Small amounts of sunlight shines through tiny cracks of the vast complex branches of trees and leaves above a small Demacian convoy, marching towards their destination in the blistering heat that this mighty jungle had to offer. They are clad in thick heavy armour, coloured blue, white and gold. Their equipment not meant for conditions such as these. They huff and puff, their feet thud in unison, exhausted from days and days of walking with little respite. Exhausted they march on under the security of the shade.

"Captain, we should be arriving at the encampment shortly" calls out a young enthusiastic voice from the front of the convoy of tired sweat drenched men

"Great, I trust this trip hasn't taken a toll on you lot!" Replied the Captain "Lets keep it up, not long to go now, make me proud boys."

The Captain, belonging to House Crownguard was a very large man. He was built like he had worked his body to perfection every day of his life. His hands were enormous, almost as giant as the battle-worn sword which he carried. The mighty blade was heavy, and as large as a man standing, such a thing would need tremendous amounts of strength to wield; which was odd since the Captain held it so casually in his hand. Not only was this monstrous man's muscular physique something to awe about, his height too, was great. One could say he was as tall and thick as the grand tree trunks that surrounded his men right now in the jungle.

All this considered, there were certain things about him which you could consider a contradiction to his brutish appearance. His face, clean shaven, a short dark untidy brown school-boy haircut sat upon his head with no room for any style, it made him look a little innocent. His eyes were blue, the colour was almost the same as his royal blue uniform, pure as the intentions deep within his heart. Although he had some scars on his strong face, for which a warrior would not be complete without of course, he was actually somewhat handsome, especially with his strong jawline making him look fairly masculine. He held himself very proudly as he marched with his men, keeping an eye on every individual, making sure that all of his men did everything they were taught and ordered to do. This brave group of men were called the Dauntless Vanguard, men who were well known around Valoran and especially in the giant glorious city of Demacia. Their Captain, an exemplary example of a soldier, a true killing machine and a great leader.

The soldiers finally arrive at the wooden wall of which, from the outside, one could only assume belonged to a small fort, however the wall must have been there for some time since a lot of vegetation had started to grow up the surfaces of wood, mixing brown and green together almost naturally. The heavy looking gate was closed, behind the walls stuck out many different makeshift wooden guard towers, each with their own guard inside peering out like hawks on a perch. Demacian colours and banners seemed to be present only near the entrance of the encampment. The tower next to the gate had two men inside instead of the one, which made it unique to the others. One of the guards gave off the impression that he was green, the other looked like he had done this sort of thing quite a few times.

"Halt! State your name and business!" Shouted the more confident looking guard from his perch. Gazing down upon the clump of soldiers who were waiting outside the strangely made 'fortress' with anticipation. The carts that the convoy of soldiers had been carrying now rested down in-between the column of men on the uneven floor of earth and foliage of the jungle. It certainly was not an easy task to walk to somewhere where there were no clear paths or roads, even vines and other vegetation had blocked their way many times on this trip.

The giant Captain started to make his way toward the front, his big boots crushing anything underneath as he walked briskly. He took his place next to the young man who had called out to the Captain earlier that day.

"I am Captain Garen Crownguard, and these are my men, the Dauntless Vanguard, we are here to reinforce you on the request of Major Fergus who is stationed here." declared the Captain in a loud confident voice before gesturing with his thumb behind him at the faces of the tired men. The two guards looked at each other, something was muttered between the two, and then the inexperienced guard turned and seemed to have disappeared.

"Please be patient Captain." requested the hawk-like guard who had remained at his perch.

Garen looked at the young man next to him, and spoke a little quieter.

"How are you holding up Charlie? I know this is your first big adventure away from the capital?" asked the Captain in a voice of a little concern.

"I am fine Cap. Nothing guna' to keep me down now!" he lied.

"Good, I myself cannot wait to get in there, find where I will be staying and put my feet up"

"Sounds nice Cap"

The sound of something mechanical could be heard from inside the shoddy wooden walls, the gates started to lift itself. The faces of some of the exhausted men start to change, as smiles appeared on their faces.

