Welcome back! It's been almost a year! (let's pretend it's funny, ok?)

Disclaimer: All characters and places mentioned belong to Riot.

Warning: This story includes a lot of bad language (there's Katarina in it, duh). If you feel offended by obscenities, please do not read this chapter.

All Things Considered

Chapter 5: Hey Little Train

The constant hum of rain just a few feet away from them seemed endless.

Lux circled her arms around her legs and rested her chin between her knees, letting out a deep sigh. It has been raining for at least an hour now, and while she did enjoy the musky scent of raindrops mixing with the resin of the forest trees, it was getting mildly boring.

Well, it had began to get boring after ten minutes; now it was just a matter of time before she fell asleep and froze to death.

The sun was probably setting somewhere over the clouds by now and the evening chill was creeping in. The sticky moisture of the forest only fueled the cold. Her entire being felt wet from the mist entering the tent, and her joints were starting to hurt from the weather.

"I gotta say, though," she began as the undisturbed sound of rain became unbearable. She craved some contact. "This tent is amazing."

Katarina raised her right brow as she turned to her side to face Lux.

"I— I mean, look, it's not let a single drop in or anything."

The blonde motioned to the thick fabric over their heads; it was, in fact, dry on the side facing them, even though she could clearly hear the heavy droplets banging against it on the outside.

The Noxian shrugged.

"It's waterproof."

"I know, but it's like... like good-waterproof. Like sometimes you get waterproof things that are supposedly waterproof but in reality they might as well not exist cause you get soaked in the end anyway..." The Demacian patted the fabric right above her head. "But this thing here, it works for real."

"A sick soldier is a useless soldier."

Lux frowned; even when she tried to talk to her, even when the older girl had absolutely nothing else to do, Katarina was just giving her the runaround.

Suddenly, the Noxian's head shot up from a position very similar to Lux's.

"You hear that?"

The blonde's eyes widened in terror as she concentrated on her hearing. Except for the rustle of falling rain, pounding of rain against the tent and dripping of rain from the branches, she couldn't hear anything. She turned to face the older girl, searching for answers in the Noxian's face, but there was nothing in the redhead's eyes when they locked with hers.

"What is it?" Lux asked quietly, forcing her voice not to shake.

"The rain is stopping," Katarina murmured just above a whisper. The Demacian let out a quiet sigh of relief, but it was probably still too loud for the Noxian as the older girl clasped a hand over Lux's mouth. "And there's a small animal close to us. Be quiet."

Lux watched in silent terror as the Noxian took one of the shorter knives from her belt and began to creep quietly to the opening of the tent. She pried the fabric open at the parting just enough to stick her head and right hand out.

Before Lux even knew what was going on, the dagger was gone from Katarina's hand. In a swift move, the redhead jumped outside in the downfall and ran a couple of steps to retrieve a small object from the ground. As she picked it up, a crack of a twisted neck sounded louder than the hum of rain; Lux immediately knew the poor animal just lost its life.

At least the death was quick, or so she hoped.

As Katarina entered the tent again, water dripping from her hair, she threw the prey on the ground. Lux looked at it with furrowed brows; it was a rather young river rat.

"I didn't think you meant that sma— What are you doing?"

Katarina stopped unbuttoning her shirt to look at the blonde.

"What does it look like? My shirt's soaked," she said, resuming the action. A sly smirk played on her lips. "Why, you've a problem with nudity?"

"I don't have a problem with nudity." Despite her murmured words, the Demacian turned around to look at the other wall of the tent instead of the increasing amount of naked Noxian flesh in front of her. "Just you're... not going to get that shirt dry anyway and—"

"Crownguard, please, you really think I'd just randomly get naked in front of you?"

Lux turned around again to see Katarina cross her arms across a cotton top covered torso. Her right brow was raised again, and her lips were twisted in a mocking smile.

"Oh."

The Noxian barked a short laugh, tossing the wet shirt on the ground, just beside their discarded cloaks.

oOOo

"You'll have to answer me eventually."

The rain had stopped just before nightfall, leaving only a chilly mist behind. The Noxian's shirt hung from a makeshift clotheshorse - two sticks and a piece of string - beside the cracking fire, and the poor, tiny river rat roasted on a stick above it. Katarina's gaze left it for a split second to glance at the Demacian, but Lux's face was hidden in the shadows of the tent as the blonde searched her bag for all the previously gathered turnips.

