"In a man"to"man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine."

Erwin Rommel

First date

The battle intensified outside, ships rammed each other looking to destroy the enemy, causing casualties on both sides, no one was going to back down, close quarters fight began on multiple ships, but, none as fierce as the typhoon about to set loose inside the Noxians command ship.

Garen stood tall after the first impact, a clash of blades that only lasted for a second as she parried and moved away, looking at his opponent, the legend of Noxus, she who he had read so much about that even ranged on obsession, he never faced her in battle, but knew all her tricks, he knew everything Demacia knew about her, she was the best on the other side, so as he was on Demacia, it was natural for him that eventually he will fought this Noxian legend, yet, there was something awfully strange in this first encounter, her strange smile that hinted there was something amiss for him, her greeting, her eyes said something else than the mere excitement she showed from the first moment, maybe there was something he wasn't really understanding, maybe it was all part of her strategy, maybe it was this all a deceit.

"What's the matter soldier? am I too scary? Don't disappoint me so soon" she taunted, her emerald eyes menacing, the Demacian didn't even flinch at her taunt, he assumed combat position and prepared "That is more like you" and her smiled widened, again Garen though she was acting in quite the strange way, but shrugged the thought and charged with his battlecry, his swing landed on solid ground as she moved away and retaliated, she was fast, like a shadow, disappearing from his eyes and appearing at his back, her blade landed square on his gauntlet as he turned to strike a punch on Katarina's lovely face, the woman raised her blades, forming a cross to protect herself, saving her face from the punch, that nonetheless send her flying backward, after a flip she landed crouching "Yes!" She exclaimed her excitement increasing "Keep up! Come on soldier, I'm just warming up!" and as soon as she said that, she again moved, sidestepping from one side to the other at incredible speeds, as if she was blinking in and outside of reality, Garen tried to calculate where she will appear, but it was almost impossible, by the time he realized where she was, he got a blade in the side, slicing his armor, he turned to counterattack, but missed, then from the other side he felt a hit " How could she be so fast? "Garen though, recovering from both strikes, on his left side, he could felt blood coming out of his wound "Are your hurt? I smell blood" she said licking her finger "Is that all you can do? Its barely a scratch" The Demacian General replied, adopting his combat position again, sword in front, his face was stern, as if she didn't have done any damage, Garen wasn't as fast as her, but he was way more resilient, for a soldier like him, pain mean nothing, wounds were just scratches and fatal wounds not an excuse to stop fighting.

Katarina laughed, but not a maniacal laughter like the one Garen was told she normally does when in battle, it was a soft laugh, almost a giggle, which sounded melodical to him, familiar, something stirred on his memory, but he shacked the though quickly, albeit, his face of confusion made Katarina shown a similar expression, both seemed puzzled, but the sound of battle around made them come back to reality "What's the matter sinister blade, tired already?" he taunted, Garen was about to play gamble, a very dangerous one.

Katarina smirked and launched forward, Garen prepared, following her blinks, exposing his wounded side to her, albeit just slightly, a bait, an opportunity Katarina didn't want to let slip, she feinted for the other side and attacked the wounded one, her blade landing right on the wound again, making it deeper, Garen felt the wound, blood poured now freely from the sliced armor "Hmmp… maybe you were not what I thought" she said, but instead of her voice sounding triumphant it sounded sad, her eyes looked at the bleeding Demacian with what looked like regret, Garen was puzzled, Katarina raised her second blade, ready to kill "Why am I tortured this much?" she whispered, the Demacian wasn't sure if he heard well, but apparently that was what she said, it was almost as if a tear was about to roll down her face, Garen snapped out of this confusion caused by the scene and acted, as her blade came down, his blade opened and catch hers, closing a second later, breaking Katarina's blade, then with a mighty cry Garen headbutted Katarina, forcing her back, on purpose Garen stuck her blade on his wound, Katarina was trapped, she tried to let go the grip of the blade, but it was too late and the blood coming from her forehead, the dizziness from his sudden attack made her slow, sloppy, she felt his almost gigantic hand grabbing her head, face covered she felt the pressure of the gauntlet as he raised her and slammed the woman against the floor, she felt her bones shatter as a spasm of pain runs through all of her body, releasing his grip, Garen took his sword with both hands raising it above his head, sharp end down and prepared to finish her, but…

