Expect a content splurge over the coming week, because I am finally back! Uni and personal life has been pretty busy, so I found most of my spare time playing League with friends (Veigar support OP).

I felt these coming chapters were a lot more depressing than most of my writing, particularly when we got to the topic of Judgements (or at least my take on them).

Fingers crossed everything should be back to normal now, sorry about the wait!

BJ


Chapter 11 - Changed

To say Avarin stormed off of the rift after the game would be similar to saying the Noxian invasion of Ionia was minor disagreement. Summoners and champions alike rushed to get out of the way of the hunter, fumes almost visibly rising from his face. He made his way towards the exit, determined to retreat to his room and destroy the first piece of furniture he saw. The idea of his wardrobe lying in splinters at the foot of his bed managed to calm him a little, but all that was lost as he watched Nidalee slink her way out of the summoning chamber, her cougar form disappearing quickly down the hall. It was going to take a lot more than one wardrobe to make Avarin feel better.

He was about to exit the room himself when an arm shot out, blocking off his path. His summoner stared at him accusingly, as if trying to see what had come over the hunter towards the end of the match. Their team had won, mostly thanks to Avarin's play, although none were prepared to congratulate him on it. He'd been ruthless, needlessly pursuing kills just for the sake of violence. They had seen similar champions before, Jax being the one that came to mind foremost, but none had expected the hunter to be that kind of person. They were afraid of him, of the look in his eyes as he hunted them down. All that is except Rengar, who being slower than most champions saw Avarin's attitude as nothing more than sport. The cat had congratulated him after the game, completely oblivious to the death-glare he received the whole time. The summoner was not so ignorant.

"What the hell was that?" Avarin tried to push past, but the summoner was a lot stronger than he let on. Staring deep into the summoner's eyes, he tried to appear as intimidating as possible, although the summoner seemed unfazed.

"We won, isn't that what matters?"

"What matters is peace, that is what we stand for. You can be as competitive as you want on the battlefield, but off of it the champions are your friends and family, and we will not have you scaring them." Avarin turned around, looking at some of the other champions. Most of them were sparing shy glances at him, talking under their breath. The most heartbreaking was the way Tristana looked at him, still managing a smile but it was evidently forced. He hadn't realised exactly how much of an impact his attitude had. He hung his head, rubbing his temple in an attempt to calm down.

"Sorry, it has been a rough day." The summoner sighed, lowering his arm and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It isn't always easy, go get some rest, I'll see if I can get you a break for the next day or two." Avarin nodded respectfully, making his way out of the room before the summoner called back to him.

"And talk to Nidalee. I don't know what happened between you two, but I need it fixed." Avarin didn't respond to that, still fighting to keep himself calm. He travelled through the halls, being sure to take his time, checking out the halls as he went. He met some summoners and champions, many congratulating him on his first couple of wins while some of the others seemed to size him up, as though figuring out if they stood a chance in a fight. These champions annoyed Avarin, he wasn't here for the fighting, and he couldn't care less if they could take him or not, but he had the decency not to say so out loud and start more fights. He didn't want his summoner having to deal with an even bigger mess.

He finally arrived at his room, hand hovering over his doorknob. He knew he needed to rest, his body was tired and that wasn't helping his mood, but in that moment his mind was anywhere but on a decent sleep. Conceding, he walked down the hall, knocking abruptly on Nidalee's door. There were the obvious sounds of movement mixed with some sound Avarin could not make out, but the door was not opened. He tried again.

"Nidalee, please, we need to talk." Still no response, Avarin getting a little annoyed at this. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain that was rising deep in his chest. He felt shattered, and he knew he wasn't going to get any better waiting for Nidalee to open the door. A plan beginning to form, he took a few steps further down the hall, knocking on the next door along. Unlike Nidalee, Zyra was more than willing to open the door, raising an eyebrow in surprise at Avarin's presence.

"Back so soon? You should be resting." Avarin scoffed.

