Author's Note: Snowdown special! And I think my complete disregard to Thresh's personality at the end. I could have gotten him wrong, I could have gotten him right, but this is just a story. Also, any use of the words 'god', 'heaven', 'hell', 'damned', etc. refer to no place or thing in particular, with the exception of 'damned', that one means mostly in pain or tortured.

Anyway, skins used: Midnight Ahri, KutiPue's deviantart Christmas Ahri (you'll know what part, she does not change out of it), Classic Thresh, Championship Thresh, Classic Lucian, and Classic Vayne.

I think that's it. I may end up editing this when I have the time because, well, I've been busy helping my family prepare for the upcoming holidays. Until then, and after that, enjoy the end of Soul Takers... unless you include the exclusive scene I will be making when I have the time. For those who have been waiting to see how a specter and a fox get it on... you're in for a shock, maybe.

"Is there something on your mind, vixen?" Thresh asked as he read through his book. Though he did not read often, he had decided to visit the recently altered library. It was only a visit, not a mission to collect souls or victims, and he was finding the experience decent. The door he was holding in particular was one of perilous and torturous machines, many now retired to the confines of history; some soon to be reinstated for his own use.

Mischievously, Ahri smiled at him as she lay on the table, propping herself up on her arms as she smiled at her spectral friend. "Do you know what's coming up?" She asked with a delightful ring in her voice.

He did not look up from his book as he thought and neither when he answered. "The anniversary of my joining the League of Legends?" He asked.

She hummed, producing a sound that told him he was wrong, or at least not the answer she wanted. "That is true, but there is something closer." She said.

He turned the page of his book, continuing to read but only paying half attention to his reading and most of his attention to her. "The end of the year is fast approaching, as is the winter solstice. Are you referring to one of those?" He asked.

Again, she hummed her reply of 'wrong'. "Try again." She whispered seductively with a sing-song voice.

Finally, he closed his book and his head to her. "Would this have something to do with the time of year snow falls?" He asked.

Now looking at her, he noticed that she was wearing a darker attire than usual, but recognized it as her 'Midnight' clothing. Given the time of year, and the ramblings of the living, he knew the weather had turned chilly, even cold.

Her position, however, was quite unexpected. She lay on the table, her arms propping her upper half up and her head in her hands in a V shape, and watched him with her golden eyes. Her lower half was laid out in a line, but she did kick her feet up every now and then, revealing her nearly knee-high boots to him, as her tails waved and passed her orb back and forth.

Finally, she was wearing make-up on her face that showed off her golden eyes, cherry red lipstick, and raven-black hair. Her smile was as playful as always when she spoke to him whenever they were alone, or at least mostly alone. They were in a public area, public to those within the Institution anyway, and subtlety did not appear to be on her mind; not that he cared if people knew of the two of them being friendly toward one another.

Finally, Ahri blinked her eyes and nodded her head slowly. "It's Snowdown, and yes it is coming up." She answered.

Thresh chuckled lightly before placing his book down on the table and rising from his chair. "Ah yes, a perfect time to hunt for souls. Did you wish to join me for a few?" He inquired.

She thought about it for a few seconds, looking up with her eyes, and then pushed herself onto her knees to watch him. "You work even during Snowdown? I had thought you'd be the kind to take a break from your hunts." She said.

Thresh chuckled lightly at her question and words. "There are those too scared to confess their true selves, and so they chose to hide themselves from others. It is these who I find and, should I choose to not take them with him, torment in other ways." He informed, and then his smile turned darker. "Have you ever happened upon a suicide around this time of year?" He asked.

Ahri thought about this for several seconds, but then shook her head. "My hobby and now my job keep me busy." She informed.

"A shame." He said simply, and then started out of the library but not before saying a farewell to the nine-tails.

As he started away, Ahri rolled over and off the table, landing lightly to her feet and followed him. Hands behind her back, orb being tossed back and forth between her tails, she followed several feet behind him. "Are you the cause of those deaths? I never imaged you'd be the type to make murder look like something it was not." She inquired.

For some reason, her time with Thresh had begun to change her back into something she once was, and yet not. She had begun to question him, though not seriously, as to why he did the things that he did. It was an odd situation to say the least. He would tell her something he did, she would question or ask about it, he would answer, and she would find it odd, not evil or twisted, but odd. As to herself, she had begun to steal the essence of his dying victims, as well as fearful ones.

It was not until they were out of the library and walking through the halls toward the exit that he continued. "Around this time of year, I like to prey upon the minds and emotions of those who are not prepared or questioning themselves and others. Such an act, my poking at those sensitive spots, more often than not ends with… tragic results." He said with a dark chuckle. "How easily the living are used for the amusement of the dead." He added.

Ahri raised an eye brow at this dark knowledge. "Yet another thing we differ in, I see." She replied.

Curious, he turned his head to her, but continued walking. "And what is it you do?" He asked. Sometimes, it was he who questioned something she did. They had opposite means of doing what they did, but the reasons were close to the same; he wanted souls, and she wanted essences.

Her smile turned playful, her eyes narrowed as though she were an animal who had just spotted prey, and she rushed in front of him in a blur of white. Before he could turn his head, she had her arms wrapped around his waist, her tails spread out behind her to block as much vision as possible, and stood on the tips of her toes to be as close to his skull as possible.

When he did turn his head to hers, she brought up her right hand and caressed the left side of his skull, the flames having long sense stopped harming her since she figured out how to do so with her essence orb. Tenderly, lovingly, as she had practiced and mastered with so many others and many times before, she spoke to him with a voice that would charm nearly any man.

