side since he had his back to the summoner, his shoulders still rising and falling a bit quicker than normal as his breathing slowly returned to a normal pace. "Indeed I did. This headache is making it hard for me to focus." He said, his head going through intense throbs of pain which seemed to match his heart beats. It was annoying and made everything seem a bit muffled.

The summoner nodded, smiling knowingly as he produced a bottle from inside his sleeves. The bottle had a clear liquid inside as he held it out to Zed. Zed turned around and plucked it from the summoner's hands, uncorking it as the summoner spoke.

"I've also come here to give you a warning Zed." The summoner said, his voice still casual. Zed was in the process of drinking so the only indication he was listening was his red eyes focusing on the summoner, who didn't even flinch. "Oh? And are you going to be the one to give it to me?" He asked, his voice low as he finished drinking.

"Yes I am. That's why I'm here, after all. Anyway, I wish to tell you that frightening or otherwise threatening our workers is not an acceptable act." The summoner said as Zed flicked through his memories. He had thought this had been about yesterday night… About what he had been about to do…

As Zed seemed lost in thought, the Summoner sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Look Zed, we know everyone has bad days, but you can't just traumatize nurses like that, especially ones trying to help you." He said as Zed remembered the time he had punched the wall. The nurse who had been trying to help him had to face the brunt of Zed's aggression until Akali intervened.

"I do not let people I do not trust come near me, summoner." Zed said as he turned around again, going back to looking at his wooden target. The target was simply a large dummy made of solid wood, it's fronts and sides already splintered and fractured from Zed's strikes.

"So I assume Akali is someone you trust?" The Summoner asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

Zed stood still for a few seconds, his back still turned to the summoner. "What are you implying, Summoner?" Zed asked, his voice eerily quiet.

"I think you already know, Zed." The summoner said, tapping his nose knowingly.

"Tell me, young summoner," Zed turned his head to look past his shoulder to see the blonde boy standing there with his arms crossed in a confident pose.
"What is your name?"

"I'm Summoner Jason." He replied, still maintaining a casual composure as he gave Zed a relaxed grin.

"Tell me Jason, do you wish to die in the next... 20 seconds?" Zed inquired coolly, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the summoner.

"Harming Summoners is one of the greatest crimes a cham-"

"15 seconds left, Jason. If you believe rules will stop me, feel free to stay."

Jason stayed quiet for a few moments, his smile faltering as he then nodded. "Good day, Zed."
With that, Jason walked out of the room, leaving Zed to mull over his thoughts. At least his head wasn't throbbing anymore.

…

The bathroom was filled with steamy vapour from the hot shower as a lithe female figure stepped out of the shower. Her body was dripping with water as she walked over to the mirror above the sink. Wiping the fog away with a slender hand, Akali's reflection stared back at her. Maroon eyes, looking firm and strong as always. Peach colored skin, feeling as smooth as it looked. Her face had a mysterious type of beauty to it, her long hair dark enough to be considered black but also light enough to be considered a dark brown. Akali looked at herself hard for a few seconds. Was she truly beautiful?

She didn't mean if she was attractive or sexually appealing. Was she beautiful in the way that would cause a man to love her? No, not just any man… Was she beautiful enough for him?

Yet, the thought of him now brought mixed thoughts into her head. Like always, she still had the desire to learn more about him, to wipe away the clouds of bitterness that surrounded the lonely enigma known as Zed. She had to admit, she felt a deep longing for him.
But after last night, she also felt a new array of emotions. Fear, distrust, pain. She raised her hands to her chest as she inspected her left breast. There were faint bruises visible on it, reminders of what had happened last night. What had almost happened, to be exact. Placing her hands flat on the left side of her chest, gentle so as not to hurt herself, she could feel her heart beating right underneath. This was where Zed's hand had been. Only a few inches of skin, muscle, blood and bone separated his skilled hands from her heart. Those same hands which were skilled in the deadly art of killing.

If he had wanted to, he could've ended her right then and there. The shock of being attacked in a way she had never been attacked before, completely overpowered and left helpless to the force attacking her… That shock had caused her combat instincts to be thrown out the window, leaving her completely defensive and submissive, like a typical woman.

