Sooooo, this is my first attempt at a fanfic, so I'm still struggling with the mechanics of managing these things, I even had to search for a while to divide it in chapters :o And another thing, English is not my native language, so any grammar corrections are greatly appreciated n.n Enjoy! And rate and comment, all those things, bla bla

I own nothing except for the OC's, don't kill me Riot for using characters from your game ._.

A Thorny Relationship

The Thorns Rise

...

Well hello there. My name is Hayden- Do not question the awesomeness -a 24 years old ex-student. Nothing much to say about myself. I lived on myself, quite lonely, since I'm more the introvert type. The only ones that had yet entered this small house were some friends. Enough blabbering, I'm here to tell you the story of something quite...out of the ordinary. Time to switch to the third person-perspective, so it isn't so awkward for me...

Just another average evening during summer break. Hayden was sitting in front of his laptop, the moon silently gazing over him through his window. No more chores to do, no one to talk with, what was left? That's right, League of Legends.
Hayden started up Skype and saw that a good friend of his, Ellie, was online. He clicked on her panel and called her. As usual, she answered the call.

'Hayden!' she called out warmheartedly. He sighed. Actually, he hated his name. Just because his parents decided they wanted him to have a "special name" he was stuck with this one. Shrugging it off, he greeted her back and a moment later they were casually chatting.
'Say, interested in some matches?' He asked. Immediately her voice echoed through the speakers.

'Sure!' she exclaimed enthusiastically. Smiling, Hayden moved his mouse to the icon of League of Legends, after which he logged in. Less than two seconds later he already got an invitation from Zhedjax- Ellie, for the slowpokes- for a normal 5v5, to warm up. It didn't take more that 3 seconds or so to get out of queue and into Champion Select, which was very admirable and enjoyable.

'That was fast.' sounded Ellie over Skype.

'You said it.'

As fast as he could he typed 'mid', so he could have his desired role. Too bad for him, there was someone with a faster computer. Ellie giggled at his disappointment.

'Wanna be my sup, then? You can still be a mage.'

-'Well, okay then. But you better not troll me this time...'

He could already imagine Ellie smiling broadly behind her screen, having to resist the urge to pick a troll AD-Carry.

'Fine, fine...'

It was her time to sigh in disappointment, but then she locked in Vayne, the Night Hunter.

'Are we going to rape late game again, Miss?' he chuckled. Hayden let his mouse hover over the Champions, doubting which one to choose. So many champs...But she didn't troll, so he wouldn't either, fair is fair. He sought out a Support with a lot of damage, and came out on Zyra, Rise of the Thorns, one of his favorites. Suddenly noticing he was the only one delaying the timer, he quickly locked in, and the timer started to run out.

'This time you better say it before you engage, Ellie. Otherwise I'm afraid I'm gonna have to let you die...I'm not Thresh this time.'

-'Pfft. Playing safe is for pussies! I'll show you some silver bolts pierced so deep they have to respawn twice to get them out!'

Always the excited one, she was perfect as an aggressive AD-Carry. Although a bit too excited sometimes... Maybe she should play Jinx. Nothing out of place, the match loaded and started, with some minor skirmishes. Their team claimed first blood due to an excessively good gank of Elise on the toplane. At the 20 minute mark, something happened. Everyone started to randomly disconnect and reconnect, which caused some raging among both teams. ,

'What are we, EUW?'

Ellie hissed again after a disconnect, causing her Champion to just walk into an enemy turret and die.
'I don't get it either, Ell..'

Hayden had already checked the server status, but it said NA was still online and running. Then he suddenly noticed something. The characters weren't moving as usual. Lux, who currently disconnected, froze in place, and instead of walking back to base, she started trying to recall, but it was not just a normal recall. In a radius of 3 meters around her, a massive amount of runes were appearing while she was ascending into the sky. But then her summoner reconnected once more and she fell to the ground.
Over at the wolves camp he saw Elise..trying to do the same? This couldn't be a visual bug, players have to be connected and command the recall for the Champions to be able to recall, what was this? It was almost as if the Champions themselves wanted to escape from the Rift. Right after he thought that he started laughing out loud. This was a game, not some real event where those people were locked up to fight. But still..

'Hey Ellie, did you look at the champs of other players when they disconnect?'

-'Hmm? No, I wasn't quite paying attention to that, since I'm too frustrated trying not to die every time I walk into my lane.'

'Then look closely now. Right now Yasuo is disconnected. Look at what he does.'

