Freljord Mountains

Chapter one: Skör'Od

A wild clap of thunder resonated throughout the halls and chambers of a wooden longhouse, followed by a heavy breath of wind and snow beating against the panels. Golden eyes reveal themselves to the immense darkness of a small room, startled by the sheer volume. The woman sits up silently, her eyes immediately navigating up to one of the three small windows, with her heart in her throat. Where it once shone gently streams of sun was now masked by a cobble grey. The glass shook violently with every exhale of the harsh winds making it difficult for her to notice the mass commotion just outside her bedroom door.

In the midst of darkness, a figure flies by the windows, before diving back into the black and landing on the bed next to the woman with a flap of its wings. "Val…" She says, reaching for the blue bird for comfort, "Some storm, huh?" His feathers are ruffled and if she held a light to his face, she would see his pupils as large as plates. "Scared?" Her face allows a smile before turning into a scowl as her friend nips her hand. "Hey!"

Just as she opens her mouth to berate Valor, the door opens with a bang before slamming shut again. Immediately the two are on guard, jumping slightly at the noise. Smoothly the woman reaches for her crossbow on the night table to her left and quietly loads an arrow in. She could barely make out the figure, the little light the outside provides touching only the back of their foot. The air grew tense as the uninvited guest turns their heel just as she slips out of bed to have them meet the face of her bow. "Explain yourself." Her voice is sharp and steady, her Freljordian near perfect.

"Quinn, lower your weapon! It is I!" The voice is female, solid and barely above a whisper. Just as the words left her lips, a strike of lightning cuts through the air, illuminating the room. The woman was much shorter, lips cherry red and full, and eyes the shade of evergreens. Her skin, pale like her birthland, has visible cuts and scrapes. "Ashe!" Quinn breathes, quickly lowering her weapon, and taking a few steps back. "You're bleeding!"

"So I am." Ashe quickly says, wiping away some blood from her lips. "There is no time for questions dear friend. We must make haste. I will explain on the way." She turns to the door before pausing. "Quickly grab what you need."

Immediately the message was clear: Get something to keep you from getting killed. With hurried steps Quinn grabs her quiver of arrows, throws on some fur boots and coat, before meeting back with Ashe at the door. With a curt nod, Ashe silently opens the door, and quickly says something in Freljordian that Quinn could not quite pick up. With Valor on her shoulder, Quinn peeks to the right, as Valor looks left, before being urged on by Ashe. She stands next to a giant of a man who hefted a shield almost as big. Quinn tries to place his face as they all ran down the dimly lit hall. But only have met him briefly when first arriving to the small tribe, his name escapes her.

The group stops at a corner with Ashe in front, Quinn next to her, and the large man behind her. The man weaves by them, and murmurs to Ashe to take a step back. He replaces Ashe and waits before stepping out from the corner and pushing his shield forward. Just as he does that, Ashe forms her legendary ice bow, the air around her growing unnaturally cold as it froze to take shape, and takes aim down the hallway. The arrow shot flies as silently as a breath as it deeply embeds itself in the head of a fleeing man. She turns to Quinn signalling their time to go. As she ran, her eyes involuntarily looks down towards the hallway at the collapsed man. His outfit light leathers adorned with swatches of fur bearing no ties to any city state. But Quinn knew all the better. A frown weighs down Quinns lips. Noxian.

What are they doing here? The tips of her boots make light tapping sounds which are luckily drowned out by the roaring winds eager to tear the wooden panels off. Did they know about my meeting with Ashe here? Her eyes look at the white haired woman. How did they know she was even here to begin with?

As they continued running, Quinn noted the increased amount of dead bodies crumbled against the wall or just laying haphazardly on the floor. She almost kicks one as she dodges them, the image of it all quite disturbing. Suddenly an immense pressure begins to build up at the base of Quinns skull and she looks back behind her. A figure could be seen slightly at the end of the hall with a bow and arrow aiming straight at her head. Before she had time to raise her bow to counter, a large shadow begins to consume her. The man runs in front of her, his shield raised just in time to catch the arrow. Quinn peaks behind his shield to take aim but Ashe was already in place, releasing one of her ice arrows at the figure. The arrow scrapes their arm and they emit a cry before taking cover behind a body that laid against a table. "There is no time for this." Ashe hisses, annoyance prevalent on her usually cool features, as she releases another arrow when the figure peaks it's head.

