Illaoi could hardly believe her eyes.
"The Mother drives the wind and sun across the skies. Evidently winged travelers as well. She has taken a liking to you if you are on my ship." The creature she addressed was a bird of irregular dimensions and an intelligence which belied his species. It stood perched on the railing nearest the ship's wheel, silent and observant. It turned to watch her with a large, unblinking eye.
A loud rumble echoed from Illaoi's stomach. She laughed and disappeared into the captain's quarters, emerging a minute later with enough food to share with her new passenger. He seemed to enjoy that immensely.
The two voyagers shared a meal and few words. Up close Illaoi could see the bird's plumage was not designed to withstand the icy climate; therefore someone out in this dead expanse was missing this handsome catch. Perhaps they could do without him for a bit longer.
It appeared her guest did not share the same sentiment. Like a blue firework, feathers erupted from the bird. Two strokes later the bird was out of arms reach and on his way to his unseen caretaker. Along with the remainder of her lunch.
It was hard for Illaoi to keep track of time and distance in the thick fog surrounding her vessel. What she thought was an hour ago may have been two or three, or perhaps the jagged peaks far away were the spines of a sleeping dragon rather than a mountain range. Anything was possible, she mused.
Ice floes drifted past the ship on choppy waters, knocking every now and then to see if the wood was built with care. So far it had stood up to the test and Illaoi was impressed with Gragas' good judgement. As she maneuvered around hazy shapes and dark outlines, she spared a moment to think about the life she had left behind in Bilgewater.
The settlements there were too filthy and depraved to call home, yet what was a family, if not a bit crazed and sinful? Someone had to bring them light and that was a position she could gladly fill; not for the sake of the damned, but for the Great Mother who called her to stay. And when her god called her to move across the world, her home would be wherever the compass stopped.
As of now, the compass was guiding her to the right... just past the next ice floe... and then gradually to the left again. The wind that filled the sails was one of wrath and ill will. In order to preserve her transportation from damage, Illaoi had collapsed the main sail and left the two smaller ones open. Managing a 70 by 40 foot ship was hard work, no doubt about it, though it proved Nagakabouros called for the strong to lead by example and the weak to learn. Illaoi would never have seen this new and dangerous world had she not proven herself over and over again.
Ultimately she had forged a relationship few had the privilege of experiencing: Illaoi believed in a god who believed in her.
It was that simple.
Her devotion to the Great Mother was deep and intense. Wild, fast, but never blind. She walked with her god, eyes open and ears tuned to the heartbeat of the one who called. However, as close as she was to the divine, she could not neglect her humanity and deep flaws. Her physical strength could carry her farther than any human and her mental fortitude could deflect any attacks upon her personage, though these characteristics could also get Illaoi into trouble. The doubt she suffered could not be easily remedied due to barriers she had placed in her mind and the strong-willed woman she was known to be rarely gave way under the application of tender words. The maxim 'we are our own worst enemy' was unfortunately true.
The nose of the ship narrowly missed an ice floe. It had snuck up to them in the gloom and reared its head moments before impact. Nagakabouros intervened at the last second, though she had not been happy. A sharp sting to her rear was enough reminder for Illaoi to clear her mind and focus.
If time moved forward, no one was the wiser.
The clothes Illaoi had purchased before embarking on her journey north proved to be invaluable. Admittedly, it was difficult obtaining animal pelts but nothing was too hard for Nagakabouros. The faith she had in her disciple gave Illaoi the confidence to swagger down the docks in search of the most crooked dealer on this side of the Serpent Isles. With nothing to hide and everything to gain the outlaw she sought was found haggling with a man who still possessed morals and too much money in his pocket.
BloodTide was what he called himself. An ugly name for an ugly man, though few had the guts to tell him that and even fewer had guts leaving his presence. He was known for acquiring elusive products as well as disemboweling men who did not share in his fantasy of controlling the southern isles. On the list of islands he wished to dominate was Buhru and that did not sit well with the priestess at all. She'd settle her grievances with her fists.
"...this price is outrageous."
"You know what is outrageous? You wasting my time! I feed men like you to the serpents."
"Then it's time you dealt with a woman." Illaoi inserted herself into the conversation without preamble. The smaller man on the losing end of the negotiation scuttled away under the withering gaze of BloodTide and his grunts. It was time to get down to business. The moment had come for the dangerous woman of Bilgewater to parlay with the dirtiest scum to ever disgrace the sea.
The pirate knew little of what hot water he had fallen into.
It was some time before Illaoi's feathered acquaintance returned.
