A/N: Sorry for the initial chapter for this. I didn't notice that it came out in a weird language!

Zaun at night was no different than the day. The sky was always showed no stars, no moon, no sort of natural cosmic light from the heavens. The light here was fabricated and man-made- so unlike Shurima.

I could remember the stars and viewing the heavens in all its glory. My father and I used to sit out during the night and he would tell me all of these great stories about the Great Weaver and her students.

When he found out about this power I hold over the earth, he never told me that I was a monster or made for destruction like the Noxians...no, he said that now I too am one of her students and to cherish the gift she has given me.

And now I see none of those sweet memories as I gaze up at the sky.

I sat near a street lamp under the hood of a stairwell that climbed up the side of a building. I watched the light flicker and waited for sleep to consume me.

Hours seem to pass and it soon began to rain softly. Even though I was physically and mentally exhausted my mind refused to be at rest so I decided then to leave. I figured a little walk would be the final straw.

For a while I wandered the streets, looking inside stores or random houses that had their curtains open. I never saw people within which struck me as peculiar but did not dwell on it.

Up ahead I see a lone figure approaching and I was immediately on guard. I slowed my pace some and watched them carefully as they came closer to me. Only when I saw it was a small child did I relax.

He looked up at me and smiled slightly before accidently bumping into me. He murmurs his sorry and dashes off into the night, not bothering to hear my reassurances.

I stared at his figure for a while as it receded into the night before it hit me. Something was off. I felt around my cloak at clothes. I couldn't sense the stones I kept from Shurima meaning...He stole my purse!

That was the final straw.

I raced after the small boy with ill intent. Today I boarded the wrong ship that lead me to a place that was the cause of my nightmares when I was younger. I was berated by a stranger, almost killed, and I damaged someone else's property. I have no place to sleep or nothing to eat. And now the only thing that kept me in touch with home was stolen by no one else but a child!

There wasn't anyway I would stand for this.

I tracked him down by feeling his faint footsteps beat against the earth. It was the only humane echo the earth would produced so I followed it. Eventually I saw his small figure huddled against a large trashcan and searching through my purse.

I watched as he threw aside my sandstones onto the wet ground. I watched as the dirty rain began to lick away the colorful sands that covered the stone into nothingness.

With a clenched jaw and I stomped towards the boy who jolted at the sound of my footsteps.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" I yelled, grabbing the stones along my way towards him. "Stealing is wrong! It teaches deceit and greed!"

I could see the shock that filled his eyes as I approached him. I could feel how his heart thudded against his ribcage and I could tell that he planned to run away from me.

He was a fast one, faster than any Eka'Sul that I've ever seen. But I was relentless and used the earth to help quicken my pace to eventually launch on him and tackle him to the ground. We both splashed with a hard thud and I fought to gain the dominant side.

Finally I grabbed his arms and forced them to ground. "Do you know what you've done?!" I yelled. "Do you know what pain you've caused me?!" He stopped struggling and looked up at me.

"Why do you steal? You are so young! Where are your parents?!"

He stayed silent, his eyes wide and glossy. The rain began to pour all around us, my cloak feeling heavier and heavier by minute as it soaked up the rain. In the distance I could hear the faint crackle of thunder which in Shurima spelled disaster. So my initial instinct was to take shelter but I refused to bulge. Instead I stayed on top of this boy, waiting for him to reply or make some sort of noise.

"I'm sorry." He whispers.

A smile cracks my face and I nod silently, the feeling of rage slowly being washed out. "Good...that's good." I murmur and released him and intended to get up. But the boy snagged my arm.

"I am sorry."

Bemused I nodded again when I then heard the faint whistling of an object coming towards me. Quickly I duck and snap my head towards the attacker. And there he stood.

He glared at me with unforgiving eyes as he prepared his next attack to which I scrambled away to dodge.

With my back on the ground I glance between his face and the luminescent stone that he clutched with his right hand. It was a beautiful stone; something that I have never seen in Shurima and it called to me flamboyantly.

"Who are you?" He asks, sticking the stone to the ground. "What do you want from him?"

"He…"

He walks over to me and crouches down. At close range I could see his features better from the hourglass painted on his face to the small scar on his lower lip. A sudden flare of nervousness filled my stomach and caused me to look away from him. "He what?"

"He stole from me. Something very precious." I flat-lined, remembering the stones. I turn to face the boy with a stare. "I just wanted him to apologize for his actions and ask him the reasons for it."

The boy demeanour falters and he sighs while bowing his head. He gets up and looks at the small boy behind him. "Is this true?"

Nervously the small boy glances at me before shaking his head. "She a liar! I neva see her before in my life!"

"Wha-!" I quickly stood up.

The bigger boy glances at me with an arched eyebrow. "He's the liar! He was the one who stole from me I'm sure of it! I saw him toss away-!" I glared at the small boy. "You people of Zaun! You are all vicious people! Liars! Corrupted! No different from Noxus!"

