Darius awakens the next morning groggily to the sounds of the Demacians packing up their tents. He yawns as he shifts against his bonds, wanting to stretch his stiff muscles but unable to. His movement catches Eryn's eye, and they meet each other's gaze for a moment, before she furrows her brow and looks away. He feels his chest tighten with annoyance again, as the memories from their argument last night rush back to him. He hates to admit it, but the Demacian has gotten under his skin. She had poked and prodded enough to find one of his insecurities. His own fears about his future in Noxus. His own regrets from his past.

She's acting as if he had done something wrong, when he's the captive here. He answered her questions honestly and somehow she was the one mad at him. She's stubborn in her ideals. It reminds him of Quiletta, and that thought sends a pang of remorse through him. He pushes the memory away, reminding himself that she died because she was too weak to see what is necessary. Just as Eryn is too weak to see how staying with Demacia is foolish. She chooses it because it is familiar, a bird who chooses to clip their own wings because she's afraid to fly.

It annoys him. She annoys him. Her endless curiosity, her stubbornness, her Demacian naivety, all of it. He doesn't want to dwell on the reasons why it all annoys him. That he has those fears. He doesn't want to admit to that weakness. So instead he glares at Eryn from across the forest clearing, annoyed that she made him doubt himself for even a moment last night.

The morning is uneventful and not long after they're packed they continue their trek through the woods. He tries to push the thoughts of Eryn away and to focus on other things. His mind drifts to plans of escape, to thoughts of home. He wonders how Draven is doing, how he'd find this entire scenario Darius has found himself hilarious. How when he gets home he'd be teased relentlessly about it. He wonders what Noxians will think of him, will they see him as weak for getting captured? Probably…

He's pulled out of his thoughts as he feels the ground shake beneath him slightly. The Demacians feel it too as Claudius also pauses in place to listen. A few moments later, the earth shakes again. The birds in the trees screech in surprise as they flutter away from here. "Are earth tremors normal in this area?" He asks, turning his head slightly to look at Eryn behind him.

Her eyes are slightly wide and jaw slack. She's looking past him right now towards her brother. They're exchanging a nervous look. They know more than they're letting on.

"It can't be-" Claudius begins to ask shakily but Eryn interrupts him.

"What else could be causing tremors?"

"But we're in a forest Eryn!"

"I've noticed!"

"So then how would it have gotten here?"

"I don't know, avoiding the war machines?"

The siblings bicker for a moment. Claudius seems shaken, which is odd to Darius. The man has had an overabundance of confidence since the moment he met him. Whatever this was, it scared him more than facing the Noxian army.

"We're going to have to keep pressing on before it finds us then."

"And what if we run straight into it Claudius?"

The tremors are getting more severe as the two argue. Whatever it was, it was getting closer. Darius takes a step backwards. Eryn was holding his rope and with her distracted he could easily overpower her, he could break free before she could cast a spell. This could be his chance to escape while they deal with whatever is coming. He's about to yank and make a dash, when suddenly there's a large CRACK and a tree falls just feet behind Darius. He whips around and finally sees it. A monstrous creature larger than a house, with beady eyes and a powerful looking jaw with tusks that look like they're made of solid stone. It's entire body is covered in a rocklike carapace. It's clawed hand is resting on the cracked tree and it's slowly raising its other hand to make a swing at the three.

"Darius get behind me!" Eryn jumps in front of Darius, throwing herself between him and the monster's incoming blow, and his eyes go wide with shock that the smaller soldier was protecting him with her own body as a shield. She's wielding his axe and as the monster brings down its claw in a mighty swing he's sure she will be crushed. But right before impact her entire body glows alight with green flamelike energy, her magic, and she manages to block the blow with her axe although it knocks her back. His axe clangs off the monster's rocky claw, not leaving a dent, but her magical strength is enough to stop his momentum and she holds it in place.

Eryn's gritting her teeth with strain, it's obvious she can't hold it back forever, and her magical aura is flickering as she struggles to maintain it and hold the beast back. Claudius rushes in with his warhammer and slams it into the underside of the creature's forearm, staggering it back for a moment.

