It turned out to be a campfire. Bandits? Campers? Brand? I chuckled at the last assumption, returning my thoughts to the investigation ahead. I decided not to walk closer to the fire, as it would be the easiest way to alert anyone nearby of my presence. Still, I was anxious to learn who or what was around that fire.
I kept dragging slowly through the very edge of the road, on the border where the clear road becomes an unclear shadow, and a potential threat to innocent travellers or merchants. I heard a motion. A footstep over the grass. I snapped my head in that direction, and sharpened my hearing, to make sure I could isolate the sound of a certain enemy or intruder. I stepped out of the grass, turning around to get a better view at it. No one or nothing seemed to be there... Humpf. Must have been an animal of some sort. Just as I was about to retreat back into the safe darkness that the side of the road provided, I heard that very very familiar sound. The purple mist blinded me, and before I could react in any way, I felt a fist bang into my stomach. As I keeled over, since the punch almost left me brethless, the bare knuckle soon met my shoulder. Growling out my pain, I tried to reach for my sword. I felt a tough material literally crush into my forehead, and I was sent flying to the ground. I was now lying on the middle of the road, lit by moonlight. And then I saw her. The sinister blade had that devilish smile on her face, the one that announced merciless torture, and the utter enjoyment in devouring her prey slowly and painfully. I saw her through my hands that were grasping my face, that burned from the pain that the fierce hit brought. Her hand rose, holding a tight grip on a blade, ready to hurl it at me.
"Kat! What the hell are you doing!" I shouted, trying to claw my way backwards, and possibly avoid the dagger.
Her hand dropped instantly.
"Tanno?" her voice, with prevailing surprise broke the silence of the night.
I managed to bring myself back up to my knees and pull the hood off my head, revealing my face.
"Ohhh... I am so... So sorry!" she exclaimed while rushing towards me.
"Yeah... Say that to my nose..." I uttered while trying to get up.
"Does it hurt?" she asked worriedly, offering me a hand up.
"Only when I breathe... So... Yes." I growled, not particularly proud of the fact that I accepted her support and got up with help. I really don't like it when I can't do something on my own.
"Well, I said I was sorry! Who in Valoran sneaks around the roads at night?" she was beggining to sound irritated, but I knew she was just feeling guilty.
"Well, let's see... Thieves, assassins, drunkards, lovers, and not entirely coincidentally, idiots who find a letter from their friend, who announces that they are off to a suicide mission!" I now shouted angrily. I rubbed my nose, but the jolt of pain spread all over my face upon impact, and I half growled a curse, as my I rubbed my forehead. My vision seemed blurry and darkened.
"Oh, come on, how could I have known that it was you? I wasn't able to see you!" she protested, while tucking her blade safely back into her belt's sheathe.
"Well that's funny, because I think I'm the one who's blind now!" I responded, in between huffs, growls and curses.
"Cheer up... If they ever get tired of Lee Sin, you're a decent champ material." she said cheerfully, trying to establish a positive atmosphere between us.
"Gee thanks..." I mumbled indifferently, still busy with rubbing my forehead.
"What the hell did you hit me with, an elephant?" I asked, once I felt that the pain is beginning to fade.
"My foot..." she said and chuckled slightly.
"Then I can safely say that you do indeed hit like a truck." I decided to give it up to jokes.
"When fed, summoner, only when fed." she smiled.
There were a few seconds spent in silence. Then I started laughing at the situation, and soon she joined me.
"I must say, I was scared for a second. When you drove that damn foot of your into my head, the initial asumption was that Ashe's ulti hit me!" I uttered through laughter.
"Oh please! Now you are just flattering me!" she giggled merrily.
"Hello, League, behold the new Lee Sin! The last one was so bad compared to the new version, that we made changing him a priority even over buffing Evelynn!" I exclaimed, trying to impersonate the announcer of the matches.
Kat was visibly in a better mood. Her laugh was natural, genuine and honest, not fake and threatening, such as the manic giggles she reserves for the matches. Seeing her thrive, I felt better myself.
"So, what are you doing here?" I asked, while she led me to the fire, to warm up.
"I am resting... I was going to proceed right in the morning... I thought you wouldn't follow me." she said.
"You told me where you are headed, you left me a letter of a desperate romantic, and you gave me a speed boost. What did you expect to happen, really?" I asked.
"I suppose I didn't plan that out quite well... I was in a hurry, and my mind was in a daze..." she admitted.
"Look, I was thinking on my way here... Let's hope I'll remember..." I said teasingly, while I tapped my hand over my forehead.
She slightly chuckled and softly kicked my foot, but allowed me to go on.
"Why go to Demacia, where you can have the same thing minus the death in the Institute of War?" I asked.
Her eyebrows rose.
"What are you pointing at?" she asked.
"Well, the Institute has a training version of the Summoner's rift! A kind of a impersonation of the scenery, and generated clones of most of the champions that allows you to practice on your own, or with another summoner."
"And you think that..."
"...By having someone summon Garen while I summon you, we could make a date without being exposed to danger."
"Precisely. I see that leaving the belt was not such a big mistake after all." she smiled.
I leaned back and stared at the stars. She did the same after a while.
"Stars are so beautiful, aren't they? Like little diamonds in the sky... Do you like stars, Tanno?" she asked softly.
"Why would I like them? They are just a bunch of shining rocks." I scoffed my reply, yet I felt somewhat captivated by the beauty of the sight.
We spent some time in silence. I think that every time an important moment occurs between us, we share it in silence. We both know what the other one thinks. Our minds just become synchronized when we sit and randomly stare at things.
"Do you think that I will... Be able to endure in the clash with Demacia?" she asked, with a tone of slight fear in her voice.
"I have no doubts in you." I replied shortly.
