Chapter 8

Autumn time soon came in Demacia's rural areas. The grounds now littered with leaves, turning the world into a beautiful scene of oranges and browns. Large piles of leaves had begun to accumulate in the back garden of the small family. Tarian did his best to rake them neatly…But they never stayed neat with two excitable twins eager to run and jump into them the second he put his rake down.

Quinn and Caleb had taken to playing a game where they kicked a ball about, back and fourth to one another. Talon sat on the kitchen step, preferring to just watch their games, as the tension between him and Caleb had not fully eased. The two boys did their best to avoid one another throughout the day. Often Caleb wouldn't take kindly to Talon watching him play any games, sharply crying out for Monarri or Tarian to 'make him go away!'.

They called this game 'football,' but they weren't playing it the way Talon expected. They used their feet only, not once picking the ball up, and there was little to no physical contact. In Noxus, football involved a lot of smashing bodies, bloody noses, and concussions. The Noxian version was rough, brutal, and required great toughness to even participate. Back in Noxus Talon found himself sticking to the sidelines to watch the older boys and girls play it. There was something exhilarating about watching them nearly kill one another over a pigskin.

A particularly strong kick sent the ball flying into the air, Talon's gaze followed it as it soared, as it landed high up in the branches of an old oak tree. The twins groaned in unison, looking up at the trapped ball. "Great job!" Quinn muttered sarcastically to her brother, as she stared up at the ball.

"I'll go get dad-" Caleb groaned, beginning to head towards the family's smithy.

He'd been watching silently, observing the two pace around the tree before opting to find their father. Talon stood up slowly and walked over to the tree. It was nothing compared to the heights he'd climb back in Noxus Prime.

"I can get it…" Talon said, speaking up for the first time today. Both twins looked at him, Quinn's face lit up but Caleb's features melted back to his classic scowl whenever Talon was close. "It's an easy climb, if…If you want me to get it…"
"We can just get dad-" Caleb began, clearly not wanting Talon involved in this. Quinn however shoved her brother aside.

"Yeah! Get it, Talon! Just be careful!" She chimed.

Without further prompting, Talon began his ascent. Making quick work of climbing up each branch, it was just like navigating the side of a building. In no time, he reached the ball and carefully dislodged it from its perch. Tucking it under his arm, he began his descent back to the ground. When he finally touched the ground, he handed the ball to Quinn, who accepted it with a wide smile. "Thanks, Talon! That was amazing! You were like a squirrel up there!"

Caleb looked at him, a flicker of grudging appreciation in his eyes. "Yeah, thanks," he mumbled.

Quinn tossed the ball to Talon suddenly. "Want to play with us?" she asked brightly. "You could be the goalkeeper!"

Talon hesitated, glancing between the twins. Feeling a bit put on the spot and nervous. "Don't know how to play this way," he admitted, feeling a bit awkward. "Football is different, in Noxus."

"It can't be that different!" Quinn reassured him. "You go stand over there and try to stop the ball when we kick it at you."

He walked over to the makeshift goal, positioning himself in front of it at her instruction. Quinn set the ball down and looked at him expectantly.

"Ready?" she asked, her eyes bright with excitement.

Talon took a deep breath and nodded. Steadying himself as Quinn bounded towards the ball and booted it, Talon positioned himself and blocked it, it hit him pretty hard. But it was nothing compared to some pain he'd felt in the past.

"Great job!" Quinn cheered. "Chuck it back! Now Caleb's turn!"

As they continued to play, Talon started to understand the rules better and actually began to enjoy himself. The tension between him and Caleb seemed to ease slightly with each successful block and return. It was fun, to actually get to play with other children, not fight and scrap with them. The game only stopped when the ball hit the window one too many times. Tarian eventually stepped out to scold Quinn for nearly breaking the window.

"Talon?" Caleb took him by the arm as he went to follow Quinn indoors.

Talon managed to suppress a reflex, reminding himself quickly Caleb was no threat to him. "Yeah?" He responded warily.

"...I…I'm sorry I've been a jerk to you," He said softly. "You're not so bad…"

Talon just managed a nod, letting him go on.

"...You can play with us anytime you want, okay? You're really like…Like a new brother like Quinn kept saying."

"Monarri said I'm a foster child,"

"Foster sibling then," Caleb smiled as he passed by Talon. "Come on, let's go see if Dad's done telling Quinn off!"

He followed him back through the kitchen. Caleb took off towards the sound of harsh scolding in the other room, Talon lingered a while longer in the kitchen. Fingers tracing slowly over one specific drawer.

