Chapter 4 : A Dance with the Blades

One morning the maid came to Talon's bedroom telling him that the General Du Couteau had requested to see him in his office. Quickly Talon got dressed up with his famous purple robe and put his purple hood on to hide his face. He then walked to the General office. He knocked on the wooden door and the General Du Couteau told him to come in. He walked into his office for the first time. It was a big circular room, which had a dark wooden floor with a red carpet on it, there were two huge bookcase full with tones of heavy books on each side of the door, on the opposite wall were two windows allowing some light to enter into the room and in the middle of the room, next to a fireplace was the General's desk, in front of the desk were two comfortable armchairs. Marcus Du Couteau made a sign for Talon to sit in one of the two armchairs "Please Talon, take a seat" Talon was about to ask him why he wanted to see him when someone else entered the office.

"Hi daddy, you wanted to see me?" Katarina entered the room smiling, she seemed in a good mood today 'If that's even possible for her' Talon thought. But Katarina's smile dropped as soon as she saw Talon sitting in one of the armchair. 'Yeah, that's what I thought, not possible'

"Katarina, Talon, I asked you both here today because I want to discuss about your training with you."

Katarina walked in the room and sat on the second armchair next to Talon 'Oh! No! Tell me he is not gonna say, what I think he's about to say!' she thought.

"You see, I would like you both to train together, I think it will be a good opportunity for both of you to improve your skills"

Katarina's eyes widened 'Damn it! He did it!' "Thanks daddy, that's a nice offer but I think I'll pass, moreover I don't think he could teach me anything new, I am by far a better fighter than him" Katarina said calmly smiling again. 'Egocentric brat' Talon thought but didn't say anything.

"Oh! You'll be surprise Katarina, you'll be surprised. Moreover I need you to train together so you can learn how the other fights, so you could one day fight together more efficiently."

"And why would we fight together? Against one another yes, but together I'm not sure that's ever gonna happen"

"Well, it might happen sooner than you think Katarina, I was thinking on sending you too on missions later, so you'll better know how to work together if you want the mission to be a success"

'Great now I'm gonna have to go on missions with him, thanks dad!' Katarina let out a sigh.

"When do you want us to start training sir?" Talon asked. 'Well I thought he ended up being mute, too bad, definitely not my lucky day…' Katarina thought.

"Well, the sooner the better, I recommend you to start today before lunch"

Talon simply nodded and Katarina was desperate by now 'Oh! No! Not my lucky day… Well at least I'll get to punch him in the face and throw some daggers at him, maybe this day is not that bad' and a grin appeared on Katarina's face.

Half an hour later Katarina and Talon met in the training room. Talon was still in his purple robe, whereas Katarina changed herself and opted for something more comfortable, she was wearing her combat boots, with a skin-tight black short and a black sport bra.

She took a dagger in each of her hands, then glanced at Talon "Let's be done with it" and the fight started. Katarina threw a few daggers at Talon who dodged them all, but he was still surprised at how fast she could throw the daggers and how good her aim was. He aimed at her with one of his own blades but couldn't manage to touch her, apparently dodging was also one of her specialties. The fight went on like that for a long time, each of them charging at one another but dodging every dagger, until none of them had weapons to fight with. Katarina knew that she had no chance against him in a hand to hand combat -even though she'll never admit it- he was taller and stronger than her, but she was still faster and more flexible than him, moreover she had anticipate that this might happened, so she kept one of her skill to herself planning on taking him by surprise. Talon on the other hand smirked, a hand to hand combat, he'll definitely won this fight, she was over. Katarina started to run at him and kicked him, but Talon avoid all her attempted, he then charge at her with an easy kick that he knew she would dodge easily, but a the last moment he changed his attack and punched her in her bare belly, she didn't see it coming and the punch was so strong that she ended up on the ground. She got up quickly ignoring the pain in her stomach and looked at Talon with fury. Talon smirked, which angered Katarina even more, 'she's to impulsive when she's angry, which makes her weak, and it's so easy to get her angry with her short temper' Talon noticed. She might have been impulsive but Talon didn't plan her next move at all; as he was looking at her, she suddenly vanished through the air, Talon didn't understood what happened until he felt a weight on his shoulder 'How did she do that?' Katarina had jumped on his back kicking him in the ribs, her legs around his stomach and was now having both her hands on his neck whispering softly in his ear "Strangled" Talon smirked again and replied "Oh! Because you think that it's so easy to simply strangle me?" Suddenly, Talon threw himself back on the floor, earing Katarina whimpering as she took both her fall on the floor and Talon landing on her. Talon quickly turned himself over her grabbing her neck "Well this time I guess I can say strangled, because there's nothing you can do to stop me" she started moving, trying to kick him to defend herself, but he leaned on her so she couldn't move anymore. She became aware of their proximity and instantly froze. She was staring at him with her emerald eyes and he was staring back at her with his dark brown eyes, he couldn't stop thinking how beautiful she was with her green eyes and her long red hair, and how soft her skin was under his fingers. Talon got snapped out of his mind when finally Katarina spoke.

