It all started with a big thunder-like light dropping down on top of me, and many others simultaneously dropping down onto earth straight down from the sky.
They looked like cylinders on the sky, and surrounding me, similar to those movies about aliens kidnapping people.
That's when some sort of something dropped within the light.
A small, bright text floated in front of me, inside the bright tube of light that had swallowed me before…
It was short, and it simply said:
"You play?"
Short and simple, but understandable.
The only question was, play what? Or, more precisely, what the hell was going on at that precise moment?
But…
Who cares either way?
I touched on the text and it suddenly disappeared, immediately I felt myself being pulled upwards, levitating into the air.
Before I could scream or say anything else, another text appeared in front of me.
'Excellent!
You've agreed to enter the grandiose League of Legends, how exciting!
Here you'll find all sorts of creatures, alive or dead, that will blow away your mind and what you think is real. You'll find characters that either come out as terrifying, or quite
extremely cute.
Last but not least, we need you to choose one of the many factions that we have here in the league.
Or rather than the league…
Runa Terra!
We hope you enjoy your stay - Riot.
Only one thing ran through my head as I finished to read that text, before my sight went white.
"That was the least informative guide I've ever read in my entire life"
"And that's how I ended up here, sire" I finished retelling the exact same way I actually ended up in this...strange place, to say the least.
The man in front of me, a giant looking dwarf-, as ironic as that may sound-, had been taking in my information as casually as some guard letting the homeowner inside their own home for at least two hours now, explaining to him who I was and how I got here…
And if anyone asked me, I'd tell them this is one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen in my life.
Nature was the predominant decoration around; the place was filled with trees, bushes, overall green and flora as if humans had never actually reached such a place.
Before getting to this sort of 'Starter zone', I'd seen some kind of strange demi-human talk about this place, called 'Ionia' and that it was one of the many factions within RunaTerra.
"Alright, Kid. It seems clear to me now that you were indeed invited here by Mister Riot, so please do me a favour, and place your hand on top of this device" He took out a strange looking tablet, with some sort of runes surrounding the entire thing. In the middle of it, the name League of Legends could be read as it floated above the stone itself like some sort of illusion.
"Excuse me." I tried asking, "But, what is League of legends?" The masked dwarf immediately started laughing out loud towards me.
"Very funny, lad. But there's no way you'd be here if you didn't know what being here means." He took my arm into his calloused, huge hand and forced it down onto the tablet.
Immediately, it shone a bright, blue colour.
'Summoner'
The moment I touched the weird device, a white text appeared on top of me.
'Level 1 - Unranked'
The man beside me stood there silently as he stared out loud for several, crucial seconds before laughing once again; this time patting my back as he did so.
"Did you remain in your smurf before they dragged you here, kid?" He asked between snickers.
I really couldn't even understand what he was talking about, but something within me told me I should act this game out if I wanted to stay here a little longer.
"Y-Yeah, I did…", I played along without knowing what he was referring to.
"I got it, no worries, kid." He said as he started walking, silently asking me to follow him, "So, just a lil' bit of chit chat for this old man, but, what were you, huh? Diamond? Master?, perhaps...a Challenger?" I couldn't understand what he was talking about…
"Uh, Diamond, I was-, yeah. I was Diamond." I tried mustering as much confidence in my lies as he could, and the masked giant of a Dwarf hummed wisely in response.
We walked a little longer until we reached some sort of strange, open plaza, with a fountain in the middle. The place was filled with people of all sizes, colours, and limbs that were walking left and right with haste, seemingly busy and with things to do.
The old man in front of me patted his chest and stepped to the side.
"This is as far as I'll go, lad" He patted my back twice, "Have a good un', and choose wisely!"
"Wait, what do you mean by-!" The man was already gone, "'Choose'...?" I sighed before turning around once again, to stare at the huge amount of people around the place.
Without knowing what to do, and slightly pressured at the current situation, I started walking forward, aiming to take a seat somewhere around the fountain to start thinking.
Some pretty looking red strand of hair stole my sight for a single moment, and it turned out to be one big mistake.
"What the fuck do you think you're looking at?" The sole hostility within the voice of the person in front of me made me shiver, and I had to look away before continuing.
"M-My bad, I didn't mean to, I-uh, I'm-" I couldn't even find words, but the fiery looking lady in front of me wouldn't have none of it either way.
"Just to let you know, no matter what your sorry ass does, I'm not accepting" She attacked me and my, albeit slightly flat looking, bum, before mentioning something that caught my attention.
"Before you smack me to death...what do you mean by accepting?" I hadn't actually confessed without noticing, had I?
The fiery red haired girl's eyes morphed from immediate threat to confusion, and in a second, her posture changed to one of wonder.
"You trynna' play dumb, kid?" She asked, but more than trying to attack me again, it sounded like an actual question.
I lifted up my hands in a surrender motion.
"I'm new here, don't even know what most things mean" She frowned, and lifted up her eyes to look at my title...that sad Level 1.
It took some awkward, silent seconds for her to actually let go of her anger, and when her form relaxed, so did mine.