"I won't answer anything I don't feel like answering," the older girl huffed. She threw a couple of pinecones in the fire, inhaling deeply as the scented smoke hit her nostrils. "Besides, you didn't even ask a question."

"Where are you going?" The Demacian appeared beside her, huddling close to the small campfire. She set the dirt covered vegetables in a nice pile beside the Noxian's boot.

Katarina set her a fiery look, but she didn't say anything.

"Come on," Lux groaned, looking the redhead straight in the eyes. "Like it or not, I'm going with you— well, for a while, right? I'd like to at least know the destination-"

"I know it." She stood up, walking over to the tent to get her cloak. An angry roar died in her throat. "That should be more than enough."

For a moment, the Demacian sat in silence, while Katarina fought with the strings tying the entrance of the tent that the blonde had tied up together so tightly it was almost impossible to untangle them. An owl hooted from a tree next to her, disturbing the otherwise silent night. Well, safe for the cracking sticks in the fire.

"Katarina," the younger girl spoke at last; the Noxian spun around quickly to look at her.

It was the first time she'd heard the blonde address her by her first name, both outside the League as well as in the matches. Lux was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, moving the sticks in the fire around with another one, turning them over so that the flames could benefit from them more. Her face was lit with the orange light and she wasn't looking at the Noxian, safe from a side glance every now and then.

"Listen, I understand you don't trust me," the blonde continued as Katarina made her way back to the fire, the cloak draped over her shoulders. "I really do. But I know Demacia..." for a moment, Lux stopped talking, considering the next words and choosing them carefully. She sighed. "I could help you, you know."

"I don't need a guide," Katarina said, though her voice was surprisingly calm compared to her usual manner. "I know well enough how to get to where I want to."

"Which is?"

The redhead eyed her for a good few moments, but Lux was content with sticking her gaze to the fire. Katarina had two options; she could either ignore the blonde and get annoyed by her talking and questioning, or she could answer the damned question and possibly risk Lux running away and reporting her... to whatever authorities she could find in the woods or neighboring villages, considering the Demacian's poor physical shape.

Then there was the third option of killing the younger girl that also passed through her mind.

"You're annoying as fuck," she said finally after the long, silent pause, looking at the blonde through squinted eyes, but with no anger evident in her voice yet. Katarina sat down on the ground beside her, catching one turnip as it rolled away in the fire's direction after colliding with the tip of her boot.

Lux didn't make any visible indications of feeling uncomfortable with the Noxian's close presence as their shoulders brushed together; instead, she pretended to check on the roasting dinner, and used it as an excuse to move away by just a few inches. Katarina smirked at that, but decided against commenting. She tossed the turnip up in the air and caught it, the small vegetable fitting her hand just like the small ball she used to play with when she was a child.

"Want to help with these?" Lux asked, surprising the older girl. Truth be told, Katarina didn't expect her to drop the subject; especially not after she made it so obvious she was not going to answer that stupid question. "They might actually go well with the, uhm, rat you caught, though I suppose it's all going to be rather dry..."

"What do you need to do with them?"

The blonde finally turned to look at Katarina, her expression more than slightly surprised with blue eyes open wide and mouth still gaped in mid-sentence.

"What?" The Noxian raised her brow.

"No, nothing," Lux said as she turned her gaze to the ground, picking up one of the turnips, "I just didn't expect you were actually listening— umm, we'll have to peel them. Then we can roast them like that rat, on a stick. You have a knife, don't you?"

Katarina shot her a very disapproving look.

"Riiight... okay then, just," she stopped as she passed the turnip on to the Noxian, suddenly exceptionally aware of her arms' position. She coughed. "Just peel them, like—"

"I know what to do."

"Of course." Lux turned around and stood up as she saw the light reflected of one of the Noxian's blades that seemed to appear in her hand out of nowhere. "I'm gonna check whether the canteens are full."

The redhead just nodded, not sparing a second to look in her direction. The Demacian stepped away from the fire and was immediately hit by the cold, having gotten used to the immense heat of the flames. They had put the canteens in some impromptu racks made out of sticks, keeping them upright as the rain poured over them. She had considered using the large leaves of a nearby plant as funnels, but then she'd remembered there were a lot of poisonous stuff in the Demacian forests; they had to do without those, and she could just hope enough rainwater found its way to the rather narrow opening of her canteen.

The first one she checked was Katarina's, though only because it was closer. The opening in the Noxian military model was bigger than it was in hers, so there was no need to even touch it to know it was overflowing with fresh water. She quickly clasped the cap closed, trying hard not to spill anything, but still a few droplets managed to slip through her fingers.

