Chapter 4
Akali
Zed was different from what she had heard about him to say the least.
For starters, she didn't expect the man who killed her dad to be attractive in any way. That was her first impression of his appearance since she met him a few hours ago. She's seen her fair share of good looking guys before, but none of them had white hair that was messy in just the right way, or blood red eyes that peered into her fucking soul every time he looked at her. That was just his appearance however, and Akali knew better than to judge by just appearance. He was the man that killed her dad after all, she couldn't let her guard down just because he was pretty. It was what little he revealed about his personality that interested Akali the most. He wasn't the cruel, ruthless Master of Shadows everyone in the Kinkou Order had nightmares about. He was rather blunt and only spoke when it mattered, but otherwise polite when he needed to be. When she asked him about why he had abandoned the Kinkou Order and took control of Ionia's fate by himself, he responded vaguely with "The same reason why you left them." To say it was hard to get a read on this guy would be an understatement, Akali thought.
Oh well, I've only been travelling with him for a few hours. I'll see for myself the kind of man he is if I'm staying with him all the way to the Kinkou monastery.
It was twilight when they stopped to rest. They had followed the small creek upstream, retracing Akali's steps until they reached a small clearing in the trees no wider than fifteen feet in diameter. They didn't set up any sort of camp; the Ionian forest provided plenty of lighting. Zed made himself at home sitting cross legged, hands on his knees, his back resting against a large cedar tree, and promptly fell silent. Even though his eyes were closed, Akali knew that he was wide awake, still wary of her presence and taking in every detail he could around him. It was basic meditative focus that almost all children in Ionia were taught when they were young, ninja or not. It cleared you mind and allowed you to enhance all of your senses apart from sight. It was a quality Ionians were proud of. Sight is one of humanity's most refined sense and it is over-emphasized and used to a fault, but Ionians knew that balance in oneself's body is above all else. Even Zed and Akali did not dispute that.
Akali knew there was little to gain by watching Zed and so she decided to do the same. She settled on a red pine directly across the clearing from Zed. The pine had leaves that glowed a faint yellow that basked the surrounding area in a warm sheen of reflected light. Sitting in more or less the same position as Zed, Akali fell into her own kind of meditation. While the Kinkou taught her to practice Coursing the Sun and the other meditative forms, Akali chose to strip herself of those, feeling like they restricted her thinking. She meditated in the most basic sense of the word.
As Akali closed her eyes, she immediately felt her surroundings get louder and more defined. The small trickle of the stream nearby became a rumble, escalating to a roaring torrent louder than any waterfall. The slight breeze she could hardly feel against her skin before became an icy gale that chilled her down to her very bones. Akali heard everything that happened in a sphere around her, felt the ground tremble as an ant walked by a few paces away from her. She heard-
She heard a heartbeat. A human heartbeat. It steadily grew louder, each pump of blood it pushed through the arteries and veins went faster, escalating to a crescendo. The thumping was hammering in her ears. Akali's eyes shot open. Was she being attacked? Her hand was instantly behind her at the bag around her waist. She scanned the area around her, looking for anything that would give away anyone or anything trying to ambush her. She stayed perfectly still for a few seconds. A few seconds turned into minutes.
Nothing.
If it's not an intruder then it has to be…
Akali looked across the clearing at Zed, the faint yellow glow from the leaves cast long shadows on his face. He appeared as if he was asleep with his head leaning to one side and slightly forward. His breathing was ragged and he had a pained expression his face. The way his head was angled cause his ninja mask to slip off, revealing a well-proportioned nose and mouth. His mouth was slightly open and revealed that his lips were full and soft- not what Akali had expected. Her eyes moved down to his chin, tracing the outer edges of his well-defined jawline-
Akali blinked and looked away, feeling her cheeks burn slightly. She shouldn't be watching Zed sleep. Besides, he didn't look like he was having a good time; whatever dreams were affecting him were clearly of the unsavory type. Akali laughed inwardly. Here she was in the middle of the Ionian forests travelling with the The Master of Shadows, killer of her father, and he was having a nightmare. It was almost too comical to believe. Yet, here she was.
Akali unbuckled her satchel from her waist, checking on her neatly organized compartments of various weapons and supplies: a dozen small kunai, five larger kunai, shuriken of various sizes, acupuncture needles that could double as weapons if used correctly, a small canteen decorated with the same dragon on her back, and medical supplies emergency situations. Food and water was the least of her problems. The First Lands have plenty of food if one knows where to look, and water courses through Ionia like blood through veins, providing nourishment to every corner of the massive archipelago.
