A/N: If I update within a fortnight, I'm pretty happy.

Too bad I didn't.

Well, we'll make it once a month. Maybe. Probably not even. Not that it matters.

Failure.

When the following day came, it was no surprise that the best swordsman, Yasuo, was charged with the task of protecting the elder, Kaiser. It was a modest guard post, nothing too fancy, but still very much significant. He was proud, obviously. His brother was a bit envious, but proud of him nonetheless.

Yone understood full well where Yasuo may have fallen short of his predecessors. Certainly nothing in terms of skill with the sword, but perhaps in the nature of a true swordsman; patience and virtue. Yone worried for Yasuo, but put his faith in that Yasuo would learn these qualities during his time as a guard. He considered the maple seed. Surely it would guide Yasuo on the right path in times of need. Surely… Surely a lot of things. He looked at his brother.

"I'm going now! Can't be late on the first day!" Yasuo laughed. He carried with him an aura of joy and excitement that seemed to lift the spirits of those around him as well. Yone grinned. The happiness was definitely contagious.

"Have a safe trip, brother."

In a flash, the brother who stood in front of Yone less than a second ago was gone. Yasuo had flown over to the temple. Quite literally, in fact. The wind at his feet pushed harder than ever; a gale was felt by those around who could see him, and even those who couldn't. No longer restricted to running on solid ground, Yasuo had taken what may be perceived as a "shortcut" up to the temple on the hill. A shortcut indeed; one that no one else would be able to utilise. It seemed a miracle to any bystander – a young man rising into the skies, running forwards (and upwards), with dutiful purpose.

"Elder Kaiser!"

"Yasuo! Perfect timing – join me for tea." What the elder called tea was just that. Tea. Green tea to be precise, but tea. And only tea.

They shared a long and not-so-meaningful conversation, in which the elder would comment on how Yasuo had grown as a man, and how he still didn't fit his name. The conversation soon shifted to how Yasuo was selected for the job, and just what the nature of the job was. In actuality, Yasuo held the position of the elder's personal guard. It wasn't an official position, just something to further safeguard the elder without bringing about too much attention.

The elder presented Yasuo with a new sword adorned with patterns associated with the wind, as well as armour decorated in a similar pattern. It was all too fitting for the warrior of the wind. Yasuo was told to bring his new sword to his post every day, but not necessarily the armour as it would cause too much of a fuss.

The next few days were long and slow. Yasuo shared a few games of chess with the elder. Mainly because the elder wanted company, and he needed to pass the time.

"To make good decisions, one must keep the future in mind," Kaiser said. It wasn't something he said once or twice, but rather, quite frequently. "If you can win a game of chess against me, you'll do well in life."

Perhaps this was said to encourage Yasuo. Perhaps not. All that Yasuo knew was that he hated chess, and more than that, he hated losing. But it was a game of chess that the elder wanted to play; a game of chess that he did not care much for. He instead decided to repress his desire to unsheathe his sword and cut everything up as a form of stress relief, and composed himself.

Throughout the games, the elder kept stressing the need to think ahead. The need to think several steps ahead, or at least one ahead of your opponent. To understand what it was that your opponent desired. And how to stop them from getting it.

Yasuo paid little attention to the usual little happenings as the days went by. They were repetitive, but worse, they were boring. Being a peaceful little village in the peace-loving city-state of Ionia, there was little need for guards. There was essentially no danger. Arts were practiced for the sake of tradition, as a pastime, as a skill, as a means of further enlightenment. What Yasuo longed for was the rush of wind and the thrill in his blood as he exchanged sword strikes with his opponent.

The words of the elder were repetitive. Soon, they became nothing more than incoherent mumblings to Yasuo. He did not become any better in his chess games, rather, he became worse. The game became nothing more than a blur in his mind. The elder abruptly stood up, snapping Yasuo out of his trance.

"Elder! Where are you going?"

"I am going out for a bit of fresh air. Yasuo, it will do you good to come as well."

On the highest balcony, the wind blew cool and crisp. The words of the elder came out softer than usual, and with a sense of what Yasuo may have mistakenly heard as remorse.

"Can you see the village, Yasuo?" Without waiting for a reply, the elder continued. "To make good decisions, one must keep the future in mind. Be it decisions for the good of the village, for oneself, for one's family and friends, one must understand the consequences." After that, the elder didn't say a word. He merely stood at the balcony, watching over his village.

Yasuo barely remembered his first day on the job, even though it was barely a week ago. He had been so excited. Now, he trudged his way over to the temple in the early morning.