"I will take care of man." He speaks. His voice comes deep within his chest, thick and demands space, just like his stature. Ashe didn't even glance at him as she shoots another arrow, it finally hitting the figure in between the eyes. "Done." The frost archer says and makes her way down the hall again. Quinn watches as the large mans face gets pinched in slight irritation before releasing it with a sigh. His eyes glances down at Quinn and a smile erupts on his lips. "I hope you did not get hurt." Golden eyes meet a glacial blue as Quinn gently shakes her head. "Good." And he was off again, joining Ashe.

At a door, they stop, Ashe's cherry lips vanishing from pressure. She looks at the large man momentarily who simply nods and opens the door. First he walks in, then Quinn and finally Ashe, into a room filled from floor to ceiling with books and a sofa facing a quiet fireplace. A shiver makes its way up Quinns spine as she grips her arms. The two Freljordians seem unaffected by the drop in temperature in the room and make their way towards the fireplace after closing the door. With puffs of heat, the ranger follows them and Valor swoops in taking height to the chandelier that hangs over them. "We need to move this." Ashe says simply at the sofa.

"I will take care of it." The man drops his shield as quietly as possible before hefting it up and away with ease. "Thank you Braum."

A shock of remembrance hits Quinn as her eyes fixate on the nodding man. Yes, his name is Braum. Ashe's personal and jolly sentinel. "There is not much time." Ashe speaks, her voice demanding attention. She turns to the alert Quinn. "As you may have gathered, we are being attacked."

"Do you know by who?"

"Winter's Claw tribe." Quinn furrows her brow. Not Noxian?

"Are you positive?" The words leave Quinns lips before she has the chance to catch them. She smiles softly, luckily taking no offense in the question.

"Yes. I know my sister despite us not being on the best of terms for many years." A sad look ghosts past her face for a split second before it snaps back into her regular cool appearance. "We have no means of escaping. Not with this weather." As if on cue, another clammer of thunder and lightning makes its appearance known again. "We can either hide out here and wait until the storm passes to escape or take our chances with the tunnels that run beneath us."

"Where do the tunnels lead out?" Quinn walks closer, looking down at the ground, as if searching for them.

"Several areas. One just outside the village to the north, another towards the south, and one into a house within the village." Before the ranger could question the last area, Ashe answers. "The previous owner of this lodging had a secret affair. And because of that there are several tunnels that lead back into each other, making it difficult to navigate. They have not been used for many years. I do not know how safe they are."

"So we either sit like ducks waiting to be killed or be trapped forever in some tunnels."

"Braum knows way through tunnels." He speaks up finally.

"How?" Ashe peers at Braum before speaking too quickly in Freljordian for Quinn to understand.

Braum simply smiles down at Ashe before facing Quinn and shrugging. "I have explored them."

"What do you think we should do?" The shivering ranger asks, licking her chapped lips.

"Take tunnel to house." Braum answers.

"Staying here until the weather passes." Ashe interjects, casually looking back at Braum, who in return smiles back at her.

"It is not safe here. It is better to go when we have chance and wait for storm to pass there."

"We can get trapped down there."

"Not with Braum." He says simply, crossing his large arms over his massive chest. "You know this by now, my lady."

The two bicker like an old married couple, Braum coolly rejecting Ashe's sharp remarks. Quinn stands awkwardly staring at them, occasionally glancing up at Valor who is more focused on the angry weather outside. "Okay, okay, guys" Quinn says, tired of the cool air rattling her bones, "Quit arguing with each other. We don't have a lot of time."

Ashe nods, combing her white hair away from her face. "Yes, of course. Since we are at a stalemate, Quinn, you decide."