Memories

Sun bathes the hill in front, a rapid sunrise begins to illuminate the landscape, as the grass dances on the wind, voices are heard, two persons talking, their voices are like whispers, there is a tree nearby, the two persons are there, apparently happy, a man and a woman, he has his arms around her as she rest on his chest, both sitting, her back leaning on him, he kissed her hair, there is no way to tell who they are, she suddenly raises and starts walking away, throwing a kiss, and then runs, the man raises and extends his hand, as if not wanting her to go, now he sees from the man perspective, he sees his own hand wanting to stop the female from leaving, the wind blows stronger, he feels powerless for some reason, the grass now dances faster and faster, the sun intensifies, everything seems to start going into a hyper state of movement, he feels as if he was running after her, everything moves, everything change, now darkness, he only sees the trail of her long hair, he chases, but then nothing, everything fade…

Garen comes out of his trance, below him, he sees Katarina in the floor, her eyes closed as if she was ready to be killed, how long has passed?, just a split second, but that is enough for her to realized he doubted, she opens her eyes and sees in his blues and all of a sudden she rolls away as his sword comes down and strikes the ground, realizing the energy it was storing in a mighty vertical beam of light

She raises, touching her forehead, blood comes out profusely, her left arm felt numb, her ankle injured as well, a few ribs also broken, but even then, she smiles as she pulls another blade from her back, her smile remains, Garen is confused, is it the bleeding that made him delusional? What was that he saw that made him stop and not finish her? Did her blade was poisoned?

"General come in!" Roche called on the communication device of his helmet "Not now Roche, I'm busy" he replied still disconcerted "This is important General, we are picking a large signature from the moon nearby, apparently Noxian, one of our cruisers disengaged and took this images" Photos of the Noxian leviathan station appeared in his HUD, he spared just a look at them, since he was more concentrated on the red head before him, but he did notice the size, and the danger it represented if that thing was active, but he was pretty sure it was not, at least not yet, they would have wiped out the Demacian Fleet by now if it was "We have Noxian reinforcements inbound, orders sir?" Garen cursed, he didn't want to stop fighting this woman, this Noxian has been the best rival he ever had, she was his opposite in all senses, he was afraid to admit it, but he was enjoying the fight, he felt the excitement, the thrill to fight her, but there was something more, something he couldn't place at the moment, but he has a duty to Demacia, and to the men under his command "Pull our forces back, sound the retreat"

He pointed his sword to Katarina as he walked backwards, never losing sight of her "All forces, fall back!" was the call on the communications, the Demacians started their orderly retreat, not giving the Noxians a chance to take advantage of it, in fact, many Noxians felt down trying, but as for Katarina, she seemed satisfied, she looked at him, even in retreat he was gallant, smart and brave, never showing his back, never pointing down his sword, he was not defeated, simply strategically retreating, as he stepped into the Measured Tread frontal hangar, Katarina retreated to the safety behind the closing bulwark, but before the doors of both ships closed, she blew a kiss to him, for the Noxians, it seemed a sarcasm and everybody laughed, for the Demacians it looked like a taunt, for Garen it added more to the already brewing confusion, but the only one who knew its true meaning was the red head behind the bulwark.

Noxian ships approached, bearing their weapons ready to fight, but the Demacian pressed on their retreat, engaging in warp flight before the Noxians could track them, their scout ships have gained precious information as their battlecruisers and the Measured Tread caused heavy casualties on the Noxian side, the initial Noxian fleet was reduced to half of their strength while the Demacian only lost around 30%, even though they had to retreat and both sides will boast about been the victors, this was in fact a draw, just as the fight between the 2 fleets commanders ended, a draw.

Damage report: Demacia

Garen sat in the infirmary arm connected to an artificial blood stream, his wound hastily attended by Dr. Buvelle, the blue haired woman made a worried look once the chest plate from Garen's armor was removed, revealing the makeshift healing made by his soldiers as they carried him here, the wound was way more than a scratch, even if he wasn't going to admit it "It's just a flesh wound Sona" he affirmed, the woman simply rolled her eyes and negated, as always Garen was been a tough guy.

