Notes: Baha! Guess who decided to take your advice and continue this story? This one right here! Albeit, I've added a little twist (: I do hope you forgive me. This is the real chapter one. I have edited the title of the previous chapter to be the prelude or prologue. In essence, it doesn't really embody any significant event in the timeline of this story it only really serves the purpose of giving everyone a snippet into what plot and holes I have formulated for the entirety of this work, and of course, to start the story off with a kick. As you will see, I've jumped quite a bit in time from the events that took place prior to this chapter.
And because my brain has given up on arguing with me, I've decided to make every chapter long. But, there will always be a reward after. I promise.
Once you catch onto these said "rewards", I'm more than willing to say: bring on the suggestions. Or should I say, let me know of anything amusing you would like to see between any particular pair and/or group of champions. Hell, give me a word count limit. Anything.
And to those of you who find my writing good, I thank you greatly and appreciate it much. I've been told I have a strange way of writing. It's nice to hear it from a different point of view.
Now, as my chemistry teacher always used to say, go soak in all the information before you. And if you fall asleep, don't worry because they say you'll absorb it through the contact between your head and textbook.
Oh wait, this is a screen.
Well, that sucks.
Can you soak it up through your keyboard through the connection to the monitor...? Hm.
Chapter 1.0
Defeat
Leona rubbed her left temple in slow circular motions as her migraine settled into the various unwelcomed sections of her head. She was tired of listening to a certain hot-headed Noxian banter on about their loss in her previous match. She tried to block out her shrill voice as much as possible, but it was to no avail. She could still very clearly hear her antics and even a gargantuously loud, "What the hell?!" coming from her teammate. Deciding she had had enough cursing for a day, and being one of the few in the lobby room that were un-effected by her menacing presence, she began to slowly stride to the red-head. She had watched silently as the Eye of Twilight bowed low before the Noxian and gave, what Leona thought had been, the most sincerest string of words to ever come from any living being's mouth. Shen previously having given his apologies, like the gentleman he was, irked an unknown desire in her; why couldn't she be just as chivalrous and saunter over to her "comrade" and deliver a well-mannered impromptu speech that embodied the sun warrior that she was? Noxian or not, Katarina Du Couteau was still a formidable opponent and associate on and off the Fields of Justice.
And with that thought in mind, upon reaching her destination, Leona firmly settled a grip on the left shoulder of the woman from behind and steadied her voice.
"Sinister Blade, I think that's enough for one day."
Katarina immediately swirled around to face Leona, breaking the contact between her shoulder and Leona's golden plated glove. Out of reflex, Leona swiftly took a step to her right, dodging any possible physical retaliations she knew the Noxian was known for. But none came, just the view of a very irritated woman whom seemed like she was about to blow her gasket. If she had one to begin with, that is. Leona could tell Katarina was gritting her teeth, and her hands were in shaking fists. But oddly enough, the glare coming from her normally smoldering green eyes seemed weaker than usual. If Leona put it in her own terms she would say the assassin had the look of one silently contemplating something, bothered even, rather than her usual deathly, sadistic stare. But after thinking about it that way, one should naturally affiliate the red-haired woman as a cold-hearted, blood thirsty maniac, not a brutally trained assassin, right? Now that she was thinking about it, Katarina was truly an oddity apart from the other assassins in the League. By far, the woman had one of the largest reputations for swearing (closely comparing to that of Miss Fortune's harsh string of curses that seemed to come natural to all pirates, not to mention Vi's ever unintelligible comments), and a commanding, cruel presence with a pension for taunting others. The thought made Leona consider the woman before her in a new light, well, a less "sinister" one. It was hard to pair a loud-mouthed killer with a strange sadistic pleasure to that of a quiet and calculating assassin, much like Talon whom kept to the shadows, or Akali, whom never mixed herself up in any affair, dedicating her life to the Kinkou Order. Before her an intriguing element was unraveling, and Leona was beginning to merely see the resemblance of a child who didn't like to share her toys with any of the other little kids in the daycare.
As if to further add onto Leona's amusement, the Sinister Blade suddenly sighed deeply, effectively bringing Leona out of her thoughts. Katarina's body had loosened up, and soon she had that signature smirk of her's upon her face. She then gave Leona a giant shrug and coolly replied, "Whatever; it's no fun here anyway."