With it momentarily stunned, Eryn regains her posture and puts a hand on Claudius's shoulder. The green magic is transferred to her brother now, and he slams his hammer down onto the beast's arm with a sickening crack, but it barely makes a dent in the carapace. However the force of the blow does send the creature reeling a step backwards. "Claudius, cragbeasts are weak in their underbelly aim for that-"

"I know Eryn, I know the tales too!" He snaps back before charging in.

She glares at him, annoyed at his tone, before turning to Darius, giving him a quick once over to check for injuries. "You alright?" He nods and he sees slight relief seem to wash over her face.

Her attention is drawn back to the cragbeast as the sound of Claudius yelping in pain rings through the forest. He's been chucked across the forest through the trunk of a tree by the creature. He crumples to the ground, unconscious. Eryn swears under her breath and grips onto Darius's axe, he can see the wheels turning in her head as she thinks. "Let me go, give me my axe, I can handle this." He offers.

"No." She answers immediately, gripping onto it tighter. He wants to argue back that she's being foolishly stubborn, but the cragbeast has turned its attention back to them. It's picked up a tree trunk and has flung it at them. Eryn braces for impact, her magic flaring to life around her as she raises Darius's axe to block the blow again. The axe cleaves through the bark like it was butter, but before Eryn could ready herself for the next blow the cragbeast had used that chance to close the distance between them. It raises both of its arms and brings them slamming down into the ground.

Eryn grabs Darius by his shirt collar and drags him with her as she dashes forward to get beneath the body of the cragbeast. The ground behind them where they stood previously is just a crater, and the cragbeast's torso is just a few feet above their heads. Engulfed in green magic still, Eryn leaps up and strikes at the cragbeast's underbelly with Darius's axe. The blade slices deeply into its stomach and blue blood and guts pour out from the wound and onto the two of them. The cragbeast screams in pain and begins to stagger back and Eryn takes a second swing at it for good measure. The cragbeast's limbs begin to wobble, and Eryn shoves Darius backwards as they duck out from underneath its body. The monster collapses, blue blood and guts spill out from its body and onto the forest floor.

Darius is lying on the ground beside Eryn. They're both covered in the blood of the cragbeast and panting heavily. Darius can feel his heart pounding and adrenaline pumping from the ordeal. Once the terror of battle is over, anger rushes through him. He got tossed around like a ragdoll, needing protection from the smaller warrior, all because he was their captive. If he had been free things would have gone much smoother. He tests his bonds, hoping to feel they came loose in the fight, and groans in annoyance that after all of that he was still tightly bound.

He sits up and turns to look over at Eryn, who he is surprised to see smiling widely. She's still breathing heavily as she comes down from the adrenaline high. She notices he's turned to look at her and she seems to suddenly become self conscious. She wipes the blood off her face, still leaving smudges behind, before sitting up. "You seem rather happy, considering the circumstances." He notes.

Her cheeks turn pink as she blushes, embarrassed by her clearly evident joy of the battle. "Sorry. I guess I should be more solemn considering we probably could have died. But cragbeasts are said to only be able to be slain by capable heroes. Like Garen Crownguard-"

He laughs at the mention of Garen, cutting her off mid sentence. She looks at him confused. "Don't compare yourself to Garen Crownguard."

She sighs. "Yes I suppose it is quite foolish of me to compare myself to him, he is quite the accomplished knight."

"No. He's an utter imbecile. It's an insult to your own prowess to compare you to him."

He watches her expression change from annoyance that he was insulting probably a fabled hero to her, before she blushes and looks flustered again. He notes to himself that she looks rather… cute. Covered in gore, holding his axe, and blushing at a compliment to her capabilities. And Darius means it too. He doesn't respect the Crownguards. But Eryn, as naive and foolish as she is, he admires her. She frustrates him to no end with her stubbornness, but he'd be lying if he didn't admit that she'd make a capable Noxian soldier.

"Ahem." The sound of someone clearing their throat catches their attention, and the two turn to see Claudius standing behind them. He's clutching his chest and his face is contorted in pain, and he's glaring at the two of them.

"Claudius!" Eryn must have just remembered her brother had been hurt in the battle, her face widens with shock and she stands up, magic flaring around her hands, ready to heal her brother. She touches him and the magic washes over him for a brief moment, but then he shrugs off her hand breaking the connection, causing her to look confused at him. "What's wrong?"

