The Fox and the Guardian

Part I: War for Demacia

Chapter 3: the Charmer and the Rebel

The land wasn't any better the further south we walked.

Only a few hours had passed since we left the river behind, Ahri growing more visibly uncomfortable the further we drew away from her usual land so to speak, which probably was a factor in her being more brooding and silent the further we got.

Still, she didn't complain or hesitate, which in of itself spoke of strength of will. It was impressive. She had metal. Nice.

But as I scanned the land around us, I felt disheartened by the lack of life. If the forest near Ahri's cave was anything to go by then it should've been teeming with life; with chirping birds, rustling leaves, gusts of light wind and the pitter patter of critters skittering along the forest floor.

Yet, we were met with only silence.

It was… disturbing. The only good thing being that it wasn't my darkness. Now that had been a relief in of itself, but of course that didn't stop the fact something was killing the forest.

Annnnddd, Ahri's narrowed eyes and clenched fists did not help the unease in my gut.

I'm rather positive we could deal with whatever we found, I'm a Guardian after all, but… it still left an uneasy feeling in my gut.

But, I couldn't blame Ahri for her anger. It was her forest, her home and had seemed so at ease in it. Then this… darkness took the life from it.

I'd be pissed too if someone had trashed my apartment back at the Tower. Hell, I punched some Guardian named Nate when he-

"Whoever did this…" She suddenly growled, her voice actually mimicking the animalistic nature of her ears and tails, "I'll tear them apart."

That though… was a bit much.

I huffed and steeled my resolve, "It's rather… distasteful," I was careful to choose my words as her eyes landed on me, "but, maybe they don't deserve straight up murder. I mean, what if they don't even know what's happening? What if it's an experiment gone wrong?"

"Then I'll drain them. Let them live in happiness at least till their gone." She hissed, her voice filled with anger and dark intent.

I blinked at that, and my shock must've shown since the girl widened her eyes and looked away, a frown on her face even though the anger was still as present as the sun, albeit lessened by a good margin.

"It could be an accident. People aren't inherently evil, Ahri." I tried once more, careful to duck a low branch.

She sighed deeply, then after a few moments of silence added, " maybe it is an accident. We'll see."

Though she was still visibly upset I could tell she would at least restrain herself. At least violence wasn't going to be her go to now.

That was a win.

I nodded at that, and then added, "People suck sometimes, but sometimes it's also an accident. Heck one time this guy accidently spilled food on me and well, I did punch him for it and we fought, but it didn't mean we fought till the death. It was an accident you know?"

Andy, I dont think thats a very apt analogy…

The fox girl looked at me with raised eyebrows, then quickly rolled her eyes and replied, "I think draining the forest of life is a bit bigger accident than spilling food."

Told you.

Hush Kait, I'm trying to be nice.

Meany.

"You're not wrong," I replied, "but the lesson still applies. For all you know the person could very much be trying to save the forest."

"Save the forest?"

I shrugged, "okay that may be a bit of a stretch, but you know what I mean."

She frowned, "I…" her shoulders dropped with a huff, "I think I understand." Her brow was furrowed in frustration as she wrestled with her anger.

I nodded though, content with at least helping her understand that not all people were out for evil. I mean, I may not know much about this… Ionia, but if was anything like back home, then people were probably working together to overcome the greater evil, just like we were working to overcome the darkness in the Last City.

We moved past a particularly thick patch of dead brush, Ahri growling at a tree that tangled one of her tails in its leaves, when light breached the trees before us and we were forced to squint as our eyes adjusted.

Our feet carried us past the light and into a sort of clearing, where only a handful of dead trees shielded us from the elements now.

And… well, of course, maybe someone just built a dark temple oozing of evil intent in the middle of forest and decided to drain it of all life….

Of course.

Cause why not.

Ahri glanced at me and growled, "still seem like an accident?"

"Okay well, I'll admit that it looks rather bad but-"

Fweet!

