To all the people who stuck with me until now. Thanks.
I know I may be really... really... bad for some people. But, I can't blame them.
This is my first story, after all. Improvements after improvements.
Enjoy and leave a review. Criticism, I'll take any.
Chapter 11: The Expedition
Skylaris put his hands to his hips and beamed unnaturally.
"M-Master? A-are you alright?" Katarina asked, concerned.
"It's alright." he smiled. "You may go now." he said, pointing back to her place of residence, inside a secluded cave.
She nodded and went back solemnly. "Why was he so... happy?" she thought as she laid down on her bed and tried to sleep, but it evaded her because of the constant nagging of her stomach. Time was slow, it felt like an eternity. Lying on the bed, thinking, heck. If she could even think. Her master hit her on the head roughly because she refused to do a lustful command, making a small dent on her cranium. She inspected the map that was sprawled on her bedside table. It appeared to be a map of Mount Targon, with several markings near a valley. She fumbled to place the map back when she heard her master's footsteps.
"Here." he brought a bowl of stew. "Eat it, you must be famished." he said, motioning at the stew.
"T-thank you master." she shivered as she drank the hot stew, her body weakening because of malnutrition.
His gazed hovered over to the map, its position obviously changed. "Did... did you touch this?" he asked with forced gentleness, his hand shaking.
"Y-y-yes... Forgive me Master.." she begged and fell on her knees as he prepared to 'teach' her a lesson. Her gaze was fixed onto the whip he was holding.
"You see?" he asked. "This.. This is what your curiousness will bring... Consequences." he smirked a little, holding the whip in his hand. He was going to enjoy this session.
At the temporary settlement
Yvonne was busily talking about urgent matters with Zed when Veitriyx arrived with Lucille, his steed. He went down and was greeted by a hug from Nidalee, much to his astonishment.
"Uh," she said, blushing. "Sorry about that. I missed you." she placed a genuine smile on her face, annoying LeBlanc.
"It's alright." he said, scratching his head. "LeBlanc!" he called. "Please put my horse somewhere safe."
She nodded and headed off to their cottage to tie her reins. Veitriyx was staring at the sky, absent-minded.
"Vei?" she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" her concerned tone asked.
"Yeah, yeah. It's just that man who sold me this horse... He told me to find his son." he said, not even looking at his sister.
"I don't think you should worry." she reassured him. "Come on, let's head back to our cottages. The darkness is creeping." she said as she went inside her own.
He found LeBlanc tending to the horse. Nidalee was already inside, half-asleep. The horse gently nudged her, but she was slightly unbalanced and began to fall. Veitriyx caught her before she ever hit the ground.
"M-master.." she whispered
"Shhhh." he put a finger in between her lips. "It's ok, I caught you." he said, as he straightened her posture and attempted to guide her to their cottage. Nidalee laid a gaze on Veitriyx, full of jealousy. He caught her gaze, but motioned with his head that they would talk later. When they finally arrived at the door of their cottage, her hand was slung over his shoulder and his hand on her waist.
"Okay now..." he said, releasing her as she tried to steady herself. "Okay.. That's alright now." he said, with a smile.
"M-master?" she whispered as he entered the door.
"What?" he asked, them suddenly face-to-face.
"Thank you." she said, and with that, she hugged him.
They entered the cottage, seeing Nidalee leaning on the doorpost, her hands across her chest and obviously jealous.
"Um, LeBlanc? I think you'd wanna go to the other room for awhile." he suggested, his forehead beaded with sweat. To his relief, she nodded.
"Look." he said as he approached the doorway. "I just caught her when she fell. Nothing between us."
"Vei.." she said softly.
"I have no relationship with her!" he shouted
"Vei.." she said again, with a softer tone, making circles on his chest.
"I'm... I'm sorry. I'm just stressed." he admitted.
"It's okay.." she said, sitting on the bed now. "Come, sit here." she motioned at the place beside her.
"Vei. Can I open up to you?" she asked.
"Sure, you can trust me." he said.
"I... I have feelings for you, right from the very beginning. I've confessed it to you a lot of times, but you don't seem to be listening." she paused as she gasped for air. "I... I love you Vei, but I don't know if you love me back." she finally finished.
"I... love you too." he said, breaking into a hug, Nidalee tearing up.
"Please.. Don't ever leave me!" she begged, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I don't want to be alone anymore!"
"It's ok. I promised I would never leave you, and I still won't" he said, trying to calm her down.
She laid her head on his lap, and he cradled her ever so gently.
"Sleep." he whispered. "Sleep peacefully." he said, with Nidalee gently purring, her tears were dried on her cheeks.
Veitriyx woke up early, seeing Nidalee still sleeping, he gently slipped out and placed her on a pillow. He headed out, wanting food. While he was passing through the cottages, he noticed a peculiar light beaming out of Yvonne's cottage. He peeked into it through a small hole in the curtain. She was talking to a mysterious man. He was busily conversing with her until he saw him someone looking at the cottage. Veitriyx saw him point exactly where he... was. He was already sprinting before Yvonne could even turn back. He sprinted until he reached near the river. He stopped to breathe and started fishing as if nothing happened.
Hours later, Yvonne reached the river and pulled him closer.
"Whaaa?" he complained before Yvonne shushed him.
"I, our father is truly dead." she said with a heavy spirit.
"What?! Truly?! No... no.." he said, shaking his head.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm also sad." she said, as she tried to lay a hand on him.
"No! Get away!" he screamed before running towards the forest.
She was just smiling and said something on her wrist.
"He fell for it." she whispered.
