Lamb didn't sleep. She knew she never had, and she believed she never would either. Also, considering she and Wolf were always together, she knew he too had never slept before. It was a fact, as unchanging as the eventuality which they are associated with, that the Kindred never rested, for it cannot be that the Eternal Hunters would lie dormant, when their prey is never-ending.
She had once pondered that sleeping would be something akin to that which she knew so intimately; Death. The absence of thought and action. The ceasing of motion and being. A state where one is at total and utter peace. The only difference to her, it had seemed, was that she was not Called to those who only slumbered, as they would soon awaken, nor was the act of sleep as intrinsically beautiful in terms of meaning as Death was, yielding none of the same depth or significance. After a while, Lamb had left her wonderings of sleep alone, feeling she needn't concern herself with them, for she would never sleep, and so they were unnecessary.
So how could it have been that her eyes were closed when she had not closed them? How could it be that when she opened her eyes, it was to scenery she had not been in but a moment ago? And even more pressing, why was Wolf nowhere to be seen? There had been times before when Wolf had chased a bit too far from Lamb, but she had never been separated from him like this. Nor could she find her bow, and to be without her bow was concerning, for how then could she Hunt?
Startled, she quickly got to her hooves, and silently stood stock still. Apart from the change in scenery, the lack of Wolf, as well as the absence of her bow, all things which were fiercely odd to her, there was something else wrong. Something that was so wrong it frightened her.
She could no longer hear the Call of the Hunt.
The Call had always been there. From the moment the first life had taken it's final breath to the present day, where bloodshed and the death ran rampant. It was a gentle, soothing thing to Lamb, a comforting feeling which guided her along her purpose, something she was glad to heed. However now it was absent, and with it the certainty of what she was to do.
Lamb grew worried. If she could not hear the Call, then what did that mean? That there was nothing more to Hunt? Surely not. If she had slept then it was doubtful she had slept for long enough so that there wasn't anyone left alive. It was night and the stars looked the same as they had when she last looked at them, which had been what she assumed was the previous night.
But if there were still people left alive, and she could not follow the Call, then how would she Hunt? What would happen to those who were Marked?
She forced herself to calm. She'd been around for as long as the concept of Life and Death had, and she would not be going anywhere any time soon. There was no reason for panic, nor a reason to doubt that those who were Marked weren't being Hunted. Wolf was still out there she was sure, doing what he does best. Hunt. She needn't be getting herself worked up. It certainly felt strange. Never before had she felt lost like that, for she had always been doing what it was she did.
This was distinctly... odd. But death was a certainty, and so too was it that a Hunter would find its Prey. She would find Wolf eventually, of that she knew. She only needed to keep composed, as she'd always been, it was Wolf's job to be emotional.
With that Lamb relaxed and began to skip gently around the area in which she woke up. It was craggy and mountainous, barren of any greenery but for far below her, where she could see rolling fields of vibrant grass, dotted with the various trees that covered a large portion of Valoran, dark but for the otherwise bright light of the moon and the thousands upon thousands of stars. It was a very clear night sky.
She easily hopped atop rocks and whimsically perched on the precarious looking points of stones. She did not know where it was she is. The area looked uninhabited, and though perhaps long ago there had been people here, she reasoned it must have been far too long for this place to be recognisable at the current moment in time. She airily made her way to the peak of the mountain, humming to herself as she did so. She passed by many different caves whose entrances may have looked eerie and foreboding to some, but which Lamb merely passed by. She wished to see the view from the mountain top, as much to get her bearings as to take in the wonderful sight.
What she didn't expect when she got there, was to be presented with the image of a young man, asleep right where the mountain plateaued, lying on his back. She cocked her head to the side in bemusement. She hadn't felt his presence, though perhaps that made some sense. The Call primarily only alerted her and Wolf to those who had the Mark, so it wasn't entirely weird. If she were being honest, though the fact that there was a young man out here was strange, Lamb could admit to having seen stranger. An example of this being a pirate who continuously rushed to meet her and Wolf in a myriad of situations, but who always managed to get away by the hair of his beard, as well as a boy who should be dead an uncountable amount of times over but who seemed to control his own fate. There were numerous others like them, but such was the way of Life to weave many strange tales.
