Disclaimer: I hereby declare that I claimeth no ownership over Dota 2

Chapter 1

In the countless skirmishes against the ferocious Dire troops, the Radiant warriors often found small trinkets and unusual possessions upon the body of those slain. A faded badge, an old dagger, a beautiful bracelet, a shield with the engraving of a family crest. Often these trophies were puzzled over, as it was much shared belief among the ranks of the Radiant that the Dire were mindless beings summoned from dark chaotic holes that dot the Hells.

So, it did not confuse the Admirable Admiral when he found a small locked iron chest within a Dire camp that the Radiant had just assaulted and conquered. The chest was tossed into a wagon that Kunkka commandeered for the purpose of storing his trophies and was promptly forgotten by the famed mariner.

About three months later, there came a lull to the seemingly endless fighting between the self aclaimed forces of "Good" and "Evil" when the season of Winter approaches and Frostivus announces its impending arrival with the expected explosion of Greevils. Many heroes took the opportunity to clear out the junk accumulated over the months of fighting, most just selling them off to unscrupulous merchants or throwing them out. A particular Admiral, however, took a bit more attention of his hoard of trophies.

~One Frosty Morning~

"KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNKKKKAAAA!" shouted a rough, deep voice from the midst of the forest that surrounds the Radiant base. Kunkka, clad in only his pantaloons and wielding a rune inscribed saber staggers out of his wagon at the outskirts of the base and slashed his weapon at the source of the sound. The sword ripped through the air in a violent wave and the crackling sound of a nearby tree falling could be heard.

"Tttttidehunter! Show yyyyyourself you ovvvvvergrown mullet!" shouted Kunkka as he shiver frantically. He tried to run towards the copse of trees just beyond the camp but falls face first into the snow as his noble quest for vengeance was blocked by a thick covering of snow sheeting the ground. A fiery haired fire sorceress garbed in a warm fur-lined dress floats over, attracted by the commotion. She noticed the uncomfortable situation of her friend, and snorted as she melted the snow around him.

"Kunkka? What's with your violent morning escapade?" She asked, barely suppressing her smile. "Rizzwrack rubbed off on you or something?"

"If yyyyou didn't nnnnnotice, I wwwwas responding to a certain Krkkkkraken howling for my bbbblood." Kunkka said as he scowled at her apparent amusement at his admittedly not-well-thought-out plan of assault.

"What? Assault a Servant of Maelrawn in your pantaloons? Here i was, thinking you finally cracked, when in reality, you're just carrying out a brilliant tactical approach to murder a heavily armored Kraken that for some reason, hates your guts and tries to show it by bashing you with an anchor every time he gets? Besides, he's probably gone by now. Nature's Prophet is patrolling those forests."

"Why do I hate it when you're right." he grumbled and slouches off towards his wooden domicile.

"Some of the heroes are holding a bonfire gathering this evening!" she called after him. "It's going to be held at the fountains and quite a lot of people are going. You should come."

"Don't want to. If you need me, I'll b-"

"There's rum. And the blacksmith's expecting a group of merchants that night. Might be a good place to sell off a part of your hoard.

"In that case, I guess I'll go" Kunkka said slowly.

"Alright, meet you there. Yunero wants me to thaw out his pond, and I promised to do that this morning."

"You don't need to invent an excuse to leave my charming company."

She rolled her eyes at his antics. "Finally woken up, have we? Bye."

"Good bye."

~That Evening~

Kunkka, dressed up in his battle outfit, sets off to go to this supposed informal meeting. Apparently, the Radiant wanted to discuss a cease-fire between the Dire for the winter season. Quite unimportant to him, he concluded, if wasn't for the fact there was rum, friends, and the possibility to make some coin there. There was an ethereal purple blade that he felt the need to purchase, hanging on the blacksmith mantle. What was its name? Oh yeah, the Shadow Blade. Rumored to be able to turn its wield invisible. Interesting. Thinking about that, he hauled out his collection of rings, bracelets, lockets and other valuable looking trinkets and stashed it into an embroidered sack he found at a Kobold camp. Why the Taskmaster would have needed the sack was unknown to Kunkka, and the information had most likely died out with its owner.

While rummaging around, looking for things a merchant would fancy, he noticed a small metallic chest tossed into the pile. He tried to open it, but it was locked. "Better ask the blacksmith to open it." He thought. "Might have something good inside." So thinking, he sheathed his sword and hauled off his sack and with the chest tucked under one arm, made his way into the darkness towards the fountain.

A/N: So, this is my first fanfiction written for Dota. Leave me some criticism and stuff, and I'll try to make the subsequent chapters longer. Tell me if you want more details, or what you think of the tone. I'm a bit bad with writing realistic speech, so, bear with me xD.