The two look at the blue haired woman expecting her to agree with them. Quinn has learned from her years of being a ranger for the Demacian military, it is never good to stay in one place for too long. But neither is getting lost. Her gut feeling leans to one side while her mind leans to the other. Finally she sighs and gives up her answer. "We should go through the tunnels." Her eyes look at Ashe, apologetically. "It's never good to stay in one place. Especially with a lack of weapons." Quinn knew Ashe could produce her own ammo through magic but also knows that once her mana was depleted and her own arrows gone, it would be up the Braum and his giant shield.

Ashe nods, as if in agreement with the unheard reasoning behind Quinns decision, and bends to flip back the fur carpet to reveal a hatch. "We go to the home and wait until the storm passes. Then we travel down to Mköri - a small town a few miles past - for a messenger bird to alert Rakelstake. Quinn." Emerald eyes look into golden ones. "I am sorry that we could not discuss what you had planned for tomorrow. And this attack only pushes it back further. I thought this would be a safe place for us to meet so your journey will not be as long to Rakelstake." She places a hand on the taller woman's shoulder. "You may join Braum and I and our journey to there to discuss once my wedding with Tryndamere has concluded." Her hands squeezes Quinns shoulder. "I hope to hear joyous news about my inquiry. The sight of you brings hope into my and my people's hearts. If only you had come sooner, I would not have agreed to be married." Her voice trails off, a distant look in her eyes.

Quinn cracks a smile, the soft squeeze of her friends hands seemingly painful, as she nods. "On the behalf of Demacia - I apologize for our tardiness in your call for help."

Ashe sighs. "More of a plea at this point."

"Right." Quinn simply says, wanting no more than to move on from this topic. Once Ashe turns, she runs her hands through her hair, a nervous tic developed from childhood. How could I tell her Demacia rejects her call for help? What will she think of me? When Quinn looks up, she notices Braum watching her, his usual smile gone from his lips and is instead replaced by a straight line. A shot of embarrassment fills the rangers cheeks. Could he tell?

"Let us make haste. If we are lucky, it will only take a days time to reach Mköri and seven to reach Rakelstake." Ashe bends down to try the hatches handle. It yawns open, a burst of cool air washing against Ashe, and she climbs down. Braum looks curiously at the doorway before stepping into it, tip of his shield at hand, and using his weight to pull it through. It makes the floorboards crack and splinter a bit and an apology could be heard below. "Valor, lets go!" Quinn watches as her friend expands his massive wings before diving into the hole. She waits a moment, straining her ears to any sign of movement outside, before also climbing down the ladder with the quiet thud of the hatch door.

She continues going down the ladder,deeper and deeper into pitch darkness, feeling the ice coating each handle. Steady...steady, Quinn thinks, Almost there. Only when her feet feel solid on the ground does she release her grip on the ladder. "It's so dark in here-" Quinn is abruptly cut off from her own foot slipping some slick ice. She twists her body to try to grab the ladder for stability but instead finds a warm and hard arm against her waist. He caught her so easily and effortlessly with a steady arm that defined strength. Instinctively she looks up to where she thinks his face is, a blush rushing up her cheeks, and could already see his smile stretching across his face. "Careful now, it is easy to fall."

No kidding. Quinn thinks as she quickly releases her hold on his arm and straightens out. "Thank you." She murmurs, feeling for the ice cold touch of the walls. For a moment she thinks about pressing her growing hot cheeks against the walls but the idea of frostbite eliminates that idea. In the corner of her eye she can see a light illuminate and she turns towards it to see Ashe creating a ball of light that soon produced wings and took flight. "Woah…" Quinn breathes.

"It will not last for very long." Ashe says, caressing the bird. "And it takes a significant amount of concentration to produce another so let us go."

The four walked with Ashe in front and Braum at her side with Quinn and Valor feeling awfully like a third wheel. The two talked to each other in hushed but quick tones, careful not to let Quinn pick up on their conversation. They suit each other. The ranger thinks, looking at the man who showed too much emotion and the woman who showed too little. They challenge each other. Quinn thinks back to her own instances of romance - the little amount she has had. During her teen years she had maybe one romance due to her growth spurt that made her taller than most boys in her small town of Uwendale. At the age of sixteen she stood 5'9 while most boys were 5'10. It had also been the time when Caleb met his end. Instead of boys, she focused on the dream the pair had: to become proper warriors for Demacia. But the passion was dim without her brother and the dream became stagnant.

