Anit I

I stared down the side of the dormun, the creature's massive legs effortlessly stomping sand dunes flat in its eternal search for hidden reservoirs of water. Not for the first time, I wondered what it felt like to be a landlocked. The village, houses of wood to live in and hooked ropes to move between dormun, were all I knew. I've never even been on an oasis drop.

Papa said that sand was coarse and irritating, that it gets everywhere. But looking down on it from the back of the dormun, all I could see was a beautiful sea of gold.

"Anit!"

I backed away from the edge, turning to see Sami, my twin sister, approaching me with a wide smile on her face, her brown hair ruffling in the wind. I gave her a small smile which disappeared when I saw her companion.

"Hey there, Anit." Zaliki, Sami's beau, greeted me casually.

I hated him. When he was with my sister, he seemed like a kind person. I probably wouldn't mind him if I didn't see him and his friends acting like they owned the village, just because they're the first of our generation to be on an oasis drop, the first to set foot on the beautiful sand below.

I didn't reply, merely giving him a nod. Sami wouldn't find it suspicious. She knows that I prefer to watch the Sai beneath pass by over talking to people.

"You really should mingle with people more, Anit! Most of our friends are already engaged."

I remained silent and turned away, my attention returning to the sands beneath and the few trees that barely reached the dormun's ankles. Zaliki, the annoying fake smile still on his face, decided to join in.

"I have a friend on the other dormun," he gestured towards the other half of the village, set atop our dormun's mate, "His name's Abaid and he's a hunter."

I suppressed the urge to grimace. It seemed like a casual comment but I knew he was just using the opportunity to show off that he had connections in high places. Meat was a scarcity on top of a dormun and hunters, who hunted airborne animals and descended to the sand beneath to hunt for landlocked prey, were considered very impressive.

"I could introduce you, ow!" I let out a silent snort as a pebble struck him on the head.

"Haha, gotcha!" The familiar voice of Samir, my younger brother, echoed from the top of our house. Zaliki glared up at him but it was Sami who immediately yelled up at him.

"Samir, you brat, apologize to him now!" Samir just stuck out his town and nimbly crossed the rope bridge to another house.

"Gotta catch me first, rockdoubb!" Sami growled at his retreating form and started to give chase with Zaliki right behind her, leaving me in blissful silence once again.

I turned back towards the sand sea and frowned. In the far horizon, I could see something that looked like the sun rising from the sands. A golden orb emerging from the sand sea, drowning out the morning's natural light.

"Beautiful." I muttered to myself. My awe turned to confusion when I saw the strange pillars of stone following the orb, rising from the sand like swords piercing through cloth.

Then I saw it, the wave of sand that erupted from the disc, revealing a massive collection of beautiful structures. I backed away from the edge.

"Sandstorm." I had to warn the village, so I ran. The dormun's back was bulky, with minimal footholds, but I've lived here all my life and the village did build some platforms on the more dangerous areas so it didn't take me long to get to the more populated village center.

"Papa!" I saw my father with his companions, taking inventory of the gear they need for their next oasis drop.

"Hello, little bird. What's got you so excited?" he asked me, an easy grin on his face. His voice was nearly enough to calm me down, the voice of someone who managed to lead his team through multiple expeditions with no casualties.

"Papa, there's a sandstorm!" I told him. He laughed. His companions, familiar with my fascination with the world beyond the dormun, laughed with him.

"That's wonderful, Anit. You'll tell me all about it afterwards, right?" He said, still unconcerned. I understood why. Sandstorms barely reached the dormun's knees. From up here, it looked like the dormun was wading through brown clouds.

"This is different, Papa! It's huge! And there was this golden, glowing ball..." I stopped talking as his hand ruffled my already messy hair.

"I know it's exciting to see a big sandstorm, little bird, but I have to get ready. The elders think we would be reaching an oasis tomorrow. You can tell me all about this big sandstorm later, okay? Maybe it would even reach the dormun's belly?"

And with that, he turned back to his preparations. I raced off.

I had to warn someone, but Sami was right. I barely spoke to anyone in the village, I had no close friends other than my family and everyone knew that I liked to stare off the side of the dormun.