"To see the misery of others feels me with misery, and I do not like to feel miserable." She said, slowly drawing his skull closer to her face, his lips to hers. "Whenever I do, I want only to help them, to make them feel better." She whispered.

When only an inch separated his skull from her face, her whispers brushing lightly against his boney face, she closed her eyes. "And so, I am there for them, to give them that which they need most."

She then opened her eyes and moved her head close to the right side of his skull.

"I give them love." She whispered.

And then she dashed away, back behind him and leaving him to stumble forward a step. When he turned back to her, she was holding her orb in her hands, looking at it and holding it as though it were her child. "And then, I let them go." She added with a hint of sorrow in her tone.

Thresh only reached down to retrieve his lantern and scythe that had fallen due to her sudden embrace. When he straightened, he turned and started walking again. "And if they do not let you go?" He asked.

He heard her gentle footsteps behind him. "That is none of my concern. I only want to let them know they are not alone in the world, and that love is very real." She answered.

"There are those who cling to dreams they can never achieve." He said.

"Either they find new dreams, or they refuse to accept the realization of reality." She said.

He then stopped, and so did she. "What of your dream to be human?" He asked.

Her answer took only a few seconds. "I am more human than others already, and even then some of those natural humans wish to change." She answered.

He shook his head. "Even a monster is human." He said, and then began walking once more.

She continued to follow him. "Even monsters can find love."

The day went on like any other. Thresh and Ahri talked, him speaking mostly of his planned activities and her speaking of her new career as a popstar, throughout the day.

For Thresh, it was one of the rare opportunities he had to speak with someone who shared in his art of soul stealing, even if her method was essence thievery. He actually told her little bits about his past when he worked as an interrogator of the former king of the Shadow Isles, and smaller bits of his time when he was alive. For her sake, he left out the majority of the gory details.

For Ahri, she told him of her plans for the month and about her recent rise to stardom as a pop idol. To her delight, he seemed interested in her career, and it was funny to her that he would recommend she try to become more popular than the Pentakill band. While she was excited about the thought, the term 'popstar' might turn into meaning her future: she'd be a star that is popped. Aside from that, she had planned to spend time with some the summoners, discussing the means she could turn into a human, and collect more essence for her orb.

As their discussion finished, they came to a stop in the portal room to the Shadow Isles.

With a polite bow, Thresh collects his lantern in one hand and his sickle scythe in the other. "It has been a nice chat Ahri, but now I must return to my prison to make room for new inmates." He said as he bowed and straightened to his full height. When he did, his skull-like head displayed a smile. "I do hope you have a pleasant Snowdown." He added before stepping toward the portal.

As he does, Ahri spoke back, smiling as she did. "Bye bye Spooky. I had fun talking with you, and happy Snowdown." She said.

And then he was away, through the portal and on the other side.

Ahri then turned around and started out of the portal room normally reserved only for the champions from the Shadow Isles. As she leaves, she smiles to the guards, who give her a nod as she passes them. Thanks to her recent visits to the Shadow Isles and to visit Thresh, she had been given permission to enter, leave, and even use the room so long as a champion of the Shadow Isles accompanied her. In nearly all of these cases, it was with Thresh, but a few times were with Mordekaiser and Yorick.

As she walked through the halls, she noticed the summoners preparing for Snowdown. Decorations were being placed, people were talking about parties and balls, there were talks of how to decorate the Fields of Justice, and many more activities. She even noticed other champions acting more cheery and friendly.

To an essence thief such as herself, she felt much happier being in the presence of such activities and cheers.

Moakai was being friendly and reasonable as summoners took measurements and offered him what could only be described as decorations for a tree, like some would leave presents under. Amumu was next to him dressed in an adorable and colorfully wrapped box. Lulu dressed in a white dress and with a poro, as well as her fae Pix, on a shoulder each, was there helping the summoners decorate the two.

She noticed other couples as well, and even one she had introduced: Vayne and Lucian. She could not help but smile as she saw the two together. "I knew those two would be a good couple." She thought to herself.

She then stopped in front of a small clothing cart, mostly allowed to work in the Institution for the upcoming events. One of the items catches her eye. It was a short cut, red dress with white cotton along the endings of its pieces, the hat with small holes in it, a bright red ribbon, and a mistletoe hairpin. (Look at KutiPue's Ahri picture on deviantart for more visional aid).

"Do you like that one Champion?" An elderly voice said.

Ahri turned her head to find an older woman, around the age of forty or fifty, speak to her. The woman was with a man who sat at a table working on small trinkets.

The Nine-Tailed Fox nodded her head and smiled. "Yes mama, but I do not know if it will fit." She said.

The woman looked her up and down once, and then smiled warmly. "If you want, you can try it on. I work as a seamstress and my husband is a craftsman. If needed, I can alter its measures." She said.

Ahri's smile brighten, her eyes doing so as well. "Oh yes please! Would that cost extra? And how much would it all cost?" She asked.

The elderly woman only shook her head. "You do not need to worry about that dear. I will make the adjustments for free, but the dress will be for two hundred and fifty gold." She said.

Though it seemed like a high cost, as Ahri accepted the dress to try it on, she found that it was actually much nicer than she had first thought. Thankfully, there were some dressing rooms ready due to the other carts and clothiers selling their wares, so Ahri was showed to a room by the woman and allowed to try on the dress in there.

When she finished, she informed the woman that she could enter. When the elderly woman did, Ahri was fixing the front of the dress, her bust surprisingly well contained within the dress.

"How does it fit Champion?" The woman asked.

Ahri, smile on her face as she looked at herself in the mirror, looked over at the woman. "It fits very well, but could the skirt be a little longer?" She asked.

