Author's note: Hi. Wow it's been a while since I last wrote something. So this is a bit different from anything I've written before but I have seen this done. I just needed to give an outlet to these stories that have been accumulating and going around and around in my head.

I love the lore of the League of Legends and I absolutely adore the yordles so it's no surprise this came out. It's the life story of six of the yordles (Tristana, Teemo, Ziggs, Rumble, Kennen, Poppy) from childhood through the trials that cause them to join the League and how they grow once there. I really wanted to give a bit of depth to their characters; to look at their relationships and the trials that change them over time. I do plan on including the other yordles later in the story and other champions and developing them a bit more but it mainly focuses on these six.

So the biggest reason this is so different from anything I've ever written before is the fact that it isn't complete. All my other pieces I've finished before uploading to fanfiction but this one I don't even know the ending yet. I usually don't like doing so cause I don't like leaving things unfinished but I just had to start somewhere on this one. There was really no way to know where this will end and I figured it was better to get it up before Riot changed anymore of the lore. As it is, Tristana is based more on her old splash and background. As a result of the incompleteness (and the fact I am also still working on my novel) my updates will be a bit sporadic. I do plan on sticking with this and completing it, however, any encouragement will go a long way to helping (hint hint nudge nudge). Haha, but seriously I would appreciate any feedback anyone would be willing to give. I will be breaking the story down into several stories just to make it a bit more manageable.

Last thing: this story didn't just sporn on the spot, it has evolved over time. And a lot of the evolution has been inspired by many of the other stuff out there, especially other fan work. As much as I want to give credit where credit is due, with the amount of time that has past and the amount of stuff that I have looked at I honestly don't think I could find it all again or even remember all that inspired me. So if you find something in here that you feel stemmed from your idea and want the credit don't hesitate to PM me and I'll take care of it.

If you made it through all that I commend you. Go and enjoy the first chapter :).

Disclaimer: Valoran and the majority of the characters in this story belong to Riot. I do not and will not in the coming chapters own any of them.


It was his first day at school and Teemo found himself faltering at the gate, his ever present smile wavering.

What if they didn't like him? What if he didn't make any friends?

The young orphan felt his nerves rising, glancing back at the caretaker that had dropped him and the others off. She simply smiled at him, accustomed to the various reactions of the youngsters on their first day. "Go on," she urged softly. "Everything will work out fine."

Encouraged he nodded and took his first steps into the school grounds. All around him young yordles ran; screaming, laughing and embracing friends they hadn't seen since the year before. To be honest, Teemo found all the action to be a little overwhelming for one so young and shy as himself. True, the orphanage itself was rather rambunctious but the place and the yordles were familiar to Teemo and he usually spent most of his time in the woods at the edge of the grounds, revelling in the peace and quiet. Here however, the activity was even more boisterous and everything was unfamiliar. His confidence faltered and he found himself wishing he could run back to the orphanage and his secret spot, away from the noise and the curious, judging eyes.

He was just about to run back out the gate and to the arms of watching caretaker when suddenly a pale blue girl came bounding confidently up to him. She was quite young, most likely starting school just like him, and had short white hair and bright turquoise eyes.

"Hi," she said with a big smile, "my name's Tristana. What's yours?"

"Teemo," he said shyly.

Her grin brightened with his answer, becoming even bigger than it was before. "Did you want to be friends?"

Teemo blinked in surprise before his characteristic smile bloomed. "Sure."

And apparently it was that easy.


Several weeks had passed since school had started but still Teemo couldn't help but feel like each new day was an adventure. Tristana simply made it that way with her larger than life personality. She really was an amazing friend: smart, kind and genuine. And as her parents were well known Bandle City officials everyone wanted to be her friend.

Which is why it surprised Teemo so much that she'd kicked all their butts to be his friend instead. Him. The little orphan that had never known a family. The yordle who had been dropped at the orphanage door as a baby with no clues as to where he came from. She had wanted to be his friend, and in doing so had become the closest thing to family he had ever known aside from the orphanage caretaker. And he was ecstatic. Little did he know that this small group of friends he would eventually call a second family was not yet complete.

It was late in the afternoon and Teemo and Tristana were in their last class of the day: show and tell. A class most of the young yordles enjoyed.

While similar in many ways to humans, yordles did grow and develop at a different rate. Yordles grew rapidly in their youth. Their intellect progressing to well beyond the standard of most human children before they even started school. This continued until they hit their teenage years and their progression slowed; their learning rate dropping down to a more human level and their physical appearance almost at its peak. They would still grow however, up until they hit the age of 18 and officially became adults. After that point a yordle would not physically age for over half their lifespan, before slowly aging till the end of their life. Since for many yordles this was around 80 years, most appeared and acted the same way for a good 40 years. And it was widely joked that this was the reason most yordles acted immaturely.

However, despite the speculation around a yordles' later progression, it was well known that the first years of schooling for a yordle was critical to their development as this was the age they would be absorbing the most amount of knowledge. As a result, most parents taught their children about their jobs and experiences at this age, nurturing their minds and their passions. This was only expanded on at school, allowing each child to express their new found knowledge and discover a variety of opportunities for them to follow.