"Heya sis." The voice beside me elicited a startled squeak from my throat.

"Samir!" I grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Woah, what's going on?" he asked confusedly as I started shaking him.

"We have to warn people! There's a big sandstorm coming!"

Samir huffed.

"You know, I don't understand why you like sand so much. Papa always said it was nothing special."

I was about to argue that it only seemed like that to someone who regularly went down there but a massive gust of wind drowned out my voice.

"Let's find Sami and go!" I dragged him off, ignoring his complaints. The wind was picking up, and considering how strong the wind usually was up here, that's saying something.

I could hear the panicking adults racing all around me, trying to figure out what to do, but I ignored them. Sami was always the one who had plans for everything, she'd know what to do.

Zaliki's house was in the center of the village, a big house owned by his family for two generations. I kicked the door open unceremoniously.

"Anit, what are you doing?"

"Sami, we have to go!" I told her, grasping her hand and trying pull her out of the house. She shook my grip off and glared at me, Zaliki standing behind her and giving me an annoyed frown. I guess I interrupted their mouth sucking time.

"What are you talking about? Where are we going?"

"That's-" The house shook as the dormun gave a massive groan, probably panicking at the unprecedentedly strong sandstorm. The walls rattled dangerously and I could see Zaliki lose his footing and stumble to the floor.

"Zaliki! Anit, what's going on?' Sami demanded. Before I could answer, Samir tugged his hand out of my grip and dashed out the door.

"Papa!" He yelled as he ran. I chased after him, Sami's voice echoing behind me.

"Anit, wait!"

Upon exiting the house, the wind met me headfirst and I could feel the sand peppering me, cutting small scratches into my skin. It was the first time I've personally encountered this much sand but I ignored it, ignored the pain of a thousand little cuts littering my body, ignored how my lifelong dream was quickly turning into a nightmare. I pulled down my goggles to protect my eyes and chased after Samir.

The dormun gave another bellow, the muscles on its back rippling with strength. Platforms collapsed, rope bridges snapped and houses crumbled as the beast's motion combined with the insanely strong winds practically destroyed the village in a span of seconds. The loud crash behind me made me stop.

"Sami!" I turned back, only to spot my twin standing frozen in front of a destroyed house.

"Zaliki!" she cried out, collapsing to her knees. I pushed away any sympathy I had and started pulling her to her feet.

"Sami, we have to go!"

She broke free from my grasp, hopping over debris and ignoring how the whirling sand in the air made her bleed from a thousand wounds, in an attempt to dig through the destroyed house for her lover.

I grimaced. Zaliki was an arrogant bastard, but I didn't want him dead. Still, my family was more important.

"Sami, we don't have time for-"

My eyes widened as the entire world tilted upwards, debris sliding downwards towards my sister and I.

The dormun was rearing up.

Sami screamed as he lost her footing and started sliding downwards. Without hesitation, I lunged and grabbed her in midair.

And then we were falling, towards a roiling cloud of sand.

"No!"

I sat up, my body covered in sweat and my breath ragged.

"Hey, you okay?"

I looked up to see Zaifa, her green eyes shining with worry. I breathed out a couple of gasps before replying.

"Yeah. Just memories, you know, of that day."

She flinched. I knew why.

After all, that was the day a wandering desert scout found a severely injured stranger and helped her dig through rubble and corpses in search of survivors.

We sat there in silence for a while, the comfort of her arms around me calming me down.

I looked around. At the sleeping figures of my siblings. At Kadira snoring loud enough to wake the dead. At Sivir and Taliyah cuddled up together in the cold night air. At Lady Ahri watching us from her spot atop Lord Renekton's sleeping body.

The Sun Disc and the sand it brought took my family from me.

Zaifa stared as I made a ball of sand hover in front of me.

The Sun Disc and the sand it brought will help me protect my new family.

====

Kadira I

"Nerimazeth. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

Lord Renekton wasn't wrong. I glared at the ruined walls in the distance. At the accursed city of Nerimazeth. The bane of Ruin Runners. The city that took my parents and my voice.

