A/N: I've been itching to make a Rubick fic for a while; never really expected it to be an AU.
Ah, C'est la vie.
Kudos to mie rebus, danceofghosts, and achus93 for their very own AU fics; which highly influenced this one.
If you guys have the time, I suggest you check out their works as well.
UNCERTAINTY
"Such fascinating energies," smiling under his mask, Rubick ambled on gleefully within the Radiant jungle. The warm rays of sunlight penetrated through the thick layers of his cumbersome clothing. Hearing the all too familiar clash and clang of metal against metal, the Grand Magus slightly quickened his pace.
With his ears perking up, he felt a surge of heat pass through him. Abruptly stopping, Rubick wrinkled his nose "Oh my," the smell of war was apparent in the air, prompting the Magus to hasten his movements; in fear that one of his allies may be in danger.
Carefully threading through the tall overgrowth near the road, Rubick peered through the leaves cautiously. He was somewhat confused by the scene before him "Hmm?" tilting his head sideward, the Magus furrowed his brows. He could see a large man with an equally large sword smashing said weapon onto these small green people.
Wanting to leap into action, he was abruptly stopped by something else; a woman "Interesting," chuckling, Rubick eyed the woman strangely. She was kneeling on the ground, shifting her head from time to time. The woman seemed to be covered in some sort of strange blanket; or his eyesight was getting bad.
The large man continued to beat the small green people, not even noticing the woman in from of him. Seemingly catching her attention, the woman had suddenly turned her gaze towards the Magus. Freezing in place at the sudden attention, Rubick couldn't help but stare at her turquoise orbs that seemed to stare directly at his soul-
A look of irritation graced her features, which highly confused him. Bringing a finger to her masked mouth made Rubick even more confused "Oh?" the irritation on her face grew worse and she started making shushing noises "Ah," the Magus nodded heartily, bringing a thumbs up for her to see.
The rustling of leaves snapped him out of his gawking, but was almost instantly brought back to the scene before him when he had heard the large man let out a loud scream. Adrenaline pumped through his system, masked eyes frantically searched for the woman.
A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he had seen the large man beating the green people albeit a bit more forceful this time. Not to mention that his skin turned red and his eyes glowed. The ridicule that the woman felt for the large man was almost palpable. His ears perked up when he had heard something trod through the grass behind him. Something hard had come in contact to his mage-y back; a sickening crack rang through the relatively quiet forest. The last thing he saw were turquoise orbs widening in fear.
"Wake up, boy!" a tap to the cheek seemed sufficient enough; but that wasn't the case "You're going to be late!" a resounding smack rang through the empty road that their car was in "Uh- what?" blinking his eyes groggily, the receiver of the slap looked around lazily, a sliver of drool running down the side of his mouth.
"Glad to see you're with us now, Rubick," the slapper guffawed, offering his hand to Rubick, to help him up "What time is it?" green orbs lazily scanned his surroundings; he was in a forest just a minute ago "It's time to go to school, boy," looking up to get a better look at the one who was talking to him, Rubick's eyes widened in realization.
"Ah, did I fall asleep through the trip?" taking the other's hand and standing up, he rubbed at the back of his head sheepishly using his free hand "Sorry about that, dad," the slapper raised a brow curiously and laughed heartily, embracing his son tightly "All is well, don't worry,"
Happily reciprocating the gesture, Rubick wrapped his arms around his father's back; relishing what would most likely be their last contact for the next year or so. Reluctantly letting go, his father reached for his pocket and fished out his wallet "Here's your monthly expenses," handing his son a rolled up wad of money that was roughly the same size as his wrist, Rubick furrowed his brows "Isn't this a bit much?"
Mimicking his son's features, Rubick's father nodded agreeingly "You're right," removing a single slip from it, he smiled "Wouldn't want to spoil you," sighing in defeat, Rubick haphazardly stuffed the money into his left pocket. Squinting his eyes, green orbs scanned his immediate surroundings. The fencing went on for as long as he could see; needless to say, the large shining gates weren't all for show.
"Master Aghanim," a familiar voice rang through his ears "I would prefer not to disrupt you and the young master; but we are running late," his father, Aghanim, looked at his wristwatch and his eyes widened "Whoops, got to go, kiddo," ruffling his son's hair and kissing him on the forehead, Aghanim rushed inside of the passenger seat of their car.
