Chapter 16 "Hands of the Clock"
"Good morning sleepy head…"
Taliyah says as she stretches out of the makeshift bed, the morning sun's light just barely shining through the door as they still were about 50 feet from the surface.
"Kai'sa? You okay?"
Taliyah asked because she didn't reply. Taliyah knelt down and examined Kai'sa's suit, a strange blue iridescent energy seemed to be spreading slowly throughout the whole armor. Kai'sa's eyes then popped open, startling Taliyah a bit,
"What's going on?"
Kai'sa asked, seemingly wide awake.
"Just wondering if you're ok… have you been awake?"
Taliyah asked.
"No, just a strange dream I was having,"
Kai'sa replied.
"Anything you want to talk about?"
Taliyah asked.
"No, it's nothing… in the dream I was walking through the snow in the freljord, it probably was because I was kinda cold last night."
Kai'sa replied.
"I said you could have slept next to me,"
Taliyah said.
"Thanks Tali but I'm not exactly ready for that,"
Kai'sa replied.
"Ready for what hehe, I never said we had to do anything,"
Taliyah said with a laugh.
"In full honesty I wouldn't know what anything even means. All I know is I'd probably be too nervous to actually get any sleep laying next to you,"
Kai'sa explained.
"But you have already done it before,"
Taliyah replied, giggling.
"Yeah but that was before, I told you how I felt, and I still didn't sleep much then,"
Kai'sa replied.
"Welp, alright then, let's get going weirdo,"
Taliyah teased as she offered her hand to hoist Kai'sa up to her feet.
"I got a little place I wanna take you first, but it's on the way north to your friends, so it won't slow us down much."
Kai'sa said as she grabbed the half full glass jar of peaches for the road.
"Oh okay, I hope it's on the surface, no offense,"
Taliyah replied.
"Haha, yeah it is, I don't like it down there anymore then you… Hey take one of those bars of soap with us please, my hands are full"
Kai'sa said as they left the small room behind.
"So, what's the soap for?"
Taliyah said as she finished putting her garments on and walked out the door to catch up to Kai'sa who was walking up the stairs fast.
"Because you stink"
Kai'sa replied bluntly.
"HEY!"
Taliyah exclaimed.
"What, it's true,"
Kai'sa replied.
"That's awful high and mighty coming from someone that smells like burnt rotten meat consistently!"
Taliyah snapped back.
"Yeah well, nothing I can do really about that,"
Kai'sa said, her tone carrying a bit of sadness at the reality of what she was now.
"Hey, don't get all sad on me now,"
Taliyah said, slightly teasing.
"I'm not sad,"
Kai'sa bluntly said.
"If you say so,"
Taliyah replied.
Sigh..Kai'sa took a deep breath of relief as they walked onto the surface and left the scar behind.
"I'll make sure to remember that place if I ever need supplies out here,"
Taliyah remarked.
"What's mine is yours,"
Kai'sa replied.
The two continued on, Kai'sa leading the way as they walked somewhat fast, trying to cover as much distance as they could before the peak heat of the day.
About four hours later…
"Okay, I could use a little break soon,"
Taliyah muttered.
"Don't worry, we stopping for a bit right up here,"
Kai'sa replied, pointing to a few scattered date palm trees off in the distance.
"An oasis!"
Taliyah exclaimed.
"Yes, a spring to be specific,"
Kai'sa replied.
"Welp, meet ya there,"
Taliyah teased, smacking Kai'sa's shoulder lightly as she ripped up a stone slab from the ground and started surfing towards the oasis.
"Well see who's all confident in a few,"
Kai'sa said to herself with slightly sinister look as she watched Taliyah race ahead of her.
"Wooohoo,"
Taliyah exclaimed as she leaped off her stone to run the last few feet before reaching the small body of water.
ZROOP!
An after-image of Kai'sa flashed in front of her and a split second later Kai'sa appeared right in front of her, making a sound like a lightning bolt and beating her to the spring instantly.
"AHHH! Holy Shit you startled me!"
