Chapter Text
You could tell a lot about a person by the way they fought in a pit. Their confidence, their arrogance. Who fought to win and who fought to put on a show. You could see who had something to prove and who had been here long enough that they didn’t care.
Some people fought for blood. Some people fought for gold. Some people walked in and you knew they would underestimate their opponent. Some people were too careful- never making any even slightly risky moves, even when it could win them the match.
Some fought because it was all they knew how to do.
And then there was the man in the pit.
Sett hadn’t been that interested at first. It was the beginning of the night- when all the newbies fought, and it was a brawl. No weapons, no armor, just fists. And while Sett liked a good old fist fight, watching them between inexperienced brawlers was often boring as hell, to put it lightly. No panache, no showmanship, no technique. Just two guys whaling on each other and staggering around like they’d had too much to drink.
This one seemed especially uninteresting. Sett had gotten a look at the combatants beforehand and neither of them looked like much. One was tall and lanky, with sandy hair, and a smirk that told Sett he was sure he was a winner. The other was small, almost birdlike in appearance, with dark brown hair and a blank face. He also wore Noxian clothes, loose ones that must’ve made it easy to move, but hung off his frame in a way that made him look insubstantial. But the fact they were Noxian made Sett hope the first guy’s arrogance wasn’t unfounded. That was the best part of his job- watching Noxians get beat to shit. Maybe blondie would surprise him.
When they’d stepped in, Sett had been barely paying attention. After all, just another newbie brawl. He was more interested, honestly, in the wine he was being offered. Getting drunk on the job might be a big no-no, but one glass of wine wasn’t gonna hurt him, he was tougher than that. So he half missed the beginning of the match, which the two combatants probably spent circling each other like caged animals. It was only the “OH!” of the crowd that caught his attention, making him glance back to the pit.
It looked like Blondie had tried to strike, only for whatever blow to be dodged. The Noxian was stepping back now, his face like stone. Something about the expression caught his eye. He wasn’t close enough, really, to tell what it was that was intriguing him. But something was there, and now that he’d seen it, he couldn’t look away.
The fight was going to the Noxian. Five seconds of watching and he could see it. The man wasn’t a brawler, absolutely not, but he had some kind of training. He held himself like a fighter, had an intensity and focus to him that you only got after a hundred fights. He was too skinny and small to be a regular pit fighter- Sett was sure that in any brawl, he could lay him out in two seconds- but there had to be some weapon this guy could use. Not that he knew enough about weaponry to be sure.
Sett watched the Noxian’s lips move, his eyes fixed on Blondie. Blondie’s face screwed up in anger and he charged the Noxian again. This time he saw the dodge, and it made his eyebrows raise. The man was incredibly fast, with an insane reaction time. He seemed to have been trained into complete economy of movement- just one quick sidestep and then Blondie was barrelling past him.
The Noxian laughed, though there was no humor on his face. He said something else to Blondie, clearly taunting him. Blondie came at him, hard and fast. In a second that felt like an hour, Sett waited for the Noxian to react, to sidestep it again. There was no way he couldn’t, he’d already proven how fast he was.
But he didn’t.
So instead Sett watched Blondie crash into him, fists flying. One (much too wide) swing managed to clock the Noxian in the nose, snapping his head back. The other went to his jaw. No professional fighter would go for two headshots the way this dude did- too much risk of killing an opponent when you don’t want them dead, or breaking your fingers. The Noxian staggered back, his nose bloodied. Sett wished he could get a better look at the man’s face.
Blondie moved in on him again and Sett’s eyebrows raised as the Noxian still didn’t dodge. Barely even lifted his arms to defend. Blondie brought his elbow down on the Noxian’s collarbone- an admittedly pretty good shot. Maybe he had some potential. But not as much as the Noxian who, for some inexplicable reason, seemed like he was throwing the fight.
Sett watched the Noxian take two more hits, one to the ribs and another to the face. Sett glanced at Master Bingwen, who stood to the left, arms crossed. They made eye contact and Sett made a face. You seeing this? Bingwen gave an almost imperceptible nod. So Sett wasn’t making it up. This dude really was throwing it.
He returned his gaze to the fight just as Blondie rammed into the Noxian, knocking him to the ground. Sett almost winced. The crowd roared as Blondie stood over him, an arrogant smirk crossing his face. But Sett wasn’t looking at him. Sett was staring at the Noxian on the ground, bloody and beaten.
He was smiling too.
Blondie raised his arms, trying to hype up the crowd. He wasn’t looking at his opponent, which was stupid. First thing he’d ever learned was to never- ever- look away from someone until you knew they were dead or unconscious. Sett watched as, undetected, the Noxian raised his arms above his head, placing his palms on the ground. And then he shoved himself up, using his forward momentum to bring his arm into an elbow strike right into Blondie’s solar plexus. Blondie was thrown back with the sudden force. The wind had clearly been knocked out of him and he’d not been expecting it at all.