A whistle broke the air, though it sounded out far closer to the temple than us, and considering we were maybe a football fields length away from it certainly drew both of our eyes and silence.

Movement; a person dressed in all black with red eyes turned towards the woods far closer to the dark temple than us, and as we watched a-

Thwack!

A glowing purple dagger imbedded itself into his chest and before its body could drop a glowing yellow man with no shirt danced- literally danced- forth from the trees and grabbed the body, twirling it with delight.

Instinctively my helmet appeared on me and I grabbed Ahri and pushed her behind a large tree to our left.

Without a word she frowned then followed my gaze as we both looked around the tree and watched as the man dropped the body as more men approached. However, from far behind him, still hidden in the woods that were also hiding us so well, purple daggers flew forth and with whistling crack cut through three more men.

I raised an eyebrow at such accuracy, and Ahri frowned even further.

A woman with… large…. feathered... ears…

Okay weird….

Then again I am traveling with a woman with wolf ears- sorry fox-, and none tails… huh okay maybe her larger ears weren't a big deal.

Well the woman walked out of the brush, dark red dress clinging to a lithe frame as she held out a hand that pulled the dagger back to her, and then said dagger proceeded to disappear right into her palm in the blink of an eye.

The man turned to her, but whatever happened between them I couldn't see as they were too far away.

Still, our- and their- attention was drawn to the six more men that appeared from both the walls of the temple itself and the shadows coating the ground around it.

I felt my hand grip my hand canon, Ahri's tails flicked with fire and then the man of yellow dashed forward. He was elegant in a sense, moving with speed and grace as he easily knocked two men to the ground, purple daggers permanently silencing them as they fell.

Again, impressive accuracy.

Then the man- the woman hanging out behind him- dashed in between the last four men swiped their feet from under them with what looked like a feathered cloak, and then yellow… energy I guess, burst out from him and he leapt into the air.

Defying gravity somehow, the men were thrown up with him.

The woman leapt into the air, and with a twirl, daggers impaled each man, all of them dropping to the ground with a lifeless thunk a second later.

I straightened and felt my tension seep away.

"Huh. They're not bad. Gotta hand credit where it's due I guess."

The fox looked at me with confusion, "credit? What're you-"

The cracking of branches echoed out and we saw four men appear from the trees behind the two.

Ahri growled as the pair separated; the man dashing at the new intruders, and the woman going inside with the calmest gait I'd seen in a while.

"Help her, and find out who she is. They're mine." Ahri growled and with a burst of speed like I'd seen in our fight she dashed towards the four men facing the golden man.

I'll admit her anger was warranted seeing as how these men were… well very much not the nicest looking fellows. Add that to the fact they were obviously guarding the temple and well… Ahri's anger was warranted.

But I had a job, so I dashed forward, using a quick blink and a burst from my boots thrusters to cross the football field within a few seconds.

Grunts and a few inaudible shouts filled the air, informing me of Ahri's intervention, but a quick glance ensured me that she had taken down one assailant while the man dealt with two more.

Satisfied she was in no mortal danger I jumped over a large clump of darkened earth, a small hill more like it and landed in front of the temple.

Dust billowed out from my landing and I gazed at the temple with an ounce of curiosity.

The entrance to the temple was more of a hole guarded by dead vines and leaves, and I drew my side arm as I slipped through the vines with less stealth than a rampaging elephant.

A grand opening lead me into a large room, similar to that of a cathedral, though it was only stone, dead vines, and a floating red ring of crystal that glowed with inhumane power.

But all of those things were details and my eyes were instead drawn to the center of the room where the woman was standing head turned towards the crystal before one of the feathered ears atop her head twitched towards me and she spun to face me, glowing daggers in her hands.

The daggers flew at me instantly, and I blinked to the side, careful to simply avoid them all.

The womans golden eyes widened slightly and she narrowed her gaze.

"Whoa hold on!" I raised my hands, careful to point my side arm up, "I'm not here to fight!"

Her mouth moved to speak but suddenly two gray blades flew at her from behind, her ears twitching once more as she dove out of the way and let the blades sail past her.