He'd been with the family for two months now. Talon finally began to lower his guard, there was a feeling of security here that convinced him he was safe. Safe to sleep freely, eat his fill and keep himself clean and happy. Hell, he even began to learn more games. Some that did not even exist in Noxus. They were not physical like a lot of games he'd watch the street children play. Instead moving little pieces across a board, trying to outmaneuver the opponent. Draughts, Quinn and Caleb called it.

Talon wasn't good at it at first, he made a lot of mistakes and often lost in just ten turns. But the more he played, the better he got. Enjoying the game so much, he took the board and pieces into the attic when Quinn wasn't home. To practice by playing against himself.

He'd become fond of watching Tarian in the smithy. He'd sit a way away, watching him work on any metal. The way he'd create blades satisfied Talon in a way he couldn't put into words, he wanted to do it himself. But often Talon would quickly scurry off should the man look up, he and his 'foster father' still didn't always get along.

Doctor's visits became a part of regular life for Talon too. The smell of clean, sterile rooms brought a lot of unease no matter how nice the healers were to him. Not helped by how much he hated being poked and prodded by strangers.

The practitioner pulled his lips up to look at Talon's gums. Making a small hum and saying "Healthy teeth, all things considered."

"We've been teaching him to brush twice a day, but he is not a fan of flossing," Monarri said. "I think he's very funny about textures…"

"It's a miracle he still has all his teeth, if he was homeless for so long." The man remarked. "Is he in school yet?"

"We're working on it…Tarian's worried he might…'act up'," She sighed. "But he's not had any incidents in months. I think Talon's adjusted so well!"

"It might do him some good, a routine and socializing properly," the doctor hummed before finishing up their check up. "He's a very mild mannered Noxian, you've done a good job."

It wasn't long before he was being sat down one evening, and his foster mother was explaining very carefully about he'd be starting school next week.

He knew of schools, they were places children actually stayed and lived in back in Noxus. But only the rich ones. He'd broken into a boarding school once, looking to steal some better fitting clothes. It seemed like a mansion, Talon couldn't fathom why so many of the adults he knew talked so negatively about these places.

"I want you to remember what I've told you," his foster mother began. "Just be open, honest and kind to everyone. Quinn and Caleb will be there too. You must not hurt anybody, Talon."

Talon nodded quietly. Why did this school sound so daunting? It seemed so wonderful in Noxus when he was a younger boy, the way the children screamed and played. They got food and looked clean and happy. He sometimes dreamed of sneaking in, hoping to live among them. But Talon never did so, knowing full well they'd instantly clock a filthy urchin from the slums.

But now he was not in the slums. He was clean, he was healthy. Now he could finally see what 'school' was like. He would get to learn the words, learn to understand the papers and their symbols. No longer reliant on others to do so for him.

xxx

It wasn't what Talon was expecting.

No large, spiked daunting gates, securing the school from trespassers. Guards weren't at every corner watching carefully. Instead it just looked like a slightly larger house with a field at the back. All it had protecting it was rickety fencing one would keep livestock paddocked in.

Still Talon walked on, following shyly behind Quinn and Caleb as they chatted and squabbled while holding their bags and lunches. Talon held his own bag tightly to his chest, inside he'd added something when Monarri wasn't watching. When she'd left him unattended in the kitchen for a brief moment. He needed it, leaving without one scared him too much.

"You might get called to the front, Talon," Quinn told him. "If she does and asks you to talk about yourself, just say something happy. Like how you like football!"

"What if I don't want to tell her about myself?" Talon asked.

"Well…You'd have to sit in the corner probably. Don't be upsetting Mrs on your first day, Talon!" Quinn warned him as they entered the school building.

The walls were decorated with paintings and murals, done by the children it seemed. Talon paused at one that was particularly large. Displayed was a large creature with wings spread wide. Around it various small people cheering, arms in the air with wobbly drawn faces. But as he glanced downwards, at the creatures feet, he saw very recognisable depictions of Noxian forces, crushed and defeated.

He starred a while longer at it. Quinn noticed him lingering and came back to his side. "That's Galio," she said, pointing to the winged creature. "He's a protector of Demacia."

Talon observed the mural a moment longer. Not taking his eyes off the giant monster. "Is it real?" He asked.

"Galio? Yeah he's real. We make a pilgrimage to see him, maybe you can come with us and see him."

No, Talon did not want to see a giant monster who stomped Noxians into pulp. He still had his doubts if it even existed, but he still slowly shook his head at her offer.

