I must include a warning for extremely mild not at all successful attempted rape. If that's triggering for you, skip until after the section break.
Within are mentioned two Hindu hells, Puyoda and Taptasurmi, and the chakras Anahata, the Heart Chakra; and Swadisthana, the Sacral Chakra.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Poise
It was late in the game and team fights were fast and furious. Karma managed to stay on the outskirts, observing the proper time to rend the earth and air with the power of her will. She could feel her energies blazing brightly as they flowed through the channels of her chakra, unblocked by hesitation. She swiftly shaped a shield around cold-eyed Sejuani as the woman roared and urged her boar into the thick of the conflict, then flicked a line of spirit power straight into Ashe's chest. The Frost Archer, her face grim as she shot arrow after arrow into the fray, winced as Karma's will battered relentlessly against hers. Ashe's devotion to Freljord burned almost as brightly as her hatred for Sejuani, but Karma was skilled in such conflicts of the mind, and she swiftly located the queen's fear of her husband. She pulled it to the forefront and Ashe nearly dropped her bow as her feet suddenly refused to obey her. With a gruff laugh of triumph, Sejuani slammed her mace into the archer's body and Ashe crumpled, the look of betrayal in her eyes shooting a pang of unease through Karma.
The Enlightened One sighed and murmured another mantra before gesturing gracefully into the very heart of the fight. The missile of her will exploded in the middle, dazing those of her enemies with less conviction than her, and so embroiled were they in the fight that they could not run out of the eruption that followed the blast.
The enemy team broke and ran and Karma sent a surge of inspiration after her teammates as they chased after them, loosening tired muscles and giving new energy. Then she leaned heavily against a nearby tree, feeling her weariness press down on her.
"I smell your fear, Karma!" Warwick howled, and his heavy, hairy body crashed into hers. Karma, caught off guard, was thrown to the ground before she could summon a shield of will, and Warwick's claws dug into her arms and legs, pinning her. Her dark eyes flashed at the pain, but she did not cry out. A silvery veil fell over her body, forcing him away from her and with a mantra in her mind she attacked his spirit, draining his will to power hers. But the Night Hunter simply grabbed her shoulders and bashed her head against the ground savagely.
Her shield weakened for a moment before it tightened around her like a second skin, harder than iron, steel, or mithril.
"I'll rob you of your dignity before you die," Warwick snarled, and slashed her from her collarbone to her waist. Karma bit her lip as her dress split open and her shirt under it, and Warwick chuckled, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her up until her clothes fell to her waist. She ignited the air around her in verdant flames and he screamed in pain, his fur smoking as she tore at his spirit with her power, but he continued to try and tear at her body. Her shield's reach was weakened by the oppressive influence of Atala, which smothered her will in fear and shame, and did not stop him from ripping the remnants of her clothes off of the upper half of her body. Karma felt his life begin to fade and sent thousands of daggers of spirit power shooting up from her bare skin. His blood splattered off her shield as he snagged his claws into her clothes at her waist.
Karma was preparing herself to blind the spectators when she heard a shout and was thrown to the ground by a shockwave. She looked up to see Warwick smash into a tree and Lee Sin, scarlet tongues of dragon flame coursing down his legs, dive after him and shatter his sternum with a vicious punch.
"Duchess," the blind monk said, turning away from Warwick as the werewolf groaned and was whisked away by summoning light. Karma drew her knees up to her chest and realized that she was shuddering, though her shield had never wavered.
Lee Sin tilted his head, listening to the harshness of her breathing, then ran to her, his feet barely touching the grass, and knelt at her side. Without another word, he reached up and untied his blindfold, then reached out and tied it tenderly around her chest without touching her with his hands.
Karma did not trust herself to speak, but she reached out and brushed his scarred cheek with her thumb, letting her shield fade.
"Worry not," Lee Sin whispered, scooping Karma into his arms and standing without even appearing to notice her weight. She leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "I was taken unawares."
"It is my honor to assist you, Duchess," he said, jogging across the river and back to safe territory. "I am certain I merely hastened Warwick's defeat, however."
Karma appreciated how carefully he held his arms around her, to support her without any sort of intimacy. It was as gracious as typical with him.
Her composure never wavering, she let the warmth of his body soothe away the remainder of her fear and began the slow process of unblocking chakras that had been weakened by her loss of control. Where the spectators could not see, her friend rubbed gentle circles into the back of her neck, humming softly so he could maneuver around the foliage of the blue jungle.
"I am well now," she said stiffly, appreciating the gesture but beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable in her position. Lee Sin let her down with utmost care and she gathered herself up, her eyes flashing and her chin held up proudly.
Unbeknownst to her, Orianna stood, out of sight, her spidery fingers stroking the surface of the Ball and watching them. As Karma gathered her poise and stature and began the motions signaling her summoner to recall her to base, the Clockwork Lady twitched erratically against the compulsion to attack.
"No," Orianna chirped softly, "we feel-pity. The game-should have-been stopped. We will-not attack."