I looked for the blades origins and watched as a man stepped out from the shadows, dressed in black and red, with dark metal on his shoulders and forearms.

Red glowing eyes locked onto me.

Andy, I don't think he's a friendly!

What gave it away the black clothing or the evil ninja vibe!

The man moved, carefully avoiding the trio of purple blades sent for him while also sending two disk of metal at me.

Casually I side stepped and raised my weapon firing off two shots at his torso.

Red eyes widened slightly as the bullets made impact but to my surprise the body fell apart in shadow and reformed inches in front of me!

I ducked a blade aimed for my throat, but he capitalized and slammed a knee to my face.

I stumbled back, but shadows once more took hold of him and retreated back- only for purple blades to eviscerate the air where he had been standing.

Shadows slide around the room, and I raised my gun in response, fire rolling off me in waves as I waited.

Movement to my left.

I spun, and watched the strange woman flip under a blade meant for her head, then capitalize on the mans over extension by kicking him in the chest.

He flew up, slamming into the rock wall where he disappeared into shadows once more.

The shifting of rock behind me and I spun, firing as the shadows reformed.

The bullet hit, and the man growled, stumbling back as he launched a blade at me.

I side stepped again, only for shadows to instantly coalesce and slam two blades into my chest!

My feet stumbled back, shields flaring as they dissipated the energy from his blow, before I retaliated with a few haphazard shots from my hand canon.

The body broke into shadows and I grit my teeth.

The woman once more moved into my vision, rolling to her feet with obvious wounds on her side as she stood and looked up.

I followed her gaze up, and saw three versions of our assailant standing on the crystal above; red eyes glaring down at us.

Then, the shadows moved.

Sol power flashed within me and my body ignited as my gun disappeared and the gun of pure light replaced it.

I aimed.

And light flew from my gun, intercepting the shadows, and doing nothing to stop it.

The shadows simply warped around my shot and slammed into me, throwing me to the ground as the light vanished from my body.

Instantly I rolled to the side and back to my feet, sparing a glance at the woman who was also on the ground, barely pulling herself up.

Shadows once again began to coalesce, but this time at the roof of the temple, red eyes peering down at us with malicious intent.

"Leave."

My eyes turned to the woman, her breath heavy as one hand held her side and another glowed purple.

"Leave."

"What're you-"

Fwet!

A purple dagger shot past me towards her hand, then another, and a third from above- and then there were too many to count.

The roof shook as purple daggers pulled out from their place in the walls and roof and soared back to the woman.

Not even the crystal floating above was safe, it's pristine form cracking from the projectiles slamming into and through it.

Whatever this woman had done while I was distracted…

She was gonna bring this whole place down.

On top of us.

But even with the impending doom, my senses flared with danger and I saw the shadow from the roof burst out towards us.

Red eyes polluted it, dozens of the same dark blades aimed for me and her.

My heart raced.

I had to save her.

Without stopping a beat, I spun on my heel and blinked towards the woman.

Light enveloped me and warped reality, throwing me out into the plane of existence right next to her.

Her head instantly turned to me, eyes wide as the glow of her hand grew even brighter.

The hair on my neck stood.

I could almost feel the shadows blades on us, the purple blades getting closer as the storm of them tore the temple to ruin.

My hands grabbed latched onto her outstretched arm. Her face twisted in shock and confusion. I twisted my head towards the entrance.

Blades inches from my face.

Rocks fell on every side.

I ignited Arc energy over my body and forced the power outwards as I blinked once more towards the entrance.

The extra power forced the teleportation to throw us further than normally possible.

It was move I learned a few weeks ago from one of the elder Hunters in the tower. He used it in a spar to thoroughly spank me in a one on one.

And as expected we appeared just outside the entrance, but what wasn't expected was how we both continued flying forward and into the ground face first.

I hit, bouncing off the hard dirt as dust spat up around me, and flipped onto my back with a hard thud.

