No reviews? All I have to do is just keep updating the story until someone acknowledges me regards of the storyline. For this chapter, a scaley-friendly chapter features a fish and a chameleon, though I couldn't think much about Neeko's story. Enjoy!

CHAPTER FOUR

The Nightcrawler's Escape Route (and ended up in Ionia too)

If you can recall what happened to Slark in A Nightcrawler's Tale, remember the fact that he had escaped the infamous Dark Reef Prison. If you don't, here's a summary of the whole five-chapter story:

Slark was being abandoned in front of a random house in the Dark Reef. When the door was opened, it was revealed that it's Slithice, the Naga Siren who resides in the house, and she is a part of the Slithereen Guard family. Without being acknowledged by her parents who were busy at work, Slithice took the little fish and adopted him as if Slark was her only son, provided the fact that she had nothing to do in her house other than guarding. As Slark grew up (with an extra pair of feet), he developed not just friendship, but relationship as well with the Naga Siren.

Things went downhill when Slark went out hunting for food while Slithice was resting at home due to illness. And at that moment, he was being arrested, and being plead guilty of living in the Dark Reef as an illegal resident. He was then being sent to the Dark Reef Prison, where the toughest Slithereen Guards would be swimming and slithering around 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, to make sure no one would escape from the prison until two possible outcomes: death penalty or life sentence. Day one inside the prison, his inmate was his dying father, who requested his son to have his meat eaten to stay alive. Devastated, Slark was planning carefully to escape from the prison, by his observance and improvised listening skill.

And it all went down to one moment. 12 of the prisoners, all tough fish, went riot out of nowhere and distracted the Slithereen Guards. In the midst of chaos, Slark managed to steal a weapon – the now Silver Edge shiv on his hand – and slit one of the Slithereen Guards open right into the throat. And then he swam away with his father's shark skin while the brawl occurred right in front of the front gate, and nowhere to be found. The dozen of the prisoners who attempted the same, however, faced the different fate from Slark: some were being shot dead, while other were being executed in front of other prisoners as a shot of warning.

Slark, being the only escapee from the prison, did manage to back to surface. From the story A Nightcrawler's Tale, he did meet up with Sven who eventually brought him to his new home. But, what if he didn't make it to the said land instead?

Let's rewind the story where Slark was still swimming within other fishes, going north away from the Dark Reef. Just before that, he managed to make a U-turn to reunite with his beloved Slithice briefly.

Knock, knock. "Slithice, it's me, Slark." The Naga Siren was surprised as she could heard a familiar voice. She opened the door and ended up being speared by the little fish, though the impact was not much. Slithice understood he was giving her the warm hug, as they waited for this moment after several months Slark was being sent to the prison.

"I miss you, Slithice."

"I miss you too, Slark. But, please don't stay here. They might be looking for you."

"I am really aware of my situation right now. In case you need me again, like marriage or something… I'm heading north." Slark said.

"But I heard there's no land in-"

"Trust me, darling. I'll be safe right there. Give me a month to reach and regroup there, then you leave here for me, and we will have our own family there. Promise me?"

"Promise."

From that moment, he was determined not to go back to the Dark Reef again. With all of his energy he had, he swam as far as he could until eventually, he sensed something weird.

The shock-wave again. Yet, he chose to ignore, just like what Dragonus reacted upon soaring through the barrier. The Meta Barrier. He sensed nothing wrong and he thought the earthquake strikes again at the sea bed, so he chose to swim instead.

Until when he noticed the gradual decrease in terms of the sea colour and almost reaching the mainland after several hours of swimming and resting, he realized that he was into the new territory. The aqua plants were different from the one he usually saw in the Dark Reef. Then the nightcrawler resurfaced slowly, only to realize that he was, in fact, looking at a magical forest upon surface. And he could observe a chameleon drinking the water.

Her clothing material was almost same as his: brownish rag-like material cloth was covering her breasts and her lower body as well. Slark never seen this creature as well, but according to the fish, her body resembles human but some of the body parts resemble a chameleon as well. The chameleon was drinking water until she noticed the presence of the fish.

The chameleon blinked her eye. "Who are you?"

Slark's cover was blown.

"Don't be shy, little fish. Neeko wants to make friends!"

"Uhm… Neeko, hey?" Slark slowly surfaced to approach the curious chameleon. "It's uhm… really pleasure to meet you. My name is Slark."

The curious chameleon observed the Slithereen assassin slowly while Slark walked towards her and the surface as well. She was amused as she never encountered a walking fish before, well except Fizz. But Fizz is an amphibian yordle. So technically, this was her first encounter with a walking and talking fish. Without hesitation, Neeko had her arm wide, deceiving Slark that she was welcoming him with a warm hug.

And… Slark had fallen into the trap.

Neeko's curiosity was all behind the trap. Lifting the fish up easily, Neeko stretched her arms, inspecting Slark easily due to the obvious height difference (with Neeko is about 170cm while Slark barely hits the one-meter mark), from left to right, top to bottom, what's within his hood and what's hiding behind his loincloth-

"Neeko! Stop peeking at my part!" Slark yelped in embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry!" Neeko giggled while putting the fish down. Slark sighed in relief before picking up his Sliver Edge shiv that was previously dropped off upon the chameleon lifting up. "I'm so curious about the walking fish!" The naïve chameleon told the nightcrawler proudly.

"Oh… just… Nobody would expect a walking fish, so yeah-" Slark let his guard down since this creature possessed no threat to him. "Say, any idea where I am now?"

"Oh-" Neeko gasped, followed by Slark's surprised reaction, "You're new to here, don't you? This place – the Vastayan calls it Ionia! And if you've never been to Ionia, you should have heard about Runeterra before."

"Damn!" Slark shouted in exclamation. "So… this is the north, then."

Neeko blinked her eyes in confusion. "North?"

"Forget it. At least the… bad guys cannot hunt me down for now!" Slark had his arms pressing against his waist and said his lines proudly. He noted the fact that Neeko knew nothing about the Ancients.

"I have a magic trick; do you want to see?" Neeko asked happily.

"Sure! Why not!"

And poof- another fish similar to Slark appeared in front of Slark.

"Neeko is Slark now! Hahaha," Neeko was mimicking the fish to the finest details. Slark was well entertained, giggling in response to Neeko's gestures similar to his.

"You made my day, Neeko. And it's really a pleasure to meet you. Now, revert to who you are before we can shake our hands." Slark showing up his gesture, attempting to shake her hand. Neeko smiled before reverting back as Slark told, before shaking his hand as well. But, Neeko had no intentions to let go. Instead, she lifted him up easily and placing him onto her back.

"There's no time to rest in this magical land, Slark! It's Neeko's duty to be a guide tour of the fish, in this magical forest!"

And off she went carrying Slark around, running into the woods.