"Yasuo? Why do you look down?" It was Moira who spoke. Of course it was – if it wasn't Yone or mother, it was Moira who spoke out of concern about the small things.

"So that I don't trip over!" Yasuo laughed. "Did you want me to look at the skies when I'm walking instead?"

"You know I don't mean that." Moira did not push any further. Instead, she tried to change the topic. "I see that you're early."

"Of course I'm early! But what I'd like to know is: why are you so early?"

Moira hurriedly turned her face away. "That's none of your business!"

"Out racing the foxes again?"

"I'll beat them, soon. Just you wait. Then I'll beat you!" Moira turned back to look at Yasuo with enthusiasm showing in her eyes. "Bye now!" A second later, and she was little more than speck in the distance.

"You're already faster than me," Yasuo grinned, as he made his way over to the temple in a better mood.

As Yasuo neared the temple, he noticed that the elder was outside on this particular morning. He hurriedly greeted the carers of the temple as well as the four guards before greeting the elder.

"I see that you're taking the long route – the normal route. Not going to head for the skies on this fine day today?" the elder joked. "Don't tell me that perhaps you have lost interest in our little talks."

"No, no, not at all!" Yasuo replied with a pang of guilt. Of course the elder would know.

Yasuo followed the elder up to the second floor of the temple, where the elder preferred to stay, unless he was watching over the village on the third floor.

"Noxus will invade Ionia."

"Noxus? But they are warring with Demacia!"

"They will split their forces between Demacia and us."

"Then they'll lose to Demacia. Demacia is as strong as Noxus. If they split their forces…"

"Perhaps."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I feel that Noxus' invasion will not be an ordinary war."

Yasuo's fate was doomed when Noxus invaded. As the elder had predicted, Noxus had indeed invaded Ionia. Warriors from all over Ionia were dispatched to the area of conflict. Yasuo knew that his duty was to protect the elder, and remained at the temple.

Yasuo spent his sleepless night with fleeting thoughts about whether he should go help the resistance and turn the tables. A little time away from the temple wouldn't do any harm, right? After all, there hadn't been a problem for decades. But then again, this was a crucial time, and the elder had to be protected no matter what. No, because this was a crucial time, he had to help.

Before even the break of dawn, Yasuo had set off to the battle. He would be quick, going straight for the boss, and head back. All he had to do was damage the soldiers' morale. Yes, Yasuo had thought this through. The elder had always said that he needed to think of the future. And so when the boss was slain, surely the rest of the battle would flow in the favour of the Ionians. He would make it quick, and be back by early morning. No one would even know he had gone. The chances of him meeting someone from his village were slim, as Ionians from across the entire island had gathered to repel Noxus.

Although it was unfortunate that battle wasn't far from home, it also meant that it took less time for Yasuo to get there. The battle, which had lasted through the night, was fought by fatigued warriors from both sides. Still, they fought in glorious combat, for reasons that each side believed true. Yasuo would have the upper hand in a one to one fight. Though he had not slept, he had rested and more importantly, didn't fight through the night. He would have more strength and stamina.

Yasuo cut his way through the Noxian soldiers, treating them as nothing more than straw dummies. He found what he was looking for; a man who looked decidedly more important than the other soldiers. A man who was clad in heavy armour, a flashy red cape and a solid axe for a weapon. A man who carried with him the weight of responsibility. A man who knew what he was doing.

Yasuo charged in, hoping to catch his opponent off guard with unaccounted for strength from the Ionian side. He thrust his sword forward, into the back of his opponent. His opponent, however, showed no signs of injury. Instead, he showed only a maniacal grin, and a swing of an axe.

It took much of Yasuo's energy to make a dodge away from the physical range of the axe, but he still felt the brunt of the swing. "So this is what it's like to fight a real warrior," he muttered. Even though Yasuo was out of reach, a cut had appeared horizontally on Yasuo's face, on his nose and just missing both his eyes.

Yasuo's opponent was strong, and he knew this. But Yasuo was agile, and much more so than his heavily armoured opponent. He would use his mobility to his advantage. He thrust his sword at his opponent yet again, hopped back and thrust again, this time sweeping his opponent off his feet. Yasuo lunged forward, striking down his enemy.

To Yasuo's horror, his opponent stood back up, appearing quite unfazed. He pulled himself together and prepared for a counterattack. With one swift movement, Yasuo's opponent thrust out his axe, twisted it, and pulled it back in, bringing Yasuo as well. "Noxus will prevail!"

He swung his axe again, cutting Yasuo deeply across the abdomen. Yasuo, who foolishly wore no armour at all, was injured easily by the oversized axe. His opponent, however, was not injured nearly as much, despite taking numerous hits from Yasuo.

