Tahm's musings were cut short by a whoosh behind him and Lulu as their three teammates materialized into being in a beacon of blue energy. The glowing stones beneath them shuddered as the Titan of the Depths took one large step forward, then another. As he was about to leave the summoning platform, his eyes slowly turned to focus on Tahm. They burned like lighthouses within the thick casing of his helmet, and he grumbled lowly as if he wanted to talk before turning and trudging away into the forest surrounding their stony haven. All that was left behind him was the soft scent of seawater and decay, a darkness undetectable to most. Tahm grinned his macabre toothy grin as his glands absorbed it.. He'd had to remind himself to crack open that tin can and feast on what remained inside when he got around to it.

For the second time, his inner monologue was cut short, but by the overpowering aroma of cheap cologne and unbearable narcissism. Draven stepped up behind Tahm leaning on the River Demon nonchalantly as he swept the landscape with one manicured hand.

"Oh, I'll be honored to make your first trip on this rift a pleasant one, small fry. I mean, how can you NOT have a fun time when you're laning with Draven." He grinned to himself, hardly batting an eye to the River King, Lulu who seemed to be hiding under her hat to avoid being noticed, or Gnar who was currently tapping the shopkeep's counter with his boomerang and pointing at a strange blue liquid in a vial.

"Now now, little one. Those are just for show these days. Besides, What use do you have for them? They're for mages." He eyed Gnar before chuckling and sending him on his way with a small blade and a handful of glowing red vials.

Tahm's attention turned from the debate to Draven, who seemed to have finally spotted his teammates, and he turned with a cocky grin towards Lulu. He walked towards her, leaning on his axe as he regarded her.

"Why, just ask shortstack here. She's had the pleasure of laning with me before, haven't you?" He inquired. When the only response was Pix angrily flittering up to him and throwing a handful of glitter in his face, his coughed and batted the Fae away.

"Argh, you and your damn butterfly don't know what you're missing out on. Supports DREAM of the day when they get to support DRA-" His yell was cut off by a swift, high-pitched yelp as his axe was pulled out from under him, collapsing to the ground as Tahm walked away hefting it with his tongue. He tossed it behind him nonchalantly, slicing through Draven's left whisker and shuddering as it embedded itself between the stones of the platform.

"Honored to make your acquaintance, my dear man. Now, I believe we have a job to do?" Tahm drawled as he walked with Lulu towards the bottomost lane, a long drawl out cackle echoing after him. Lulu giggled along with him, lifting her hat up to regard him.

"Wowie Tahm, you're the first one I've seen besides Pix that'll stand up to him! Oh I need to try that one when I lane with him next.. think I could do the same trick?" She flexed her thin purple arms at him before a loud voice echoing from the sky above and shield itself seemed to resonate around the arena. Lulu jumped in shock, her hat landing to the dirt with a flump.

"Minions have spawned!"

Female. The same voice that had greeted him at the entrance. Maybe it was the same woman or they all used a filtering spell to hide their voices? Whatever it was, Tahm had little time to muse as a row of small robed figures pushed past them, waving miniscule weapons and ignoring their wards altogether. Tahm regarded them with a confused look, before turning to see Lulu getting up swiftly.

"Agh, that always get me..OH! i've gotta go! Have fun with...Draven.." She shot him and apologetic glance before she hopped atop her staff and jetted off into the forest spanning the northern part of the path. Tahm watched her leave before shrugging, following his ...minions? as he regarded the items his summoner had recommended to him. A small handheld buckler pulsing with strange energy he couldn't trace but still felt oddly familiar, a red vial of healing potion and a glowing pink eyestone. He felt a mental tug leading him towards a patch of tall grass to the north of his tower, and as he held it out it shot from his hand and spawned a podium for itself, lighting up the entire area around it as the pink eye flared into life above.

"That's a ward, Tahm. We use them to track the enemy team's movements and plan accordingly." A voice echoed inside his head. Having read up on these communication beforehand, he wasn't shocked, merely curious. He didn't seem to be able to respond as of yet so he followed his summoner's guidance back to the lane just as Draven grumbled his way into lane and their lane opponents faced them over the brawl of tiny minins in the center of the lane.

A thick mustachioed man came forward first, the girth of both his chest and facial hair dwarfing the weedy man next to Tahm. He regarded the two with a smile, before turning to the smaller woman next to him. As she came into focus, Tahm growled lightly to himself, a sinister smile coming to him as he saw the same criminal that had greeted him before with Lulu. Hex? Curse? Whatever it was, she didn't look all too pleased to see him either.

"Aw hell no! I'm not getting tongue-touched by fish boy!" She drew her zap pistol and aimed it towards him, which let out a sharp whine and jolt of feedback as it lanced electricity at blinding speed towards them. A minion caught the blast and was singed badly, falling over in a puff of ash before dematerializing. Draven etched an eyebrow, before walking forward with his axe spinning and seperating a minion in half cleanly. He caught it with a laugh and even Tahm had to commend the bravery to catch a spinning axe.

The thick man put one thick hand on Jinx's slender hands clutching her pistol. "Now now small woman, Summoners will stop match if you continue like this. " He smiled at her and put down his shield, which glowed softly with blue energy. Tahm recognized the magical aura of True ice and knew whatever that man was appearing to be, he was much stronger and older then he let on. The man turned to gaze to Tahm, and raised his hand with a laugh. A similar buckler to his own was strapped to his arm.

"Greetings friend! I am Braum! I am sorry, but we will have to make with the winnings of this game. I'm sure you'll give it your best though?" he gave a genuine smile before bringing a shuddering blow down on the nearest minion, the buckler absorbing the energy of the minion and launching it towards Jinx, revitalizing her. She continued gunning down minions slowly, unfazed, and Tahm felt a similar energy overcoming him as she crushed these magical constructs. He lanced his tongue out, striking down a minion and reducing it to a cloud of green mist and coins that jetted towards Draven. Tahm felt the strange power of an ancient empire frun through him as he held the shield, and took a slow breath out. He had alot to learn about the world, even with his years of life.

His eyes swept upwards, past the fighting magical beings called minions, to his opponents being watched over by a strange stone tower with a glowing red gem to rival their own blue one, and to the dark and mysterious river flanked by a wide purpled-tinted sky. He was a new world in every sense of the word. And he'd feast here, just as he planned to feast outside, he grinned to himself. He didn't leave a meal half-done.

Holy shit, it's alive. IT'S ALIIIIVE!

Yeah, I'm not dead. Sorry I can't respond to every old review right now but THANK YOU all for reading, if you're new or returning. I can't begin to tell you how weird it is having people like my story here, so I thought I'd write out a quick chapter to see fi people are still interested. I have some ideas but I've had alot of family stuff/schoolwork over the past few months so this story been pretty low on my list.

Still, I'm not stopping with it. Please, leave any comments you want, criticism is encouraged as I know I have alot to improve on.

Thanks, Kawaiipyro~

BIG EDIT: Fixed a ton of typos, I'm stuck using wordpad and that lack of an autocorrect left alot of mistakes since it's late. Sorry!