Should We Meet Again

Chapter Four

How could you be so careless!?"

Talon persisted in staring at the ceiling as Katarina's booming voice echoed throughout his bedroom. Typically, he found being yelled at to be extremely vexing, but it was different with Katarina; it was her own twisted way of showing that she cared. Still, he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of eye contact.

"You could have died out there! I swear if you would have sullied the name of house Du Couteau by dying to some peasant ranger, I would have dug you out of the grave and killed you again myself."

Talon continued to remain silent as Katarina began to visibly wind down, her heated breaths slowing and her posture relaxing. The redhead sighed and sat down at the foot Talon's bead, pulling off his blankets and rolling up a leg of his sweatpants to examining his wounds' dressings.

This was the first time anything had been quiet since he had returned. It wasn't unusual for him to return from missions in the dead of night and sneak into his room without a word, and such was the case last night. However, even at that time, the service staff of the manor were brimming with energy and chattering among themselves. Talon had figured it was because word of his fight had reached his family before he did, and they were relieved to see him back. He never did make it back to his outpost after his confrontation with Quinn. Instead, he managed to reach one of the scouting parties that had begun their run of the area and collapsed right in front of them. Noxian rumors have always lacked rarity and credibility, and are therefore often ignored by a majority of people, but when one of Noxus's most well known names is turned into a pincushion and found bleeding to death on the front lines, word travels fast. If you threw the few days he had to spend at the outpost recovering on top of that, it was clear he had no way to beat the news back home.

"Weren't you wearing your armor?" Katarina asked, wincing at the wound in his leg.

"She was prepared for that," Talon answered. "This woman is dangerous, Katarina."

"She would have to be," she noted. "Now, tell me what happened. The report that came told only of your injuries. I'm curious to hear what had happened.

"There isn't much to tell," he said. "She got the drop on me and shot faster than I could blink, and when I couldn't blink, she didn't miss."

"So what, she just completely beat you?"

"No," Talon replied. "By the end, I nearly killed her and her damn bird. If you can get away from the eagle and close to her, she's as good as dead."

A look of relief came over Katarina. "Well at least you put up a fight. Do you know when you'll be back in the field again?"

Talon shrugged. "Even with the healing treatments, I probably won't be able fight at full capacity for another month or so; I can barely walk as it is."

"So what are you going to do?" Katarina asked, "Just waste away here?"

He shook his head. "I think I'm going to take that mission we talked about a while ago."

"You're going to Demacia?"

"I am. Believe it or not, I had a lot of fun with her. I need to figure out how she ticks; it wouldn't be satisfying to just killer without knowing who she is."

Katarina rose from the bed and made her way for the door. "Do what you want, just don't come back with any of her kids," she remarked with a teasing smirk. "House Du Couteau doesn't need any Demacians bearing its heraldry."

"I could tell you the same. Katarina Crownguard doesn't really have the same ring to it."

"Shut up, sewer rat." She opened the door and stopped in her tracks. "Oh, you're both here. You didn't have to wait outside; you should have just said something and I would have let you in."