Dulren's mark eventually faded into a small, pale blemish on Talon's lower ribs. Another for his still growing collection of scars. A small grace being it was not as prominent as the one on his leg, or his inner hands. Or the many, many across his shoulders and back.

He'd promised to get back into the smithy today. Pulling his plain shirt over his marred body and heading down the stairs of the attic. Towards the bottom of the ground floor Talon encountered Caleb, the two boys paused as their eyes met.

"Hi…" Talon said. His grip on the banister steadily increased.

Caleb shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Talon's ribs before meeting his gaze again. "Hey," he said softly. "I was just-..." He gestured towards the upstairs.

"Right." Talon quietly stepped past him, taking note how Caleb's amber eyes never stayed off as he passed by. "Have you seen Dad?"
Caleb paused, frowning a little. Before he answered with a wary tone. "He's out back…"

Talon nodded, heading towards the kitchen to get to the back door. He glanced back to Caleb, who was going upstairs but caught his gaze.

And froze up.

"Morning, Dad," Talon called out as he approached the smithy. His confrontation with Caleb pushed aside, as he'd just left him standing there like a petrified Yordle.

Tarian looked up from his work when Talon approached, his stern features softening just slightly. "There you are. Thought you'd forgotten about your job for a moment."

"No, sorry. Just …Got distracted." The boy replied. Talon slipped on his thick gloves and got to work, crafting blade after blade. Falling into a calming rhythm as he finished the last of the day: a greatsword Talon had spent the good part of two days crafting.

Tarian took the sword from him, examining it closely. After a moment, he nodded approvingly. "You've done well, Talon. Your work's getting sharper, more refined."

Talon nodded quietly in thanks. Starting to sweep up, as he always did in the late afternoon.

Breaking the quiet of the forge, Tarian suddenly spoke up, though his eyes never left the metal he was working on. "Caleb's been quiet, hasn't he?"

"Yeah," Talon replied, not sure where the conversation was headed. He grabbed a cloth and began to wipe down his tools. "He's been… off. Ever since… What happened."

Tarian grunted, a familiar sound that often meant he was thinking very carefully about his next choice of words. "He's worried, Talon. We all are."

"Worried about what?" Talon asked, his exasperation coming out more harshly than he had intended.

"We don't know what happened out there, Talon. Somebody killed that poor boy." Tarian said.

"He wasn't some 'poor boy'," Talon scoffed, ignoring the frowning frown on Tarian's features. "He wanted me dead. Then he ran into that demon! If he'd not been so bent on slaughtering me, maybe he'd still be as the worthless shit-stain he was."

"Talon, enough!" His foster-father barked.

"You're angry, I get that," he said, his voice steady now. "But talking like that? About a dead boy, no matter what he was like? That's not the Demacian way. It is not how we act, that's not who you are now."

"I didn't do anything! I was trying to help! All I do is to try and fit in or help around here! And even now I'm still treated like some villain!" Talon screamed, before storming back into the house. Ignoring various calls to come back from Tarian. He blocked it out, blocked everything out. Returning to his space where he curled up on his bed and let himself finally break.

He'd never let himself cry in front of anyone before, not since he was a child. Even then, he'd chastised himself when he broke down before Quinn those years ago. Crying was weakness, and weakness got you killed—that was the hard taught lesson he'd learned on the streets of Noxus.

And one that stuck with him for life.

When dusk settled, Talon found himself looking up through the window of his space. The familiar feeling of entrapment had found itself within his heart. No matter how much he tried to forget his past, no matter how many times he tried to prove he could be something more than the orphaned street rat from Noxus, it seemed like the ghosts of his old life always found their way back.

Or others would do everything in their power to ensure he would never be anything but that. He'd heard the hushed conversation downstairs, he'd not gone down for dinner. His absence was noted, and discussed.

"Is Talon alright?" His foster mother had asked.

"Well…Not really…He got into a bit of a flap at the forge, him and Caleb." His foster father had replied.

They'd lowered their voices, forcing Talon to press an ear to the floor to listen. All he heard was something along the lines of 'He's not right since what happened in that forest. The seekers demand to see him more-"

Talon sat back up. By Seeker, she must've meant the Mage seekers, Quinn had offhandedly mentioned them occasionally. Not something he wanted to be involved with, they had a habit of disappearing those who were dangerous to Demacian society.

"Monarri…Has he ever been right? I think that Dulren kid's triggered something…Something scary that's been dormant in him. I'm getting worried, I thought we'd done right by him-"

Talon's chest tightened as he pulled away from the floor. It was true wasn't it, exactly what he'd thought would happen when he was an eight year old boy. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried to change to fit their ways, it was as if people were just waiting for him to fail. Waiting for him to prove he was exactly what they feared—a threat, a ticking bomb waiting to go off.