The woman thought for a moment before answering. "It will take a few days, but how many inches?" She asked. The fox looked down at the dress, and then gestured about a third of the way down to her legs. "Two inches? I will work on it tomorrow and you may come back the day after." She said.

Ahri nodded happily. "Thank you, but please do not overwork yourself on my account. I'll probably be busy with business portraying to the Institution and League. My name is Ahri, and I am sure you can have a summoner deliver it to me." She said.

The woman's expression changes then. "Oh my! You're the popstar! May I have your autograph for my grandchildren?" She asked excitedly.

Ahri blushed a little at this, and then regained herself before speaking. "I can, yes, but do you have something to write with and write on?" She asked.

The woman nodded. "Oh my yes, in my cart. I will give it while you change." She says before quickly leaving the room and giving Ahri the privacy to change back into her classic attire.

After a few minutes, she was back in her normal clothing, dress and its accessories in hand, and found the elderly woman waiting for her at the cart with her husband. She accepted the dress, promised it would be lengthened, and offered her two pieces of plain white paper.

Smiling, Ahri signed her name on both of them, along with the names of the two grandchildren and a date on them. She added that the numbers were the date was her next concert and where it would be.

After speaking with the couple for a few more minutes, and finding out that she had been the only one to try on the dress and paying for it, she asked for the names of the couples before leaving. On her way past, she informed a summoner of her transaction and to make sure the dress would be delivered to her room when it was done.

After all of that was taken care of, she started out of the Institution to speak with a few others before relaxing for the rest of the day. She wanted to take some time off from her schedule as a popstar to enjoy Snowdown, look for gifts for a few of her fellow champions, and spend time with friends.

Back on the Shadow Isles, Thresh was greeted by the faces of Mordekaiser and Hecarim. Surprisingly, they did not appear to have been waiting for him. "Good evening Mordekaiser. Hecarim." He said to each in turn.

Neither of them looked at him as they passed, but appeared to be heading to the portal to the Institution. Hecarim went through, but Mordekaiser stopped and turned to Thresh. "We have business to take care of elsewhere. You are to stay here and protect the Isles." He said, his tone threatening and warning.

The specter smirked. "Going on a date with the songstress this year? And I thought you're heart was as dead as mine." He said with a dark chuckle.

The paladin's glowing eyes showed nothing as he spoke. "No, but for the sake of our plans we must be off. The Spider Queen will also be away." He said, his voice deep and dark with authority.

The Chain Warden's expression changed to one of confusion. "You wish for me to watch a chain of islands with no threat?" He questioned.

"There are always threats to our plans. Had you only killed that man as well as the woman, we would not need to worry of more purifiers coming." Mordekaiser explained, and then stepped through the portal.

Thresh stared at the portal for a time before turning and starting to his prison. "Some people just don't understand an artist and his work. It's so much sweeter to see them fail just when they think they are about to succeed." He said to himself, chuckling darkly.

As he moved, he held his lantern up to his face and peered inside, searching for a specific soul. When he found it, he pulled the soul closer to the edge of the lantern. "What do you think, my dear? We both know he will come for you, but would he wait for help?" He asked the soul.

It did not look at him or speak.

Thresh laughed at the silence. "Yes. He'll not be waiting for help. Ordinarily, I do not give gifts, but this time, I may reunite two lovers. Wouldn't that be nice?" He asked darkly.

This time, the soul did respond by turning to him and glaring at him, but did not speak.

Thresh laughed once again. "There's a response from the good behavior prisoner, and so rare to get one. Maybe one day, I will even be graced with your voice once more." He said.

As he moved to his prison, he began to wonder what it was he would do now. If the Spider Queen was away that meant he could not steal away some cultists, and any that were still on the isles were either dead or already in his prison.

While he could leave to find fresh blood for his fun, Mordekaiser would have some way of knowing that he had done so, and when the Master of Metal gave an order, he did not accept failure.

When he arrived at his prison, Thresh released his lantern and scythe, allowing them to float in the air near him, and began to ponder what he should do. Being on guard duty only meant that he had to react to anything he found as a disturbance to the isles. Until then, he was free to do as he pleased, so long as he remained on the isles.

He decided he would have fun with his prisoners as he always did, only with a few dark twists.

Leaving her room with her new Snowdown attire on, Ahri, smiling and giggling, held a small red and green wrapped package in her hands. She had given a gift to all of the friends she wanted to gift, except for one. Now, she wanted to go and deliver the gift.

As she walked through the halls, the time of some day some time in the evening, she avoided the large, more public areas of the Institution to keep herself away from talking to other people. She kept the package hidden somewhat, or at least she did until someone came along and talked to her. The conversations, however, did not last long as she politely excused herself.

As she neared the portal room, she stopped at the entrance, tilting her head in wonder... and then her eyes widened,

There were no guards.

Quickly, she rushed through the threshold and toward the portal, but then froze when she saw that the portal was closed.

She turned and ran from the room. "Summoner! I need a summoner!" She shouted.

A hooded figure in a tan brown robe came forward, a book in his hands. "What's wrong champion?" He asked.

She pointed toward the room with her free hand. "The portal to the Shadow Isles is closed!"

His boney fingers covered in blood, his scythe sleek with it and his lantern wailing with the sound of recently added souls, Thresh let out a sigh as he examined his bloody right hand and scythe. A smile could be seen on his spectral, boney face. "Now how did he get here, I wonder?" He asked. He glanced toward his lantern, sitting on the railing beside him. "What do you think?" He asked.

The soul he was speaking to only stared out at the forest below, watching as flashes of light appeared behind the trees.

Thresh then looked back at the forest and pushed himself off the railing before grabbing his lantern by its chain. "Let's go say hi." He said as he walked toward the stairs and down from the roof.