The crowd had gone silent, completely shocked. Sett’s eyes were glued to the Noxian, who unceremoniously wiped the blood from his face. He grinned again, his chest heaving, and for a moment Sett thought he was beautiful.
And then he struck. This man wasn’t just fast, he was like lightning. His movements were as graceful as liquid, and he knew where to hit. His first hit was a chop to Blondie’s throat, followed by a strike to his side. Then, while Blondie was trying to recover, the Noxian dropped low and swept his leg out, knocking blondie to the ground.
Raising himself back up, the Noxian put a foot on Blondie’s chest. The poor fucker was still conscious, but Sett could tell he wasn’t going to be getting back up. It was insane- three hits from the Noxian, and the fight was over. Sett hadn’t been wrong that this man had some kind of training. He didn’t move like any pit fighter or martial artist that Sett had even seen, but he was damn good, and certainly adaptable from… Whatever it was he usually did. Sett wondered what his weapon was.
He also wondered why the hell he’d almost thrown the fight. Was he doing it for the show? Pretending to be the underdog, so that he could win over the crowd with his comeback? It seemed unlikely. He hadn’t faked being bad, he’d simply not fought back. And he wasn’t looking at the crowd. He’d kept his eyes on his opponent the other time, only taking them off now as the official called time and awarded him the match. But he still wasn’t looking at them. Just to the official, then a quick glance at where Sett and the other bigwigs were sitting, and then down at the ground. Whatever spark Sett had seen in him during the fight had gone out, snuffed like a candle. The Noxian’s face went very still, his shoulders set, and he simply stood as the official grabbed his wrist and raised his hand, presenting him as the victor. The crowd cheered, but the Noxian barely seemed to register it.
Sett glanced at Bingwen again. “I’ll be back in a few. You good to keep an eye on things?”
“Of course.” Bingwen nodded.
“Thanks, man.” Sett stood up, trying to act normal, but he wanted to talk to the Noxian so bad that it was hard not to speedwalk a little. He didn’t bother trying to head to the back rooms where the fighters waited. Even if the Noxian was there, he wouldn’t be for long. Sett had a feeling this guy wasn’t gonna stick around long. No, instead he headed straight to his bookie.
“Lise. The little Noxian dude come by yet?” Lise glanced up and shook her head. “Cool. I’m gonna stick around for a second, I wanted to talk to him. No one’s messed with you tonight, right?” She shook her head again.
Sett gave her a nod and leaned against the wall, arms crossed and waiting. He didn’t need to wait long, though, as a minute later the small, skinny form of the Noxian entered the room. His face looked washed clean of blood now, and he had a small bug slung over his shoulder, a coat over his loose pit clothes, and a mask that hadn’t been yet pulled up over his nose. He gave Sett a wary look, but didn’t say anything as he approached Lise.
“Third fight of the night. I won my bout, here’s the slip.” He handed over a small piece of paper, one of the ones given to combatants when they got assigned their fights. Lise took it silently, looking over the ticket and then writing a few things down.
“Give her a second.” Sett offered up. “Trust me, she won’t stiff you.” The Noxian gave him a side eye but didn’t speak again. His voice was lower than Sett had expected, a bit rough. “What’s your name?”
“Do you always question people?” The Noxian asked. He was kinda cute, really. Probably more so when his face wasn’t beaten to shit, but even so. He had a thin face, with sharp cheekbones, downturned lips, and amber eyes.
“Only if they catch my eye.” The Noxian set his jaw, looking unamused. “Look- I just wanna know why you almost threw the fight.”
“I didn’t.”
“Well you didn’t let him hit you by accident.” Sett countered. The Noxian smiled but it was humorless. His eyes were as dead as a corpse.
“I said I didn’t almost throw the fight. Letting him hit me doesn’t mean I was going to let him win.” He replied.
“Why risk it, though? If you were looking to win-”
“I wasn’t.” The Noxian cut him off. “I knew I’d win. I don’t lose. I was just looking for a fight.”
“With a guy that you’d never lose to?” Sett raised his eyebrows.
“You all set up the matches, not me.” The Noxian said. “I told them I could handle more than a newbie.”
“Then come back again, and I’ll make sure you have more than a newbie to fight.” Sett told him. The Noxian shrugged.
“We’ll see.”
Lise held up a small bag of coin, which the Noxian took. “Thanks.” Then he turned and headed for the door.
“Wait-” Sett straightened. “What’s your name?” The Noxian didn’t even hesitate, just kept walking. Sett watched as he exited, his heart beating a little too fast, and his mind slow to react with confusion. He stared at the doorway where the man had just been for a minute, before turning back to the bookie. “Lise-”
She held up the slip and he grabbed it, eyes searching for the spot where the fighters’ names were. And there it was, at the top, written in blue ink.
Talon
“Talon.” Sett whispered under his breath, like a prayer.