During her training she met a boy, barely taller than her, lanky, and a face filled with freckles. His face was plain but he called her pretty and told her her eyes reminded him of the sun. She was attracted to the warmth he gave her cold body and soon became his lover. The two never went beyond kissing and touching but it was Quinn's first taste of what love could be. After awhile, they broke apart, the boy, who was a few years older than Quinn, joined the Demacian army. He vowed to return to Quinn so they could start a proper family but years passed and he never did return.

Quinn then met Valor at the ripe year of nineteen and created an unbreakable bond with the Azurite Eagle that reignited the passion to become a proper soldier. She joined the ranks, meeting so many men and women from different regions of the city state, with a new found confidence as her companion rested on her shoulder. It was there she met Luxanna and Garen and finally met the famous Prince Jarvan. He was her second love and only when she captured the infamous Du Couteau did his love blossom for her. The two met in secret, expressing their love and want for each other, shared quick kisses when no one was looking, and snuck out at night to talk for hours. They were each others sloppy first. Quinn remembers the heat in her face and body, as she stood in front of Jarvan, undressing. How his eyes were alight with desire and lust as they looked at her tanned body, adorned with scars of battle. He whispered how beautiful she is in her ear, how badly he wanted to hold her, to fuck her. His fingers picked up her chin, guiding it to face him, before his lips found hers. Despite his outwardly gentlemanliness, Jarvan was a rough kisser. Quinn could barely keep up with the ferocity young Jarvan produced, her hands trembling as they grasped the sleeve of his shirt.

That night was one Quinn could never forget. Not because of how good the sex was but rather how awkward and terrified she was in the beginning. Jarvan would smooth her hair to calm her as he pressed his member to her opening. He kissed her as she opened her mouth to cry out, drowning out the noise. The pain Quinn felt was immeasurable and she asked Jarvan to take it out before she dies. She remembers the disappointment in his eyes as he moves away. It shattered her heart. So, she quickly grabbed his arm, and told him about a method that she overheard a couple of women talking about one time at the barracks. Jarvan, perplexed, nodded and hovered over her. He bent down to kiss her neck to her breast and took the brown nub between his lips all while putting his index finger inside Quinn. Electricity shot through her body, causing it to twist and turn, and throw her head aside. Unsure of what to do Jarvan continued, testing Quinns limits by inserting another finger, and watching her writhe in pleasure. She asked for more, to be rocked by Jarvan, and was met with eager compliance.

Jarvan awkwardly slipped in and out of Quinn before finding a steady rhythm. He gained confidence as the night continued, whispering obscenities into the rangers ear who in return just complied, whatever it took for him to keep pumping into her. The Prince lasted a surprising while, pounding her with all the strength his twenty-one year old body could muster. And by the time it was over Quinn laid spent and used, sleep draping her eyelids. They laid together that night until morning. And since then, their relationship grew colder and colder as the war against Noxus raged on. Quinn turned her attention on her job as an infiltrator and Jarvan on his job as a leader. Years have passed and the initial attraction the two had for each other had fell through the cracks of time. The two now stay friends, neither daring to cross that line again.

