A/N: Hey guys It's Neo here again with something a little different in this new series of short stories based around ships (as in boats not relationships). I hope you guys enjoy this first entry and, of course, if there are any spelling or grammar errors please point them out in a review or just review if you enjoyed it :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own League of Legends and all places mentioned and some key characters are intellectual property of Riot Games
Chapter 1: Kayle
The ship lurched as another wave viciously battered the wooden prow. The timbers yawned and sighed in protest as angry winds lashed at the sails of the clipper. It had not been a long journey but the squall they were in now had complicated things quite a bit. It was because of this fact that there was no one below deck when Kayle entered the kitchen. Unaffected by the violent swaying of the ship she effortlessly glided over the wooden floor, relishing the opportunity to unleash her wings. Upon reaching the pantry she opened the door and pulled out a bread roll, some cheese, some butter and a few slices of sliced ham. The smell of the fresh food caused her mouth to water due to the recent bout of malnutrition she had had to endure since boarding the cutter. She devoured the hastily made sandwich before moving quickly for the door at which point she paused.
In her moment of bliss she had almost forgotten the other stowaway aboard. She had discovered a little human girl called Emma within her first day on the ship. Her family had been merchants from Piltover up until, upon a dangerous trade route between Bandle City and Ionia, their ship had been sunk in a vicious pirate attack. All the inhabitants of the merchant vessel had gone down with the tea cutter, all except Emma. She had washed up on the Ionian mainland and by sheer luck had managed to survive long enough to board a ship to Piltover to be reunited with the remaining members of her family. She had been in worse conditions than Kayle and for much longer so the Judicator dashed back and grabbed a few things for the poor child to munch on.
She made her way through the ship swiftly, despite stopping several times due to the shouts of the sailors on the decks above. Before long she reached the steps down to the Hold where both her and Emma had been hiding, stowed away among the ship's cargo. It was a constant worry for the angel that they would be caught so they had moved often, sneaking around the ship when most were asleep or above deck. Then came the prospect of actually leaving the ship without them being caught. She had lost sleep often worrying about the troubles the duo had to face in the future.
Making her way down the steps carefully she heard the rapid splashes of her companion as she clumsily made her way to the Judicator in the violently rocking ship. Kayle had not yet revealed herself as an angel to the young child, obscuring the visage of her wings with her magic. It drained her energy but her identity could not be revealed to the mortals. Her mission could become compromised if she did so and failure was definitely not an option. She needed to earn her redemption without the influence of her wings. Without the reminder of her. So silently she floated down to land on her feet while reactivating the spell on her wings.
"Miss Kayle did you bring back anything?" A small voice whispered from the bottom of the stairs. A small face appeared there mere seconds later, smiling a toothy grin back at the her guardian standing in the entrance of the hold. At this moment, the grime that covered her face and the malnutrition made her seem like the typical street urchin you would find in any of the many slums on Runeterra. Though below her dirty appearance, her features were actually quite striking. In fact, under better circumstances, she would be regarded as quite a pretty girl amongst the humans.
The angel gave her an endearing smile as she pulled the small amount of food she carried with her from behind her back. She almost laughed aloud as the girl scrambled up the stairs to give her waist a colossal hug before taking the meal ravenously and darting back down the stairs. She paused when she hit the bottom looking back up to the Judicator as if saying "don't leave."
Understanding the motion, Kayle followed her down to the spot they had elected to stay for the day, a grouping of barrels roped together in a small 'U' shape. Since they had overheard news of the squall from one of the louder sailors, they had chosen a spot close to the trapdoor of the hold so should the worst occur, then an avenue to withdraw would be present for them. Kayle pushed over some loose crates on which Emma would be able to sit on while she ate.
"Thank you Miss," the young girl said as the angel stretched her back after the effort. "Can I sit on your lap though, Miss? The wood hurts."
"Most certainly Emma." Honestly, she was grateful for the respite of sitting. In their current states, even standing around for very long was exhausting. Of course her earlier snack would rejuvenate her a bit but she knew that unless their circumstances changed remarkably then the constant fatigue would continue. Especially while keeping her wings hidden. At least the human girl wasn't as heavy as she appeared and the warmth of her body was always welcome.
Her drowsiness seemed to catch up with her and she could feel sleep tugging at her eyelids as Emma finished the makeshift sandwich and started to snuggle into her chest. "Hmmmm your coat is always so warm and fluffy Miss Kayle," came the small voice at her chest.
It was all Kayle could do but chuckle at the comment. To all but the most skilled in the magical arts, her wings seemed like a big coat rather than their usual impressive visage. "Well enjoy it, little one, always appreciate the good moments no matter how small they are," she replied with a yawn. She allowed the small girl to wrap herself with one wing as the darkness of sleep began fog her vision. She fell asleep with one last smile to one last comment by the figure resting on her chest.
"I think you're... the 'Guardian Angel' Mommy... always... talked about..."