Leona fought the urge to raise an eyebrow and smirk, stilling her dignitary features upon her face. She wanted to be as diplomatic as possible without the essence of superiority or aggression present, much less the sarcastic comments she could dish out.
"Violence is not the answer to everything, Sinister Blade," Leona knew all too well what rage and bloodlust was and what it could do to someone, and she didn't like it one bit. For a split second, her eyes flickered to her childhood friend, Pantheon, before looking back at the Noxian.
Katarina held a disapproving frown upon her face. And that barrier between her itch to tease the woman (who seemed to have shrunk into a miniature version of herself in Leona's mind) or speak sophisticatedly with her, cracked a little.
"And I highly doubt, wrenching everyone of their hearing does justice to your endless escapade of finding 'fun' and enticing things to do. After all, you'd have no one who would listen to your tirades anymore."
She weakly gave a small smile, desperately holding back a large grin. Okay, so maybe it cracked a bit more than "just a little".
After hearing her chiding, Katarina just shrugged again and rolled her eyes with a small snort. Leona allowed herself a small smile. Katarina Du Couteau really did seem like a child.
"Violence, shmylence. I don't really get that anyway," Katarina huffed, and turned away, treading out of the lobby and disappearing into the dark of one of the corridors of the Institute.
Leona's brows knit together; that was not the reaction she had been expecting.
Following Katarina's exit, Leona's amusement slowly began to fade away into a fit of confusion. Nonetheless, she watched her departure until her red-hair vanished and the sound of her boots on the pavement diluted to silence. She repeated Katarina's words in her mind slowly.
'She doesn't really get that anyway...?'
But Leona would allow her mind no fog to fight. She had been having a quite numerous amount of questions randomly come to her lately and it was beginning to effect her sleeping schedule. Immediately dismissing any questions she might have at the assassin's statement with a shake of her head, she replaced them with the image of a child-like Katarina Du Couteau, and Leona settled back into her normal complacent nature. Descending from the Solari, Leona really didn't understand the logic of the Noxians, Demacians, Ionians, or anyone other than her own people for that matter. All she understood was that their personalities, characteristics, and views on life were different, her own being to follow the way of the Sun. And in knowing such, it would only be right to respect these differences; this was a matter she should be noble about. At least that's what the Radiant Dawn had convinced herself of when she had first begun to walk toward the sound of Katarina's voice.
The tension in the room had simmered down with Katarina's absence in the lobby area. Looking around at the various champions and summoners, who had participated in the match with her, and at the screen harboring the ones who would participate in the next one, Leona drew out a long breath; she had the nagging feeling that one of these days she was going to regret her pride.
Inevitably, at that very moment Leona thought back to her blushing mishap in the cafeteria. If anyone would make her cower and inch away from her own pride, it would be Diana. Worse enough, that incident had occurred nearly seven months ago, and there was no sign that the memory would ever cease to drown and suffocate Leona's mind at any given moment. How Leona could have let her guard down so easily against her biggest adversary for this long was beyond her. It was all so confusing and it only made her migraine swell, sending more unnecessary pain through her head. It didn't help that the mental note to avoid Diana at all costs she had made on that day wasn't really pestering her to do so, more like the exact opposite. It seemed her luck had dwindled since her encounter with the moon warrior, and more often than she would like to admit, she found herself nearly ambling absent-mindedly into the same lone area where all this had initially started.
Inwardly, she groaned. She was at least thankful for her large breaks in between League matches that allowed her to visit Mount Targon time and time again. She could bask in the sun and be at peace with her mind, but every-time she went it became increasingly clear that her efforts to evade the matter were futile. Uneasiness only seemed to grow day by day, and the battle between her confusing thoughts were constantly bringing up fruitless results and more questions she did not have the answers to.
Obviously, fighting the fog was unavoidable. But for some reason Leona had begun to feel like she was going to lose this fight.
"I've never felt so violated in my life."
Dull eyes stared up at the ceiling. Shuffling was heard somewhere nearby, and another set of eyes remained stoic.
"I have to admit, you did bring up an interesting idea, though," Akali answered, her back turned to the person lying on the hospital bed behind her. She busied herself with organizing the various medical equipment around her.
