Hello again and happy new year 2018!

I know I´ve kept you waiting on this one. The days before Chrismas were quite stressful and was too lazy to write during the holydays and new year. But I´ve at least finshed it now and hope you like it. Feedback is welcome as always!

Enjoy!

Quinn breathed in the fresh and cold sea-air. The smell of salt and fish filled her lungs. It was like medicine for her brain. When she had awoken this morning, she had suffered under a severe headache. She did not remember anything of the fight against the juggernaut. Sejuani had told her how it ended. 'Another great move by Quinn, charging into an opponent twice her size.' she had thought. Quinn had always been a little reckless in fights. Some of her superiors had scolded her for it and prognosticated a short life for her. Her disregard for her own life had also cost Caleb his future. At least that what Quinn always told herself. And although it would have made things easier for Quinn´s mission if Irelia and Sejuani too had died in this encounter, she was happy that this was not the case. Quinn had grown fond of both her companions, maybe too fond of one of them. Quinn had not forgotten the scene that had played out right before their little skirmish. Right now she didn´t feel regret, but she didn´t know how to face the Freljordian. Quinn had always assumed she was straight, although it looked like she had been wrong. This was not her first time in love of course, when Quinn was promoted to ranger by Garen Crownguard, she instantly fell for the handsome warrior. She tried her luck a few times, but he soon made clear, that friends was the most they would ever be. That fact didn´t really break her heart but she was disapointed nontheless. All the greater her surprise had been when she realized she had feelings for the Fury of the North. Although Quinn still believed, that it was more admiration than romantic feelings. In time her emotions would change again, just as they had with Garen. She respected Sejuani, but a relationship with a woman like her? 'No thank you'.

A wet breeze of wind gust heralded a change of weather. Dark clouds covered the sky and the current was getting rougher. The city of Gloft was slowly getting smaller and smaller on the horizon. The captain, his name was Cohcar, had told them it was about two weeks till they would reach Bel´Zhun. But depending on the waters and the weather, it could easily take longer. At first Quinn had been quite sceptical about Sejuani´s choice to sail with such a run down ship, but the captain was a nice fellow and the crew seemed to be okay as well. The three women were not the only ones sailing to Shurima, there was also a man clothed in thick purple clothes. His face was covered by a mask with little holes in it. Alongside him he always had a lamppost, but Quinn didn´t know what purpose it served. He had not talked much until now, only standing at the figurehead of the ship and starring at the blue and seemingly endless sea. Sejuani was at the back of the ship, staying by Bristle´s side who refused to board the ship at first. In the first few minutes Quinn had heard a few squeaks from the chargo room, but they soon faded.

"Feeling a bit better now?" Irelia had come up behind Quinn. She had not noticed the Ionian and flinched at the sound of her voice.

"Yeah, the sea-air works wonders. But my arm still hurts like hell." Quinn pointed at her injured arm, which was wrapped in a bandage. It was most likely broken and it would take at least two weeks or more until she could use it again properly.

"Well you looked like you´re dead after that fight. We were lucky enough to get you out alive." Irelia smiled faintly.

"Sorry, should´ve waited for you two to help me. I just charged in on my own."

"Don´t apologize, it was me who went in first after all. And I did get my fair share of scolding for it." Irelia gestured at bruise over one of her eyes. She didn´t manage to get out of this fight unscated as well.

"Looks nasty, must´ve been one hell of a blow from the Noxian soldiers."

"Oh, it wasn´t from one of the soldiers." Irelia replied with a stern face. "Sejuani just beat some sense into me after we´d dealt with the patrol.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at that statement. 'Sejuani beat up Irelia?' To be honest it wasn´t that surprising after Irelia just ingored the Freljordian´s authority. But she had not expected it to be frank. "Seems like she was in a bad mood after you disregarded her command. She is a fomer warchief after all."

"She was furious to be exact. Blaming me for your death and my recklessness and honestly, I can´t say anything against her accusations. It was weak of me to lose control over such a trivial thing. Had I been more on edge we could have avoided these complications."

Quinn had to admit that Irelia was right, without her little outburst they would have had much less problems. "Maybe it is rude of me to ask, but I am just too currious. How does this...thing... work? You know the demon inside you and all that. How can you live with that?"

Quinn had expected a negative answer or at least an angry face, but Irelia just gave her a warm smile. "It is not rude of you at all. It´s only natrual that you are wondering, I myself had not thought that this was even possible, even though there is plenty of magic in Ionia. To keep it simple, its like arguing with someone in your mind. He interrupts your own trail of thought with is irrational arguments and you can´t ignore him because you can´t keep anything from him. But it is not only that, at certain situations I just lose control over my body because I can´t withstand him. It often when I get emotional or worked up. Let me tell you, it´s not pleasent to not be the master of your own mind and body. That is why I must hurry to Shurima and cleanse this evil within me. I want to be free of this curse and live a normal life again. Only then can I return to Ionia and protect it once more."