My cape settled down beside me.

"Ow."

"Andy!" A pair of ears accompanied by dark hair filled my vision.

"Yo." I grinned and my helmet faded as Ahri looked me over, worry etched on her face.

She frowned at me and stood back, pulling me to my feet as she did so.

"Care to explain?" She growled, motioning to the tower of rubble that was once a dark temple.

I opened my mouth to speak only to find a purple dagger suddenly at my throat, an angry woman with yellow eyes, red hair, and pale skin staring up at me.

Ahri's eyes immediately grew hostile, her tails flicking out as magic wrapped around her hands only for a pair of arms to wrap around her and pull her back.

"What the-"

"Relax, she just wants to talk right?" The golden man, taller than me with a slim runners build and broader chest spoke towards the woman.

Ahri snarled, but I shook my head and she froze.

I had no doubt she'd fry them both if they hurt one of us, but I literally just saved this woman! I didn't want her dead!

Said woman narrowed her eyes at me.

I contemplated blinking back and firing off a warning shot so the man would release Ahri but the woman hadn't really tried to kill me yet.

She's was probably just confused.

Still, a dagger to my throat was uncomfortable.

"Okay," I started, "can you drop the dagger?"

"Why were you helping them?"

I blinked. "Helping who?"

"Why poison the land?" She growled, the dagger pushing into my skin.

I flinched slightly, realizing that anymore pressure and she would break skin.

I met Ahri's eyes.

She was pissed. The snarl on her face was one twisted with anger and her eyes glowed violently.

I hardened my gaze, trying to get her to back down, but her tails started to glow.

She would incinerate both of these people if I didn't somehow defuse this.

And this woman was not helping at all.

God it's like everyone here wants to fight me!

"Look, we were not helping that dude and his minions." I explained raising my hands to show I was unarmed.

Her frown only deepend.

I continued, "we came from up North. The dead land was all the way up there and we were looking for the source."

"And why would a human care for the forests?" She hissed, not pushing the dagger any deeper thank the Traveler, but still not relinquishing her hold on it.

"The Northern Forests are my home." Ahri answered for me, "he was assisting me in finding the culprit who dared damage the spirits."

The woman's ears twitched in obvious annoyance, and I watched her hands tighten on the blade.

I hadn't died from a slit throat before.

This was probably gonna suck. Then Ahri would fry these two.

Fuck.

I braced for the blade to rip out my throat, but instead the woman pulled back, her feathered cloak wrapping around her as she turned and looked at Ahri.

"And who are you?" She asked as the golden man released Ahri, who instantly slipped past the two to stand by me.

Her eyes glowed with golden fire but she calmed enough for her tail and hands to harmlessly dissipate the magic she had gathered.

"Ahri."

Red haired woman huffed with a slight nod, "and the human?"

I rolled my eyes. "Andy."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Aaaannnnddd," the golden man sung as he slung an arm around the short angry woman, "this is Xayah. I'm Rakan. Thank you for pulling her out of that mess." He nodded towards the temple.

"I had it handled." The angry woman known as Xayah growled at him, though it lacked the anger she had when addressing us.

"You're welcome," I answered with a sigh.

It was then that I noticed something.

The grass, blackened and dead began to stand. Color Rose from it's roots, and the trees began to grow once more, leaves sprouting dorm the branches.

Flowers bloomed and the sky itself seemed to brighten all around us.

"What the…" I asked, carefully lifting a foot as a pink flower bloomed underneath me.

"The shadows are gone…"

My eyes turned to Angry wom- Xayah, and I noticed her smiling, an arm wrapped around the golden naked man.

I mean Rakan.

"The shadows?" Ahri asked, her eyes no longer glowing as she knelt and felt the grass.

Her tails slowly swayed and her eyes met mine with a smile.

The forest really meant a lot to her…

No kidding. I just thought it was a territory thing.

Xayah nodded, releasing her hold on the taller man and folding her arms as she looked at us, the smile instantly disappearing.

