And here I am, once again, back with a new story. If you guys are looking for information about my whereabouts over the last year it should be on my profile. But that's enough of me, let's get on with the story.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

XXX

Everything was blurry, making the normally simple task of checking his surroundings nearly impossible. Standing up proved to be much more challenging and after several attempts the decision was made to remain sitting down.

'Where...Where am I?'

The question hung in his head while his eyes corrected themselves and allowed the man to properly survey the area he was in. The first thing that came into sight were all of the trees that surrounded him; some were small and only around twelve feet high, while other trees stood tall and blocked most of the sun from view, allowing only cracks of sunlight through their foliage. With a better grasp of his surroundings the man once again attempted to rise to his feet but as soon as he reached his full height his head spun and he dropped to his knees in in order to empty his stomach of what was once inside of it. The man remained hunched over staring at his own vomit for a few seconds before rolling onto his back and staring toward the sky.

'Think, gather what you know and act from there.' His breathing slowed as he allowed himself to relax and collect himself.

'My name... is Yasuo, I am a champion in the League of Legends. I was participating in a match when... when what? I remember the match but why am I now in the middle of a forest? This is not the jungle from the fields of justice, so where have I gone?'

Yasuo slowly raised himself into a sitting position and when his head remained the same, he pushed himself to his feet. However, when he tried to take a step forward he felt his legs shake and before he fell Yasuo caught himself on a nearby tree. After a few seconds Yasuo released his hold from the tree and took a few steps forward, when nothing happened he released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in. Unconsciously his hand drifted to his hip where the familiar feeling of his blade met his hand, with the confirmation that his sword was right where it belonged Yasuo began to walk through the forest.

While making his way through the woods Yasuo found himself attempting to contact his summoner through their mental link. 'Hello? Are you able to hear me?' When the only response was silence Yasuo released a short breath through his nose.

'I was on the fields of justice, and now I find myself somewhere else entirely with no connection to my summoner. It would be best to return to the institute and learn of what happened, it's likely that the other warriors who shared the battlefield are going through similar problems.'

It was at this thought that Yasuo came to an uncomfortable realization. 'I have no knowledge of where I am. This could be one of the forests of Demacia, or I could be in Ionia.' The idea gave him pause but only for a few moments.

'Even if I am in my homeland, there is nothing I can do to change that, besides finding a-' Yasuo's thoughts were interrupted at the sound of a branch snapping behind him, his hand quickly fell to the handle of his blade as he spun around to face the source of the sound. The bushes that were once motionless rustled with newfound energy; all while Yasuo stared at them with narrowed eyes, his thumb edging his sword out of its sheath. The tension was swiftly broken when a rabbit bolted out of the bushes, putting a smile across the face of the swordsman. He was about to turn away when the bushes shook once more but instead of a tiny creature bursting out, a large grotesque monster came charging at him.

It held a chipped sword high above its head in both hands, fully intent on bringing it down on top of Yasuo. As the creature got closer Yasuo kept his eyes locked on his attacker and when it was only a few steps away he pulled his blade from its sheath and cut off both of the creatures' hands in one swing. The monster stared at the stumps where his hands once were before looking at Yasuo with wide eyes, only to watch as Yasuo swung his sword once more and removed the creatures head from its shoulders, spraying black ichor all over the ground.

With the threat eliminated Yasuo took the chance to kneel down and properly examine his attacker. Sickly green skin was stretched across the creatures' humanlike body, the major difference between himself and the beast was that it had no hair or ears. Its nose had long since fallen off, leaving only two holes where it had once been.

'If it weren't for the fangs and claws I would have mistaken this monster for a human corpse.' Yasuo's gaze fell to the creatures' armor, perhaps at one point it had been shiny and undented but now it was covered in dirt with multiple scratches on the surface. 'It is unlikely that a creature such as this would be able to make any sort of armor. It must have been scavenged from a battlefield. Still... for this monster to understand the use of armor, it is far more intelligent than its appearance leads on.'

Yasuo returned to a standing position and scanned his surroundings. The birds, which once sang nearby, had long since fled, leaving an eerie silence to fall over the area. 'If more of these creatures are nearby it would be best to take my leave as quickly as I can. However, if there are other travelers in the area it is more than likely that they will be attacked as well.' With a silent nod to himself Yasuo began to walk in the direction that the monster had originated from.

Tracking the creatures point of origin was not as challenging as he initially thought. It was painfully obvious that the creature moved with little grace while moving through the woods; snapped branches, gouges in the bark of trees and the occasional drops of blood left few questions about where this creature had come from. With all of those clues it took Yasuo little time to locate an actual path in the forest, he had barely taken three steps when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a flash of light. Acting on instinct Yasuo lashed out with his blade toward the ground. "Choryon!" Instantly the wind rushed upwards throwing the projectile harmlessly toward the sky before falling limply at Yasuo's feet revealing it to be an arrow.