Yasuo cursed under his breath as he retreated. He would have to inform the elder of this. Though he didn't like it, Yasuo reminded himself that his duty was to guard the elder, and that he had spent too much time of the battlefield already. That, and he was not prepared for war. The way they fought was different, the weapons the used, the way they moved. It was all too different, and nothing he had trained for.

Clutching his abdomen and holding back the pain with pure willpower, Yasuo ran back to the temple. Again, he was grateful that it was so close. Dashing up the stairs, Yasuo yelled. "Elder Kaiser!"

To his dismay, there was no reply. The temple was quite. Much too quiet. It was in a secluded area of the village, and there weren't many distracting sounds, but there should be the usual chattering of the other guards over the wine. There was none of that. There should have been the sound of the elder muttering to himself, or at least the sound of him snoring in the corner somewhere. There was none of that, either. Desperate, Yasuo checked every room, leaving a trail of his own blood. "Elder!"

On the third floor, in a room which the elder rested often, Yasuo found the elder. But it was not as it should have been – the elder was not sleeping out of his own will, but because he was slain. Yasuo let out a scream of despair.

Yasuo didn't know what to do. He was all alone, isolated from the rest of the village, from the rest of the world. It was a huge blow to his ego to know that he was too weak to fight against an enemy general. To know that he had to retreat. But above all else, because of his pride, he wasn't there to protect the elder.

Carrying the body of the elder, Yasuo rushed to the medicine woman at the village. She lived on the edge of the village, in an equally secluded area. Taking a shortcut through the forest that only he knew, Yasuo hoped that no unnecessary attention would fall on him.

"Heoma! Please help!" Yasuo's desperate cries filled the small hut in which the medicine woman Heoma dwelled in.

"Yasuo, what happened this time?" A warm voice replied. A plump figure appeared from the back section of the hut, carrying an assortment of herbs.

"The elder…"

Dropping her herbs, Heoma rushed to his side. "Quickly, put him here." She guided Yasuo to a propped up table which she used to treat her patients.

Yasuo laid down the elder, his heart sinking as he asked, "Can you help him?"

Heoma took only a second to analyse and process the state of the village's elder. With two fingers, she expertly checked for a pulse, and felt for the warmth of his body.

"No… It seems that Kaiser has passed away a while ago. Yasuo, do you know what happened?"

"No, I…" Yasuo was cut off. He looked at Heoma with a guilt ridden face.

"Three strikes…" Heoma mumbled. She cleared her throat and continued. "I see. Yasuo, you're injured as well. You should be treated. Lie down over here," Heoma gestured to a second table before leaving.

The medicine woman smelt strongly of strange scents unknown to Yasuo. Her understanding of the various herbs was great, and she could kill a healthy man with them just as easily as she could heal an injured man.

When Heoma reappeared, she carried a strange mixture which she used to treat Yasuo's wound. It stung, but Yasuo bit back his protest. She finished off by wrapping the affected area in bandages, keeping in the medicine, and lowering the chances of infections.

"I'm glad you're alright, Yasuo. You should rest. I'll report this. The district council should arrive by tomorrow afternoon for your sentence."

As Heoma had stated, the district council arrived just before noon. It seemed that she had sent a messenger bird to deliver the news. The district council honoured the elder's passing with a tradition funeral, which was held in conjunction with an early funeral of the fallen warriors and the slain guards. The bodies were placed in small wooden boats and sailed into the sea, then set ablaze by talented archers. The bodies and the souls of the people would then be returned back to the land and the sea.

The funeral occurred at dusk, with the last of the sun's rays. The flames danced over the ocean as they faded away with the sunlight in preparation for the new day. Yasuo spent his time mourning for the loss of the elder, grieving over his own shortcomings, and lamenting over his friends who were no more.

At daybreak, Yasuo was called for by the district council. He met Heoma there, who asked if he could be treated first. She quickly washed out the gunk from the previous day and reapplied the medicine. She quickly bandaged Yasuo again, who was surprised by the lack of pain, and much more so at the rate of healing.

In a makeshift meeting area, a disgraced Yasuo hung his head in guilt as he admitted to the dereliction of his post. He stated that he was prepared to pay for his failure with his life. The council stated that he was dismissed until further notice. Yasuo decided that there wasn't anything that he particularly wanted to do there, so he thought that perhaps he could listen in on what the council was saying.

On an overhanging tree, Yasuo spent the afternoon unnoticed, alone and unwanted.

A/N: LOL the elder has nothing to do with Mordekaiser…. Or does he? Huehuehuehuehue.