"When you jumped to defend him, you called him something… Darius was it? When did you learn his name?" He's pointing his warhammer at Darius as he speaks.

She freezes in place. Darius can see several emotions run across her face, fear, regret, shock. She's been caught in a lie. "Claudius I can explain-"

"You lied to me! You said just yesterday you'd be honest with me, but yet you find out more about him and don't share it with me? Your own brother?" She doesn't respond, and he continues to rant. "I can't believe you! You've been so chummy with him now too, like he's your friend! This is just like the time when we were kids with the wolf-"

"That was 15 years ago Claudius-"

"And you clearly haven't learned anything from it have you? You're just repeating the same mistakes!"

Silence washes over them. Claudius is breathing heavily from all the shouting before he sighs and turns away. "Tie him up to something and set up camp here. I'm going to go hunting. I need to be alone."

Eryn did convince Claudius to let her heal him a bit before he marched off into the woods, and then Darius and her were alone again, with him tied to yet another tree. He watches her set up their campsite, and he notices how sluggish her movements are. The fight and magic use had taken its toll on her.

Eventually, after the tent was set up, she does make her way over to him holding a waterskin and a piece of cloth. "You're covered in cragbeast blood still." She comments as he raises his eyebrow at her inquisitively.

"I don't need you to clean me." He retorts, annoyed at the proposition.

"You'll start to stink if I don't."

"Sounds more like your problem than mine."

She groans. "Fine. It was technically my turn to ask a question, but we can skip mine if you will allow me to clean your face. Ask me whatever you want."

He thinks for a moment, confused that she'd give up leverage just for a chance to clean the grime off of him. "Tell me the wolf story your brother mentioned, when he was angry with you earlier."

Eryn groans again, making a disgusted face. "Really, of all the questions?" She mumbles as she sits down beside him and begins to wet the rag with water from the water skin. "It's a dumb story…" She takes a deep breath in before beginning the tale. "I was about… 13 or 14 at the time. I had known about my powers for a little while now and I was practicing in secret with them. Trying to get better at healing things. It started with injured birds the barn cats would catch but not kill, I would nurse them back to health with my magic. But then one day, I found an injured wolf."

As she talks she takes the damp cloth and runs it over Darius's face, beginning the process of removing the dried blood from him. He closes his eyes, relaxing into the touch a bit. For a moment he forgets about how he's her captive, and just listens to her warm voice tell her tale.

"She was this beautiful grey wolf. I don't know what hurt her, but she was on death's door. I took her in and hid her in the old barn we weren't using. I knew my parents wouldn't approve, they didn't even like that I was healing birds. Too risky to be using my powers in Demacia. But… I was selfish. I thought I could befriend this wolf, like one would a dog. That when I healed her back to health she'd be my faithful companion.

"But I was wrong. After I healed her she went off to where she came from before, seemingly forgetting about me, or so I thought. A year later she came back. This time with her wolfpack. They slaughtered not just our family's goats, but every farmer's livestock in the village. If I had just left her to die, or put her out of her misery, she probably wouldn't have led her family there to wreak havoc upon our town. In the end my father gathered the men of the village and went hunting, eventually killing every last wolf in the pack."

Eryn finishes her tale with a breathy sigh. Her fingers run through his hair as she removes as much of the crusty dried blood from it as she can, and they sit in comfortable silence for a few moments before Darius opens his eyes again. He can see she's not looking at him, but past him, as she remembers the story herself. Her dark brown eyes look somewhat glazed over and somber. "So your brother thinks of me like that wolf." He says and her eyes snap back to attention, remembering where she is.

She sighs, removing her hands from his hair and part of him is upset to lose her touch. "I suppose he does see this as history repeating itself."

"And is it?" He presses.

She pauses as she considers her answer. "While my intentions are different, the reality is the same. I'm being selfish withholding information from my brother. And you will probably take advantage of that, of our talks, of any kindness I show you, because who wouldn't in your situation? And, if I am foolish and slip up and you do escape, the blood of every Demacian who dies to your axe, will be on my hands."

