Unfortunately for us, Ahri explained to me that winged guardians were not mounts, meaning we couldn't ferry them at will. However, we were still able to rent a few horses in Weh'le.

"How do we return them?" I asked Ahri as Yasuo gave the stable master a heavy bag of coins to rent three horses.

"You don't need to." Yasuo replied simply. "Once we are done using them, the horses are able to return on their own. Ionia will guide them."

We walked the horses to a nearby diner and had a quick meal of Ionian noodles. The noodles were mixed with beef, herbs, and many different spices I didn't recognize. Nonetheless, it still tasted excellent. I looked towards Ahri, and even she seemed to be enjoying it. However, I doubt I could tell if she was simply putting on an act.

"Ah, eating. How I miss it." Yone sighed, and I realized unlike Ahri who could still eat if she wanted to, Yone couldn't eat at all. He spent the time looking drearily at the sky. Yasuo finished his meal, and went to stand beside Yone. Although reunited, the brothers still looked kind of sad.

Ahri paid for our meal, and we prepared our horses for the journey. We walked the animals to the Weh'le gate, where Ahri took off her cloak, which she had once again put on at the diner, and put it back into her bags.

"This is where I will be leaving." Yone stated, and turned to look at us. Yasuo, Ahri, and Master Yi did not look surprised, though I was bewildered.

"Why?" I asked. "Aren't you semi-alive again? Don't tell me you have to return to the spirit world."

"No." Yone shook his head solemnly. "The spirits of Ionia have been restless since the Noxians declared war. Usually, the ninjas of Kinkou are able to keep Azakanas at bay, but they're getting more powerful. It is my duty to hunt them down."

With a final wave towards his brother, a whoosh of wind blew past us, covering Yone in flower petals as he disappeared. Now, it was finally time to mount the horses.

"Um, Ahri." I said, and tapped her shoulders.

"Yes?" She stopped, and glanced at me with her beautiful golden eyes.

"I've never rode a horse before." I admitted, though to be honest it wasn't my fault as I lived in a pretty urban area back home. However, I still felt like I was letting everyone else down.

"Oh it's alright." Ahri smiled, and squeezed my shoulders. Her eyes flashed. "You'll be riding with me."

Master Yi and Yasuo each mounted a horse, and Ahri helped me up her animal before lifting her leg and mounting the horse herself. She had combined her nine fluffy tails into just one so that they weren't in my way.

"Alright Wentao." Ahri said cheerfully. "Just wrap your hands around my stomach as if you're giving me a hug, and lean on my back. I'll use my tails to stabilize you so don't worry about falling."

Having never ridden a horse before, I thought that it was extremely uncomfortable. The saddle was large enough for both me and Ahri to keep ourselves on the horse, but I found it much too inconvenient compared to modern vehicles. Nonetheless, I stuck to what I have, and as I loved having my hands around Ahri's waist, I guess things could have been much worse.

We rode down the pathways, through the glades and up the mountains. The First Lands looked beautiful in the late afternoon light. A breeze blew gently in the wind, and butterflies danced in the meadows. The steady clopping rhythms of the horses had quite an effect on me, and I nearly fell asleep. Periodically, Ahri would use her tail to push me one way or the other in case I leaned too far and fell off the horse. The whole time, my face lay on Ahri's soft and comfortable back as I enjoyed the landscapes of Ionia.

When night fell and the moon rose, we dismounted and set up camp near the side of the road. We were in a dark forest, and the trees did not give off light as they had in the forests near Weh'le. Ahri had summoned her Orb of Deception for light, illuminating the nearby area. Master Yi's sword glowed somewhat eerily in the darkness.

The four of us quickly set up camp. Master Yi had bought 3 traveler tents back in Weh'le, and I helped set them up under Ahri's orb light while Yasuo went to scavenge for firewood. When he returned, he dumped an armful of timber into the fire pit, and Ahri spun to summon her fox fires, which flew towards wood. Soon, we had shelters set and a cozy fire glowing.

"Ah. That's better." Yasuo sighed and laid back, pulling out his flute. He blew a few notes into it. "We finally got a shelter going."

Master Yi nodded silently. He had barely spoken this entire journey, and I wondered whether he was usually like that or if trauma from the Noxians bombing his home had changed him for the worse.

"We still need food." Master Yi interjected at last. "Leave that to me."

He swiftly stood up, and ran into the woods. I was surprised by his agility. The speed at which he ran into the forest might have been even faster than Yone when he was fighting Yasuo.

Yasuo played a slow melody on his flute, while the moon rose higher and higher into the night sky. Pale moonlight cut through the tall trees, into the clearing where we had set up camp. The air grew cooler, and soon the fire had become our only source of heat. Ahri periodically left to collect more timber for the flames.

Finally, Master Yi returned with a large, bird-like creature in his left hand. Yasuo stood up, and together they quickly prepared the beast for cooking, before setting it over the fire. Oil sizzled from the creature's body as the beast was cooked.

"Here you go, Wentao." Ahri said merrily as she tore off one of the bird's legs and handed it to me. The meat had a golden brown color that was covered by crispy skin. "Eat up!"

Dinner was delicious. The bird tasted quite like turkey from back home, though I doubted it was actually turkey. After we had finished eating, we washed our hands in a nearby creek and cleaned up.