Akali raised her face, trying to force a smile on her face, the end result being feeble and shaky. She knew in her heart that she couldn't blame Zed. He was intoxicated, not in his senses. But what had caused his aggression to trigger so violently? What had led him to call her a….

Akali winced; the sting of his words, drunken slurs or not, still painful. She had never been touched by a man. Except Zed. He had been the only one to have ever gotten so intimately close to her on so many different occasions. Slowly, Akali's heart had been opening up for him… But then he had to go and call her a whore, effectively slamming the door of her heart shut on her face when she had held it out so openly to him.

But it wasn't his fault, and the memories of last night also flashed another image through her mind; the image of Zed's face as realization had dawned on him. He had never seen him so shocked and hurt before. She and he both knew that it wasn't directly Zed's fault, but Akali knew that Zed was blaming himself. Even a part of Akali's mind was blaming him for that harrowing experience.

But the majority of her mind, trained in the arts of equilibrium and balance, knew that he was, in a way, innocent. She had to go talk to him. With that thought made up, Akali's eyes focused on her reflection again. What had once been a soft, womanly beauty on her face had now turned strong and firm, a type of strength glowing from her face, a fire of determination burning behind her eyes. Akali decided she liked this look better.

…

It was around mid-day when Zed had been summoned for a game. As Zed, dressed in his battle regalia, looked around the platform at his team, his eyes were met with the determined gaze of Akali, who stood opposite to him. He didn't take his eyes off of her for a long time and neither did she, but time was short as they had to get moving. So, Akali took off mid while Zed began making his way towards top lane.

Can you hear me Zed? His summoner called within his mind as Zed's eyes narrowed, his lips curling up in a small smirk under his helmet and mask. 'Summoner Jason, what an unpleasant surprise.'

Glad to see I wasn't forgotten. Anyway, your opponent in solo-top is Master Yi. Please play with some care as Master Yi's early damage and mobility make him a very versatile opponent.

'Don't teach me how to fight, Summoner. Just give me my first skill and be gone.'

…Fine.

Zed stopped in front of his tower as he felt a tingling at his back. A second later, two shurikens materialized on the back of his shoulder blades, their familiar weight giving him some peace of mind. Far across the curved lane, he could see Master Yi standing infront of his own tower. As always, the Ionian samurai had a cocky smile on his face. "Hey Zed! My summoner is using a special filter so he doesn't have to see Shadows! Guess you're screwed, eh!?" Master Yi shouted as Zed's eyes narrowed.

Disgrace.

The fight began as the minion waves, every minion swearing and screaming utter nonsense, crashed into each other. Zed had long ago adapted to silence out the incoherent minion speak, as they mostly consisted of swear words and references to female champions, specifically their busts. Zed allowed none of this to distract him as he patiently stood and waited for the minions to be on the verge of death before using his blade to end their lives, scoring gold for himself to use later on.

Master Yi, on the other hand, was being the exact opposite. He was moving around, almost never standing still, as he shouted taunts to Zed. He was trying to be a hard target while also trying to chip away at Zed's temper. But like the trained assassin he was, his patience was nearly bottomless. His eyes were studying Yi's movements with the skill that only a master like himself had perfected. Then, suddenly, Zed made a sudden move, a Shadow warrior appearing right next to Yi.

Thinking that he was going to fire a shuriken, Yi quickly launched into a lightning fast strike, becoming impossible to see for a few moments as he cut several minions into pieces. But Zed had wanted this. As soon as Yi was finishing his slash, Zed had switched places with his Shadow. Now he was right behind Master Yi as he threw out his Shuriken. Master Yi only managed to turn his head around to face Zed in surprise before two shurikens struck him from both behind and front. Zed was used to using oversized Shurikens, so his attack would've completely bifurcated Master Yi.

But Master Yi's summoner had reacted within a split second, flashing the samurai to the side as the Shurikens clashed in midair. Zed was not put off as he jumped towards where Yi was with a roar of aggression. His right arm was pulled back before being thrust forward, his arm blades shooting outwards. Yi raised his sword to block Zed's strike, but as Zed landed, he twisted his arm so the arm blades on his right hand caught Yi's sword down the gap in the middle. Effectively disabling Yi's weapon, Zed used his other arm to launch and uppercut at Yi's head, the blades shooting out. But Yi stepped back, dodging the fatal attack as it sliced his beard off. Yi spun around, his right hand still on his sword as he pulled it out from Zed's blades lengthwise, finishing the spin by bringing the blade around to slice Zed's head off. During all of this battle, neither combatants had noticed that their summoners were shouting about both team's junglers approaching to aid them.

