Dawn at the Wild Rift (Book IV)

Chapter 18

(This chapter is dedicated to NezukoChaann418)

"Kenshin, I can't see anything."

Hearing those words as her voice breaks, Talon bites his lower lip and tightens his grip on his sword. He has already expected that something will surely happen to her after what happened back at the temple. However, Hanabi losing her sight right off the bat is something beyond his expectation.

"You being blind," he states with his head lowered, "is a good thing. I wouldn't have to worry about you escaping from my sight again."

Though he doesn't really mean those words, he still said it. He watches her get up from the small bed and faces him. He stared at her and instead of the usual scarlet color of her eyes, her left eye is pure white in color.

"The nightmare when I was turned into Nephila is coming back to haunt me," Hanabi states, remembering the time she felt like she was on the verge of death. Though she feels a bit better at the moment, her instinct tells her that the pain she felt back at the temple is simply the tip of an iceberg. "Does tormenting me give you so much pleasure, Kenshin? Tell me, for what reason are you doing this? I trusted you, yet in return, you treat me like this?! What the fuck do you want from me?!"

With her anger ahead of her, Hanabi summons her kunais and throws them right in the direction where Talon stands. Her sight might have been lost but she could detect the warmth of a person and could clearly hear and locate where sounds are coming from.

Talon deflects all her weapons with his sheathed sword. He is quite amazed that despite her handicap, Hanabi did not lose her sharpness and precision. Telling her to calm down would probably put fire on her raging fury so instead of trying to soothe her, Talon decides to answer her question.

"Keep your weapons for now," he states, "I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Hanabi, then, stands and walks towards his direction. She senses the presence of the cold steel by the time she reaches the end of the prison. She turns her head to the side where Talon is and says,

"I'll listen," she replies, however, she swears to herself that she will no longer trust his words.

The two of them sit across each other and Talon starts to talk about his long-time and important mission.

"8 years ago, an unprecedented enemy plagued Runeterra. It was just an ordinary day but out of nowhere, a huge dragon appeared that covered almost the entire Wild Drift. It was too strong that it took all of the warriors to battle it and it still lasted for a year. It's not like we won by killing it, though. Just like how it appeared, it suddenly vanished in thin air. Within that year, at the later months, we were close to losing hope in winning, it felt like we were fighting a losing battle," he states.

His voice is low and cold as he remembers that nightmarish past.

He continues, "But there's a woman who was brave enough to make a pact with the Demon of Curse. No one really knows much about her but she was called Scarlet. She led the largest troops to the battlefield and with only two weapons given to her by the demon, she was able to at least fend off the dragon's attack. She was supposed to be considered a hero but when she was never seen after the dragon's disappearance, she was instead called a traitor. Because she wasn't able to do what the Demon of Curse wanted, another plague befell our home. Every night, the red moon shines and it gives freedom to the ghouls to haunt the people. You've seen them when Ezreal took you by the borders."

Listening to his story somehow sways Hanabi's resolve to never believe in him again. It feels as if she is hanging at the edge of a thread and any time, she might let go and start to believe Talon again. She clenches her hands as she continues to listen.

"The Wild Drift that was a source of living of the majority of people turned into nothing but ruins now—an empty land. Scarcity of food and resources still runs in the whole of Runeterra. And the only way to end this curse is to find the Scarlet. It took two years for us to discover the portal leading to your world. We also came to know that every two years, the portal would only open once. Thus after a year of preparation, I was sent there to find the Scarlet."

Hanabi raises her arm as if waving a white flag. Though the story is going on smooth storytelling, its context is hard to comprehend. In her 19 years of living on the face of the earth, she has never heard of the existence of another world. And hearing that portal thing, she realizes that she is indeed no longer in Magical City. And not only that, she is in a new world, well, that is if what Talon claims are true.

She halts Talon from continuing so she could have some time to process everything. After a few minutes, she lets him proceed.

"Three years after stepping into Magical City, I earned the trust of Nero Ton," Talon says with a smirk curved at the edge of his lips.

"He was a powerful man and sticking to him made things easier. He may not be the man that is easy to manipulate but he trusted me. That alone was enough to make him play a big role in my plans. Stealing the heart of the Enchanted Forest, taking down Land of Dawn and the capture of his SABER squad is actually part of my plan. After he told me the story about the Black Dragon, it became clear as to why Runeterra suffered. I know that it won't be long that I'll be able to leave that world so staging a little war as a parting gift would be a great sight."

The words that Gnar and Sett had told Hanabi about Talon are becoming clearer. He is indeed a force to be reckoned with. He is more than just a notorious assassin, that is for sure. And killing Sivir might just be one hell of an easy task for him.

"On my fifth year though, I got to meet you at that brothel in Mizuyama. At first, I was truly shocked since you resemble the Scarlet in a lot of ways, physically-wise. And luring you in coming out from Iga town was a bit easy. With all these things I have said, you now probably know the reason why I brought you here."

Talon gets up and looks at Hanabi who is still on the ground. The situation they are currently in gives him no choice to walk on a different path. Walking beside Hanabi towards the future is nothing but a fleeting dream for him. Choosing to save his home is the one he is sure to never regret.

Without anything else to say, Talon leaves her alone and visits Jinx at the tavern of Sett. Since she is the one who helped Hanabi in going to the Wild Rift, she is suspended from any missions.

"Show some more interesting reaction, ya whacko! Doncha show me yer boring poker face!" Jinx claims as she holds onto the steel bars that separate her and Talon.

If only she isn't locked up, she could have grabbed his collar and force him to make a different expression.

"Until the ritual is done, you are not leaving this cell. You have brought this upon yourself so treat it as your vacation," Talon responds to her.

Jinx has always been the hardest warrior to put a leash on. She is more than a free spirit and is troublesome most time. But she is also one of a handful as an opponent. Talon wouldn't want her to repeat what she did because if it happens again, Hanabi might successfully return to Magical City and all his hard work would go down the drain.

"But ya know, whacko, that beauty may be easy to manipulate but she's kinda dangerous if she gets serious," Jinx states. There is a grin plastered on her face and her eyes sparkle in excitement. "It makes me wanna fight her."

With her interest piqued towards Hanabi, Talon is sure that Jinx would be the best candidate to guard Hanabi. If worse turn into worst, she could be on par with the Scarlet woman.

While Talon is discussing some matters with Jinx, a woman enters the tavern. All eyes are on her and she likes the attention she is getting. However, her visit as of the moment isn't for seduction but for some serious business. She gets permission to enter the dungeon located at the base of the tavern and as she takes her time to reach her destination, she could hear the distant voices of Talon and Jinx.

Their discussion seems a bit more serious than she thought. They didn't even pay her any attention when she shows herself. Thus, she intervenes.

"Pretty boy, are you only going to focus your attention on your non-Runetterian hostage?" she asks with a soft voice. When Talon turns his attention to her, she flashes a seductive smile and adds, "I bet you wanna hear this luscious news I brought."

"Oh!" Jinx yells as she waves at the newcomer, "Whatcha doing here, horny Evelynn?"