A/N Okay so like I know I haven't even tried to write in so long and that I've essentially given up on making anything for anyone ever since my co-author and close friend basically disappeared on me (I miss you Addy, I really hope you read this and try to talk to me again) but basically this will be another new story that I will be making. And unlike the others, I will be finishing this one! To the best of my abilities at least. I would also like to give a shout out to a ms MoxxieRusso for inspiring me to write again and also having such wonderful stories. so if you like FMA then check out her latest story, Ready, Steady, Go! it's really good. Without further ado, welcome, to the Institutes of War.
The sun shone down with intense heat as another Saturday afternoon was spent slaving away in another construction site. As I sighed and wiped off my forehead, I grabbed my tools and started packing up for the day, humming to myself as I had just finished off my latest site. I packed up my equipment and decided to sit down for a bit and get some rest before heading home. I looked off into the nearby forests that seemed to be small in size, then again the place I worked at was the more luxurious side of town. I pulled out the leftovers from my lunch as I took in the warmth of the sun, now less scorching since all the hard work was over and done with.
It had been a rough day and whenever stress needed to be relieved, nature was always my answer. Just viewing the rays pierce through the leaves in the small wooded area made me feel at peace, feeling a gentle breeze every now and then as I sighed deeply. Though no one else was around as they had left already, I had heard some rustling nearby. I looked around, trying to find out if anyone was nearby, though it could have been a dog for all i knew. I got up and walked around, making sure that no one was on the construction site without proper permission. As I got closer to the back area, I heard more noises to direct me to the origin. I turned around and looked towards the forest, peering close as I saw a tail. A wild animal most likely.
I walked over, taking care to be quiet as I moved to get a better look at the creature, wanting to make sure that it wasn't a wild animal that could get hurt or cause problems later. As I approached it closer I noticed a large white tail that twirled about in a fluid motion as it moved further into the woods. I chased after it, curiousity driving me intensely as I ran quickly to find out what it was. I followed as fast as I could yet the creature seemed to have great speed, somehow eluding my range of vision just enough for me to barely make out it's direction. The forest seemed to be getting denser as I followed, running faster and faster in order to catch up to the creature as I started to speed up.
Before long, I had noticed that the trees seemed unfamiliar despite my working for a month in that area. They didn't even seem to be indigenous to the local area, but I persisted on catching this creature. I don't know exactly why but there was something about it that made me want to find out more about it. I kept moving, seeing that it had slowed down a bit probably thinking that I had not chased it too far, either that or it found some water to drink nearby. I slowed down as well, being mindful of my surroundings. I hid behind one of the trees, peering over as I got a better look at what I was chasing... though now it's a who. Standing before me was a beautiful girl, long flowing black hair falling just past her stomach. Her outfit was... revealing and yet very familiar. It was at this point though that she looked dead at me, her face having striped like markings and then I noticed the two more interesting aspects about her.
First, she had tails. Second, she had glowing ball of light in her hand that, for whatever reason, gave me the idea that she would use it on me.
Now at this moment was when I realized that something was different, and immediately I thought of many different explanations that would make sense of this. It was at this moment that the orb was thrown towards me.I dove to the side, barely missing as the orb moved past me and through severaly trees, burning and breaking straight through them. I was shocked and looked quickly back to the girl, seeing her run towards me with three small wisps in front of her. My eyes widened as she sent the wisps towards me, putting my arms up in defense as I was suddenly hit by a force equal to the heart of a flame. Needless to say that it scorched my arms up badly and made me shout in pain. I moved back, trying to put some distance between us as I saw her move towards me again, swaying her hips as she smirked and approached me. She put her hand to her lips and
More pain, a scorching burn mark on my chest and back as I could barely breathe. I could hardly move up from the position I was now somehow in, laying flat down into the ground. I don't even know what happened but the way she looked seemed like it was far from over. I groaned and moved back more, somehow pulling out strength from some unknown source and moving back into a tree, using that as a center point to get back up. I saw her small amount of surprise at my resilience and looked at her face to face, trying to determine what she will choose to do. Her hands were ready for another orb I assume as she finally decided to speak.
"Who are you, and why did you follow me?" She asked, her voice stern. Unable to fully comprehend what exactly was happening, I could only stare and prepare for my apparently innevitable demise. To this woman, this being of a higher standing when compared to other people. Her eyes showed her seriousness in this situation, simplay stating without missing a beat "Not talking won't do you any good, I'll simply kill you and move on." She said, an edge in her voice enough for me to snap out of my thoughts and react.
"A-Alan, Alan Ranford." I said in a semi rush. There was a small wait as I thought up of a proper excuse for the second, but nothing other than the truth really came to mind "And I wanted to see what you are..." I said, not really liking my choice of words
She stared at me for a few minutes, the retracted her hands back in a motion to throw the orb to finish me off, obviously not enjoying my answer. I closed my eyes, giving my final farewells and prayers as I awaited for the burn of essentially a thousand suns when someone shouted in the distance.
"AHRI!" A man shouted, running quickly over to her as she turned to see the owner of the voice. I thought it was a man at first but then I truly saw who it was that the voice belonged to. An ape the size of any normal man bearing a staff stood in front of us as he grabbed her arm, making her cancel whatever the orb was. "You know the rules, no more killing if you intend to stay within the Institution. Leave the poor man alone and just head back now before they find out." The monkey exclamined to the woman, who by now I assume her name is Ahri. Ahri... it couldn't be... I thought to myself as I grabbed a better hold for myself. I looked closely at the two people in front of me. Then again... it wouldn't be that far off now would it? I asked myself, then internally shook my head. No what am I thinking, they're only game characters, they couldn't exist even if I wanted them to. I concluded, but that did not truly answer all of my questions. It was by now that I noticed the monkey man had asked me something.
"I-I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" I asked, now noticing how sore my voice sounded.
"I asked where were you from. I'm sure we can lead you back to your home. You must have been wandering through the woods or something but this is the Institution of War's private property, and it isn't open to just anyone. Are you a new champ?" The monkey said, looking over me perhaps to make sur ethat I wasn't in any critical injuries. I pushed him away gently as not to be rude and cleared my throat.
"U-um, I'm from Florida. B-but I thought we didn't even run that far." I responded. I had taken some deep breaths as I tried to rationalize my situation, so many thoughts coming in and out of my mind, I could see the edges of my vision fading and it was then that I heard something that pushed my mental state over the edge.
"Florida? Where in Runeterra would that be at?" The monkey said. As soon as the words left his mouth, my mind shut down. My surroundings were becoming a blur and their voices dulled as my breathing escalated. I lost all of my remaining strength soon after and fell to my knees, the darkness that soon enveloped the edges of my vision succombing me to it's embrace as I passed out, my mind going numb in time to hear one last thing from the woman again.
"Shit, Wukong help him up!"