"The shadow acolytes. Led by a man named Zed. Whoever they are… they've been plaguing the southern half of Ionia for months now. Draining the magic and life from the land." She grit her teeth with obvious disgust and I filed a mental note not to bring up shadows with this girl.

Ahri nodded then asked, "this is first time so far north?"

"Yeah," the man replied, "they're expanding it seems. No idea why though."

"Well, that dude's dead now, so we probably won't see them as much anymore" I pointed over my shoulder at the ruined temple, "we did drop a temple on him."

Xayah rolled her eyes at me and walked past me, only after not so gently pushing me aside before replying, "he escaped. Whatever he is hasn't died the last two times we dropped the temple on them. And he has followers, plenty of them."

No manners at all this chick.

I frowned and crossed my arms, "so what you're just being a noble citizen of Ionia and-"

"Ionia can burn for all I care," she spat, head barely tilted so she could spare a patronizing glance back at me, "but the Vastaya don't deserve to have their lands plagued by humans with a grudge. The land should be wild and free."

"What she means," Rakan softly chuckled, carefully stepping between her and myself, "is that humans don't tend to care about these things, and there are those that would willingly turn a blind eye to these shadows if it rid Ionia of us Vastayans."

"Uh huh…" I nodded, though I knew my face was furrowed in confusion.

He chuckled, "she's very outspoken I know, but don't worry about it! She's all bark no bite."

Considering the glowing death daggers that she shot at me…

I'ma call bullshit.

But I smiled still and replied, "well at least we're not the only ones," I sighed as I looked to the tree blooming with new life, "I'll admit though, I've never seen something quite like it."

"Neither have I," Ahri added, her eyes narrowed not at me or Rakan, but at the angry woman named Xayah.

The woman, who was watching us over her shoulder huffed and turned away completely, "then your blind."

"Or you're paranoid."

The tension was electrifying.

Immediately Rakan and I locked eyes, the silent communication going over instantly as we both understood that the two women were close to coming to blows.

"Okay," I calmly drawled out, "how about we settle down for some food? I can cook a mean rabbit if I need."

Rakan nodded along before adding, "plus we should thank them for helping out. Don't want to know what would've happened if this fellow here wasn't there to pull you out of the fire Xay."

She huffed and snapped back, "I had it under control."

"Of course you did, mieli."

The words cause Xayah to stiffen, I saw her frown but the tension suddenly seeped from her bones and she calmed enough to look at me.

"Rabbit sounds fine."

A/N

Alas, the next chapter. Im terrible at planned releases sorry.

Anyway, Xayah and Rakan have entered the fray now. Hopefully I portrayed them well enough, also Zed made an appearance! Whoo! Now this is actually the pairs cinematic happening here, but Ahris and Andy's interference cause a few things to change. Also remember, Andy is not the most skilled Guardian. He is NOT Nate from the Darkest Knight. He's a powerhouse in raw ability, hence why he's so willing to throw his power around, but he lacks refinement. So someone extremely dangerous and skilled like Zed is a match for him if caught off guard. Even Xayahs speed and accuracy is enough to pull at the problem of Andy not being the most skilled in battle.

Still, rabbit is on the menu now and who knows what'll happen now that Ahri knows who's poisoning their land.

Xayah and Ahri also don't like each other. Ahri is a recluse with few social interactions and takes most things at face value so the Rebels words hit her harder than most. Xayah on the other hand basically hates humans, hence her instant distrust of Andy, and goes as far as calling those who believe in humans 'Naive' or 'traitor', which explains her dislike of Ahri despite her being a Vatayan.

Rakan on the other hand was always the more civil one, and as you can tell worked with Andy to defuse a fight before it began.

It doesn't mean their friends, but the two are more than likely gonna have to play mediator to the two women, simply due to each of their personalities.

Of course, what's Ahri gonna decide now that she knows who's poisoning the land?

Find out next time.

Also there a little Easter egg in this chapter from Xayahs story on the League website.

Review and follow! God bless.

-metal4k