"Marcus, good to see you, my friend, come here with haste," Zed requested from his place on the steps of the Kinkou Temple. It was nearing midnight and the space was lit only with the light of the torches that still littered the temple. It was a warm evening, the wind only gently rolling through the hills of Ionia. The young ninja made his way slowly up to the master and tilted his head curiously to the side, stopping a few feet away.

"May I ask why you called for me, Master?" Marcus inquired, a little nervously. Zed waved his hand for Marcus to sit and the acolyte complied silently, taking a seat on the steps, still a couple of feet from Zed.

"I feel that I can trust you more than the rest," Zed contemplated. "Is that true?"

Silence bit the air for a few moments as Marcus considered how best to respond to this curious inquisition. "I suppose so, yes. But um… Why do you ask?"

"Because I would like to speak with someone whom I can trust."

Again, Marcus let the silence go for a moment to see if Zed was going to add to that but, seeing that he wasn't, he timidly spoke up again, "Why not Syndra, Master? You two are close, are you not?"

Zed softly chuckled and reached out to place a hand on the young ninja's shoulder, "That is exactly why I must speak with you, my friend. You see, she and I are getting married tomorrow evening." It was all Marcus could manage to keep his jaw from dropping in amazement. Several questions were racing through his mind such as, 'Why now? Why is he talking to me? Ninjas can even get married? Gosh I shouldn't have broken up with that girl when I joined the Kinkou! What might have been? Would I be married now? Kids? Oh gosh, too far. Get back on topic or he's going to hate you, Marcus!'

Marcus coughed softly and shook his head, "That's rather unexpected, Sir. What can I do for you?"

Zed leaned back on the steps and sighed, "Be an ear for me tonight and never tell a soul what I am going to divulge to you. Understood?" Marcus nodded, not blinking at all as he watched his mentor. "Good. Then I'll start by asking you a question then. What is a warrior's relationship with his weaknesses?"

The younger ninja contemplated for a moment before responding, "They are to be beaten, overcame." Zed nodded, prompting more. "They um… they must be considered before any action is made."

The master held up a hand and silenced the acolyte, "Precisely. I am going to tell to you my one true weakness."

Marcus could not stop his jaw from dropping this time, "What?! Why would you do that? You trust me that much?!"

Zed laughed, "Of course not! I just know that you can't exploit my weakness."

'Oh, glad he thinks so highly of me,' Marcus grumbled internally.

Zed sighed again and redirected his gaze at a nearby torch as its flame flickered and waved in the breeze, "My weakness is my soon-to-be wife. If someone wanted to get to me, truly get to me, they could do it by attacking her."

Marcus smiled nervously and leaned to try and look at Zed's eye slits, "Well that's not so bad though. To be honest, Master, she is one of the most terrifying combatants I've ever seen. I can't imagine many people could pose a threat to her."

"That's very true, Marcus. But that doesn't change the fact that I fear for what might happen to her. Recently she and I were in a battle with Shen and Akali and I honestly did worry for her. Of course, as it ended up, I needed her help more than she needed mine, but that doesn't change it. I can't let anything happen to her. Just the thought of it… it makes me so… angry." Zed relented and looked at Marcus who he noticed was shrinking away, edging away fearfully. "Sit up straight. You're a goddam ninja of the Order of Shadow!"

Marcus instantly obeyed and looked down, "Sorry Sir. It's just you look rather intimidating right now."

Zed looked down at himself and actually jumped slightly at what he saw. Like fog, shadows were emanating, ebbing from the folds in his armor, drifting around him in the air. "What is this?" The shadow ninja took a deep breath and focused for a moment, drawing the shadows back into the armor and exhaling. "I apologize… That was unintentional."

The younger man shrugged, "I don't mind Sir. I was just nervous with the way you were getting aggravated. Are you okay?"

Zed brushed off the question, "Of course I am. I'm fine. And thank you for hearing me out. You may go." Zed leaned his head back on the stairs, taking continuous deep breaths.

Standing to go, Marcus looked down at his new mentor and maybe even friend, "May I ask a question before I go?"

Tiredly, the masked ninja waved his hand, "Go ahead."

"Why did you kill Shen? It seems like you had a grudge."

Zed sat up and turned around, intrigued, "You truly must be new to not know that story."

"Well I don't."

For a moment, the air was silent again before the older man motioned to the steps, "Then you'd best have a seat again. This is not a brief answer." Quietly, the acolyte did as instructed and took up a place near his master. "It was nearly six years ago that Shen and I were best friends, training together in this very temple. We were training partners and dueled constantly. Of course, with his bloodline, he had a certain advantage and came out on top most of the time."

"Bloodline?"