Zed wasn't slow to react either as he dashed forward, falling onto his knees. He slid right under the slash before he brought both of his arm blades out and slashed out in a 180 degree arc on each side. Since Yi was to his right, Zed' s right armblades slashed through Yi's armor at the waist, almost cutting the man in half as Yi screamed in pain. Zed's blades had stuck halfway through Yi's abdomen, Yi having very little time to live.

"BY MY HONOR!" Yi shouted, blood spurting out of his mouth as he stepped back and spun, crying out in pain as the move caused Zed's blade to dig into his torso more, but it place Yi's back against Zed's front, pushing Zed's right arm up against his own body.

Before Zed could move away, Yi used his sword to stab his own body, the blade coming out of Yi's back and entering Zed's torso. Zed gave a gasp of pain as he felt the cold steel cutting through his internals. Stepping back, Zed kicked Master Yi's corpse away from him as the announcer above called first blood. Zed gripped at his chest wound, taking ragged breaths. All of a sudden, another kill was announced as he saw their team's jungler, Tryndamere, finally falling to their team's jungler, Lee Sin. Zed, badly wounded, began to retreat to the river as Lee Sin followed, intent on avenging the other Ionian.

Again, the announcer shouted a kill as Zed faintly registered Akali's name being mentioned. Infront of him, he could see Akali limping out of the brush. She was badly wounded, poison darts on her arms and torso, but her eyes were burning with determined fire. That is when Zed knew what he had to do.

As he half-ran, half-limped to Akali, who was hiding in the bush, Lee Sin suddenly lunged, aiming a flying kick at Zed. All of a sudden, Zed disappeared, surrounding Lee with two other shadows as he appeared behind him. Each of the shadows slashed outwards as Lee protected himself with his shield. Behind, Zed aimed a stab at Lee's lower back, but Lee had turned around to deal a roundhouse kick at Zed.

Akali suddenly darted out of the bush, flying across Lee as her kick missed, but it was intentional. As she passed, her one of her kama cut through the back of Lee's neck, decapitating the man completely. But the kick had already landed as Zed felt his ribs shattering, flying back from the impact as he slammed into a wall and slid down into the shallow river water. Akali, too weak to land perfectly, landed in a small heap as her momentum carried her unstable body from a crouch-landing into a fall. She got up quickly, her green robes wet with blood and water as she crawled over to where Zed sat.

All thoughts had vanished from Akali's mind. She had forgotten that Zed wasn't truly dying, She had forgotten about the match itself. She kneeled next to Zed, who was half-sitting, half lying against the wall, blood pouring out from the slits on his helmet.

"Zed… " Akali breathed, reaching out and taking his helmet off as her maroon eyes met with Zed's crimson ones. "Oh Zed…" She whispered, Zed trying hard to breath as he felt the blood pooling in his punctured lungs.

"Akali…" Zed whispered, his eyes softening as Akali grabbed the sides of his head. Even if this wasn't Zed's true death, Akali knew that any day in the future, at any moment, everything could end just like this. Zed could die and leave Akali alone in this world. That single thought brought such a wave of emotions into her, Akali choked as she tried hard not to cry.

"Zed… I don't blame you for last night… It wasn't your fault, so don't blame yourself…" Akali whispered, her head lowering at the pain of watching Zed suffer as her shaky hands lowered from his head onto his shoulders, Zed's breathing slowing gradually.

"Akali…" He whispered again as she looked up at him. Zed's bright red eyes focused on her brown red ones again as he held her gaze. She didn't lower her eyes either as time seemed to slow around them, just the intensity of their gazes upon each other filling up their worlds.

Finally, Zed let out a long breath, his eyes still on hers, the life finally leaving him as his eyes dulled. Akali felt deep sorrow inside of her, only her battle composure holding her together while her mind soothed her by reminding her that he wasn't truly dead. Giving a shaky sigh, she raised her blood cover hands and used her finger tips to close his eyes, trailing her fingers down his face before standing up and walking back to her lane…

As Zed's consciousness was pulled away from his body, his subconscious gave his mind an unexpected feeling of peace. His last sight while leaving his body had been Akali's maroon eyes, the eyes he was always mystified by. With a sigh, Zed waited as his body was reconstructed by the revival magic.