When he was at the bottom of it, he went directly to the door, opened it, and left the prison. Once outside, he began walking toward where the flashing lights had been seen. "I'm surprised he would go to such lengths as to forcibly enter the Shadow Isles, but he is very reckless." He said, mostly to himself but also to his lantern.

As he walked, he began to hear the sound of familiar gunshots, as well as the moans and groans of undead dying.

Suddenly, a stray beam of light shot at him, but he dodged it by moving his head to the side. The smile never left his face. "You missed!" He called out mockingly.

Another shot flew toward him, and he sidestepped out of the way, the shot just missing him and his chains and equipment. He was about to say something, but then heard something else and ducked, just missing a glowing bolt as it flies over the flames of his skull.

He then bends backward, using his hands and arms to catch himself before falling, and then turns and pushes himself to his left and dashed away from where the bolt came from and took cover behind a tree as another beam of light sailed toward him. His chains, scythe, and lantern following him as he did this.

He pushed his back against the tree as another shot hit the tree, sending large shards and splinters out past and over his head. Another shot is heard and there is the sound of a hard impact.

Thresh chuckles darkly and glances to his lantern. "He did get help." He said, and then looked up. His eye sockets lock with those of Shauna Vayne tumbling into sight, her crossbow loaded and aimed at him. "Welcome." He said as he raised his scythe up.

She fired her crossbow bolt, the bolt sailed through the air toward him, and it bounced off the metal of his scythe, but it did crack it. He managed to see the gleam of the silver as it bounced into the air.

At the same time, he raised his lantern just as a series of lights flashed and exploded against a shield of screaming, wailing souls. Unfortunately for him, the souls do not feel pain, but release as they are blasted from the confines of his shield.

He turned his head forward and then watched as both Lucian and Vayne came into his field of view, he dashing forward and she rolling at the end of her tumble.

"To the Shadow Isles." He added in a calm and collected tone.

Neither said anything, but fired upon him again.

Just before the beam of light and silver bolt hit him, a burst of bright, blue fire erupted from his location. A second later, Thresh appears to be engulfed in blue fire as his coat changes to armor, his lantern and scythe changing with the rest of him. (Championship Thresh, because it's awesome!)

"I will be killing you this evening." He said as he rose from his place and swung his scythe in a horizontal slash, the chain causing it to extend past its normal length.

Ahri paced back and forth, turning her head up to look at the summoner as he worked at reopening the portal. "Are you almost done!?" She asked.

The summoner nodded his head. "Yes, I've almost got it. I do not know how it was closed, or why the guards left their posts. Why do you want to go to the Shadow Isles though?" He asked, magic flying from his fingers. "I do not mean to pry, but no one other than those from the Shadow Isles should enter them." He added.

Ahri, impatient to go through the portal and investigate, shook her head. "It's nothing! I'm just going there for a visit." She said.

The summoner stopped for a moment, going to check on the portal as it shimmered but did not open. "A visit? I think Sona and the rest of the Pentakill band are at a Snowdown concert." He said.

Suddenly, there is a surge of power, and then the portal begins to open. The summoner then turned back to Ahri. "I'm pretty sure the only one there is Thresh. Hecarim went with the Pentakill band for protection, Elise is doing something with her group in Noxus, and Evelynn is... well, I don't know what she's doing." He said.

Ahri stepped closer to the portal as it opened, but she did turn back to him to answer his question. "Thanks." Or at least that was what he thought.

She then stepped through the portal when it was opened completely, leaving the summoner stunned as he sat on the floor.

He let out as sigh and stood up, and then began to brush the dust off his robes. "Alright, well, I guess I'll inform the others and have guards posted... Who am I kidding! Something's going on and I need to report it." He said, and then started out of the portal room.

"Hmm. Maybe I bit off more than I could chew with this one." Thresh said to himself as he took cover behind a stone. He had been fighting the two hunters of evil for nearly an hour now, and he was losing a great many of his souls for protection.

The transformation he had changed himself into, the one the summoners called his 'Championship' skin but was actually what happened when he truly needed to fight, has encased his body in these souls of the damned from his lantern. Armor, protection, change, all of this was from those rapidly dwindling souls, captives of his lantern. His options were running low, and neither of the two seemed to be tiring.

At least neither of them were showing to have gotten a lucky shot off on him like Senna had. The female purifier had very nearly killed him by shooting him and just missing, barely missing by a fourth of an inch or so in fact, his core. If not for Ahri coming when she did that one day, Lucian would have had free reign of the Shadow Isles until his injury had healed or one of the others returned to deal with the problem.

Now, he was recovered, but that was proving to be for little as all three of them had fought against one another on the Fields of Justice. And by the way Lucian and Vayne fought, this was an organized attack. They had come for one purpose... and with only one target in mind.

Him.

The sound of a footfall caused him to turn his head up. He met the eyes of Lucian, who had just stepped onto the rock for a close shot and limit the chance of him escaping. No doubt Vayne was waiting for him on the other side of the stone should the specter decide to dodge left or right.

Instead of either, he waited waited until Lucian fired his first shot and rose, twisting his body to avoid the shot, and then took a step back as the purifier fired his second shot. The first one missed completely, but the second torn through Thresh's left side, causing him to slouch and recoil.

He raised his lantern to protect himself as Lucian raised his stone-carved guns, but instead of a flash of light hitting the shield of souls, a silver coated bolt tore through and struck the lantern's handle, breaking it off from the chain.

Almost immediately, the green, eerie glow seeped away like a mist in a strong wind, exposing Thresh to the fatal shots of light.

