Chapter Text
Whenever someone was to get their hands dirty on work no one else in Ionia would take up, they would travel to Weh'le, a place riddled with thieves, assassins and traitors. Most people who ever passed here knew better than to be seen or heard. No one who wasn't supposed to be in Weh'le would find their way to this uncharted town, as it was not on any map, and when you'd ask for directions to it, no one would have any reason to tell you. Shadows, however, always found their way to this quiet port, and with them usually came trouble – either for those who were fleeing Ionia in secret or those who wished to arrive to the land in such fashion. Kayn was perched atop one of the houses overlooking the tavern.
He had entered the town unnoticed, knowing that people usually kept their heads down while walking the streets, making high ground a safe spot for him. Being noticed never concerned Kayn, however it would concern Zed, if he were to hear that one of his students was seen here. Keeping unwanted targets out of Ionia had become the Shadow Order's task in recent years, and Weh'le was their best choke point. The last time he used the port was on a ship setting sail for Noxus to the west, and then once again when he returned carrying a relic that would've certainly caught the attention of many powerful Ionians, had it not been for Weh'le's shroud. And it was that artifact that brought him here once again.
"We should've dispatched the whole group. Now they can go back and bring in reinforcements. Not that I mind more bodies..." a voice spoke from within the artifact, a Darkin weapon that Kayn held firmly in his hand. Its grip was covered in leather strips that concealed the red flesh-like material that made most of the scythe’s body and eventually ended in something that resembled steel, but could never melt or break. In the middle of the weapon’s head, blinked a single bright red eye.
"See that's where you are wrong, Rhaast. Dead men can't fetch more information, and I need more information," Kayn spoke, even though he knew that Rhaast could read his thoughts. Verbalizing their argument made him feel better.
"Did Zed teach you this? It wouldn't surprise me," Rhaast replied.
"You forget yourself, Darkin. There is a reason why I am the one out here, and you are the one trapped there," Kayn said with a bit of snark in his voice.
The scythe was silent, though Kayn could feel Rhaast's disapproval in the depths of his mind. He did not care, however, for the only approval he ever sought was the one of his Master. It was he who first learned of the Navori whispers about the Darkin weapons, and it was he who trusted Kayn to investigate the matter. A solo mission like this was suitable for the successor of the Shadow Order, or perhaps it was because their leader could not spare a whole group on a task that one assassin could do alone.
Kayn's eyes caught a glimpse of a man leaving the tavern, and he sprung into action. He secured Rhaast in his sheath and flung it on his back before sliding down the slope of the roof. The man who just left the tavern, draped in a bright red cloak, was a Yánléi informant who had worked with the order before and Kayn knew he was trustworthy enough - for his sake if nothing else. The information he sought was not confidential, just convenient. The last thing he wanted was sloppy competition, in the form of the Navori Brotherhood, on his hunt. As he approached the bar, he could hear a commotion from within. It sounded like a fight. Perhaps it was luck or instinct that made Kayn side-step at that moment, but he did so just as a man flew straight out of the door, almost ripping off the bead curtain. He raised his brow at the man now lying at the bottom of the wooden steps. Somewhere in his mind, Rhaast seemed rather amused.
"Oh, this will be interesting."
He parted the beads and walked in to find a familiar face fighting off two large men. They were low-end mercenaries from the look of it, some local merchant's bodyguards, and by the outfit on the man that he saw flying out, he could assume that was the merchant. She seemed to have it under control as she had one of them pinned by his arm down on a wooden table, and her foot had just collided with the other man's face as he came for her. Kayn used the moments she was distracted to make his way through the patrons who tried their best to stay out of the young woman's way, as she kicked and punched at her attackers. He sat at the far most corner of the tavern and kept his head low, but couldn't help and watch the way she fought. It wasn't elegant or graceful, she kicked and punched and took a few hits to her face as if she was raised on the streets and not within the high temples of the Kinkou Order. However, Kayn knew better than to dismiss her fighting techniques, as her speed and precision made up for her rowdiness. It was probably the only reason she fended off men twice her size with such ease.
"Well you are enjoying it at least," Rhaast teased.
"No one asked you," Kayn mumbled back to him.