Huffing, I turn to make my leave.

…

A soft stream of warmth awoke me from my slumber. The suns familiar radiant gaze caused me to jolt up and reach out for it for I haven't felt its true warmth since childhood. But it was all just a hoax. The heat from the sun was not fresh but muddled by the sickly air of Zaun.

Sighing I fix myself into a better sitting position and massage the back of my neck. Another day here, another day wasted not being with my people.

Quickly I stand and bump my head against the ceiling. Looking around while nursing the sore spot I realized that in my daze of exhaustion I made a small hut for myself from stone. Luckily I made an air hole for myself or else I would have died from the lack of air. Pride swelled my chest as I broke apart the earth and allowed it to collapse. Patting the ground I thank it for giving me shelter for the night before heading off into the streets once more to find the docks.

"So…" I halt my footsteps. "You're a...an earthbender…" My eyes dart around before landing on a figure sitting on some steps in front of a door. "Hey, I'm not here to judge or anything."

It was the older boy- from last night. "You!" I clench my fists. I had no true reason to be angry at him. He wasn't the one who stole from me but the fact that he was associated with one who did made me want to simply pound him with rocks.

"Listen, I heard the story from Roni- the uh, the boy who stole your purse." He held his hands up as he approached me. "I just wanted to return it." One of his hands lowers down to his pockets, his gaze never breaking mine, as he fishes out my purse and held it out to me.

When he saw I wasn't budging he simply tossed it at me to which I quickly caught. "Everything is still there, I promise. I made sure of it." The boy smirks while shoving his hands inside his pockets.

I didn't bother to check whether or not it was true, what was left was not even enough to buy a morsel of bread.

"The names Ekko." He says as I placed my Shuriman rocks within my purse and hid it away. "And you are…?"

I remained silent and instead focused on dusting off my cloak. In my culture names hold power and because of that knowing someone's name is a privilege, something I thought he did not deserve.

"I see you are not from around here and a long way from home." He coughed awkwardly.

I snap my head at him and touch the place where my hood should be. Frowning, I quickly pull up my hood and turn to leave but Ekko stops me with a grab on my arm.

Quickly I snatch my arm away from his grip and immediately felt embarrassment burning at my cheeks.

"Look, I understand your attitude towards us- we made a bad first impression." I clutch the spot where he touched me and tried to rub away the burning feeling it left behind. "But you can't just glomp everyone you meet into one box."

"G-glomp?"

"You know...put together? Either way, Roni is a good kid believe me. He's just misguided and it's my fault."

"Misguided? Where are his parents?"

Ekko glances away for a moment and that was all he had to do to tell me the story is a sensitive topic.

I move my grip over my heart and bow my head. "I am sorry."

He shakes his head. "Don't worry 'bout it Brows, you didn't know."

"Huh? Brows?"

"Well I don't know your name so I gotta call you something and your eyebrows are-"

"H-how!" Flustered I cover my eyebrows and look away while trying to stop the blush that was working up to my face.

"Don't take it the wrong way! It's just a nickname!" Ekko laughs before scratching the back of his head. "It's uh...it's cute."

I glance at him wide eyed and tugged down at the hood of my cloak. Awkwardly we stood in the middle of the street as the city began to bustle into life with people on their way to work and the occasional yowl of a cat or dog.

"I need to go-" I murmur.

"Let me show you around Zaun. The real Zaun." I could feel his hesitant hand over mine that remained clutched onto the hem of my hood. As much as I wanted to go along with him I could not. The remembrance of my people needed me as I needed them to stop Azir from reigning once more so I shook my head and smiled politely to him.

"I have a mission, Ekko. One I could not deter from."

"You talk like it is a matter of life or death." He smirks while dropping his arm.

"But it is."

At that he frowned slightly and nodded. "But maybe you can help show me the way! To the docks. I need to catch a ship to the Freljord in order to get to Shurima."

"Freljord? Why not No- Bilgewater? Or Demacia- that's a better shot if you could somehow make it there."

"Bilgewater? Demacia?"

"Wow Brows, do you live under a rock or something?"

"Well sometimes…" I bit my lower lip.

Ekko snorts and crosses his arms. "Anyway, Demacia is closer to Shurima than Zaun but you'd have to go through the Great Barrier and yada yada- deal with the those people of the Sun or whatever."

"You mean the Rakkorans?"

He nods. "On top of that Zaun and Demacia aren't exactly the best of friends. Those stupid Zaun officials sided with Noxus which caused Zaun to become this toxic wasteland of a place." Ekko sighs.

"I understand your frustration, Ekko. I too love my tribe and Shurima and would hate to see it go to waste." I smile gently up at him and touch his arm. "That is why I must make haste and go to this Demacia so please, tell me how to get there."