Chapter XV

It seemed as if the Demacian troops would be leaving in the morning along with the Avarossan. Jarvan seemed to be worried about the creatures coming back as I don't think the tribe leader bothered to tell him they were all dead. I chuckled every time I saw his worried expression.

The healer of the tribe was kind enough to still let me stay in her hut just for that one night, and as I was no longer sick both Fiora and I would have a comfy bed to sleep on. I was reluctant at first, but I didn't think that the duelist seemed to mind it.

We lied down under the covers, exhausted from the busy day that we had just endured.

I would never forget the feeling that ran through me as I woke up from my sickness. I opened my eyes and expected to see death staring back at me, but I didn't. Instead, I saw Fiora's turquoise eyes like I'd always do in my dreams, except this wasn't one of them. A smile spread across her face as she bent over and kissed me, the warmth of her lips fueling me with the life that I lacked for so long.

After the sense of euphoria, all that remained was confusion. I don't anyone could manage waking up in a freezing place with a creepy old woman staring at you with one eye and not start panicking a little. The last thing I remembered was Quinn saving me from the dark beasts, and suddenly noticed her absence.

I asked Fiora where she was, and my voice came out like a little bird's tweet. She laughed before telling me that my best friend was kidnapped, but would most likely be in the safe hands of the tribe leader. Despite her attempts to hide it, there was worry in her tone and I was made aware of all the things that I missed.

Speaking of things that I had missed, could someone please explain to me why my best friend is suddenly so close to this random human killing machine that's apparently the leader of a tribe of barbarians? No no, I didn't exaggerate. That's one thing to keep a close sisterly eye on...

As the night drew nearer, I felt Fiora scooch closer to me, as I had my back to her. I knew just how much the duelist valued her pride, so I felt surprised when she placed her arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I was always aware that my skin was too rough for humans to like, but it seemed that she didn't mind at all.

"Good night, Fiora." I whispered, in the softest tone that my voice could muster.

"Good night, Shyv." She answered, her foreign accent dancing around in my ears, causing a smile to spread across my lips.

Throughout the night, I drifted in and out of sleep, switching from one sweet dream to another. It felt good to finally sleep by your own accord, and not be dragged into oblivion every second your eyelids shut.

At some point, I heard the astir healer walk about the room and shortly, she left. I looked outside the window and noticed that it was barely morning, as the sun was only just creeping in behind the horizon. I found it odd how such an old woman would have so much energy in her as to get up so early, but I just let it pass. She just creeped me out too much at times.

However, once awake as I was, I found it hard to go back to sleep so I decided to start the day early. It would be nice to have some extra time to prepare for the journey, no matter how much Fiora would object.

"Go back to sleep, you stubborn reptile." She muttered wearily.

"Get up or I'll melt your sword with my breath." I answered.

She suddenly sat up. "Ignorant dragon, don't you know the value of that blade?"

I laughed at her and received a tired smile in response.

Eventually she gave in and stood up ready to pack whatever things she brought with her when they fleed. She said it would take time, but it turned out her only belongings were her blades and armour. I chuckled at how carefully she cleaned them until they shined.

"Who in Valoran would be up as early as us?" she asked, making fun of my new schedule.

I had no time to answer as a knock on the door interrupted me. Shortly, Quinn, led by the tribe leader, entered.

"I have my answer." Fiora scoffed.

"Good morning to you too." Quinn said. "All ready?"

I shrugged. "Almost. Fiora wants to clean the life out of that metal she's got."

"It's called dignity, Shyvana, and a pretty picture is the start of it!" She replied, making us all laugh.

"How about you Quinn? Are you ready?" I asked.

"Actually I'm not going to be leaving just yet. The Winter's Claw might need an extra pair of hands to get their hunting and supplies back on track, I'm sure." She answered, and the tribe leader glanced at her for a brief moment while she did so.

I squinted as a smile spread across my face, making my cynical thoughts obvious.

"And you would be good at hunting in your current state because..." I said.

"Well, maybe I won't go hunting but I'd skin the animals instead."

"And you'd be able to do that with precision because..."

"Fine, maybe I would carry supplies around."

"And you'd know where you're going because..."

"Ok, so I'm pretty useless."

"Which means that you're staying because..."

Fiora chuckled. "She'll be keeping the leader warm."

We all chuckled again, but the blush on Quinn's face didn't render the statement to be false.

"In her defence," said Sejuani, "it takes a pretty hot person to do that."