They woke to the awful cracking of timbers and a powerful spray of sea water on their faces as a particularly jagged rock burst through the starboard hull of the ship. Kayle knew they were in danger and when she looked down into the face of young Emma she knew that the child knew too. They scrambled onto their feet as another grinding crack could be heard from further down the hold. They began a rush for the door in a manic panic as water flowed rapidly into the cutter already reaching knee height and rapidly rising.
"Quickly child!" She yelled above the roaring torrent.
"I'm trying but it's rising too quick!" replied the young girl frantically.
It seemed by sheer chance that their elected sleeping area for the night was nearby to the exit. They had only to scramble up the steps to the doorway to be free but even that seemed an effort. By the time they even reached the steps the water had reached Kayle's chest, inundating Emma and making the struggle to drag herself and the small child to safety all the more difficult. The few minutes it took to pull themselves to and up the stairs to their temporary freedom seemed like an eternity due to the weight of their dirty clothes and the fatiguing temperature.
Kayle flopped onto the wet floor of the bilge dragging Emma with her, exhausted from her struggle to escape the death trap below. She lay there for a moment on her back, panting, before she once again willed herself into action. Sitting up, she quickly closed the trapdoor, stemming the rising of the water around them marginally but enough to make their plight significantly easier. She then turned her gaze upon the young girl who was now crouched up into a ball against the wall. A brief feeling of pity ran through the angel as she realised how traumatising this must be for the girl.
"No... not again..." Kayle could hear her mutter.
Mustering her strength, she scooped the girl up in her arms and did her best to make her way upward toward the top deck of the ship. She could hear the rattle of the life boats being lowered and the cracking of the timbers as the cutter began breaking apart beneath their feet. She quickened her pace to a run so as not to miss their opportunity to steal a position on one of the lifeboats.
Though it was all in vain as a crack opened the belly of the boat like an enormous fissure. One of the sailors must have been on deck when it opened as a scream rang out into the storm followed quickly by the vista of a man's falling body and the sickening squelch of it breaking on the jagged rocks below. Meanwhile the fissure had cut off the female duo from the route of escape and presented Kayle with a rather large dilemma as both halves of the boat teetered on edge of total annihilation. She looked down upon the tide as it retreated to reveal the body of the fallen sailor, a jagged pointy rock protruding through his back and up through his chest, a silent scream permanently etched upon his face. At the sight of it, Kayle made her decision.
She stood Emma upon her feet as she crouched and lowered herself to face the catatonic child. With a harsh slap to the cheek she got the inadvertent attention of the child before giving her a very specific set of instructions, "Climb onto my back and no matter what you do, do not open your eyes darling." The girl could only nod and do as she was told. Kayle felt the weight strain against her thin frame but there was no time to think about such things. She muttered two quick sets of incantations as one last monstrous wave reared up to finish the ship and whatever inhabitants . One to dispel the illusion on her wings and the other to allow her to tap her remaining magic reserves for physical energy. She sprung off the ship as the storm finished what it started, the arms around her neck tightening as her passenger let out a shriek that almost pierced her eardrums.
She knew she would not be able to last but as long as she got Emma away from that accursed scene, she would not care where they landed or whether she survived the landing. And so she struck the ocean air as hard as she could with her wings, sending them higher up the cliffs with each stroke she gave. Focusing solely on that action, she ignored the straining pain in her back and the storm that whipped around them. Knowing they would not be able to make the top of the cliffs she turned suddenly and dove down at great speed, augmented by the extra weight Emma gave. She spread her wings as they approached the remainder of the wreck they had just left and they shot out horizontally in a glide toward the ocean.
She heard a sharp gasp behind her ear as they soared and knew the child had opened her eyes. "Miss Kayle... What... Are... You really are an angel..." The words tumbled from the girl's mouth in amazement as she drank in the scene before her. Emma had only ever dreamed about flying, thinking she would never be like the people with wings, the angels, that her mother had so often spoken of. But here she was, soaring above the ocean, travelling faster that she could have ever imagined, wind whipping the sea spray into her face.
"Yes," replied her saviour, "I am an angel." Banking to her left, Kayle followed the coastline for a few hours, silence overtaking the two girls.
Before long they left the storm behind them, the moon rising ahead. They stayed like that for hours, appreciating the view whilst rushing over the sea's surface until fatigue and malnourishment caused Kayle to slowly drop lower and lower. Descending down onto a beach she had spotted, she let Emma clamber off her back prior to collapsing in a tired heap on the sand. Closing her eyes, she couldn't remember if she had ever been this exhausted in her extremely long lifetime.
Before the exhaustion overtook her she could feel the faint pressure of fists hammering away on her lower back and the faint sounds of sobbing before she made sense of the words that followed.
"Don't you leave me here! You're my guardian angel Miss Kayle! So don't leave me!"
"For as long as you live," she whispered as she gave into the blackness that surrounded her.