This is what gave the two the edge against him. Vayne's bolts could pierce his shield of souls and hit him. While her physical weapon could only hit him, hurt a little due to the silver, she had been aiming for his scythe when he attacked with it and his lantern when he shielded himself. Her eyes were as sharp as the bolts that had whittled the links of his chains.

Lucian immediately shot his lantern, causing the glass to shatter and a burst of blue and green lights to erupt from it. At the same time, Thresh's armored appearance vanished, returning him to his classic form. "No more tricks to hide behind." The Purifier said, pointing both guns at Thresh. "It's over." He said, and then fired.

Thresh's eyes narrowed as he brought his left arm up to protect his body. The shot caused his arm to break apart into a shower of bone fragments and ethereal strips, but it was better than him being hit directly.

As the shot came and went off, Thresh then fixed his scythe in his right hand so that he was gripping the chain below the handle, wrapped it around his hand once, and then threw the chain as he blocked the shot with his left arm.

The scythe flew toward Lucian, Vayne shot it to knock it away from him, but then Thresh, having let more of the chain's length slide through his hand, tightened his grip, rather than kept it loose, and spun around.

The chain and now deadly scythe projectile around in a circle.

Before Vaynce could prepare another shot, and before Lucian could duck, back away, or even get away, the chain wrapped around him.

Finally, Thresh swung his arm over and behind his body, pulling Lucian forward and causing him to fall to the ground. His expression then turned to a wicked smile as he yanked the chain, pulling his rival closer to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

Staring into the Purifier's eyes, he said. "It's over when I say." He said, and then threw the living mortal, where he had seen Vayne's bolt fired.

He watched and listened as he saw Lucian fly through the air... and then his eye holes widened as he saw Vayne tumble out of the way and saw the massive crossbow bolt sailing toward him.

The next thing he knew, he was flying backward, his hand snapping off from the rest of his arm, and then he grunted as his back slammed into a tree. When he looked back toward the two, he saw that he was several meters away from them.

He shook his head, and then took a step forward to remove himself from the bolt.

THUNK! Another bolt hit him, further pinning him to the tree, only this on pinned his left leg.

He looked back to the duo, his vision, for the first time in centuries, blurry. He was taking too much damage, and it was beginning to show on him. He hadn't taken this much damage since he had first fought Lucian and his wife, Senna.

He blinked toward the two, now shades in his fading vision, trying to spot them. What he also saw was his lantern, glowing with energy to claim a fading soul. Though he knew how to use it, the lantern's primarily purpose was the capture and imprisonment of fading souls, regardless of whose soul it was. It was a means to immortality, sustaining his soul through the use and torment of others.

Lucian then shot another shot at the lantern, causing the light to fade and retreat back into the otherworldly confines of the lantern, either knowingly or unknowingly blocking his escape upon death.

If he was killed now, well, he didn't know what would happen. Maybe he'd just wander around as the Shadow Isles as a lost spirit, or maybe he'd just pass on. He suspected the latter over the former.

Reforming his right hand, he grabbed onto the large bolt in his torso. Bending it, grunting as he did, he tried to break it off... or that was the intention before Lucian shot his arm, destroying it like his left arm.

Unarmed, literally, he looked to the Purifier and Night Hunter. Surprisingly, he smiled wickedly at the two of them. "Once more, it's the woman who accompanies you that does the best." He said with a chuckle. "I really must know how you ever-"

"It's over Thresh." Lucian said, interrupting him.

The two rivals looked at one another, Thresh smiling and chuckling darkly at the serious faced Lucian, his larger gun pointed at the specter.

Lucian took a deep breath, and then closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his eyes narrowed. "This is for Senna." He said...

And then fired.

(I couldn't think of a good place to put this in, but I really did want to add this to explain what had happened between Thresh, Lucian, and Senna during their first battle. Also, I think this will be funny. You're choice if it's canon or not.)

"..."

"..."

Thresh's eyes narrowed as though he were bored. "You missed."

Lucian remained silent as Vayne stood next to him, a surprised, maybe even shocked, expression on his face.

"I am pinned to a god-damned tree! My arms blown off! And you missed!" Thresh yelled.

Lucian took another shot, this time hitting Thresh in his right shoulder.

The specter grunted at the impact, but his expression did not change for long. "Twenty feet away! Your target pinned to a tree by giant bolts! And you missed! You're second shot isn't even fatal-"

The Purifier shot him again, this time in his head.

Thresh's head reeled back for a second... but then he turned it back to Lucian. All he did was glare at him for a time, the fire all but faded from him. He was near death, second death, but... "Your wife, from fifteen yards away, bleeding and with only a split second to aim, was half a centimeter away from instantly killing me. You're a marksman!? What did you shoot!? Mountains from five feet away!" Thresh yelled, torn between finding this hilarious and feeling insulted that he was about to die by this man's hands.

Lucian ground his teeth and took a third shot.

This time, Thresh did not even flinch as he was shot in the center of his chest. "Vayne." He said. The Night Hunter looked toward the specter, who only stared angrily at Lucian. "Take his gun, I don't care which one, and just kill me. I don't want to leave this world with the knowledge I was killed by-" He said, but was interrupted when Vayne 'borrowed' Lucian's larger gun and used it to shoot Thresh.

The specter went silent.

For a moment.

"You... you don't even have an excuse. I didn't even touch you!" Thresh yelled. "Ju- just stepped closer, one of you, and shot me point blank. By Thanatos's gate, if anyone asks how I died, I'm just going to say I was killed by a bear. It'll be preferable to this mockery of-"

THUNK!

"... Yes, your silver bolts hurt, however, they cannot completely kill me." He said, ignoring the pain in his skull from Vayne's bolt.

"THRESH!"