"But... Crowd Controlling skills..." she sighed in exasperation.
"I know... Almost every champion has them. But you must remember, Kat, you are an assasin. You do not initiate fights, you make sure weak targets are not able to run, you finish them off, and then, later, you pick fights with the strong targets as well. It takes patience and anticipation, but it is highly rewarding." I explained.
She smiled and nodded her approval.
"Remember that match against Evelynn and Twitch on our lane?" she asked, sighing again, the memory of the sweet victory luring another smile to her lips.
"I'll never forget that. I remember, I was not as experienced as I am now. I did know about warding though. I always taught you that-"
"... Seeing your enemy means being a step ahead of them." she finished instead of me and I smiled to approve of it.
"I remember you were finding them a nuisance in the beggining, telling me how you are scared of Twitch, because he makes your death sudden and painful. Makes you feel useless and incompetent. I told you that you outmatch him, despite his ability to blend into the surroundings. You didn't trust me, not even after the first kill. You wanted to complete your Hextech revolver as soon as possible and move into the gunblade with haste. When I asked why would you get such an item, you told me that you memorized that move from a more advanced summoner. I don't know if you noticed, but that made me feel a little dissapointed, because I learned you don't trust me. I wanted to earn your trust, you know. Or your respect, I was not sure. Still, I advised you to get the Oracle's elixir. You fumed with rage, but as I was your summoner, all you could do after my decision and my purchase was to stomp off into your lane. That was perfect. Accumulated anger. Ready to dispatch. You saw Twitch beggining to stealth. You told me that you will die and blame me for your death. I told you that you will see him when the right time comes. And when he was in your range, he appeared as a vague shadow, but visible enough to recognize it and deal damage to it. I taught you to stalk the brush and wait for minutes, even hours for the target to make a wrong move, just so you could approach, damage, and move away as quickly as you came in, before anyone had time to react. You saw it worked. You did it once, twice, three times, and soon, Twitch ran out of your damage and visibility range. You were angry and devastated, scolding me for not leading you towards a kill." I spoke, remembering that match as if it happened moments ago.
"I never understood why you didn't let me pursue him, when he was clearly injured..." she protested, but still, through a smile.
"Psychological warfare. Pure mind games. I told you, he is bound to come back, and bring you more then just gold to get your next item." I explained.
"Well, I soon forgot about it, as I saw Evelynn in a clearing of the lane, just begging to get killed off... I took your guidance to mind, striking at her, then retreating out of her range so she could not fight back. When I repeated this several times, I remember that she panicked, and went into stealth, to protect herself. I chased her, and thanks to your elixir, I could see where she moved." she said.
"Too bad she didn't seem to know that you saw her movement, as I noticed her trying to trick you by taking sharp turns into the nearby brushes and then switching her direction. That was hilarious." I added, giving out a small laugh. She joined in too.
"And then, the grand finale came. It was just like you said. Twitch was bound to come back. As Evelynn was severely injured and more then unable to fight back, he thought that together they could defeat me. When I saw him approach, I was not sure if I could pull it off. After all, we were heading for the area below their turret. You told me that I can trust you, and for a moment, I could feel that I really can trust you. So you sent me in, ordered me to unleash the death lotus. I just remember the beam of the tower that struck me. I didn't see anything, and I could barely feel anything. I thought you were going to kill me, and I was just about to curse you, when I felt you pulled me out. I couldn't remember anything that happened for the next two minutes or so. When I came to my senses, you congratioulated me on a double kill!" she said excitedly, clapping her hands in pure joy of the memory.
"Heh, yeah... And more importantly, I don't know if you noticed, but Twitch and Evelynn evacuated from your lane when they respawned, and for a longer amount of time, none of the enemy champions dared come into it. Had you killed Twitch when you had the so called opportunity, they would shrug it off, as, you know, that happens to everyone. But this way, you showed them that you are capable of killing all of them if they try to resist you. Sure, they weren't there to learn that they were both low on health, but the mere announcement of your double kill scared them enough to stay out of your way." I said triumphantly.
She nodded.
"Yes, that does make perfect sense... After I learned of my victorious rampage, I felt a little guilty I implied that you were incopetent before..." she reveled it, with a shameful tone.
"Oh well... You've gotten to know me, and you learned to trust my judgement. Soon, you adopted the way I think, and now, I don't even need to tell you what to do. You just know it." I said.
"Well.. Thank you for this new perspective of the battle. I never thought I could be capable of such actions... Yet... You proved it to me numerous times." she said in a low tone. She was trying to tune her emotions down. I almost felt it. Supressing the need to express herself. In that tiny second that she used to cover up the way she feels, I felt closer to her then ever. In my mind I saw her a longer time ago, her eyes flashing anger at me as soon as I issued an order. Then the insecurity and almost unnoticable fear before I would lead her into a 3 vs 1 fight. Then, over time those emotions changing into pure joy and pride as soon as I would chose to lead her. Her genuine caring about me, and my endless devotion to her. I smiled at the mere thought of her, seeing her dwell in the memories of our triumph.
Suddenly, I felt tired again. I did need some rest, and the warmth of the fire was lulling me into the dreams again.
"Kat, I think you messed up my brain with that kick... I feel tired again." I said and smiled, to let her know I am joking. I think she knew it without the signal too. She knows me.
"You are never going to let that go, are you?" she asked, lifting her foot as a sign of a threat.
"I think you just managed to convince me." I grinned clumsily, while crawling closer to the fire. I layed my hands under my chin, rolling over onto my stomach, staring into the flames that slowly lingered almost in front of me. Feeling at peace once again, I closed my eyes. Having a hostile attitude towards spending time outside of Noxus, I felt as if I dreamt of being awake, alert and ready to jump and react to the slightest sign of danger.