"You've got some nerve," She regarded him coldly from under the hood of her parka. In the time that had passed between their first meeting and this one, weather conditions had deteriorated. A steady snow had forced her to close another sail and rely on one. She felt confident in her decision to protect the sails from becoming too heavy and tearing, though it slowed her down considerably.
The bird appeared not at all affected. He turned his head this way and that from his perch on the railing, occasionally ruffling his feathers.
"What gift do you bring me this time? Your company is cheap." She stared past him to where the shore could be seen. The fog had lifted and with it the mystique of the sea. All she wanted now was to-
Thump.
An orange had fallen from the bird. A fresh one too. It could not have come from him. Perhaps it came from him... The one who knew the rocking of the waves was not that far from the rocking of two bodies. Gangplank was somewhere in the same waters chasing down the likes of Sarah Fortune. For his sake and hers, Illaoi hoped he caught up to that skank and drowned her.
"Where did you get that?" Illaoi took a moment to remember she was talking to a bird. She let go of the wheel and bent to retrieve the fruit from where it had rolled. However, the bird was not done. It snatched it up once more and was now three meters off the port side.
"Fool! Come back!" There was only so much 'avian entertainment' one could take. Illaoi temporarily forgot her mission and gave chase. The creature obviously knew where it was going. It remained a good distance ahead of the pursuing ship, never letting the angry woman get too close or too far.
Finally it stopped over a sloped hunk of ice and remained there until the priestess had caught up.
"I eat your kind for dinner!" Illaoi shouted. Already she was at the railing closest to the floe, ready to wring the skinny little neck of that damned bird. "I'm going to kill-"
The rest of her threat was cut off by a hoarse voice.
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger."
Her name was Quinn. She was an envoy from Demacia dispatched to take stock of the recent events in the Freljord. Oh, and the rude bird's name was Valor, but no one was asking.
Quinn's wan face poked out from a borrowed woolen blanket. In her raspy voice she relayed the events which had left her stranded in the middle of nowhere: Three and a half days had passed since her ship had been destroyed miles off Queen Ashe's stronghold and no other ships had passed this way to retrieve her. Valor had been away from the ship when tragedy struck and upon his return he couldn't drag Quinn further than the closest ice floe. Her body was too water-logged to try and pull closer to land.
"There goes Val, stealing all the glory again," Quinn ended her narrative by running her hand over the silky feathers on Valor's back.
Despite the bird's help, Quinn looked like shit. Her hair hung in lank strips around her ashen face, blisters from frostbite clung to her exposed skin like lesions, and her clothes were no closer to drying than they were to fly. Still, she insisted she was fine and turned the focus of the interrogation on Illaoi. Her appearance in the Freljord was not unexplainable, though the timing was too close to be coincidental. Who was she working for? Demacia- no likely! Noxus, eh that'd be a stretch. Not to worry, Quinn did not give up easily and she would wheedle the information out eventually.
"You still have't answered my question."
"That's because I do not answer to you. My work is outside of your queens and conflicts."
Illaoi had brought them 300 yards from the shore where she hefted the anchor over the rails and began reorganizing her pack. Quinn stood, albeit rather shaky, and joined Illaoi. All she had with her from the wreck was her crossbow and the clothes she managed to keep on her person.
"Demacia is counting on Valor and I. Our mission is as important as your is, so I hope you don't mind if we join."
"Do what you must in whatever name you desire. My god is calling."
"How do you know where to go?"
"Nagakabouros guides all."
"Are they evil?"
"Good? Evil? Why should we care for such things?"
Illaoi, Quinn, and Valor were traveling through what seemed to be an endless countryside. Snow hugged everything from the smallest stone to the highest peak.
"It's always winter here in the Freljord." Quinn remarked after what could only be interpreted as the end to the previous conversation. Illaoi's bland reaction to the landscape was not she expected for someone traveling from the southernmost ports. The large woman kept her head down and continued to place one foot in front of the other, always following the 'god compass' she spoke of. The religious totem had made the journey from the ship to land and it rested firmly in the curve of Illaoi's neck and shoulder.
"Freljord? An unusual name for an unusual place. I prefer my water moving, but this is a nice change. What people live here?"
They shifted direction slightly and their conversation lingered for a minute in their bootprints.
"Three tribes- sisters," Quinn answered after a few beats. "Their fighting for the upper hand has divided the land."
"Surely three people don't occupy this land alone. Where are the rest?"
"Splintered."
It was a long time before anyone pierced the silence of the Freljord. With nothing to add to the conversation, Valor took wing and followed from a half mile above the party. From his vantage point he could see small rodents scampering across the snow in their white pelts, unaware they were being watched. Evergreens stood in a tall, neat formation in preparation for their withered neighbors return. Beyond the line of trees was a trail of churned snow.