"Are you gonna get of me or do you plan on sleeping on me?"

Talon quickly got up to his feet and so did Katarina, who was back to her usual bad mood

"Don't get to excited with this victory" she said. "You just got lucky, chance of the beginner I guess"

'Beautiful maybe, but still an egocentric brat' Talon thought.

"May I remind you that I'm not a beginner, I fought for my life since I was born, stealing food to survive, while you were crying at your father because he didn't bought candies"

"You know nothing of my life, street rat."

"I know that if you were thrown in the slums without anything, you wouldn't last a day, spoiled brat" Talon said coldly

"What did you call me?"

"I called you a spoiled brat" Talon said calmly, his face still not showing any emotions.

Katarina tried to slap him in the face, but he caught her arm before her hand touched his face, thanks to his reflexes, which angered once again Katarina even more, and she walked out the room without saying anything.

Talon took a shower and thought about his previous meeting with the red head assassin 'I shouldn't have talked to her like that and called her a spoiled brat, even though she deserve it, I lost my temper, I can't do that again, emotions are a weakness'. Later he went to the living room for lunch, everyone was already there.

"Ah Talon! So how was your training with my lovely daughter?" Marcus asked

"It was fine" Talon simply

"What about Kat? How did you find it?"

"It could have been worth, and don't call me like that, you know I don't like it, I'm not five anymore!"

"Unfortunately no you're not…"

An awkward silence took place, until Cassiopeia started talking:

"So Katarina, do you know what you're going to wear for Saturday's event?"

"Damn! I totally forgot it, why do I have to go to this thing again?"

"Because it's an important social event, where all the elite of Noxus is expected, since you're part of the elite and the daughter of a General, you have to come" Marcus answered.

Cassiopeia turned to Talon and said "Katarina hate social events, she's such a tomboy sometimes" then she said to Katarina "You know you'll never find a husband like that, Kat"

"Well maybe I don't want a husband Cass, and what did I said about you calling me that?"

"By the way you should come there too Talon, you're a part of the family now" Marcus said. Katarina's eyes widened.

"Wait, you want to bring him to one of the highest events of Noxus?"

"Sir, with all your respect, I've got to say that for once I agree with what Lady Katarina said" Talon answered.

"Nonsense, don't worry Talon, Katarina will learn you how to dance and Cassiopeia will learn you how to comport yourself, and I think this event will be a good training for you, who knows, maybe one day I will send you in a mission were you will have to attempt to one of those events and you will have to know how to blend yourself in the crowd"

"Of course sir" Talon answered.

The next morning when Talon woke up, he knew that it was going to be a long day, wondering what was worst between learning how to dance with Katarina as a teacher and learning how to behave in such events with Cassiopeia who will probably try to seduce him the all time.

Katarina was waiting for Talon in the ballroom, thinking about him and how annoying he was, she decided that she didn't like him, she didn't like how quiet he was, she didn't like the fact that she couldn't read him with his emotionless face all the time, and she didn't like –even though she would not admit it- that he seemed to be better than her in combat. Talon entered the room, breaking Katarina train of thought.

"You're late" she said nonchalantly.

"Actually no, you were in advance. Did you miss me so much that you couldn't wait to see me again?"

Katarina gave him a death glare, her hands clenching into fists. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

She put some classical music on, then walked next to Talon. She took a dance posture, her back was straight. "Okay, now put your right hand on my waist and your left in my hand" Talon did it without saying anything. "Now, normally it's the boy who lead the dance, but since you're learning I'll do it. The moves are quite simple, first I'm going to move my right foot forward and you, you're going to move it backward, and then you bring your left foot to your right, this way" she showed him the move "Next move, you bring your left foot to the left and you bring back your right foot, you do all the thing while turning, and that' all, now for Saturday you can choose to go forward, backward to the left or to the right, it'll be your choice since you'll be the one who lead"

"How will the girl know in which direction I'm gonna go then?" he asked

"Don't worry about that, if you're a good leader, the girl will follow you easily"

And they started to dance, slowly at first, but with time they went faster and faster until they reach the right tempo.

"Ouch! That was my foot!" Katarina shout at him.

"I'm sorry Lady Katarina" Talon was having some trouble avoiding Katarina's feet, he had too much to think about, he had to count in his head, remember which move he had to do next, killing was definitely easier.

"Stop looking at your feet, that's how you'll do some mistakes. Just look at my face and concentrate!"

So he looked at her, admiring her light and soft skin contrasting with her crimson hair.

After two hours, they stopped dancing; Talon had to go to his lesson with Cassiopeia.

