Chapter 3 - The Exile

"I don't mean you any harm, " I said, raising my hands and opening my palms. All I could do was stare at the brush in front of me, not daring to try anything else. My mystic glove was ready to fire, but that would have involved turning around first - and I wasn't sure I wanted to fight this woman.

She said nothing for a moment, just stepping slightly closer. I attempted to turn around, but received a quick blow to the shoulder for my efforts. Thankfully it had been with a fist and not her sword - but it would still smart in the morning.

"Who are you? Are you following me?" She asked, interrupting my outcry of surprise and pain.

"No, no! I'm an explorer. Ezreal. From Piltover. Perhaps you've heard of me?" I asked.

It was worth a shot.

"I… You sound familiar," she said, the harshness draining from her voice. I sighed with relief.

"I was just up here searching for some ruins when I saw your campfire and heard the guards," I explained.

"Yeah," she said. Her voice quieted, and I heard the crunching of gravel and the ringing of metal.

"Can I turn around n-?" I asked, turning around. I saw her sitting in the gravel, her sword beside her unceremoniously dropped. Her face rested in her hands, and the retching motion of sobbing wracked her body. I paused for a moment, seeing rivulets of tears flow from under her gloves and onto her pants.

I moved closer to her and knelt there.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I attempted. I wanted to put a hand on her shoulder, but she probably wouldn't feel it because of her armor, and I had a feeling she may lash out at the unexpected touch. For now I kept a distance of a few feet.

What could possibly have triggered this? I wondered. The questions seemed to flow as easily as her tears. She seemed to hear me, turning toward my voice, but didn't respond.

"You know my name is Ezreal. Can I get yours?" I asked, stretching out my hand. I had a feeling it might be there for a while.

She wiped downward on her face, trying to clean up her tears with her gloves. It seemed that she was wearing intense black and red eye makeup, which was now slightly smeared downward. Despite our circumstances, I noticed the allure and attempt at war-paint-like intimidation. Riven finally noticed my hand and shook it; our mutual glove-wearing meant that it was a rather slippery handshake, but even so I could tell that Riven was less than enthused about anything at this point.

I can certainly understand why. I recalled her recent victims.

"I'm Riven," she said with a sniffle, rubbing her nose briefly, "I am - was - an agent for Noxus. Now I don't know what I am. Lost."

Riven sighed and leaned back on the rocks and removed her helmet and arming cap, revealing a crop of stark white hair.

"...I feel bad for hurting you, Ezreal. I'm sorry." She said, averting her gaze.

"It's alright, Riven. Just don't make a habit of it. That was one hell of a punch. Can I ask why you're out here anyway? Then I suppose I can tell you why I'm here." I asked. I spied a large boulder a few feet away and sat there, gesturing for her to join me.

She looked up at me and sighed, then nodded. As she picked up her sword and helm, I took the opportunity to examine her outfit. The tight leather of her pants and boots hugged her form closely - I could tell how toned she was even through her outfit. It was difficult to focus on the situation at hand. Her gait was slow, but it still displayed the refined grace I had witnessed in her combat earlier.

"I was so dumb. Just another recruit for the Noxian war machine. We set out for the invasion of Ionia - I'm sure you know all about it. This was a few months ago. I was a brand new lieutenant, leading a platoon of twenty. I saw a few skirmishes with success, and then we met up with the bulk of the army in the Jyom pass. We were to follow these Zaunite war machines into battle. Of course, I followed the orders. The fighting started...," she said, averting her hazel colored eyes.

"Gods, I'm getting sick just thinking about it. The fog of poison floated over the battlefield, and it didn't discriminate. Noxian, Ionian, Zaunite… cat, rat, innocent civilian - they all died! I was barely able to crawl away from that place. Eventually I learned that we had won that battle, although we lost the war later. I was captured by the enemy, but they tended to my injuries and released me following the news. Since I was the only survivor in my platoon, I was commended for bravery and made a member of the Crimson Elite. Hence this outfit. But I couldn't take it any more. Noxus didn't mean anything to me anymore. Where was the honor and courage in letting that bastard Singed poison us all? I was a fool, and a pawn," she said.

I realized just how different Riven and I were. Or perhaps, how different we once were. As for who Riven was now, I could only hope she had left the Noxian bloodlust behind.

"I can't imagine, Riven. I'm sorry to hear that," I said, feeling about as relevant to her as the trees I had walked by on the way up this mountain.

She looked at me and nodded, and for a moment I saw the hard edge of her frown subside, "After joining the Elite, I was assigned to track some Demacian diplomat. I can't even remember who. I couldn't kill for them again. So I ran. Of course, they sent my brothers in the Crimson Elite after me. Now their corpses lay on that cliffside you first saw me on. Now I have no home."

"How long have you been out here?" I asked. I didn't know much of Riven's history, but I could tell she was being sincere.

"Two days. I was able to hunt something and kill it. I just ran out of food this morning and had to resort to building a fire. Which alerted them. Stupid of me..." She said.