Taliyah yelled.
"Beat ya here,"
Kai'sa teased.
"Yeah and you scared away any easy vermin I could have caught for us,"
Taliyah replied.
"Eh, I'll help you with that later maybe,"
Kai'sa said.
"Well, I guess I'll wash a bit so you stop complaining,"
Taliyah said.
"Okay, you do that, I'm gonna be back in a few minutes, I wanna check these date trees for fruit,"
Kai'sa replied.
Taliyah pulled her hair pin out then got a wash rag out for basic cleaning, still leaving all her clothes on. Taliyah takes a moment and smells the soap, she notices the smell of Ionian blossoms, the smell brings back beautiful memories of her time she spent training with Yusuo in the mountains of Ionia.
Her thoughts faded to sadness as she realized that whoever was traveling with this Ionian soap probably was killed by the Xer'sai. She snaps out of her own contemplating and focuses on weaving the soapy rag under her clothes to wash.
"Success,"
Kai'sa said behind her, Taliyah turns around to see what she is talking about and sees Kai'sa holding the jar that was empty now full of ripe dates.
"Oh, nice,"
Taliyah replied.
"What are you doing,"
Kai'sa asked as she stepped into the water infront of Taliyah.
"Trying to wash a bit,"
Taliyah said.
"Oh no, you need more washing then that, and besides, this also brings me to what I wanted to do out here,"
Kai'sa said.
"Wh, which is?"
Taliyah asked, unsure of what Kai'sa meant.
"I am going to help you to learn how to swim,"
Kai'sa said with a teasing smile, knowing she wouldn't like it too much.
"What, no no, I'm good, really why should I need to swim, I'm a woman of the desert."
Taliyah responded firmly.
"A woman that just almost drowned because of that attitude,"
Kai'sa replied.
"Because you threw me into a really deep lake!"
Taliyah exclaimed.
"Sometime, I may need to again and I don't want you being helpless anytime you have to swim!"
Kai'sa spoke with strict authority.
"Listen… this spring is neck deep at its deepest and I'll be right here with you, there's nothing to fear."
Kai'sa spoke again this time softly.
"Grr, f, fine"
Taliyah said, stuttering as she pulled her top clothes off getting ready to get in the water. Kai'sa wiped her body around as she blushed at Taliyah's abs while she was pulling her clothes off.
"You can turn around silly, I have a shirt on and linen underpants on,"
Taliyah said with a giggle as she noticed that Kai'sa had turned around in the brief moment she couldn't see from undressing.
"Okay, here"
Kai'sa said as she offered her hand to lead Taliyah into the deeper end of the pool. Taliyah nervously wets her hands and rubs her arms as she hesitates before finally giving Kai'sa one of her hands.
"Now just take slow steps with me, there is a bottom you can walk the whole way."
Kai'sa explained as she slowly walked backwards into the deeper water, pulling Taliyah along who reluctantly followed.
"Oh Nasus that cold!"
Taliyah said as the water level rose over her chest.
"Yeah, from the cold nights,"
Kai'sa replied.
"Okay this far enough?"
Taliyah asked.
"Just a little deeper Kai'sa replied as the water level went to Taliyah's neck.
"I, I can't do this.."
Taliyah said, as she started having difficulty breathing from panic.
"No no no, you're staying right here! You're okay…"
Kai'sa replied as she grabbed both her shoulders and tried to calm her down. "You have nothing to fear here,"
Kai'sa said again.
"I, I can't"
Taliyah started to say,
"You can… here let me tell you a little secret why you should never be afraid of water no matter how deep it is,"
Kai'sa said as she leaned her forehead against Taliyah's to calm her.
"What is it?"
Taliyah asked.
"Humans float,"
Kai'sa replied with a giggle.
"What are you talking about? I was literally sinking yesterday,"
Taliyah said.
"Because you let out your air, look, take a deep breath for me,"
Kai'sa asked.
Taliyah did so and noticed her feet float off the ground as she became more buoyant.