"Sorry about that, thought you were one of those egocentric idiots for a second" I shrugged and nodded her way.
"No biggie" This was my chance to fill out some information, "So, uh, would you mind filling me in on what's going on?" She frowned once again, probably that was one of her favorite expressions, or something.
"You really don't know anything?" I shook my head in denial and smile sheepishly, "Hmm, I don't even know where to start, young stuff"
She motioned to one of the benches close to the fountain and we both took a seat there.
I learned that this was some sort of competition, one in which five champions would fight against another team of five in a forced manner.
Summoners, in this case me and some others, were meant to be the captain of this said team, and the champions, the ones that would be doing the actual fighting, were meant to listen to their captain's orders.
"It doesn't sit well on me, y'know, giving orders to other people" Katarina, as I had come to learn, looked at me with a confused look on her face, "Nor having their lives in my hands…"
"Lives are unlimited within the rift, though." She offered, "And we don't always have to follow a captain's orders; we're always gonna be loyal to them and their purposes, for the sake of the fight, but they don't really have complete control over us." I nodded, understanding.
Wait, did she say 'We'?
"Are-Are you also a champion?" For once in our entire time talking, she graced me with a small, proud smile.
"That I am, indeed, Katarina Du Couteau, The Sinister Blade" She took out a dagger and strangely offered it to me.
It was so well polished that I could see my own reflection in it.
"Don't touch the pointy parts, a mere grace could cut your finger" She warned me and I gulped hard before giving the dagger back to her.
She laughed at my expression.
"Don't look so damn scared, it's been a while since I dropped off that title" The way she dressed and how she had taken out a dagger seemingly out of nowhere made me doubt a ton, but if she said so…
"And what, I'm supposed to...get champion? How?" She hummed in response.
"Some have the ability to choose five, others seven, it all gets down to yourself; either that, or champions pact with you themselves" She stood up from the bench we were sitting at and stretched, "There's like a hundred and something champions, and it's an even number of at least five per summoner, but like I said, it's all a damned hassle, someone called Riot convinced the Institute of War to bring this summoners and us to fight in a tournament, for the sake of entertainment or probably something else that goes deeper than that"
"Right...so first I need champions…" I stared at the ground blankly, not really knowing how to even go from there, "No, first I need to know which champions…nope, I first need to know the champions themselves" The red haired champion in front of me laughed at my dismay.
"I for one don't care about the entire competition shit, I've got...my own set of troubles to think about and this just turned out to be a pain in the ass" Her tone told me she was suggesting something, "But every champion is forced to be part of a team...no matter what" Ah…
Salvation.
"So…?" I urged her to continue and instantly she took my hand and pulled it towards her, as she took out a blue, shiny dagger simultaneously, "W-Woah, okay, I'm sorry! I-!" She cut me with it and smirked once she let go of my hand.
I immediately braced for pain and that stinging sensation of a deep cut, but I felt nothing.
After a second or two of bravely closing my eyes, I opened them up to find my supposedly cut open hand, all fine and without a single mark on it.
Instead there was a mark on my forearm with a '!' on it.
"Click on that" She smugly let out a helpful comment and went to sit down right next to me.
I tapped the icon with my finger, and it blinked out a small text into the air.
Katarina would like to join your party
Accept / Deny
"You sure about this?" I needed to ask one more time, "I'm really new, don't know what to even go for or anything like that." She shrugged.
"Like I told you, for me this is a pain in the ass, but I'd need to participate either way." She pointed my way with her slim finger, "You at the very least have a few brain cells inside of that head of yours, and since you're seemingly lost and without a clue of what to do, it's a no brainer, right? I'll help you out, and in the meantime…" She disappeared and reappeared in front of me, taking hold of my chin and lifting it up while she clicked on the accept option herself, "You try to entertain me, 'k?" I nodded slowly as I stared into her emerald eyes, and that big scar she had in one of them.
Another ping noise made me lower my gaze once again, and I noticed the text had enlarged a little.
Katarina has become your champion, congratulations!
Extreme mid-lane champion, with a harsh lane face but an even harsher punch in thy face later on!
Be wary with Miss Du Couteau, her temperament is one of a kind and so is her dagger, you don't wanna be at the end of either!
Small tip: Remember her resets
"Hmm, this Riot guy really does know me well" I didn't realize the moment she had gotten so close to my own face, and I almost let out a manly yelp at the...surprise, "Well, as much as I hate being someone's anything, I'm now your champion…" Her eyes widened in surprise, as she apparently ignored my own surprised look.
She started laughing and scratching the back of her head sheepishly.
"My bad, I never asked for your name" She explained her behaviour.
"Ah...nah, don't worry about it" I dismissed her worries with a waving hand, "I'm Leon, nice meetin' ya" I offered my hand and she stared at it for a second before nodding and stretching it with her slim one.
"Rough first impression, but I hope we're on good terms" I chuckled and nodded eagerly.
Feisty and dangerous, but she seemed decent.
In a moment she stood up and started walking towards somewhere in specific.
I followed through.