Quinn was taken aback by the honesty of her answer. She had not expected Irelia to be this open about her problems. Quinn herself always tried to avoid talking about her past to others. Not because she did not want them to know but, she hated to see their pity in their eyes when they looked at her. She had loved Caleb and was destroyed when he died, but these time were over, she had moved on. Shyvana was one of the only people in the military who knew the full story and she had always tried to keep it that way.

"Do you miss Ionia?" Quinn didn´t know why she blurted that out. But she didnt know what else to say.

Irelia´s eyes gazed at the horizon. "I suppose I do miss it. I could return any time I want, but I know it wont do any good if I return before I am cured."

Suddenly, raindrops darted the two women. The storm had finally reached them. The breeze which had been very pleasant before was getting stronger and pulled at Quinn´s clothes. Quinn had never sailed for long an thus never experienced a storm on sea. Shielding her face Irelia turned to face the Demacian. "Come on, lets get inside before it gets worse."

Sejuani pulled her face out of Bristles fur. The boar had finally quieted down and began to get used to the movement of the ship. Bristle had never been on a ship before and as such had been irritated and scared as Sejuani had led him on their transportation vehicle for the next days. At first he tried to get off the shaking ground but the more he moved the more the ship reacted to his movements. It took Sejuani quite a bit of patience and sweet talk to get him to enter the cargo room. Despite his size Bristle feared a number of things and obviously ships were one of them.

"The biggest animals are often the greatest cowards." Sejuani was surprised when she heard a deep voice from behind her. She had expected Irelia or maybe Quinn, but not a man. She turned arround and faced a tall man with purple clothes. His face was covered with a mask and he wore a hood. It seemed like he didn´t want people to know who he really was. Even stanger was the object in one of his hands. A small lamppost, barely one and a half meters long, the end which would normaly go into the ground was still covered in earth.

"No more cowards then all other creatures. The big creatures are only expected to not feel scared." Her response was quite provoking. That was maybe a bit unnecessary, but Sejuani didn´t like people who thought to be so clever.

"Ha, you´re right about that." His reaction was far from hostile, his intentions seemed friendly. Sejuani relaxed at bit, maybe she had misjudged her visitor. The man held out his arm for a handshake. "I´m Jax. Some call me the Grandmaster, but do as you like." Reluctantly Sejuani returned the gesture. His grip was very firm, which caught Sejuani off guard.

"I´m Sejuani, and this is Bristle my long time friend. We´re from the Freljord far in the north."

"Freljord, that´s quite some way you had together. I come from Icathia, not such a nice place nowadays, maybe you´ve heard of it." There was a certain sadness in his voice during the second sentence. Sejuani had heard some stories back in her childhood about Icathia. But they had been more like fairy tales, stories which seemed too unreal to be true. Supposedly it had been a prosperous city in the Shuriman desert with experts at arms and weapons. But it was destroyed by void creatures and completly vanished from most maps of Valoran. Sejuani found it hard to believe to have a man of that exact city standing before her. Icathia´s destructions was already decades ago, at least that´s what the stories told.

"You understand, that I find it hard to believe that your really from Icathia. I had been consumed by the Void long ago, if it ever existed."

"Not worries, I´m used to answers like that. Whether you believe it or not, it is the truth I´d like to tell. The 'Void' you just metioned is what I seek to defeat. I´ve traveled many countries so far, searching for allies which are worthy to assist me in my task." Despite her rigit answer he seemed honest and not offened at all.

Sejuani smirked. "Judging by your lack of company though you´re not very successful."

"Well, let´s say I can´t take anybody. I need strong people, both mentally and physically. So I challenge the people I met and whoever is albe to hold their own against me is welcome to join. Up until now I´ve only had one person who accomplished that. Despite her being suitable for the task she wasn´t willing to follow me as long as her familiy´s honor isn´t restored." Sejuani didn´t look convinced, this guy seemed like a total fraud ot her. He looked like a poor man, said he was from a city that didn´t even exist, told her he was fighting people all arround the continent with only a lamppost and had lost only one time.

A small laugh escaped her mouth. "Do you expect me to believe all this?"

"No, but it´s common curtesy. I don´t force you to believe any of it." He seemed unimpressed by Sejuani´s taunt. "Just let me ask you something, if you would hear your own story right now, would you believe it?"

Sejuani answered without any hesitation. "No, not one bit of it."

"Unbeliveable stories are more often true than not. Believable stories try so hard to be normal that they can´t be real oftentimes."

"Your logic seems very strange. Though I can´t deny you some credit for it." Maybe there was more to this man than met the eye. Although Sejuani doubted his full story was true he was more interesting than she´d originally thought.