What was all that about?

'Summoner Jason, do you see a future for yourself?'

…Why yes, I'm quite gifted and handsome. I daresay, I do see a future for myself.

'Good, so you know what you have to lose if you try to intrude upon my personal matters again.'

Wow, what's got your panties in a twist?

Zed audibly growled as he reappeared at the summoning platform. "Bad summoner?" The Shopkeeper asked. Zed simply glared at the tiny yordle shop keeper as he bought his items in silence…

…

An hour later, Zed's team had emerged victorious, mainly due to Akali and Zed's vicious ganks. These two had been roaming all over the map, aided by their summoners as they struck fast and hard. They had worked like they had been doing this together for years. Zed helped Akali and Akali helped him, the two ninjas fought with such sync that once the battle was complete, a lot of the champions were applauding them with surprised looks of approval at their team play.

"I never thought I'd see the day Zed would sync so well with another champion, let alone another ninja. Well, I can't really see, but you get the idea." Lee Sin said, nodding in approval as Master Yi smirked. "Do I sense a bit more in between you two?" He said coyly as Zed snarled, his blades springing out of his hand. Yi backed off, raising his hands submissively as he said, "Hey man, take it easy! I was only joking."

Zed stayed in his aggressive posture for a few more moments before he relaxed, his blades springing back into his gauntlets. Without a word to anyone else, he left, as Akali and the rest of the room stared after him. "Did Zed seem a little too… Emotional about the matter?" Ashe asked, brows furrowed in confusion and thought as Tryndamere stepped up next to her. "Beats me. He always seems like he has a stick up his ass to me."

With chatter like this going on for a few minutes, each champion left one by one. Akali was one of the last to go, waving farewell to Ashe before heading out towards the residential wing. She was tired and though she was quite clean, she still felt the stickiness of blood all over her. She looked forward to another bath with anticipation, wishing nothing more than to get this dirty feeling off of her skin.

As Akali opened her door, she entered the dark room and turned around to close the door. She yawned, stretching her arms up. A small cough from behind caused her to jump, startled as she turned around to see two dimly glowing crimson eyes in the darkness. Turning on the lights, she saw that it was none other than Zed. He was sitting on her bed, feet planted on the ground as his elbows rested upon his thighs. His hands, in turn, were placed under his nose, fingers intertwined, supporting his face as he stared up at Akali.

"Zed. How did you get into my room?" Akali asked, taking a defensive stance.

"Relax Akali. I only came here to talk." Zed replied, his voice low as he continued to stare at her with an unblinking gaze.

"How…?"

"I used a shadow technique. The same one I use on the fields." Zed answered, his voice still maintaining the same volume.

Akali gave a small sigh as she then crossed her arms under her chest and leaned back against the door, taking a relaxed posture. "Wouldn't it have been better to knock after I came back?" She asked.

Zed didn't reply nor react, his eyes still trained on her. His crimson gaze was beginning to make her feel a bit uneasy. "So…. Uh, what did you want to talk about?"

"You. Me. Us. The past. The present. Everything." Zed replied without the slightest hesitation.

"Can you be a bit more specific?" Akali asked, raising an eyebrow as she pulled her facemask down. She was still in her green ninja robes. Though it was perfect for her fast methods of combat, it suddenly felt very revealing infront of Zed as her crossed arms tightened self-consciously around her front, a small blush appearing on her cheeks.

"It's pretty obvious that you have feelings for me. That I have feelings for you." Zed replied, his face and voice completely void of any emotion or change while Akali's face went from slight embarrassment to surprised embarrassment, her blush deepening.

"W-W-What do you mean!?" She asked indignantly, trying to deny the fact. But Zed had stood up and with eerily fast and quiet motions, he had come right infront of Akali. He placed his right hand on the door next to her head, effectively cornering her into the corner as he leaned in, their bodies inches apart, their faces mere centimeters. Akali's breath caught in her chest as she stared up at his paralyzing gaze, his eyes softer than usual as he stared down at her.

