Hello to everyone to read the first chapter! It has been quite some time since I worked on this, but I wanted to get back into writing fanfics. I will try to keep a consistent schedule and upload regularly if I can!

The two blade masters left the tavern. A dark mist surrounded the temple, which brought concern to Shen's face. Yone already placed both hands on his blades. Leering from the darkness arose a group of Evershade Stalkers, impish creatures made purely of shadow.

"Shadows? I should have expected that Zed would have broken the peace sooner or later." Shen reached for his Spirit Blade; disappointment apparent in his voice.

"Do not be so quick to blame your brother, Shen. He is not the cause of this."

Without a second wasted, Yone broke into his spirit form, dashing straight towards the shadows. Shen followed behind him.

The imps wasted no time, either. Three pilled on Yone, all blocked by Shen's ki bubble. The shadows banged on the bubble, irritated that they could not pierce through. In one sweep, Yone slashed through all of them.

While Shen was maintaining the shield, some of the Stalkers ran up to him behind him. True to his ninja training, Shen turned and threw ki-empowered kunais directly into their faces. Then, in a rapid motion, Shen made a series of hand signs and clasped his hands together. A burst of Twilight energy radiated off of Shen, dispelling the mist and the creatures alongside it.

Yone returned to his mortal form, sheathing his katanas. "It seems that I was right to seek you out."

"It would be nice to warn me that you would be bringing company. Now, what is the name of this demon?"

"Nocturne."

Nocturne. The shadow demon that was born from the Shadow Technique Zed uses. Shen squinted at Yone.

"How much do you know about this demon? You do not seem like someone who would hunt azakanas without knowing about them first."

Yone simply nodded. He knew what Shen was trying to imply.

"And you came to me instead of Zed."

"You are the best opponent against the shadows."

Despite it being the obvious truth, Shen could not help but feel dragged into this. Though he can fight the shadows, Zed knows them better. Why didn't Yone reach out to him, instead? Then, it clicked.

"You need me to get to Zed. You know we will need his assistance in this hunt."

Yone went silent.

Shen sighed. "Yone, it is my responsibility to be the balance between both realms—"

"Balance is a delusion, Shen. Surely you see this by now."

The two just stared at each other for a moment. Both were bound by responsibility to deal with this demon, but first impressions were not going as planned. Shen sighed and eased up.

"Alright," he began. "I will take you to the Shadow Order, and we will see if you can convince me to stay and hunt Nocturne with you."

Yone nodded. "These are acceptable terms."

Tracking down Zed was no easy task. After aiding Shen in capturing Jhin, he had gone completely off the grid. The only leads Yone and Shen had were the occasional assassination targets. After days, the frustration was getting to Shen. Especially since Yone refused to show himself in any populated areas, so most of the tracking was done by Shen alone.

Shen finished speaking with a traveling merchant. He had no information and carted off. Yone returned after the man left the two alone.

"Seems that we have exhausted our leads once again," Yone commented.

"Perhaps it would be best to question the spirits at this point."

Yone let off an amused "hm."

Their moment of reprieve was quickly interrupted. A shadowy figure emerged from the shadows of the trees. The man spent no time reaching for Shen's neck. It would have landed, should Shen not have expected the attack. Shen dodged to the side and reached for his steel saber. The two clashed, locking blades for a moment.

Yone interjected, sending out a wave of spirit energy towards the figure. Using Shen as leverage, he kicked off his knee and leaped over the direct impact of the slash, but it wasn't enough. The wave of energy still forced the man back into a tree, staggering him.

Shen spent no time taking advantage of the opening. He spirit-stepped towards the man, blinking right before him. He pressed his arm against the man's neck, pinning him in place. With his other hand, he removed the man's mask, revealing a familiar apprentice.

Kayn.

"What are you doing here, Kayn? Where is your master?!" Shen shouted at him.

Kayn coughed and chuckled. "Not so loud, Master Shen. For a ninja, you're not really good at stealth, huh?"

"Enough games, boy. We seek Zed." Yone joined in.

"I know. That's why I'm here. Now, could you let me go so we can talk?" Kayn looked to Shen, raising his hands, trying to show no harm.

Shen and Yone looked at each other for a moment before Yone gave a nod. Shen slowly released Kayn and folded his arms, displeased.

"As I said before, you left a trail. We knew that you had been looking for Zed for a while now. Though I'm not exactly sure who this guy is supposed to be… He a friend of yours?"

"Focus Kayn. We're not here for idle chatter." Shen reprimanded.

"Alright, alright. Zed's not in Ionia at the moment. We caught wind of some stuff the Navori Brotherhood was up to. While Zed's away, I'm taking care of things here. That is, I was until I figured out you were snooping about."

Shen looked at Yone.

Yone sighed. "Kayn, was it? What can you tell us about the Shadow Technique?"

Kayn squinted with suspicion. "Why should I tell you that?"

"We're hunting a demon and a strong one at that. It has intimate ties to the Shadow Technique, and we needed information on how the style worked before we charged headfirst into this fight."

"I still don't see how that has anything to do with me."

"Kayn," Shen interjected. "Help me with this. As a favor from your master to me."

Kayn thought about it for a moment. "Fine. We can find a safe place to talk; follow me."