The world of Valoran was an incredibly strange place, full of countless interesting and unique stories that Lamb had borne witness to. However it is true that all stories must end, and though this is sad to some, it remains that it must happen. This doesn't mean they are forgotten however. Each story, when given an end will shine brightly, the events that took place during it having been given fulfillment by way of a conclusion. It is the greatest glory of a tale's sparks to light the flame of a new story and so on the cycle continues forever more.
Lamb wondered how the story of this young man led him to fall asleep here and once again began to ponder on the nature of sleep when suddenly the person began to move. He shifted once, his previously peaceful face morphing into a slight frown as wakefulness returned to him. She watched him draw himself up whilst he groggily shook his head, dancing back a bit into the shadows and out of view as he began to open his eyes.
"Ugh," he moaned. "Where am I?" She saw him look around and take a step forward before stumbling slightly and clutching at his head.
"Ow," He noted demurely. "Wow, that hurts. What'd I do to this deserve this monster?"
He took a few uncertain steps forward towards the edge of the plateau, carefully leaning his head, cradled in one hand, over the edge, and peered down and around.
"These don't look like the Piroka Mountains..." he sighed and made to stand up. As he stood up, he staggered once again, almost pitching forward of the side of the cliff, before just barely catching himself with a yelp.
He quickly and frantically scrambled all the way back to wall of the mountain, close to where Lamb was stood in the shadow, though she didn't move. He was a curious fellow, and she wished to see what he'd do next. She also wondered if he was connected to her being here, as he didn't seem to know where he was himself, though that in itself seemed confusing. Why would he be related to her being here, as well as the absence of her bow, Wolf, and the Call? She observed him, sitting with his back against the wall as well as to her, head down now while he seemed to be steadying his breathing. It almost looked as if he were sleeping again, though she noticed him moving his hands at the side of his head, massaging his temples and tussling his unkempt brown hair.
His clothes seemed plain enough, that which the ordinary traveller would wear, but for the fact that they appeared to have seen a great deal of battle. There were quite a number of stitch marks in the dark fabric of his coat and pants, and his boots were awfully scuffed and worn, though they still admirably served their purpose. Apart from that, the only thing that stood out about his apparel was a silver medallion that was hung around his neck that seemed to depict something she couldn't see clearly from the angle she was at. She drew back as, unexpectedly, he stood up, his coat brushing aside as he rose and revealing to her a glimpse of the weapon she hadn't noticed he was carrying at his side.
It was an Ancient Shuriman 'khopesh', a sword designed for the purpose of breaking through shields, and cutting into foes with it's oddly weighted blade. The technique was such that you would hack into your foes much like with an axe, while still having the manoeuvrability of a sword, though the trade-off of speed and power was such that it fell out of use sometime around the fall of the second Shuriman Emperor, when spears became the favoured weapon of choice for the Shuriman armies. His was sleek looking, possessing a metal pommel and guard the colour of the shifting sands. The grip was a dark leather, with quite a bit of wear, but the blade looked absolutely marvellous. Not a single scratch adorned it, and the pale light from the moon reflected of the soft, light blue colour in a stunning fashion. The sword almost seemed to glow with light, and she smiled lightly, imagining what it would look like in the bright shine of the sun. She had seen many things but this sword seemed to have an almost otherworldly quality, as if born from the myths and legends of the Shuriman deserts themselves.
As the young man stepped forward and drew his blade, she noted curiously that the weapon and it's wielder seemed out of place next to each other. While it's blade was obviously from Shurima, the traveller seemed to posses the qualities of a Demacian. Fair features, pale skin, and blue eyes all denoted the presence of someone who hadn't spent most of their life under the harsh sun and cold nights of the desert. She wondered then, as he swung his blade in front of him a few times, how it came to be that such an unlikely pair had met. Then the young man started to talk.
"You're not really being of much use are you?" his voice was calm and yet jesting. He shook his weapon some more. "Yes I am talking to you, you old piece of junk. What kind of a guide are you, that you don't even know where we are?" the young man stood still for a moment, staring at his sword, before suddenly pulling away from it, face aghast. "You're saying this is my fault?! How on Runeterra could this be my fault? Last thing I knew we were setting up camp after just having finished helping that village near Tirus!" he went silent for a small moment after that.