Looking in the direction of where the arrow had come from Yasuo saw that a creature similar in appearance to the one he met earlier, only much shorter, was knocking another arrow and preparing to fire it at him. With no hesitation Yasuo charged at the creature, narrowly dodging an arrow that had been shot at his head, and swiftly closed the distance. In the blink of an eye Yasuo had cut the creatures bow in two and followed up by cutting the creature from shoulder to pelvis. A roar from behind the monster revealed a creature with the exact same appearance charging at him, this time with a mace in one hand and a shield in the other.

Yasuo waited patiently for the creature to close the distance and the second it was close enough to swing Yasuo parried the blow and stabbed the creature straight through its eye. Its arms fell limply to its side, with the dead weight of the creature entirely on his sword Yasuo used his foot to push the monster off of his blade. Before returning his sword to its sheath Yasuo flicked the black blood onto the forest floor and cast a sideways glance toward the creature at his feet. 'The more of these creatures I meet the more questions I gain.'

With no other enemies in sight Yasuo continued on the path, intent to find the rest of these creatures before any innocents were harmed. While on the path Yasuo came across a campfire that had been recently extinguished. 'Perhaps these creatures have the knowledge on how to tend a fire... unlikely but not impossible.' A roar quickly shook him from his thoughts and with one hand on his blade Yasuo turned toward the sound to see two of the smaller monsters running at him, both holding a mace in one hand while a third creature prepared to fire a bow at him some distance away.

With a quick breath in Yasuo matched the pace of the two creatures charging him, and just when they were close enough Yasuo dashed forward and spun in a circle with his blade outstretched claiming both heads of the creature in one swift move. Without missing a second Yasuo parried an arrow that would have otherwise pierced his heart, he charged at the archer who dropped its bow and fumbled to pull out a sword. Its swing was easily deflected and with no other way to defend itself Yasuo stabbed the creature straight through the throat, it choked on its own blood for a few moments before its eyes rolled into the back of its head and it fell to the ground dead.

Disregarding the fallen creatures Yasuo made his way toward the cave in a distance. 'If the creatures have a nest anywhere it would be there.' With that thought Yasuo made his way toward the cave and cautiously entered it, keeping a close eye out for any traps or hidden enemies. Upon entering the cave, the first thing Yasuo noticed were the dead bodies of multiple creatures laying across the ground. 'It would appear that someone else has taken care of these creatures before me. Still, it would be best to make sure that they are uninjured or worse.' Slowly, Yasuo made his way deeper into the ruins but stopped when he came across statues which lined the walls. He walked close to one and ran a finger along the dust covered stone. 'Strange, I've never seen anything man made in a place like this... then again, I've never seen anything like those creatures outside, so perhaps I should not value my own opinion too highly on these matters.'

A small smile graced Yasuo's lips at his own joke before making his way deeper into the ruins. When he entered a large room, a growl stopped him in his tracks. Three creatures, all with swords in hand, charged at him in a triangle formation. With little room for error Yasuo stood perfectly still and waited for the creatures. When the lead creature got close enough he unsheathed his sword and took of its head in the same stroke. The back two creatures, undeterred by seeing their comrade decapitated, attacked him at the same time. Yasuo jumped backwards to avoid their swings and while they tried to recover he killed both of them in one swift move.

With no other threat Yasuo stepped over the bodies and made his way toward the rooms exit, carefully avoiding the traps that lay there, he turned the corner and immediately jumped back to avoid the arrow that had been fired at him. In that split second Yasuo had been able to see three attackers but unable to properly identify their weapons. With that in mind Yasuo dashed out from cover and immediately cut the air at his feet. "Face the Wind!" Now behind his wind wall Yasuo watched as two archers fired at him to no effect while the third creature tried relentlessly to pierce his defense with magic. With their arrows no longer working the archers cast aside their bows and each pulled out a mace, both creatures charge at Yasuo who patiently stood behind his wind wall with one hand one his sword.

'My wall won't last long, but it should give me the time needed to kill them all.' When thefirst attacker got close enough Yasuo quickly thrust his blade between its eyes killing it instantly. The second creature met a similar death as Yasuo stabbed the monster straight through the heart. "Ton!" Feeling the wind circle his blade Yasuo wasted no time slicing the air. "Aseryo!" With his cry the wind forced itself into a tornado toward the mage who stood stock still as the tornado made its way toward him. With no way to escape the creature was lifted into the air by the winds, without missing a step Yasuo dashed toward the creature and jumped to meet it midair. "Igei Ton!" With three slashes the creature was instantly cut to pieces. As he landed on his feet Yasuo noticed a door to his right, and with the hallway he was currently in being blocked his only choice was to open it.