Despite how versatile Valoran was, Bandle City itself was more isolated than most places on the continent. Protected from invasion by the Kumungu jungle and the Sablestone Mountains, the easiest way to Bandle City was by ship. And while this produced a safe and stable environment for yordles to interact and grow, it did slightly hinder the inquisitive and intelligent nature of young yordles fascinated with the world around them. Hence why show and tell became such a core part of early schooling life. It gave the youngsters the chance to learn more about the world without needing to experience it themselves. And as a result was the favourite subject of most of the class.

Teemo, however, was not in this majority. That's not to say he didn't enjoy learning about Bandle City and the outside world. Oh no, the subject fascinated him and Tristana both. It was more his nerves at the thought of standing in front of the class and talking. Teemo was already shy to begin with so he wasn't all that fond of presenting in the first place, however what really got to him was that he didn't know what to talk about. He had never had a family to share experiences with and while the caretaker did her best to care for them all, she had too many to look after to teach them a lot. Most of what Teemo knew was common knowledge already and not that interesting.

A small nudge from Tristana brought him from his thoughts and Teemo pushed his nerves aside to focus on the current speaker.

The young boy speaking had scruffy brown fur, vibrant green eyes and the biggest grin either of them had ever seen as he animatedly explained his father's inventions.

Tristana recalled seeing the boy in class, usually fidgeting and doodling on his page. And yet, despite his seeming lack of attention in class, he always threw himself excitedly into whatever activity was occurring. Though not always with the best results.

As if to demonstrate this, one of the boy's hands accidently knocked one of the inventions off the table in an expressive sweep, causing it to explode right in the teacher's face.

The room exploded into laughter at the teacher's soot-covered, scowling face.

Tristana, however, didn't laugh. She was looking at the boy's dejected face and drooping ears and she didn't find that funny.


Ziggs sighed as he walked out of class. He'd done it again. He'd gotten clumsy and it had blown up in his face. Again!

Well, technically it had blown up in the teacher's face, he thought with a small grin, though it fell off as he wondered what he was going to tell his parents this time.

All around kids jostled him, laughing and exclaiming things like, "Best show and tell ever!" Not that it made him feel any better. It was only due to his clumsiness that they were saying that.

As if to verify that he could never do anything right he tripped over his own feet; sending himself and his stuff sprawling.

Dejectedly he started picking up his stuff when a voice called through his thoughts. "Need any help?"

He looked up to see a young boy and girl. The female who had spoken stood closer, turquoise eyes looking at him in kindness and a small smile on her face. Behind her the other yordle looked at him with wide blue eyes framed with orange patches that stood out on his pale fur. Together they helped him pick up his stuff.

"I liked your presentation," the girl said, making Ziggs cringe, expecting joke about his accident. Instead, he looked up in surprise when she continued, "Your dad's inventions are cool. I especially liked the antimass inducer. I hear they've been trying to integrate them into the latest range of MG cannons."

"Yeah," he said in surprise. "That's right."

She smiled, looking like she was going to say something else when the other boy asked, "Did your dad really make all of these?"

Ziggs nodded with a grin, "Yeah. Though if you think these are cool, you should see his garage. He actually has some of the MG cannons you were talking about. You ever seen them?"

The boy shook his head, "I haven't really seen any of the cutting edge technology at all."

At the same time the girl huffed, crossing her arms. "My mum won't let me."

"Well if you wanted," Ziggs suggested a little self-consciously, "I could show you guys some time."

"That'd be great!" The girl grinned enthusiastically. The boy however wasn't so sure.

"Would that be okay with your parents?" he asked.

Ziggs waved him off. "They'll be fine. They'll just be glad I brought friends home. They think it keeps me from blowing things up," he said only half joking. Pulling his backpack on, he continued, "I'm Ziggs, by the way."

"Tristana," the girl said standing up. "And this here is Teemo."

Teemo smiled, "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Ziggs grinned.

They had started walking along, Ziggs talking animatedly about some of his dad's stuff, when Tristana paused, feeling eyes on her back. Turning around she noticed a young blue yordle watching them with curious amber eyes. He was short, even by yordle standards, with big ears and the beginnings of a mohawk starting; and he was staring at them with a slight longing look.

With a smile she waved, catching his attention. Jumping, his expression closed off and he scuttled back around the corner he'd come from.

Tristana frowned, unsure of what to make of the situation before shrugging and catching up with the others.


From that point on, the three of them became infamous around the school as a group of trouble makers. That's not to say that the teachers didn't like them; quite the contrary. Most of them thought that individually they were very smart, sweet and caring. Together, however, they were a force to be reckoned with.

Tristana, of course, was their ring leader: coming up with the ideas and usually convincing the others to go along with them. Ziggs then provided the enthusiasm and Teemo usually just hung on for the ride.

Things didn't always go to plan however, and more often than not the three of them would find themselves covered in the exploits of their latest misadventure under the official stare of whichever adult had found them. And that's when they brought out their secret weapon: Teemo. He would simply look at them with his innocent face and big eyes and apologise. Saying that they didn't mean for things to go wrong and really they were just trying to help. And just like that, the scowl would melt and they would get the seemingly endless final warning not to do it again.

And so things continued on and not much changed. At least until over a year later and a simple decision to help another changed their lives forever.


Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Let me know what you think of it :). Cheers, Candlestic.