"Right, so one ready, you need four to go." She chuckled the moment I let out a sigh, "Don't worry, I said I was gonna help you, remember?. We need to get out of here and into the Magical Forest, that's where most champions decided to reunite themselves" I frowned slightly.
"Why aren't you there, then?" I pondered out loud and she rolled her eyes.
"I don't fit with the 'good kids', even though I'm a deserter, I'm still a Noxian and most of them feel tense when I'm there" I let out a pensive hum.
"A Noxian?" It was her time to sigh.
"You're in Ionia right now, allied with Demacia, Piltover…" She tilted her head left and right as she tried remembering, "There's plenty of factions, some of them also allied with each other and others not even caring about the outer world, I can't name them all but in time you'll meet people that will let you know about their own nations themselves." She hummed, pondering what to say next, "Just don't get close to Noxus nor Noxian people, unless you'd like to get a hole in your chest."
"Does that mean you're gonna make a hole in my chest anytime soon?" She laughed and I gulped hard.
"Of course not, fucking idiot" She snickered, "I told you, things happened, you might learn about them later on, and I'm no longer affiliated with the Noxian army" She shrugged, "I may be Noxian by birth, but I no longer belong to the movement, nor am I loyal to it" Her words sounded honest enough to me.
Soon, we reached a circle surrounded by written runes on the floor that shone purple, and she stepped on it without a doubt.
"This is a teleporter, you use this to travel between big distances, as you may have already guessed" She lifted her hand and made some movement, immediately prompting out some sort of text in the air, and some options appeared for her.
Her molecules seemed to start dissipating into the air, to my own amazement.
"Pay attention" She kicked me out of my awe, "Choose The Magical Forest, nothing else, when you get the locations options, get it?" I nodded, excited to try out my first shot at magic, and she shot me a playful middle finger before completely disappearing.
"Okay, okay, she said Magical Forest", Excited and anxious, I moved my hand in the air and immediately the same prompt appeared from thin air.
As soon as I saw the Magic Forest label, I went to click for it without care at all, and almost yelled out a Woah as I saw my body starting to fly away into the air in small molecules.
After a second everything turned white, and it took a few scary more instants for me to regain my eyesight.
And was met with a terrible, dead forest surrounded with broken, man made buildings, and a strange green-ish aura everywhere.
"This...doesn't look like a magical forest at all" I said to myself as I walked around the empty place.
A ping sound from my arm made me instinctively click on the mark I apparently had tattooed over ever since I placed my hand on that weird tablet, and a weird chat-like format prompted out of it.
You're one stupid motherfucker - It was, of course, Katarina once again cursing my life out.
That's not the magical forest, empty head- What did she mean by that?
A scream could be heard miles away from me, so eerie that it made my spine shudder.
That's Noxus. - …
Ah, shit.
I continued running as fast as I could, following vegetation and alive objects, as Katarina had said before.
She had mentioned to never stop running, and emphasised with four spammed messages that I should NOT try to communicate with anything that seemed even merely alive. Anything that screeched Draven-, no, sorry, DRAAAAVEN, should be one hundred percent avoided at all costs, and the same for any insane looking man holding a big axe.
She also said to look for a certain, small area filled with life around this dead forest, where a small house resided with flowers and other non-scary things could be found.
Almost like a sanctuary.
And the worst of it all, I couldn't just use the teleportation place anymore, binded to one use per day for everyone.
What a stupid law.
"It's been three hours already...am I really gonna die out here in the middle of a horror movie-like forest?" I could already feel the fatigue of going eight hours without any food or water, but it was either to continue going forward until I reached that damned paradise, or die in the process.
After a few more minutes of making my way through thick malice and vines one couldn't deem alive, I finally found it.
A small, wooden house in the middle of a sun-filled open area, with real green grass surrounding the entire place, dandelions and other colourful flowers around the house itself, clearly hand picked from somewhere extremely far away from this hellhole.
I also could barely hear the sound of someone humming, and as I walked closer, the silhouette of a woman was visible through the small window.
The silhouette immediately disappeared when I stepped on a twig, and the next thing I knew, I was being held sword-point against the tip of a green looking, sort of broken two handed sword.
"Who are you!?" The woman holding me down with her foot on my shoulder yelled with a scary expression in her face.
Welp, so long for paradise, fucking Katarina.
"I-uh, I…", I was sweating bullets, scared to death even though her sword didn't even look that sharp.
Somehow, my alarmed, pale looking state brought her threat levels down, and slowly, she removed her foot off my already sore shoulder.
"Who are you, and why are you here?" She asked one more time, this time while fixing some of her white strands off her face, pulling them up into the rest of her short, bundled tail.
"I'm-," Damn, what was it?, "A-An invocator!" That was certainly not it, "I mean, I'm...I'm something alright!? Please don't kill me, I'm not a bad guy!", She stared at me for a little longer in silence, letting me hear the sound of my heart pounding against my chest, before finally letting out a small sigh and lifting her sword up hesitantly.