Lastly, Akali's eyes stopped on something that reflected an emerald green in the yellow light of the pine tree. It was tucked away deep into a pocket on the side of her back, relatively safe from harm. The medallion Akali's mother gave her when she came of age at fourteen. The medallion that signified The Fist of Shadow. It was the only thing she took when she left the monastery. She pulled it halfway out, running her thumb over the intricately carved jade and the beautifully forged bronze.
Akali shook her head, putting the medallion back and closing the flap on her satchel. Too late to be getting sentimental Akali. Focus. You've got Noxians to kill and a serial killer to catch. You need energy for that.
Akali laid down next to the tree, using her sack as a makeshift pillow. Making sure her kama was close by, she lowered her mask and closed her eyes. Drifting off to a peaceful slumber, Akali fell asleep thinking about the what the next few weeks had in store for her.
Zed
"You cannot run."
I cannot run.
"You must not run"
I must not run.
"It is impossible to run"
But I have to run.
"You cannot run from your own shadow, Zed. Face me!"
Zed gasped and sat up, drenched cold sweat. He closed his eyes, trying to stop his muscles from twitching. That dream again…
For the past few months, Zed had been dreaming the same dream… and he could never quite remember what it was about. There were dark, wispy shadows, growls and hauntingly empty voices, and the general feeling of being chased by something unknown, something terrifying.
He looked around, trying to get his bearings and forget the nightmare. His breath formed condensation in the brisk Autumn air. Birds were just beginning to warble and sing their songs, marking the beginning of a new day. The sun was just beginning to shine through the fog of the previous night, washing everything in the forest with a lustrous golden sheen. Magic hummed in the air like the beat of a bird's wings; Ionia itself was rising from its slumber.
In his fitful sleep, Zed had rolled away from the cedar tree and was more towards the middle of the clearing now. Akali was sleeping under a large pine tree, facing away from him. Zed could see her tattoo clearly now. The lines and colors looked crisp and clear, as if they had been inked in yesterday.
Huh, so the tattoo was a symbol of rebellion… It looks like the work of the famous tattoo artist Bo'lii. I heard that he makes his residence in the port village of Weh'le. Zed smiled, thinking about the time he got his first and last tattoo from Bo'lii. He had been part of the Kinkou at the time, and had just come of age. Kusho had brought him and Shen to the hidden village of Weh'le, to Bo'lii. They had debated on whether or not to get matching or related tattoos, but decided against it. He shook his head, thrusting the warm memory away from his focus. That was when he was a member of the Kinkou Order, when he wasn't disillusioned about the cold, hard truth.
A sudden sound from Akali caught Zed's attention. The rogue assassin mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep. She rolled over, now facing Zed. Her mask had fallen off, or she took it off before she slept, Zed didn't know. What Zed knew was the face that he was looking at was exceptionally… pretty. Her normal volatile expression of "Fight me! Bet you that I can win with my eyes closed!" had relaxed into a calmer, more neutral face. For the first time, Zed saw Akali's face clearly, without obstruction. Eyebrows, while still at a rather sharp angle, were now less furrowed, giving her an air of peace and tranquility that she normally lacked. Zed noticed that she had an adorably small nose and a proportionally small jaw, with a chin that ended in a round point. Her mouth was similarly small, with a thin upper lip and full, round bottom lip. It was her rounded cheeks - and fiery eyes - that put her youthfulness into what would otherwise be a mature face.
She was young, no doubt, but she was also beautiful. Zed found no shame in finding his new companion attractive; it's in the nature of humans to find things that are pleasing to the mind's eye. However, he could not let that distract himself from his mission. He mentally scolded himself, gave Akali's face one more look, got up and walked through the trees to the nearby stream, stretching and rubbing the sleep out of his muscles along the way.
Pulling his flask from the pouch he kept strung over his shoulder, he knelt and refilled the ornately carved wooden container. It had been a gift from Shen on their fourteenth birthday, but Zed now only saw it as a container for his water; sentiment only distracted him. He tilted his head back and drank deeply, feeling the cold water go down his throat.
After rehydrating, Zed splashed water on his face in an attempt to rouse himself and shake of the remnants of his nightmare. The shock of the frigid water jerked him wide away, pushing the foggy edges of sleep away. He needed to be alert to come up with an improvised plan. When he had embarked on this trip he hadn't expected company, and now he needed to adjust his plans to accommodate his new companion. He didn't doubt her ability to defend herself; she had made that abundantly clear the day before. He would not be travelling with her if she was weak. What he was worried about was her trust in him. Could she follow orders? Of course not, but could they come to some sort of agreement on what to do? Perhaps…
"Hey, how long are you gonna stare at the water? Can we get going already?" came a familiar voice behind him.
"Good morning Akali, I was just thinking to myself."
"Obviously."