Soon Quinn brought him to the classroom. Various desks with two chairs to accompany them. Quinn and Caleb sat together, Talon wasn't sure where he would sit. Various children passed him, some stared and gawked at him in passing. Talon felt himself frown, had they never seen someone new before? Even when someone new arrived in the slums nobody batted an eye. They earned or chose a name and that was that, they lived or they died.

"Right children!" Came a sharp bark, startling Talon and causing him to flinch. A older woman with graying hair stood at the front of the classroom before a chalkboard. "You'll all see we have a new addition to our class! This, everybody, is Talon. Talon…Comes from Noxus."

There was something about the way she said his homeland's name. Talon couldn't place it. "Talon, why don't you tell us something about yourself? You must be so happy living here, away from the barbarity…"

"What…?" Talon asked quietly. "Um…I live…with them," he pointed to Quinn and Caleb. "I…we sometimes play football…" he managed to stumble.

"My dad killed six Noxians once! Did you know one of them?!" came a shout from the back of the classroom, which got a chorus of snickers and snorts.

Talon felt himself go cold, the grip on his bag tightening. The teacher hushed the boy firmly, and Talon just kept his gaze low. "We want to set an example for Talon, to show him how we behave in our school. He's probably never been to one. They don't seem to have them in Noxus!"

"They-...they do," Talon spoke up quietly, but kept his gaze down. "I lived near one."

"Is that one you attended?"

"No…I didn't go to…school…" he mumbled, shifting uncomfortably as he heard more snickering and mutters around him.

"So I was right then…Well I have my work cut out for me! You can take a seat at the back there!" She pointed at an empty seat at the back of the classroom. Talon began making what felt like the longest walk of his life, every child watching him with some look of disgust or amusement as he went by. Before finally sitting down at the assigned desk.

She began chalking symbols on the board, underlining what she wrote with a sharp line. "Complex punctuation!" she said, tapping the chalk markings she had made. "Can anybody tell me, in this sentence I have written, where you would put the apostrophe?"

A bunch of hands went up. Quinn especially was desperately waving hers about, whispering a chorus of "Me! Me, Mrs!" Despite half the class eager to answer the question, her eyes fell on the one pupil who did not raise his hand: Talon.

"Talon," the teacher called out, her voice expectant. "Can you tell us where the apostrophe should go?"

Talon's heart pounded in his chest. He glanced at the board, trying to make sense of the symbols and the sentence. He didn't understand why she had picked him when so many others knew the answer. He swallowed hard, everything in his vision was blurring as panic was rising to an unstoppable point. Finally, he managed to speak.

"I... I don't know," he said quietly, feeling a flush of embarrassment creep up his neck.

"What about the full stop? Surely that's easy enough even for you!"
"I don't know what that is," Talon had to admit, his head lowering shamefully.

He heard the exasperated sigh before she turned her attention to Quinn, summoning her up to come and put the correct punctuation on the written sentence. "You could learn something from Quinn, Talon!" the teacher told him, noticing he wasn't even looking at the board. The teacher praised Quinn's work, but Talon didn't hear much of it. He felt the weight of everyone's stares and the whispers that followed. It was like a physical pressure crushing down on him, making it hard to breathe. Maybe the adults of the slums were right about school. It felt horrible, and Talon wanted to leave.

Eventually, a bell sounded, signaling the end of the lesson. Talon watched as the other children excitedly put their things into their desks. Quinn came to him, a huge smile on her face. "Come on, Talon, it's break time! We can go outside and play!" she said, taking him gently by the arm.

Talon followed her out into the playground, the fresh air offering a slight reprieve from the suffocating atmosphere of the classroom. Quinn led him to a grassy area where Caleb was already kicking a ball around with some other children.

Caleb called, "Talon! Come on!" gesturing him over. But that same boy who commented about the Noxians strode over, snatching the ball from him. He was taller than Quinn and Caleb, with messy brown hair, freckles, and a missing front baby tooth.

"No way you're inviting him to join in?! That scum?! Just because he has to live with you doesn't mean we want him in our match!" the boy sneered.

Quinn glared, stepping in front of Talon. "Dulren, don't be horrible to him! Talon's nice and he's really trying to fit in around here! He's played football with us at home; he's good!"

"Yeah right! He can only play Noxian football, I bet!" Dulren sneered. "Aka- Thug ball!" He must've thought that was clever, the way he brayed like a mule with his little gang. Quinn tutted, taking Talon by the arm and encouraging him to just follow her elsewhere.

But Talon planted his feet firmly, frowning at the other boy. "You're pathetic," Talon told him, keeping his tone steady and challenging.