Keeping his left hand on his blade Yasuo pushed open the door, ready for more battle. Instead he found a man in silver armor staring into a mirror. 'This... was not what I expected to see.' Hearing the door open the man turned around to reveal his darkened skin and aged expression, his eyebrows raised when he caught sight of Yasuo. "I must say you were not the man I was expecting to see come after me."

With his hand still on his blade Yasuo allowed his stance to relax slightly as he sized up the man in front of him. "My apologies, my intention was not to disappoint you."

A small smile creeped onto the man's face at the wordplay. "Oh? Then what was your aim?"

"I was trying to cull these creatures. To ensure nobody innocent was harmed." Throughout the interaction Yasuo took stock of the man in front of him. 'He's far too calm right now. He's experienced in combat I would like to avoid a fight with the first human face I've met but if he leaves me no choice-'

"So, you were the cause of the noise outside? Forgive me for not offering aid but I was preoccupied with this." He ended the sentence by waving a hand toward the mirror behind him.

"There is no need to apologize, I was more than capable of handling those creatures by myself."

The stranger turned back toward the mirror and folded his arms behind his back. "Not all darkspawn are so easy to kill I'm afraid, these stragglers are too far from the horde to pose any true danger. If we were closer to Ostagar than perhaps they would pose something of a challenge."

'So, these things are called darkspawn, strange... why have I never heard of such creatures before?'

"Forgive me, but it would appear that I have failed to ask for you name."

Broken from his thoughts Yasuo looked toward the strangers to see his head at a slight tilt, as if waiting for Yasuo to offer his name.

"It's proper etiquette to introduce yourself before asking for the name of another, wouldn't you agree?"

The man gave a chuckle at this before nodding his head. "I suppose you're correct, I am Duncan member of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden, and you are?"

It took Yasuo a few moments to collect himself after hearing Duncan's statement but quickly responded once he had. "I am Yasuo, it is a pleasure to meet you Duncan."

Duncan's eyebrows creased when he heard Yasuo's name and responded accordingly. "You must forgive me, but I'm afraid I've never heard a name quite like that before. Tell me, where does it come from?"

"It comes from the island of Ionia."

The crease of Duncan's eyebrows increased as his hid tilted to the side. "Ionia? I've never heard of such a place. Where is it exactly?"

'Never heard of Ionia? Grey wardens? Ferelden? By the Gods, where am I?'

"Yasuo? Are you alright?" Once again shaken from his thoughts by the grey warden Yasuo responded in a tone that was far shakier than he would have liked. "Y-yes, just... tired from a long day. Ionia lies far away from any known lands, we have few outsiders and many of our people pass away without ever having left the country."

It wasn't a complete lie, a large number of Ionians preferred to remain within their own country rather than leave and see the outside world. However, his explanation did little to satisfy Duncan's curiosity. The man opened his mouth to speak again when he was interrupted by the sounds of running feet and heavy breathing. Both men turned to face the door and saw two people enter; one man and a woman, the man carried two short swords, while the woman carried a mages staff, but what truly caught Yasuo's attention was that both of them had pointed ears. they were panting but quickly caught their breaths when they caught sight of Yasuo and Duncan.

Duncan offered the group a small smile before speaking. "It's good to see you up and walking again."

The man with two swords stepped forward. "You're the grey warden that helped me?"

"That is correct, I am Duncan and what would your names be?" At this Duncan threw an almost invisible smirk in Yasuo's direction.

"I am Theron Mahariel."

The woman stepped forward next and offered a small bow. "Andaran atish'an Duncan of the grey wardens I am Merrill, the keepers apprentice."

Duncan released a tired sigh before addressing the two. "Your keeper didn't send you two after me, did she? I told her I would be fine."

The male elf shook his head and looked Duncan dead in the eye. "We are looking for our brother, Tamlen."

At this Duncan's shoulders tensed. "So, both you and your friend entered this cave and approached this mirror?"

"Yes, Tamlen touched it and I blacked out."

Duncan's shoulders visibly sank. "That is...unfortunate. Grey wardens have seen artifacts like this before, the come from Tevinter and were used for communication. However, they have become corrupted and now only attract darkspawn."

Yasuo, who had only been partially listening to the conversation, chose this moment to drift deep into thought. 'This is not good, no matter what I do nothing they say makes sense. So many things I've never heard before...Just where exactly am I?'

So deep in thought was he that Yasuo only came back to the world when the room went completely quiet only broken when Merrill once again spoke.

"I had been meaning to ask Duncan, but who is this man? He was not with you when you brought Theron back to camp."

