A world of blue, a fox, a man with two swords, a mask. These images swirled before me, in a sweeping motion as the wind would blow the leaves. The mask came to life, grinning fiercely before taking a bite at the man with two swords. The man deflected the mask's advance, before staring straight at me.

"Wake up." He whispered.

It was then that I grew aware of a soft yet urgent feminine voice telling me something similar.

"Wake up darling." I heard Ahri whisper as she gently stroked my hair. I readjusted my position and nuzzled her tails while stretching.

"Just five more minutes?" I pleaded, while snuggling yet deeper into Ahri's soft, warm tails.

"Awww." Ahri murmured gently. "You're such an adorable little fox. If only I could let you sleep in my arms forever. But we don't have time darling. Do you remember the Noxians I showed you yesterday?"

Confused as to why Ahri would bring up the Noxians at such an early time in the morning, I willed myself to awake and sharpen my senses. Slowly, I started to notice a small rumbling sensation throughout the land, and in the distance, I heard loud booms. The sound of explosions.

"Umm Ahri?" I whimpered, as I curled deeper into her tails. "What's that?"

"Now now, darling." Ahri said gently. "There's no need to be scared, but the Noxians have broken through the front lines and advanced into Ionia."

"What?" I said, before hugging one of Ahri's tails and cowering behind it.

"Awww. Don't be scared." Ahri told me kindly, before gently stroking my face. "We are pretty far from the frontlines, and you should know I am extremely powerful. If it comes to that, I won't let anybody hurt you. However, I do think it would be wise if we were to move slightly more inland."

She slowly removed her tails from my face, and feeling slightly better, I got up. Ahri, already in her usual attire, quickly picked out some hiking clothing for me before walking out so I could get dressed.

I walked downstairs, dressed in a pair of comfy sky blue Ionian robes. Despite their slightly loose appearance, they were surprisingly comfortable, and were easy to move around in. A sleek type of material covered its exterior, making it more difficult to get dirty.

"Good morning Wentao." Ahri greeted brightly. She strode over, and passed me a fork and a plate of cooked deer meat, and a strange type of boiled leafy vegetable before patting my hair and telling me to eat. I took the plate, and sat down at a nearby table while Ahri rushed off to prepare some bags for our journey inland.

I bit into the juicy deer meat and quickly finished it, before looking in a dejected manner at the leafy vegetable.

"Awww, does the little fox not want to eat his vegetables?" Ahri teased, as she noticed my untouched greens.

"It's not that." I muttered, slightly embarrassed as I picked one up with my fork. "It's just that I've never seen these back home. What is it called?"

"Hehe. Oh, of course." Ahri smiled pleasantly, the streaks on her face glistening in the morning sun. "These are called concilileaves. They're local to Ionia. Of course you won't have them in your home world. But don't worry! They taste quite nice! I promise."

I nodded, before taking a bite of the leaf. To my surprise, it was extremely sweet and filled with a unique, natural flavor. It was also cooked just right so that the leaf was chewy, yet still melted in my mouth.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "This is really good! Ahri, you could open a restaurant!"

"Thanks darling!" She replied brightly, before patting my head. "Concilileaves are extremely nutritious. They retain magical properties directly from the spirit of Ionia. They also have healing properties."

Ahri took my empty plate, and quickly washed it before taking out two travel backpacks, one slightly larger than the other. During this time, I had stood up and put on my running shoes to wait at the doorway.

"One for me, one for you." Ahri said, as she helped me into the smaller of the two bags. Then, she put on her bag, adjusting the straddle so that it rested comfortably against her shoulders. "These are filled with supplies, but shouldn't be too heavy as they are made with special Ionian silk. It reduces the weight of the items inside of it."

I glanced into my bag, which contained the rest of our meat, a few bundles of concilileaves, water, and many other herbs I failed to recognize. There were also some containers, utensils, as well as a small matt and sleeping bag. However, it was as Ahri said, much lighter than it should have been. The bag seemed to float off the ground as if channeling the magic of the land from whence it was made.

"Alright!" Ahri said lightheartedly, as she stood to her full height. Her sack hung loosely on her shoulders, as her nine tails gracefully floated behind her. "Let's go darling!"

We walked side by side along the cabin trail, until it eventually took us back into the forest. Ahri would point out interesting sights, and I marveled at the beauty of Ionian nature. Runeterra had many similarities to Earth it seemed, as many of the flora and fauna surrounding me I recognized. However, just as much still remained alien to me, and I felt like a child once more walking in such a strange new world.

"So, ummm, where are we going again?" I inquired as Ahri had just finished pointing out a couple of bahrl jays, which were cute bird-like creatures of a variety of colors resting in the branches.

"Well darling," She began, while resting one of her hands on my shoulders reassuringly. "I was thinking we could walk to the Chirmwood Bridge. It crosses the stream that you saw right when you first arrived in Ionia. The Chirmwood Bridge leads to an intersection leading to different parts of Ionia."

"Then which way will we go after that?" I asked, as I rested my head on her hand.