All three turned to see Ahri just come running out of the forest. She froze where she stood.

Thresh smiled at her. "Oh great! Vixen, do me a favor, take one of Lucian's guns, and show these two 'hawkeye' shooters how to f(BEEP)ing hit something pinned to a tree!" He yelled.

(Okay, okay. Joke's over. I just image this would be really funny because, he's pinned, no way to escape and dodge, and neither Lucian or Vayne can hit him. I know it's completely unbelievable, but I wanted some humor in this. Again, this is only canon if you want it to be.)

Moving as fast as her legs would take her and then some, Ahri made her way to Thresh's prisoner.

How? How could she not see it before!?

Along the way through, she had seen Lucian and Vayne moving through the Isles, back to the portal. He was injured, and the both of them appeared to have just been through a great battle.

It was only then that she understood why the two were at the Isles, why the portal had been unguarded, and why it was powered down.

The two of them had come to the Shadow Isles to kill Thresh, and now they were finished.

She had to get to him, as quickly as possible. Maybe, just maybe, she could heal him with his souls or her essence or.

No! She would save him! He was the only one she could relate to about her past. He was the only one she could talk to about the thing that separated her from all others. He was the only one she... she...

She had to save him.

Tears streamed down her eyes and cheeks as she ran, pushing the branches and bushes away.

She just had to save him! There was no if. There was no maybe. She had to save him!

After nearly five panicked minutes, she froze, gasping at the sight before her. "No... oh no... Thresh..."

Before her, pinned to a tree by a massive bolt, was the body of Thresh, his scythe, lantern, and chains lying several feet away from her. His skeletal form was piled underneath his overcoat, the pants of his usual attire there as well, and his skull lying on the top of the pile.

Slowly, and on unsteady legs, stepped toward his remains. As she did, stumbling and just managing to catch herself, she was crying. Inside, it felt like a part of her had died.

When she reached him, she fell to her knees, and, with trembling fingers, picked up his skull in both of her hands. "No... you- you can't be... Thresh..." She cries.

She nuzzles the skull against her chest. "I was coming... I was coming to help... If only... If only I had just come sooner. If only I had... Oh Thresh. I'm so sorry." She said as she cried, openly weeping at this point over the lose of her friend.

"Oh Thresh!" She cries over and over, her tears falling on his skull, her red and white Snowdown dress, and the rest of his bones.

And then, she hears something.

Slowly, she turns to see his lantern, glowing a little with a very thin vapor trail drifting out of it.

Following the trail, she sees it end in the pile of bones.

And then, she hears that something again, like a soft moaning or grumbling.

Removing her right hand from his skull, she places her hand over the piles... and then feels something there.

Her eyes widen, and her tears stops.

Memories of her past, when she was a fox, when she found her essence orb, when she began her essence thievery, when she first joined the League of Legends, when she met Thresh...

Her heartbeat sped up.

When she pulled the soul of the diplomat from his body, when she watched Thresh pull the soul from his prisoner, and when he put the soul back into the diplomat.

She snapped her head to her essence orb. It glowed with a healing green, healing the minor cuts she had ignored as she ran through the forest.

She then quickly looked back to his lantern. It still trailed to his remains, to his bones.

Finally, she put his skull down, carefully so as to not damage it, and torn the clothing from where it was pinned to the tree. She then gathered up the bones, using his coat to collect them, and started toward Thresh's prison.

She had an idea.

After about ten minutes of running, she made it to his prison and went directly one of the few bedrooms. When she arrived, she dumped the bones onto the bed in a semi-neat pile, and then picked up the skull. His lantern followed her, like it was connected to the remains of Thresh, and rested inside the room, near the bed with her.

She placed it close to her head, her essence orb between her and the pile of bones and tattered clothing, she closed her eyes.

Immediately, her essence orb began feeding healing energies toward pile of bones. "Thresh... I know you're still there, you're still here. Please, listen to me." She whispers, tears steady streaming down her cheeks. "I know how you feel about the living, how you enjoy your afterlife, but... let me heal you."

She feels resistance, her efforts to heal him being rejected.

"He's undead, if anything..." She thinks to herself, and then tries something else, something she has never tried before.

Ahri allows her essence orb to give up essence she has gathered to increase the healing effects. Normally, this would only take a small amount, like a drizzle.

For this, she was practically pouring her essences into his remains.

As she does, she feels less resistance, but in a different way. It's almost like...

"What are you doing?" A voice from behind asks.

Ahri freezes, her eyes going wide, and she feels the connection to her essence orb break.

Slowly, she turns her head to see a figure in dark robes standing over her, near the lantern. She cannot see any facial features, but something about him felt... familiar. Like she should know who it is for some reason.

"What are you doing with my ankou?" The figure asks.

Ahri swallowed, a sense of dread and fear suddenly falling over her. "I- I'm reviving him." She answered.

The figure seemed to shake its head. "He is gone." It said simply.

She shook her head. "No, he's not." She said, hugging his skull to her chest. "I can still feel him, holding on, clinging to this world." She added, her eyes once more filling with tears.

The figure was silent as it stared at her and the remains of the Chain Warden. "He has done terrible things, killed many innocents, and cheated death many times. The world would be better without him." It replied.

"No for me." Ahri whispered. "Not for everyone." She added.

The figure seemed to shake its head once more. "Let him pass. He has outlived his life's limits." It said.

She looked back to his remains. "I can't..." She says as tears fall from her face. "I... he's the only one... I can relate to." She says.

"He is beyond change, unlike you." She heard it say.

She shook her head. "I thought I was beyond change, that I would always take the lives of others for what I wanted, but then I changed, trying to change myself." She said.

"You hurt many people." It agreed.