The intangible presence in her programming seethed in anger, but Orianna continued to watch until Karma was safely back behind the blue nexus before she too recalled.
Both Sejuani and Lee Sin went after Warwick with a particular single minded viciousness for the rest of the game. Sejuani even ignored Ashe.
It embarrassed Karma. She needed no one to defend her but the strength of her spirit. Though no blood reddened her cheeks, Sejuani pulled her aside when they were destroying the enemy Nexus and growled gruffly, "get over yourself, Duchess. Women have to stick together, you know that."
"I claim no extra privilege because of my gender," Karma replied stiffly. "Warwick shall die one day and then he shall go to Puyoda and swim in filth forever or burn in Taptasurmi as he deserves, and that shall be his punishment. I am defender not defenseless, leader of the Winter's Claw."
Sejuani grunted disdainfully and kicked her boar away from Karma.
The Enlightened One gathered energy into the palm of her hand and let it flow around Lee Sin as he hurled Warwick into the Nexus crystal. The werewolf's claws scrabbled helplessly at the Blind Monk's body, slipping off Karma's spirit, and with a grunt Lee Sin slammed his fist down onto his chest and shattered both the Nexus and his body.
Lee Sin leapt back, adjusting his blindfold around his eyes. He now wore one of simple brown cloth, having rejected Karma's offer to return his previous wrapping. Her summoner had magically repaired her robes once she had recalled, and thus she no longer had need of his gracious gift, but he had murmured something about "impurity" and left it at that. Karma was not offended and had left it tied around her waist as a sash. The ways of the Shojin were nearly as strict as her own personal practices.
She relaxed as the blue light of summoning enveloped her and the rest of the champions, and in moments they were back in the cool halls of the Institute. A heavy animal smell filled the air and brilliant green fire blazed around Karma as she shielded herself, only to be filled with renewed shame when she recognized Udyr, his golden eyes filled with flames.
"We mean you no harm, Duchess," he growled, storming by her in a pelt of scarlet feathers and reaching into the mass of departing champions to grab Warwick by the throat.
"The summoners desire to see you, unworthy one," the beast man snarled, and Warwick bowed his head, giving Karma a hateful glance. She looked at him, let her majesty and dignity shine, and at last he bowed his head, growling spitefully under his breath.
Karma smiled slightly and tucked her hands into her sleeves, smoothing her hair back into obedience with a feather light touch of will. The Noxian invasion had not broken her. The Zaunites' chemical weapons had not burned her. No mere man could shatter her will, even if he was a monster.
She set off into one of the corridors leading to the Ionian wing and was quite a ways along it when Lee Sin caught up to her.
"Duchess," he said gravely, "are you certain you are well?"
"I am no fragile maiden," Karma said wryly, "and I died only four times for my thirteen kills."
He tapped her chin lightly and Karma was tempted by the incredibly childish and unfitting urge to stick her tongue out at him. She relented slightly. Lee Sin would not judge her for a betrayal of poise.
"I am comfortable being naked in the baths," she continued quietly, "but the idea of having spectators leering at my body troubles me. It weakens me in their eyes, makes me more woman than leader. I do not exist for pleasure, Lee, I exist for leadership."
"The summoners cut off spectating the moment they realized what Warwick was doing," Lee Sin murmured. "Your dignity remains intact, my Duchess."
Karma sighed gratefully, smiling at him even though she knew he could not see it.
"Thank you again," she said. "You were gallant to aid me. If I had lost control of my emotions, I would have needed your assistance."
"My Duchess never loses control of her emotions," Lee Sin said merrily.
"Of course not," Karma agreed, squaring her shoulders proudly until she noticed Lee Sin chuckling. Indignant, she tossed a thread of spirit energy around his head and pushed her will into contact with his, intending to disquiet him with the sheer force of it.
Instead, emotion surged up from within her and she pressed a hand to her chest at the feeling of intense loneliness, suddenly torn to the surface of her mind from deep within as the mass of flames that was Lee Sin's soul touched the questing stream of her spirit.
What was worse was that he could feel it too.
"Karma, Karma," he said instantly, "I love you, Irelia loves you, your people love you, you are not alone."
With a sharp movement of her hand, she severed the connection between them.
"You tell truth but there is a lie within it," she said sharply, searing away the weakness in Anahata, and the Blind Monk stepped back, expressionless.
"Shojin monks do not lie," he said stiffly.
"Deny your desires and you weaken Swadisthana," she warned him. "If you cannot subsume them in duty as I have, then fulfill them and strengthen your chakra."
"In pain I have found freedom from such things," Lee Sin said, no longer friendly. "Good evening, Duchess."
"Good evening," Karma said, and stood aside until the corridor until he was gone.
She sat on the cold stone floor and adjusted her limbs until they permitted the freest flow of spirit before she entered a meditative trance, her consciousness dissolved into a calm sea.
There she remained until the sun rose and the agony in her bones and muscles purged her frailty, and it was time to rise and seek what sustenance she could find to sustain her through the day.