The Captain, now ahead of all of his men was the first to pass through the gate. Inside were white tents, crowded everywhere the eye could see, the men inside who were watching as new company arrived wore a different uniform to the usual Demacian blue, white and gold. In-fact – their clothes were olive, most likely to match the environment to which they belonged as camouflage. It was also much less clumsier looking since there was little armour covering their bodies to ventilate the humid heat. It was not much of a fort to be honest, it was odd looking since the wooden walls must have been erected around them as protection. Why would they need such a precaution? Garen thought. The guard towers that you could see from the outside were now much clearer to see, there was also another entrance to the other side of the encampment which had a gate just like the one the Dauntless Vanguard had finished coming through. It was all a little too much protection, just for a small encampment, was the commander here a little overcautious? Perhaps, a little paranoid.

A portly man with a smile upon his face approached the Captain, he held his hands behind his back and took a quick look at all the new arrivals and then back at the Garen. The man was old, his hair starting to gray along with his neatly kept beard. The contrast between the two men was almost amusing. The old man had a friendly lovable look on his face and looked like he was in his very late forties. Garen had been standing to attention the minute he had saw the old man walking over to him, and now that he was next to him, he dared not to move giving him the uttermost respect he deserved.

"My-my, Garen Crownguard, it has been some time hasn't it?" the round man asked the Garen in a friendly tone.

"Major Fergus, it has been far too long. You've kept yourself busy with work from what I heard." laughed Garen.

The major raised his eyebrow for a second and put on a serious face.

"Oh? And from whom have you heard such things, eh boy!" Fergus joked, and then chuckled a little. "Don't suppose my wife sent you out here to scold me for being away for so long"

Garen knew that the time for jokes and laughter could come later. Although he knew the Major very well he could not go off course from his purpose. He took a breath and started to speak.

"I have a letter for you from the Crown Prince that you should read immediately. I would also like to ask you a few questions. Do you have anywhere we can speak a little more privately," asserted Garen in a less casual way he was talking in before.

"Of course, come with me to my tent. Also, since we are being so formal. Your men should find the Quartermaster, he will show them where they will be staying and where to deliver the supplies. I want to see them out of that uniform as soon as they settle in too!"

"You heard the Major, get to it!" Garen ordered.

The men who were standing around waiting had now started to move, Garen still with his travel pack and sword looked at the Major again, who was gesturing his hand before him, indicating that Garen should follow. Fergus then briskly began to walk away. Quite lively at his age Garen thought as he followed the chunky Major through a complicated path of tents. It was weird to think a man like that would be looking after a recon unit. He would only be giving orders however, its not like he would be participating on espionage missions, would it even be possible for Fergus to be sneaky?

Garen did not really understand the purpose of his trip to the camp. He had so many questions to ask the major when he had the chance. Have I been dealt a bad hand? he thought. He needed answers desperately. The trip from Demacia all the way to the Kumungu jungle isn't the easiest of journeys, to climb mountains and avoid the worst parts of the Shurima Desert make it very long winded. He was tired and wanted to rest from today's hike, so he hoped that his discussion wouldn't take long. Eventually they came to an area of the camp that was much different from the crowded tents from before. Two very large tents homed themselves there, around 5 yards from each other. They were much out of the way of the cluttered camp.

"That is where you will be staying, I made my lot make it for you the day I got word that you would be coming. You might even find it much nicer than the nasty barracks that you are used to staying in." joked Fergus

"I dont know about that, I bet there are all sorts of nasties trying to make a home in my tent right now."

"Zilean's beard! I didn't expect the Might of Demacia to be so scared of bugs."

Garen glared at the major for a moment after that comment. He was not scared of bugs, Garen's real fears were actually something much stranger.

Fergus nodded his head toward the entrance of his tent and then ventured inside. Garen took a quick look around and then followed him in. Wow, it looks like a home Garen thought. He was right, you wouldn't expect to find the things Fergus had here inside any other tent. As you came into the tent, you could see a little coffee table and three chairs around it, an open book was propped on the table along with a bottle of whiskey, accompanied by an empty glass that looked like it had been used recently. Fergus like his drink, in-fact there was a small cabinet nearby where the table, which Garen was sure, to be filled with lots of different drinks. It was like Fergus had purposely made this area of his tent to look like a living room, close to it was his 'dining room' with 5 seats tucked away neatly, it had not been used much. Towards the back of the tent was a lot of bookshelves, full of lots of different books, a desk full of a lot of paper work was stationed nearby the bookshelves, it looked rather messy and cluttered compared to the rest of his belongings.