"But I have to breathe out!"
Taliyah said as she sank back to the neck depth where she hit the floor.
"Don't breathe out all your air, just breathe out half, take short breaths and keep your lungs full and you will literally float, you don't even have to know how to swim. 90% of swimming is just staying calm, trust me."
Kai'sa explained.
"A bird's trust is not in the branch,"
Taliyah replied quietly.
"What?"
Kai'sa asked,
"nothing, just a saying someone once told me,"
Taliyah replied as she tried to do as Kai'sa explained.
"Okay now step back a little farther with me,"
Kai'sa said as she took her hands off of Taliyah's shoulders, the water was now at Kai'sa's neck.
"IT'S TOO DEEP,"
Taliyah yelled,
"Just remember what I said, Yelling lets out all your air,"
Kai'sa replied as she noticed her error in that Taliyah was a lot shorter and it was too deep for her to touch the ground.
Luckily Taliyah was able to focus on her breathing and maintain her head above the surface while also kicking hard to stay afloat also.
"Okay you're doing great, now I want you to stop kicking sporadically and start gently waving your arms like this,"
Kai'sa explained,
"you also can gently paddle your legs back and forth but remember you're just trying to stay calm and float."
Kai'sa explained again. Taliyah slowly calmed her breathing as she figured out how to keep her head above the water with less energy.
"Okay, awesome, you can swim back to the shallow end now if you want,"
Kai'sa said with a giggle.
Taliyah immediately accepted her offer and dog-paddled to the shallows, taking a deep breath now that she could relax.
"Phew, so… where did you learn how to swim?"
Taliyah asked, now sitting waist deep in the shallow side of the spring.
"I just taught myself in those underground lakes, it's quite soothing when you good at it,"
Kai'sa replied, as she tried to ignore the fact that she could almost see everything through Taliyah's wet linen undergarments.
"Well, I thank you for helping me a bit, I'll hold on to what you said so I don't drown, but I don't think swimming is ever going to be soothing for me… it feels so strange to me, I'm totally disconnected from the earth that gives me stability, it's almost like I feel blind or deft when i'm floating."
Taliyah explained.
"That's how I was about the dark at first… after a while I called it home…"
Kai'sa said.
"I could never do that…"
Taliyah replied with almost a mild trembling.
"People say they could never do a lot of things, but when survival kicks in, that all fades away and you find what people really are made of,"
Kai'sa said, her voice sincere yet soft.
A moment of silence hung over the two, as Taliyah contemplated what Kai'sa said, her words upset her but she could say nothing to contradict them.
Taliyah knew that what she had to survive growing up was nothing compared to what Kai'sa had to endure, and she was in no position to judge even if she disagreed.
"Soo… I guess I'll finish washing up…"
Taliyah said, trying to break the silence as the two stared at each other.
Kai'sa sitting in front of her didn't reply as she slowly slid forward and slowly closed the distance between them.
"Kai…"
Taliyah whispered as Kai'sa slowly slid to within a few inches of her face.
"Yea?"
Kai'sa quietly replied, her breath so close that Taliyah shivers at the warm feeling across her face.
"I… just want us to be careful with this,"
Taliyah replied as she placed her hand on Kai'sa's cheek.
"How so?"
Kai'sa replied softly.
"It's just, I've been hurt before, falling for someone, and feeling this way about someone again makes me nervous,"
Taliyah explained.
"I would never hurt you,"
Kai'sa replied as she turned her face to kiss Taliyah's hand.
"Tell me what happened,"
Kai'sa asked softly as she leaned her forehead against Taliyah's forehead.
"It was when I was in Noxus, about four years ago,"
Taliyah said as she backed up a bit and composed herself so she could speak clearly.
Kai'sa leaned back slightly intent on listening and so she wouldn't distract Taliyah from talking.
"So when I first arrived in Noxus, the feeling was totally euphoric. It was the first place I had been where there was no prejudice for me being a mage, people were fascinated by my gifts and they all encouraged me to advance my skills."