Master Yi declared that it was time for his meditation session each night, before he stood up and wandered into the woods. Yasuo stated that he slept early as he had to get up early in the morning, so he retreated to one of the tents. That left me and Ahri sitting by ourselves near the fire. I snuggled into Ahri's tails while looking at our horses nearby. They were untied, as Ahri had explained they wouldn't run off. The horses were resting peacefully under one of the tall trees.

"Ahri, can you tell me a story?" I asked as I dreamily gazed into the fire. Ahri looked at me, slightly surprised, before smiling warmly. She wrapped one of her hands around me.

"Of course Wentao." She said gently. The streaks of blue on her face glowed nearly crimson in the firelight. "What type of story would you prefer?"

"Umm, I want a scary one please." I said. I've always loved the thought of scary stories in the dark while camping, with only a few friends and the fire as company. Unfortunately, I've never experienced it in the real world, but I very much wanted to with Ahri.

"Awww. Aren't you a brave little fox." Ahri cooed, before wrapping three of her tails around my shoulders, nearly engulfing me whole. With one of her hands, she stroked my hair while she used the other to adjust the fire with a stick. "Alright then."

Ahri turned my head towards hers, and we stared into each other's eyes. Ahri's regular golden eyes slowly started to emit a red glow, and I realized she must have been using her charm magic to adjust my perception of reality, seeing whatever she wanted me to see. She then gently adjusted me into a comfortable position and I glanced at my slightly altered surroundings.

"Ionia is quite a volatile place." Ahri began, as she whispered into my ears. "It has a surreal connection with the Spirit Realm, yet not all spirits are benevolent. Although the gentle moon would shower the world with light nearly every night, there would be one night where something would be different. That night, darling, is the night of the blood moon."

As Ahri whispered that last sentence, the bright moon was suddenly enveloped by a shade of crimson red, as if the night itself was bleeding. The surrounding trees were showered by red moonlight, and the world seemed much more sinister than it once had. I shivered, and clutched tightly on Ahri's tails. Ahri gently stroked my head before continuing.

"The blood moon reveals the worst in all of us." Ahri explained. "Soon, cultists would emerge to sacrifice the blood of the living to the moon, feeding the demon trapped within. On that night, blood thirsty cultists of the blood moon would hold meetings around the forests of Ionia, much like the one we are in."

I glanced towards the nearby trees, which had begun emitting a red glow similar to the trees of the Spirit Blossom, although opposite in color. Terrifying red wooden masks of twisted animals hung in the trees, and at that moment I much preferred the darkness.

"The cultists were each embedded with the demons of the blood moon. Behold, blood moon Master Yi, an impediment of the blood moon as a sinister metamorphosis takes over his body, thinning the veil between himself and his demon. Each night, the demon urges him to take on further acts of violence." Ahri told me, and pointed towards a section of the woods where Master Yi had gone to meditate. The woods slowly melted away, revealing a village under the red veil of the blood moon. As I watched, a blur of red dashed through the village as people ran out, and heaps of bodies fell onto the floor. As the last villager fell, the blur came to a stop to reveal the twisted yet still recognizable form of Master Yi. His blade radiated a shade of red instead of its regular green, and his goggles had been replaced by a monstrous mask.

"Then there was blood moon Yasuo!" Ahri announced, and the doors to Yasuo's tent flew open. A terrifying samurai emerged, blade drawn. Red essence seemed to flow outwards from the red steel of Yasuo's blade, staining the earth red. The blade seemed to radiate an aura as if it had a life of its own. "The executioner of the blood moon cult, his blade gleams with a demonic life of its own. He slaughters the sacrifices and offers them to the blood moon."

An unconscious body appeared at Yasuo's feet. With a single hand, he hauled the person onto an altar that appeared nearby, and raised his sword. Ahri's hands covered my eyes as the blade descended, and I heard the thump of something round roll onto the dirt. I shuddered uncontrollably.

Suddenly, I felt the air grow slightly warmer and opened my eyes. The light of the moon was steadily returning to its regular color. The trees started to grow, covering the slaughter of blood moon Yi.

"Yet after each blood moon," Ahri continued, and exhaled. "Everything goes back to normal as the sun rises. The people of Ionia heals, and the cultists return to their senses and go back to their regular lives."

The moon shined brighter, now fully converted to its original color once more. The trees had grown back, and Yasuo had returned to his tent.

"But watch out." Ahri said finally, and looked up towards the night sky. "For if the moon turns red on a dreary night, you might just become the cultists' next sacrifice."

Ahri looked down towards me, huddled in her tails, and smiled.

"Awww." She teased, and nudged me with her left hand. "Is the little fox scared?"

"No no." I said quickly, and sat up. "I'm not scared at all."

Ahri laughed pleasantly, and squeezed my shoulders.

"Alright Wentao." She said finally. "It's time for bed."

I yawned, and nodded. Ahri took me to the middle tent, and climbed in. A large sleeping fur was on the bed, and a blanket was spared on top of it. Ahri made a sharp whistling sound to signal Yi that it was time for him to return, before she too climbed into the tent.

"Sleep tight little one." Ahri whispered to me. "We'll be arriving at the battle fields tomorrow. You'll need your strength."

I nodded, and Ahri gently rubbed her face against my forehead. She put her tails loosely around me, and I fell asleep.


Be sure to leave a comment if you enjoy this type of work, or just for general spelling mistakes! I'll be uploading around 5 chapters a day.