Our Hidden Blades

Breathe.

Katarina raced through the woods. She couldn't have really overheard that... right?

She even knew that her nerves had made her slip up and even give away, if Xin Zhao had a trained ear, that she was in fact there and overheard everything... 

She messed up. But also, how did this mystery woman find Xin Zhao? What were they saying to one another? And why had she only been able to make out what she had... 

Upon making enough distance, Katarina stopped herself by a small stream. She steadied her suddenly unstable legs to sit against the flat side of a boulder, taking out a dagger from the holster upon her thigh and dragging it through the dirt, just to give her eyes something to focus on while she thought. 

Breathe. Katarina walked herself through the motions of a calm meditation she only found herself with time to do when alone, completely alone. 

Her mind was definitely not the type to jump to conclusions. She wasn't the type to panic, or overthink things... but the feeling in the air when the cloaked woman had approached Xin Zhao... it was static, ominous, and familiar. 

That may be what bothered her the most. The familiarity was haunting, as if she was seeing something from her childhood. It chilled her to the bone in a way that only her father could induce upon her. Her heart beat in her ears at a rate which she closed her eyes to calm.

Breathe. Breathe. Goddamnit, Katarina, Breathe. 

An involuntary shiver ran down her spine as she opened her eyes again to stare at the dark engraving on her dagger. She had to know who this cloaked person was. Why did they think she'd destroy everything herself? And to add to it, who knew about her and Garen? The thought that one person even knew made her feel uneasy. Her sentence, decided by Noxus, was, after all, that she would be executed upon any sort of treason - and this definitely fit the definition, since this was what the Noxian elders were truly afraid of...

She rolled her eyes at the thought of the elders - they basically saw the future anyway. At this point they just knew it was going to happen. She imagined them in their stupid meeting amongst one another - their old cackles followed by coughs all around because their weak, futile lungs could barely breathe air without the threat of death. She shook her head in annoyance at the thought of those old, lazy used-to-be's. Why did they still rely on the elders anyway? They just - 

Katarina snapped back into reality and out of her anger-filled rant to herself upon the sound of footsteps. Hopping into a defensive position, ready to lunge if necessary, Katarina's eyes surveyed her surroundings.

"Calm down. It's me." Garen's voice broke through the silence as he walked forward, hands held up in surrender. 

Katarina couldn't help the tug of her lip into a smirk, as the thought of him now - hands above his head, completely defenseless in this way - was not a sight she was yet used to seeing. Her immediate response is always to lunge toward him and start another battle... But she knew she didn't need to fight him anymore. But her suspicions returned, and with a fast breath in, her smile turned into a straight-line once more. 

"How did you find me?"

"We're not that far off from the clearing... You know this same stream leads to it, right?"

"I- yeah, right. Of course."

How stupid! Why didn't she think about that? Now that she realized it, she must be less than a five minute walk from the clearing. Every event of the last three months bothered her to no end, especially since all her senses were undeniably off since then. Her eyes met Garen's and she couldn't help the thought that he single-handedly ruined her life. She felt resentment build in those seconds.

"It's fine. Do you need to be left alone? I just heard something and wanted to check it out, I wasn't exactly looking for you."

Goddamnit! Why did he have to do that? Her natural instinct was to be calmed by this kind of reasoning, as he somehow knew that it was the thought that he was looking for her that had bothered her... Oh, he pissed her off big time.

  Tell him to leave. He said it himself. He wasn't looking for you.

She felt angry, but knew it was the kind of anger that was just based off her current premonitions... Ugh!

"I'll... just go. I'm not sure I want to get in the way of your dagger today..." Garen began to back away, still holding the same stupid pose of pure defenselessness. Katarina realized she had grunted a sigh of frustration before all this, which must be why he was so onto her current internal struggle... 

"Look,"

Garen stopped. His hands came down, as he could tell by now that this was going to be serious. 

Katarina let out a deep sigh.

"Your people are onto us Garen. What happened to you in Demacia? What was your sentence? Did you even actually see a court? Were you even really exiled? You came out here with plenty of supplies, you're still allowed to stay close to Demacian territory, and you don't even look like they punished you in any way." Katarina had effectively blurted out every frustrated worry she had about him. She again thought to herself, He's the reason you're in this mess. He's the reason you're here.

Garen definitely looked taken aback, but not unprepared for an argument. She could see annoyance touch his face before he sighed shortly, answered every one of her questions, though they were thrown rocket-fire at him: 

"I told you," He stepped forward slowly as he spoke, "The army sent me here to guard. For two years I am to watch Qlyhim Woods. I saw a court. It was a quick hearing. They decided they'd work together with the Demacian military to decide on my fate. I'm not completely exiled... You really just jumped the gun with that one... They don't punish officers in Demacia unless they've done something pretty bad. Now put that down." 

Garen's hand rested on Katarina's, which still held a dagger steady. Their eyes met and Katarina's flitted across his face, trying to look for... a lie? Honesty?

Katarina pushed Garen's hand away and took a few steps back. "You said you were exiled."

"I just said I was sent to guard Qlyhim, Katarina. That's why I have all my supplies. I was sent here with them. I can return to get more if I wan-"

Katarina had met the space between them again, her dagger this time against his  neck. Her eyes now glared into his, though she knew her look wasn't as menacing to him as it used to be... It couldn't have been, with the clear glaze that she knew had filled her eyes.

"You lied to me, Garen Crownguard."

"You just assumed I was exiled! You -"

"You didn't clarify even knowing what I believed." She seethed, cutting him off, "I should have known better than to trust you dirty Demacians. You bask in the idea of being the best of all Runeterra, yet they don't even have repercussions for their criminals. How can they expect any progress when they're just letting you walk away?"

"Do you not understand that what they did was still not great? I can't see anyone, I lived by myself until you came around, I have to hunt for myself, make my own place to sleep!"

At this moment Katarina realized their most distinct difference. How easy it was to forget that Demacians are spoiled their whole life, part of the kingdom or not.

Katarina could only think of the concrete floor she was to sleep on until the age of 8 - even in her own kingdom - all due to her needing discipline. She had to earn her bed through proving her worthiness in the Noxian military and killing her first spy on her own. She was sent away for a year to live in a deserted forest just as this, just for training purposes - to be all alone, and know the way of the land and kill without guidance... then here he was, saying this was his punishment. And to be able to return for supplies should he run out! That really did it. 

Katarina closed her eyes and rested her forehead against Garen's as she let out a long breath. She felt his body lose its tenseness and her heart felt heavy at the thought of what she had to do.

She lifted her dagger from his throat and by the time Garen opened his eyes, he was only left with a soft blowing wind.