He takes a moment as he thinks over what she's said. He has such a hard time understanding her. She knows she is being foolish by practically committing treason from these chats, but she continues anyway. "So what are you gaining that is worth this risk?" He asks and his tone is somewhat accusatory.

She sighs again and shakes her head. "I just… I guess it's just nice getting to see another point of view. A Noxian point of view. I don't… agree with you… about everything. But it's nice to be able to have that." She looks sheepish as she says it. Embarrassed that she's admitting to enjoying the company of a Noxian.

He moves a bit and settles against the tree, trying to find a comfortable position as he breathes deeply, resigning himself to his situation at least for now. It wouldn't hurt to let her indulge in her selfishness a bit, and he'd be lying to himself if he said he also didn't enjoy their banter. "I believe I've gotten more than enough from my turn. What would you like to know about Noxus, Eryn?"

Her face turns bright pink, much to Darius's amusement. She had completely forgotten about the game of information swapping she initiated. She would have prattled on forever if he had continued to press her, wouldn't she? "Ah right… Tell me.. Tell me about growing up in Noxus."

And so he does. He tells of his humble beginnings in the port city of Basilich, of how he would fight with gangs for food and to protect his rambunctious brother. His early allyship with Quiletta and how the trio were well respected on the city streets. He tells tales of their antics together, like the time Draven stole itching powder from a merchant to prank Quiletta with, how he and Quiletta would climb the cliff tops near the city just to watch the sunsets, how the three would often go to sleep hungry and not knowing where the next meal was coming from but still found comfort in their unity. One day Basilich was invaded by Noxus and their city became another cog in the Noxian Warmachine, and all three ended up enlisting in the army when they got older. Instead of fighting for food and for a place in the world, they earned it together. He tells stories of some of their early battles together, the glory it brought to them.

Eryn would ask questions occasionally as he talked, sometimes for clarification, sometimes to press him on a topic, and often to tease him. After he tells of a particularly glorious battle where Quiletta saved his life she interjects again somewhat wistfully. "You talk so highly of her and your brother. I wish I could meet them too."

He pauses. The painful memories of Quiletta's untimely death at the hands of her own daughter come flooding back to him. The pain must be written all over his face because Eryn notices it. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize-" She begins to apologize.

"It's alright." He interrupts and silence washes over them for the first time since the battle. He hadn't realized how late it had gotten, how their talking had eaten up so much time. She waits to see if he will continue, not pressing any farther into the painful memory unless he wished to share. Truthfully, he hadn't really talked about her death, not even to Draven. "You would have liked her. She was just as annoyingly idealistic as you." He says with a joking jab, trying to lighten the mood again.

"I'll take that as a compliment then." Eryn says with a sly smile. She's still looking at him with slight concern in her eyes.

Darius isn't sure what spurs him to continue. Maybe to prove that he isn't weak, that he's unbothered by her death, or that Eryn reminded him of Quil, or that he just was ready to talk about it. But he swallows a lump that had formed in his throat before continuing. "She had her doubts about Noxus at the time. She had lost her arm in war with Ionia, poison from friendly fire got into her wound and we had to amputate. Then her… her son died in a campaign against the Freljord barbarians to the north, a campaign led by myself. She rebelled, and I was the one who had to quash it. I gave her a chance to surrender, to spare her and her men, and she wouldn't take it. And in the end I was the one too weak to end her life. Her daughter cut her down in front of me, and raised the banner to end the rebellion."

He finishes the tale and silence falls over them. The silence between them now is unbearable as Eryn looks at him with a pained expression. With pity. "I'm sorry." Is all she musters.

He grits his teeth and turns away. "It's alright. She was…" He trails off. He wants to call her weak, it's what he's been telling himself for the past year since the battle. That they both were weak. Her for breaking from Noxus, and him for failing to fulfil his duty. It's the only way he's been able to move on from it.

"She was strong." Eryn finishes the sentence for him, and he looks at her quizzically. "Anyone who would willingly go against Noxus has to be after all. To stand up for what they believe in. Even if it means betraying the ones you love." She's somewhat wistful when she says it. Like she's not talking to Darius but to herself.

Darius nods, unable to find it in himself to argue against her. "I suppose she was."