The fight was over quickly as she knocked one of the men out, and the other tripped over himself to run outside. She took a moment to catch her breath and wiped her mouth from the blood, before shouting at the fleeing man.
"You are lucky I didn't have my bag with me!"
Kayn raised his brows and a little smile curled at the edge of his lip. If he was a peasant waving a sword around, he wouldn't want to be in her way either, though he could brag that he has been in this particular girl's way before, which unfortunately went in neither way he hoped it would. Still, he was here for a mission and he couldn't allow himself to get distracted again. He reached for a small crevice in the wall but kept his eyes on the girl while his fingers traced between the wooden planks. The other patrons returned to their idle chatter and the tavern was soon back to the way it was before the brawl. The young woman walked over to the bar and sat down with her back turned to Kayn. This made him think for a moment that he had gotten away with sneaking past her. She told the Vastaya bartender something Kayn couldn't hear, and the Vastaya poured her a drink with a slight smirk on his face. As Kayn was searching for something that should've been waiting for him hidden somewhere in the crevices of the wall, his eyes met the barman's and received a knowing look. This caught Kayn off guard and without any time for him to react, the girl addressed him loudly.
"Looking for something?" she said without even turning around, as she held up a piece of parchment.
"How did you-- Hey!" Kayn got up in a sudden outburst, almost flipping the table over.
"What are you doing here Kayn?" she snarled at him as he approached.
"I go out sometimes too, you know... Akali, was it?" he said, leaning his arm on the bar.
"I find it hard to believe you still don't know my name," she rolled her eyes and took the piece of paper away from him. "Anyway, this is my turf and since you saw what happened to those guys, I'd suggest you get your things and get out of here."
"Well, you see, that's going to be a problem. You have something of mine and I want it back," there was a tone of arrogance in Kayn's voice and an annoying smirk on his face. Akail looked at him from the corner of her eye as she was sipping from her drink.
"Tough luck, you aren't getting it," Akali replied. Kayn tilted his head and looked at all the papers, maps, and notes scattered in front of her.
"What's all this? Looks important," he played coy as he scanned the things before Akali. A letter on the bar bore a familiar seal at the bottom, but he couldn't quite read what it said. Akali pulled all of her papers to the side and stacked them in a messy pile.
"I liked you better when you were desperately flirty and didn't stick your nose in my business," she told him.
"I am versatile," Kayn shrugged, a smug expression on his face as he leaned back on his elbows against the bar. "Now that you mention it, we could make some kind of a deal. Our Masters are not here and we are alone in a tavern, so--"
"You are not hot enough to make this kind of pass at me," Akali let out a mocking chuckle.
"Okay then, let's cut to the chase. I am leaving with that note," his voice grew serious again.
"You tell her Kayn!" Rhaast mocked him sarcastically.
"Nah, you aren't. But you are leaving," Akali seemed unbothered.
"I wouldn't want to fight you over it," Kayn grew impatient and made a weak attempt to intimidate her by raising his voice.
"Yeah, you wouldn't." her lip curled in a smile and she finished her drink.
"Now there's your charm."
"Shut up." Kayn snarled at him and Akali raised a brow, a little weirded out by Kayn talking to himself. She got up and the Vastaya barman picked up the stack of papers, taking them away.
"We could take this outside," Kayn circled Akali.
"I'd much rather kick your ass here in front of everyone," she replied, looking at the Vastaya barman from the corner of her eye as she circled the opposite way from Kayn.
"I don't know if everyone will want to get acquainted with Rhaast. You know, my Darkin scythe, which I am sure you've heard about," he kept his voice low, a grin growing on his face and his eyes fixed on Akali's. If she didn't know better, she would think he is trying to be flirty right now.
"Oh, right, I heard you were like the farm equipment whisperer. Do you only talk to scythes, or shovels and rakes too?"
"I think you should stop talking and either fight her or leave. This is starting to get embarrassing."
Kayn stood there confused, and if someone watched them from the side, they would even assume his posture implied defeat. Akali almost felt bad at the stupid expression on his face. She turned to the Vastaya and signed something with her hands, to which he replied in the same fashion before going to the back room of the bar.
"You just told him to give you your bag?" Kayn asked as if he expected a different outcome.
