Oh god I haven't touched this since August. Woops?

I'm so sorry for leaving y'all hanging for so long D: I'll update more I promise!

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Chapter 15

Quinn groaned. Her head throbbed and her joints ached. Her throat felt dried and parched; she felt her shoulders burn from being pulled back. It was a familiar feeling; she knew she had been captured and her hands were tied behind her back by a thick, rough rope. Her cheek pressed against cold, hard stone. Quinn wiggled around and sat herself up, slowly cracking open her eyes.

Her surroundings were dark, save for a small light in the distance. From the flickering light, she could make out thick, sturdy, uniform bars that blocked her escape. "Shit," she groaned. Her last memory had been snuggling in her bed at Garen's estate, thinking about Talon. She had heard a faint caw, like a crow, in the middle of the night, and ignored it, thinking it had just been a lone bird in the night. Thinking of that had immediately sent her thoughts straight to Talon again. She smiled, cheeks feeling warm as she thought of the time she had boldly kissed him. It had been their only kiss so far. The scout longed to feel the assassin's warm lips on her own again.

Then everything was blank.

"Agh, shit," Quinn swore again. She pulled against her bindings for a moment, testing its tightness. The scratchy rope tore against her wrists, causing her to wince slightly. Not going to be escaping anytime soon, I guess, she thought, annoyed. She stood up unsteadily, unable to use her hands to balance herself. She carefully found her way to a corner of the dark room, using her shoulder as a guide to trace the perimeter of her prison. It was rather small, and Quinn figured she wasn't going to stay here long.

A loud clang sounded from afar and Quinn's eyes narrowed. A large, looming figure appeared in front of the bars. She spotted a bird on the figure's shoulder. It blinked; it had six red eyes. "Swain," Quinn hissed.

Valor was going nuts. Talon was covered in dark blue feathers and bandages from small, clawlike cuts. "God, you're lucky you're Quinn's bird, or you'd be roasting and being plucked right now," the assassin snarled. Valor squawked back indignantly, scattering feathers everywhere. "Oh, you dipshit of a bird," Talon cursed, exasperated. He stood up from his spot on Quinn's bed and left the room, shutting the door behind him, making sure the bird wouldn't come after him screeching bloody murder.

He reached the room that Garen and Katarina were discussing in, slinking in without a sound. "Talon," Katarina said, not turning around from her spot on the sofa. Garen continued to study the map in front of him, but glanced up slightly and gave a stiff nod. Talon grunted in response. "We have to be prepared," Katarina continued. Garen nodded. "I've doubled the security in our weaker areas and made sure the King and Prince knows about this. We did not announce this because we do not want the people falling into a panic."

Talon stared at the map, slightly zoning out. His chest felt tight, and his arms felt like they were missing something. The heavy blades on his cape and arm didn't bring him any comfort. Garen and Katarina's voices blended together, causing him to shake his head to clear it. He gazed towards the window, examining the gray clouds that covered the sky. A dark figure caught his eye and Talon's arm flicked out, blades shattering the glass and sending the small figure flopping to the ground with a squawk.

Garen jumped up in surprise and Katarina calmly turned to the scene. Her eyes narrowed as she stalked over and picked up the creature. "It's a raven," she said. "Swain must've sent it."

Talon grabbed the bird by the neck from his sister's hand. He nearly crushed it in his anger, but held back and carefully pried open its claws, picking out a small scroll of paper.

Hello Talon,

It appears that the Du Couteau house has turned against Noxus. I will see that your family is properly punished, starting with that cunning serpentress. Demacia does not stand a chance against Noxus, no matter what information you have obtained. The Demacian bird lies safely in her cage; however, in times of need, people of the past have plucked, pruned and cooked avian meat...and I deem to follow that path. Time is running, and her frail heart does not beat for long. Her feathers would look lovely on my wall.

XX

Talon's breathing was uneven and rough. His hands clenched the paper, crinkling it. "Fuck," he snarled. Katarina laid a cold hand on her brother's shoulder. "Talon, stop," she said firmly. The male assassin tossed a blade at full force at the map carefully laid out on the table. It stuck firmly onto the wooden table with a clunk. "Talon, he's getting to your head," Katarina snapped. Talon turned to face his sister. His sienna eyes were mad, pupils shrunken in anger. "I'm going to find her, whether you want it or not. Demacia can crumble for I care." His voice was barely short of a feral roar.

"That's what Swain wants! You fool, he wants you to leave Demacia so we will be weaker. You're falling into his trap," Katarina shouted. Her words sounded muffled, like Talon was underwater. "Garen," she said helplessly as Talon shook his sister off and stormed away. Garen shook his head. "Unless you chain him down, we won't be able to stop him. Even if we did, he'd be more of a burden at this point in time. It's better if he follows what he wishes to do. If he does manage to get Quinn back, or find some information, even better. For now, we just have to make do."Katarina let out a noisy sound of discontent and turned her attention to the map. Talon's blade stood tall, marked point blank at the core of Noxus.

"Swain," Quinn snarled. The man smiled in the dark. Or, at least, she supposed he did, judging from his tone when he spoke. "Hello, birdie. Seems you've lost your way."

"Go fuck yourself," Quinn spat. "You won't have Demacia. Some of your allies have already turned against you."

"Oh, the assassins were never a part of my plan-I did, however, plan what to do if they did interfere," Swain chuckled. "You're getting ahead of yourself, my dear. Now, come! I have a wonderful future planned out for you." He snapped his fingers and the bars swung open. Quinn didn't move from her spot.

"I'd rather die in here and rot than go with you," the scout narrowed her eyes. "Besides, you'll use me as bait or something like that."

"Ah, clever girl," Swain said, "But that's not even half of it." He held out his hand and a bright red, crystallized claw shot forward and latched around Quinn. The scout pushed against the rock hard material in vain as Swain retracted his hand and the claw followed in suit, pulling her out of the prison.

"Come, my darling, we have much to do," he laughed.