"Good." came the reply.
Nidalee's POV
I rubbed my eyes sleepily as I woke up. Veitriyx was gone. Was I just dreaming about what happened last night? No, no! Impossible! It was real, reality, the truth. He promised me that he would never leave me.
I stood up and went outside. The different sounds of nature was soothing to my soul. I saw Volibear playing with Kennen, both with a smile on their faces. It seemed unnatural that, even under her control, still they had something to be happy about. I walked down the rugged pathway, seeing and greeting different champions among the way, one of them being LeBlanc.
"Hey LeBlanc." I called coldly. "Where is Veitriyx."
She shuddered for a moment, noticing the coldness. "He's somewhere in the f-f-f-forest." she said innocently.
"Thanks." I said, smirking.
I transformed into a cougar and instinctively sniffed the air for his scent. I smelled a faint trail leading towards the deeper part of the forest. I leaped on the lower branches, then ascending slowly, until I found him. He was sitting near a pond, a nearby lake emptying its excess water into it. It was serene and peaceful. I leaped off the highest branch and landed behind him. He suddenly turned, orbs of flames in his hands, his eyes were drooping. I transformed back into the beautiful woman I was, with my hands up as to mean no harm.
"Oh, it's just you." he said calmly, staring back at the pond.
"What happened to you?" I asked him.
"Nothing, nothing really." he said, shooing off my question.
"Come on. You can trust me." I said as I laid in his lap as cute as possible.
"Fine, but let's stay somewhere more... secretive." he finally said.
"Come on, I know a place." I suggested.
I tried to communicate with the forest as we moved deeper in. I tried asking it to show us a way. I touched several trees, hoping that any of them would cooperate. Beads of perspiration began appearing on my forehead. It was tiring trying to even connect with some of these trees. Finally, one of them spoke up, "Go north, until you find a lonely hill. Push a rock towards the opening in the hill." it said, before merging back into nature itself.
"Psst, Vei" I whispered. "I found a perfect spot. Follow me." I said as I broke into a run, with him following me.
I was running so fast, I didn't see that there was no more land, only open space. I tried to stop, but it was too late. I tumbled and fell. I immediately started rolling on my side, as it was a hillside, right above a floating island. Wait. How did I get to a floating island. My thoughts aside, I concentrated on rolling down safely. Weirdly, I started giggling when I reached the bottom. I saw Veitriyx sliding down, not even a hint of dirt was on his clothes. He stretched an arm towards me, which I gladly accepted.
"So Nidalee, where is this 'place' you were talking about." he asked me.
"It's right around..." I said as I placed the stone in its proper place. "... Here!" I said, timing it with the opening of a door.
We went inside, fire on the palm of his hand as he guided me through the dark place. Several times we had hit a dead end. The path smelled of death and spoilage.
"Vei." I whispered as I held his arm tightly. "I don't think we should continue any further."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's stay here on this rock precariously sitting on the edge, leading into an abyss." he said, laughing.
I turned beet red and embarrassed. "W-Why are you laughing?!" I asked.
"Nothing." he said, trying to hide his laughter. "Come on, let's keep moving till a safe place." he beckoned, holding my hand for guiding.
We arrived at what seemed like a campsite. Different etchings of the symbol of the moon were drawn everywhere. The fire seemed to be burning forever.
I gripped his arm tighter, scared of anyone who might come out.
"V-Vei? Can we g-get out of here?" I asked, scared.
"I... don't think we can." he said, as the rocks behind them fell.
"So.. we're trapped here." I asked.
"Pretty much." he said, like it's no big deal. "Come on, let's try to make ourselves comfortable. I think this will be one long night." he sighed, kicking back and laying against the rocks.
"Vei. I have a question I've been wanting to ask you." I said.
"Sure, hit me." he said, chewing on a cracker.
"You said you had a younger sister. Yvonne, isn't it? Why does she look physically older than you?" I asked with curiosity.
"She tampered with magic. A lot. She needed to alter her physical form in order to cast more... complex... spells. I guess." he said, throwing the wrapper of the crackers away.
"You guess." I said, tending to the unending coals of the fire.
"Yeah. I guess." he said. "Come on, let's take a rest now." he said, laying mats near the fire pit.
I agreed as I tired out from running awhile ago.
I awoke the next morning to find my mouth covered by Veitriyx.
"Mhhmph-mphm" I tried to speak.
"Shhh." he said, finally releasing his hand, but he replaced it with a finger. "Listen." he whispered.
"The stone. Our settlement has been invaded." the first voice said.
"Shh. We.. we will account for the Rise of the Lunari. This is just another setback, that we cannot take." a second, more gruff voice answered. "Quickly. Find the stone and move out."
"Yes milord." was the reply, followed by sounds of moved objects. A few minutes later, I was surprised that we weren't even discovered yet, I heard a voice squeaking.
"Milord! The stone is not here anymore!" was the surprised tone of the attendant. As if in timing, he revealed a pale glowing stone in his palm, quickly hiding it after.
"Move out and find it. The thief shouldn't have gone away that far!" the gruff voice said, footsteps ringed throughout the cavern.
It was finally quiet. I took a peek out and saw nobody.
"Come on!" he said, putting one hand on my hip. "Let's get out of here." A familiar blue light enveloped us.
We were back at the settlement. I fell on the ground, vomiting. I saw LeBlanc and Yvonne running towards us. Then I lost consciousness.
I came back just to post this. :D I almost forgot though. Chapter 12 is coming.
-insert meme here-
Enjoy and favorites/reviews are greatly appreciated.