"You still haven't answered my question, but I can see you're not really a bad guy...or Noxian, not that those things differ at all" I stared at her as I processed that she had basically referred to Noxians as things, and took her hand once she offered, immediately being lifted with ease.
"I'm Leon, sort of a-, gods, why can't I remember?" My brain must be tired from all the running.
She looked up until she found my pathetic Level 1 on top of me, and hummed.
"You're a summoner" I clapped my hand together and smiled at the tall lady.
"That's right, I'm a summoner" I repeated with fake interest, "And no, I'm not gonna be harassing you to join me" She chuckled, apparently pleased with the new information, "But more importantly, I'm someone in need of help-, my brain apparently melted for a second and I tapped on Noxus in that teleportation thingy...effectively sending myself straight to hell" She let out a small laugh and patted my back like a friend would.
"That was one big mistake, indeed" She agreed empathetically.
This lady was nothing like that spiteful red haired assassin.
"I'll offer you help-" I was about to celebrate victory, "If you tell me how exactly did you learn about this place" Her amused smirk was evident, so at the very least I wasn't in that much trouble.
"Oh, well, y'know…", I hesitated, pondering whether not I should tell on Katarina, "The only champion I've made a pact with, Katarina, told me about this place when she realized I had teleported to Noxus instead of the Magical Forest." At the mention of Kat, this person's eyes widened up a little before going quite.
"It's already weird to see Kat willingly helping someone-, but she's your champion, and your first champion at that?" She asked me and I nodded confusedly.
She immediately let out a small chuckle.
"Then you must be trustworthy" She deemed me a good title, and I felt a weight being lifted off my shoulder, "Alright, I'll help you out" She offered her hand to me one more time, and I eagerly shook it, "I'm Riven, Noxus Exile" I smiled at her one more time.
What was it with Noxus and its deserters?
"Please, it's not much, but make yourself at home" The house, albeit old looking, was pretty neatly cleaned up, with small rune like objects hanging around the correct places as decoration, a small table for two in the middle of it all, and a kitchen connected at the end, with the rooms probably being inside that small hallway next to the kitchen, "This place is pretty far away from the teleportacion runard, just how long have you been walking, huh? She asked as I took a seat on the only sofa around the entire house.
"Well, at least for three hours" Riven whistled low without looking at me, rummaging around one of her kitchen drawers in search of something specific.
"Damn" She exclaimed but without much emotion, "Running from something?" She mocked without malign intent and I laughed.
"Katarina said nono to Draaaaven and big guy with big axe" The white haired lady finally laughed hard at my joke and I chuckled in response, "Or anything that was even half alive, for that matter"
"Kat knows best" She finally found what she was looking for, apparently.
"That, she does" I said as I watched her walk my way with a small, strange cookie in her hands.
"Here, this is a healing cookie" She handed it to me, "Should help with that shoulder, which was my bad by the way"
"It's okay, very understandable action" I took a bite and immediately hummed in delight.
"You like it?"
"Are you kidding? I've never eaten a cookie that tasted this good" She smiled and nodded gratefully.
It wasn't a lie though, cookies from my world didn't taste half as good.
"It has some mana within it" She explained as she handed me a cup of some blueish tea, "This should help your body a little as well" I didn't hesitate and took a sip, and let out a blissful expression.
"Wow, you sure make some tier quality stuff?" She laughed and thanked me with her eyes.
"Only people that are well liked by mana can taste this, cookies, or this tea" I looked at her with confused eyes, even though my cheeks were stuffed with cookie, "For me they don't really have much flavor" What did she mean by that?
"I don't have mana though, what do you mean?" She snickered and took a sit right next to me.
"You may not know how to use magic, but that doesn't mean that you don't have any mana" She lifted one of her hands in the air, "Mana is everywhere around us, and inside of us; it's like oxygen, just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it ain't there"
"Then how come you can't taste this delicious cookies?" I asked with my cheeks full, prompting a giggle out of her.
"I'm unable to sense mana, and I can't use mine directly either" She took a look at her hands with her eyes distant, "I was born this specific way for some reason I haven't deciphered yet" She closed her hands into fists, "But…" The runes around her attire started to shine green, just like her sword, and suddenly her distant smile turned into one of determination, "I've learned how to channel small bits of it into my runes, learned how to use them, how to control them…" Her runes went down again and she sighed, "Sorry, I started drifting away-, it always happens when I start talking about magic" I shook my head so many times I thought I was gonna pass out.
"No way, don't worry about it!" I lifted my hands and waved them around to emphasize, "That was...strangely inspiring, to be honest" I chuckled, "You seem like a cool person, Riven" I tried and she threw me an honest smile.
She was about to say something when a ping sound interrupted the both of us.
"Ah" I lifted my arm and tapped on that weird looking mark once again.
'You still alive, monkey head?' My expression flattened; I'd gotten used to Riven's manners and rare kindness.
"Hmm, Kata worrying about someone..." The white haired was staring at my text screen, completely oblivious to her terrorist attack upon my personal space, "How peculiar" She snickered before retracting to her own spot, seemingly pondering about something.