-'He..he seems to be recalling? But what is that kind of recall? It seems like some overpowered version of the recall. And what the fuck are all those runes about?'

Suddenly Hayden's screen turned gray as he once more received the Curse of the Disconnect. But this time the disconnecting didn't stop. He just couldn't reconnect anymore. He was sure that at that moment Zyra was doing the overpowered recall, which he still believed was a recall for trying to get out of the Rift. In a flash, his screen turned black.

'Hayden? Hayden!?'

Ellie's voice resonated from the speakers, panicking.

'Easy, Ell, what's so urgent?'

-'Zyra just successfully recalled!'

He tensed up.

'And she disappeared from the Rift!'

Now his heart froze. How...

'She is just gone now! She, her icon, on the scoreboard, everything disappeared! And holy...Now Jinx did the same!'

Out of the blue she gasped.

'And now my screen turned pitch-black! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!?'

-'Easy Ellie, it may be be just a glitch or something, no need to panic from a game crash, I-'

His next words were cut short by the fact that his laptop seemingly exploded. The sound of an explosion was there, the heat, and his screen turned into a hellish green from the black it was mere moments ago. The only thing that the explosion missed were sharp splinters of glass burying themselves in his skin. But it sounded like a real life explosion. He could feel the deep bass tone which trembled in his gut.
Outside, the sky turned berserk. A barrage of lightning randomly crashed down over the town, causing even more noise. He could faintly hear Ellie's surprised voice before the lightning suddenly disappeared and everything faded away and the the only sound remaining was a crackling noise.

Gaping and gazing at the destruction in front of him he was just sitting there for a few seconds, until he heard a loud bump coming from his bedroom upstairs. After the event of the match just freaking out and his computer crashing he was completely tensed up while cautiously walked upstairs.

When he approached his room, he heard a faint crackling, as if something rough shaved the floor of the chamber. Hayden gulped and opened his door very, very, very slowly, peaking inside from the little gap he made. He saw a glimpse of a womanly body lying on his bed, disoriented and grunting. She was shaking her head to work out the dizziness, her eyes still closed. His eyes went wide open from surprise and shock. He immediately closed the door again and froze in front of it.

This can't be true, this can't be true, this can't be true...

After a few minutes, he caught his breath again and opened his door, now determined to find out what and how. However, as soon as he did this, he was entangled by roots who kept his arms and legs in place, while a thorny vine approached his neck.

'What lurks in the shadows?' said a sultry, yet slightly distorted voice. The figure which he saw lying on the bed mere minutes ago now stood in front of him. Her long, red hair accentuated her curvy body , which was almost not covered in any clothing or coverage, save for some leaves and plant-like extensions. Even entangled, it was difficult to not stare at her well-endowed chest, covered with just some leaves. From her yellow, almost glowing eyes came a dark, suspecting glare, and her petal-like ears completed her face.

'Z-Zyra..' Hayden muttered. The woman raised her eyebrows by hearing her name. The tip of the root in front of his neck hovered a little bit, almost hypnotizing.

'How do you know my name?' she said, with her characteristic slightly echoing voice.

'If you release me from your grip, I can explain everything.'

Hayden thought about things he could do to prepare her for the fact she wasn't even supposed to be a real person. If she even would release him. Perhaps she would let him hang there and crush him or something. She placed her hands on her hips and seemed in doubt. She hesitated a bit, but then he felt the grip of the thorns decreasing, before they completely released him and he fell on the floor. When he got up again, he looked into the tip of a thorn which now was just some centimeters from his face. The reddish tint and the pulsating colour made sure to show it was containing a deadly venom.

'However... should you betray me, I will not hesitate to rip you apart. Did you register that?'

Intensely nodding, Hayden raised his hands.

Careful now...You have a very powerful mage in front of you who can control the plants which were now rooted all around your bedroom. Priceless.

'Zyra, I'll explain everything, but you have to, I repeat HAVE TO believe everything I say, I will not lie, but I will sound completely alien to you.'

Zyra narrowed her eyes, and with the movement of her eyes, the roots around her started to move again.

It seems like they are mentally connected, like Irelia and her blades.

However, she seemed more determined to understand where she was than to kill her potential informant. Slowly, she nodded and motioned him to do whatever he was planning to show her.

Hayden tried to keep himself under control while he turned around. He made a gesture with his hands.

'Follow me.'

It sounded like Zyra retracted her roots when she moved in his trail and indeed, when he glanced over his shoulder at her she was back like she was on the Rift, with only the thorns starting from her shoulders to her hands.