The major sat down in the chair nearest to the bottle of whiskey and started to pour himself a glass.

"You know, you shouldn't drink so much. You have people to lead Major." advised Garen

"Did you come all the way here to tell me how to live my life? I will drink all I want! You wanted to come in here and talk privately, so c'mon, cut to the chase." retorted Fergus while looking at the clock to check for the time just to make sure he had an excuse to drink. He didn't want to start too early as he knew Garen was right.

Garen put his bag on one of the nearby seats. He reached in and grabbed the letter which he was meant to deliver personally to Major Fergus. Garen then sighed and started to speak.

"All I was trying to say was that its bad for you, its not like I am giving you a command Major, I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing. Just trying to help a friend. Here is the lett-" Garen had tried to explain, before he got cut off by Fergus' hand being outstretched in-front of him, almost demanding the letter.

"You are a good lad Garen, and you always have been. I know you are just trying to do what you think is right. Lets have a look at this letter then" said Fergus calming down a little.

Fergus opened up the letter addressed to him, and read:

To, Major A. Fergus

I have sent you some of the best men Demacia has to offer, in the hopes that you solve your situation efficiently and as quickly as possible. The Dauntless Vanguards are up to any challenge and I have absolute belief that Captain Crownguard will assist you with anything you need him to. We have also sent the supplies and food that you have requested. Freeing up this area on the map would be a great deal for Demacia. We cannot afford to waste anymore time when our efforts may be needed elsewhere in the coming future. Count yourself lucky Major, I would not send this group of men for anyone. You are lucky that your situation sounds terrible and that Captain Crownguard holds you at such high regard.

Work fast Major,

Jarvan Lightshield IV, the Exemplar of Demacia

Fergus swallowed a lump in his throat. He knew then that what he had asked for was something he shouldn't have, especially from the Prince himself! But it was dire that he needed this assistance.

"What do you know about what were are doing here Garen?" inquired Fergus nervously.

"The only thing I was told was that I was to bring my men with me and carry supplies. From what I can guess is that there is something going on here. Why else would you build walls like that in a jungle? You are a reconnaissance unit that deals with spies and handling information, I find it very strange."

Garen cleared his throat and watched the Major for a moment to see what his reaction would be. However Fergus remained silent and Garen decided to continue.

"Major, do you have any idea what protects this jungle? What happened the last time people cut down the tree's here. She is going to know about what you did to make that stupid conspicuous wall. How are you and your men hidden? It makes you stand out like a sore thumb!" asked Garen desperately looking for the answers that he wanted.

"Okay, sit down. I will tell you everything."

Garen shook his head on the offer to sit down, even though he was tired and it is what he wished. He did not want to sit down right now, he would rather stand. The Major sighed and took in a deep breath and began to explain everything.

"The walls are necessary, we recently stole intel about what the 'Noxian Woodcutters' were really doing here months ago. They weren't just chopping down trees. They were looking for something and thought they could tear down the entire place to find it. But they got scared off last time as you already know, and now they are back and are taking a different approach to everything. They have a little army over there Garen! A little army! What can we do against that? We made the walls just in-case they had found our whereabouts, so that we would at least have a way of protecting ourselves, the men and women here are spies, researchers, and medics; not soldiers. We needed a small group of men who knew how to handle themselves against the numbers that they have, that is why you are here." Fergus explained.

Garen was taken a little aback by the sound of distress in Fergus' voice. He had never seen his old friend act like this before, after all – this man had once been feared by the enemy that he had just described as being a danger to his life. It must be the old age Garen, he could not help but think that every-time he looked at Fergus today. The Major was not done yet, after a quick breather, he continued.

"As to you concerns about us using the trees of the jungle for our own needs, we actually made sure it would be okay to do such thing with The Huntress. The agreement that we have with her is that we can't extend our territory further than it already is, and to aid her in protecting the jungle," informed Fergus. He was a well spoken man whenever it came to being professional and giving instruction, a clear indication of his background. Finally Fergus began to smile once again "A pretty nice deal since we have no intention of chopping this place to bits anyway!"