Her own canteen seemed to be full as well as she picked it up, again careful not to spill the water out. Her throat was dry as hell, especially after sitting so close to the flames and smoke for half an hour or so and she craved a drink, but she'd told herself to ration her water after seeing the Noxian drinking approximately half the amount she did the previous day - which led to Katarina still having a half-full canteen by the time Lux ran out of water this afternoon and an awkward moment when she had to ask the older girl for a drink.

So she only allowed herself to take a small sip now. The water was sweeter than she thought it would be, but she couldn't be sure whether it was because it was rain water, or maybe because it had quite possibly dripped through the pine needles above them, or maybe because she was just so thirsty that it tasted like liquid heaven. Either way, it was a pretty damn good sip of water. She closed the cap hurriedly and, picking up the Noxian's canteen as well, made her way back to the fire.

"Hey, I got your wa—"

The word died on her lips and she just stared dumbly at Katarina for a couple of seconds. The older girl didn't seem to notice at first, too occupied with her job, but she eventually realized Lux had stopped talking. She turned her head around to look at the blonde.

"What?" she asked upon seeing the Demacian's startled expression.

"What are you doing?"

"Wh— peeling your stupid turnip, what does it look like?"

Lux spent another couple of seconds just looking at the poor vegetable in Katarina's hand. The poor, chopped vegetable. Not only did the redhead dispose of the peel, she also managed to lose over two-thirds of the turnip's original mass. With a sigh, the blonde came over and sat next to her, placing the canteens on the ground.

"You're doing it wrong."

It was hard to tell in the crimson-orange light of the fire, but Lux had a feeling Katarina's face just turned a little redder. She had known the Noxian enough to tell that it couldn't be from embarrassment, but her hunger was now greater than the fear of the redhead's wrath.

However, even though the Demacian was mentally bracing herself for the storm, the older girl remained silent. Tentatively, Lux reached out a hand.

"May I—"

"No."

The remaining bit of the turnip was thrown on the ground as the Noxian took the knife away; Lux managed to notice it was the one she'd previously used to cut the rope for hanging her shirt, and that it was a little bit different than her throwing knives. Still, it was a very beautiful dagger, if one could even call a piece of steel beautiful. It had some carvings on the handle, but since Katarina was still holding it tightly, the Demacian couldn't get a clear look.

And of course, she had expected that answer. There was a thing about Katarina Du Couteau and her blades. You just didn't want to come between them.

"If you cut off such thick parts, there won't be any left," she tried again, hoping to somehow get through to the redhead. As if on cue, her own treacherous stomach growled in hunger. The small rat was not enough for two people to have a proper meal. "You just need to peel it thinner."

For a second, there was no movement. Then, Katarina picked up the discarded vegetable and made another attempt while Lux pretended not to look at her hands by checking on the roasting meat. The blade went awkwardly through the turnip, cutting off another big chunk.

Another moment passed. Then, a sigh broke the silence.

"Alright."

Lux felt something hard being pushed into the open hand hanging by her hip. The hilt of the dagger was warmed up by the Noxian's skin on the surface, but beneath she could feel the chill of the polished ivory. She brought it up to her face to take a closer look; the carvings weren't as intricate as she'd initially thought and mostly consisted of swirls and runes. The blade, despite its recent encounter with the dirty vegetable was clear as a mirror when it reflected the light of the fire.

"Are you done admiring?" Katarina's sharp voice brought her back to reality. The Noxian put the tormented turnip in her other hand. "Go on. Show me the right way."

Suddenly very aware of her own peeling abilities, Lux put the blade against the dirt-covered lump, keeping her eyes locked on the task and careful not to make any eye-contact with her unusual companion. With one smooth movement, the peel went off, thin as a sheet of paper.

"It's actually easier than I thought with a hunting knife," she commented as she finished quickly. "Give me another one."

The Noxian tossed the next turnip in her general direction; thankfully, she managed to catch it before it went past her and into the fire.

"It's not a hunting knife," Katarina sighed, leaning back on her bent elbows.

"Sorry. I don't know much about knives."

"No shit."

The blonde glanced up at her.

"But you do," she said, squinting her eyes. "And yet you don't know how to—"

Katarina threw her an enraged look.

"I kill people," she said through gritted teeth. "Not peel vegetables."

"I— I know," she stuttered, trying to find a way out of this fight before it started for good. "It's just... your mother never showed you?"