"Hey," Quinn grabbed Illaoi's arm and pulled her in the direction Valor had taken. "He's got something."
"A trail." Illaoi saw the agitated snow moments later. She grinned and began walking with renewed vigor.
"There's always a trail," Quinn agreed and picked up her pace.
Bristle stiffened at the sound of approaching feet. It had been at least a day since he had last moved and the snow was piled around him in knee-deep drifts. Cradled under the protection of his thick neck was the broken body of Sejuani. When he had first found her, she was oozing blood from multiple puncture wounds and a cut running the length of her torso. Had it not been for her armor and furs, she'd have been dead within hours.
With his tongue Bristle had kept her extremities warm and staved off the worst of frostbite. It was unclear how long the boar could keep Death at bay, but he could feel his master's time drawing to a close. He was so tired. His life was winding down as well.
Perhaps the footsteps was Death meeting him halfway.
Kindred watched Illaoi's party stop a healthy distance from the boar. They were nearly undetectable on the incline Lamb had chosen. Her white pelt aided with blending in, but Wolf was much harder to disguise. His black body and fidgety habits would be noticeable to anyone or anything looking hard enough.
Wolf had led them to a set of tracks and they had followed it where Bristle lay protectively over their prey. The person he was protecting was so close... so tantalizing. All things, great and small, died. Oh! Wolf could not wait!
Except that he could. And that was exactly what he and Lamb were doing.
"Wolf." Lamb motioned for him to stay while she flanked the other side of the party. This fight would be a two on two and Lamb felt confident about their element of surprise. The two women were in deep conversation about something trivial and wouldn't notice her sneaking around the other side.
She crept around to the other side, wholly unaware of the other set of eyes watching her.
Valor needed no directions to understand his role in the next segment of events. His years of accompanying Quinn allowed him to catch rare glimpses of Death, or Kindred, as they preferred to be called. He recognized the masked face of Lamb and knew Wolf would not be far behind. It was now or never.
"Val, what the hell?" Quinn exclaimed. Valor had gone straight for Bristle's eyes with his sharp talons. They raked harmlessly through his fur, but the effect had been achieved. The enraged boar reared back and took a swipe with his tusks. Valor was too quick for that! He dodged with little effort and went again for the eyes.
Wolf could not take the excitement. Already riled up from seeing how close they were to feasting, Lamb's warning fell on deaf ears. It was time for Wolf to take action!
Illaoi watched the whole display unravel in the matter of seconds. Lamb exploded from her hiding spot to join the fray. She came straight for Quinn and body slammed her to the ground. Wolf lunged for Valor's throat, but was interrupted by a stone relic colliding with his face.
"I like it when they fight back!"
"Foolish spirit, begone!" A tentacle cracked Wolf's mask and sent him into a tailspin. Lamb savagely kicked Quinn away. She advanced on Illaoi like a jungle cat: head low, body tense.
"You can't suppress us, priestess. Kindred is the end to all."
"Many die. Worthy souls find new forms." Illaoi circled slowly, as did Lamb.
"Doesn't your saying go, 'We are not one soul... we are many.' We know you, Illaoi. All your tricks, all your convictions."
"It is said the devil can quote scripture, I did not realize you were so well versed!" The priestess delivered a solid blow to Lamb's chest. Wolf found his mark in Illaoi's shoulder and clamped down. Lamb regained her footing and reached for her bow. Flashbacks of the previous afternoon flooded her mind and she recalled throwing her weapon where it could do no harm to her cherished soul mate.
"Now, Lamb! They are no match for us!" Wolf urged his companion on, but she was already backing away.
"Few are, dear Wolf. We will let them live to see the error of crossing our path."
Wolf reluctantly disengaged and obediently chased after Lamb's retreating form. Just like that the skirmish was over.
Illaoi watched death's messengers for a long time. Eventually the sound of Quinn emptying her stomach was enough to break the spell.
"That bird of yours is legitimately crazy. Someone is going to eat him one day." Illaoi looked at Valor who managed to look ruffled and smug at the same time.
Quinn buried her expelled lunch under a mound of snow. "I'm glad that's done... whatever that was. I guess the test is to see if Sejuani is still kicking. That bitch is all steel."
Illaoi threw her head back and laughed. A ghostly tentacle shot out from her relic and pulled the soul forcefully from Sejuani's prone body.
"Done? Ha! The real test begins now!"
a/n: Quick shout out to the kind people who have commented, followed, and faved. I appreciate you guys a lot :)