"Thanks, I guess? But back to my reason for being here, I wanna see you in action. I saw you and your company when you came aboard. You seem strong enough to try my luck." His tone had now shifted to a more challenging voice.

"You wanna fight me?"

"Yes, to see if you´re worthy enough."

Sejuani´s lips formed a grin. "You don´t know what you´re getting yourself into." If he wanted to be beaten that badly Sejuani would gladly follow his wish.

"That´s for me to decide." He put one his hand onto her shoulder. "Tomorrow, when the weather is a bit more friendly, on the ships deck. You can use any weapon you want." He pointed at Bristle. "Though I´d advise you to not bring your mount, ships are so easy to shatter." Doubts formed in Sejuani´s head, he was so confident in his own skill. Not a single trace of fear lay in his voice and he had challenged her without hesitation. But she brushed the thoughts aside, this man was nothing to worry about, she had faced scarier foes in the past.

Sejuani considered his proposal for a short moment, but didn´t take long to find an answer. "Deal, but no cheap tricks. I prefer clean fights." She reached for Jax´s hand once again.

"Wouldn´t have it any other way." he responded and shook her hand. Without another word he exited the room and left Sejuani with her mount. Bristle had fallen into a light slumber, his back slowly rising and falling again. Sejuani sat on a small barrel near the hull of the ship. She never liked sailling, the wonky ground and the salty sea air were just not her cup of tea. Her thought drifted off to a certain Crossbowwoman aboard the ship. She had avoided Quinn the whole day already. Despite her decision to ignore her emotions she found it hard to do so. But she knew that there was absolutly nothing romantic about these emtions for Quinn. These feelings were just pure attraction to her appearance. They would fade in time, as they had before. She had had certain people that had pleasured her in her time as leader of the winters claw but non of these 'relationships', if you could call them that, lasted longer than a month or so. Sejuani was just really annoyed that it had happened in the first place. Quinn was a trustworthy companion and Sejuani had always enjoyed her company, as a friend that is. This whole emotional thing made things only more complicated and Sejuani hated it when things were more complicated than they needed to be.

A bit annoyed at her train of thought, Sejuani headed for the cabins. She needed to get some sleep to get her head free of everything.

The Sun reigned supreme in the sky, not a single cloud could be spotted. The weather had changed considerably since yesterday, as had the sea. The ship had been shaken the whole night by the crashing of the waves on the hull. Now the current was very peaceful. Irelia rolled her eyes, standing in the center of the ship, with her hands on her hips. "Is this really necessary?" She had reluctantly agreed to be the judge of their fight, to ensure both fighter would survive unharmed. But she still didn´t think much of their duel in the first place. But all her attemps to persuade both fighters failed. The captain had only laughed and given his premission, apperantly he wasn´t a stranger to such events.

Both Sejuani and Jax noded. The two of them stood adverse facing each other. Sejuani had her flail in one and the sword in the other hand. Her muscles were already tensed up and ready to charge at Jax. He held the lamppost with a firm grip in both his hands and seemed a bit more relaxed than the Freljoridan. Irelia gave the sign and Sejuani charged at her enemy. She wanted to end it quickly, so he had no chance to react. But jax was faster and dodged her attack with ease. He went to the offensive as well and Sejuani had difficulty blocking his strike. Despite him being very fast and agile it looked like it took no toll on him whatsoever. It was more like the opposite, the longer both of the traded blows, the faster he seemed to get. After what could only been minutes Sejuani was drenched in sweat and already breathing heavily. She had definitly underestimated this man, she had never fought someone who could forsee all her actions and knew how to counter them. Their fighting continued, but the tide turned more and more towards Jax favor.

"Not bad, you´re better than expected. But still i don´t think you´re good enough." Contrary to Sejuani´s believe no mockery lay in his voice. It was more like respect. But still Sejuani couldn´t feel any comfort in that. She didn´t want to lose against him. But rage or furry wouldn´t help her in this situation. She took a deep breath and considered her options. She couldn´t beat this man with normal attacks, he was just too skilled and well versed with weapons. Despite Sejuani having a flail, which was a rather rare sight on battlefields, he knew the weapon like it was his own. Before she could evaluate a plan however jax came jumping in to end their duell. Sejuani tumbled to the side, but felt the lamppost inflicting a heavy blow on her back. The pain coursed through her body and her evasion maneuver failed midway. She jumped back to her feet immediatly to face her foe again. Saw jax´s next attack too late and his weapon crashed into her shoulder. Ignoring the pain she just lifted her sword to the throat of her adversary.

In this moment Irelia stepped in. "Enough! Anymore and one of you is getting seriously injured!" Although her voice was filled with worry both fighters didn´t move one centimeter as nobody wanted to be declared as the loser in this duel. "Put down your weapons, will you?!" Irelia´s tone changed to a much more aggressive one. Reluctanly Sejuani lowered her sword and backed up a few steps. Jax eased up as well, but he had been in a much more relaxed stance anyway.

