A/N: HEY HEY, if you know me from another story hello, good to see you again and I'm sorry for leaving you hanging, you still look great...BUT if you don't know me HI YOU LOOK GREAT.

Any who, Little background on this, Ive always been a big fan of this pairing because of guiding light by Salvadora11(if you haven't read it go read it I love it to bits) and this'll always be my favorite ship for these two…

So just a heads up I don't know much about the lore considering it's been changed over the years yadda yadda but this is written as close as possible to what I do know so I'm trying! And I hope I don't piss people off by getting things wrong and I know that's not the point of fanfiction blah blah… POINT IS… ENJOY TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY. And thank you for taking time out of your day to follow/favorite, leave a review or just taking a look at this...
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Chapter 1: Dawn

Riven shot upright in her bedroll, a bead of sweat trailing down her forehead, out of breath, she quickly adjusted, slowing it down till it was calm. An old but useful technique she used to calm the nerves before a battle. The ex-Noxian looked around her surroundings, the waning flame of her lantern nearby barely illuminated the abandoned hut she stayed in. The wood was rotting and half of the roof had collapsed. Other than that, it was habitable. At least for the likes of her, she thought to herself.

She wiped away the sweat that formed on her forehead before taking in a breath and holding it, closing her eyes. She counted in her head 'one…two…' her memory flashed. The canisters dropped from the cart and the land seemed to shift underneath her causing her to fumble while heavy rain poured down on her unit. 'Three… four…' the screams came next. One after the other, friend and foe alike. The Ionians appeared out of nowhere, she was outmaneuvered. 'Five…' Riven called out to her backup unit and the only thing that replied was a flaming arrow, it landed in the overturned cart, the canisters exploded and coated the entire valley in a thick smog suffocating and singing everyone and everything inside.

Riven opened her eyes and got up shoving things into her bag and rolled her bed up then attached it to her pack. She slid her arms through the straps and tightened them before attaching her lantern to it. She buckled her belt and silently walked across the wooden boards to the wall closest to her. Leaning against it glowing faintly was her reminder why she's still alive. Her burden and her boon. But most cases she calls it her sword. "Right where I left you…" her voice was a little raspy as she reached out and deftly clasped the weapon to a clip on her belt.

Riven carefully made her way to the entrance of the hut, well, more so the hole in the wall she called an entrance. She had to duck in order to actually leave but as she did she looked up into the night sky and saw the ocean of lights hanging above her. Her lip curled upwards just a tiny bit as she admired the view. It reminded her that maybe, there was redemption somewhere down the line. Maybe. The exile stepped down and walked forward.

-o-

Lux stirred in her sleep for a moment as her eyes fluttered open. She was resting her head in the palm of her hand, her unfocused gaze lifted just a bit to see the table in front of her with an open book and a pencil by it. She pays it no mind and turns so her chin rested on her hand and she looked out the window, the view bobbed up and down calmly. The demacian is on her way to pay a visit to Ionia, some important meeting she can't quite recall the details to, after all it was her brother's meeting. She was just along for the ride.

She turned away from the window and looked to the empty spot next to her, well semi-empty. Her baton laid motionless other than the occasional bumpy wave causing it to rock gently. The blonde let out a sigh as she blinked a couple of times before yawning. She leaned forward and took up her pencil and smirked just a bit as she saw that she had doodled a couple of silly pictures of King Jarvan and her brother. She couldn't help but continue her doodling. Now that she was awake the crownguard's mind began to race with thoughts as she drew aimlessly.

Thoughts of mages rushed through her mind, the rebellion, lessons she had learned. She continued moving her pencil but without any real structure. important figures of her life flashed in her mind: Garen, Fiora, jarvan…Sylas… she gasped, having realized the tip of the pencil snapped in two. She let the pencil roll out of her hand in frustration before taking a deep breath and huffing. "Relax lux… he's not here. He can't hurt you here." She reached out with both her hands and patted her cheeks lightly "okay okay…" she chanted to herself, like a mantra.

Lux jumped in her seat at the sound of a sudden bell being rung. Three rings… she waited for a fourth but there wasn't one. It meant they've arrived. The blonde eagerly jumped out of her seat and opened her hand calling her baton to her without looking, as she made her way to the front of the ship. She saw the night sky and smiled brightly, making her way carefully alongside the ship. Looking at the sea of stars staring back at her gave her a comfy sense of joy.

The demacian made it to the front of the ship, where she saw her brother standing with his arms crossed looking stoically at their destination, well his destination. He turned for a moment and nodded, acknowledging his sister's presence silently. The two stood in an uncomfy but familiar distance from each other as they observed the warm glow of the Ionian lights. Garen was the first to speak, still not looking to his sister. "Don't stray too far. And, don't get into trouble." The other crownguard rolled her eyes as the man spoke, her mind decided to drown him out with the sound of the boat against the waves. She glanced up into the sky and began to nod everyone once in a while, usually when she did that he'd leave her alone.