Another laugh filled the room as Quinn's face only reddened further. Yes, this was definitely something that I needed to keep a sisterly eye on. It was my duty to muddle myself up in my best friend's life.

After a few moments of idle talk, I asked Quinn if I could talk to her outside. I led her out the door and closed it behind us.

"So," I said, wearing a smile that she couldn't see, "I'm knocked out for what, a week or so, and you go and get yourself a girlfriend, eh?"

"What, well, what..."

I chuckled.

"This will sound familiar, but can you describe her to me?" she asked.

"I really don't understand why you always do this... but yeah sure." I paused for a minute as I gathered my thoughts. "She has beautiful blue eyes... she's really strong and everytime she holds you in her arms you feel like the world just vanishes and you just succumb to her protective grip..." I smiled as I continued. "She has a sweet and soft side behind her taciturn and cruel shell. She also loses her temper easily and may not have the `cleanest` choice of words, and while she may not be the brightest when it comes to words on paper, she's a great and powerful leader." I chuckled as I concluded my description.

"You're done?"

I nodded.

Shyvana snickered. "Now that's someone you love."

I smiled. "You asked me the same thing about Jarvan though. How can you tell? I've said nice things about both of them, right?"

"It's actually really obvious. You only said nice things about Jarvan, it's like you were blind." She stopped briefly. "Sorry that was a bad choice of words. Anyway, you didn't seem to realize who Jarvan truly was, and let's be honest, he's certainly not a God. But when you told me about Sejuani, you didn't hesitate in saying everything about her, good or bad."

"Oh," I said, "I didn't realize any of that. I didn't mean to insult her by saying any of it, of course."

"Exactly. To you, it doesn't even sound bad."

"Shyvana, you are a genius."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"What - genius?" I asked her.

"No - Shyvana." She replied.

We laughed for a brief moment.

"I've always been meaning to ask you something, Shyv." I said after a few seconds. "Don't take this the wrong way, but if you're a half dragon and your father was the dragon... then your mother must have been human. How on earth did they..."

She chuckled. "All I'm saying is that my mother was a very brave woman, Quinn."

She made me laugh yet again. "So did she give birth to a baby or did she just lay an egg?"

"There are reasons why my mother is no longer with us, you know." She replied smiling.

"I'm hearing too much laughter!" I heard Fiora say. Suddenly, I remembered that one of the windows was cracked and they might have been able to hear out whole conversation. "I would join in and everything, but I want breakfast."

"Someone needs to break it to her that we don't have any food." Said Sejuani.

"What?" was Fiora's surprised response.

"Nevermind, nailed it." The tribe leader chuckled.

Shyvana led me back inside and sat me down onto the bed.

"How do you expect me to look good without breakfast?" Fiora asked, and the fact that we couldn't tell whether she was joking or not made us all laugh.

"I think we could spare a quick trip into the woods to see if the wildlife is back to normal," said Sejuani, "but Quinn, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to come."

"That's alright, I'll wait here. I won't try to climb any trees while you're gone."

"When we finish our roasted turkey," said Shyvana, "we might bring you some snow to nibble on."

I chuckled. "Sickness doesn't change people. Or dragons."

I felt Sejuani plant a kiss on my cheek. "See you later."

"See ya."

And with that they were gone.

I lied down on the bed and closed my eyes, which made little difference. I sighed and enjoyed the silence.

Suddenly, I heard the door open.

"What's wrong? You can't possibly be back already." I said, assuming that my three friends were back.

"Don't worry, it's just me, Olava." She said, making me sit up as I heard her approach me. "Tell me, Quinn. What do you see?"

I hesitated. "Nothing."

"You see, the eyes are useless when the mind is blind. But yours isn't, so don't let Lissandra's magic hold you back." She tied something around my neck. I reached up to my neckline in order to feel what it was and discovered the healer's bone necklace sitting roughly against my skin.

She must have noticed my confused expression.

"Bones are funny things. Robust enough to carry soldiers through battle but brittle enough to break under their own weight. I can feel that you know a lot about the art of healing through your endless nights in the library. Take care of it, Quinn. Every healer in every tribe has one." She replied.

"But I'm not a..."

I couldn't even finish my sentence as I heard the door open and close. She had left me in a state of awe and shock. And here I was, enjoying the silence.

Note

Almost... ALMOST done. Just a few more chapters I think just to add the bits that I really want to tie up/add.