Abruptly Quinn walks into Braum who suddenly stopped. "Sor-" He looked back at her, holding a finger to his lips. Fear struck the rangers heart and she slowed her breath as she glanced at Ashe who was looking at Braum. Above them footsteps could be heard along with the shouts of men. They have discovered the hatch. Braum pushes Quinn ahead of him, telling them to take the left tunnel up ahead. As quickly as their feet on clear ice could take them, they rushed towards the tunnel. Their footsteps echoed as the tunnel seem to go deeper and deeper down the earth. Suddenly, Quinn trips, her body skidding down the tunnel with no sign of stopping. She bites down her scream as she plummets down, with Valor nipping at her clothes to try to slow her descent. Her feet slam into a wall, shaking loose a few pebbles that knocked on the center of her head, at the base. The footsteps of her friends catching up to her. "Quinn! Are you well?" Ashe is the first to speak, kneeling down while casting the light away from her eyes. The ranger responds with a stuffed snort of laughter as she rakes her hair back, the fear and pain passing through her body with every snicker. Braum joins the quiet laughter, shaking his head, while helping the fallen woman to her feet again. Even Ashe joins with her own silent chuckles before turning stoic. "Let us keep going."

They reach another intersection a few paces forward before the earth began to rumble and soon split above them. Quinn, who walked slightly behind, watched as Ashe pause to look up at the falling piece of rock threatening to split her head open. It all happened to fast for the ranger and her bird to react. Braum pushes pass Quinn to reaches forward, grabbing Ashe, and pulling her to him while holding up his shield. But the amount of fallen rock was more than Braum had anticipated and made the split decision to push Ashe forward towards the intersection and attempted jump to her. "No! Protect her!" Her cry froze him. For a moment, he stood there, rocks piling all around him.

Quinn can see his muscles tense not from the weight but from the order Ashe made. He stepped back, allowing rocks to continue to fall and soon a thick wall of rock and ice separated them. "My lady," Braum climbs up the heap of rock. "What now?"

"Still meet at the house if you could otherwise we will meet at Mköri. Bring our guest there safely." Her voice was muffled but the stress on that word could be heard as clear as day. "Remind me of the way out, quickly."

Braum tells her the directions twice and would have told them again if Ashe hadn't interrupted him. "Do not worry about me. I have handled myself way before meeting you and am still able." Quinn winces at the sharpness of the rulers remark but Braum simply chuckles. "Yes." He says, placing his forehead against a rock. "May you find warmth and safety."

"May you find warmth and safety, dear friend." And with that it was silent once more.

Without Ashe's light, the now trio stood in total darkest minus the haunting glow that was produced from Braums shield.

"Now what?" Quinn murmurs as she soothed Valor.

"Now we walk." He reaches for Quinn, his hand bumping into her waist, and grabs her hand. "Better this way. I hope you do not mind."

"Um, no." She feels unbelievably awkward now as she is led back the path they came. They climbed a set of stairs that Quinn missed when she slipped before making a left. They walked in silence a while, the only sounds heard were the distant shouts of the men looking for them, and Valors consistent need to groom himself at this moment.

Once the shouts were barely audible Quinn clears her throat, calling for Braums attention. "How many times have you been down here" She picks up her pace, feeling like a child when behind him. They now walk side by side as Braum deliberated how to answer the inquiry.

"Braum explored tunnels maybe once or twice." He says simply.

"Ashe didn't explore them too?"

"Leader has bigger worries than learning secret passage."

I guess that's true. Quinn thinks."Where are we going then?"

"We go to south of village and head to house. Queen Ashe will be there."

"Hopefully the storm died down."

"Yes. It is very nasty storm!" His voice tried to hold the same enthusiasm Quinn heard when she first met him last night. But she can hear the faint undertones. Typically it was loud, boisterous even, and called the attention to anyone in its vicinity. What was a strong voice for an even stronger man, was weak and fragile - aged with worry. Quinn was familiar with the tone and moves to place her free hand on his bicep before dropping it. "She'll be fine."

His muscles tense for a split second too long to go unnoticed before relaxing. "Of course! She is tough woman. Can handle herself." He sniffs. "Worry not about her but us, yes?" Quinn silently smiles to herself. He wants me to think I am the one worrying about her. "You're right. We've got to escape these tunnels. Lets act fast so we can catch up to Ashe."


E/N: It's an unconventional ship, I know, but I like writing about unlikely ships. For those looking to write as well, I encourage you to do the same. It helps explore the characters personality more and breaks from the norm - at least for me. I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. I'll probably re-edit the first chapter in case I missed some things and post the next one in about a week. Until then!