"So, who´s the winner?" Sejuani tried to compose herself.

"I´d call it a draw, though jax would have won if you continued any further." Irelia was as honest as ever, and Sejuani flinched a bit shen she heard that. Of course she knew the outcome during the fight already but it still got on her nerves how easy he seemed to have kept her under control.

"Ha, you´re lucky, the judge is on your side. This fight was already over." He appraoched Sejuani and reached for her hand. Sejuani just noded, she knew it was the plain truth. "But I got to give you creddit for lasting that long though. You´ve passed the requirements I´d say. Anyways, I´m going underdeck for a drink, care to join me?" 'Well this is unexpected. Isn´t he upset that he didn´t win.' A smile formed on her lips. Now she wanted to get to know that man. "Lead the way." She gestured him to the cabins.

The rest of the day Sejuani and Jax spent drinking in the back of the ship. He told her of his travels through Valoran and the people he had fought. It all sounded too good to be true, but Sejuani believed every single bit of after seeing him fight him today. He also told her of the one person beside Sejuani who managed to hold her own against him. Though he couldn´t stop to remind Sejuani that he was the superior warrior. Sejuani wasn´t really upset at that, it was the truth after all. Her name was Fiora Laurent, a noble form Demacia and an expert in fight with a fencer. Although he declined his request to follow him to Icathia to fight the void, she promised to bring soldiers of her house as soon as the familiy affairs in Demacia were settled. Suposedly the honor of her family had been tranished after she declined to marry a noble, she deemed not worthy as an husband. He offered Sejuani to follow him as well, but Sejuani immediatly refused. She had found a lot of respect for Jax and the goals he pursued, but she wanted to help Irelia first. Maybe after she had returned to Ionia, Sejuani could help him. The moon already shone bright when both of them said their goodbyes and went to their respective cabins.

The rest of the journey was rather boring as nothing major happened. Jax and Sejuani drank nearly every evening and shared their stories of the things they had experienced. Sejuani got along very well with the Grandmaster at Arms and seemed to enjoy her company as well. Quinn and Irelia rarely joined them as neither of the two drank much booze. Sejuani learned that Jax had learned to fight with almost every weapon and only carried the lamppost to test others in their ability to fight. Most of them made the same mistake as Sejuani and underestimated him, leading to their defeat.

Sejuani was torn form sleep by Quinn, she hadn´t even knocked. She stood beside Sejuani´s bed and made a worried face. Something bad must have happened, as it was just unusual for the Demacian to just ingore her privacy.

"Ohh-... Quinn what´s up?" The Freljordian groaned as she opened her eyes, still tired. Her head was aching as she probably drank too much the eveing before and was now paying the price for it.

"Get on deck as quickly as possible. We´ve got a little problem." He voice was dry and the usual brightness seemed to be missing. Without another word she left Sejuani´s cabin. Hasitly Sejuani put on her clothes and her armor. After what she heard she also took her waepons with her. The situation seemed pretty bad if Quinn didn´t even bother to greet her. Not even five minutes later she opened the door to the outside. It was pretty early in the morning and the sun just rose over the horizon.

Irelia, Jax, the captain and Quinn were already standing at the front of the ship and looked south. After her eyes got used to the bright morning sun she noticed that they had reached the shores of Shurima. The yellow sand covered practically all of the land. Her gaze shifted to the city in the center of the scene. This had to be Bel´Zhun, their desitnation. There was only one big problem, the city seemed to be under siege. Black clouds emerged from the residential areas and a line of what had to be shuriman warhsips blockaded the harbour. All of them were equipped with some sort of siege weaponry. Occasionally some of them fired them to launch projectiles towards the city. Quinn had warned them that Azir was trying to get control over his empire back, but this was still surprising. It was basically a declaration of war against Noxus, as they currently controlled the city.

"Well, that´s a bit of a suprise." Sejuani commented.

"So, what´s the plan?" Quinn frowed.

"We still need to get off in there." Irelia said with a stern face. Although she sounded calm, Sejuani noticed how tensed up she was. "I can´t wait until they have fought it out. If I´m ever gonna -"

"I´ve seen a lot." The Captain suddenly interrupted them. "But I´m afraid I can´t bring you to Bel`Zhun at the moment. I wanna live while longer and docking at a besieged city isn´t really helpful for that. Besides the military will confiscade all my wares for their purposes, so I´m not gonna make any profit from that." His skin was pale and the usual smirk was not present on his face.

"Your kiding right, we need to get off there." Sejuani practically shouted at him.

"Sorry, no happening." He just replied.

"We´ll see about that." Sejuani put her hand on her sword while she said that.