Aatrox and Varus and reunited as they both have a homecoming. Prompt from Curious Cat.
Rain pelted down onto the ruined flesh that passed for his face and he turned toward the sky in an effort to feel it fully. Lifetimes ago there would have been joy to be found in a cleansing rain after a battle, washing away those brutal deeds that were required of them as the sun hid its face from the carnage. Now though, it was a sensation that could not be provoked, even if he had bothered to try. Perhaps, the last remnant of him capable of feeling something so utterly human had finally died.
As he sank down onto the hillside, not concerning himself with the destruction that surrounded him, the earth quaked under his massive form. His eyes roved over the landscape, Shurima was much changed from even the last time he had set foot here. The desert seemed like a ravenous beast, devouring the green lands around it. His return could have been a homecoming of sorts, there too though he found no emotion to be stirred, no great meaning to be discerned in the happening.
Of course, he had not returned here on idle fantasies that something would be awakened in him by the land where he had Ascended and risen above common mortality. He had felt a pull of something he could not define, some great magic that had reappeared. Here he found whispers of a great city rising in the desert, a bright light of hope for the people. Perhaps he should go investigate and snuff out that light. That would align with his new purpose. He shrugged to himself, causing rocks to rip loose of the hill and tumble to the ground, it had better be worth his trouble. Picking up one of the fallen boulders he idly chucked it into the distance.
He let his eyes close as the rain still battered against him. Would he sleep for once? He could still feel the siren call to oblivion, the urge to decimate everything around him. So though sleep was indeed a possibility, even he needed rest, true peace would ever elude him.
A noise near to him interrupted his reverie and his eyes snapped open. Boldly, a lone figure gazed at him from beneath the shadow of the hill. Familiarity tickled at the back of his mind, and something else as well, as he took in the figure's features. This being was known to him, he thought as his mind delved into the recesses of memory for the answer.
Instinct drove him to his sword though, before memory could serve him. A small inconsequential thing such as this should not stir in him whatever it was that buzzed in his stolen flesh. Longing? Regret? "Would you smite me, Great Aatrox?'
That voice. The unnerving sensations continued sparking something almost nonexistent into life. For a moment, something other than rage quickened his heart, though he refused to name it. "Varus?"
In his current state, he towered over the fair-haired Darkin. His blade lowered ever so slowly, he could not trust even another of his kind implicitly, and he beckoned him closer with a deliberate gesture of his hand. How unjust, Aatrox thought, as he emerged from the shadows into the hazy light of the now clearing storm. Varus was nearly as beautiful as he had been millennia before. However, he had come by his host, their flesh had not been ruined in the same manner as his own.
Without hesitation, the other approached. Almost eager were his movements. Closer he moved until he stood beneath the shadow of his hulking brother instead of that of the hill. "It really is you." His voice echoed with sentiments that turned his stomach with their very existence; jealousy, resentment, accusation. All of them had been gone so long, he had thought himself the last of a kind.
"I did not believeā¦" Varus's voice trailed off. He paused for a moment, cocking his head to the side, eyes wide, as though he were listening for something. "Aatrox, where the rest?"
He collapsed back against the hill, now a dependable companion to bear his weight. Another unwanted moment, he was disappointed Varus asked after the others. "Hmph. Does it matter? We are all consigned to one form of suffering or another. Theirs is in their prisons and ours is here."
A sardonic laugh escaped his smaller sibling. "The mighty Aatrox, reduced to nothing but a raging nihilist, slaughtering peasants in the desert."
His eyes blazed red with anger, and he fought against taking up his sword again. "And what would you propose I make of myself in this glorious new form of mine?"
The other Darkin boldly drew even closer to where a hand would have been able to touch him if he reached out a hand. "An avenger, brother. Let us seek out true freedom and bring retribution against those responsible for our suffering."
If he had a heart, it would surely ache. "I see no path to freedom. And oh how I have tried. I have fought against my bonds for ages, and I am no closer to solving the riddle."
"But until now you have been alone in this struggle. Now we are two. And if we can find the others, we will at least bring a great reckoning to the pathetic masses of humanity." This time the sensation was all too familiar, and not unwelcome. The anticipation of a great battle, of his will being imposed on the world around him.
With care not normally known to him, his hand reached out, and one lone finger stirred the flowing, white hair of his companion. "I find that your words are not without merit. It is good to have you home Varus."