"Sorry, dad," smiling sadly, Rubick sighed once more "Ah, don't mind it," peering out from the open car window, his father beamed "It was my fault in the first place; I mean, why did I even enrol you at GIST?" asking no one in particular, Aghanim shrugged and chuckled, making his son laugh along with him
"Have a nice stay, kiddo!" as the car purred to life, Rubick smiled at his father "Just remember, the most important thing is?" the car had started to move and Rubick's smile grew larger "To have fun!" shouting at his father, Aghanim guffawed, waving at his son.
With a smile as bright as the sun, Rubick marched towards the shining gates; determined to make his father proud. Moving nearer to the gates made it clear just how much bigger they are close up "Wow," chuckling unconsciously, he was snapped back to his senses when someone had cleared their throat.
"I assume you're Rubick, son of Aghanim?" the person's accent amused him. Who knew his name could sound so funny, Reubik "Ahem," clearing her throat once more, she tapped her foot impatiently "Ah, yes!" smiling nervously, he straightened his posture "That would be me," the woman snorted and opened the gates for him "Welcome to the Disciplined, orderly, tact, and affable University," placing an arm on her hip, she scanned Rubick from head to toe.
Gulping audibly, he couldn't help but feel violated at her piercing stare "This is the part where I'm supposed to say have a nice stay," a smile curled up her lips "But it's never nice at DOTA University," pondering on her words for a moment, he was just as confused as he was in his dream.
"Now, now, Luna," a third voice entered their conversation "Don't go scaring the lad off, now," four people came into view. The owner of the voice smiled, wearing a cream colored suit and matching pants, his wrinkled features gave him a somewhat homely look "Sir Ezalor," the lady guard, Luna, erected her posture and saluted. Still processing what the guard had told him, Rubick furrowed his brows "DOTA?"
Five sets of eyes landed on him, whereas none of them even looked confused "Yes, son, that's the abbreviated name of our humble school," chuckling a bit, Ezalor stepped forward "Aghanim is a close friend of ours, and he's already told us much about you," a snort cut their conversation short "Just don't go pulling off a stunt like that here, boy," a voice bellowed from behind Ezalor.
Orange orbs met green ones; the man behind Ezalor sported a black suit with a red shirt inside. His crimson-red hair shone in the sun. He looked just as old as Ezalor; but something about his chaotic hairdo made him kind of look younger "Lest you wish to be expelled; again," his words were enough to make Rubick want to run away in fear, the get up and intense gaze didn't help one bit.
"We have more pressing matters than students doing practical jokes here and there," striding closer to Rubick, Ezalor looked at the redhead in the eye "And that's not even exaggerating things," the two continued to stare daggers at each other, the intensity of their animosity was almost palpable.
"If I may," a soft and almost surreal sounding voice caught all of their attentions "It is not wise to quarrel, given you're ages," the only woman of the four smiled at the two. Sporting a light-blue dress suit and white heels, her wavy white hair hugged her face rather well; frankly, she looked like a cloud "We wouldn't want your blood pressure's to increase, hmm?" snorting, the redhead turned around "Darchrow, show Aghanim's son around," the only one who hadn't spoken nodded in agreement.
"Come," with a voice as intimidating as the redhead's, Darchrow beckoned Rubick to follow him. The stoic man, Darchrow, sported a similar black suit like the redhead, but had purple stripes running through it vertically. Stepping forward, Ezalor had placed an arm on his shoulder "Don't worry too much about what Nessaj said," a small smile graced Rubick's features "He's just always angry, is all," chuckling, he let go of Rubick's shoulder.
"This is Io, my assistant-" gesturing behind him, Ezalor raised a brow curiously "Strange, she was just here a moment ago," furrowing his brows, Rubick scanned the immediate area. It was too spacious for someone to just up and vanish like that. Clearing his throat, Darchrow gestured that Rubick follow him "Please do come along as well, Ezalor. We wouldn't want you getting lost now,"
Taking their words into mind, Rubick couldn't help but feel nervous. And that was a major thing; he never got nervous. Being the son of the genius Aghanim, he was quite the prodigy himself. His father would tell him stories about the University from time to time, and it sounded like a rather fun place. But hey, anywhere his father went, it was always fun.
Sighing in defeat, green orbs looked up to the sun above, slightly squinting his eyes at the brightness of the daystar. Just have fun. Smiling at his self-suggestion, he giddily stepped forward, walking behind the two elders.
A/N: Yes, I know Io's gender is ambiguous and that it had a man-face in DotA 1. But I honestly had no idea what came over me when I though big mama Io would be great. You know, Relocating in to save your ass.
Note: Refer to cover art for Rubick's maskless face and his awesome scarf.