"I couldn't rest if I wanted to, does every room along this side have a window?" Avarin pushed past Zyra, heading over to the far wall and opening the window that overlooked the gardens beyond. The plant mage rushed up, trying to slow Avarin down.

"Yes, they do, why does that matter?" In a heartbeat Avarin was out the window and on the very narrow ledge attached to it, eyes fixed forward to prevent himself looking down. He'd spent his fair share of time up trees in the Kumungu, so heights were no problem for him. The problem he had was that, unlike in the Kumungu, if he fell there would be no bushes and branches to help slow his fall. Zyra shrieked, about to reach out and pull him in before realising that could just as easily lead him to topple off the edge. She settled for standing a good distance back, worry wrought upon her face.

"What are you doing!? Get back inside right now." Avarin turned around and gave Zyra a quick smile before slowly shutting the window behind him. Now alone on the ledge, he had some time to think on his actions. Was it insanity? Yes, quite probably. Would Nidalee be glad he did it? Probably not, but he was not about to let that stop him. He had dreamt of this day for so long, and he was not about to let it play out the way it had. He took a small step along the ledge towards Nidalee's room, heart almost stopping as some of the stonework gave way beneath him. He instantly pulled his foot back before he lost his balance, standing deathly still so as not to cause the rest of it to collapse. Once convinced the risk had passed, he tried again, this time making sure the foothold was secure before taking the step. Inch by inch he made his way across until he was standing in front of the window to Nidalee's room. With deft fingers Avarin managed to loop his tips under the frame and pull up, smiling as it gave way. He'd hate to have been foiled by a locked window.

The inside of the room was very simple, not even a bed decorating the large room. Instead there was a mat, probably of Noxian craftsmanship, Avarin could recognise the plush design and crimson colour scheme. In the middle of the mat, curled like a frightened child, was Nidalee, the sound of whimpering meeting Avarin's ears. What was he supposed to do now? The idea of saying 'hi Nidalee, sorry for sneaking into your room, but I had to see you' sounded pathetic, and although true was not how he wanted to start the conversation. He took a step closer before she spoke.

"You shouldn't be here." Avarin had to resist the urge to hit himself. Even all those years ago Nidalee had been an exceptional huntress; she was guaranteed to hear him enter. At least the awkwardness he'd felt at trying to figure out what to say was gone.

"Well, you didn't open the door."

"Most people would have got the message by then." Avarin chuckled.

"Yeah, well, I'm not most people." Nidalee didn't smile at this, uncurling and standing up. She was quite a bit smaller than Avarin, the hunter fairly convinced she had barely grown since their last meeting. She slowly approached him, hand tentatively reaching out to touch his cheek. It hovered there for a moment before it actually made contact. Nidalee smiled, relishing in this moment, before the look disappeared and she pulled away, turning her back to him.

"This isn't possible, you're supposed to be dead." Now Avarin was confused.

"Dead? What made you think that?" He went forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, the huntress beginning to form tears.

"I watched the Noxians chase you, I saw you enter the red jungle, I even saw you fall! You… you were dead." Avarin tilted her head so she was looking into his eyes.

"Do I look dead to you?" Nidalee practically leapt forward, slamming their faces together in a passionate kiss. Avarin couldn't keep his feet, falling back onto the mat with a painful grunt. The sudden change in attitude was certainly welcome, but it didn't last long, Nidalee eventually pulling away and jumping back like a frightened cat, hands pulling at her hair.

"God, what have I done?" She now had tears pouring down her face, Avarin struggling to keep up with the frequent mood swings. Nidalee sat down on the mat, burying her tear-drenched face in her hands. Avarin slowly sat up, moving over to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, calm down, you're all over the place." Nidalee pushed his hand away, averting her eyes from his.

"You wouldn't be so kind if you knew what I had done." Avarin laughed.