If Diana had heard Akali's reply, she didn't physically acknowledge it, but her voice left through her lips nonetheless as she lay there still as can be and continued to small chat with the ninja turned nurse.
"Interesting?"
"Yes, interesting," Akali paused for a moment as she reached for a box high above her head but was too short, "Who else would've thought to manipulate the mental connection between a summoner and champion to create a counseling service for all of us? I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner."
Diana continued to stare at the ceiling without movement.
A counseling service? She was pretty sure she didn't mention the thought nor have any thought at all of any type of mental therapy when she was approached by a group of what had looked like "very important people" at the time. They were Council members, she later found out. The events that ensued afterwards were continuously playing through her mind. They had explained very briefly their purpose in calling her attention. Apparently, Diana had somehow managed to skip out on the physical and mental checkout when she first joined the League. How was she supposed to know that she needed to be so thoroughly.. examined as part of her initiation process? Diana felt a shudder flow through her at remembering the process. It had left her in shock and physically weak, leading her to her current occupancy on one of the beds of the medical facility within the Institute.
"Still.. I felt as though my mind had been... purged," she said in her normal monotone voice, only seeming to stress the last word as if emotion was devoid of her and elongating pronunciation was some sort of answer to that problem.
But Akali didn't seem to notice; she was too busy scrutinizing the unreachable box with narrow eyes.
"Well, I'm sure they can find some way to tone down the effects of entering one's mind if the program actually follows through," she replied curtly as she began to tap her foot irritatingly yet was still stoic in nature.
Diana still made no movement. She didn't want to move, not to mention her body felt numb. She remembered being offered a thick serum that apparently had rendered her body useless and made her head feel heavy. But she still could not wipe the memory from her mind. Diana didn't feel like herself at all after the confrontation, but she also felt like she didn't actually know what she meant by "herself". Who was she again? She felt like she had just experienced a horror movie; the first and only horror movie she would ever watch let alone come near. The Council members had found it intriguing that Diana's mental state of mind was in-tact, but at the same time not in-tact at all. They explained some sort of suppression theory, mentioning that perhaps her emotions were locked away as well as her memories, but seemed to come at her all at once like a flash flood whenever she was pinned in a situation that was similar to something she had done in the past or was exposed to something that had meant a lot to her. As interesting as the theory was, Diana had no idea what to do or say in response to all of their personal questions. In fact, some of them were too personal. She shuddered again.
"They said I could be depressed." And what the hell that meant, Diana didn't know either. Diana wondered if her confusion was caused by the intrusion of the Councilors within her mind or just herself. Then she remembered the serum. Maybe the serum was making her feel... dopey.
In that moment, Diana remembered declaring herself insane during a particular sunrise months ago. She was in the presence of.. she couldn't remember. But they were really pretty.
Somehow she managed to decide she was indeed dopey.
Akali was still staring at the box, the impatience clear in the faster pace of her foot tapping.
Diana, whom also was unaware of any of the other woman's actions, continued her explanation, "And I've never been poked with so many needles before."
Who knew blood could be tested for lacking chemicals or excessive ones within one's body? Diana didn't.
There was no answer. But of course, neither were acknowledging the other either. Both women remained motionless in the vacant room full of empty hospital beds, save one that seemed to be in use for napping purposes. Diana remembered briefly being introduced to the champion when she was lead there. Apparently, napping was a daily thing for them and they would come in at the same time every day and flop down in the same bed. But Diana couldn't quite remember the name of said champion. She did however remember the purr that came from the tired voice as they drifted off to sleep and strange fuzzy tails. But maybe that was just her imagination.
"They were sharp," Diana carried on.
A glint manifested in Akali's eyes and she immediately stopped tapping her foot. Turning to where she had stowed away her personal items, the cubby hole she always placed her belongings in every day when she changed into her nurse outfit, she began to search through her green garments. Eventually, Akali's hand found two hard objects. She pulled them out swiftly and lifted them up, one in each hand, gazing into the sheen they gave off. They were sharp. Akali returned her attention to the unreachable box.
"I'm sure.." the sound of something being hacked apart could be heard, but Diana made no note of it, ".. that you will recover in no time. Besides, sharp things are useful."
