"Funny how that works...doesn't it?" The dying woman said. Despite nearing death's door, she was grinning without a care.
"No! No!" Katarina cried desperately as the woman went still, her eyes glassy and breathing indefinitely ceased.
oooooooooo
Katarina jerked forward, sitting upright on the mattress, eyes wide and breathing heavy. Her skin was matted with sweat, no doubt due to the nightmare she had. But it wasn't a nightmare, more of a memory.
Katarina tried to steady her breathing, taking in deep breaths, holding them in, before letting them out. As her heartrate calmed to its usual soundless rhythm, a headache began to make itself known in her head. She made a sound of annoyance as she held her head, her other hand throwing the sheets off her as she turned to get out of bed.
As she placed her feet on the floor, alcohol bottles were knocked over. Katarina grumbled at the minor inconvenience and at the pounding headache she was currently feeling. "Stupid hangover." She muttered as she picked a bottle that hadn't been knocked down by her feet, bringing it up to her eyes as she checked to see if it still had beverage inside it. When she saw that there was still more of the bitter liquid, she brought the bottom up and chugged the remaining contents down, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand when she was done. Groaning at how the headache refused to go away, Katarina let her hand drop and turned to look out the window, thinking that a sight of nature would somehow help matters.
However, what she saw was the sun rising from behind the hills as if playing a game of hide-and-seek. It would be a few hours before it fully emerged from the hills and graced the earth with its presence.
It was time.
She headed for her quarter's restroom, quickly washing up and dressing in her usual attire. She strapped belts of knives onto herself as per usual, but one belt made her hesitate for a second. The curved knives in its straps already made her recall memories that she had tried to bury for the past year. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she willed her body to move and pick the belt up, strapping it around her hip. She then took a belt that contained a sword that was small in comparison to usual ones, but bigger than her daggers, and slung it over her shoulder. She was ready for what was to come.
Stepping out of her quarters, she saw her fellow Noxian champions, Darius and Draven, walking down the hallway. She jogged to catch up with them, greeting them with a mumbled 'Good morning', to which they echoed the greeting in response, with Draven being more cheerful and Darius being grumpier.
The three strolled to the mess hall, where Noxian troops were already having their breakfast. Although the area was relatively crowded, Noxian soldiers made an effort to keep a table vacant for the three. They selected a table and took their seats, except Draven. "Well," He spoke, turning to the food stalls. "I'll go get us some food." With that, he turned and left, leaving the two grumpy Noxians to themselves. Katarina laid her head on the table, silently cursing the stupid headache she was experiencing, while Darius sat up straight, looking like an image of the Hand of Noxus that anyone would form of him whenever they heard his name or title.
"So, Katarina," He spoke after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "How have you been holding up?" Katarina waved a hand dismissively, not bothering to look up at the bigger man. "Peachy. I'm just peachy." She mumbled, sarcasm dripping from her tone. Her friend narrowed his eyes, immediately understanding why the feared Sinister Blade was acting like how she was right now. "You have to let go of her someday, we all lose people." Katarina immediately straightened and glared at the man. "What I choose to let go is my business." Darius disapprovingly shook his head. "You'll have to do it soon, it's been a whole goddamn year already." Katarina slammed a fist on the table. "Shut up, Darius." She hissed; her tone dangerous but not enough to intimidate the latter.
"Look at yourself," he said coolly. "Drunk every night, spending every minute not fighting holed up in your room, and for what? Would she want to see you like this?" Katarina wanted to retort, maybe even smack Darius for having the audacity to speak to her like that, but deep down she knew he was right. After what had happened, she had become something worse than an alcoholic or a shut-in. She had become stuck in the past. Not wanting to admit her defeat, she chose to lay her head back down on the table, hoping the headache would suddenly disappear.
After some time of more awkward silence, Draven returned with three plates of food, expertly balancing them on his arms while wiggling his eyebrows in an attempt to show off. "Why'd you take so long?" Katarina angrily questioned. Draven shrugged as he placed the plates onto the table. "Long queue." He explained shortly.
The three began to eat, with Darius and Draven conversing on battle strategy, which left Katarina to her thoughts again. She tried to focus on the food in front of her, but the nightmare from earlier along with Darius' not-so subtle mentions caused memories to spring into her mind, no matter how much she tried to push them away. The memories of when they first met, how they got together and the time they spend together were the ones that frequented across her mind.
Tears began to well in the redhead's jade green eyes, but she quickly brushed them away before the two brothers could take notice. She mentally scolded herself, reminding herself that tears were a sign of weakness in Noxus. In fact, Noxians hated them so much that some took to killing any people who cried. Babies were given an exception since they were babies after all, but the bottom line remained the same.
But how could she not shed any when the death of someone close to her had shattered her heart as if it were made of porcelain?
oooooooooo
After a few hours, the troops had grouped together and assembled at the base's main hall. Katarina and Draven were joined with Samira, and so the new trio sat at one side while Darius gave the troops a talk to get their blood boiling.