"She did."

"So why—"

"Quit talking and just do what you need to do," she growled. "I want my knife back in four minutes."

oOOo

The clouds disappeared in about an hour, showing the clear black sky dotted with shiny lights of stars above them. Lux was content; dinner turned out to be better than expected (who would have ever known that a skinny river rat could taste this good?), and Katarina even volunteered to take care of sharpening the sticks for the turnips - at least that she knew how to do, and was in fact pretty damn good at it.

The blonde was lying on her back on top of the coat she'd placed on the ground, staring at the sky with her arms folded under her head. The fire was still cracking cheerily beside her, and, much to her surprise, the sound of Katarina rummaging through her bag in the tent was oddly calming to the Demacian's ears. She closed her eyes and imagined being completely alone in these woods now; a shiver ran down her spine. She was actually grateful Katarina found her—

A loud crash made her jolt up to a sitting position.

"Are you ok?" she asked as she turned around quickly, struggling to see the Noxian in the darkness. An angry grumble was her ony answer at first, then Katarina emerged from the tent and walked over to the fire, dressed in her now dry shirt. Lux let out a breath of relief.

"I walked into your bag," the Noxian said, massaging her knee. Lux guessed she skipped the part where she fell down because of walking into her bag. "What the hell do you have in there?"

"Well..." Lux put a finger to her chin in wonder. "From the sound of it, I'd say you walked into the saucepan—"

"You took a saucepan?"

"Um... yeah, just in case—"

"You were supposed to be back at the Institute in two days, what case could have happened during that time that would require a fucking saucepan?"

Lux blinked a few times, staring dumbly at the Noxian.

"Nevermind," Katarina sighed, waving her hand. "At least we can make a stew or something."

"Okay, so I might have overprepared," Lux said in an irritated voice that surprised her and startled the Noxian, judging from the brief look that passed through her face. "But you have seriously underprepared."

"Wh— I took a fucking tent!"

"And two loaves of bread to eat!"

"I caught myself something else to eat!"

Lux put her hands up in the air in a peaceful gesture, though she was sure her face was still bearing the anger stirring inside her.

"Okay, you win," she said, trying to copy the Noxian's sarcasm; and damn, she succeeded at it pretty well. "You caught a skinny rat and burned it over the fire. Good thing you also found other edible things."

Katarina glared at her through squinted eyes.

"Good thing you brought something to cover yourself instead of a saucepan," she snarled, the fire reflecting in her eyes turning into green flames, "cause you're sleeping here."

Lux's face fell at that, but she wasn't about to give up. The night wasn't that cold. The fire was still alight, and the ground had almost dried up from the previous rain...

Okay, she was about to give up fast.

"Alright," she sighed, turning her gaze to her boots. "I'm... sorry. You didn't underprepare."

The Noxian smirked.

"I did," she admitted, and Lux almost gaped in surprise as she snapped her head to look at the older girl. "And I wouldn't make you sleep out here, you'd probably die of hypothermia," she stopped to throw the blonde a nasty look. "But it was a nice whiny face you made there."

Lux shook her head in disbelief as Katarina stood up.

"Come on," she said, mockingly pushing the younger girl's shoulder so hard the Demacian almost fell into the fire. "If you still want to sleep in the tent, then get your ass up, I want to start walking early in the morning. You have about two minutes before I tie the entrance."

Lux stood up as well and looked around for something to put the fire out with.

"You might want to hit the bushes before that. Regardless of anything, I'm gonna kick you out in a flash if you piss yourself from drinking so much."

oOOo

They spent the following day mostly walking, briefly stopping - for Lux's sake - and avoiding talking - for Katarina's sake. By afternoon, the Demacian was both tired and bored out of her mind, and the deprivation of social interactions was not doing anything to alleviate the feeling.

The previous evening, though it seemed ridiculous to her when she thought about it back then and clearly impossible when she looked back now, she kind of felt... nice with the Noxian's presence. Not like friendly-nice, but not hostile - and she could swear Katarina was feeling, or at least acting, slightly similar.

This morning, however, the Noxian had woken up cranky beyond limits - and kindly requested the blonde not to speak unless necessary, then kindly reminded her that she could well survive if her tongue was cut out.

And, more out of fear for the Noxian acting on her threat than anything else, Lux had complied to the request for what seemed to be eight hours now.