A street rat.

A monster.

Talon glanced out of the small attic window above him, the sky now a dark purple as the last remnants of daylight faded. A part of him wanted to run, to just disappear into the night and never come back. It was what he had done back in Noxus, after all—run, hide, survive.

Indecision ripped at his inside. Painful and sharp as he paced around like an enraged animal in a cage. One part of him screaming just leave, leave and don't come back. Let them hunt you, but they'll have to catch you first. All they saw was some vicious Noxian, so why fight them anymore. While another pleaded reason. To stay, he could confront them both. Tell them he'd heard them.

He decided in the end he'd meet his whirlwind of thoughts in the middle. Talon grabbed some paper, wrote as neatly as he could. Before leaving it on his nightstand and grabbing his rucksack.

Just a small note, a reassurance he would hope.

'I need time. I'll come home soon.'

With the message left, Talon used one of his chairs to get a boost to that window. Forcing it open, and slipped onto the roof above the place he'd considered a home for five years. A graceful slide down, his boots hitting the gravel of the ground. And Talon was off, he wasn't sure where. As he'd done many years ago, he picked a direction and walked.

xxx

Talon walked until dawn, the soles of his feet began to hurt within his boots. It reminded him of a time he'd stolen from a butcher.

Four eggs and a piece of flat iron of questionable origin. Talon had burst out of the shop after getting the goods, the woman manning the meat counter had shouted, chased him and chucked a meat cleaver that'd barely missed his back. Talon remembered the feeling of the wind rushing past him as he barely dodged it, the way his heart had seemed to stop for a second, only to beat twice as fast the moment he realized he was still alive. The guards had joined the chase, but lost him somewhere near the rivers, as he'd ducked into the cistern. Feet hurting, chest heaving ..But he'd done it.

He'd never liked eating down there, but it was the safest place someone could go when they needed to lay low for a few hours. Even days. Eggs were supposed to be boiled, or mixed around on a hot skillet Talon had learned as he'd been living here. Those eggs he'd stolen he'd cracked open and eaten raw. He'd seen nest-raiding animals do it, figured that was how you ate them.

His stomach had not been kind to him the next morning. He could still taste the raw eggs if he thought hard enough, the way their slimy texture had turned his empty stomach the next morning. He'd spent hours curled up in that dank cistern, trying not to vomit

It was brighter now, warmer. Talon finally let himself stop and sit down, taking a seat on a small stone wall on the road. It was strange to think how much had changed, and yet how much remained the same. Even now, with a home and a family of sorts, he still felt that pull to roam. Never stay still, now he was moving, he didn't want to stop.
"Somethings awoken alright, Dad," Talon grumbled. "Me wanting to run around again…" He glanced North, remembering something he'd wanted to do originally. He was roughly a day- Maybe two, from the great statue of Galio. His feet were still sore, but he slung his rucksack over his shoulder and started walking again. Determined to finally see this giant, stone monster that once terrified him the first time he'd laid eyes on a crude mural of it.

Talon ventured past various small communities. He decided to chance the next one he approached, hoping they didn't recognise him as that Noxian from Uwendale. To his shock as he walked past the gates and began to approach the market, he was met with smiles. Talon kept his gaze down, giving little awkward smiles back.

His stomach made a mournful noise, reminding him he had not eaten since yesterday morning. Before he'd left home. Talon begrudgingly approached a stall of what looked like baked goods. Easy and quick, able to take on the go. The vendor looked up at him as he pointed at the small baked goods he wanted.

"You are a new face?" The woman asked him in Demacian. Talon froze up, he'd not been expecting her to speak in it. So only caught half the conversation, something about his face? Prompting him to reach and touch his jaw in confusion. "You are new?" She clarified.

"Oh– Uwendale.", Talon said. He spoke Demacian semi-decently now. It still occasionally made him really think before he spoke.

"Ah. I heard there is trouble there?" She continued. Wrapping up his order and taking his offered gold. "Disappearances? They blame some orphan boy taken in, a Noxian."

Talon felt his throat go dry.

"Some folk say he killed that boy and the others. The Mageseekers are involved now. But who knows, right? It's all just talk until the truth comes out." She went on.

"...Right…" Talon whispered, quickly getting away from the stall the second his transaction was completed. He fucked into the first quiet place he could find. A small community area by a statue, collapsing into a bench to try and steady himself.

Talon unwrapped one of the baked pasties, though his appetite had all but vanished. The smells of warm bread and herbs should have been comforting, but the food felt like sawdust in his mouth. He just chewed and chewed until it was like paste, before forcing himself to swallow.