"I don't have any idea how we could have gotten here either. I told you as far as I know we were- wait what?" he abruptly spun around to face Lamb's direction as she looked back. He was now staring right at her. Lamb smoothly crouched, and when his eyes didn't follow her, slunk to the side of the fall she was crouched at. This was all very strange. How had he known she was there? Mortals couldn't usually sense her or Wolf. Was he conversing with his sword? Lamb tilted her head to the side once again. An ancient, talking sword that could sense her. Interesting. It made her wish she had her bow back.
She heard the adventurer take a few steps forward. "I know you're there," he called with a dangerous bravado she could tell he wasn't faking. "If you're the one who brought me here, then I suggest coming out so we can speak, so you can tell me why you brought me here, and then I can decide whether or not to cut you into little pieces!" he seethed and quick as a flash struck the rock face right next to her, blade singing through the air.
Deftly she jumped upwards as graceful and light as the wind and after a delay in which he looked around he faced upwards, whispering lightly to his sword, though she could make out his words. "Invisible?" he breathed, eventually seeming to get a response as he jumped up towards her, lashing out in a swipe that would have caught her had she not already jumped clear over his head and landed in a crouch in the centre of the plateau.
This was fun; like a dance. Not what she expected to happen but there really wasn't much she expected to happen anyway. Now she knew for certain that he was brought here without his knowledge, placing him in the same camp as herself. She wasn't offended by his aggressive actions, everyone can try to defend themselves. She wasn't afraid of him either however. It was very unlikely he'd ever touch her and even then she doubted that he'd inflict very much harm. Some either very brave or very foolish people at their end had tried before. They fell to both Wolf's gnashing teeth and her arrows and while neither were present, she remained as serene as ever. He wasn't a 'bad person' so to speak, though that mattered little to her as all, good and bad will meet the Hunters at their end. Still she knew that if she revealed herself then he would realise the truth of the matter. But even then, she was curious as to how he'd act without that information. Mortals were fun to tease sometimes.
He threw himself backwards at her with a surprising lurch of speed, twisting his body so that he could deliver another swipe. Despite it's high speed, Lamb was easily able to dance back out of reach of the weapon. With a slight grin she skipped forward enough to tap him on the shoulder before drawing away as he spun with his blade poised to chop her in half. He was a strong fighter she noticed, adapting well to the apparent disadvantage he was at. He'd quickly changed his guard to better defend against any unseen attacks at vital points, though he was still very warily scanning the area around him for any tells of his 'enemy's' position. He wouldn't find any though for Lamb knew she was too light hoofed. She pranced into his guard again, vaulting over his shoulders, him turning and spinning again as she spring boarded off of him. This time however, he stood still and raised his blade, narrowing his eyes slightly.
Lamb felt a warm trickle of energy spread over her. It felt like the warm desert sun but... not as intense as it should have been. She figured that the normal effect would be a bit stronger on regular mortals, however she was surprised it had any effect on her at all. She looked across her body and saw that there was a weak shimmer to her white coat of fur. When she moved she left behind a clearly visible golden after-image that he zeroed in on immediately. She saw him raise his brow in slight confusion before apparently shrugging it of, likely confused as to why it didn't fully work.
Once again she admired his battle prowess, even with only an after-image to work with, he was making it a lot tougher for her to avoid his attacks as he stepped it up, though it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.
Around and around the plateau they went, their dance continuing on as it had been since it initiated.
The traveller would lunge forward to where he thought his adversary might be and swing, while Lamb would dance around his attacks and into his guard, giggling softly when she manage to tap his shoulder or arm and he futilely tried to make an effort to respond with his sword. Eventually, Lamb's partner began to tire. His leaps grew shorter and more unsteady, while his swings were made wilder and wilder as his breath shortened. One last mad swing had him nearly topple over as Lamb merely stepped to the side and leaned over him, watching him regain his lost breath. For a few seconds all was still. He had lasted a fair while; Lamb was rather impressed with his performance. After a moment in which he tensely breathed in and out labouredly, his breath frosting in the cold night air, he jumped back to his feet, wobbling slightly, before lowering his sword to his side.
"Well?" he frowned, still panting lightly. "This is going nowhere fast. I, irritatingly, can't hit you, and all you seem to be doing is... tapping me. What are you doing? Why did you bring me here?" the youth frowned again, though this time it seemed to be more in annoyance than any malice. He turned his head a bit to the side, raising up his sword to his mouth. "Yes I realise that I should apologise for attacking when it seems they don't want to fight but what else was I going to do?! Let my possible kidnapper do whatever they wished while I took it lying down?"
