Disclaimer: I own nothing about these characters. These characters are from the game League of Legends which is owned by Riot Games. I make no money from this story.

Summary: She could deal with the attention she got inside the castle, but a parade was pushing it.

A parade. He wanted her to wear this... thing... to a parade in front of the entire nation of Demacia! She looked at herself in the mirror and would have let out a huff in annoyance, if he wasn't sitting at his desk a few feet away.

She hated him with a passion. He kept pushing her into things she didn't want to do and into even worse clothing. The first set of armor he had commissioned for her was a disaster and she had quickly sent it back and ordered the armor smith to scrap it.

Apparently, telling something like that to an armor smith sent them into depression. He had forced her to walk down to the shop and formally apologize for her 'harsh words' and say that she would be pleased to wear anything the smith could craft for her.

Which was a lie, but hey, the smith stopped crying.

She turned to the side, hoping to get used to the bright colors of the outfit. In all honesty, the colors matched Valor's plumage almost perfectly. The castle tailor had managed to capture the essence of her drawing in a way that the armor smith hadn't. She would have said something to the man when he had brought up the finished piece, but he had said that if she couldn't compliment the armor smith, she couldn't compliment the tailor.

Stiff jerk. She'd have kicked him, but she had no doubt that his armor would come out of the altercation better than the pointed tips of her new 'boots'. Why scratch such 'beautiful craftsmanship'...

A throat cleared behind her and she turned to see him, Prince Jarvan, standing up behind his desk with an impatient look on his face.

"Come. We must leave now or we will delay your presentation."

Quinn gave herself one last look over before she rolled her eyes and walked to the door, Jarvan trailing behind her.

The whole 'presentation' was a joke to her. She didn't need to be introduced to Demacia, they already knew her. Her face had been plastered all over the city and even the smallest of children were being told bed-time stories of the Mighty Quinn and Valor, Demacia's Wings. She wholeheartedly hated the attention.

Valor, on the other hand, was soaking up the attention. The bird beak enjoyed the attention he got when he opened his wings and soared through the city. People could start to tell time by Valor if he kept up his morning flight. She had made a comment to him the other day about how much weight he was putting on, taking all the treats from sweet little children. The scratches she received from the offended eagle were well hidden under her gloves.

Climbing into the carriage that would carry her down the main streets of Demacia, Quinn pointedly ignored the prince that sat next to her. She wanted him to know that she wasn't pleased with him or the situation. It was several minutes of silence before the carriage began to move. The citizens of Demacia began to cheer as their newest hero come into sight. She wanted to cover her ears at all the loud noises and was glad that Valor hadn't been forced to come.

The city streets were more crowded than she would have expected. Men, women, and children were everywhere, clogging up narrow spaces along the street. Every few feet stood a Demacian soldier in full regalia, but their presence didn't seem to worry those citizens who had come to see their hero.

"Smile," was muttered to her from her right and it took all of her control not to stand up and jump off the cart, ending this farce of a parade. She clenched her fists and turned to look at him. Before she could say a thing, her breath caught at the smile she saw on his face. It was a small smile, no teeth and just the slight upturn of a corner. His eyes were on the crowds around them, but he seemed less tense than he had been lately. She bit her tongue and turned back to the crowds and forced a smile onto her lips.

The parade went smoothly from there. She kept the smile on her face and occasionally raised a hand to wave at the children that stood on the side of the road. It wasn't until the last stretch that she saw them.

Two kids, probably eight or nine, playing behind the crowds that lined the streets. A boy and a girl, holding sticks as mock swords and playing around. The boy would wave his stick at the girl and the girl would wave hers back. Sometimes the sticks would hit, but the two children would just laugh. Quinn watched them for awhile, the smile on her face growing bigger the more the two children played. It took her awhile to realize why she took so much pleasure from watching the two.

These two children reminded her so much of her childhood with Caleb. She could remember them finding sticks and having epic sword fights, battling against giant creatures in the woods outside their small town. She could remember the time they had scrapped together enough coins to purchase real weapons from the local wood carver. The wooden bow and sword would eventually give way to real weapons and-

A snap of wood and a small cry broke her from the daydream and her eyes narrowed in on the children, who were no longer playing.

The girl was holding two pieces of wood now, her 'sword' snapped in half. The boy was looking at his playmate in horror and then sorrow. He held out his stick but the girl just shook her head, eyes on her broken weapon.

Quinn didn't think twice about jumping out of the slow moving carriage and moving toward the two children, fingers messing with the weapon on her belt. She ignored the calls from Prince Jarvan and the various soldiers, pushing her way towards the children through the crowd.

The girl didn't notice Quinn till a shadow covered her. Looking up, her eyes went wide at the sight of Quinn and she scrambled away, knocking into the boy. Both of them went sprawling onto the ground and Quinn just grinned.

"Couldn't help but notice your weapon broke." Quinn said as she crouched down before the children on the ground, "I thought maybe you could use a new one." She pulled the small crossbow from her side and held it out, allowing them to take in the glorious weapon.

Quinn knew it was well crafted and she was quite impressed by the workmanship of it. Prince Jarvan had forced her to test several crossbows before she picked this one. It fired well and had a reliable locking mechanism, perfect for a beginner in her opinion.

The girl and boy got to their feet and huddled around the weapon. The girl was hesitant to touch the metal, but with some gentle encouragement from Quinn, the girl held the crossbow in her hands, mouth agape with wonder.

Quinn took the time getting up from her crouched position and turning around to connect eyes with Prince Jarvan.

The annoyance in his eyes filled her with elation and she slowly made her way back to the carriage, enjoying the moment.

Sure, the weapon was probably worth its weight in gold and was never meant to be held by children. She considered her giving away the weapon sweet revenge on Prince Jarvan for forcing her to come to this parade.

Besides, it wasn't like she had given them the arrows to the bow.