"You must be hungry, then. I wouldn't mind sharing with you later tonight." I said, then added, "I've seen you before. I was the 'advisor of scholarly and archaeological interests' to one of Piltover's ambassadors, and I believe you were one of the guards to an ambassador from Noxus. I wanted to be friendly and say hello, but you seemed like you were all business."

"I remember that. About as exciting as watching paint dry. I would've welcomed the variety in company, honestly," she said. I thought she might have smiled, but she cleared her throat and stood up, putting on her padded arming cap and helmet.

"So. You're an explorer - what are you out here for, Ezreal?" She asked, looking back at me.

"It's kind of a long shot, but I'm looking for an ancient Noxian altar. Something about the old God of War," I said, pulling out my traveler's journal and flipping through the pages.

"You mean Ganthast?" She asked, moving a little closer to me to get a closer look at the journal.

"The very one. Maybe you holding me hostage was a good thing after all..." I said, laughing a bit.

She responded with a nervous laugh of her own, looking downward. It was a little strange to see the way Riven acted. She had been so assertive and deadly when she had killed those guards, but now she seemed more shy and understanding. Perhaps she felt repentant about her earlier mistake.

I gestured to the sketch I had made earlier in my journal, showing her the sad armored figure and the depiction of the altar. She had drawn closer to get a look at it, and although she smelled of sweat, steel, and leather, I couldn't deny that it was not altogether an unpleasant smell.

"Yes, Ganthast. He's an old God. Not many Noxians still worship him. I heard he had an altar up here, and I've always wanted to see it," She said, her tone introspective as she looked at the runes on her broken sword. It amazed me, the appearance of that weapon. When it had been whole, the sword must have been absolutely massive.

"So you haven't been there before? Perhaps you could help me find it?" I asked her.

"Well… I guess being with you is the safest place for me right now. I don't have anywhere else to go. Those two were the only ones able to track me to this location, but I'm worried there might be more. I don't know if it's safe for me to join you, Ezreal. I would hate to cause you more harm," she said.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I've faced my share of enemies on my travels. Besides, I'm not totally helpless, see?" I said, firing off an essence flux for show. Riven was mildly surprised at the wave of energy.

"Alright, I guess it would be nice to have a traveling companion. My things are in the cave down there." She told me, gesturing from our vantage point to the place I had first seen her. I would've taken the moment to admire the impressive view of the forested valley from the cliff shelf, but I was immediately reminded of the corpses as we moved toward them.

"What should we do with them?" I asked.

She walked past them and retrieved her pack before answering, looking at their armored forms before turning to me.

"Do you have enough energy to burn them to ashes?" She asked.

"I… Not their armor and weapons," I said after brief consideration. "But there is a river just down the path. We could throw them in it. It could be a while before they surfaced, and there are many feeds for the lake downstream. It would be hard to track a single source."

"That should work. How far?" she said.

"Not more than a hundred yards up the pathway," I said, gesturing over my shoulder. She walked toward one of the deceased's legs and picked him up by his ankles. Riven's sword had parted the man from the top of his skull after knocking off his helm. To prevent myself from getting sick, I put it back on, but could still feel the gelatinous texture underneath the thin sheet of metal.

"Your sword is broken. Should we take one of theirs?" I said.

Riven looked at her own broken blade, and then at the man's sword. It had a similar design, although it wasn't as hefty as hers had been when it was whole. They were both clearly hacking weapon - broad blades with minimal taper toward the point. She nodded and started to remove the man's belt.

"Would you mind removing his cloak? I want to keep my old sword… One day I should be able to reforge it," she said. I obliged, using the other soldier's sword to cut the bulk of it from his form - then I handed it to her. She wrapped her old sword's hilt in it and put it in her pack.

We picked him up again - the body was heavy, still covered in armor. I was relieved when we reached the river. It wasn't very wide - barely more than a stream. We tossed him into the flowing water on the count of three, watching to make sure that he floated along without an issue. Then, we did the same with his companion. Slowly, the bodies and the red streaks they left behind drifted beyond vision.

Riven knelt next to the bank of the stream. She removed her gloves, arming cap, and helmet and ran her hands through the water a few times before bringing some up to her face, washing the makeup from her eyes and face. Her white hair, slick with sweat, spiked up in the back at crazy angles. I took the opportunity to refill my waterskin upstream.

"I think it's about dinnertime. Help me with a fire?" I asked.

Riven's gaze was fixed downstream, but she managed a nod and said, "Sure."

We both started to make our way back to the cave Riven had taken up shelter in, and she started to gather up a few stones along the way.

Riven was uncommonly gorgeous - not exactly what one might expect from a person who used to serve in the Noxian military. So attractive, it made me a bit nervous around her. I shook it off, knowing I had more important things to do. I walked back up the trail a ways, knowing there were some dead shrubs up that way.

The dead pine needles scattered along the trail ignited instantly from the energy wave emitted by my gauntlet. The heat spread slowly to the larger pieces of wood we had gathered, and shortly afterward, we were able to cook my rations in the small pot on the coals.

"Ez, are you sure you'll have enough if you keep sharing with me?" Riven asked, looking at me. The fire reflected in her eyes, tinting them orange.