"Sounds like you two are sorta' close?" I decided to interrupt her train of thought.
"Hmm? Oh, Kat and I?" She pointed herself, "Well of course, we're both deserters, and when she first escaped Noxus, I was the one that offered her a warm abode" She spoke up, reminiscing, "If you think Katarina is feisty, you should've seen her in her...reforming phase" She managed as she held in laughter.
"Oh she's feisty, alright" I could only agree, "Short like me, but extremely...sharp"
"You're both shrimps to me", I threw her a look as she laughed and she raised up her hands in surrender, "Sorry, sorry" I fake pouted.
"It's true, I guess" I drank the last of my tea before another ping startled me.
'Keep ignoring my messages and I'll cut your skin off' I shriveled and replied as fast as I could.
'Yup, alive and fine; almost got killed by Riven, and now we're good pals' I swore I could hear Katarina laughing on the other side of the screen.
'That's Riven for ya-'
"I can't believe Kat is actually communicating with you" Her proximity startled me yet again, even though she didn't seem to even notice what personal space meant.
Maybe it was a Noxian thing?
"They grow up so fast" She traced a fake tear with her finger on her cheek and removed herself from my literal face.
Another ping.
'Ask her to escort you back to the portal tomorrow morning, tell her the favor is on me'
I smiled at her choice of words.
'No need, she's reading you right now' I typed as I felt yet again Riven's breath right behind me.
"Oh, sorry" She laughed sheepishly and dragged her bum away.
…
She really only realized now?
"Well, no need for favors or whatnot, I'll take you there gladly" She threw a thumbs up my way before stretching, "Mana cookies are delicious, yes, but they're not supposed to fill you-, I caught a big rabbit not so long ago, so…" She eyed me playfully, "Wanna share it?" For her height and her looks, she really turned out to be quite relaxed and funny to be with.
Oh, what is this tightness in my chest?
Is...is it love?
Grumble
"I'll take that belly sound as a yes!"
Ah.
Nope.
It's just hunger.
—
To say that Riven was a quality chef would be an understatement.
Even if I didn't usually eat rabbit back in my own world, this thing was out of this world…
Pun intended.
"Damn" I said, not even caring about manners as I just couldn't stop eating but did want to comment on the food, "Thish stuff ish incredible, Riven" Said Noxian deserter simply nodded gratefully at my praises, "You could outmatch chefs from my place with this" I continued and she merely chuckled.
"Thank you, but I'm more into sword-fighting" I just shrugged, not pushing the subject any longer.
We were sharing the rabbit in her small table for two, lit up with small, what I could assume, magical devices, as the night time engulfed us.
"For someone that can't use magic, you sure find many uses for it" Everything surrounding us was fueled by runes and magic. Clocks, lamps and even the stove as I had come to learn, were all fueled by it.
"Gotta find my way to enjoy it, right?" She tried explaining and I nodded eagerly, trying to shower her with my enthusiasm.
She smiled warmly as she played with the rest of her food.
"It's...been some time since I had company in this home, y'know" She started, and at her serious tone, I immediately opened my ears to listen carefully, "Kat doesn't really drop by much...if at all, because she's busy hiding and trying to find a way to build up a new life; I really don't blame her" She chuckled, "And usually, it doesn't affect me, I'm always either fighting, training or studying runes, but sometimes…" She looked around, trying to set an example by showing me just how empty in reality the house was, "Well, sometimes it's a little lonely" She finished, and I shared a sad smile with her.
It was a harsh truth that, even though I'd love to say I'd keep her company, and visit more often, the truth was that I didn't even know how long I'd be staying within this world.
"I share the sentiment." I ended up saying, "Loneliness...is predominant back in my other life, I don't really wanna even think about it while I enjoy this world, but back there...I have no one" I chuckled, "Not like here I've got millions of people either but, well, it's a nice restart, and this place is far more interesting than my own place" She hummed in an understanding tone.
"I'd like to learn more about your world…" She muttered, "But that can be in another time, now I think you should get some rest; I didn't wanna tell you, but you look pretty damn tired" And I felt that way as well.
My eyes felt heavy and I felt kinda sick-tired from all the exhaustion; those cookies had helped and that rabbit had filled me up but now I was dying to rest.
She took my plate and hers without me noticing and walked straight to the kitchen.
"I can wash those!" I offered myself to help, since I never liked feeling like a useless idiot, but she shook her head with a smile.
"It's okay, I got this, you need rest and you're also my gurst, so don't worry about it" She denied me, "If you wanna help, tomorrow you can cook something for us, how's that?" I pondered my options.
Chances are that the ingredients in this world were nothing like the ones back home, but if that was the case I could always be honest with her either way, and help in some other field.
"Alright, sounds like a plan" She agreed with a hum and continued washing.
A yawn escaped my mouth without my consent and she laughed.
"Bedroom on the first door to the left" My body dragged its own feet towards the door the moment I heard bed.
"G'night" I muttered lowly and closed the door after entering.
My eyes spotted a bed and just like a magnet, I was drawn towards it, immediately dropping on top, removing my shoes mindlessly and falling asleep on the spot.