"I am a fool, Akali. A power hungry, self-centered fool who is blind to what lies infront of me. I always thought what we had between us was dead after you left me all those years ago. But it had never died. It only lied under the hundreds of layers I had put over it to protect myself from the pain of your absence. But now, after being so close to you for so long, I am no longer able to deny the fact that I still care about you more than I should. No matter how much I try to replace my feelings with anger, no matter how much I try to hurt myself into hating you by remembering how you left me, by remembering how you had danced with Shen. No matter how much I tried, my entire body replied otherwise. I felt myself caring about you. I got angry and jealous when you spent time with Shen. I felt remorse and self-loathing when I almost hurt you… But today, when I had been slain by Lee Sin, I realized that I felt at complete peace just because you were with me. I feel comfortable when I'm around you…" Zed paused here, giving a moment to the silence that hung around them, neither person even breathing. "…I want to be with you."

"But I also cannot."

The last sentence broke Akali out of the trance she was in. She had hung onto his every word, her breath stilled as her heart beat frantically, whether due to the lack of oxygen or due to Zed's closeness, she was not sure. But his last sentence broke the moment they had as Akali blinked, drawing breath again. "Why?" She breathed as Zed closed his eyes and lowered his face a bit.

"I'm a monster, Akali. I'm a cold-hearted murderer. I don't know If I'm even capable of caring for someone. I might hurt you or worse, kill you. I'm not someone you should be with. You should be with someone who will take care of you. Who will love you as you will love him. Someone whose past isn't scarred and coated red with the lives of thousands." Zed seemed to choke on his words, forcing his last sentence out, "Someone like Shen."

It felt like he was stabbing himself with his own blades. Zed was a master of war and the art of killing. He could slay hundreds without flinching or tiring, but when faced with confronting his true feelings, he had spent the last few years running. Running from his feelings, running from himself. Now, he was exposing his soul to the world. His scarred, barren soul which held no warmth nor any good. He was exposing it and then stabbing it, destroying it to give himself the peace of not having to see this woman infront of him suffer with him. He would rather have her be happy with someone else.

"Zed." Akali whispered as her hands came up and cupped his face. None of the enmity she had felt for Zed surfaced now. Whatever had happened was in the past. Everyone had things in the past they regret. For Akali, she regretted ever leaving Zed. She knew it wasn't his fault her mother had died… But, even still she had left him

Cupping his face with her soft warm hands, contrasting with the cold skin of his face, she raised his face so he had to look at her. His eyes seemed pained, forlorn and distant as they focused on her.

"Zed… You are the man I love." Akali whispered as Zed's eyes widened in surprise. " I do not love Shen. I love you Zed. I have loved you for so long, but I'm not comfortable with this feeling, Zed. I'm afraid of it, it feels so powerful and raw… After seeing the pain you had lived through, it made me want to be there for you, to support you… But it also frightened me. I never wanted to feel the pain of betrayal like you did. I was scared, so scared…" She whispered, a sorrowful but happy expression on her face as she stared up at him.

"I'm afraid, Akali… Afraid I might hurt you. My mind and body has been trained for killing, not for caring. I don't know how to love." Zed replied as Akali's hands travelled lower to the back of Zed's neck.

"Then I'll teach you to love as you've taught me to kill." She whispered as she pulled him in. Finally, Zed's intense gaze faltered as he closed his eyes, his lips meeting hers softly as Akali pulled him closer. It was a soft, gentle kiss. It held no passion nor any lust. But it held meaning. It signified a new beginning as both ninjas allowed themselves to relax into the simple action of touching their lips together, drawing closer. Zed's hands grabbed her waist to pull her closer as Akali's arms reached forward and curled around his back. Like that, softly kissing each other, the two stayed for a few seconds. But for them, with every feeling of enmity shoved aside so their souls could finally connect, the moment felt like it had lasted an eternity…

Yeaaaah, we finally got some action going on! Zed finally stopped having a stick up his ass and now used that stick to beat the living shit out of Yi before getting hit with it to realize what he'd been missing all along! He still has the stick up his ass though.

Anyways, please leave your thoughts and comments on the chapter in a review as well as your thoughts on the idea I presented at the beginning of the chapter! Thanks alot for reading!