Taliyah spoke as Kai'sa gave her full attention while listening.
"A war had just ended when I arrived, former slaves and mages celebrated in the streets and all praised Noxus as the great liberators. Well anyway I was 19 and was very naive, so I joined the Noxus nation full heartedly for awhile."
Taliyah explained.
"That when you meet someone?"
Kai'sa asked.
"First I played around a bit, enjoying my freedom, tried a few men and women,"
Taliyah said. A smirk came across Kai'sa's face at that comment, as it made her a little uncomfortable.
"What, you think you're my first rodeo?"
Taliyah teased.
"No no, I don't care, please keep telling your story"
Kai'sa replied.
"Well if it's any consultation, I learned something about myself, I was severely disappointed with my few one night stands. It's not for me, I didn't really enjoy being with people I didn't actually care about. But anyway I digress,"
Taliyah continued.
"There was this young military captain, he had a fondness for me and would spend hours helping me get better at controlling my gift,"
Taliyah said.
"Well that seems nice,"
Kai'sa replied.
"He was nice,"
Taliyah said.
"What happened?"
Kai'sa asked.
"Well eventually we grew close, close enough that we were openly considered boyfriend and girlfriend. In time he convinced me to join the Noxian military, he said I had a great gift and I could be saving so many people from tyrants etcetera. So I agreed,"
Taliyah said, letting out a sigh as is to say that was stupid.
Kai'sa doesn't say anything, her eyes fixed with compassion as she listens.
"On my first mission I was on a boat sailing to Ionia, my friend wasn't there, with me, he was busy training more recruits. First thing when we arrived the captain of the ship ordered me to bury a town of civilians with a landslide, I refused of course."
Taliyah said, her voice growing troubled the more she spoke.
"What did they do to you?"
Kai'sa asked softly as she leaned forward and placed a hand on Taliyah's hand.
"They threw me overboard… the ship ran over my leg breaking it,"
she said as she pulled her pants leg up revealing a scar on her leg.
"Somehow I managed to be washed ashore before drowning and I fled into Ionia."
Taliyah explained.
"Did you ever speak to your friend again? Maybe he was just nieve about Noxus like you were,"
Kai'sa asked.
"I did, I sent him long letters to him explaining what happened, explaining what they asked me to do, explaining the horrors they were committing to innocent people… he didn't care, he said I was a traitor that didn't have the stomach to be a true Noxian, he said he would have personally done far worse to me then throw me overboard."
Taliyah said, her voice breaking into crying.
"That's awful,"
Kai'sa said as she pulled her close, giving her a hug.
"Later he sent another letter apologizing and saying he wanted to see me, he asked where I was and someplace we could meet,"
Taliyah said.
"Did you meet him?"
Kai'sa asked as she rubbed Taliyah's hair while hugging her.
"I burned the letter and never wrote another word to anyone over there, I was wanted for treason anyway…"
Taliyah replied, while she tried to stop crying.
"You did the right thing,"
Kai'sa said, trying to comfort her anyway she could.
"It's okay,"
Kai'sa said again as she felt Taliyah relax into her.
"I too am pretty nervous about falling for anyone as well if it's any consolation to you,"
Kai'sa said.
"Well, it's your first time so that's understandable,"
Taliyah replied as she tried to sniffle up her tears.
"Well not only because that,"
Kai'sa replied.
"Because what then?"
Taliyah asked as she picked her head up slowly.
"Because I feel like I'm on a collision course with the end of reality, and it seems cruel to let someone grow close to me when I probably won't be alive in a few years,"
Kai'sa explained bluntly.
"You don't know that,"
Taliyah replied softly as she lifted her hand to Kai'sa's cheek.
"No one should fight this fight you do alone, it's why I came back to Shurima, to protect my people. And then I met you, protecting people that hate you; for no reason other than you can… you deserve more than their hate, you deserve love too,"
Taliyah said, compassion in her eyes as she looked up into Kai'sa's violet eyes.
"Can… I kiss you?"