"Seriously? I've spent the past five years going about my everyday life and never once found you. I let you down, I'm sorry." To say this didn't have the desired response would be putting it lightly. Avarin was doing his best to figure out what was going through her head, and he guessed horribly wrong. Where he expected her to calm down a little she seemed to weep harder. She repeated to her words to herself, voice barely above a whisper.

"You wouldn't be so kind if you knew what I have done."

"Tell me then. I'm here now." Nidalee groaned at the statement, Avarin still not quite having figured out what to do to make things better.

"You don't want to know. You don't want to hear about the things I've done, you just want things to be like they were before." Nidalee stood up, wiping the last of her tears from her eyes. She walked over to her door, grasping the handle but seeming to have second thought before turning it. She took a deep breath.

"We can't live in the past anymore, and I certainly can't be the girl I used to be." She opened the door, looking at Avarin expectantly. The hunter was dumbfounded, where had he managed to stuff things up so horribly? He got to his feet and made his way to the door, mind anywhere but in the moment as he walked past Nidalee and into the hall. The huntress offered him a quick, unreadable look before closing the door, ending any discussion to be had.


Not what you expected? I did warn you, this story is anything but perfect. Avarin now found himself stuck at the Institute with the woman he loved so dearly but would not accept him, and the woman who loved him but he'd let go. Life was difficult to say the least. The couple of days after his talk with the huntress had been slow and painful, the summoner ensuring that he didn't even have matches to take up his time. The hunter partly regretted this decision, he would have liked the distraction, but he also knew he was in no state to be fighting. It wasn't until the third day that he finally had a visitor, something to break his gloomy routine. He opened the door, almost being trampled by a small purple blur that seemed to half-run half-fly into the room. He'd been unsure how to respond to this until the second figure entered his room, Tristana offering him a wide smile.

"I think you've been gloomy for long enough, you need to get out." The purple yordle stood up from where she'd landed, straightening her hat before looking him up and down.

"Wow Tristy, he's so blue!" Avarin just raised an eyebrow at the gunner, Tristana waving the comment off. The yordles both looked at him, Avarin getting progressively more uncomfortable with the situation. Tristana eventually groaned, mumbling to herself.

"Do I have to do everything myself." She walked over to his wardrobe, finding whatever looked to be the cleanest and throwing it at Avarin.

"Put those on, put your bow away, then come with us. We're going out." Avarin went into the bathroom to change, the yordles not making any attempt to give him privacy. Apparently nakedness wasn't such an important thing to them.

"What do you mean going out? Where are we going?"

"You, me and a couple of my friends are going shopping. And this isn't optional, you are coming even if I have to make Lulu turn you into a squirrel so I can stuff you in my bag. There is only one true cure for a broken heart, and that is meaningless clothes." This made Avarin stop, the hunter poking his head out from around the door and looking at the yordle.

"Who told you I have a broken heart?" Tristana huffed, turning her head away.

"I'm astonished you don't think I hear gossip." Avarin was getting more worried as this progressed.

"Tristana, what did you hear?" It was the little purple yordle, Lulu if Avarin remembered correctly, who answered.

"Zyra said you and Nida had a fight." Tristana nodded.

"Kind of been the biggest piece of gossip travelling amongst the champions." Avarin sighed, it was bad enough it'd happened at all, now half the Institute knew about it. He didn't even know his name was in circulation throughout the champion circles.

He kept silent for a little before emerging from his bathroom, fully changed, Lulu's eyes almost popping out of her head.

"Tristy, you never said he was cute!" Tristana herself was a little dumbstruck. The only times she had been with Avarin he'd been wearing typical hunting armaments, light leather armour with a quiver and knives; not a very attractive look. It turns out the summoner had a taste in fashion however, Avarin wearing not only stylish clothes, but ones of an unquestionable fine quality. Overall, it managed to make the hardened hunter from the Kumungu look almost presentable enough for the Demacian court. Tristana whistled.