"Don't worry about it. My uncle always insists that I pack extra. I don't think this expedition will take more than a few more days, and I have a week and half's worth," I said. Riven nodded.

"Maybe we can hunt if we need to," she said.

We ate without saying much more. I couldn't bring myself to ask her anything else - it all seemed so personal, and she likely deserved some silence after what she had gone through.

"Thanks for the food. I'm really not sure what I would've done if you weren't here," she said, looking over and giving me a small smile. Riven stood up and started to remove her breastplate, gloves, and helmet, carrying them over to her cave.

"Ez, I can take care of cleaning the cookware if you want. I'm going to go down to the stream for a bath," she said, picking up her pack, along with the cooling pot and ladle, stained with remnants of food.

"Alright, sure. I appreciate that. Hey, if you don't want to sleep in a cave when you get back, you can share my tent," I said. There was no doubt in my mind that I was blushing now. I could feel the heat rising to my face, although I hadn't intended anything suggestive.

"Oh. No, I wouldn't want to impose. Thanks, though," she said, blushing a bit in response. She flashed me a smile before departing for the river.

At this point, the fire was only smoldering coals, so I doused it with a little water and smothered it with a handful of dry dirt. While I watched the water mix with the embers, swirling in black and red, I considered if I was making the right decision. Was letting Riven into my life, even as shallow as our relationship was so far, a good idea? And was it truly shallow? I could admit infatuation, but was there more? I shifted the ash over with my boot, covering the water. My thoughts wandered back to my encounter with a certain pinkette before I had departed.

How right you were, Vi, although even Caitlyn couldn't have predicted this outcome…

I'll just complete this expedition, and see what Riven does. It wasn't like I could leave her - and I certainly didn't want to.

I began setting up my tent not far from the cave entrance. The cave wasn't very big - barely big enough to provide adequate sleeping shelter, in fact - and I didn't want to encroach on Riven's privacy. I wondered, if we moved along the trail, she may have to share the tent with me regardless of her desires to the contrary, and then it would really be quite cozy. It didn't have much extra room aside from my bedroll and gear. Once I had placed all of my gear inside the tent, I retrieved my travel journal and a pen and sat on the now cold fire stones.

I drew a small picture of the area, indicating its coordinates on the more official map, and added a small note that I had met "a certain exiled warrior". On the previous page, I saw the drawings of the pictographs from my earlier travels, making a note to ask Riven about them once she returned.

My rough sketch of the cliffside view was just taking shape when Riven returned, wearing a new set of clothes and looking altogether refreshed. It seems that her bath had helped her create mental distance, and it must have been a relief for her to wash the blood of the soldiers off of her. I stood up and approached her, reaching out a hand for the now clean cookware. The sun had fully set now, and I had to use the light from my amulet to illuminate the area.

"Thanks, Riv. How was it?" I asked, taking the pot from her, which contained all of the various culinary instruments.

"Pretty cold, honestly. It's nice to wear something new, though. What is that? I've wondered since earlier?" Riven asked, reaching out to touch my amulet-bearing glove gently.

"Oh. I found it on one of my first expeditions. Originally, it must have been intended for some God-Prince of Shurima. Something not quite human, I think. It acts a conduit for my innate sorcery. When I first happened upon it, I wondered if it was dangerous - but when I touched it, the stone spoke to me. In a way," I said. Riven raised a brow, and I realized I must sound silly.

"It sounds strange, but the magic felt like it was meant for me, as it were," I said.

"In a way, it sounds like my sword. When it was first made, it seemed to bond with me. The runes along the blade glowed like fire. But it had a mind of its own, inspiring hatred… That's why I shattered it," she said, her voice growing quiet. She made her way over to her cave and placed her breastplate, gauntlet, and helmet in front of her bedroll, undoing the belt that held the sheathed stolen sword as well.

I looked with concern at the blade she had taken from the slain Noxian, "What about that sword? Does it hold the same magic?"

Riven was shaking her head halfway through the sentence, "No, this one is just a piece of metal, thankfully. So, what were you drawing?"

I opened my journal and held it toward Riven as she walked back over to me, illuminating the drawing of the cliffside and a small sketch of a map.

"Not bad, Ezreal. If it was bigger, you could hang that on a wall. What of our eventual destination?" She asked.

"Thanks. I don't think we're far from the altar. My map of the area says that it could be across the next ridge," I said, gesturing to the ridge.

"Here we go. Then there's the river, and across that, there's a trail upward. My guess, from my research, would be that it's up that trail a bit."

Riven's brow furrowed, "That could be - but a more likely place might be further down this trail, below the waterfall. It'd be a better position tactically." She explained, gesturing at the map with a finger. She had to step closer to me to do so.

"We'll check both places, then." I said, nodding a bit and making a note in my travel journal.

"I think I'm going to turn in for the night. See you bright and early, hmm?" Riven said, giving me a one-armed hug. It caught me by surprise, but I reciprocated eventually, smiling as I did.

"Sounds like a plan. Sleep well," I said. She separated from me, and walked into the cave, ducking inside and tending to her bedroll. I ducked inside my tent and undressed. It had been a long day on the trail, and it wouldn't be long before sleep found me.