Perhaps I really was a little too tired.
—
I woke up to the sound of annoying birds chirping right as morning light came over. Even in an entirely different world, birds still seemed to be the ones that stole my sleep away every damn time.
I checked my nearby surroundings as I remembered everything that had happened and where I was at that moment, just to find Riven sleeping by my side peacefully.
Somehow, she had sneaked into the bed the night prior.
Even though she wasn't even touching me, as she curled up within her own spot, I couldn't help but feel a little flustered before stepping outside and into the bathroom.
Finally done with my necessities, I stepped outside just to find out I had a notification on my arm again.
I had a pending message from Katarina.
Just a heads up, Riven doesn't know much about personal space...or decency for that matter- She had sent this yesterday after I fell asleep.
A little too late, to be fair.
And then a second notification.
This time, it wasn't a message.
When I tapped on the '!' icon, a familiar message appeared,
Riven would like to join your party.
Accept/Deny.
My eyes widened in surprise, but before I did anything, I sent Katarina a message.
She was the one who knew about this stuff either way.
So, Riven would like to join- I sent her the message and closed the prompt illusion, just for it to come back up again.
She had replied immediately, my god.
Then what're you waiting for? Accept her, the more the merrier, and I happen to tolerate her more than some other idiots-
Even in text, Katarina was spicy as hell.
With that in mind, I returned to the notice and accepted right away.
Immediately, Riven came out of the bedroom in merely some bandages around her chest and her shaggy pants, scratching her head a little as she wobbled around, almost looking still half asleep.
Were I some sort of useless anime protagonist, I'd have blushed at the sight of it all. Instead I just greeted her with a hand in the air.
"Morning!" I chipped brightly and chuckled when she muttered a small Mornin' in response, while waving a lazy hand before entering the bathroom.
Not really a morning person, huh?
I remained quiet and went ahead towards the kitchen, with the deal I had made with her the night prior in my head.
"I just hope there's something normal here…" I opened a container, and to confirm my fears, I couldn't identify any ingredients whatsoever. Everything seemed similar as to what I'd search for back home, but at the same time, I didn't know the names of it or what it was meant for.
Desperately, I went for my last option.
After a minute or so of searching, I finally found them; the most simplistic ingredient, yet the one I've eaten the most in my entire life.
Eggs.
"I really would've loved to make something else, but I could only identify eggs as, well, eggs" We were currently eating in that same little table for two we used the night prior, with some eggs and what I found out to be bread.
"This is fine, too" Her eyes were still a little closed, but she seemed finally up and at 'em.
Even though I enjoyed our silence, I decided to break the ice a little bit.
"So...now we're pals, huh?" I tried referring to the champion stuff without having to say she's anywhere close to being mine or some weird thing like that.
"Uh-huh" She replied with honesty and simplicity as she munched, "I thought that, if I was gonna be forced to be in a team either way, I'd rather it be yours" Her bluntness was even more evident when she was still half waking up, and I chuckled.
"I didn't tell you, but I'm very, very new to this, is that alright?" Her eyes opened up a little and she stared at me with a small smile.
"I realized you were new the moment you appeared in front of me", She explained with amusement, "No summoner would forget they're a summoner, plus you never forced me to actually join your party" I frowned.
"Summoners can force you to join?" She sighed and nodded.
"There's way less summoners than there is champions, something like seventeen summoners or so, and there's at least a hundred and fifty champions" I hummed in response, "Thing is, even though we're forced to be in a team, the summoners have to either find us or, at the very start of the tournament, we'll be summoned into a team by force" I frowned even further.
"Why can't you just reject it?" I asked in a serious tone.
"We're all associated with the Institute, in some way" She shrugged, "The institute of war is like the world governor, but they don't decide the fates of the nations, rather just the fate of those that have abilities, are lost or need a new purpose in life" She sighed again, "That's why it's named the Institute of War; In some ways, it allows you to avoid your crimes, or your sins, in exchange for your power, for entertainment of the normal masses as we all fight in that damned place called the Rift, which is some sort of magical simulator"
"Sounds like a terrible fate" I deemed and she chuckled.
"Not really, not for those that enjoy fighting" She pointed her way, "It allows me to channel that rage, to show my worth, to redeem myself without having to resort to anything drastic" She nodded, "It lets us live our lives and fight without much trouble, and without needing to kill"
My eyes opened in understanding.
"So it keeps the crazy from doing crazy things in the real world?" She grimaced and shook her head in denial.
"Not really, those that are criminals are still criminals, those that seek justice still have to seek justice; Sadly, we're only restrained against each other. We cannot kill each other or we'll get kicked out and penalized, and who knows what's the punishment for killing another champion, and it's not like champions are external to national laws, but if one kills a civilian, the Institute will not do anything about it"
"I don't really like that institute" She laughed at my comment and shrugged again.