"The eye of twilight. It was his family's greatest inheritance. He, and his father before him, possessed unique abilities with ki. A kind of sixth sense that could be manipulated. Back when we were sparring, it allowed Shen to see my attacks coming before I made them. It allowed his father to do far more. Even as Shen died in Zaun, he had still not fully unlocked his potential. His father was… infuriating even in his final moments. So arrogant…"

Zed looked at his young charge for a reaction but, getting only a curious gaze, decided t continue. "I was young when I adventured to the inner sanctum of the temple. There, I found what is referred to simply as 'The Box.' Curious, much like you are, my friend, I opened it and was caught in an onslaught of shadows. They twisted themselves around me, creeping under my skin and through my whole body. In fear of the sensation, I slammed the box shut and fled. But in the next few days, I discovered that I had taken some of the shadows with me. In my next fight with Shen, I managed to defeat him by instinctively shifting past him into his shadow behind him and punching him in the back. Even I did not know what exactly I had done. Shen's father, my master, did. He scolded me for finding the box, for having the courage to look into it and for being given a gift. A gift that was greater than his son's. He wanted to purge the shadows from me and we argued in the temple whist the rest of the Kinkou were outside training…"

Marcus blinked and watched Zed attentively, "And then what happened?"

"I don't remember exactly what happened next. I felt angry. Furious that my own master would dare to accuse me of being lesser because I dared to do what he was too cowardly to do. Just because it had been generations since the box had been opened does not mean I shouldn't have done it… Marcus, remember this well. Tradition is the corpse of wisdom. Just because another fears something, does not mean you should follow in their cowardly footsteps. I learned that day that the shadows were my destiny, they were a part of me. So, for that, my master had to die. He wanted them gone. I could not allow that. When the rest discovered what I had done, I spoke to the temple, I made my case and a few brave souls agreed with me. We tried to take control of the temple, as we finally have now. But we were… defeated. As the heroic men fought to save our future, I ran back into the temple only to find my master, bleeding and clutching the box, my knife still in his chest. It must have cost him all of the strength he had left just to snatch it up in his pitiful hands. His eyes were glowing purple. I tried to stop him but before I could do anything, the box disappeared from his grasp and I know not where it went."
Marcus gasped, "But how?"

"A trick from the Eye of Twilight. One Shen never fully mastered. He only ever learned to transport himself, never objects or others. To his credit, never the less, he was deprived of his teacher and father on that day as I finished the job and ended his existence. Shen was relentless in his chase. I was leading my men away as he realized what I had done and gave chase. He used his ki to knock me to the ground and he…" Zed reached up and touched his mask, his words failing him as he recalled what Shen had done. Ever slice, ever stab, every cut, the blade forcing itself deeper and deeper into his flesh. "It was only when I managed to kick him off that my men covered me and allowed me to retreat until I was ready to return and face him again. And that, I did."

The young ninja nodded solemnly, "I know. We all felt it when the Eye of Twilight came to an end. The temple seemed to be lit up with his essence and even the ground shook with the weight of his defeat."

Zed shrugged, "The Eye of Twilight has always been linked to this temple, I suppose that it is possible that his death may have caused the temple to shake. Is that where all the rubble inside came from?"

Marcus nodded, "Yes, Master."

"Curious… I suppose only one person can tell me for sure what happened."

"Who?"

Zed stood up and walked up to the top of the steps and glanced down at Marcus, "Akali, of course. But that is a matter for another day. Now I have to rest before the ceremony tomorrow."

Marcus stood and dashed up the stairs, stopping in front of Zed to bow deeply, "Yes Sir. Thank you for telling me so much. I will never utter a word of what you have disclosed to me."

Zed smiled under his mask, "Trust that you don't. Farewell, my friend."

The camp fire crackled that night as Yasuo, Riven, Lux, and Ezreal rested from their long days' travel, sore feet and scraped up bodies laid back on the ground as they gazed up at the stars. Ezreal entertained the group with stories about his youth when he lived in Piltover and craved adventure so badly that he braved the horrid sewer system and underground tunnel network and charted the whole place simply because he didn't know what was down there. Then he told the story of Piltover's town hero, Jayce, and his battle with the most maniacal mad scientist in all of Zaun, Viktor.

It wasn't long before Yasuo started to doze off but Lux and Riven listened intently; Lux more so than Riven. After a few hours, Ezreal had grown tired and, despite having dozens more stories to tell, decided to call it a night and wrapped himself in his blanket.

It was then that Lux turned to Riven with a much more serious expression on her face than she had dawned while swooning over Ezreal's adventures. "Riven?" She started slowly, tentatively.

Riven pressed her palms into the dirt and sat herself up, looking quizzically at the Demacian girl, "Yes? What's going on?"

