[2016 – 29/02/2020]
The first time Riven experienced a neural handshake was five years ago. It was repulsive.
Katarina Du Couteau was just a name spat out by a compatibility algorithm to take on half the mental load of operating a Hexfighter.
When all of the woman's thoughts and memories reached into the very confines of Riven's own like invisible, invasive fibers, she was just a face to a name.
The most private and personal parts of Riven's consciousness were drawn to the foreground, and it weaved and weaved and weaved with Katarina's until their individual minds became one.
Voices whispered to Riven. They came as both questions and commands. She wasn't able to tell which thoughts were her own in the beginning; the only thing she knew for certain was that Katarina couldn't tell either.
But the second time was better than the first, and the third time was better than the second. Every time they entered the Drift, it became easier to tell each other's thoughts apart; easier to think and act in unison.
It wasn't long before Sinister Wing had its very own pilots and Noxus was finally able to join the war against the Watchers. With another Hexfighter in the fray and two of Valoran's finest Rangers on deck, the world could only cheer as the mountainous Cryobeasts dipped in numbers.
Katarina had become her other half, as irreplaceable as she was irresistible.
Having spent as much time in the Drift as she did with the redhead, Riven felt as though there was nothing left to say.
They were still connected when Kat was ripped from the cockpit – ripped from her life and their unfulfilled happily ever after – without a warning.
Of all the thoughts they'd shared during their fight against the Category III, 'I love you' wasn't one of them.
She never got the chance to say it out loud.
[16/12/2025]
She understands the world is different from the way it used to be, she really does. Factions have temporarily put to rest their cruel campaigns and quests for blood and vengeance, turning their attentions to the Freljord and the one who corrupts it instead.
But understanding does not mean acceptance, and there is no way in hell she's going to allow anyone else into her mind, allow them to rifle through her most private and precious memories, let alone an Ionian of all people.
Leona doesn't want to hear it, though, and Riven mentally berates herself for letting the Marshal talk her into coming back here. The allure of the Shatterdome makes it too hard to say 'no'.
"Look, I was still connected to her when she…" Riven lets the sentence die, but a hitch of Leona's eyebrow urges her to finish. "I can't have anyone else in my head like that. Not again. It doesn't feel right."
Leona's expression softens ever so slightly but her voice remains solid, commanding like the leader she's proven to be. "You can't pilot a hexfighter alone."
"Then I'm going home," Riven replies, simple as that.
"Irelia can't pilot one alone, either," Leona growls.
Riven shrugs and turns to leave, but a shout from the Marshal freezes her in place. Leona may as well have reached out and jabbed her in the gut for all the effect it had on her.
"Take a look around you, Ranger! The world is coming to an end. Would you rather die back in that shack I found you in, or in a Hexfighter?!"
Riven doesn't answer; only clenches her fists and hates that she knows what Kat would choose if she's given the chance to do it all over again. Like hell Kat would even set foot in that closet-sized shed, let alone breathe her last breath there. 'Idiot', Kat would probably say before lights out. Riven almost laughs at the thought.
"We've all had to make sacrifices, Riven," Leona grinds out. She adjusts the patch over her right eye, but it doesn't hide the scars. "Some more than others. But each sacrifice brings us closer to ending this thing once and for all. If we give up now, they'll have died for nothing."
They.
The lone silver ring on the Marshal's finger reminds Riven she isn't the only one who's loved and lost. She wears a similar pair on a chain around her neck, tucked safely underneath her dusty jacket.
"You were married?" Riven asks.
Leona nods, suddenly looking her age. "Seven years. Lost her in the Targon Attack."
"That was a big one," Riven comments. Leona gives her a look and she quickly adds, "Or so I've heard."
The attack on Mount Targon occurred just two years ago. Whatever wounds Leona walked away with were much fresher than Riven's, but the Marshal had spent every day after here, fighting, not hiding in the mines waiting to be buried.
"The largest Category IV to date."
"I'm sorry." It's all she can think to say despite being sick and tired of hearing the phrase herself. If anyone should be sorry, it's the Watchers; sorry they ever returned, and sorry they ever took Kat away from her.
Leona falls quiet and Riven takes the silence as permission to be dismissed. She turns to leave and this time the Marshal doesn't stop her.
"Marshal," she says, pausing before she's fully through the door. "If there are any other surprises you have waiting for me, you should let me know now before I change my mind about sharing… well, it."
Leona cracks a small smile at the quip, but quickly grows serious again. "Very well, then. The Hexfighter you'll be piloting is a Mark-3."
Riven nods, content. "I've operated one before, it shouldn't be a problem."
"It's Sinister Wing," Leona states slowly. "Once funding ran low, we took to restoring the older models rather than developing new ones."
The Marshal doesn't know what she expected but the tightening of Riven's jaw is the only indication that the news even fazed her.
"Even better then," Riven replies. The door clicks shuts behind her, and she's left alone with the kind of sadness born from nostalgia, and doubt that life can get any crueler.
She doesn't notice the uniformed woman leaning on the wall across from the office until a jeering 'Riven, right?' has her wondering if the doors around here are soundproof.
Irelia is sporting a smile; the kind she and Kat used to wear when they were fresh out of the Academy that screamed I can do anything and nothing can stop me. The kind of smile that says I'm not afraid even though there are more than plenty of reasons to be.
The kind of smile she had when she convinced Kat to abandon post and rescue the civilian boat they had been ordered to ignore.
"Better hope Noxus didn't trust you with too many secrets because in a couple of days, everything you know, Ionia will know too."
Riven glares at her soon to be co-pilot, mirroring the woman's mocking tone. "Same to you. The Drift is a two way street." She takes Irelia's fallen expression as a cue to walk away.
Really, what is Leona thinking? The treaty between Noxus and Ionia will only last as long humanity's war against the Watchers. Having the two share one mind?
It must really be the end of the world.