I'm not incredibly happy about this one, but here it is. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.
The match had been a slaughter.
Seventeen minutes in and the blue team had barely managed to hold on to their base towers, whereas the purple team had lost none. The purple team also held a daunting lead in kills, twenty nine to eight, and had slain multiple dragons. Things certainly looked bleak.
Udyr respawned as the enemy team all vanished from mid lane. The Animal Spirit was weary and beaten after his fourth death, and he gingerly walked over to the
storekeeper, his body aching in many places.
"I have 1600 pieces of your currency. What can I get for that?" Udyr panted, laying his rather weighty coin purse on an empty barrel. The old yordle carefully lifted the bag, opening it, inspecting the contents, and promptly swallowed it.
"Yessir, that is most definitely one thousand and six hundred pieces of bonafide gold! Now let me see here...with one Cloth Armor and one Chain Armor currently in your possession, you can afford to buy...a Guardian Angel!" The shopkeeper reached into his enormous leather bag, containing - by some form of magic - every item able to be bought at the store in Summoner's Rift. He took the magnificently crafted piece of armor and, standing on his toes a bit for extra height, gently placed it on top of the barrel.
Udyr took a deep breath and placed his right hand on the chest of the golden hauberk, and it vanished in a puff of grey smoke. The Animal Spirit felt as if a rush of wind passed through him, and he instantly felt more resilient. He felt as though something was watching him, analyzing his every move and awaiting the best time to enter.
Leaving the spawning pool, Udyr went over the situation with his teammates using the mental bond the Summoners had crafted.
"Where are they?" he asked mentally. Each of his fellow champions responded in turn.
"One of my traps recently sprung around the enemy Elder Lizard," a gravelly female voice spoke up. "My Summoner and I believe we should check the Baron area."
"I must agree," added Vladimir. "I sense blood being spilt near Nashor's pit. Either the enemies are turning on each other, which I must say would be wonderful, or they're battling the Baron as we speak."
A teenage male voice, Ezreal, disagreed. "Taric and I don't think it's a good idea to try and fight them at baron. We've lost each other too many times already to Vayne and that mute bitch Sona, so I think we should wait and fight under our tower-"
This sentiment was met with exasperation on the part of the Crimson Reaper and the Bestial Huntress, and the conversation quickly devolved into sophomoric insults and arguing.
"Enough!" shouted Udyr, as much as one can shout over a psychic link, silencing the argument instantly. "We don't have time for this. Taric, have your Summoner use Clairvoyance to check the Baron area. Nidalee, set up traps around the perimeter of our base. Vladimir and Ezreal, clear the minion waves building up outside our towers so the enemy has less of an opportunity to destroy the turrets. Quickly!"
The team quickly prepared their base and the surrounding area for the coming assault, and all five met at the mid lane turret. "Prepare yourselves," Udyr ordered verbally. "They approach." A distant roar signified the death of the Baron Nashor, and the team readied themselves for what came next.
ALL ALONE...
Blackness enveloped Udyr's vision and the mental communication with his teammates had been muffled, as though a thick blanket had been thrown over it. After a few seconds (that had seemed like hours) the Animal Spirit's normal vision had returned, and a fierce battle was raging all around him. Spells and attacks flew back and forth between the two teams, the turret fired away and shouts and screams sounded from every which way.
Nidalee hurled a spear that caught the distracted Sona in the chest, killing her instantly. Immediately following, she changed into a cougar, pounced on the enemy Morgana, and bit into her throat. As she tried to flee, however Darius lept from the converging crowd of enemies and struck down the fleeing huntress. Udyr charged and tackled him to the ground, allowing the turret to pick him off - leaving Udyr's team with the upper hand, four versus three.
Just as he began to feel hopeful, a whispery laughter emanated from behind him. Udyr quickly turned just as Nocturne impaled the unfortunate Prodigal Explorer on his wrist blades. The nightmare smiled at Udyr, and threw Ezreal's corpse to the side like a ragdoll, before lunging at the Animal Spirit. Udyr quickly spread his feet into his "Bear Stance" and brought two hands down on the oncoming specter's head, stunning him and allowing the turret to finish him off.
"Impure FOOLS!"
The dying screams of Vladimir and Taric alerted Udyr, who turned towards his Nexus right as an excruciating, piercing pain hit him square in the sternum. The force knocked him back against the mid lane turret. He gasped in pain and looked down at his chest to see an enormous bolt pinning him against his own turret. He slowly raised his head and growled weakly as the Night Hunter calmly strolled towards him. The turret, now firing at the oncoming wave of minions, was easily destroyed by a well placed bolt by Vayne.
"Hmph. Udyr. You always get caught off guard. Try and work on that, will you? I like my prey to present more of a challenge." She grabbed the huge bolt by the rear end and yanked it out of the monk's flesh roughly, making a "tsk, tsk" noise as he fell to the ground and expired.
Udyr was dead, but...he wasn't. He felt his heart stop beating and his blood stop flowing, but he did not feel the typical absence of body that came with death on the Fields of Justice. Instead he felt rather buoyant, as if he was floating on the surface of a lake. He felt warm hands surround his form and a soft female voice whispered into his ear.
"Shh. You are safe now. I am with you."
Udyr knew what was going on. He took a deep breath - or tried to - and his spirit was rushed quickly through space.
Wounded, bruised but unbroken, Udyr rose from the cold ground. He grabbed the crossbow bolt off the earth and looked up, grim, to see the Night Hunter assaulting the blue Nexus. Vayne barely had time to look up, fear etched on her face before the wild man was upon her.
He stabbed her in the stomach with her own bolt.
Vayne cried out in pain and clutched at the bolt in her stomach, trying desperately to pull it out of herself before it was too late, but her efforts were in vain.
The last thing she saw was a stone-faced Udyr standing over her, a very faint pair of white wings behind him.