-o-

The ship pulls in and lux is the first to jump to the pier, even before docking. Garen shouts for her to come back, but she's already walking off, her baton slung to her back. The sun is rising behind her and it illuminates the land around her, the vibrant orange and red coated the city, and the more the land ascended atop the hills, the buildings increased in intricacy up to the apex. There is what seemed to be a temple of sorts resting, and overlooking the landscape. Lux wrinkled her nose and compared it to the ridiculously tall structures back in demacia towering over the citizens.

She shook those thoughts away as she heard the hustle and bustle, the life of the city, the Ionian people awake and go about their daily chores. People heading to their jobs, craftsmen setting themselves up, peddlers readying wagons, some children already playing in the early morning hours. The blonde smiled as she looked on in wonder, it was the first time she'd come to the land of Ionia, it was a lot but she was enjoying the new sights immensely.

Her trance was interrupted when something bumped into her. The demacian thought nothing of it for the moment and turned to see what had happened but couldn't seem to find the culprit. She turned back around, feeling amiss before she realized her baton was gone. Lux readily turned on her heel and began a slow jog down the street eyeing people up and down being careful to not bump into anyone…again. It seemed a bit hopeless before she spotted a glint in the distance and she rushed after it.

She pushed through the crowd as best she could ignoring the complaints from the people she shoved out of the way. She made one final push and tackled the person with her baton. Much to her surprise the masked figure was in fact holding her cane. As she tried to reach for it the figure shifted suddenly, throwing her off balance and tossed her keepsake to an alleyway where another nearby masked figure snatched it out the air and took off. "Hey! That's not yours!" The demacian shouted before getting up, making sure to step on the figure already on the ground as a springboard.

The new thief was fast but lux was fast enough to keep them in sight as the two bobbed and weaved in the alleyways. The thief deftly vaulting one obstacle after the other, lux was keeping pace, elegantly, almost gliding over some obstacles. Lux had caught up and was just about to grab the thief's collar before the two stumbled out of the alleyway and fell to the ground. The mugger scrambled for the baton and took off while lux shook off the daze and sprinted after them.

The demacian watched as the culprit dived into a crowded street full of market stalls. Lux growled in frustration as she followed the same path, diving into the crowd, pushing past people, offering 'Sorry!' and 'Excuse me!' when she could. While the teachers in demacia trained the mage physically, it wasn't extensive, and lux was getting tired. The crownguard girl pushed past another group of people and keeled over huffing, she looked up and saw her target getting away. "Stop them!" She shouted with what little energy she had left.

The thief looked back at the sudden outburst but continued to run, right into a hooded figure. The figure moved incredibly fast, almost inhuman. They grabbed hold of the thief's wrist and yanked them up off the ground. Using their free hand the figure pulled the mask off the thief, revealing a girl struggling to free herself from the figure's grasp. Lux watched in awe while she tried to stand upright and make her way over. The demacian managed to hobble over to the dangling thief and the mysterious hooded figure that appeared out of nowhere. "Uhm, thank you." Lux managed to say, still out of breath.

The hooded figure reached up with their free hand and snatched the baton from the girl's hand and tossed it back to lux silently. After the blonde fumbled catching the baton the figure let the thief go and shoved her away. The stranger leaned forward and murmured something to her, gesturing over to lux.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know!" The mugger bowed her head low and she quickly turned on her heel and ran off without the demacian getting a word in. Lux watched the thief run on off with mixed feelings of confusion and a bit of frustration. She shrugged it off and turned to thank the new stranger, though they were already walking away.

"Hey wait!" Lux jogged behind the figure and scanned them curiously, they had a grey cloak with the hood up, a backpack with various camping gear, and the most curious item, a sword, well what's left of it. The broken weapon dangled below the pack attached by a couple of straps, swaying as they walked. Lux couldn't really make the weapon out as it was wrapped in bandages up until the hilt, and even then it didn't give much away. Lux trailed a bit behind the stranger as she spoke. "Uhm… thank you?" The demacian managed as she was securing her baton.

The hooded figure waved their hand dismissively without replying or turning. Lux furrowed her brow, speeding up her pace to walk alongside them. In response they brought a hand up to their hood and pulled it down as much as it could go as well as slightly facing away from the preening demacian. "Ohh the strong silent type… you remind me of my brother." Lux huffed in an attempt to strike up conversation, to no avail. Something about this one felt strange, like they also didn't belong here, the demacian studied the figure intensely but silently.

She studied their walk, the way they moved their arms, if there was a minute twitch, anything at all that would give away some kind of tell. The demacian was good at studying people, what with spending all day being tutored on the many accounts she was to be in charge of. She understood what made people tick and the very little details of what could set a person off. Some would say that she came off a little upfront, but she didn't notice or seem to mind. The more she observed the person in question the more questions arose. Lux couldn't find anything of value at the moment so she traced her memories back mere minutes ago to the scuffle, she remembers the figure speaking but couldn't quite make out the voice.