Dulren's face turned red with anger. "You what?! Little rat, you don't even know how to play our football. You'd probably just hurt someone."

"Weak, you are scared of being hurt." Talon sneered, staring him down. His golden, hawk-like eyes fixed on the boy. Dulren was just like every arrogant street kid who soon found themselves dead in the slums, whether they got too cocky with an adult or stole from the wrong arms dealer.

Dulren grabbed the front of Talon's shirt and pulled him close, snarling a chorus of unintelligible threats. Quinn quickly rushed in. "Let him go! Don't fight or we all get in trouble!" It seemed to work, as the bigger boy slowly let go of Talon's shirt and spat at his feet.

Quinn led Talon away by the arm, Caleb following along. They approached the side of the school building to sit down in the shade, Quinn sighed deeply. "Good on you not attacking him, Talon," she told him gently. "Mum will be proud of you!"

"Yeah… It wasn't worth it." Caleb agreed.

Talon stayed quiet, knotting the fabric of his shirt in his hands as a distraction. "If I did want to fight back," he started, "I'd have killed them." Quinn let go of his arm, and Talon heard her audibly swallow. His wide-eyed look softened a tad. "...Not you. Not you or Caleb."

Quinn and Caleb exchanged glances, concern mixed with a hint of understanding. "We know you wouldn't, Talon," Quinn said softly. "You're different now. You're part of our family," She said. "But…You gotta stop talking about this killing! People will tell the guards and you'll get in trouble…We don't want you taken away. Like Mageseekers take away people sometimes."
"What's that?" Talon asked, raising a brow. Picturing a more frightening type of guard in his mind, or perhaps a hitman. Like the ones who would hunt him before he came here. He remembered his bag, wishing he could've had it with him. Instead it was left in the classroom.

"They…Mum and Dad say they're meant to protect us. But…They're sometimes a bit scary. Hopefully you'll never see one. You're not a mage so…"

The bell ringing again interrupted her. She looked back to her foster brother and held her hand out, ready to go back to the classroom. Talon took in a deep breath, then took her hand.

xxx

"I'll take it, it was a rough day?" Monarri asked gently, sitting down beside her foster son on his bed. Talon had his knees to his chest, staring at the old floorboards of the loft below him. She reached out and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. Talon sighed softly.

"I don't know anything. It's hard… Why do they know those funny scribbles and I don't?" he asked in a bout of frustration.

Monarri gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "They've had more time to learn, Talon. You're starting from a different place, but that doesn't mean you can't catch up. It just means you'll have to work a bit harder at first."

"I'm always working harder. Having to try harder than everyone else just to survive…It never changes, does it…" Talon muttered. "I'm just stupid and they all hate me anyway for being Noxian."

"You're not stupid," Monarri said firmly. "You're smart, Talon. You've survived things most of those kids can't even imagine. It's just a different kind of learning." When he looked away in obvious disbelief at her words she pulled her lips inwards. "...What about if from now on, every night, me and Tarian help you with your reading? We can practice and you'll be caught up in no time…"

Talon shook his head quietly. "It just seems really hard. I knew a guy who learned every word you could spell in the um- the um…dit…dic…"
"Dictionary?"
"Yeah! He knew how to write all sixty two words in it! Sneaks was so smart!"

"Talon…There are more than sixty two words in a dictionary... But that's not relevant!" She quickly added to spare his feelings on some fond memories. "We'll start tonight if you want, practice some alphabet."

And so every evening from then on, the two would sit down at the kitchen table and practice Talon's reading and writing. It started off simply, sounding the letters and wobbly tracing them down. Monarri stayed patient, guiding his hand with gentle encouragement as he struggled to form each letter. Talon gripped the pencil in a full fist as he wobbly began to copy her first letter.

"See? You're getting the hang of it," she said one evening as Talon managed to write a somewhat legible "A."

"Really? It's not too wobbly?" he asked, comparing his "A" to the ones Monarri had written as examples.

"It's perfect, now try the 'B'!"

Talon started recognizing more letters and even began forming simple words on the paper as weeks passed. Monarri would sit down with him to help with any homework, no matter how long it took. She wanted him to complete it fully, all his own work. By two months, Talon could read quite a few sentences, recognized letters, and could spell decently, he absorbed any learning like a sponge. He just needed someone to focus on him, she realized. For Talon, it felt truly amazing to finally look at a piece of paper and the symbols and scribbles had clarity after so many years.

As he closed up the first book he'd ever read, his foster mother smiled brightly at him. Giving his hair a gentle ruffle, something he'd now become comfortable with. "Amazing, Talon. You've come so far, and you'll only get better from here."