So first Katarina got cat ears, and Ashe was like, Well okay. That was weird, but. Okay.

And then she started glowing in the face like a literal fire was heating up inside of her and Ashe was like, Okay! Now's she not normal anymore. Who would have guessed!

And then Katarina had to go and murder about a million people and utterly decimate a city in a fiery explosion so violent that you could see the evidence of her rage from space. And finally Ashe decided, That's it I would really like to go back home now.

All of that, and when the opportunity came up, Ashe literally jumped to offer Katarina her help. A newfound demon with incomparable cosmic power, and she decided to help her.

What a fucking move on Ashe's part. She couldn't have done anything more illogical.

But Ashe didn't want to think of it that way. She couldn't think of it that way. Katarina was no longer Katarina, for better or for worse. Or alternatively, as she hopes is the case, the she-demon was always Katarina, and still was, and Ashe was finally beginning to see the women that was hidden behind a mask all the time she knew her.

Technically Ashe ended up in this whole mess only one day prior.

Sejuani had previously contacted her under yet another uneasy peace meeting, something that become quite more frequent since their two tribes allied themselves together against the now known threat the Frostguard posed.

"My warriors found this," She grunted as she slammed an old metal axe against the table, "In a cavern not far from our latest standpoint."

Ashe looked on curiously at the weapon. It had strange carvings that she couldn't recognize as any of the modern Freljord's, with leather dyed purple wrapped around its head and handle, and most strange of all, for a weapon uncovered in the brutal winter it wasn't covered with hard frost. Only a slight coat of rust. It seemed fashioned for the average hand, yet its still razor-sharp blades didn't look as large or looming as normal axes, giving it a tall, thin appearance. It didn't look fully practical, almost as if it was made for decoration rather than for war. But that, along with the markings and the way it looked as if it had just come out of the Noxian forges instead of a snowdrift, was what made Ashe label it as decidedly creepy.

"What do you think it is?" Ashe decided to ask after giving it a good look over. "It's not True Ice, is it?"

"No, it's not."

"Then how-"

" I'll tell you what it did though. Something about that axe..." The sound of Sejuani's boots against the floor was the only other sound in the command tent. No one wanted to miss what she was saying. "It might not freeze you to the bones, but it'll freeze you... In a different way. Just like it did with some of my Bloodsworn"

The silence stretched out for an even longer time before Ashe decided to break it with a smaller voice. "... What?"

Sejuani's thin lips curled into a small smile with no warmth and no comfort. "The cold it radiates... It's not the physical kind we wield. It's almost... A mental coldness. Something that even us Iceborn are not immune to. My warriors, Healthbound and not, who have been exposed to it for long periods of time..."

Ashe couldn't take her eyes off of the Warmother of the Winter's Claw now, seeing the stern lines of her face hold back whatever emotions she really felt. She was particularly good at that, especially with hiding her unease or her fear from her tribe or Ashe. She needed to keep a strong face so that her allies would too, and so her enemies wouldn't tell.

"They... They change somehow. Suddenly they're almost as cold as Lissandra's servants. Almost... Like they see their friends as suddenly so below them."

"So... Below them?"

"It's hard to explain." Sejuani grunted again. "But it changes my warriors into almost becoming unrecognizable. It sewed distrust and anger amongst my tribe. And that thing remains. It's not good to have that thing around my tribe, or yours, or anyone's. And I'm not particularly comfortable keeping it around anyways, even in seclusion."

Ashe took in the news quietly. "... You mean if Lissandra gets her hands on it, and figures out what it does-"

"You know how she is. She'll make sure to throw it at us to mess up our forces, our morale. She's cunning like that. I don't even want to see if it'll work on her- Whatever the fuck this weapon does, it's too risky to let that Ice Witch twist it to her advantage."

"Sounds good to me," Ashe replied, her throat feeling slightly dry. Honestly, if Sejuani did decide to take the risk, Ashe would have attempted to dissuade her.

"Which is why I've decided to get rid of it. Away from the Freljord. So it'll have no effect on our war whatsoever." The boar rider met the archer's eyes. "Probably for the best to get this thing off Runeterra in general - who knows what freakish shit everyone else could make up."

Ashe frowned as she returned Sejuani's stare. It was almost as if Sejuani was being too reasonable, for drawing the same conclusions the Avarosan would have.

There probably was a catch somewhere. "So?"

Again, there was that sardonic smile. "I honestly feel like things could have been so much worse. And we just got lucky that we were able to find the signs of trouble so quickly. But something that can be observed is that certain people, no matter their magic potential or fighting skill... They are about to resist it better based on personality."

"Oh?" This wasn't a part of the conversation she was expecting, but okay.

"It's your people, Ashe. They tend not to be as affect as ours. Maybe because you're all so - Humble-" The Winter's Wrath grumbled out that last part as if it was an insult. To her, it probably was.

At this, Ashe put a hand on her hip, feeling the need to be defensive for herself and her tribe. "Yes, we're not over-taken by our pride and able to admit our mistakes. So we don't get affected by whatever evil this weapon emanates." Although one of her specific points in her statement made something in the back of her mind resurface with a pinch of more unease.

"What I'm trying to say-" Sejuani started aggressively, but then caught herself and started again with her teeth only slightly gritted. "What I'm trying to say is that there has to be one particular person who can handle this weapon without being fully corrupted. And those kinds of people happen to be people. Like you."

That was the catch?! Ashe didn't know what to say at that. She had probably spent a half an hour looking at Sejuani with shock before she decided to take pity on her ridiculous state.

"I would do it myself, but there's been another attack near one of our other settlements." Sejauni wasn't smiling at this point, but the lines on her face haven't softened either. "My people need me there. You would probably fare better than me when dealing with this weapon. And besides, you know better than me about… all the people out there. I think you could figure out where to go. What to do to stop this."

Ashe looked down at the weapon again and noticed for the first time just how dark the metal gleamed in the amber firelight, how those glinting edges would easily draw blood, and felt a cold chill down her spine. She finally released that it wasn't just the weather. The axe itself radiated a cold that was true to Sejuani's word. Something that seemed to affect the mind rather than the body. Like cold claws raking the surface of her conscious - barely. Just barely.

"That is, if you think you're strong enough to take care of it."

So with the mysterious and dangerous weapon wrapped in thick furs and leathers, courtesy of Sejuani, Ashe took a leave from the League to find a place to destroy it.

Freljord she already knew couldn't help her. None of the markings carved on it or the dark magic cloaking it could be identified by her people, from their oldest shamens to their legends.

Noxus was a strong possibility for information, but with the recent political tensions and given their nations' relations, she didn't want to end up there unless she was left with no choice. Shurima was used enough to magic, but the dark glint of the axe and the cold radiating out of it made her doubt the sun-soaked plains of the desert empire could help her.

Bilgewater… no. They wouldn't do. Demacia was decidedly off the list.

Mount Targon and Ionia were fairly good options, but it would take time to travel there, plus those two she knew the least about, as while most of their people weren't unfriendly, they tended to keep to themselves.

Her first and best guess ended up with Piltover, or even Zaun. While the City of Progress preferred technologically over magical knowledge and advancement, Ashe couldn't find a better option. Piltover was a melting pot of different cultures and a collector of history, and from what she's heard, hopefully it those aspects could be found in Zaun to, probably under the shadiest of dealings. If there was any place that could at least point her in the right direction, it had to be the twin cities of copper, Hextech, glass, and iron.