Akali inwardly congratulated herself at successfully piercing the box on both sides with her kamas, slowly descending the box to rest on the counter in front of her. She was still stoic in appearance and voice as always, however.
Diana finally allowed her eyes to close, leaving the blank ceiling to its lonesome, as sleep was beginning to reach out to her.
"I've never been so violated in my life," she repeated before she fell into a deep slumber.
Akali found that the box was empty.
The halls of the sleeping quarters for champions were littered with various framed portraits of famous persons, dimmed lighting, and carpeted floors. Each door was intricately decorated to fit the righteous aura within each hall. Naturally, champions were separated into different wings based upon their affiliated city-state and general interaction with another city-state nearby. Obviously, Noxus and Demacia were on completely opposite sides of the Institute; Noxus in the East wing, Demacia in the West. Zaun inhabitants occupied the hall in the Southeast wing allowing them to be in close proximity with the Noxians. Imprisoned champions were housed in the dungeons that could be reached by walking down the hall to the Northeast. Though, no one was quite sure how to enter when there were absolutely no doors at all in the hall. Likewise, no one really cared to enter the dungeons nor did they want a reason to. To the North were Frejlordians, in the Northwest wing Piltover citizens settled in with Bilgewater's and Bandle City's residents, and the Southwest harbored the Ionians as well as any other champion from somewhere far away or with no particular designated home.
It was in this last particular hall that Leona stirred from sleep in the early morning, too late to be awake, but restlessness had wracked her body the entire night. Rubbing her eyes, she checked the time on the clock situated on her nightstand.
4 AM.
How befitting for the Radiant Dawn to awake at such a time. Memories of the sunrise with Diana scattered around in her head. Leona twitched in annoyance.
How cruelly ironic.
Leona hadn't been able to get a proper night's rest for days. Her head was full of questions; most of them confused her, others she truly wanted answers to, and others that she didn't even want to recall. She had tried to keep the persistent thoughts in an organized manner, but it was all getting too frustrating for her to even care anymore. She was tired. Her eyes stung, her head hurt, and she felt too weak sometimes to even get out of bed. She didn't even understand why she was under so much emotional turmoil. She had never had thoughts like these that plagued her mind and held her back. There were so many questions, and Leona didn't know where to start or where to end. Or if she would even come to an end at all.
It started with just simple questions.
What time is it?
Where did I leave my shield?
When will Amumu come to freaking gank our lane?
Then really idiotic ones that she felt like she should know the answer to.
Why is the sky blue?
How is it that grass is green?
And for that matter, where did the naming of colors come from? Because 'flesh' crayon sounds absolutely disturbing.
And why in the world is 1+1 really 11?
Curse Mount Targon for being closed off. Curse her Solarian heritage that left her horridly innocent to anything else in Valoran. It infuriated her enough that she spent her days continuously reading book after book about any subject. She even read sappy romance novels and was beginning to grow a rather large collection of "How to" books.
And then there were those thoughts. The ones she could never fully push away and was constantly growing in amount every day. Diana was on her mind with each passing minute, and it was starting to creep Leona out. And it had all started with that sunrise seven months ago. Ever since then, her thoughts had become more frequent, yet less serious. For the love of all things sane, she wondered why she even wanted to know what Diana's favorite thing to do was. Worry had begun to develop within her as she realized her duty as a sun warrior was becoming a victim of her thoughts. She forcibly rid her mind of any questions she had about the sun and moon, whether good or bad. But during nights like these she couldn't help but stare out at the moon and wait for the sun to replace it. It was an ever growing obsession in her mind.
A groan escaped her as she flopped onto her back unceremoniously and stared up at the ceiling in her dark room. She wished she understood all of this. She wished she understood why all of this was happening. She didn't know what she was feeling anymore, let alone could she find her own room after a long day of being on the Rift. The stress was pouring down on her hard. She felt trapped within her own questions, small, and sometimes insignificant. She had uncharacteristically begun to isolate herself from the other champions and her diplomatic front was beginning to crumble. She didn't know how much more she could take before she really would collapse.