Duncan gave Yasuo a glance, making brief eye contact, before addressing the question. "This is Yasuo, he is a friend of mine who aided me in fighting the darkspawn. He is no grey warden if that is what you are wondering."

"Yasuo? I will never understand you humans and your names."

"What about Tamlen? Where is he?"

The sudden question had come from Theron who stood perfectly still with his hands clenched and eyes narrowed. Duncan offered sigh in response before answering. "You must understand Tamlen has been afflicted with the blight for the same amount of time as you have with no treatment. I'm afraid your friend is either dead or worse, for what it's worth I am sorry."

Theron clicked his teeth in annoyance and made his way out of the room, Merrill offered a small bow before running after him.

Duncan ran a tired hand over his face and turned back toward the mirror. "Now to deal with this, it is far too dangerous to leave alone." With a swing of his blade Duncan smashed the glass of the mirror and stared at its remains for you a few moments. Seemingly satisfied the grey warden turned toward the exit and began to leave.

"Come Yasuo, I'd like to speak with you more about this Ionia place you come from."

With many questions of his own Yasuo was quick to follow after Duncan and put up with many different questions of his culture and people. Each question was laced with a small amount of suspicion, and every time one was answered Duncan's eyebrows crept closer together, as if he was dissecting every word that left the swordsman's' mouth. It wasn't long before the pair had arrived at some time of camp, every person here had ears similar to Merrills' and Theron's' only increasing his curiosity at their appearance.

Yasuo followed Duncan as he approached an elderly woman who was currently talking with both Merrill and Theron, only breaking from the conversation when the two men got close. She raised an eyebrow at Yasuo's presence but was satisfied when Duncan explained that they were friends. After a small discussion Duncan followed the woman to her tent, leaving Yasuo to stand outside of it while he waited for his companion to finish the talk. While he leaned against the side of a nearby tree, he noticed that many of the men and women were whispering to each other and throwing the occasional glance at him before going back to their whispering. With little regard to their worried looks Yasuo scratched his chest, his hand stopped when he felt the familiar bump of his shakuhachi. A small smile crossed his face as he pulled out the instrument, put it to his lips, closed his eyes and began to play.

'It fails to amaze me how such a simple act can take away so much tension. I need to stay close to this grey warden, he may be suspicious of me but right now he's my best chance at figuring out exactly where I am and what happened to me. Going to the League of Legends does not appear to be my best option, you walk a difficult path Yasuo.'

Feeling content with himself Yasuo opened his eyes and jumped at the audience of children he seemed to have gathered. They all stared at him with wide-eyes and open mouths, when they realized that his attention was on them the questions began to pour out.

"What was that instrument?"

"Was it a flute? I've never seen a flute like that before."

"That wasn't a flute dummy, flutes are way smaller than that."

"I'm not dumb you're dumb."

"Where did you learn to play that?"

"What's your name?"

"Can you teach me how to play that?"

The sound of a door closing caught everyone's attention as Duncan and the elder woman walked out of her home. "You're bothering our guest children. Now run along and play."

The children cast downtrodden glances toward the ground and mumbled their apology in unison. "Yes, keeper Marethari." Without another word the children all ran away.

The keeper gave Yasuo a small smile for his troubles. "I apologize for the children Yasuo, their curiosity simply got the better of them, but for what it's worth it really was a beautiful sound. Now if you'll both excuse me I need to speak with Theron, I'll bring him to you shortly Duncan."

With that Marethari left the two men to their own devices, as soon as she was out of earshot Duncan turned toward Yasuo. "I intend to have Theron join the grey wardens, we will be leaving for Ostagar as soon as possible. I'd like for you to come with us."

Yasuo turned toward the older man to gauge his reaction but was met with a stone-cold face. "You wish for me to join the grey wardens?"

"I won't lie to you Yasuo the thought had crossed my mind, but I can already tell what your answer would be. And I have no intention of invoking the right of conscription on a man who has the potential for life outside of our order. But there will be a great battle at Ostagar, and we need as many gifted warriors as possible if we want a chance at victory."

When Duncan turned away from him to watch as Theron and the keeper approached them Yasuo continued to look at the older warrior. After a few moments Yasuo looked away from the man and toward the approaching duo with the tiniest of smiles on his face.

"I would be honored to travel to Ostagar with you."

XXX

And done, tell me what you guys/gals thought. I tried a different writing style this time around, I think it felt better but I want to hear your opinions on that matter. Also in regards to any other champions that arrived in Thedas with Yasuo, yes nine others to be exact. I already know who I'll be putting in the story, but I'm interested to know who you guys would like to see. Anyway, if you guys have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to let me know in the comments. With that, It's bye for now.