Chapter 1 part 1.
It's all fun and games until someone sinks the ship.
Strong men carried heavy crates onto the small Ionian ship. They heaved and grunted quietly, but their sounds felt like thunderous shouts in the otherwise silent and vacant port. A young Ionian monk stood on the pier by the ship, her dark eyes followed their every move warily. Her hands, hidden underneath long white sleeves were tight fists.
Emra felt the icy ocean wind bite through the soft linen fabric and whip her braided hair, but didn't shiver.
They weren't strong men, not to her at least, when earlier she spared them a singular look. Emra was sure she could fight them and win with ease. But as instructed, she did not comment on the matter, even if it pained her to hold her tongue. Instead, she would often hiss under her breath when one of them carelessly dumped a crate onto the deck.
A hefty breath left her and Emra guided her gaze to the village embedded into the cliff, looking for something else to keep her wary mind off the precious cargo. All the lights disappeared one by one as it got closer to midnight.
This made the monk only antsier, considering the time was drawing near.
Finally, she heard the soft patter of feet on the wooden boards. One glance over her shoulder and she could see a soft light approaching her.
Eight men came into sight, four of whom were guards that blocked the view of a fifth man in the middle. Only the top of his head was visible to her. The other three, she recognized, even though they took the unnecessary action of wearing masks and hoods to protect their identity.
She greeted them with a nod.
"Counselors."
The smallest and fattest of the men stepped forward. "Is everything in it's place?"
"Yes," Emra said, her hand fluttered briefly to gesture to the ship, before it quickly settled back in the fold across her chest. "They have just finished."
"Good. Good. Good." The man rhythmically shook his head with his words – Emra smiled; she could already see it severed from it's neck, bouncing off of a staircase, leaving a trail of blood and,-
"Please bring him forward."
The young monk's violent fantasy was disrupted and she focused on the here and now. Two of the five men behind the counselors stepped aside so that the fifth man could pass.
"This...is the Golden Demon?" Emra said, barely glancing at him.
The first and only notable thing about him was his height. He was very, very tall. Other than that, he might classify for the most ordinary man in Ionia.
"Yes," The councilman said gravely. "Emra, meet the Golden Demon, also known as Khada Jhin. Jhin meet your aid, Emra."
"A pleasure to meet you, young lady." Jhin said hastely, a strained smile on his lips as he looked at Emra intently. "Did you make sure they followed the instructions correctly?"
Emra gave the counselor a look, he nodded, so she complied.
"Yes. Like I told the counselors just now, everything is done as instructed."
"My tools were brought to my cabin?"
Emra stared long and hard at the tall man. "Yes, they were. Everything was done as instructed."
"And the crates are still sealed?"
Was he deaf? Or was he dense? Emra didn't know and did not care.
"Yes, they,-"
"And they were put in the right left corner?"
Exasperation began to bubble up to the surface, like the paws of a million tiny spiders crawling over her face. From the corner of her eye, she saw the counselors take a step back and the guards a step forward and was barely able to restrain herself.
"Yes. They are still sealed and safely tucked away in the right left corner of your cabin as instructed."
The tall man nodded and visibly relaxed. But he looked at her with new interest. Like he was trying to open up her face. This only made her glare at him more.
The small councilman cleared his throat. "Well, now, that introductions are over, let's proceed shall we?"
"Yes." Jhin agreed.
Emra said nothing, that was the only thing she was able to do for now. Not saying anything that would make them reconsider putting her on this mission. For now, show restraint, show them patience.
She breathed through her nose, slowly feeling the spiders fall from her face, leaving sticky webs as they crawled back to the pit of her stomach.
The two other counselors each produced a sealed scroll. The sole female counselor gave Jhin her scroll and Emra received hers from the other counselor.
"Tonight this ship will set sail far north of Piltover. It will take a couple of days sail," councilman said "Once you arrive at the shores of the city, you have your first assignment."
Kadha Jhin broke the golden seal and unrolled the scroll, his eyebrows tucked together thoughtfully before a wide spread smile broke across his face.
"Excellent!" He looked at the short counselor. "I will be needing to restock my supplies immediately afterward, but it will be a marvelous way to see what my new brushes can do."
Emra frowned, wondering if they were speaking in metaphors to keep her out of the conversation. Only then did she notice that they hadn't bound him with chains and felt her prejudices confirmed.
The other, taller councilman nodded. "We have a contact in Piltover who will help you to get anything you need before your missions in Noxus."
Emra pocketed her scroll, she did not feel it was necessary to read it...yet.
"If you have no further questions," the short councilman began as their meeting was coming to an end. "The last thing I wish to say to the both of you, is something to remember if you were to fail. Ionia's suffering through this horrid ordeal must end, not only for Ionia's sake, but for all of Valoran. Noxus must not be allowed to destroy it's beauty."
Emra blinked at the last part. Surely the councilman had to be joking, why would Noxus want to destroy Ionia's 'beauty' when it was clear as day they were after the unused magical properties?
The young monk internally shook her head and shrugged. It did not matter.
Then, in unison, the counselors said. "May the spirits guide your way and safe us all."
They bowed, the guards followed suite. Emra too did a bow, though it was not as deep or as gracious as that of the councilmen. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Jhin on the other hand put the counselors to shame in his extravagant bow.
His weirdness was starting to vex her.
When they all rose, Jhin turned to her and gestured with his hand to the ship.
"Shall we, my dear?"
Nostrils flared, Emra turned sharply away from his hand, walking up the gangplank onto the ship. The tall man followed her onto the ship.
In a few moments, the ship left the harbor, trading the Ionian shores for the darkness of the open sea.
Author's note:
So for the people who already the old version of this story, nothing new might've happened, which is true. But I still hope you enjoyed the new version of this story none the less.
Updates will be irregular as always. ;)
~Nana Ba