"Why can he not change too?" She asked.

"He can, but he chooses not to." It answered.

She turned back to the figure. "We are soul takers, probably the only two. If he is gone, then I..." She said, trailing off as she cried.

"You will not be alone. There are many who are willing to be with you." The figure said.

She looked back to the figure. "Not like Thresh could, not even close. He's the only one I can relate to." She said.

The figure was silent for a time, and then spoke. "You would bargain with death for the life of another?" She nodded. "What would you offer?" It asked.

She blinked, cleaning her eyes of tears. "My life's work, the essences I have collected." She answered.

There was silence, and then the figure turned around, its hooded head turning away from her. "You think I accept that which you have taken from others?" It asked.

She shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her left hand. "Not those essences, the other ones. The small ones I've taken since I've been a part of the League of Legends." She replied.

The figure turned its head back to her. "You've nothing of your own to offer? Only that which you have taken from others?" It asked.

She nodded, hugging the skull tighter to her. "What would be the purpose of offering my life to save his when I can offer what I've devoted my life to obtain?" She asked.

The figure only stared at her, and then pointed to the pile of bones. "Offer the essence of the willingly taken. When the price has been paid, I will return his soul, but the essence will be used to revive his body." It said.

Ahri nodded her head, a smile slowly coming to her face. "Thank you." She whispered.

The figure shook its head. "My ankou must make the choice of whether or not he will return to this world. All you have done is bargained with me to return his soul, you must convince him to return and provide a body for him to inhabit." It said.

"Thresh? Can you hear me?"

"What do you want?"

"Will you return to the world of the living?"

"Return to the world of the living? Why would I do such a thing?"

"Why would you not wish to return?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"N- no. I thought you liked what you did. Torturing others."

"Ah, that. That was a part of a deal I made with the god of death, Thanatos. In exchange for the souls of the damned, he would grant me eternal life and the life of my wife once more. Now that I am here... with her, I no longer wish to return to that."

"Oh... I see."

"... Vixen?"

"You really do not want to return?"

"I have not seen her in so long, not been with her for so long. Now, I am happy, and I can remain here, with her, forever."

"..."

"Vixen?"

"..."

"Ahri?"

"But... you're the only one I've ever met with the same ability as me."

"You will find others. I thought I was the only one as well, but then you showed up that day in the Institution."

"That day... we tried to kill each other, remember?"

"I do, twice I believe we tried, but we kept being interrupted."

"Three times actually, the third was at night when I was using my orb."

"Oh? You tried to kill me?"

"Not intentionally, but I did take some of your essence."

"Ah, I see. How has that been treating you, by the way? The essence of undeath is a dangerous thing. I suppose that is how you are able to contact me like this."

"The Shadow Isles feels like a second home to me. I'm no longer afraid to go there, the undead leave me alone, and I do not feel any of the effects others claim to. It feels... soothing, actually."

"You find beauty in death?"

"You're the one that said even a monster with a heart as black as coal could love. While I do not think of myself as that, I do think I like the Isles as much as my home in Ionia."

"And of my work?"

"... It's terrifying, horrific, and sadistic, but... I feel like I know of you, the person you do not show others, and the person you once were."

"You've fallen in love with me, haven't you?"

"... I... I..."

"Ahri. I have a wife already, and, for the first time in centuries, I am with her again. I am sorry, but I do not want to return to a world without her."

"Thresh..."

"Yes?"

"What happened?"

"... What?"

"What happened to you? This is not you, not the Chain Warden I know."

"I guess there's a part of me you've never known."

"... She's not there... is she?"

"..."

"I've been the cause of this feeling before Thresh, and I've seen the results of it. You cannot wallow in self-pity for eternity Thresh. That won't bring her back."

"What do you know about it? How do you know!?"

"She abandoned you, didn't she?"

"Leave me alone."

"I will not."

"Just leave me alone Ahri!"

"Thresh, I cannot."

"Yes you can! And you will..."

"Not to you, not after what you've given me."

"And what would that be!? What have I given you that would earn your loyalty!?"

"Someone to relate to. Someone to share something with. Someone who understands a part of me that is always with me."

"Speak simply, you whelp!"

"You know what it is."

"... You think that just because we have both killed others in the past, that I would-"

"We are soul takers, Thresh, the only two of our kind."

"..."

"I have bargained with death for you. I have given up my essences to revive you. Now, I am asking if you will return. If you are truly happy, or truly do not wish to return, then that is fine. I only wanted to thank you for being my friend, and for being there for me."

"... Anything else?"

"Yes."

"Well?"

"I love you, Thresh."

"..."

"I have been with many men and women, but never have I felt what I feel from you. Over the months we have known each other, from our first day meeting to my visits to the Shadow Isles, I've been coming to this conclusion. The times we shared, the good and the bad, I've felt something from you, something special."

"... Ahri..."

"Those times, those feelings... I'll always treasure those memories with you. If this is the last time we speak, I just wanted to let you know that."

"..."

"I love you, Thresh, and for the rest of my days I will love you, until the day I die. The times we've spent, I'll remember as the best days of my life. Even if we never see one another again, even in death, I wanted to thank you, and to say those things.

Goodbye Thresh, and I am sorry."

"... Ahri..."

Hugging his warm but lifeless body to her own, Ahri openly weeps. She does not cry for his choice of remaining dead, but for his pain.

This man, who has done nothing but hurt people from his life and beyond past his death, she wept for the pain she knows he must be feeling in death.

How? How could she, his wife, whom he had lived for, whom he said he had damned himself for, abandon him? It was this heartache that she knew he must feel that she wept for. She had been the reason and the source for such pain, and those had normally ended lives.