"It's what it is; this world isn't a cute one by any means...even Kat, before, has done some things you wouldn't agree on" I nodded, already having suspected as much, "I, too, have some sins that will never really leave me...but that goes for every Noxian there is. If you want good kids, you should try Demacian people, or Ionian folk" She said so with a mocking tone and I made a face as if considering it.
In reality, so long they have already stopped being evil, would be enough for me.
"Don't worry, you're a pretty good kid yourself, Riven" She pffted with disbelief and I laughed, "Right, well, I'll wash this up so we can be on our way", She nodded in agreement and stood up, her heavy grogginess lost in the wind.
"I'll make preparations to leave this place" She said so as she stretched while I walked towards the kitchen, "Heh, we're like a married couple" Her blunt comment caught me off guard, but still I chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"Honeymoon in a hellhole like Noxus, huh?" I joked back and she laughed again.
"My kinda honeymoon" She declared with pride and I hummed teasingly.
"Gonna have to remind that, then", I teased with a wry tone and, for the first time since I got here, she seemed rather flustered.
How could she be so to the point and unaware and yet get nervous at flirting jokes?
"I'm just kidding, Riven" She frowned and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I'm just...not used to communicating with people" She scratched the back of her shyly, "Let alone guys…" I chuckled and nodded.
"Just don't be so awkward about it, 'k?" She brightened up again and nodded before leaving the house.
I finished washing my dishes and headed out to meet her as well.
She was crouching in front of her small wooden house, placing some strange looking runes around the entire area.
"Noxians on average are pretty stupid" She commented off hand as she placed the last one, effectively creating a circle or runes around her house.
She sent some magic into them and the runes started lighting up in a sequence.
In a second, the house literally disappeared from view.
"W-Wha-" I tried, astonished.
"The house has been hidden now, it's neither an invisibility spell nor something of that sort, it's just being kept in another pocket dimension, that way even if some dumb idiot walks through here, they won't just accidentally run into my little house" I looked at her in awe.
"That's...incredible" She looked at me confused as she started walking the other way.
"Is it, really?" It seemed that for her it was an normal thing, "Well, either way, let's get going" She stated and I followed through, picking up my pace so I could catch up to her, "Noxians don't really wake up early, they're lazy monkeys, so this is our best chance to reach the portal unhinged" I chuckled at the way she'd insult her own kind.
"Yup, I noticed" I joked and she smacked my arm lightly, "Hey! You were almost like a zombie this morning"
"S-Shut up" I snickered and she hit me again, without any force.
"Feisty" I dramatized as I rubbed my arm, "So violent!" I cried in fake pain and she rolled her eyes, "Both you and Katarina-, must be a Noxian thing" She chuckled at that and agreed with her head.
"Must be a summoner thing to be such a cry baby" I shrugged.
"I'm just a human and you guys are like godlike creatures" She huffed as we walked around the path that I once took.
"Godlike, hah" She laughed sarcastically, "We're just good at fighting"
"You're also good with runes" She shrugged at my compliment.
"Thank you, but either way, I'm not saying we're only good at fighting" She faked a thinking position, "Unless it's Katarina, she's only good at being a spicy bitch" My eyes almost bulged out at her words and she laughed, "Don't tell her I said that, please, I'd like to live a little longer" I pretended to be nervous.
"I feel like she's got ears everywhere" She pffted.
"She's a good, silent assassin. But she's got not much going for her in the spy department" I wondered how'd she know that much, but then again, they were both Noxians, and the less I learnt about their pasts, the better.
"Hmm, I see" I ended the conversation early without asking much about it, and continued, "Are we there yet?" She looked at me and frowned.
"Don't you start, kid" I snickered and raised my hands in surrender.
"Sorry, sorry" She eyed me for a second and then smiled.
"I'm glad you're not treating me like some sort of utility" My look of bewilderment demanded an explanation, "Well, I just thought summoners would be looking at us as some sort of tool, since they can even force us to join with them", A thought I had forgotten about appeared in my mind.
"If that's the case, how come no one had chosen Katarina until I bumped ways with her?" Her eyebrows raised up in wonder as well and she took a second to answer.
"Kat most likely threatened them or scared them away" My voice let out a noise of understanding, remembering our first encounter and how scared to shit I felt about it, "There's many loops in this sort of game that the Institute of War created with that stranger Riot...and one of them is that, even though we can't kill each other per law, there's-, uh, there's no law defending Summoners" I stopped cold on my feet.
"Wait, so one of those incredibly amazing fighters could just drop by and kill me if I get on their wrong foot?" She grimaced and nodded, only now pouring more thought into it than before, "Sheez, this is, uh, some big news, I guess" Not really, but still realizing this was a whole true really put me on the edge.
Good, that way little old me would be more careful around the people around him, moreso if they look scary as fuck.
We resumed our walk silently before Riven stopped me with her hand on my shoulder.
"Just letting you know that, now that you're my summoner, I'll protect you from any of stupid idiot that gets an idea about killing you or hurting you, okay?" I smiled at her and nodded.
"Not only your summoner, but your friend, alright?" Her eyes shone up for a second and she nodded eagerly before giving me a toothy grin.