Ignoring her remark, Zed sighed and turned to face her. He noticed that she had put her mask back on.
"Look, we need to establish some sort of leadership. There's no way this will work if we rush ahead recklessly without having one of us in charge."
"I didn't leave the Kinkou just to be bossed around again. It's my way or no way," Akali said stubbornly. "Although, I'll consider what you have to say m'kay?" she added. "As long as we don't get in each other's way, we should be fine! You're the Master of Shadows and I'm the most skilled assassin in Ionia, what could go wrong?"
Zed sighed for the second time and shook his head. "Agreed, you can take the lead, but don't regret saying that young one."
He stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. "We are strong, but we are not immortal. I won't take any chances. If you mess up, you're on your own."
Akali crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, a gesture Zed knew that he would see plenty more of.
"You say that as if me being by myself will make a difference," she retorted. "I'm almost tempted to see what the Master of Shadows can do on his own."
Is she teasing me? Her eyes say no. The smirk under her mask tells me yes.
"And did you just call me 'young one'? How old are you anyways? You can't be much older than me."
"I'm only twenty-"
He paused, holding his hand up to silence Akali. He heard footsteps, and they were getting louder every passing second. His voice barely a whisper, he signalled to Akali with his hand to be quiet.
"We've got company."
Akali nodded and immediately, she dashed towards a nearby tree, tall enough to provide sufficient cover. She jumped up and scaled the trunk, and just as she reached the apex of her ascent, she pushed off with both feet, landing with a twirl atop a thick branch. She signalled with a nod of her head to join her on the adjacent branch of the same tree. Zed followed her exact maneuver, but instead of flipping off the tree to the branch, he used his sheer strength to gain acceleration upward and at the last second, grabbed the branch, keeping it arm's length from him. He swung up and over, landing on the branch without a sound.
The footsteps got louder and louder, joined by the voices of a hushed conversation. Two soldiers crashed through the trees on the opposite side of the stream, one carrying a huge two handed axe, and the other holding an sharply angled shield with a similarly angled hatchet. There were three indentations on each of their breastplates.
"Akali… the crude design of their armor, the mark of the Trifarix… those are Noxian soldiers!"
Darius
Thunk
Thunk
Thunk
Every swing of his axe that hit the straw dummy target matched that of the hammer repairing his battered war gear. A decade in the frigid conditions of the tundras in Freljord were not kind to the outdated chestplate and gauntlets. The huge pauldrons that cracked and broke under Freljordian ice magic were now being reforged and hammered back into proper battle-ready condition.
Darius heaved his mighty battleaxe one more time, cleaving the poor dummy clean through from shoulder to hip and sending an explosion of hay throughout the training yard. Soldiers that were training beside him murmured in admiration and approval. Wiping the perspiration from his forehead, he sighed with discontent.
He was frustrated. Darius had left Freljord not because he secured victory, but because he was sick and tired of fighting a war of attrition that always ended in a stalemate. He came home, thinking a break would free him from his weariness. Instead, Darius felt uneasy. Having gotten used to constant warfare where any given moment was tense and uncertain, he had forgotten what it was like to relax.
Darius didn't know what to do with himself. On one hand, he was tired of war, but on the other, he was too restless for peace. He had reached a dilemma, a sort of itch that he wanted to scratch. As he brushed a few pieces of straw that had attached themselves to the blade of his axe, Darius contemplated what would solve his problem. No way in hell would be set foot anywhere cold, at least for now. There was nothing but dirt, sand, and empty rumors of a Shuriman god-king rising from the grave. Darius scoffed at the thought.
Too many days in the sun really can mess with your head huh… What about… Ionia? Has it been too soon since we reached a stalemate? I need something other than sheer bloodlust to convince Swain to invade again… Speak of the devil!
Swain walked into the courtyard, flanked by two heavily armed guards. He smiled as he approached Darius.
"General Darius, I thought I would find you here. Was the ten years you spent battling the icy North not enough to satiate your Noxian pride and lust for battle?"
Darius grunted and shook his head, disregarding the fact that Swain had guessed exactly what was bothering him. "General Swain. I take it that you aren't here to spar with me, is there something you need me for?"
Swain's smile only widened in response. "I need to talk to you about something important." His voice dipped to a whisper and he leaned in closer to Darius. "It's about our next big move."
Now he had Darius' full attention.
"Our next big move?"
"Yes. I am talking about a second all out invasion on The First Lands. Ionia is our next big target."
Do you guys like shorter chapters or longer chapters? :o Feel free to drop a review, any constructive criticism is appreciated! I will also take ideas into consideration when writing this story! If you guys have a certain pairing you want me to introduce or ideas on how the plot should evolve, please tell.
Have a happy new years everyone :)