"Noxians!" He yelled, calling all attention to himself, causing the whispers and murmurs in the room to cease. "Today, we make history in not only Noxian books, but Demacian ones as well!" The soldiers yelled a 'Hurrah!" in unison before quickly falling back into silence. "Today shall mark the day when Noxus finally takes over Demacian lands, and even if we are to lose, we shall leave a bloody massacre, which will leave the cowardly bastards quaking in their boots whenever they remember it!" On Katarina's left, Samira scoffed. "Same shit, same shit." She muttered, and Katarina, for once, had to agree.
"We shall raise hell! We shall spill blood! We show no mercy!" This sent cheers and cries for blood amongst the Noxian troops, but they soon quietened down when Darius raised a hand. "If Demacia wants to struggle, we shall teach them the meaning of 'futile'. We shall push them to the point where they have no choice but to fall to their knees and beg for mercy like the snivelling yellow-bellies they are!" More cheers of blood erupted from the crowd. Katarina had to give Darius some credit. He spouted the same old speeches all the time, but they were still enough to motivate the Noxian soldiers to work hard for Noxus' benefit, even if it cost them their lives.
The doors rumbled as they were slowly opened, allowing some sunlight to creep through the gap between them and greet the interior of the base. Some Noxians chuckled, anticipating the bloody ordeal that was about to happen. Others looked nervous, afraid of the possibility of them losing their lives. Darius turned around to face them. "Noxians!" He roared. "Always remember, Blood for Noxus!" The last three words seemed to have erased any trace of fear in the nervous soldiers, for everyone pounded their weapons against their shields repeatedly, chanting their nation's slogan as they followed Darius out of the base and into the open forest. "Here we go." Samira chuckled as she and Draven got up from their seats. Katarina sighed as she cracked her knuckles for a quick second before getting up and following them.
Now was not the time to reminisce about the past, it was time to invade.
oooooooooo
Lux gingerly walked along the narrow pathway, outstretching both her arms on either side to balance herself. Her magic wasn't really effective for helping the break one's fall, and getting injured before a major event wasn't exactly ideal.
After a while, she managed to reach the other side of the pathway and onto safer ground. Breathing a short sigh of relief, she hopped off the structure she was standing on and stared at the forest not too far from Demacia's east gates. In the distance, she could see Noxian soldiers beginning to emerge from the forest. With how far they were from her, Lux could not help but be reminded of ants emerging from a hole in a house.
She sighed again, this time with resignation replacing relief. This war had been building for months, so it should be no surprise for Lux to see that Noxus was about to invade Demacia in hopes of taking over its territory.
Yet, why did she feel like the impending battle was happening all too soon?
Demaica's king, Jarvan VI, had tried everything to persuade Noxus to desist. He even sent a cart full of gold to Noxus in hopes of the latter nation reconsidering the decision to wage war against Demacia. The cart had returned in a wrecked state, the gold gone and the messengers dead. People had tried to believe that the messengers had been killed by bandits, but all hope was abandoned when they saw Noxus' signatures carved onto the messengers' foreheads. Lux placed a hand on the castle walls, hoping to find some comfort in it as she usually did, but now she found no comfort to ease her anxious heart.
"Lux!" A deep voice called out. Lux turned to see a hulking man with short, neat brown hair and clad in armour waving at her. She made her way to him, offering a small smile as she enveloped him in a hug as if they hadn't seen each other in weeks. "How are things at the north?" She asked, feigning cheerfulness to mask her nervousness. Garen sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Noxus wasn't joking when it declared war on us. I lost more than three thousand men to that two-faced bastard. Right now, Darius himself is waiting outside the eastern gates, giving us a final chance to surrender." Lux pursed her lips, her grip on her baton tightening slightly. "But we're not going to, right?"
Garen's expression looked distant and wistful. "It depends on the soldiers' wills. I know we never back down from a fight, but..." He ran his hand through his hair again as his lips set into a grim line. "They've heard of the massacre at the western border. If one man leading a five-hundred-man army can take down so many of our people, how are we supposed to withstand the force of a full-fledged army?" Lux tried to offer another smile, though the edges of her mouth twitched and quivered slightly. She was just as unnerved as Garen was on the inside. "I'm sure your soldiers can take the fight to them. Besides, we can just wait for them to wear themselves out if they try to get past the gates." Garen smiled, but Lux could clearly see that the expression was forced.
"I believe so." He said, patting his younger sister's head. "Stay safe, sister." With that, he ran off, and that left Lux alone again. Lux's smile faded and she exhaled, leaning against a pillar. How she could put up a good facade every day, she did not know. It was beginning to make her weary, having to pretend to be an entirely different person while dealing with her own problems at the same time. After a moment of pondering, she walked off in the same direction Garen went.