"Katarina?" She said finally, not bearing the tension anymore. Yes, she was probably only going to only add fuel to it, but at least it was moving in some direction. "Do you have a... you know, a plan of where to go?" The Noxian threw her the 'you're annoying as fuck' look at that, so she quickly continued. "I know you know where you want to end up, but do you have a plan of how to get there? Like... a step by step—"

"I get it," she growled, putting a hand up to silence the girl. With a tired groan, she sat down beside Lux on the fallen log they found a few minutes ago and decided was a perfect spot for their dinner break. "North. General direction."

Something clicked inside Lux's brain.

"North?" She repeated, not really waiting for any response before she continued. "We'll have to cross the railway that way, there's no way we'd be able to miss it. Maybe we could use it..."

Katarina gave her an incredulous look.

"You want to hitch a free ride?"

"Well— if you're against it, then n—"

"I'm not." Again, Katarina's brow shot up as her lips twisted in a smirk. "I just wouldn't think you'd come up with such an idea..."

Lux kicked off a few pebbles that had lied by her feet; they fell in the small pond - or a very large puddle - just below them with a splash, spraying water droplets on the hands folded in her lap.

"Tell me more."

Katarina's request was simple, but Lux found herself wondering; she wasn't that familiar with the railway, she'd never travelled by a train. Her parents were very cautious when it came to new technologies from Piltover after a rather scary encounter with a hextech combustion engine when she was a little girl.

"Well," she started, leaning forward on her elbows. "It goes across the whole city-state. Right now we're somewhere in Kaladoun, but if I'm guessing properly and we're headed somewhere in Demacia's direction, we should cross the rails at some point," she continued as she drew a rather vague outline of Demacia on the ground with a stick, "they go right through the city."

"I want to avoid getting into the city."

Lux frowned as she turned towards the older girl. Katarina was sitting with her legs crossed, inspecting the blonde's drawing.

"I would guess that," the younger girl sighed, putting a big cross on the map where Demacia should be, "but we could hitch a ride, and then you could drop off at some station before the city and I could—"

"I'm not letting you go there as well."

Lux's frown deepened.

"Then at what point are you going to let me go?"

Katarina didn't answer.

"You don't want me to go with you, then why keep me—"

"'Cause I'm not letting you ruin what I'm doing right now!"

For the first time, the Demacian felt genuinely insulted.

"I wouldn't," she snapped back. "In fact, I would do anything to ensure that I don't have to see you again at all. You could get lost somewhere in the wild for all I care, just let me get to my home!"

A few moments passed where Katarina just sat and stared at her. Lux had had enough of the Noxian's shit at this point, and seeing an opportunity like this was just too much to keep her at the older girl's side anymore.

"I won't let you," the redhead started, very slowly, as if carefully choosing the words leaving her lips. Lux was thrown off by that; she expected the Noxian to shout back at her, but hearing Katarina speak so calmly was actually far more unsettling. "Not until I know I will get to the border and leave Demacia before you could get to anybody."

"The border?" Lux blinked. She completely forgot what she was thinking about just seconds ago as a new piece of Katarina's puzzle came to the surface. "I thought you had some business in Dem—"

"I never said that."

For a moment, neither of them spoke at all; Lux was thinking very intensely about what the redhead said and, when the Demacian cast a glance at her, Katarina seemed to be lost in thought as well. The Noxian's gaze was glued to the tree in front of them, moving every now and then as if she'd been watching a moving ant, her brows slightly furrowed. She didn't seem to notice Lux looking at her, even though the shorter girl wasn't very discreet with that - her head was turned to her right, in Katarina's direction, eyes set squarely at the older girl's face.

Ever since the Noxian appeared in her room a few nights ago, Lux was convinced she had some crooked business in Demacia; not an official one, as she would probably rely on the Noxian forces and not ask any Demacian - especially her, of all people - for help. From the beginning, she was aware what Katarina wanted to do was not legal, but probably not threatening the political truce as well - she'd pointed it out herself. No, Lux knew all along that what Katarina had to do was some personal business.

But all the time, she was sure that business had to do with Demacia; now, it turned out the Noxian only wanted to pass through the city-state grounds.

And Lux's curiosity was burning bright in her brain.

"Okay, break over," she said at last, standing up with a smile. The Noxian's eyes switched to her and, upon noticing the blonde's expression, her right eyebrow shot up.

"What the hell are you smiling about?"

"I'm just excited," Lux admitted with an even broader grin. "I never really rode a train before."

"Wh—" Katarina shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You've been standing in the sun for too long again," she muttered.