"Well, he wasn't. You should try and dress normally more often." Avarin found himself blushing. He was a hunter, not some fancy prince. He'd seen enough of the upper class in the cities surrounding the Kumungu to know he didn't want to be associated with them, most too caught up in their wealth to notice the bigger issues. But something about the way the yordles looked at him, hints of affection tainting their otherwise friendly eyes, he found strangely desirable. He found himself smiling, looking through his belongings for some money. He typically didn't bother with carrying a pouch or wallet, but he always kept a stash of currency in his supplies. Tucking it into one of his pockets (an innovation he hadn't had the luxury of having for some years), he set out with the two yordles.

"Well, somebody's gotten dressed up." Avarin turned to look at Zyra, glad to hear her voice after his self-imposed seclusion. She had the same look the yordle's had, something lustful hidden behind her normal visage. Avarin liked this more and more.

"We're taking him shopping with Poppy, figured it could do him good." Zyra smiled at the yordle.

"I'm just impressed you got him out of his room. Trust a yordle's enthusiasm to stir even the most reclusive soul." With that she continued down the hall, leaving the group to their shopping. Tristana and Lulu lead the way mostly, making sure to pass through what Avarin later found out to be the Demacian quarters to pick up their other friend, Poppy. The new member had seemed cheerful enough, although she clearly didn't share the same carefree attitude of the other yordles. Much like Avarin she was happy to let the more energetic two lead the way while she hung behind, getting to know the new guy on the block.

"So you grew up in the Kumungu?" Avarin shrugged.

"Sort of. Technically I spent most of my childhood in Noxus, but the important years were all in the jungle." Poppy scowled.

"So you're a Noxian?" Avarin laughed at this, shaking his head.

"No chance in hell." Poppy's face completely shifted, now beaming up at the hunter. She seemed to hate Noxians almost as much as he did.

"So how did you meet Nidalee?" The mention of her name sent an unwelcome chill down Avarin's spine, but he knew she was only making conversation. He reluctantly answered.

"When I stumbled upon the Kumungu I was, well, pretty damn clueless as to what was actually there. She saved my life on that first day, and we became hunt partners." Poppy smiled, a caring expression.

"So you two go a long way back."

"Not long enough I'm afraid." Avarin couldn't bring himself to smile, the memory of the other night still etched in his mind. Poppy, noticing this, decided a different path of conversation.

"What about Zyra? How do you know her?" Avarin thought on this for a moment before chuckling to himself, Poppy raising an eyebrow.

"I just realised a common theme. Nidalee and I were attacked by Noxians one day and got separated, and she ultimately saved my life." Poppy chuckled.

"And this is why I never buy into that whole 'damsel in distress' stuff." The pair shared a warm laugh, Lulu and Tristana looking back in curiosity.

"Oi, what's so funny back there?"

"Nothing you'd know about Tristy." Poppy stood on her tiptoes to whisper in Avarin's ear.

"Practically every yordle at the Institute is hanging off of her, she never has trouble finding a date for anything." Avarin smiled, continuing to whisper since he gathered this was probably a sore spot for Tristana.

"Why is it she hasn't mentioned a boyfriend then?" Poppy chuckled.

"Because most of the yordle guys here are nuts. Just wait until you meet Heimerdinger!"

"I'm a what?" Poppy lost it, almost falling over laughing. Thankfully for her they arrived at the front of the Institute, Tristana and Lulu joining the pair so they could figure out where they wanted to go. Most of the conversation was completely lost to Avarin, the hunter having no clue what shops were even present, let alone where they could go to find them. The yordles seemed to eventually reach a consensus and soon Avarin was being dragged through the market place. They would stop occasionally, often when some of the vendor-food smelled too good to resist, or when there was a stall with clothes actually in yordle sizes. The experience was a little hectic, but Avarin felt himself relaxing. Soon the three were joking around and playing as they walked, any onlookers assuming the three had been lifelong friends. Nobody would have guessed that they were simply strangers, brought together by circumstance and motive, wanting to mend a broken heart. And for the most part, while he was out there laughing and shopping, Avarin was able to believe it had worked.