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to the dark side." Lord Renekton's bestial voice spoke up again, and I knew that he, in his wisdom, knew what I felt.

"That city is bad juju." I rasped out. My parents have always taught me that history was important. That the relics we find during our travels not only funded our family but helped us learn about the mysteries of the past. Traveling with Lord Renekton only made it clear, that the legends of old were people we should learn from.

Nerimazeth was different. That city took everything from me, a rot on the deserts of Shurima, shrouded in foul magic that has killed thousands of treasure hunters, historians and explorers.

"Xerath hides there, but we are not yet ready to face him." I knew why he was speaking to me about this. Xerath was his eternal foe but he understood that the city itself was mine. That overcoming its curse and bringing its true history to light would bring me the closure I needed.

But I am not ready to face it. Not yet.

"Come. When the cold winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." I felt his clawed hands on my head, but instead of nervous, I only felt comforted. Together we walked back to our camp, where the rest of our group was.

"Hm-hm." He was right. When Zaifa found me in the desert, lost and alone, she took me in, went beyond what any normal person would do for a complete stranger.

The city was a hellhole. But if my friends, my family, my pack was determined to go there, then I would be there with them all the way.

The machete strapped to my back, - my father's adventuring machete - felt lighter than it had in years.

====

Taliyah V

"It's huge!"

Mount Targon was known as the highest peak of Runeterra. Lady Ahri said it was still a week away but I could already see the massive landmark from here. We spending the night in the open desert, the campfire barely driving away the cold desert air. Lord Senpai and I were keeping watch.

"That's what she said." His growly voice replied. I blinked in confusion.

"But that is what I said."

A loud snort was my reply.

We sat there in comfortable silence for a few moments before I spoke up.

"Lord Senpai," he snorted again, "do you really believe that we have the power to make our own destiny?" I asked. He turned to me, crimson eyes staring deep into my soul, and I scrambled to clarify.

"It's just, I discovered my powers when I was young."

I told him the full story. How I was afraid that my parents would fear me for my powers. How I nearly killed them with a landslide. How they embraced me, told me that the Great Weaver always had a plan, and gave me their blessing to go and find my place in the world.

Then I told him about Noxus.

"They said they could teach me to control my power, that in Noxus, one can get as high as they want as long as they have the ability to back it up. They said that I would get to use my magic for a greater cause. I believed them, like the dumb, naïve fool I was."

Those red eyes remained watching me, completely devoid of any judgment. I took a deep breath.

"My first mission was to Ionia. We were on a ship." My voice caught in my throat as memories of that day returned to the surface. My vision blurred and I could feel the wetness in my eyes.

"They told me to cause a landslide. They told me to kill hundreds of sleeping people who didn't even know they were going to be attacked. I jumped overboard instead."

His reptilian visage was hard to read, but I like to think that there was pride there. Now I know why Sivir worked so hard for his acknowledgement.

"I was lost and I just wandered aimlessly in Ionia. Until I met him, my first mentor. He taught me that I didn't have to have a greater purpose. That I was free to decide what to do with my life. That-"

"We go where the wind takes us." I gaped in shock as he literally took the words - Yasuo's words - out my mouth.

"Wha-"

"Let me tell you a story, Taliyah." That was the first time he called me by my name. Usually he calls me Tali, or sometimes Tali Zorah for some reason.

"Water. Earth. Fire. Air." His voice took on the tone it usually had when he was telling stories to children.

"Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony.. Then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked."

I listened to his tale, slightly bewildered as to why he was telling me this.

"Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them and bring balance."

Master of all Four Elements? But I can only control stone...

Wait.

Yasuo was a Master of the Wind. He taught me how the the wind goes where it wants to go, that the bird doesn't trust in the branch beneath its feet but at the wind beneath its wings.

"I see you have found your purpose, young one."

I didn't have to control the elements to master them. I just have to learn from them, learn to balance myself from within.

Earth taught me resolve, to stand in the face of adversity. To face a literal god for the sake of my friend.

Wind taught me to be free, to go where my heart takes me. To travel with my family to lands unknown in search of adventure.

Lord Senpai, I won't let you down. I'm going to be the Avatar.