With more will than the night before, she forcibly got out of bed and banished her thoughts, a feat that was becoming too difficult to accomplish without a resolute distraction. And even then, she still had flickers of images from that day pop into her mind then vanish behind her various new hobbies. She had tried things from increasing her daily exercise regiment to knitting random objects that were beginning to pile up on her desk. Not that she ever used her desk anyway. Still, the sight of a heap of indiscriminate objects every morning was beginning to rub her the wrong way. It was like she had no life.
Slowly, she treaded to the infirmary hoping to get a heavy dose of sleeping pills. Heaven knows how hard it is for her to sleep once in her element, and seeing as she had nothing scheduled for the day again, she decided she would take advantage of it. As she stepped into the dimmed light of the infirmary in only her pajamas and fuzzy slippers (something she wasn't too fond of people knowing she owned), she went off in search of Akali or Soraka; someone she knew, a friend that would lend her a hand and maybe give her some advice too. But as she approached the end of the rows of beds, she noticed a mass of white hair sprawled out upon the pillow of the last bed. The figure appeared to be in a heavy sleep, curled up into a ball. Leona narrowed her eyes, trying to squint through her blurry vision from being sleep deprived. For a second her mind went completely blank for the first time in weeks. Diana was breathing slowly, a strand of hair moving back and forth with every breath. Her normal attire was stripped of her and in its place was a hospital gown. Her brows were knit together and she was latching tightly onto her pillow as if afraid to let go.
Leona smiled a bit, and then walked closer to the sleeping woman. Her hand acted on its own as it reached out to brush hair out of Diana's face. Her eyes traitorously continued to stare at Diana, and she found she had forgotten the reason she was even in the infirmary in the first place. She continued to watch her as Diana shifted her arm that was clutching onto pure plush. The movement gave enough force for the blanket to slide down away from her arm, unsheathing it from its previously obscured position.
Leona's hand abruptly pulled away from Diana as she stared down at the bandages wrapped around the woman's arm, a foreign feeling rushing over her.
Was Diana hurt?
And then her eyes widened as the realization crashed into her as vicious as Darius' Noxian Guillotine. Diana was in the infirmary. Diana was sleeping in the infirmary. She was watching Diana sleep in the infirmary. Fear took a hold of her and she dropped to her knees in a shaking fit. She couldn't control herself. Everything was swirling around her and she struggled to get up, firmly gripping the leg of a nearby bed. She somehow managed to pull herself out of the area and back into her own room though her head felt like it would explode and her body was failing her with each step. Leona desperately tried to hold onto her consciousness as she slowly made her way to her bed, but her muscles finally gave way and she fell onto the ground harshly. Her breathing had become erratic.
And then the thoughts returned.
But this time she was too weak to fend them off. Succumbing to the endless hoard of questions, she allowed herself to be engulfed by everything she had desperately been trying to fight.
She didn't know why Diana's sleeping form had enthralled her.
She didn't know why she felt fear when she saw the bandages on Diana.
She didn't know why she was feeling anything at all.
Leona caved in and soon found the rest she had been craving for in her inamicable black out. She had lost the fight. And as her breathing became normal and body stopped fidgeting, the sun's light peeked over the horizon and the moon disappeared from the sky.
Chapter 1.5
Behind the Scenes
She really couldn't believe this.
Their team had been doing so well, until mid-game, when the enemy team had decided to change their tactics and group together, easily ganking and shutting down their well-fed Caitlyn in bottom lane. They even effectively stopped her own killing spree and she annoyingly watched the game go back and forth until both teams were of equal viability. Eventually, every turret protecting each team's Nexus had been destroyed. And now here she was, defending their lone Nexus as the rest of her team tried to push down mid-lane and finish the match.
Way to throw a game.
She had only been slightly relieved when she heard the sudden announcement of three enemies being slain, and with them down and out for at least a good minute, Shen still needing 20 seconds as well, she could tell that her team could easily take the win.
But, something did feel kinda.. off. Where was their fifth man? That war hungry behemoth had disappeared for nearly two whole minutes, and it was starting to make her paranoid. But she willed herself to keep calm and think rationally. Maybe he got lost in the Serpentine River and the Baron Nashor was currently gnawing away at his stupid shield that always blocked her daggers..
Well, as rational as she could be.
"Your team has destroyed an inhibitor."
