"Lamb, tell me a story."

"There was once a pale man with dark hair who was very lonely."

"Why was it lonely?"

"All things must meet this man, so they shunned him."

"Did he chase them all?"

"He took an axe and split himself in two right down the middle."

"So he would always have a friend?"

"So he would always have a friend."

Nothingness. That was what Nero felt. The absence of pain, of fatigue, of worries. Floating in a void only he could feel, the night sky far above his head, he lay there, still. The voices he heard speaking to each other, one was hoarse and rough, the other hauntingly beautiful and calming as if it could still a child with one word. Even Nero felt at ease.

Humming. He heard humming. The kind that sounded akin to a lullaby, the kind that his mother would sing to still his heart. He heard humming...and he opened his eyes.

"...I'm..not dead." His eyes were focused on the sky as he whispered.

"No, not yet."

He flinched. One of the voices, it spoke to him.

"Lamb, it fears us."

"He thinks he was imagining us, Wolf."

Nero blinked. "Who...?"

"As do others?"

"As do many, even when they have accepted us."

Nero saw the mask of two beings, one with a maw lined with sharpened teeth, and the other completely obscured. A strange coldness washed over him, causing him to shiver. The stiffness had begun to set in.

"This is a strange one, Lamb."

"He who fights death...does not value life."

"Running in circles for a lost cause."

"Amounted to nothing. And yet...not now. Not here, will he die."

The one referred to as 'Lamb' kneeled beside Nero and brushed aside his ruffled fur, holding his pendant, still firm around his neck. It seemed to shine in Lamb's presence, drawn to the whispers of death.

"Would he choose your arrows or my teeth, Lamb?"

"...I would think neither."

"Cheating death?!"

"Far from it, dear wolf. To fight against death...?"

"The same as running!"

"But to accept it all the same...Would he choose us both, Wolf?"

"Your arrows and my teeth?"

"A third path...He is far from the first."

"Unoriginal...but..."

"Fascinating..."

"Not here, not now." That was what the Lamb and the Wolf agreed to. The pendant loosely dropped back onto Nero's chest, the stray blood from the wounds he bore seeming to dry up as if they were a pond. Not once did the Lamb stain her white fur, untouched by life itself. Did it fear her? A scar sealed over what once was a bullet wound, and in the palm of the lamb did she hold the silver.

"Another day lived with a mere scar to bear."

"Patience, Wolf. This is our only act of intervention."

"Next time...?"

"...Will there be?"

"...I do not know."

Nero could hear them speaking, but their words were then muffled. Fading...fading...gone. He exhaled, the feeling of nothingness leaving with them. He stood up and looked around, noticing he was in a small camp. A badly made tent near a rock held the yordle from before and his lizard.

"Another yordle...so far out here...?" He put a hand to his chin. "Did my travels turn in my favor? Or have the tides of life merely gone out temporarily...?"

With a glance to the moon, he felt the strength of the ocean. "They will always come back. Fated to be here, still."

He sat on the ground and crossed his legs, glancing to the pendant he had kept by him for so long. He noticed his injury had healed, his bandages perfectly white.

"...Mercy on this washed up soul...? Mercy was what Ionia was taught. But mercy was anything besides what I had been given."

But he chose to take it in stride, and he awaited the change of the day, glancing to the fire at his side. Still burning, but not as hot...and a fresh pile of wood near it as well. He took one and set it near, watching the bark crumble and turn to ash.

The voices still echoed at the back of his mind, and he felt that he was watched. Glancing out to the area behind him, he saw nothing. Nothing for miles.

"Lamb and Wolf...I thank you kindred souls."

Daybreak

This was not what he signed up for.

A while after day had come, he found himself being interrogated by a yordle with a laughably large hat and his lizard, Skaarl.

"WHERE YA FROM!?" Lord he was loud.

"I-I came from the barracks of Noxus. Could you stop pressing your face so close to mine?"

Nero gently shoved him away.

"In what area do ya think yer standin' in?!"

Nero sighed. "Your property, Stink McShouty."

Nero supposed he had hit a nerve, because he just barely missed an aggravated stab of an axe. It hit the ground, digging into the dirt. Its owner picks it up again and aims.

"Let's not be hasty! I've only just recovered from an injury, after all!"

He gestures to the white bandages. The yordle eyes them closely and presses the tip of his axe to them.

"Remove 'em," he commanded.

Nero did so. Not a drop of blood, not a wince from the yordle.

"...Skaarl I think we gots one of dem magic folk bastards."

The lizard growled in response, backing away. Its leader followed, looking off-put and wary.

"You practice any...'dark arts'...?"

"No. It'd betray my upbringing."

Silence. Nero supposed that wasn't convincing enough.

"Okay, to get rid of this uncomfortable atmosphere...my name is Nero." He clasped his hands together. "I did not expect to find kin out here."