They descended the stairs, and entered his modest living room, where his laptop was still filling the room with the crackling noise.

'What is that?'

Behind him, Zyra pointed a sharp-edged finger to the destroyed laptop.

How will I for heavens sake explain this all?

'It's part of the things I want to show you. So you'll hopefully understand what situation you're-we're in. From one of his closets, he took an older laptop, which was now used as data storage for music, movies etc. However, he used to play League of Legends on it, therefor it should be able to show her what it was all about. While he let the game load, he turned to her.

'Come sit here. -Why did I say that -Or stand behind me, if you don't like that.'

Unexpectedly, she sat down beside him. Although Hayden carefully avoided her thorns, he still had to say she looked utterly amazing below that coverage of vines and thorns. From this angle he could perfectly see the curve of her leaf-covered breasts... Focus. He felt the warmth of her body, which seemed so strange to him, since she always had been a plant, and while he knew she was human now, it still was an odd feeling. He took a deep breath in and tried to pick his next words very carefully.

'Zyra, you're no longer on Runeterra. You're on a different plane of existence, on a planet called Earth. That's why that -he pointed at the laptop- seems so strange to you, because it just doesn't exist in your world. Am I right?'

Her yellow eyes glowed brightly this time, she was trying to soak up all the information. She nodded.

'Go on.'

On the inside, he was utterly surprised. How could she just accept it like that?

Or maybe she thinks I'm still fooling her. Which could turn out really bad... Speaking about that, why hasn't she turned me into shreds already?

Her lore didn't quite show her as the most modest and friendly person on Runeterra. But here she was, casually sitting down next to him. He halted his train of thoughts and continued on. The game had finished loading, so he could move on to the most painful and akward part of the explanation. He moved on to the Custom Game mode and started a Summoner's Rift game.
Zyra curiously looked over his shoulder at the screen. However, when he entered Champion Select, he just stared dumbfounded at the screen. There was not a single Champion to select. Not even the free Champions of the week were there. Like there has never been a mode where you could select Champions. Like there never had been a League Of Legends.
He tried it again, kept talking to himself it was a bug, while the last 'bug' turned out in a real-life Champion called Zyra to enter his home. But to no avail.

Wait a second...So that thunderstorm, the screens that all went black...Could that mean that every champ in the game was now free and roaming the earth? But that was..impossible. They were freaking video game characters for fucks sake!

'What do you want to show me?' said Zyra impatiently. Desperate, he turned to recordings of older games. The first one he found with Zyra in it was immediately clicked and started playing. Done, he turned the laptop a bit more to her so she could see it all better.

'But that-that's me?'

Now it was Zyra's turn to stare dumbfounded at the screen, at her own image.

'Indeed. And that's what I'm coming to. That's you, back on Runeterra, loading in for a match.'

She shot him a glare and he just raised his hands.

'Don't believe me? I told you I wouldn't lie. Just watch.'

A few seconds later the group entered the Rift. He watched Zyra's eyes grow big while the announcer boomed 'Welcome to Summoner's Rift!'

'That's indeed me, that's me fighting on the Rift! But how do you get these images?'

Hayden sighed.

'While you, the Champions, are summoned and fight, it's us humans which control you as makeshift Summoners, from behind our computers and laptops.'

He gestured at the screen of his crashed laptop and the screen of the laptop which was now showing the match.

'Which means you somehow transferred from the world of Runeterra to this one, and ended up here, where the actual 'Summoners' live.'

Zyra just stared at him, disbelieve in her bright eyes. Even the normal slowly moving thorns now hung motionless next to her arms.

'And what's more, I believe it's not just you. That screen back there, when I tried to start up a game, it should show champions that I could choose to play. And there were none. Which is usually impossible. And since you are here, and your icon disappeared, the fact that all the others disappeared too can't be anything else than the fact that they also have been transferred to this world.' he ended his speech.
Zyra just fell back on the couch they were sitting on, unable to properly contain herself. Suddenly she growled and got back up again, her thorny roots swinging back into action. Her gaze fell on his, and she had a deadly look. He felt an outburst incoming...She growled once more.

'This can't be true!' she hissed.

She lashed at the poor little laptop, which I could just get my grip on before it would shatter on the ground. Once more he felt the thorns entangle him, and she drew her face close to his. One crazy moment he thought she was gonna kiss him -what the fuck brain? Why do you get these thoughts in a situation like this?- but then she summoned her two thorny vines next to him. In a low, silent hissing she told him;

'I told you not to lie to me. What you say just can't-CAN'T BE TRUE!' she screamed suddenly, while she lashed her thorns at him. He felt the flesh of his cheeks slashed, after which he passed out.