The announcement at least made her feel more at peace as she carelessly flung a dagger into a minion's head. She smirked when Shen was up again, but could do nothing as her team charged at their Nexus. Their win was secured.
Lost in her mental victory dance, a small nudge to her left boot momentarily shifted her eyes towards the ground. One of her own minions suddenly stumbled backwards and fell on its back stopping her train of thought, only to quickly bring up another topic to think about. Katarina frowned.
Minions.
They were weird to her. Minions always ran aimlessly into the mist of war ready for the champions' disposal. She decided a long time ago, whatever it was that made them this way she wanted nothing to do with it. Chills ran down her spine just thinking about it. A blur of blue and purple meshed together in her mind's eye, and Katarina made a low 'tch noise. Not being able to have a mind of your own, no will to control your own actions, and she swore, if minions could have expressions she was pretty sure this one was petrified. It was staring up at the sky, immobile. How ridiculous; if she couldn't even smirk once in a day from some kind of amusement she'd probably kill herself. Speaking of which, she really needed to find a new "play thing". Her last one wasn't fun at all; they made no effort to even listen to her nor answer her malevolent remarks.
Freaking, Corn of the Spoon, or whatever the hell her name was. New champions really did get on her nerves.
Sighing deeply, she realized this would be an opportune chance to acquire at least some kind of delight. No matter how miniscule. She needed to null the roaring rage she knew she would later take out on her team for the lack of knowledge they seemed to have at the phrase "don't feed". She was so irritated she'd probably get suspended from the Institute again if she didn't find something to entertain her, or rather, restrain her.
Seriously, ten times in a row? Katarina sighed again.
So, as her team reached the enemy Nexus amongst the vast army of "little blue and purple things", she decided she had the time to follow-up on whatever the hell it was that was up there captivating that minion's gaze. Maybe it would be at least a tiny bit interesting. She threw another dagger without even turning or batting an eyelash, but it stabbed another enemy minion in the gut nonetheless. Stretching slowly, she placed her hands behind her head, interlocking her fingers.
Maybe.
But when she turned to the sky, focusing her green eyes at the clouds above, she caught sight of a rather large, orange, block-shaped looking thing falling down at what seemed like mach nine speed.
"What the fu-"
Then, horror struck her face, as it dawned on her.
Her reaction was too late as the ground shook beneath her feet knocking her back a few meters, wind blowing around her red hair violently. As she regained her footing, she saw Pantheon, ignoring her presence, and attacking her Nexus with lightning speed. Even disregarding the minions around him that were dealing heavy damage to him. Her killer instincts kicked in, and she took this as a opening to take out the giant warrior with all the strength she had left in her. She had to.
But again, she was too late, as she hadn't expected what happened next.
A purple aura surrounded Pantheon before she had the chance to completely annihilate him, and suddenly, there stood Shen between her and the Artisan of War's demise. There was no way she stood a chance now. Shen was like a steel wall, not to mention all that mumbo jumbo about his ninja capabilities. And in that instant, the hope of her team making it in time had shriveled into a tiny ball, rolling somewhere far, far away.
Cringing, she watched her Nexus shatter to pieces; Pantheon having efficiently destroying their base a mere second before her own team could destroy theirs.
"Defeat."
She threw her hands up in the air, letting out a frustrated growl, and glared at the pair before her.
"What the hell, man?!" she spit out as she accusingly pointed one of her daggers at them.
Blue light began to surround them, and they soon found themselves in the after-game lobby along with their teammates and respective summoners. She was in hysterics, and this didn't go un-noticed by the rest of the occupants in the room. Shen took the initiative to respond, as Pantheon chose to ignore her; he seemed too submerged in his victory.
With a low bow, Shen sincerely uttered, "My deepest apologies, Ms. Du Couteau. It was the only option we had left." Naturally, his teammates were at awe at how calm and proper the ninja could be towards anyone. Even Katarina.
"Like hell it was!" The Sinister Blade was not one to be reasoned with once angry, although she probably would have done the same as the duo had herself. She couldn't call herself a true Noxian if she wasn't able to deceive her enemies even at the lowliest means possible, now could she?
'More like back-stab them,' she mulled over, silently.