"Relatives are just unwelcome guests."

"What a rude thing to say."

"It's the truth, ain't it? Skaarl agrees."

He was surprised to hear this yordle not screaming anymore. Perhaps him having magic meant something? He couldn't imagine what.

"Sorry, but Skaarl, isn't exactly talking."

"YOU SHUT YER MOUTH!"

He yanked one of the lizard's ears and pulled its head down, petting it. "City folk don't understand nothin' we do, huh girl?"

Nero grimaced. "Hm...Sorry. Didn't think you were sensitive about that. You did start yelling at me out of nowhere, after all."

"Cuz yer trespassin'!"

"On your property? I didn't think you owned it...Mr..."

"Forward Admiral Major Kled! Ain't been a Mister since ever!"

Nero had to keep back from snickering. He just sat there with a twisted expression on his face. This yordle could not be serious. Forward Admiral Major? Is that even a legitimate title? It didn't sound like one at all.

"Not to be rude, but how long have you been out here by yourself!"

"I had Skaarl! 'Les you sayin' Skaarl ain't a person."

"Not at all! She's...quite unique."

"And a pain in the ass. Never stops bitchin'!"

He gives her a bit of a slap on the head. Kled's focus on Skaarl gave Nero time to observe the area around himself. No body of water in sight, which meant he had to go wandering again to find it. He should remember to pack himself some.

Maybe if he could just sneak away...

"AND WHERE DO YOU THINK YER GOIN'!?"

Nope.

Nero turned his head to see Kled quickly mounted on Skaarl again. They'd been ready to chase after him.

"Leaving your presence! You clearly don't want me around."

"Skaarl does. That's enough of a reason, ain't it?"

"I doubt your lizard would want-"

"BONAFIDE DRAKALOPS!"

"A...Ahem, a what?"

"Immortal sons-a bitches. Don't ask me!"

'What the fffff-'

So the lizard- er Drakalops was immortal. Definitely the, uh, spitting image of immortality's grace. Charming. Brilliant...Salivating. Dumb.

"Well, excuse me for being so rude."

"Flattery'll getcha nowhere."

It seemed to. Skaarl bucked Kled right off, curses and all and trotted over to Nero, who reached a hesitant hand out to pet her. Kled stood up and grumbled in an annoyed tone, looking at Nero and squinting.

"...You said you was from the Noxian Barracks, yeah?"

"I recall that, yes."

"...You sure yer Noxian? You look a little...Ionian t'me."

Nero's eyes widened slightly, and he glanced to Kled. "And what would warrant such suspicion?"

"The way you was all kind to Skaarl! Only ever seen soft-hearts do that. Ionians are cowards, goin' on about harmony and peace...Where's the bloodshed!?"

"...And what if I was Ionian?"

Kled rubbed his nose and pulled up his pants, standing proudly.

"I'd have t'kill ya. In the name of Noxus!"

"You may try."

Nero glanced to Kled and smiled. "I don't think Skaarl will agree, however. She seems to like me."

His fun was soon ruined as a long, coarse tongue ran across his face. He stiffened in shock, sputtering and trying to get it off.

"EEEUGH!"

Kled began cackling, dropping his axe and pointing at the disgusted yordle. Nero sat there, his face contorting into a glare. Son of a...

"It's a good look for ya! Good conditioner anyways!"

Nero was fuming. With a point of a finger, his soaked skin became dry as he gathered the spit into a ball, sending it straight at Kled. A shriek rang out.

"OH YOU BASTARD! CONFRAGIT BLARRGHAZAR!"

Tackled immediately, the two rolled around in the dirt, trying to pin each other. Skaarl tilted her head at them before joining the scuffle, scooping up Kled out of it and leaving Nero on the ground.

"So, you'd be correct. I'm Ionian." Nero shrugged. "But, I am sure I have the moxie and courage to deal with you and your...drakalops."

Kled seemed to be thinking over something. He looked down at Nero and pointed his axe at him. Nero got up, taking a step back.

"...Don't like ya, but as long as Skaarl's here, nothin' much I can do, huh?" Kled sneered.

The drakalops tilted her head, her tongue laying lazily out of her mouth.

"Mhm..." The smug look on Nero's face only grew.

"...Get movin'. We're patrollin' and protectin' this here land."

"Yes sir, Sergeant General Colonel." Nero snickered at his joke.

Yet there was silence. He figured he hit another nerve, and braced himself, glancing to Kled. However, the yordle seemed surprised at Nero.

"Ya actually got one of my titles right..."

Is he serious? Nero's mouth dropped slightly.

"Y'know, ya might just be alright."

They continued walking, Kled's axe tip pressed into Nero's spine slightly the whole way. Skaarl's growling was all they heard besides her footsteps. Nero could not believe what just happened.