"Well then, I will help you as much as I can Fergus. Its a shame that you can't fight anymore since you put on all that weight, you used to be quite scary back when you were teaching me a few things" Garen joked while laughing nervously in hopes to reassure the Major's worries.

"Haha aye, that's right lad. You were bloody awful at trying to sneak around from what I remember, a man with your size and shape, makes it impossible to become stealthy in any-way"

"Its not my best trait" Garen said quietly before scratching the back of his head, his face felt a little hot.

"I don't see you enough lad, in-fact I see your sister Luxanna much more, she is very popular with my wife and children you know." Chuckled the major as he picked up his glass of whiskey, now feeling much more comfortable and took a swig.

Garen sighed and thought about something that he had to put up with before he had to leave Demcia, he had gotten into an argument with his sister Lux about a subject he would rather avoid. Because of Garen's journey to the Kumungu Jungle, a certain explorer had been brought up in conversation between the two siblings. The Kumungu Jungle was home to a discovery that this Explorer himself had found, it was actually a pretty significant discovery, and anyone who had anything to do with the Institute of War would know about the Wriggles Lantern. Ezreal was the name of the Explorer who had discovered it, and Garen did not like Ezreal. He was a a man who was actually very talented and did many things which a lot of people found admirable, but Garen saw him to be cocky, small, it was almost like Ezreal was a boy; maybe a touch feminine.

The worst part was that Ezreal and his sister had something going on. He sometimes suspected that they could be maybe more than just friends, and this worried him. It wasn't proper for a Lady of House Crownguard to be like that. Garen shuddered thinking about what could happen if the two were to fall in love. He would prefer a more honourable man to take her away, someone like the Steward of the Lightshield Dynasty perhaps.

"I need to get some rest Major" Garen blurted out rather abruptly, he felt quite rude but he really was exhausted from days of walking.

"Its okay lad go rest yourself up. I suggest you change your uniform too, your the one who sticks out now boy hah-." Ordered the Major with a little concern in his eye.

Garen nodded and picked his travel bag back up, he then lifted his sword and rested it on his pauldron while turning and walked out the tent. He looked across to the tent that was 5 yards away, that is where he would be staying for the rest of the night, he knew that he had no other duties for the rest of the day and felt very happy to be walking towards his new home. Once he had gotten inside he realised it was much different from the tent he had just been in. There was no living room section or dining room area, it was just a regular tent. It had a bed with a footlocker at the bottom of it, the bed looked very neatly made and expecting of him, a Demacian officer jungle uniform rested on the covers waiting for him. A mirror to the far side of the room showed the tents entrance back to Garen, along with his reflection. There was a small metal bathtub in the middle of the room which looked extremely clean and an armchair which was fairly close by. Garen put his rucksack on the footlocker and left his sword to lay awkwardly against the armchair that was made of straw, and began to remove his clumsy-looking armour. First he took off the enormous long blue scarf around his neck, and unbelted his harnesses. Only when his armour was off could you really appreciate his body for what it was, the armour made him look oversized and a bit silly, but once it was off; his arms and torso stood out much more. He then took off his tabard, and continued until his boots were off.

Garen picked up the uniform off his bed, looked at it for a moment and then threw it out the way since he could no longer wait to get into bed, he knew it was rather early but he only really wanted a nap before he was called to have dinner with the men. He sat down on his bed and a sigh of relief hit him, in nothing but his trunks the air felt much cooler around his body, he decided to lay back and rested his eyes listening to the sounds of the insects and animals that inhabited this great green jungle. Cool air blew across his face and he lost consciousness.

Hours had passed, and the sun had disappeared from the sky. It was now very dark, throughout the encampment torches had been lit up, and you could hear men laughing and singing. The men of the Dauntless Vanguard had settled in nicely and were welcomed to be part of the family. The air felt much less humid now, but the heat had remained a little. A lot of the birds who were singing earlier had ended for the night and stopped their concert for the day, however the insects showed them up by carrying on with their performance all night long.

Garen woke up, he had slept longer than he anticipated and the tent was now very dark, light from the torches outside lit his room up enough for him to see, he reached for the lantern on his bedside table. He was quite lucky that he was an officer, the other men would not get a luxury tent like this, not that they would mind. They were trained to sleep on the hardest of rocks.

