"Red"
Such an innocent word.
Flashy and flamboyant, yet it laughed and gossiped with passion and desire. The color that adorned the winged cupid who freely gave away arrows of love; sharp, cutting edges of wanting that was so bittersweet and endearing that it felt almost dangerous. That it could almost cut you if you indulged in more than your fair share.
"Red"
It simply demanded your attention and grabbed your eyes with its vivid spectrum and clawed at you to not look away. Bulls were very slaves to its wild color and driven to madness by its enticing, ever seductive allure.
Yes, red. The color of violent emotions that at whim, could turn gentle and enslave you in a sweet stupor with the very dedication that a alcoholic would whisper words of doting onto a bottle of Merlot.
If not that metaphor, then the sensation of a curvaceous cherry in your mouth. Firm and almost unyielding, yet the minute your molar sliced through that sweet skin a sudden burst of flavor lay wild and slandering sweet pearls of ecstasy as it bleed in your mouth and the very harsh walls turned to mush and slowly fell away.
All these notions lay about with willy red.
Yet none of these innocent ideals teased her head, as she stared blankly down at the corpses of whatever was left of her parents and their killers, merging to form a warm river of crimson that spooled all over this barren house. Ecarlate wanted to scream. It was building inside of her like a kettle that was forcibly clamped shut, and she knew that if she did start screaming, she wouldn't stop until it ravaged her vocal chords.
" Why. " How could a single word hold so much despair?
Yet there she lay, stricken dumb with disbelief that she didn't even fight against the arms that scooped her up and began to carry her away from what was left of her home.
He was a puzzling stranger, with his face hidden underneath a hood of that of the color of crushed pomegranate seeds. He had what appeared to be a cylinder like vial impaled into his back, and his hands- no paws- were sheathed inside metal claws that looked sharp enough to cut a falling leaf unfortunate enough to be blown into his path.
A sane person should be asking questions, they should be demanding answers, yet all she think about was how comforting it was to be near him. Even if she couldn't properly see him. But that wasn't the purpose was it? No, she needed him so she could distract herself from her parents empty eyes. The broken doll like bodies seized her far more harshly than the frigid air threatening to freeze her to death. If she stopped thinking about the stranger, she'd be forced back into this broken, shattered, remains of her world. She wanted to wallow in whatever bits of sanity she had left and forget what had happened in a matter of minutes. Yet the howling wind mercilessly forced her back to reality with each attempt to seclude herself.
Freezing, Ecarlate tilted her head against her benefactor and buried herself further into his warm chest in a feeble defense against the stinging slap of snowflakes. She felt him stiffen, but continued to run at that abnormal pace through the woods, a speed that no human should be allowed to surpass.
The rest of the journey carried out in silence, and she eventually fell to sleep in his arms.
The stranger glanced down and readjusted his grip and kept running.
After many hours, he finally arrived at a massive, almost Gothic like building that stretched far across the horizon. Without pausing, the stranger made a sudden super human leap, easily bypassing the bridges, carefully making sure his passenger was still in place, and landed roughly near the entrance.
A purple cloaked summoner melted from the shadows and took off his hood. He was a robust, 30 ish year old man with sharp eyes and a stubble on his chin. He had a rough face, and that face was scowling as he noticed the person in the strangers arms who was only just beginning to stir.
" By all the deities of Runeterra, just WHAT were you THINKING bringing her here? " he raved, wringing his hands. " You do realize that this is a complete breach of protocol? You were supposed to put down the stragglers and return at once to the institute when your mission is finished. Bringing a civilian in the aftermath of events is completely unacceptable!"
" She has lost both of her parents Avery. ", the stranger replied. Ecarlate found his voice both deep and primal, with an almost hidden growl underlying there that made her shiver. " They are both unfortunate citizens caught in the crossfire and she has no one left now. " The stranger cocked his head. " I can't just leave her there in the middle of winter with no shelter."
Avery sagged and rubbed his eyes. He looked as if he was contemplating a shot or two of rum and yelled a few choice words toward no one in particular.
The stranger just sat there with a bemused sort of air and waited for the bald summoner to finish his tantrum. Eventually, after much yelling and some crude words about yordels and a promise regarding a needlessly long stick, Avery furiously whipped his index finger at the stranger and said " FINE. We'll take her in and train her to be one of our own. But this incident had better not happen AGAIN." Avery said.
" I swear, if this keeps happening, this institute is going to turn into a orphanage by the Gods of Runeterra. " The mage scowled.
" Much obliged Avery. " The cloaked stranger gently handed her over to the impatient summoner and paused as her hand suddenly shot forward and clamped onto the tip of the strangers claw tip.
She opened her eyes, a exquisite shade of deep red, wide and unwavering, and asked " Who are you? "
The stranger slowly raised his claws and began to remove his hood. Ecarlate almost gasped as she saw a wolfish face appear from the maw of the darkness.
He slowly grinned, revealing a wide assortment of sharp teeth that looked dangerous enough to crush a grown mans arm in a casual bite.
He ran a single finger up her face, and she couldn't help but shiver.
The stranger leaned forward hot breath warming the nape of her neck, and whispered into her ears.
" To the public, I am known as Warwick " he mused. " And to others... " he paused and gave a toothy grin " I am the big bad wolf "
He leaned back and undid the red cowl he was wearing and handed it to Ecarlate with a pat in her hands.
" Also... saying `Sorry for your loss` is the sort of thing that shitty, idiotic people would say, so i'm not going to say that. " He added.
Warwick straightened himself up and folded his arms. " I know starting a new life isn't easy, but you'll have to force yourself to adapt and claw for your future. After all, life is never easy for anyone and its the challenges that makes life worth living. "
The werewolf expression suddenly soured like he had bitten into a lemon.
" Unless you are one of those pansy ass Piltoverians who spend their free time drinking tea with their pinkie fingers and nibbling biscuits... Gods how I hate those stuck up little prats. " He muttered in annoyance. "
I would most certainly like to stick their top hats up their conceited little butt holes as soon as I get the chance and see how far etiquette can get you with a 12 inch cane stuck up their pampered buttum. " Warwick snorted.
Ecarlate couldn't help it.
She started to laugh as the wolfs derogatory, yet witty humor shaved away some of the sadness in her and she began to smile.
Noticing her change in expression, the Werewolf flashed another small toothy smile and to her surprised, patted her head gently.
" Im sure you'll do fine here, I can just sense your potential and ... etchetra whatever positive thing someone should say to a person " Warwick snorted. " Ive never been very good at words. "
" Well.. I think you are very go- " Ecarlate started to say until Avery coughed, announcing his presence.
" Ahem" Avery tapped his foot " Now that the sugar and powder party is over, we need to get back on schedule. You still have work that you need to finish in particular Warwick." Ecarlate thought for a second, she saw the wolfs eyes darken at the mention of `work`.
Avery held out his hand, and Ecarlate hesitated, not wanting to leave the wolfs side.
" Go on, it'll be fine. " Warwick assured her with a gentle nuzzling of his nose.
Taking the summoners hand, she glanced back at Warwick again one last time and finally, followed the wizened summoner into the Institute of war.
I ... Hope I get to see him again.