Kai'sa whispered so quietly the words could barely be heard.
"You don't need to ask ever…"
Taliyah replied quietly as she leaned up to meet her lips.
Taliyah slowly sat up, wrapping her arms around Kai'sa's torso as she leaned into their kiss.
For a brief moment Kai'sa's was lost in the moment as she was almost paralyzed from thinking about everything she was feeling in that moment…
"you gotta work with me a little here,"
Taliyah pulled back and whispered in a teasing way, referring to how she was more just sitting there with her lips perked out then actually kissing her back.
"Sorry…"
Kai'sa whispered back as she tried to give it a second try, this time cupping her lips gently with hers, Taliyah let out a low pitch hum that let's Kai'sa know she's doing it better.
A loud vibration echos from Kai'sa's shoulder pods that catches Taliyah off guard, she snaps out of their moment and notices Kai'sa's hiding a look of pain as she recoils from her suits chattering.
"Are you okay!?"
Taliyah asked.
"Yea, go ahead and finish up cleaning, we gotta get going soon,"
Kai'sa replied as she brushed a strand of hair off of Taliyah's face showing one last gesture of affection before getting up and leaving the spring pool.
"Is it an emergency?"
Taliyah asked not knowing what Kai'sa's second skin was trying to communicate.
"No, nothing is coming for us at the moment,"
Kai'sa replied.
Taliyah decided not to ask farther, she wondered if it was her that the suit was displeased with, though that didn't actually make sense, Kai'sa had told her it didn't really have a mind of its own, it just had instinct, nevertheless she wouldn't press the issue anymore at the moment and finished up washing in the spring.
About 6 hours had passed,
Kai'sa was leaning on Taliyah's back trying to stay awake as she rock surfs them across the desert, the sun had set about 40 minutes ago and the night getting colder was the only reason she hadn't passed out and fell off the board.
"We should be close,"
Taliyah said.
"You said that a hour ago,"
Kai'sa replied as there was still no sign of the village they wanted to find.
"I'm sure we are close now, I can smell smoke, and the wind is blowing in our face,"
Taliyah explained.
"Well at least that means we are going the right direction, but I'm pretty sure smoke can carry a long way so we may be not that close,"
Kai'sa replied.
The two of them then launched off the top of a dune, catching air for about a second as Kai'sa struggled to stay on board.
"Hello!"
Kai'sa yelled now wide awake, annoyed by Taliyah's steering.
"Told ya,"
Taliyah said as the small town was now in sight less than a half a mile away.
"Thank goodness,"
Kai'sa replied.
"Looks like a pleasant tiny village,"
Kai'sa stated.
"Yeah, much better than the big capital,"
Taliyah replied.
"Maybe you should drop me off and go get a disguise for me so I don't frighten them,"
Kai'sa said.
"No, we're not doing that anymore, if anyone has a problem with you they can take a rock, you've fought too hard for them to have to hide like a monster,"
Taliyah said passionately as they slid down the last roll of sand before the village.
Kai'sa didn't reply but she felt a warm feeling in her chest from Taliyah's statement. The village couldn't have been home to more than 300 people as it sat on a small salt flat between dunes, it had no city walls or protection, only the desert heat and lack of water protected them as their only source of water was a singular well at the center of the only street.
"Wooh.. yeepi"
Taliyah chirped as she hopped off the rock as she slid into town.
"AHH..THUD.."
Kai'sa feel over planting her face into the dirt which would have hurt more if her suit didn't instinctively close at the moment of her falling.
"Hey! Warn me next time!"
Kai'sa yelled, sounding like a mean growl through her mask.
"Okay sorry, sorry"
Taliyah chirped nervously.
"I didn't mean that to come out like that," Kai'sa said with a gentle voice as her helmet retracted.
"It's fine…"
Taliyah replied as her focus shifted to a few strangers that were sitting outside a salon staring at them.
Kai'sa's eyes then shift to them, then shift back and forth between everyone that was walking around or standing in front of the few businesses, most of them either staring or glancing over repeatedly.