"Maybe." Lux shrugged and motioned for the older girl to stand up. "Actually, you're probably right, 'cause I want to help you."

"Help me?" Katarina gave her an incredulous look again.

"You want to get... somewhere mysterious, and from what you just said you'd probably have to bring me along until just the border. The sooner we get there, the sooner I go home." She pointed out, the smile never leaving her face even though Katarina's expression changed to outright confusion. "So let's hurry up and catch that train. If we leave at the last station before Demacia, we can probably hire some mounts in— whatever town it is."

"Why?"

It was just a single word, but the look in Katarina's eyes was enough to elaborate the question.

"You want to get out of Demacia," Lux answered with another slight shrug. "It's my duty as a citizen to help a Noxian leave our borders."

Katarina smirked at last, and Lux was actually glad to see the sarcastic expression back on the older girl's face. For a moment, she was worried the redhead was going to continue to question her with that partially lost look on her face, and this was too much out of character for the Noxian.

"You were the one who let me in in the first place," Katarina pointed out. She stood up as well and gathered her things from where she tossed them on the ground.

"Well, then it's only more of my concern, right?"

oOOo

The sun had almost set when they finally arrived at a parting in the woods. From the distance, it looked like an ordinary clearing - one that could store a meadow, a small pond or maybe some marsh, considering they were still in the beautiful, marshy Kaladoun. However, the closer they got to it, the more they noticed it was rather longer than wider, and that it was almost imposible to see the end of it.

"Is this it?" Katarina asked, pointing in the clearing's direction. Lux looked for a few seconds - this was very much what she'd imagine a railway crossing the woods to look like.

"Almost sure it is," she answered, but even though she tried, some uncertainty laced her words.

The evening was rather chilly, but still far warmer than the previous one - and far drier as well. They still had plenty of water, but food was running scarce as they've already eaten through the small amounts of meat and the few turnips they'd saved from last night. Since their talk in the afternoon, they didn't share much words, even though Katarina didn't ask Lux to shut up this time. The walk was just very tiring, as they'd enetered an uneven part of the forest, dotted with small hills and valleys, with no definite track to lead them.

Right now they stood on the top of one of the small hills and they could see the edge of the forest far off in the distance.

"Although..." Lux started quietly, catching Katarina's sleeve as the girl was already walking forward. "What if there's some people and they see us? The wanted posters might have reached—"

"It's the middle of the forest," Katarina huffed, shaking Lux's hand off. "Why would anybody be here?"

"I don't know." Lux shrugged. "We are here, so why wouldn't other people?"

"Listen—" Katarina started, but then dropped off suddenly. Her head snapped to the left and, with closed eyes, she seemed to be listening to something. Lux took a breath and opened her mouth to speak, but even though the older girl couldn't see her, she moved a hand up to silence the blonde. "Really, listen. What is that?"

Lux tried closing her eyes as well to focus on the sounds. She remembered Katarina's hearing was far better than her own, but still, she managed to catch various things she didn't pay attention to before - the chirping of forest birds behind them and the swoosh of wind blowing through the treetops ahead. Some hooved animal walking atop a stony surface far to her right and the croaking of frogs in the muddy pond at the base of the hill. And... something else, very faint and probably a long way from them.

"It's the train," she said as she opened her eyes and noticed Katarina's own staring at her, glistening in the partial darkness. "It must be it, but I think it's far..."

"About two miles away from us, if I get it right," Katarina murmured. This time it was her who caught the younger girl's arm and dragged her forward. "Come on, let's get closer. There are some bushes there, see?"

Lux did see, and Katarina didn't need to finish the thought for the blonde to know they were about to hide in there. She winced at the thought of crawling on the ground again, especially since there were a lot of ants in the forest, but the Noxian was already pulling her towards the edge.

As they approached the clearing, it became obvious there were rail tracks on the ground - on a mound of sand and gravel about half a metre higher than the bushes they aimed for. To their left, the road traveled on ahead until it emerged from the forest far, far away from the place they stood in now; to their right, it ended up in a narrow turn in about a hundred yards distance.

The sound of the train grew louder as they crouched in the thick shrubs, and it became clear to the blonde that it was going to arrive from the right side.

"That's gonna make spotting a little harder," Katarina pointed to the turn. "How well can you see between the trees?"

Lux squinted her eyes, fighting back the slight feeling of pride; the Noxian wouldn't admit it, but both of them knew the blonde's sight was better than hers.

