From Dusk Till Dawn – Chapter 6: Eternal guilt, Eternal love
Yasuo was face to face with the Ionian fox that he promised to protect for life, Ahri. Although he couldn't save his brother from Zed's grasp, he still wanted to protect Ahri.
"I just want you to know Miss; I didn't come here to have a nice long chat. I came here to take you back with me."
Ahri laughed, and winked at Yasuo. "You're too sweet sometimes, Yasuo. I think I should also let you know that I'm not leaving this place. I finally found a place where I'm not left in the dust by everyone. Ionia wasn't enough for me, so instead I will stay here."
"You're crazy, but I like that about you. It gives me something to fight for." Yasuo put his sword down, and put massive amounts of spirit energy into his hands. His goal was to make Ahri unconscious for long enough to defeat the rest of Zed's army, and then hopefully make Ahri see the light of day. This wasn't going to be an easy task, but he moved on.
It was Yasuo who made the first move, dashing straight for Ahri. Surprisingly, Ahri caught his hand, and threw him backwards. "What do you think you are doing, you fool? I love you, but you aren't going to change my mind."
"What is it that you want Ahri? I tried to do what I could for you in Ionia, but what do you want?"
Ahri stomped the ground. "I WANT YOU TO STOP ASKING QUESTIONS LIKE THAT. I don't want you ask, I want you to give. You NEVER make the first move; you NEVER do anything out of the kindness of your heart…YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO ASK! I don't want that, Yasuo. I want life to give me surprises, not questions. For too long, you let your pride get to you, along with that exile girl. All you cared about was Ionia, and you NEVER gave me attention. Can you see why I left? Do you not know how much pain I've gone through in this life?"
"I understand that, but I know you are better than this!"
"Well…I'm done with thinking like that. I am not going to be used by you any longer." Ahri then took it to the offensive, and spirit rushed towards Yasuo. "You can stay here with me, and forget about that stupid nation!"
"You…you're delusional!" Yasuo barely dodged Ahri's charm, but was hit by her spirit bolts. Yasuo still had some fight in him, but he was being overwhelmed by Ahri. Yasuo took one too many hits, and fell over. Ahri came to his side, and held him up.
"I told many other this once Yasuo, but I do this out of love…My hope is that I can really know the true meaning of that."
'This is my only chance. I have to make it worth it.'
Yasuo transferred the rest of his spirit energy into his forehead, and collided with Ahri's head. Yasuo kissed Ahri, and fell backwards out of pain, along with Ahri. With that one last hit, Yasuo sent his energy into Ahri. He wanted to get inside Ahri's head to see what she was really thinking because he knew talking normally would do nothing. Afterwards, Ahri fell into a deep slumber…
'It's cold in here…so cold…' Ahri was walking forever on what seemed like a big pond. She saw a tree nearby, and ran for it. Right by it was Yasuo.
"Yasuo, is that you? Yasuo!"
He did not respond. Instead, he started talking to himself. He took a leaf off the ground.
"Is a leaf's only purpose to fall? Or can there be more ways of life in this kind of world." He threw the leaf into the air, and it drifted away.
"Fly away like the birds in the wind. Maybe one day you can find your purpose."
Yasuo then walked forward, and there he vanished in the wind. Ahri tried to run after him, but she saw a vision of what looked like her past. She saw herself, and she was crying on a swing set. This was many years ago, but Ahri knew the scenario. She was being made fun of by everyone.
'There's that weird fox girl! What a freak, Hahaha!'
'She's so strange, and she never talks to anyone.'
'What a creep!'
Little Ahri looked down, and a single tear went down her nose. 'Please stop…'
Then, Yasuo appeared in the dream behind her, and wiped off the tear. He stood next to her. "Little girl, why is it that you are crying? You are still in the fond of your youth, little one."
Ahri sniffed, and looked down. "Mister, everyone's making fun of me because I'm half fox half girl."
Yasuo chuckled. "You're a precious little girl, how can you let a few comments get to you?"
Ahri looked up, and smiled at Yasuo. "Thanks, mister."
"You know little girl, I know a girl like you who made an impact on my life. She was an exile to her land, and was hated by everybody. She came to me asking for death, but I told her that her life had more purpose. Her name was Riven, and she came to Ionia on a mission to kill an elder of this land. I was accused of killing him, and everyone looked at me like a traitor. I was forced to leave this land."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Yasuo patted her head. "You see, little one, I am telling you this because I want you to know I have had similar experiences to what you are feeling right now. If anyone knew I was here, I would surely be treated as an enemy. Riven was treated like an enemy for the own people she worked for, but I thought it was important that I remind her she isn't hated by everyone. Likewise, I want you to know not everyone really hates you. Someday you will come across someone who can truly feel for you and understand your personality. Keep your chin up!"