Garen lit the lantern and got out of bed, he started to exercise with press ups, he counted them. Twenty, that was enough for now. No need to overdo it, the aroma of food had whiffed itself into his tent, his belly grumbled. He was hungry for a meal, a big man needs to eat to keep up his physique after-all. He found the uniform he had thrown away earlier and began to put it on, it was tight-fitting on his body and looked pretty good, it is not something he was used to wearing since it looked fairly formal; no clumsy pauldrons this time. He looked at himself in a mirror, not so bad he thought. And paused for a while checking himself out, making sure he would look presentable.

Suddenly a very loud continuing banging noise could be heard outside, it wasn't right. Men shouting and women screaming had begun to accompany the strange noise. With a sense of urgency Garen rushed and put his boots on, he grabbed the lazy lain sword and ran out of the tent to see what was going on. As he exited the tent he saw the torches which had been put out to light up the camp during the night, the nights air felt cool on his face. The screaming of women had now stopped, but the men were still shouting, the only thing that was new was the sound of clanging of iron. A fight had erupted, Garen ran as fast as he could toward the destination of all these sounds, as he got towards the crowded tents he saw fire and smoke, other men in olive uniform were running towards the sound just as he was with their weapons readied.

"CAPTAIN!" called out a frantic voice before Garen, it was Charlie's. He was running towards Garen, however when they met up, they had crossed each others paths since Garen had continued to run. "I-its the Noxians, they are here!" Charlie tried to explain, running out of breath as he ran.

At that point Garen, ran faster, he was way ahead of Charlie at this point, other men were joining in this race. All sorts of sounds could be heard now, screams of different men, the sounds of death coming to those who were unlucky and unskilled. Two men ahead of Garen were talking as they ran.

"Henrik I am scared, they are saying that the Sinister Blade is here. What are we going to do?" worried the soldier.

"Don't worry, Markus, that Du Couteau bitch wont be able to deal with things now that the Dauntless Vanguard are here!" said Henrik bravely.

Garen stopped dead in his tracks, frozen at the sound of that name. He had a lot of history with that family, and especially with one individual in particular. He could not believe that of all places, she should be here, why here? Why now? Why as soon as he arrived. It was all too much to process and debate about right now. A different emotion stirred within Garen, he got butterflies in his belly, excitement washed over him, he knew that he would get a good fight.

"Cap whats wrong?" Charlie said, he had caught up to Garen, and was wondering why his Captain was standing still in-front of him.

Garen wasn't listening to Charlie at this point, he was too self absorbed of what was lain ahead of him. Why couldnt it have been the idiot with the spinning axes Garen thought as he started to run again. No that wouldn't be fun, not as much fun as her. Garen felt warm, perhaps a little hot. Not from the heat but from the prospect of being able to see her again, maybe he would have to kill her this time. The two soldiers Markus and Henrik were fighting just before him, they were a little outnumbered by their enemy. The Noxians were not wearing olive like the Demacians, instead they wore their red and black like usual, it was probably for the best since they could still remain almost camouflaged in the jungle like that, but it was for arrogance that they really wore their colours. They did not care who found them, if they had to fight, it would just be more blood for Noxus.

Courage

"DEMACIA!" Garen let loose a warcry before running up to assist Henrik and Markus, he brought down his sword one of the unsuspecting Noxian soldiers. The force had cut through the soldier, splitting him in half, blood and organs were everywhere. Garen's mighty sword was now bloodied, but not by murder, justice. Such things were necessary, no matter how bad things got, to Garen, this was something he was used to, and there maybe have been a point in his life where he regretted taking a mans life. But that was before he had killed hundreds, almost thousands of men.

"DEMACIA!" Markus and Henrik were now joining in with Garen's warcry, they felt safer now that the Might of Demcia had arrived on the battlefield.

Smoke and heat was getting into Garen's eyes but he did not stop, he kept on moving towards the remaining enemies that stood before him, they shocked at their comrade being split in half so easily by this enormous man moments ago.

Judgment

Garen held his sword at his side and began spinning, it was almost magical. The speed he span at was a blur, and as he got closer to the Noxian soldiers they didnt have time to be shocked and braced themselves for the impending death they were about to receive. The first soldier tried to block Garen's spin with his sword held out, Garen's blade touched the soldiers' sword and cut it in half like it was nothing. Nothing could stop this tornado of steel now. The soldier who attempted to block Garen was now on the floor in pieces screaming in pain, looking down at the mess that used to be his body. How could this be possible the soldier thought.

