Retreating

As part of the crowd of Noxian guards, Kal inched forwards as he formulated a plan. He looked onwards as Kayn used a claymore to slash through multiple men fitted in plated armor in half. Blood littered the cobblestone at his feet and shouts filled the barren night sky.

Akali observed from a distance. They had run into Kayn a couple of times together, and many more times during their independent training.

Just like the Kinkou Order, the Order of Shadows used many on-field missions to train their younglings. So, Kal and Akali had met Kayn many times.

Of course, there were other younglings that the Order of Shadow recruited. But they usually either died in the middle of a mission or were killed after failing a mission.

Kayn was one of the few that survived his training and grew up to become a greater threat than he started as.

Regardless, Kal knew that he would soon have to put his plan into action. Kayn dashed from Noxian to Noxian, slaying dozens of soldiers, all with a smile on his face.

So, he waited his turn.

The moment Kal had been shoved to the front-lines, he knew it was time to initiate his attack.

Instantly, loose wires sprung up from the ground. Instantly, Kayn was surrounded in a web of danger.

The wires were purposefully set up moderately far apart. They were far enough that each side looked to be a possible exit, but close enough that each was a trap.

Kayn immediately understood what had happened.

"Ah, Kal. Relying on tricks and gimmicks as always?" He smirked as he correctly identified Kal within the crowd.

Understanding that he had been outed, and that all the Noxians present also realized they had been infiltrated, Kal leaped back from the crowd and onto the outside wall.

"And running like always too?" Kayn mocked. "No wonder the Kinkou Order has declined so far."

Ignoring Kayn's provocations, Kal leaped from the wall onto the plains that surrounded the Noxian camp. He nodded to Akali as they fled.

However, before he was completely in the clear, a dagger came from the camp's direction.

Looking back, Kal knew that the projectile was heading straight for Akali. Without thinking, he lunged towards it, intending to take the surprise attack.

Thankfully, he was able to reach in time. The dagger shot towards his eye, showing no signs of slowing down, despite travelling over 100m.

However, before it could hit, a black-red shield formed in front of Kal's eyes. The dagger harmlessly stopped in place before falling towards the ground.

Kal continued retreating. Akali had already reached the tree line of the dense forest.

Shen's orders were quite clear; get the intel, and be stealthy. Neither succeeded, so the mission was a bust. No reason to stay behind and delay their return.

Of course, shortly after leaving, Kayn broke free from his trap and continued his massacre.

It would've been nice if the Noxians were able to kill him while he was trapped, but Kal knew that was wishful thinking.

It's not like it was his goal in the first place though.

Regardless, Akali and Kal retreated back to the Monastery.

"That was a boring as fuck mission." Akali complained as they ran.

"Not all of them end with a brawl to escape." Kal chuckled.

"Were you able to get the intel?" She asked.

"No, Kayn caused the scene before I was able to get my hands on it." He replied. "It's not like it would matter anyway. They'll change the plans after tonight."

"True." Akali replied. "Think we'll get another mission after this?"

"You might." Kal ambiguously replied.

"Hmm? You know something I don't?" She raised her eyebrow.

"No." Kal spoke. "I'm just leaving the Order."

Akali instantly stopped running, leaving a skid mark on the forest floor. She stared dead into Kal's eyes as he paused as well.

"You're kidding, right?" Akali couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"No." Kal replied. "I heard something I need to investigate while we were in the camp." It concerned the talk of the leader of Noxus' black-red energy. He needed to at least investigate it.

"Then-" She tried to retort.

"This is an issue I need to deal with alone." He interrupted. "Ionia still needs you here." Of course, these words to appeal to her good-willed nature.

"You're keeping secrets." Akali's words were dripping with hostility.

"I am." Kal replied. "Let's go."

He dashed off into the jungle, leaving Akali behind for a moment. She kept her vision trained at the ground as she thought about his words.

She had always felt like Kal had been keeping a secret or two, and she was fine with it as it didn't get in the way of their friendship.

However, the secret did now, and Kal still refused to tell her about it. Just last night they shared a bed and flirted here and there, and now he was just leaving without a single explanation.

Disregarding the sick feeling in her stomach, Akali ran after Kal.

Of course, this decision wasn't one that Kal came to lightly. But he knew that it was one that he had to make.

Kal had never felt fear in his life. This was due to a birth defect. It didn't affect his health, but the part of his brain that controlled and regulated fear simply didn't work. In fact, he didn't even know of this defect until he was already a teen.

However, he soon lost a lot more.

Noxus called to many family to draft their young to send to Ionia as soldiers. Of course, not every family willingly gave up their kids, no matter how fanatic. Kal belonged to one of these families.

His parents were killed by Noxian soldiers and he was forced to fight for them. Despite his major depression, he was able to make friends with similarly traumatized children in the military as they trained for the invasion.

And yet again, these friend were killed by a demonic scarecrow. The demonic entity took root inside of him and ever since, he's had to live with the knowledge that the demon that killed many he held dear took residence within his body.

And now, he was unable to bleed. Every time anything resembled a threat came close to him, a black-red energy protected him. He was unable to starve to death, as after a couple of days of starvation, he'd simply 'revive' with all of his energy back.

(A.N. Sorry for the info dump. Some of this has been implied and some of this needed to be said.)

He needed to get rid of it. And Noxus' ruler seemed to hold a clue.

Regardless, he continued trekking through the forest. He knew that Akali wouldn't be too far behind. And he also knew that she would be in no mood to talk to him.

'I really could've handled it better.' Kal took a deep breath as he thought back on his conversation with Akali. 'Fuck, I was too focused on the future and forgot the present for a moment.'

'Whatever, I'll focus on Ionia when I come back.' He cleansed his mistakes from his brain. 'I need to plan on how to get to Noxus.'