"Barely," she answered after a while. "But it's getting dark and I'm sure it has to have some... headlights or something." She squinted her eyes once more, focusing on the rails just before the turn.

They seemed to shimmer slightly in the twilight and Lux's eyes widened.

"What?" Katarina asked, pushing the Demacian's shoulder lightly.

"I could swear I just saw the light shift."

"Fuck, it's getting close faster than I thought," the Noxian sighed, leaning on her elbows.

"How fast can it go?" Lux's brows furrowed.

"How would I know?"

"Sorry." Of course, there were no railroads in Noxus. As a Demacian ally, Piltover rarely shared its technology with the Noxians, and trains were still a pretty new thing in Valoran. Still, Lux's subconsciousness hoped that, of all Noxians, Katarina would be the one to know such stuff. "Just... will we be able to catch up with it?"

Katarina shrugged. "You've ever seen a carriage enter a narrow turn?"

"Hm..." Lux wondered for a while. "No, not really. At least I didn't pay attention. Why?"

The Noxian ran a palm down her face.

"It has to slow down." Irritation was evident in her voice, but Lux noticed she was... actually trying hard not to snap back at her. "Otherwise it will fall out of its way—"

"Oh, so the train will have to slow down as well!" Lux exclaimed happily, earning a glare from the Noxian as the blonde almost jumped up in her place. She answered with a sheepish grin.

"Yes, it—" Katarina stopped once again as they both saw a flash of light through the trees. Lux focused her vision in that spot, seeing glimpses of burgundy behind the dense tree trunks.

"It's here," she managed to get out of her clenched throat. The color must have completely left her face by now as she fully realized what they were about to do and her hands were starting to tremble in stress.

"The turn is not as narrow as a carriage could take, but it will have to slow down considerably... we need to be ready to jump as soon as we see some opportunity." Katarina, on the other hand, seemed to be perfectly calm. She was craning her neck to watch the railroad as the light grew stronger, illuminating the trees by the turn. "Gods know when the next train will arrive."

"What if there are people there?" Lux squeaked. The Noxian turned to look at her with a serious face, the light of the train reflecting in her eyes.

"You're a light mage," she said, even calmer than before. Lux felt the last bits of her own calmness slip away. "I'm sure you'll figure something out."

That was just what she needed. Additional responsibility.

The noise was almost deafening at this point and they could feel the ground beginning to shake. With a blaring of a horn, the train entered the turn, illuminating the rails in front with almost blinding light.

Lux's heartbeat was racing so fast it almost resonated with the rhythmical thudding of the train's engine. Just as Katarina said, the train took the turn very slowly; and was now proceeding steadily in their direction.

"Damn, it's long!"

Lux couldn't disagree with the Noxian; as she cast a glimpse through the trees again, she could see the same burgundy color of the first car that followed the locomotive flash between the dark brown and green as far as her eyes could reach.

"But at least I doubt there'd be many people!"

As she heard the words, Lux turned her head around to look at the train again. For a moment, she didn't know what Katarina could be talking about, but then she noticed it; none of the cars had any windows, unlike the fancy trains she'd seen on the pictures and heard her friends talk about a few years ago.

"It's a cargo train!" She shouted over the noise, earning a nod from the Noxian. Then, another thought entered her mind. "How are we gonna get in!?"

Again, the older girl just shrugged.

As the cars passed them by, they searched for any opening. Now, Lux knew many things - the train was going slow enough for even her to catch up with it and it would continue as long as at least one cart was still taking the turn. The mound that supported the railway was tough inside, but she could see the small avalanche of pebbles going down the slope as the massive wheels shook the rails; she could almost imagine how hard it would be to climb the mound with the ground slipping from underneath her feet.

The train was also transporting coal - most probably from the mines in Kalamanda, which was pretty ironic considering the mines were still a delicate topic, causing many verbal battles between Noxians and Demacians - and then, there was the two of them, working together to get on it.

"Get ready!" Katarina shouted. Lux snapped her head from looking at the passing cars to the turn a hundred yards away from them; she could already see the last cart through the trees, and that meant their possibilities were running short.

"What do we do!?" She shouted back, panic evident in her shrieking voice. Really, if someone told her a week ago she would be in this place with this person out of all people she knew, she would probably laugh in their face and call them crazy.

Right now, she could only hope to pinch her way out of this dream, but the skin on her hand was already sore from trying.

"Notice there's a railing at the end of each cart," Katarina got closer to her and spoke almost right in her ear. "We run and catch it as soon as the last one passes."