Lux tilted her head back and forth as if weighing options in her head, "So, earlier in your erm… dispute with Yasuo, something kind of came out that I was going to ask you about."

Riven had a feeling that she knew where this was headed but played along anyway, "And what was that?" she responded politely, folding her hands in her lap.

Again, Lux seemed to weigh her options, "Since the guys are asleep, I wanted to ask you in private. Are you really a um… Noxian?" She whispered the last word as if uttering a horrible curse that she ought not to be repeating.

Riven had, in fact, known where this conversation was going and she nodded, "Yes, I am a Noxian. But I'm exiled now, both because I want to be and because I have to be."

"Huh," Lux pondered, I wonder what that must be like. You don't seem particularly evil to me.

Riven laughed, "Well not all Noxians are evil, Lux. Just some are, well, less savory than others. Demacia is the same way, right?"

Lux raised an eyebrow, "What? No! Demacia is the pinnacle of justice and courage! We're nothing like Noxus."

Riven crossed her arms and shook her head, "I hate to burst your bubble but you've got some pretty messed up traditions too."
"Like what? Name one!" Lux cut in, accusatorially.

"Let's see," Riven started sarcastically, "One of your oldest traditions is the hunting of dragons for sport. You've forced them almost completely out of the north half of the world! The one we fought was probably one of the lucky ones to escape! Demacia sticks its nose in other city's business and tries to influence their politics! Piltover is one example of that, the Freljord is another. The same way Noxus influences Zaun, you Demacians try to influence other places; even if those places want to be left alone."

"Fine!" Lux grumbled, "We're not perfect. But we're no where near as bad as Noxians."

"You're not as bad as Noxus, I'll give you that. But Noxus and Noxians are very different things, Lux. The citizens are a lot like the ones in Demacia in a lot of ways. Most people live normal lives as traders, merchants, entertainers, artists, lots of stuff! Due to the way Noxian culture works, a lot of the more manipulative and violent ones rise to power, but that doesn't make the normal people any less significant. That's why I still love Noxus."

As the conversation continued, the women did not notice that Ezreal was stirring, not quite completely asleep yet and, hearing the work Noxian, he perked up. "What are you two talking about?"

Lux looked over at Ezreal and grinned, "About how Riven is a Noxian soldier gone rogue to save the world!" Riven burst out laughing, waking Yasuo too.

Groggy, the Ionian sat up and rubbed his head, "The hell is going on?"

Ezreal grumbled and looked down, clenching his fist, "Noxians… I hate those guys." Everyone else suddenly fell silent to look at Ez, who looked up and noticed all the attention. "I mean, except you Riven, you're cool."

The Noxian smiled and nodded, "Thanks Ezreal. You're cool too."

Yasuo rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah, we all love each other, great. Can we sleep now?"

"No Yasuo!" Lux piped up, "You have to tell us what you know about Noxus and about Riven! I mean, you two have clearly known each other a while! How'd you meet?" Lux smiled brightly at Yasuo, having absolutely no idea what button she was pushing.

Suddenly much more awake, Yasuo moved over closer to the fire and sat down, "You want me to tell a story? Fine! Here's what happened." Riven rolled her eyes, sure of where this was going as well. "I was one of the best Ionian soldiers until one day we were attacked by Noxus. I got assigned to protect an elder and, in my ignorance, I left my post to go fight the Noxian general, Darius, out on the battlefield. While I was gone, a Noxian snuck past our lines and into the village and killed the elder with a wind attack, making it look like I had done it. Nobody suspected that someone else could possibly be talented enough to use a wind blast like that and it was, after all, my post, so they assumed it was me. I was set to be executed but I ran. From there, I traveled across the world, met lots of people, even visited Noxus. I found out how twisted that place really is and discovered that the killer I was after had left Noxus and that Noxus's Grand General, Swain actually wanted her dead as much as I did. Long story short, I chased a killer for a long time before I met her and realized that she wasn't the monster I was looking for. She was a product of Noxus, but she didn't have to stay that way. She's okay."

Riven brought a hand over her heart and feigned tears, "Yasuo, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. I'm okay?"

Yasuo smirked, "Yeah, you're fine. In fact, "he continued, looking at Lux and Ezreal, "I found out that in reality, I was much guiltier that she was. I did some horrible things, trying to prove how innocent I was. Kind of ironic…"

Riven frowned, "But, I pushed him to do all of that. He was only trying to get his life back on track."

Lux and Ezreal looked at each other in disbelief. Were these two really getting along and talking about how good the other was? Weird night. Really weird night…

Author's notes: Welcome to chapter 15... well... that was chapter 15. Hope ya liked it. Next time on LotS: A wedding, a heist, and the end of the journey to find Zilean!