"Well, that all depends." Ahri replied. "I was thinking I'll leave you on your own right before the bridge with the packs, while I return to the mountain and scout the Noxian frontlines out. That way, we'll have a better idea of which direction to travel in."

I trembled, slightly nervous as I thought about what might happen when I'm alone in the forest. It was like getting lost from my parent's at the mall, except this mall was a whole lot more unfamiliar and deadlier. Furthermore, I was not completely comfortable with the idea of leaving Ahri. Noticing my uneasy expression, Ahri smiled.

"Don't worry darling. It's only going to be for a short moment. It will take ten minutes at most." She reassured me gently. "I can travel extremely fast when I am on my own. Although it is true there are wild beasts in these parts of Ionia, none will be around at the bridge."

"But what if the Noxians send scouts?" I asked timidly.

"You won't have to worry about that, darling." Ahri told me. "The frontlines are fairly far from our location, and scouts won't travel too far out here. I've even, ah, killed a few a few years ago when the war first started. I do speak from experience."

"But-," I tried to continue, but Ahri giggled before waving one of her tails in front of my face.

"It's going to be alright Wentao." She knelt down and said gently, her golden eyes staring straight into mine. "Don't you trust me?"

It might have been some sort of spell Ahri used to calm my nerves, but I instantly felt braver. The worries left me.

"Of course Ahri." I said. "Of course I trust you."

"Awww. Good fox." She smiled, and patted my head before standing up to her full height. Together, we continued down the path in the morning sunlight.

After walking for around half an hour, we arrived at the stream. The main part of the stream was much larger than the part I had seen when I found the scuttle crab days earlier. Water gushed downstream at a gentle yet steady pace, creating a spasm of liquid that spanned around twenty meters from one end to the other.

In the center of the path, stood the Chirmwood bridge. It was indeed a wooden bridge, as it's name had suggested, with dragon and lotus patterns carved into it that gave it a sense of both simplicity and majestic grace. It was wide enough for around three or four people to cross side by side, and was held up by a wooden ark that reached deep into the middle of the stream.

"Alright, darling." Ahri said, stopping and putting down her bag. Then, she pointed towards a nearby fallen log before continuing. "We're at the bridge. Why don't you go rest yourself on that log over there? We've been walking for quite a long time. You must be tired."

"Ya, I think I'll do that." I gasped, trying to hide the fact that I was, indeed, out of breath. However, I doubt Ahri was fooled.

I lumbered over to the fallen tree, put my bag down besides Ahri's, and sat down. Ahri produced two waterskins, and handed one to me before taking a sip from her own. She then put the skin back into her bag before turning back towards me.

"Wentao, I am now going to go and quickly observe the frontlines. Make yourself comfortable, but don't wander too far off, alright?" Ahri told me hastily. "This will only take a few minutes."

"Okay." I replied, and watched as Ahri summoned her blue Orb of Deception. She raised the orb, and a sudden rush of energy surrounded her. Ahri gave me one last wink before turning around and running straight into the woods. Mid sprint, she gracefully leaped into the air and her entire form rushed forwards. In the blink of an eye, she had disappeared among the trees.

I sat awkwardly on the log, counting the minutes as they passed. When I got near three minutes, a nearby critter snapping a branch was enough to make me lose count all together, and so I decided to just lay down and relax.

A warm Ionian breeze blew gently in my direction as I observed the Ionian wilds from a sleeping position on the log. Bright and mysterious flowers bloomed, and small bugs resembling fireflies blinked in and out of view. The wild grass swayed in the zephyr, and I reflected on how this world all came to be. I was so absorbed that I barely noticed footsteps sound from the path from which Ahri and I had come.

"Ahri's back!" I thought delightfully for a split second before realizing my mistake. A lifetime of playing video games in the dark when I wasn't allowed to had given me powers to easily distinguish between the footsteps of different people. Through these sounds, I can often tell who those steps belonged to, as well as whether they planned on coming near me, in which case I would hastily turn off the game and hide. The current set of footsteps were steady and firm, and sounded full of purpose which suggests it wasn't a Noxian spy. Each step was fast and full of strength, which was different from Ahri's usual steady yet gentle ones.

I was instantly on alert, and rolled off the opposite end of the log, landing as quietly as possible. Then, using the log as concealment, I peaked from one end down the path towards the sounds of the approaching steps.

To my surprise, the figure was much further away than I had anticipated. The wind must have carried the sounds of his steps to my position. This was to my advantage, as the stranger would also have more trouble hearing any sounds I had made.

From a distance, the stranger appeared to be wearing a set of blue robes, similar yet slightly darker than mine. As he walked closer, I noticed more details, such as a weird white piece of armor sported on his left shoulder, a black ponytail, and a massive sword sitting in a handsome wooden sheath that hung on his left waist.

I was momentarily lost for words as I actually knew who the stranger was. He was indeed one of the more popular and famous, if not infamous champions of League of Legends. I had just crossed paths with Yasuo, the Unforgiven.