'Aunt, I think he's coming to!' he heard a little girl's voice calling out. This was quickly followed by the hurried footsteps of someone approaching. Hayden slowly opened his eyes and saw Lily, the neighbour's ten year old daughter, and apparently her aunt, an elder woman, eying him with care.

'What happened, boy? We could hear the screams all the way up to our house. You were out for a complete day. And it looks like someone wrecked this place.'

He rose up and started looking around. It was true, along with his still greenish tinted laptop screen he saw lashes and slashes all around the room and on the door. The window was broken, and the door hung loose on its hinges, full of slashes and torn away wood. How..? But then he felt the warm crackling of something on his left cheek. When he swiped it away, the crust of a bloodstream down his face came along.

Have I been out for an entire day?

Mentally numb, he felt his cheek a bit higher, and quickly retracted his hand when he touched the still fresh slashing wound. He came back to his senses, and felt the wound stinging like hell. Slowly, his memories returned, and in a flash...

'Zyra!'

-'Who, sweetheart?' asked the old woman, looking at him with a puzzled look. He searched for the mirror, which was also decorated with a huge crack, but he could still make out his figure. On his left cheek was a deep slash, with the flesh having a tint of purple. Poisoned. Is that why he passed out so quickly? Or was he just a pussy? Damnit brain, again. He looked at his reflection once more. That's gonna be one hell of a scar... What amazed him the most was the fact that he was still alive. Wouldn't she rip him into pieces if he lied? Did she somehow believe him, somewhere deep inside? Or did something else stop her? Did he perhaps reach her...feelings? Oohhh, classy.

Zyra...where are you?

His first thought was to search for Zyra, but then he halted himself. The Rise of the Thorns was more than able to take care of herself, wasn't she? But then again...She was more or less something that would've ran out of a sci-fi movie. A stunningly beautiful woman, but corrupted and vengeful, not caring to strike down anyone who crossed her path.
Suddenly, he gasped. She would be a danger to any citizens that crossed her path! She was strong, but she couldn't win against an army fully equipped with modern technology. He had to search for her, stop her, try to convince her, but she was so...venomously dangerous. Would she believe him? He had not a single bit of certainty that she wouldn't kill him this time. He rubbed his temples, teared apart by the dilemma. He...he had to try it. Somehow he felt guilty. Because he summoned Zyra last night, she ended up here, in a world where she would be an outcast, doomed to be hunted down and killed.

He rose up with a determined look on his face. It was decided. Hayden was going to find her, try to convince her, and then...what would he do with a woman with plant-like features? Should he try to let her live here or something? The idea seemed so unrealistic that he almost started laughing. He shook his head. Concerns for later. He was about to exit the room when he felt a tug at his side. Looking down, he looked into the blue eyes of Lily. Surprised, he smiled.

'What is it, Lily?'

-'Where are you going, Hay?' asked the girl immediately.

'To find someone to solve all these problems. He spread out his hands, pointing at the ravage around him.

'Are you going to see the lady that gave you that scar?' she asked with wit. Hayden's eyes grew big at her sharp remark.

'Why do you think there's a lady I'll search for?

-'Auntie and me could hear the scream. It was the scream of a lady. And she sounded like an angry lady.'

She pointed at his wound and the ravage.

'She's right, dear. And on top of that, those wounds seems severely poisoned. You should get them treated as soon as possible.'

With the wound mentioned he softly touched it again, causing another jolt of pain. Wait. Didn't she say '"wounds"? He looked down at his body, and saw slashes everywhere, from his legs to his arms and his chest., all with the same purple-ish hue. Shit. For a moment, he was in doubt, but then he said resolutely;

'I'm going to search for her, because she's the only one who can cure this poisoning.'

And with that said he walked out of the room. Wait a second... He realized he was being extremely rude. Turning around, he faced the two of them again and said;

'Thank you for taking care of me, I couldn't have wished for better neighbours.'

Lily smiled and stuck her thumb up in the air. Her aunt just nodded.

'You're welcome, dear. Just come by sometime to show you're healthy, otherwise you'll keep me worried.'

Hayden nodded and left. In his wake, the girl turned to her aunt.

'Does he like her, auntie?'

The older woman laughed and patted her on the head.

'Perhaps, Lily.'

...

There we go, chapter one n.n