"Taliyah! There you are!"
Zaifa yelled as she bursted out of the salon, Kadira, Samir, and Tai following right behind.
"Hey, you guys made it, this town is so different then I remember,"
Taliyah said as she ran over to give them a hug.
"That's what happens when the river changes course and leaves you high and dry,"
Kadira said bluntly.
"So that's what happened here,"
Kai'sa chimed in as she walked up not interested in joining the hug.
"So I'll take it everything went okay with you gals?"
Tai asked.
"You could say that, it definitely wasn't uneventful but we are fine so I can't complain,"
Taliyah replied.
Kai'sa looks around and noticed people stopped staring at them when they started fellowshiping, her talking with friends humanize her enough to make people's eyes stop gazing at her every motion.
"Glad you okay Tali, you weren't looking so good,"
Samir said.
"Aww thanks for the concern you little rascal,"
Taliyah replied as she messed up his hair by patting him on the head.
"HEY,"
Samir complained.
The dim oil lamp lights flickering throughout the streets gave the town an eerie feel as a good amount of dust was consistently blowing through the town.
"So where did that crazy cook go?"
Taliyah asked.
"He said had to go, I'm not sure where he went, he seemed to kinda disappear. Maybe he is just hiding in a room I am not sure."
Zaifa replied.
Kai'sa's mind drifts from the conversation as her suit senses an energy buzzing through the air, her head goes light as she loses focus of reality for a second, an unmistakable smell she catches. The smell of that Lavender Sea… she looks around and all of a sudden the town is empty and she is standing alone in it, a purple haze fills the air and mixes with wisping red dust.
"Taliyah!?"
Kai'sa yelled as she wondered where everyone went, her heart pounds violently and mind races as she tries to remember how she even got here.
"I GAVE YOU A MISSION,"
The thousand voices of Bel'Veth rang out filling Kai'sa's head as she scrambled to see where the monster was that said them.
"I'm not your slave Abomination!"
Kai'sa replied as she fell to her knees as her ears started hurting from the whispers of the hundreds of thousands of souls Bel'Veth climb as her own.
"YOU WISH TO CHALLENGE ME AGAIN KAI'SA? We both know how that will end."
Bel'veth replied with potent pride.
Kai'sa lifts her head and notices the shadow of a person standing at the end of the street, he wore some kind of mask and a cloak covered his head and body.
"The Watchers are coming soon, they are disturbed by my birth, the hands of the clock tick ever closer to their moment of undoing reality. If you wish to have any time with Her, I INSIST YOU OBEY MY ORDER!"
Bel'Veth's voice spoke again.
Kai'sa still only able to see the shadowy figure at the end of the street and no sight of Bel'veth anywhere.
"Kai'sa!"
Kai'sa hears Taliyah calling her name, She looks around to see where it's coming from, fearing Bel'Veth is hurting her.
"Kai'sa"
she hears again…
"STOP THIS!"
Kai'sa yells in frustration and fear. She turns and looks over to see the shadowy figure turn away from her and walk away.
"KAI'SA!"
Taliyah shoots as she slaps Kai'sa on the face to snap her out of her vision.
Kai'sa snapped back into reality and realized nothing she saw was real, but it felt more real than anything.
"What's wrong?"
Taliyah asked,
her voice panicking as she cradled Kai'sa's face with both her hands to look in her eyes to see if she was okay.
"You got heat stroke now also Kai?"
Samir asked.
"You were in a daze the last few minutes, what happened!?"
Taliyah then asked.
Kai'sa doesn't respond, she lifts her head and notices a man walking away off the street a few blocks down that fit the silhouette of who she saw in her vision.
Taliyah hears Kai'sa muttering a phrase in Shuriman folk tongue that roughly translates to your already dead as she locked her eyes on a target and stood up.
"What?"
Taliyah asked as she didn't understand, Kai'sa ignored her and took off running down the street, the cloaked individual already out of sight down an alleyway but that didn't stop Kai'sa from chasing.
"Kai'sa wait!"