Returning her thoughts back to the multiple curses she was about to throw left and right, her eye caught sight of white hair.
Was Diana on the enemy team? She couldn't even remember now, but if it had been her she knew her antics would go un-noticed. And that would only piss off Katarina more. But just as she was about to stalk over there and lay it on thick, she realized she had made a mistake as a small clearing was made between Katarina and the Diana-esque entity. The white hair had been none other than that of Ashe, the Frost Archer. Was she seriously this riled up that she couldn't even remember the AD carry from the other team?
Katarina's scarred eye twitched. Ashe was like another Diana, she'd probably ignore all of her violent words as well. She was known for being cold (literally), cool (also literally), and collected at all times. Not only that, she also seemed nearly unapproachable; the Queen of Frejlord was a busy woman, and that gigantic barbarian of a husband that she had was always at her side unless it was during or after matches that they were not together in. She was more than likely waiting for him.
Katarina felt her eye twitch again. Their lovey-dovey relationship was annoying, even if she never saw them exchange a single affectionate gesture. Just nods and what seemed like single-worded conversations.
Deciding berating all of the others would only grant her a roll of their eyes, snarls, or fearful expressions (that looked absolutely awful on some champions she added mentally) she instead turned all of her attention onto the Frost Archer. Slowly, she began her tread towards the woman, whom was leaning against the wall crossing her arms with her eyes closed. Even though she knew little to nothing would be returned at the comments she was about to make, this was the only person in the room that would not give her something that wasn't the usual. Which really meant nothing, but with every stride she began to care less and less anyway. Dignified air around her or not, Katarina had never bothered to even talk to Ashe in the first place, so why the hell not? It was worth a shot, and her amusement bar was still un-satiated.
As Katarina reached a half-way point in the distance between the two, the archer opened her eyes and slowly looked up, noticing her immediately. A malicious smirk was upon her face as the Frost Archer continued to stare at the incoming Noxian. Typically, Katarina thought that she'd probably just close her eyes again or truly ignore anything that came out of Katarina's mouth. But before she even reached arms length from the woman, she nearly tripped over and fell.
Stopping dead in her tracks Katarina was suddenly absolutely, completely, and surprisingly speechless. In the midst of their locked gaze between green and frosty eyes, the Frost Archer did the unpredictable; she smirked back at her, even raising an eyebrow as if amused, her body never tensed. Katarina was rooted to the ground, and for the first-time her mind went blank as she gapped and watched the archer's departure upon the arrival of her husband breaking their eye contact, and breaking any concrete thought she had had.
As if to worsen her predicament, Ashe took a short glance back towards Katarina, a lighter smile on her lips and a glint in her eyes. The archer turned her back to her then and carelessly, albeit discreetly, waved her hand at her and soon was gone from sight.
For what seemed like the thousandth time that day, Katarina really couldn't believe this.
"What the fuck?!"
At the continuation of Katarina's fury, everyone else in the room just seemed to sigh.
End notes: Catch my drift yet? I kind of like the idea of putting something like this at the end of every chapter. Kind of like a manga, eh? I never thought I could make Katarina seem so scatter brained though, while still keeping her wits about her. And yes, it was a seven month jump, but that's only due to my own need to scrutinize details. Vi was mentioned early on, and it bugged me to put one or two months, as Vi was clearly released much later after Diana was.
I'm too anal. And this is starting to look a little drabble-esquey.. probably should throw more useless things in.
Anyway, Ashe and Katarina's interaction was a suggestion from a friend who of course had read the famous "Wounded" by NyokaKione, which in turn lead to me reading it as well. I know I'm just another praiser of your work, but I can't help but squeal like a little fangirl. And you definitely do deserve the spotlight.
I have no idea where the scene with Diana and Akali came from. I was having problems with transitioning scenes. The first phrase that came to my mind was, "I've never felt so violated," and I just went with it. At least I have an excuse for writing Diana in an OOC manner for a good 1,000 words.
My friends are throwing me suggestions left and right and it's clogging my mind, but I'd like to hear from readers as well. And like I said, you can throw anything at me. I challenge you. How about in exchange, I'll release a letter of my IGN, in order of course, with every release of a chapter? Oh, that sounds fun now that I think about it. I wonder if I can hide it in between the lines..