"Yeah, I mean don't get me wrong, we had a really fun time, but I just don't think it will work out. It's not you, it's me," she added as she saw the Vastaya return with her bag. He threw it at her and she handed him Kayn's note. "Your informant wasn't telling you everything by the way. And since we have a conflict of interests—Bo'lii light it up," she addressed the Vastaya and he threw the note in the burning fire of the oven behind him.
"No—" Kayn almost jumped over the bar when he saw the piece of paper catch fire, but he knew that whatever was on that parchment was gone. He turned to Akali with a resentful frown, but she was already making her way towards the door and out of the tavern. As much as this meeting angered him and set him back on his investigation, he at least learned that they are after the same target which meant that they would cross paths again, but more importantly, that Akali might lead him to more information. Maybe they will finally get the fight that they've been building up to all this time. Bo'lii gave Kayn an annoyed look and his eyes gestured toward the door. Kayn got the message and adjusted Rhaast on his shoulder.
"I don't want to be in your shoddy tavern anyway," he mumbled and walked away. He was going to find the informant and get the information anyway, but it could expose the man to the rest of the town and it was sloppy work. It wasn't how his Master did things. But, it was smart of Akali to slow him down. However she could not walk with the shadows and she did not have a Darkin scythe, so Kayn was confident that he will get the job done without her interfering again.
Across the sea and the valley of blades, high up in the floating cliffs where magic beyond the Ionian's understanding had once touched the land, was a monastery, secluded from the worries and strife of the rest of the nation. And even at such a magical and peaceful place, there were still chores to be done and floors to be swept. A young girl, not even out of her teens, had been working the broom for an hour now, making sure the white hallways of this sword school were clean for the next day. It was her turn to do the job, and a part of her resented every moment she wasn't training with her Master. However, there was something else to this chore, something that disturbed her more than the typical teenage rebellion.
Deep within the halls of the school, there was a forbidden room, locked behind a tall door with scrolls and sigils on it, overgrown by thick spirit vines. A sword school shouldn't have held prisoners, yet whenever the girl walked past this room, the soft pleas of a woman held behind the enchanted door tugged at her heart. Her master, in all his soft and patient wisdom, had warned the girl to not approach this door or try and open it, and out of respect and love for him, she never questioned it. However, she never told him that she can hear the prisoner calling out to her, a secret she only shared with her closest friend. It wasn't that she didn't trust her Master with this, but that she feared that it would upset the woman inside and she would no longer speak to her, something the girl began to find great comfort in during the last few months.
"Has night fallen yet?" the gentle voice with a motherly tone spoke to her from within the locked room as she passed.
"Almost. I have to clean the rest of these hallways before dinner, so I don't know if I can talk tonight." the girl replied.
"I've grown accustomed to this solitude, but I welcome your company, no matter how brief. At least until this... unearned sentence is over."
"Is there no way I can help you?" the girl sighed.
"Not yet, but I am sure there will be a time when your Master will see reason and let me go," the voice added somberly.
"There has to be a misunderstanding… Master Yi would never do this to someone," the girl replied, unsure.
"You believed he wouldn’t exile one of his students either."
"She… left," the girl replied as she stopped swiping the floor "But it wasn't his fault, they argued and she decided to go in the night."
"You put a lot of trust in this man."
"He is my Master."
"His grudge against me is unfounded. If he is to let me go or at least hear me out, he would see my side. I can help him…" the voice told the girl.
"I wish I-- I wish there was something I could do for you. I don't know, it's so hard knowing there is a person trapped here and I cannot help her," the girl sounded sincere, almost teary.
"Do not fret, I will simply wait for the right time. I have you after all. But this has to be our little secret, for now. Until your Master is finally ready to speak," the voice spoke gently and the young girl looked at the door as she was leaning her head against the broom. She nodded a little and continued sweeping the floor. Whoever was locked in there made doubt in her heart grow more and more towards her Master. He claimed that whatever was there was too monstrous, too dangerous for any of the students to even come near – yet this woman sounded sad and desperate. The girl was not sure who to follow – her master or the alluring voice that reached down to her deepest insecurities and soothed them, who understood what was in her heart better than she did? The girl hoped there wouldn't come a day when she'd have to make a choice.