Garen stopped spinning, the jumbled pieces of bodies on the floor were no concern to him, he had done what was right and continued running onwards without a care to look at the chaos he created. He could do that later, he had people's lives to save. Garen's olive uniform was now stained lots of different colours of red and black. The smell of a battlefield was strange, you could smell the food that the soldiers had been eating still, but ontop of that; blood, smoke and steel. He saw lots of Demacian soldiers in-front of him, they were not fighting any soldiers in particular, but backing away slightly, thinking of a plan to deal with the obstacle before them.

A blade spins rapidly through the air towards one of the Demacian soldier's face, it his with such great force that the rest of his body is knocked back, he flies to the ground with a big thud. Blood spraying everywhere, the knife that had been thrown before was one of many, each bouncing of each of the standing soldiers. Blood spraying all around like paint on a canvas, and the artist was no where to be seen.

Shunpo

A blur appears in-between the remaining standing soldiers. Sinister steel flashes and they all fell down adding to the masterpiece. A woman with long red hair dressed in tight-fitting leather stood there in a battle position ready for her next opponent.

The artist was Katarina Du Couteau, one of the most beautiful women in Valoran. Garen stared at her for a while. Looking at her long red hair which went down her back loosely and carefree, it was the same deep red colour of blood which belonged to the men she had just killed. And as hot as the fire Garen was now feeling in his heart, not because he wanted to avenge his men – no, Katarina always made him feel hot like this, and his heart pounded. She turned her head to look at him, her big beautiful wide emerald cat-like eyes glistened as she recognised him. Her face was something of perfection, it was shaped ovally, her sweet lips were full and plump, they would make any man want to receive the kiss off death of which they had to offer, they were coloured a softer red than her hair and neatly plucked eyebrows. Even the imperfection of her face which came in the form of a giant scar across her eye was just as beautiful, it did not look gnarled or grisly like most other facial scaring people suffered. It suited her, and she wore it like a well-made dress.

It was hard to think that such a pretty face belonged to such a majestic twisted murderer. Her body was quite petite, her black and silver outfit outfit was rather revealing. Her breasts were not too big, they were just right for her body. Her firm bosom looked a little swollen in the bustier that she wore. If you had the chance to stare long enough at her cleavage you would end up having one of the best views of your life before dying. Her bustier was only really covering her breasts, so her belly too was on show. She, like Garen, was obviously no slouch in working on her body. Her abdominal muscles were not rock hard, but you could see they had been regularly worked on. Her waist was small, her hips were much larger, not large enough to spoil her petite look. In all her figure was hourglass shaped. She had a big black tribal body tattoo that went up the side left side of her body, it started from top of her neck, went down to her left breast and continued down to her waist and then her hips, whether it went further would be hard to tell because believe it or not, as revealing as her clothes were, she still had her tight leather pants on! Which made her buttocks looked big and plump.

Finally after looking at Garen long enough she spoke.

"Oh, I almost didn't recognise you in that getup, well, this makes things easier for me to hurt you" she laughed maniacally, compared to Garen, she was pure evil, the villian, and Garen was the classical hero here to stop her. These were two very different people, their beliefs were completely different, but they shared one common goal; they wanted to better the other person every time their paths crossed. She pouted sarcastically and continued. "don't you want to give me a challenge?"

Her voice was very womanly, nothing made it sound cute or high pitched, it was smooth, and seductive. Everything about Katarina reeled you in, it was clear she knew this fact and would use it to her advantage.

Garen said nothing in reply and just readied his sword, trying to hold back the smile he had inside of him. He felt giddy knowing that he would be able to test his true ability. He knew that he would not die today, he would never give her that satisfaction. This whole time they had been standing in the middle of men fighting, screaming, and dying. The sounds, the smells and the hot smoke of burning tents and banners, could not reach these two now, they were focused on each other so intensely that if anyone was to look at them, they would feel as though they were being sunk down deep in the the depths of an great ocean, where no light could possibly reach, crushed by the immense pressure between these rivals.