Lux gulped. She did notice the railings before, but they were pretty high - about half a metre - or more, it was hard to tell from their position in the bushes - above the floor of the wagons, which were probably a good metre above the ground as well. That meant that their run and jump plan suddenly changed to run and jump high.

And, even though the train was going slow up to this point, as soon as the last car - their car - took the narrow turn, it started to slowly, but steadily speed up.

Before Lux knew what was happening, the last car was just a few yards away from them.

"Go!" The Noxian's shout was almost inaudible in the overwhelming clamour of the train, but her grip on Lux's wrist was enough to bring the Demacian's attention back to the task.

They jumped out of the bushes, Katarina in front and Lux following closely behind, running at full speed. The last car still didn't pass them as they sprinted on the tough ground by the mound, looking for a good place to jump up on the rails. Lux felt the adrenaline rush through her veins as the noise of the train deafened her and, although Katarina was screaming something to her, she couldn't make her words out anymore.

The Noxian let go of her arm as the last wagon rode past them - and as soon as it did, she saw the redhead climb the mound in one swift jump. She ran on the railway just behind the train and, before Lux even knew what was going on, the assassin was already catching the railing and pulling herself up.

Lux was still running on the ground beside the rails.

She started her ascend up the mound diagonally, the sand and gravel slipping from underneath the soles of her boots, just as she expected. A few awkward seconds later - and one dreadful moment when she thought she was going to fall over - her feet touched the hard iron rails.

Twenty yards behind the train.

She could still clearly see Katarina's eyes as the Noxian looked at her, jaw stiff and hands gripping the metal bars of the railing so hard her knuckles turned white. She was still on the outer side of the railing, crouching at the very edge of the car - and Lux realized she was waiting for her.

Stopping for only a brief moment to regain her balance after the climb, she let herself run at top speed. Her feet banged on the wooden slabs under the rails so hard her knees clicked painfully as she tried to at least match the velocity of the train. Then, she only had to exceed it high enough to make up for the twenty yards she'd missed.

Her lungs were starting to burn already, but she was still running, the fastest she had ever ran in her life. Against all odds, the edge of the train was approaching her, but the train was still speeding up, Lux following the trend.

The next seconds were surreal. In her whole life, the Demacian wouldn't ever imagine herself doing what she just did - she wouldn't imagine herself running after a train in the first place, not to mention catching up with it despite her lungs going out in flames, not to mention reaching her hands out to the outstretched arms of a Noxian.

Katarina caught her wrist again as soon as she got close enough, but Lux's legs were still on the ground, threatening to stumble on the wooden slabs any second now. She closed her eyes and, with one last hard push against a particularly raised slab, she let the Noxian pull her up.

For a person her posture, Katarina was really strong. She aided the blonde's jump enough for Lux's other hand to catch the edge of the car.

This was it. She made it. She was on the train.

She stopped breathing on the way.

She didn't even realize the Noxian was dragging her to the parting in the railing and onto a narrow space just behind it. Her world was already going black at this point, and the only thing on her mind was damned pride that she managed to do it.

A year could have passed before her eyes focused again. The world wasn't black anymore - it was a mixture of light peach, red and green as she realized she was staring at the face of Katarina Du Couteau, hovering above her.

"You passed out for a second," the Noxian said, loud enough to overcome the noise of the train but not screaming yet. "Are you..."

"I'm fine," she answered weakly as she sat up. Air was again filling her lungs and she was actually glad she missed the worst part of it, but her chest still ached from the run.

She looked straight ahead to see the world disappearing fast as the train entered its destined speed. Despite trying very hard to stop it, her face broke into a broad grin.

"That was..." she started, but couldn't finish as all the right words evaded her. Impossible. Marvellous. Amazing. Unbelievable.

"Crazy?" Katarina offered, settling right beside her with her back against the wall of the car. The narrow space between the wall and the railing was just enough to fit the both of them, and the Demacian could only be glad it was there at all. Would they have to just hold on to the railing for a few hours...

"Yeah, crazy," she agreed, but the smile never left her face. Her back hit the wall as well as she stared at the dark world passing by.

For the first time since her adrenaline rush, she realized just how tired she was. And just how right Katarina was.

All things considered, what they've just done had to be the craziest thing in her life.

A/N: As usual, thanks for reading. Please leave a review stating your thoughts.

Seems that Katarina's having an influence on Lux; sarcastic comments, riding a train without a ticket... Little lady Crownguard is getting out of hand.