I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Perhaps it was my freshly sick lungs, or my broken heart. All that didn't matter.
"Wait", I thought to myself, "I can feel something?"
Just then I started to remember the events of the last night. What happened? I jumped, and then… Someone. That someone saved me from death, but clearly didn't solve any problems. I slowly opened my eyes and scanned the room I was in. It was cozy, yet, dirty. Like, literally dirty. What was this place? I tried to catch my thoughts, but they were as messed up as everything else. At least it was warm. I noticed some paintings of poros on the wall. Everything but floor was made of dirt, like some sort of a cave. I heard something crackling, and turned my head to see a fireplace in a wall, in which fire was burning, and some sort of stew on top of it.
"Still beats being dead. Or does it?" I asked myself.
Only when I was trying to get up I noticed that I wasn't wearing any clothes, and instead was covered in some sort of a rugged blanket. All my muscles were sore, and my lungs felt like they were on fire. I took a deep breath, and immediately exhaled, when sharp pain pierced my chest once more. Somehow I scrambled to my feet, but they didn't seem to hold me, and I fell, my face hitting the ground.
"Shit!" I cried out, and heard some sort of a response. I got up on my knees and looked around once more. There was a small opening in the wall, and I crawled towards it. "Hi". There was this voice again. But this time it was more than that. Not thinking clearly I summoned my spheres and smashed them into the ground, causing a petty explosion.
"HEY! STOP THAT!" This time the voice was not nearly as friendly, and a pair of hands followed it. I tried to shield myself from the attack, but all my strength was gone and I only managed to weakly wave my arms in front of me before I was pinned to the ground. I prepared for a round of punches, but none came. Instead, a soft, furry tail brushed some of the dirt from my face. My reckless mind was still messy, but I didn't try to attack the tail. It felt good, like REALLY good. Once again I opened my eyes, and this time I saw some sort of a woman. My vision was blurry, but I managed to recognize the figure.
"Ahri?" I asked.
"Finally, you're awake and more or less calm. Now answer me: what the fuck? Why did you jump? What's going on?"
I suddenly remembered all of it. Tears started to coat my eyes. Ahri took me by the hand and moved me so I was sitting vertically. I leaned against the wall and began to sob. I couldn't stop myself, it felt so good, but bad at the same time. My tears were flowing in a stream, making a small puddle beneath me. Then, something unexpected happened. Ahri took me in for a hug and squeezed me so hard I almost lost my breath.
"Thanks", I managed to squeeze out. "But first, why did you do all this?"
"I don't really know", she answered staring into my eyes. Her own were beautiful, gold and shining.
"I guess I somehow care about people"
I didn't feel like talking, so I cleaned my face and asked for my clothes. Ahri brought them to me, and I began my attempt to dress myself. I didn't really know her, yet she felt familiar, warm and friendly. For a moment I felt like I'd have known her forever, but then turned my head to see her staring at my chest. She was clearly checking me out.
"Hey! My eyes are up here!" I snapped.
"Sorry!" She quickly answered, her expression changing to pure guilt, ears down and all.
"I'm really not in the mood, and you're creepy. Just stay away" I barked. Then it was her time to cry.
"I'm hurting you, am I not?" She looked so sad I couldn't help myself but find a little forgiveness.
"No, but don't even dare to look at me that way" I answered. This was the nicest I managed to squeeze out of my mouth. Now she was scared. So naïve and unstable.
"Sorry", she muttered once again, "Exit is that way"
She pointed at some sort of a board, covering a hole. I once again tried to get up, but started coughing so violently, I fell.
"But you're welcome to stay here, if you like" Ahri murmured again.
"Thanks. I don't seem to have much of a choice right now" I answered, my lungs hurting with each breath. I was exhausted, and now I got a bit cold and started to cough.
"Really?" Ahri's eyes lit up again, smile returned to her cheeks. I couldn't believe that was all it took to make her happy again.
"I guess she's just this type of a person", I thought. "Oh well, at least she doesn't seem to want me dead or suffering"
As I was thinking, she was already on her feet again, excitedly humming.
"I'll get something to eat", she announced and disappeared in the little hole that she first appeared out of.
"I guess this is for the better. But what am I going to do next? Go back to Ionia, where everyone hates me, or back to my castle, where only solitude awaited?"
My thoughts were interrupted by a cough that brought up some blood from my lungs.
"Fuck, it hurts. Well, it looks like I'm going to be stuck here for a little bit longer"
Thousands of miles away, in Noxus, Singed met with Swain. Singed had just finished his tests in his torture chamber, which was covered in dry and drying blood of the most recent candidate for his experiment. Swain covered his nose and frowned; The smell was unbearable. Singed greeted him: "Good news General, Syndra won't be a problem anymore, I got Karma to cooperate and she managed to drive Syndra crazy enough to suicide"
"Good", Swain answered, "One less bitch to worry about. Soon Ionia will be ours, then we will kill the traitor, and take complete control over the region. Does your little invention work as intended?"
"As you can see, it works wonders in the lab, the fucker only lasted about two hours" He pointed at the still bleeding corpse in his "special" chair,
"He practically ripped his lungs out". That was visible. It looked like the victim tried to remove his own lower jaw.
"I had good old Graggas test it out on Syndra as our plan B, all it took was a bit of coin. As you've probably deduced, we're not going to get any results, but it should've at least annihilated her lungs. No way to know for sure now, of course, but I'm positive it worked"
"Keep this up and I might be calling you Lieutenant by the next time we meet"
"You are the most kind, General", Singed grinned.
A.N. Here's the promised update! Finally getting some sort of action into it. Thanks for the Fav's and Follow's, I really appreciate it when someone reads my work :) You guys are awesome. One thing I still miss- reviews. It would make my day to find at least a single one, and it really makes me feel appreciated. Also, I've been thinking about writing longer chapters- if you'd like to read more by me- tell me so by reviewing!, Oh, also share it with your friends. I know it's not that hard. Otherwise, have a great day, if you celebrate Christmas- Merry Christmas to you, and see you next week!