The young man stayed silent for a while after that before groaning, re-clipping his sword to his side and rubbing at his temples with his hands again.
"Look, Mr. Invisible-Person, my apologies for attacking you when it might not have been you that provoked me. My bad," he sighed deeply, one still closed while the other eye remain fixated on the glowing outline of Lamb. She didn't move, still wanting to see what he was going to do.
"But it's just- I mean where- How? Gagh!" he released a grunt of frustration before shutting both eyes again. "My head isn't up for this. I only want know where I am and what I'm doing here." he leaned back onto the stone wall, drawing himself down and splaying out across the ground, one leg extend haphazardly, arms akimbo.
"Is it too much to ask for something to go right for a change?" he said this in a exasperated tone, head to the sky. Lamb almost felt bad for him, but she didn't know what was wrong with him apart from that he was in the same position as her and apparently very unhappy with it. She began humming to herself again, which redrew the attention of the only other occupant of the plateau.
"Eh, is that you?" Lamb stopped humming and looked back at him again. She giggled lightly.
"I suppose that means you're a Ms. Invisible person then," he grinned. Before furrowing his brow in thought again. "I guess you really didn't bring me here. Again, sorry. Kind of cool though, usually what amounted to just giving you a light glow would freeze most of whom I fight, letting me make quick work of them. Made it easier to see you sure but still, even then you kept avoiding my attacks. You're pretty nimble."
At this point he rose once again, stretching out his legs as he walked to the other side of the plateau and began scanning the plains below for a second time. "Welp, if you're not the one who brought me here, then can I assume you were brought here as well?" Lamb didn't respond, simply standing on one leg with the other resting across it. He was rather talkative. Not afraid to let his mouth run, whether it was out of some awkwardness he felt or it was just a quirk of his. She giggled to herself again. Mortals could be so amusing when they weren't facing her bow or Wolf's hunger.
The brunette rolled his eyes in exasperation."I'll take that as a yes then... or maybe you're just some weirdo who lives in the mountains out in the middle of nowhere" as he said that his stomach let out a ground shaking rumble, and he instantly doubled over, arms clutching his sides.
"Oh man am I hungry. You wouldn't happen to have anything to eat would you?" at Lamb's lack of a reply he continued. "Yeah didn't think so." after this, he raised his arm and pointed down below them.
"See that river? It's pretty upstream so it should be okay to get a drink and fill my skins, after that I'm going to head a bit more downstream to see if I can catch some fish. You're welcome to come if you want, or you can stay here. I wont be coming back." when Lamb still didn't respond to him though he rolled his eyes again, making his way to the cliff face and lowering himself over the edge to begin scaling down.
"Fine. Do whatever you want." his body disappeared down the cliff edge, followed by his head. She could hear his muttering getting further and further away, "I swear sometimes it's like I'm talking to brick walls... yes that does include you, you rusty hunk of scrap..."
Lamb smiled. She'd been curious about him and he'd turned out to be a nice venture of time, rather distracting actually. She had almost forgotten about her recent troubles. It had been fun to encounter him. Still, while his situation did seem similar to her own, she doubted there'd be anyway for him to help her. He seemed to be going along a completely different path to everyone else's.
Just as she was about to leave the way she came and the fighter's spell had all but faded, the odd boy's head popped up again from the cliff edge, face flushed as if he had scrambled to climb back up in case he would miss her.
"I almost forgot! I never told you my name- not that... you told me yours..." he trailed off before slipping a bit and then righting himself, eyes wide as the sound of rocks crashing against the cliff echoed up. "A-anyway," he coughed. "The name's Cytonus, though you can call me Cyton, or Cyt! P.S., I prefer Cyt." he stage whispered. "A pleasure to... Kind of meet you, I guess? Anyway, have a good time with whatever it is you're going to do, whoever it is you are. Bye!" with that, the young man now known to Lamb as Cytonus disappeared once again down the cliff face. Faint mutterings could again be heard as he conversed with his sword, however Lamb wasn't concentrating on them.
In fact, Lamb had frozen upon hearing the name he had given her. Had she a heart, she knew it would be beating furiously after previously having been silent. It wasn't that the name had any sort of meaning to her itself, but more so what she felt when he had uttered it.
The boy was Marked.
And the Call was stronger than ever.