A/N: Hey everybody, this is my first writing in a LONG time. So I hope my skills have improved at least some since then. Anyways please Review and leave me some criticism. Sorry for any grammatical mistakes or anything of the sort. And sorry for the bad title. If you have any suggestions for it, feel free to submit them to me. Hope you enjoy!

The stench. That was the first thing one noticed. Decay, waste, and the most potent... death, reeked havoc on the nose. The looks of the place was not much better. Unpaved roads laden with beggars and cut throats; where whores flaunted their...wares at every corner. The only buildings along this strip were squatting houses overpopulated with the poor and market stalls guarded by soldiers where cruel minded merchants further abused the downtrodden with outrageous prices.

This was a place where only the scum of the earth resided. A place where people were worth less than the rags they wore. This is the place Talon called home.

He certainly looked as if he belonged here. His apparel was nothing more than a motley assortment of pieces of cloth that carried more dirt than the ground. His lean body screamed malnourishment and filth. But his face is where the truth of his being resided. Where a normal child of twelve would have eyes full of innocence and naietivity, Talon's held only a cold, hard focus and wisdom well beyond his years. He truly was an embodiment of the slums. Hopeless, yet still struggling and toiling to survive another day.

Jumping from the wall he has previously been occupying, Talon made his way through the crowd of people gathered in the market square. While not directly making a beeline for the target stall, he glanced at it warily through dark brown eyes while seemingly browsing other wares.

Looking casually to his left he met the eyes of his accomplice Kavyn, who nodded before disappearing into the gaggle of people. Knowing what was about to happen, Talon made his way to the chosen merchant. He stood in front of the wooden table pretending to admire the various fruits and vegetables arrayed in bins. His stomach did flips and his mouth watered just at the sight of so much food mere feet away.

"Hey, kid", the merchant sneered, breaking Talon's concentration on the fruits, "I know you don't have money, so piss off before you get into trouble."

"Oh, but sir, couldn't you spare even one apple?" Talon whined with an exaggerated high-pitched voice.

"No. Now get lost you gutter rat."

Pointing his finger at the other end of the table Talon asked, "Then why does he get to have one?"

"What?" The merchant whirled bewildirginly around to see Kavyn standing there with an apple to his mouth, juice running down his chin, making streaks through the dirt caked there.

"You little..." Roared the man grabbing for Kavyn with a face full of rage, whom backed away taking the fruit from between his teeth. He stuck his tongue out of his mouth and put a mocking smile on his lips, taunting the man.

Talon meanwhile had silently walked behind the rather large man and was reaching for his purse with a cautious hand. Slowly his hand crept towards the bag and latched onto the cord connecting it to the man's belt.

Another swipe at Kavyn sent the purse and Talon's hand into the man's side.

"Shit" Talon whispered.

The merchant looked down to see dirt covered fingers groping his possession.

"Wretch!"

With a twist of his hand, the bag fell into Talon's hand and he took off into the crowd as the man made a grab for where his arm had been, but only coming up with air. Talon ran towards one of the many side alleys that led into the market, knowing Kavyn would be doing the same. Cries of thief and the sound of metal rattling as guards rushed to the aid of the merchant followed Talon as he ran. His feet pounded along the road, kicking up sand while his arms forced people out of the way.

Finally ducking out of the last few milling people, Talon turned a corner into an alley and kept running down it, making a zigzag course through the slums. After about five minutes of constant running, he eventually came to a stop outside of a wooden fence wilted with age and covered in old, yellowing posters. Prying a board loose from the fence near the bottom, he slipped through a narrow hole and straightened up in a small weed infested courtyard. His feet carried him towards a doorway into a seemingly abandoned hovel.

Before he could step through the door less opening, a boy steped from the cover of the building with a sly smile on his face.

"Get the stuff?" He questioned.

Talon nodded and held up the bag containing whatever the previous owner had thought valuable. The smile on Kavyn's face widened as he noticed the bulkiness of the purse.

"Well let's find out what we got then."

The pair stepped into the dingy single room house to assess their prize. However bad the building looked on the outside, it was even worse on the inside. The walls were cracked in several places revealing rotting wood. Large stains ran down from where the rain leaked through. Where once the paint had been green, only a dark brown remained in its stead. A small window was no more than a hole in the wall that had been boarded up long ago. The only adornments in the place were two mattresses, placed on opposite sides of the small space. Mattress is a very loose word in this case. The stuffing was seeping out of various holes in the fabric; over the years, blood, sweat, spit, and god knows what else had turned them into smelly sagging masses.

Both boys seemed not to notice or care about this as they plopped down on either mattress and sat with their knees practically touching as Talon held out the bag. Quickly he unlaced the cord holding the top of the purse. He put out his hand and dumped the contents into his filthy palm. A rather well sized pile of coins jingled sadly onto his skin as if regretting their path in life. Still feeling a weight to it, Talon shook the bag again and to his surprise a small sheathed knife joined the coins already gathered in his hand.

Kavyn's eyes lit up as he saw the gold fill the other's boy's hand. "What a great haul!"

Pouring the coins into Kavyn's eagerly awaiting hand, Talon fingered the knife. He slowly unsheathed the weapon and inspected it carefully.

Although small and dull, the knife gave him a certain feeling. One he didn't experience often. But one that every true Noxian craved. Power.