Sona did her work, quiet, silent, as silent as you expect from a mute lady, yet she was a gifted medic and musician, Garen couldn't remember how many times the sound of music has quell the home sickness of his troopers, everybody on the ship liked her, and more than one had a crush on her "Doc, tell me something" he asked, obviously not waiting for a verbal response "Was I poisoned? Was the blade poisoned?" he inquired, Sona negated as she continued cleaning the wound "I saw something, when I was about to finish her, I saw something in my head, like a dream" Sona raised, searching for biofoam as he spoke "Could I be becoming crazy?" he inquired, Sona giggled and turned, walking towards him, she applied the biofoam on the General's side, which will be enough to seal the injury, she had very little happy moments on her job, tending wounds in the military wasn't the most gratifying job in the universe, but, seen the mighty Garen Crownguard muscles firsthand was a nice bonus.

She took her medical holopad and wrote a few words for Garen "No, you are not crazy, probably just stressed and thinking of home, I heard about our King" Sona was a woman of few words, but a woman who comprehends a lot of things with ease, she then pointed with her finger to his forehead, kind of saying "That's what you get for going around headbutting people", which made the General smile "I promise I'll try not to next time" he said raising and donning a shirt brought by one of his subordinates "Thank you Doc" he said, leaving the room.

The men walked through the hallways, the uncovered windows of the ship revealed the lights of the warp travel they engaged in after breaking off the battle with the Noxians, heading for his quarters, he received praises from his soldiers, he only praised back, they did most of the work, he just gave the orders.

Once he got there, he removed the armor plates remaining on his legs, dressing a way less formal outfit, jump pants and the shirt with the Dauntless Vanguard logo, he got into bed, she didn't say it, but Sona wanted him to rest, and since they eluded the Noxians, he might as well take the chance and sleep

The dream returned, he saw the same things as when he was near her, but this time it was slightly clearer a detail revealed to him, the hair of the woman he was chasing was red, long red and instead of fading in black, the dream ended with a blaze devouring everything, he raised suddenly, awaken from his sleep, not sweating, not screaming, slightly altered, but in his eyes, there were doubts, questions he needed to answer…

"Sir, we made it home" the intercoms called, Garen raised and opened the cover of his quarters window, marvelling on the view before him, the blue giant planet, Demacia.

His questions indeed needed answer, but he knew he won't find them back home, only one person could answer them…

Damage Report: Noxus

Katarina looked in the mirror, blood came out of her mouth, she touched the blood it was warm, she smiled it has been a while since somebody managed such a feat, making her bleed, the excitement of battle still on her, she undressed, looking her perfect body at the mirror, purplish hematomas dotted her chest and back, her forehead also got one, Garen's headbutt" He is strong, like he should be, resilient, powerful" she smiled again, even if the pain was causing her to ache, she seemed incredibly happy for some reason

The pain started to diminish eventually, Noxian equipped their genetics with fast healing cells when they are conscripted into military service, making them able to regenerate damage over time, if it was not lethal or severe, they couldn't regenerate limbs on their own, they needed the Gutter for that and all old wounds remain, the cells can't regenerate scars.

She got into the shower, wounds in the process of closing, she washed away the blood, her body thanked the touch of cold water helping her to cool down as well, it had been too much excitement for a day. Right after she felt clean enough, she left the shower and walked towards the window covered only by a towel her long red hair wet falling on her back as she looked into the space "Where are you know soldier, are you thinking of me?" she muttered, turning around towards the locker holding her clothes, opening the locker with her personal genetic code she kneeled and touched the floor of the locker searching for something, her delicate hand stopped a moment when she felt what she was looking for, then pressing her thumb, the genetic code imprinted on her DNA was scanned and a secret cover moved away revealing a box, she took the it and walked to her bed, sitting she opened the box and took it contents out a blue, seemingly thorn piece of cloth, it was quite large and dotted with stains of something that at one time could have been blood, her hands toyed with the cloth for a moment, before placing it near her cheek, rubbing it with the cloth, eyes closed, and smiling, she simply whispered…

"Welcome back…"