She thinks it might have sounded deep? Or maybe it was just soft? Did she even hear a voice at all? The questions ran through her mind as she made a turn still walking beside them. Why was she even invested in this person, she made another turn as the new train of thought came to mind. Lux knew very well that she could leave the matter alone but as with all things that peeked her interests, she had to know. With her index finger on her chin and her face scrunched up as she continued thinking, she didn't realize that the figure had stopped and she walked face first into the pack. "Oh! Sorry.." she rubbed her nose before looking up at her surroundings. It was another alleyway and the demacian slowly backed away from the figure reaching for her baton.

"….I'm being followed." The figure spoke, their voice was soft-spoken and light. But with a determined lift to it. Lux was thrown off guard by the voice, it was kind of… soothing. The blonde eased for the moment and stopped going for her weapon. She began to approach the figure once more before the atmosphere suddenly shifted. Both of them froze in place, and in a moment there was an incredible gust of wind forcing the demacian to shield her eyes and when she looked up the figure wasn't where they were. It took her a moment before realizing that they had somehow rushed behind the blonde and is now standing in front of her, arms outstretched as if blocking something.

Lux shifted a bit and peeked out from behind them, towards the entrance of the alley and there she spotted a woman clad in red and black. She had long black hair to match and was in a battle ready stance. She curled her finger as if to motion for someone to come and the demacian noticed on the ground, pieces of metal. "Blades?" Lux questioned herself. They shook for a moment before springing into the air, as if suspended by strings and immediately retreated back towards the woman. She looked to lux with confusion before turning her attention to the figure once more. The figure shifted their arm to cover lux's face which caused the woman even more confusion shifting her stance from battle ready to tense.

A moment of this stare down passed and lux could hear the sound of footsteps. A lot of them. And at the entrance of the alleyway was a number of what looked like guards and among them, was garen. He stepped through them hand on his weapon with a hand outstretched in lux's direction. "Lux. Come here, now." Garen's tone was deathly serious, it was something that sent a shiver down the younger crownguard's spine and she would usually comply but her feet wouldn't move. She shook her head. Garen inched closer towards the two. "Luxanna. Now. You're in danger." The older crownguard almost growled that part. Lux tensed up and instinctively grabbed onto the figure's pack before eventually moving past them and over to her brother, not before looking back with worry. She managed to see the figure nod at her slightly before garen grabbed her and drew his weapon, pointing it at the stranger. "Now you, drop your things. You're coming with us."

The hooded figure moved their arms slowly and carefully so that they were up and away from the blade on their back. Signifying to the crowd that they meant no harm. As their hands reached a certain point they shifted their head a little as they felt the presence of someone behind them. Lux blinked and realized it too, there was another woman in green with a wild ponytail holding a dagger to the hooded figure. "Akali." The woman with the floating blades called out. The hooded stranger didn't flinch as the woman behind them reached up and yanked the cloth down, revealing themselves to lux and the crowd.

Lux's eyes widened as she saw the hood come off. A woman with white hair done up in a messy ponytail, she had a bandage on her cheek and she looked stoic, and unmoved by the amount of people. "I'm...not…" she paused, lux wasn't sure if that glance was at her or not. "I'm not here to fight."

"That remains to be seen." Akali pressed her dagger forward closer to the woman.

"Then you'll come with us, no problems, right?" The woman next to lux spoke up, crossing her arms. The blades floating behind her seemed to have eased as well, for some reason.

"Irelia!" Akali hissed. The woman in question raised a hand for her to cease before it started.

"Well?... Riven?" The raven haired woman asked, stretching her hand out. Riven squinted at the offending limb before glancing to her side, then to lux, then she closed her eyes and took a breath. The white haired woman resigned, she held her arms out in front of her and Akali immediately placed shackles on her wrists.

Akali marched riven out of the alleyway past the group and up the street, her dagger still trained at the back of her neck. Garen watched the whole way until the two made a turn and were out of sight. Irelia motioned with her hand and the surrounding guards marched off in the same direction. The raven haired woman took a breath and relaxed before composing herself, turning to the two demacians. "Welcome to Ionia Garen and Luxanna crownguard. We sincerely apologize for that display and hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive us." Irelia bowed low.

Garen and lux exchanged a quick glance before repeating the motion, Garen was first to speak. "And I apologize for my sister's action. It was not her intention to make your job harder." Lux grit her teeth in her state and decided it was in her best interests to not talk back.

"Yes—I'm truly sorry." Lux adjusted her attitude and spoke with half sincerity and half frustration. Much to the demacian's surprise Irelia lifted her head with a slight chuckle. The blades floating at her back seemed to move with her and that concerned lux but mostly awed her.

"All's well that ends well… I'm glad that she decided to come with us peacefully. Please no need for such formality." She motioned for the two to lift their heads. "I think it's also time for us to make our way to the palace as well. Come, you'll find the accommodations there far better than out here."

Lux watched as Irelia turned on her heel and began to step. "Uhm!" The blonde blurted our without thinking and Irelia turned around in response, an inquisitive look on her face. "What...what was she guilty of? If I might ask…"

Irelia's face saddened a bit at the question but ultimately answered. "War crimes. Against Ionia and her people." Lux looked to the ground, feeling dejected for some reason. Garen placed a hand against Lux's back gesturing for her to move and the two followed Irelia to their destination.