The overs yelled as they all ran after her, Taliyah ripping up a stone to surf races ahead of the group but she was still not fast enough to keep up with Kai'sa.
Kai'sa continued to bolt down the street, vaulting over a wagon of animal feed that was crossing the street, she quickly made it to the alleyway she saw the man walk down but he's not there when she got there.
Her nose twitches as she still smells a faint scent of something other than her from the Void nearby, she counted to trot down the alleyway, trying to follow the scent the best she could, she sees a dry aqueduct running off to the side of the ally that cut underneath a few of the buildings.
Kai'sa jumped down and began running down the dry waterworks as the scent got stronger.
"Kai'sa please wait up!"
She hears Taliyah's voice ecco down the aqueduct but continues running anyway, she reaches an opening as the path opens into a dry water reservoir that looked like it used to act as a hotel pool with a fountain but all was dry now.
She smells the scent close and slowly climbs out of the dry pool and looks toward the back of the hotel lobby as she hears someone talking quietly around the corner inside the building. Slowly she stocks forward ready to end whatever had been stalking her dreams.
Taliyah and her friend race out of the aqueduct catching up to her,
"KAI'SA!"
Them calling her name alerts the group of people in the hotel lobby that Kai'sa was sneaking up to, she freezes in place as they immediately turn around. The youngest woman amongst them now holding a golden kuba blade to her throat.
"HEY WAIT UP…."
Taliyah froze as she noticed the group all leveling their weapons at Kai'sa.
Taliyah's group followed suit, but their weaponry definitely wasn't as good, most of Taliyah's group held stones as weapons Zaifa comically held her spyglass like a bat as she tried to put on a mean face at the stand off between the two parties.
Kai'sa's eyes studied the situation, the girl with the golden blade pressed on her throat, she sensed anger in her eyes, but she didn't not recognize her, though her face seemed familiar, she just couldn't recall where.
The handsome middle aged man stood tall and proud, but his face gave away a hint of uncertainty, his weapon peaked her second skin's interest as it shivered when she gazed at the white holy light from his weapon.
The other people she found nothing too interesting about their weapons were basic steel and their faces all had a mixture of fear and worry at her presence.
Kai'sa knew this group clearly was not hiding the person that was causing her visions, but one more thing caught her attention, a moonstone necklace that hung from the girl's neck that had the blade to her throat.
The stone was stained with the purple glow of Void energy, Kai'sa raised her hands slowly to show she wasn't a threat, the girl's face twitched at the gesture, flashing back and forth between a look of anger and uncertainty.
Kai'sa ignored the blade and slowly reached for her necklace, she then responded by pressing the blade against her neck stronger, drawing a drop of blood, both parties grew uneasy at the tension.
Kai'sa lifted her left hand signaling Taliyah and her friends to back off while she continued to reach forward with her right hand until she gently grasped the corrupted moonstone, the girl's eyes relaxed out of anger as she sensed Kai'sa meant her no harm.
Kai'sa's then drained the corruption out of her necklace leaving it pure and untouched by the Void, she then gently let go of the necklace and stepped back, the girl kept her blade leveled at her but didn't pursue as she stepped away.
"Ugh… are you okay?"
Taliyah said as she hopped forward to Kai'sa's side to look at the tiny cut on her neck.
"I'm fine,"
Kai'sa replied,
"It's extremely dangerous to carry any corrupted artifacts, I will call the Void to you,"
Kai'sa said again, this time talking to the girl with the kuba blade.
"Someone else told me the same thing…"
she replied coldly.
"Well you should have listened to them,"
Kai'sa replied.
"Excuse me, Forgive my friend, this is no way people should meet, but with you approaching us from behind we mistook you for a mercenary. The name is Akshan and you are?"
Akshan asked.
Kai'sa sensed something off about his tone, though she couldn't decide if it was him intentionally lying about something or just being a kissass because he was afraid of her.
"I'm Kai'sa, sorry about sneaking up behind you, I was looking for someone else," She replied.