Maybe he should go home. Running may have made him look guilty. Worsen the situation. But once he finished his food, Talon found himself back on his feet, heading back on the path he had decided yesterday. The wind picked up slightly, Talon pulled his hood up, casting his gaze northward again and walked.

xxx

It was quite magnificent, Talon had to admit. Even at the brink of evening, with a sunset on the cusp of finishing, Galio was a sight to behold.

The teenager slowly came closer. It was large, so very large. Shaped like a gargoyle of some kind, adorning a golden crown to watch its beautiful golden wings. Talon slowly walked all around the giant stone pedatel Galio stood upon, ducking under the long, thick stone tail. "Wow…" He whispered breathlessly to himself.

If this thing really could come to life, it was no wonder Noxian forces were decimated by it. The sheer scale of the Colossus made him feel small—smaller than he'd ever felt before. Galio really did watch over Demacia like a sentinel, wings spread wide as though ready to take flight, despite being made of stone. Petricite, whatever.

At the base of the pedestal, Talon saw little offerings. A few long extinguished candles, withered old flowers…And gold pieces. That made his eyes widen with interest. He reached slowly to take a piece of gold, just one, it wouldn't be missed. And he spent what little gold he had on those pasties.

Talon almost didn't notice the faint sound of footsteps approaching. He froze, instinctively blending into the shadows cast by the statue. But It wasn't a soldier or a guard, he quickly realized, but a lone figure dressed in plain clothes. They were not much taller than him, slender in build. Talon hesitated, debating whether to reveal himself or stay hidden.

"What's wrong? Is- There's somebody hiding? Where?" Asked the stranger. A young female, Talon deduced. But who was she speaking to? There was nobody else around, he couldn't hear hisses of a whisper.

"-Is somebody there?" She asked again, sounding a tad nervous. So Talon sighed and slowly emerged from behind the large pedestal.

She looked a little surprised under her white hood. Shocked to see someone out so late, or almost matching her in attire, down to the hood hiding their features from one another. "I've seen you around before!" She suddenly said, sounding far less concerned now.

"You…Have?" He asked slowly.

Talon didn't go to this area much. Only accompanying Tarian or Monarri to do larger errands. The grandeur of the great city left him feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Yet somehow, his face had stuck out to this girl.

She nodded. "You live with the ranger captain? Her and twins? I see them sometimes! My father did contracts with her husband. He's a blacksmith right?"

Talon just nodded, probably the man who Talon had to make all them swords and armor pieces for. "I sometimes help. Did help." He gave a small shrug. "You spoke to someone, just now. Who?"

"Oh–...Nobody." She quickly gabbled. "What's your name?

"Talon…" He said after a long moment.

"Hi, Talon." The girl replied, lowering her white hood to reveal a head of short, straight blond hair. "My name's Luxanna. Lux, is fine though!"

"Okay." Was all Talon managed. Feeling the well of conversation with this stranger starting to dry up quickly. And he wanted out and fast. "I was just leaving…"

"Wait!" Lux said quickly, stepping forward, her eyes filled with curiosity. "Where are you going?"

Talon took a protective step back, his instincts kicking in. "Nowhere. Doesn't matter."

"...Is something wrong? I know you're…not from here. But I won't do anything, I–...Don't think Noxians are bad. Unlike some."

Talon stepped mid step, glancing back at her with a curious brow raise.

"I believe that our nations can make peace if we just–"

"My Nation?" Talon snapped. "I get made to look and act like you people and you still make sure I'm branded as your enemy. Good luck thinking there's ever going to be peace, idiot. You can't even get along with your own." He turned to walk away, leaving her standing there looking a mix of offended and shocked.

"Do you often insult people you just met!?" She asked with a tut, following behind him.

Talon said nothing, but she still followed him much to his irritation. He knew there wouldn't be peace, there simply couldn't be with how his birth nation operated. There would only be an end to it when there was nothing left to conquer, nothing but Noxus.

When her asking what his problem was for the third time got a little too grating, he spun around to snap at her. "Go away already! You stupid person!" He'd gotten so flustered he'd spoken in Noxian.

She blinked, so did he. When he tried to turn away again, an odd sound came about. Like grumbling, something moving after spending many years stuck in place.

Talon didn't get a chance to turn, something grabbed him, he was off the ground in seconds. Lux became the size of a small toy. "What is happening?!" He wanted to scream, but shock and fear kept him silent and shaking. He was in an iron grip, that could crush him like a grape.

When he slowly turned to see what held him, he found himself looking at a pair of glowing white orbs. Galio's once empty sockets now brimmed with life, as the large colossus had him in his grip.