Should We Meet Again

Chapter Thirteen

Quinn took in a deep breath of coastal Ionian air, her muscles relaxing as she leaned against a tree in the immediate outskirts of an occupied Ionian port city. It was immeasurably refreshing, a far cry from the polluted shores of Noxus or Bilgewater. The only place that could compare was the waters of the Freljord, but the air was typically so cold there that one feared too great a breath would freeze their lungs solid. The novelty of the unbridled nature in Ionia had already found a special place in her heart.

Quinn had never been to Ionia before, but if Demacia failed in its intervention, chances were high she'd be coming back quite often. Already, the war was reaching a fever pitch. The Noxian Vanguard Army, led by General Marcus Du Couteau, had completely seized Shon-Xan and Zhyun province, meaning that the main forces under Lord Darius could be making landfall any day now. Hell, they could have already landed; news didn't travel fast in Ionia and she was too far north to stay up to date on the state of the war. Whatever the case, if the Demacian intervention force didn't turn this invasion into a two front war by the time Navori fell, Ionia as the world knew it would be a relic of the past.

To the average Demacian, the invasion seemed like an arbitrary act of malignance, conquest for conquest's sake. That was more than enough to spur most officials into support of intervention. A few more enlightened individuals, however, sought a deeper understanding of the situation. The prevailing theory among those who actually cared was that this military venture was a natural response to the Noxian civil war that occurred just over a decade prior, that, should the Demacians have paid attention, could have even been predicted. The defeat and execution of Prince Raschallion's forces, and thus their ideals, led to something of an intellectual exodus within Noxus. Many powerful magi and renowned intellectuals, led by Gregori and Amoline Hastur, fled the empire, and have since vanished from the public eye. This created a void of competent individuals in positions of power, allowing a cunning few to rise to greater heights, and perhaps even facilitating the Black Rose's return to prominence. As a result, Noxus's progress in academia and the arcane arts had come to a screeching halt, leaving the empire's leaders with a choice: allow the slow decay of the empire in these fields as they waited for the next generation to fill the gaps, or assimilate the veritable nexus of spirituality and magical prowess on Runeterra into their society as they had done so many times before. Their answer was laid out before her.

It was a shame to see the people that had fostered such natural beauty suppressed by a fleet of raiders so uncivilized that they called an ancient deity "the Bearded Lady", but there was nothing a ranger and her bird could do about that on their own. No, Demacia's Wings did not carry liberation with them this day. Instead, Quinn had come to this port following the only lead she had in regards to Talon's location: his contacts. They had discussed much during their time together in Demacia, but she happened to remember one line of his that might make her life quite a bit easier. In his own words, "It's hard to get much of anything done in Bilgewater without knowing someone bigger than you, especially if you're a Noxian. I'm not very fond of dealing pirates and brigands, but luckily l don't have to. Unless you're Gangplank himself, the only thing higher on the food chain than a pirate willing to do wrong is the bounty hunter that follows."

At face value, that information wasn't very useful. There were hundreds of bounty hunters in Bilgewater, most of which too scared to actually start collecting for fear of the repercussions. When one considered Talon's pedigree (however artificial it may be), it became clear that there was only one bounty hunter he would consider cooperating with: Sarah Fortune.

There were a number of variables that would determine whether or not he would seek her out. She didn't see anyone matching Talon's appearance during her time surveying the invasion force, and none of the brigands she had bribed had seen him with Katarina or among her ships, meaning that he wasn't working with them at all. That left only one remaining option: he was acting independently, and if that were the case, he would likely visit Sarah for information on the Northern provinces. It wasn't concrete, but she wouldn't have wasted time visiting four different port cities if it didn't seem like the most likely situation.