Little Ahri's face became a lot brighter, and she hugged Yasuo. "Thank you…Thank you so much mister!"
Yasuo smiled back and the vision blurred and went away. Yasuo came out of the vision walking straight up to Ahri. This time, he could hear and see her.
"Ahri, I think I can say for once that I finally understand you. I judged you for going to the Shadow Isles when really it is just a misjudgment from a bad childhood. I never knew you were treated like that when you were a little girl. It really dawned upon me that we are more similar than I thought originally. I didn't come here trying to be a hero; I came here trying to see if I could save you…I failed in saving my dear brother, so more than anything I didn't want to lose you. I hope I have convinced you to stay this time."
Ahri's chest was pounding and she was in awe of what she had just witnessed. She put both her arms around Yasuo. "No one really knew about my past until now. For what it is worth, I am glad you are the person to see it because you are similar to me. I can't believe I was so blind, Yasuo. I…love you…"
Both of them woke up at that time, and Ahri's hair was abnormally longer. She looked much different: longer hair, different clothes, brighter face…and she had no more scars. The scars that she had received from Zed were no longer there.
"Is this real? What is going on?"
Ahri pulled down her sleeves, and she saw that her scars had disappeared. She also noticed her tails and cat ears were gone as well. Instantly, she was overwhelmed with joy.
"Yasuo, you broke my curse! I'm…I'M HUMAN!" Ahri tackled Yasuo to the ground in happiness.
'Your death was not in vein, Yone. While I was unable to save you, I could at least save one. All that is left is to finish the mission.'
While that was happening, Thresh was once again being relentlessly chased by Lucian. Thresh was on his knees begging Lucian to let him live.
"You don't have to go through with this Lucian; I swear your wife is still alive!"
"You took the better half of me Thresh; with it, you also took my kindness and my mercy."
Thresh dropped his lantern and his chains. "Have mercy!"
Lucian punched Thresh to the ground, and pointed both guns at him. "This…is…mercy…DIE!"
Thresh laughed, and pulled back his chain. Lucian fell over, and when he got back up, Thresh was gone.
"Show yourself, you coward!"
Suddenly, a storm of shadows piled around Lucian. "Embrace death." Hecarim, the Shadow of War, appeared in front of Lucian and the spirits around Lucian snared him to the ground. Lucian froze up, and he heard voices in his head.
'The Black Shadow of Dawn will rise!'
'They will fear the thundering hooves of the dead!'
'Lucian…Run…please…'
"SENNA, IS THAT YOU?! SENNA!"
Hecarim laughed, and charged the struggling Lucian to the ground.
"YOU COWARD HECARIM! I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!"
Yasuo started to run towards him, but Ahri stopped him. "Ahri, what are you doing? Lucian is a key player in this mission, we can't risk him dying!"
"I…I can't bear to see you get hurt. You aren't my bodyguard; you are the one thing that I love."
'Damn it! I can't leave Ahri like this, but Lucian is in danger. I have no choice.'
Yasuo dropped his sword, as he saw Lucian get slammed into the ground by the Shadow of War and his ghouls. Even though there was nothing he could do to stop Hecarim, he felt like a traitor. He made a pact with Lucian in hyper reality when he told him that he would fight alongside him to the death.
Lucian dropped his guns, and fell over breathless. "Senna…I failed…" Lucian was taken up by Hecarim, and he rode off into the darkness. Yasuo decided to inform Udyr about what had happened.
'Udyr, this is Yasuo…are you okay?'
'Yes, Soul and I are demolishing. How is everything holding up on your end?'
'Ahri is safe with me now, but I'm afraid that Lucian has been taken by the Shadow of War. There is still one more island to look for Zed: Trinity Island.'
'Understood Yasuo. Soul, get ready to crush some undead ghouls!'
"I'm sorry, Yasuo." Ahri came by Yasuo's side. "I was wrong. The thought of you getting hurt scared me too much. This is my entire fault."
"Miss, you have no need to worry. I am here to protect you, not to be a hero. I saved you, now all we need to do is save Lucian. How do you feel?"
Ahri tried to create some spirit energy from her hand, but nothing happened. "I feel disconnected from the spirit realm. I'm not sure I am capable of fighting in my human form."
Yasuo gave Ahri his sword. "I hope you're good at jousting then." Ahri still looked down because she was upset to let Lucian nearly die. Yasuo sat down, and tried to make her feel better. "Listen, you didn't make any mistakes. You used your inner force to drive away the dark blood that was in your veins. I don't want you to feel upset."
"I…Okay, I will stand and fight."
'I can't end today on a bad note. I lost two in the favor of gaining one, but I won't lose to the Shadow Realm any more. You took my brother, now you can take my fist in return!'