"I've got to say you did pretty well, I'm impressed"

"Thank you Lady Katarina, I must admit you're quite a good dancer" he answered. She simply smiled at this and went out of the room calmly for once. 'Well, that went better than I thought' then he walked to Cassiopeia's room.

He knocked at her door and then walked in when she told him to come in. Her room was full of jewelries, diamonds, and expensive objects. She was sitting on her king sized bed which had at least twelve pillows on it, and waved for Talon to sit down next to her, and so he did but he took care to leave a large space between the two of them.

To Talon's surprised Cassiopeia didn't hit on him that much and simply taught him what he needed to know. But his luck turned when she thought about what he would wear.

"So Talon what are you going to wear? I mean do you have any suit or something?"

"Actually no, but I was thinking coming in one of my purple robes" he simply said.

"Talon, as much as I like you in your purple robes, I mean they make you look mysterious and hot and all that… but you can't go to a social event wearing that, you have to get a suit"

Talon didn't answer. 'Wait, did she just call me hot?'

"But you're lucky I'm here, because I can get your mensuration if you want, I just happened to have a tape in one of my drawers, then we'll just have to call a tailor and that's it you'll get a new suit" Cassiopeia said in a seductive tone, closing the gap that Talon let between them.

"That's very nice of you to offer Miss Cassiopeia but I think I'll just go to your father and talked to him about it" Talon said not really wanting to have Cassiopeia taking is mensurations.

"But I assure you it's no bother at all" she said whispering in his ear and putting a hand on his thigh. Talon quickly got up, preventing himself throw a dagger at her and tell her to never do that again, and simply said with his face emotionless as always "Thank you for your time, but I guess I should go" Talon exited the room while Cassiopeia was chuckling softly.

The rest of the week happened quickly, Cassiopeia was arguing all the time with Katarina about the dress that Kat was supposed to wear on Saturday night. Katarina was so tired about her sister that she even preferred Talon's company than hers, so they spent a lot of time training together and learning how to match their fighting skills.

On Saturday the evening after three hours waiting, the girls were finally ready to go. When they went out of the bathroom, they were both breathtaking. Cassiopeia had a green dress with glitters on it and a lot of details and was wearing an imposing diamond necklace. Katarina on the opposite had a simple black dress which was marrying her curves perfectly.

They went to the event, all the elite of Noxus was there. Talon stressed a little bit when he saw Swain walking toward them, last thing he knew was that the man wanted him dead. When Marcus saw his reaction he tried to relax him.

"Don't worry Talon, I talked to Swain about you and our agreement, and he removed the reward for your death"

"Marcus Du Couteau" Swain shook Marcus's hand "Jericho Swain" Marcus said. Then Swain turned toward Talon "And you must be Talon? I heard a lot about you, it's nice to finally meet you in person"

"Pleasure's mine. I heard a lot about you too" Talon said coldly. They stare at each other for a while, then Swain greeted Katarina and Cassiopeia before taking off with Marcus, leaving the three of them alone.

The rest of the evening went on peacefully. Talon was standing in a corner, watching the people dancing, talking, laughing… he found it pathetic how all those people were fake, acting as if they were friend with everyone as they secretly hate them all. He found Cassiopeia in the crowd, she was flirting with some upper class boys. 'Not really surprising' Talon smirked.

Katarina was sitting at a table next to the bar, she was bored, a few boys tried to flirt with her but she gave them a death glare and they quickly ran away. She was annoyed by the evening, she watch at the clock and sighed, she still had to be here for a few hours before going home. She was watching the people dancing when someone stopped in front of her. She was about to make a nasty comment, but was taken aback when she saw that it was in fact Talon offering her his hand.

"Would you like to dance with me?" he asked

Katarina hesitate for a moment but agreed and took his hand.

"You look wonderful tonight" he told to her as they started dancing.

"Thanks" she said 'Actually you also look dashing in this suit' she thought, but she was not going to tell him that…ever.

They stared at each other in the eyes. Katarina was lost in his dark brown eyes as well as Talon was in her emerald ones. The song seemed to have last forever, and they felt like if they were the only one in the room. When the song finally ended Talon bent Katarina backwards, still looking her in the eyes. Right now, Katarina only held by the hand Talon had in her back, but she didn't really care about that, she was still lost in his eyes, their faces inches apart, she had a weird sensation growing inside her stomach and her breath became heavier. Then Talon slowly got her to her feet again and they didn't move during a few seconds. Their bodies were press against one another. One of Talon's hands was in Katarina's hand and the other one in her back. They were staring at each other intensively, Katarina softly said:

"What was that?" it was almost a whisper.

"I don't know I just felt like doing it" he answered. His breath was heavy too, he stopped looking at her eyes and was now staring at her red lips. Seeing that Katarina swallowed hard, she panicked and went back to her senses before she quickly pulled back from Talon's grip.

"Well, don't you dare do that again" she said abruptly and with that she walked away, actually almost ran away from Talon, leaving him speechless in the center of the dance floor.