Yet, he was already dead. He had no escape from the pain. Knowing he was in such pain... that was what broke her heart the most.

"Oh Thresh... I am so sorry! If... if only I had come sooner... If only I had been there to help you... You wouldn't be there now. You would never know of that betrayal and that pain." She wept, tears streaming down her eyes. "Oh Thresh..."

Sitting there, in her arms, he blinked.

She wept into his chest, her tears sliding down his bare chest, and he felt how warm her body was and how soft the fabric of her clothes were.

She repeated her words, crying and begging for his forgiveness of arriving too late to stop Lucian and Vayne, and for the abandonment and betrayal of his wife.

He looks over without moving anything but his eyes, and sees her essence orb. Instead of the wide variety of colors, it is empty save for a mostly white fog with small colors here and there within it.

Looking down, he sees her in an odd set of clothing of red and white, and notices that he is naked.

Carefully, he moved his arms up to look past her, the feeling foreign but natural to him. He did not recall what he looked like, but he felt that he was like this, with this body, before, sometime in the past when he worked as an interrogator. A few scars he recognized, but not very well.

It had been such a long time ago that he was alive.

He then felt her breathing slow, her body slouch a little and her grip loosen around his torso, and then felt her place her head on his left shoulder, her chin resting on his shoulder, and he felt her soft hands on his back, tracing what felt like engravings on his back.

"He doesn't want to come back... I guess I can understand if he doesn't want to take the risk of being hurt anymore..." He heard her say.

After a time, she continuing to trace the engravings (scars) on his back, she went on. "I wonder if Thanatos will keep the choice open. I can take care of them body, just in case he ever changes his mind. I... I can't just do the same thing to him. He needs to know, if he changes his mind, that I'm here... waiting for him..." She says, sobbing slightly.

And then, she giggles to herself. "I fell in love in a madman, a masochistic madman. I couldn't even tell him I loved him until after he died. Now, he won't even come back." She said as she giggled, somewhat madly. "And I always thought love happened to other people. Am I a fool, or just as mad as him?" She asked herself as she giggled.

After a minute of this manic giggling, she stopped and closed her eyes, hugging him to her once more. "I'm here Thresh... waiting for you and only you." A tear runs down her cheek and onto his back. "I'll wait as long as it takes. I will not abandon you. I'll die before I do." She whispered.

Raising his arms, he wrapped them around her body, placing his palms on her shoulders and pulling him to her. He felt her freeze, as though she were surprised. "I have a request." He whispered.

Ahri softly nuzzled herself into his chest. "Anything." She said simply, her body shaking from slight crying.

"I want you to take my life essence, and return my essence of undeath to me." He said.

She looked up at him. "What? You want me to kill you?" She asked.

He pushed her away a little, and then moved his right hand to caress and hold the side of her face. "Do not let me live with anymore pain that I must. Please, just return me to what I was before: a specter." He says.

She raised her left hand to put on his right, and then her right hand on his left shoulder. She then looked into his eyes as hers filled with tears. "If that is what you want, I will, but I only know how to do that one way." She replied.

He nodded, and then smiled, either an intentional or unintentional wicked smile; either way, it frightened her. "So long as you do not mind a little pain being inflicted." He said.

(They do a little dance, make a little love, get a little hurt, and Thresh becomes a specter again. I'll work on that chapter at another date.)

A few days later, when Ahri has fully recovered from her ordeal, she cradles her orb in her hands, hugging it close to her chest with a smile on her face. She sits on the roof of Thresh's prison, enjoying the sun rise. At the same time, she smiles as she hears the sounds from below.

After about half an hour, she feels a hand on each of her shoulders. "Enjoying the view?" A voice from behind asked.

She smiled and leaned back a little. "I was, but it just got better." She replied.

"Oh? Was it the chorus below?" He asked.

She shook her head no. "You came to visit me." She answered.

The specter laughed darkly, and then released her, causing her to fall backwards. She caught herself, flipping backwards and landing on her feet. When she did, she lunged at him playfully. "Will you walk me to the portal?" She asked.

Thresh raised his scythe, its blade coated in fresh blood. "For you, and only you, I will." He replied, turning his skull to her.

She giggled, and then kissed the side of his skull, the flames extinguishing to allow her to do so. "You're such a sweetheart, you know?" She asked.

The Chain Warden only turned with her on his back and began moving toward the stairs leading down. "Sweet is not the word I would use." He answered.

Her smile turned sly and she nuzzled her head against his shoulder. "You'll always be my sweetheart, but you're so sweet you're bad for me." She replied.

He patted the back of her head with his hand. "I can never tell what to do with you." He said.

"Call me 'my love' and that will be enough." She said as she finally got off him at the bottom of the stairs.

Thresh could not help but smile at the fox-woman. "One day, your soul will join the others I've captured, you know that right?" He asked her.

She turned to him and, with a smile, happy face, replied. "It's already yours, all you have to do is take it."

"You're the only one I've ever met to say that to their murderer."

"We're alike in that, aren't we?" She asked, bringing her orb to her hands and examining her favorite essence: his.

"Some day, my love. Some day." He answered. "Now then, I believe we have a Snowdown event to attend?" He asked.

She nodded, following him out of the prison and toward the portal to the Institution of War.

Even if he was a madman, he was her madman, and she wouldn't want it any other way.

So yeah, I know I completely skipped the whole 'Thresh is a specter again' bit, but there is a reason for that: I wanted to keep this at least T-rated. There will be a fourth chapter containing the omitted scene, but I will have to work on that one.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the series, will continue to enjoy the series, and I wish everyone a Happy Snowdown, a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year.

Again, I may edit this later on, mostly to correct errors.