"My friend" She smiled again, "Been a while since I could call someone that way" She let go of my shoulder and turned me around before pushing me softly, "Now let's go, let's get out of this dead place"
"No need to push me, jeez" I dramatized one more time and she rolled her eyes before finally pushing me with at least some bits of her real strength.
The taste of death grass wasn't exactly a great one.
'We're on our way!'- I sent Kat a little message the moment I saw the portal a few meters away from us.
She again responded immediately.
Jeez.
About time you dignify to send me news about you two, for god's sake- I grimaced as I read her messages.
You choose something other than Magical Forest, and I'll teleport that way as well solely to make you suffer, understood? I gulped dryly and didn't even get surprised at Riven's proximity as she stalked off her messages.
"Kat was also good at making people cry in pain, so I don't recommend you getting her mad" She commented as if it was the most normal thing in the entire world, and I just let out a small uh-huh… in response.
"How can I get her mad if she's always mad", Riven snickered.
"She's tempy, not mad" I rolled my eyes as we reached close to the portal, "You go first, and I'll follow through" I nodded and stepped on top of the portal, making it's runes shine purple.
This time, carefully, I tapped on the Magical Forest label, and waved away at Riven as I started to disappear into the air.
Again, my sight went blank and it took a few seconds to finally start seeing colours one more time.
As I materialized, I felt something staring at me.
Or more specifically, a pair of big, purple eyes were shooting literal bullets towards my soul.
"Huh, this your new toy, Katty?" Slim, tattooed hands reached for my face, being gentle but still slightly invasive as they somehow scanned my entire head.
A hand took the owner of these hands by the neck and pulled them back by force.
A bright blue haired girl with a strange attire laughed as she was dragged away from me, with Katarina right next to her.
"Not a toy, and stop calling me that way, bullet for brains" Kat's tone seemed slightly docile with her, meaning that they must be at least acquaintances in good terms, "Leon, this is Jinx, our ranged damage dealer; Jinx, this is Leon, our monkey head of a summoner" She motioned to the both of us in a lazy way, "Yada, yada, do your thing so he can accept you already" The blue haired crazy lady smirked devilishly and pulled out a pistol with the same blue light as the one Katarina's dagger had, and, to my big dismay, she shot me with it.
The bullet never got through, for a big, green sword stood in front of me, effectively blocking the bullet away.
"Why is Jinx shooting at our summoner, Kat?"
"Look, you should've told me it was your ritual to choose a summoner!" Riven was trying to argue against Jinx's mockery
She had tried to look extremely cool when she stopped that bullet just when she materialized into the forest, just for the blue haired girl in front of us to start laughing at her in cascades.
"You should've seen your face!" She was also laughing at me, while Katarina just stood there and stared blankly.
"Honestly, I should've expected something like that, but it still caught me off guard" The red hair took a deep breath and continued, "Either way, Leon, this is our newest companion, as she was the only physical ranger that wasn't already taken" She sighed, "I, also, happen to tolerate her somehow, even though she's really annoying at times" I gulped as I placed my hand on my stomach, right where Jinx had, again and this time successfully, shot out her ritual.
"Well, nice to meet you, Jinx" I debated whether or not to offer my hand to the crazed lady in front of me, but still did either way.
She took hold of it and started moving it up and down quickly.
"Nice to meet ya', cute stuff!" My hand was hurting a little bit.
"Please don't kill me in my sleep" Her laughter erupted even harder and she let go of my hand to roll on the floor.
"Don't worry, Kiddo!" She said once she reincorporated, "I don't kill, I just make things go BOOM!" I blinked twice before turning to look at Kat and Riven, who were staring at our conversation with a cringe expression.
"Don't worry, she won't bite" Katarina assured me, "I made sure she promised not to, just for good measure" Jinx's laughter died and she nodded robotically at Katarina's words.
"I hope you won't bite either, Katty" Riven jumped into the conversation and teased the red haired assassin, earning a full powered scowl from her.
"Alright, sheez, I don't wanna melt away between both of your stares, so chill out already" I pleaded with my hands in the air, and Katarina hmphed before walking away from a snickering Riven.
"Yup, you bitches are crazy" A shudder went through my entire spine when I heard Jinx right in behind me, and internally squealed when she took hold of my cheeks again, pulling them both to the sides and messing with them as she desired, personal space long thrown down the river.
"I dom't thunk your one to thalk" I managed to say as she treated my face like some sort of gum toy, and when I finally got fed up with, I squirmed away quickly just to notice she tried following me, "Riven, help meeee!" Riven stared at my bruised cheeks and Jinx desperate expression and merely snickered before walking towards Katarina.
She had officially abandoned me.
Bastard.
Hello, I welcome you to this small idea I had and hope you liked it.
Leave a review if you want to!
Just as a note, this will not be a fully female squad nor is this a harem of any sort, this is just sorta how it turned out for now, but will soon have some male champions as well.
You can leave in the reviews which champion you would like to meet as well; just remember that some champions are absurdly huge and would be impossible for Leon and his team to really have as a teammate.
Thank you for reading and have a good one!