Author's note: Sorry about how short the chapter is. The next one should be longer.
Ok, Tristana admitted to herself as she gazed around the city hall in awe, maybe this isn't so bad.
The main political centre of Bandle City was an impressive building, with large sweeping timber ceilings painted over with many of the rare creatures and plants of the Kumungu Jungles, long open windows overlooking the harbour night sky and a huge assembly room fit for all sizes and species. But with the added effect of her mother's handiwork, the room had become breathtaking. Bright chandeliers hung from the ceiling, gold trimmed tablecloths covered the tables spaced evenly around the room and bright sets of yellow and red flowers decorated several of the surfaces; all the while in the background, the lilting, uplifting music of the Yordle Mothership band played and human and yordle waiters bustled around amongst the guests. But it was the atmosphere that really made the night.
Sure, it was still stuffy and uptight, the speeches were too long and boring, and several of the guests were pompous jerks. But there were so many interesting guests too. There were ambassadors and representatives from every city-state present, as well as various nobility, summoners and league champions. The diversity was incredible, from the Freljord giants of the north to the magical and enlightened residents from Ionia to the mechanical oddities of Zaun. For a young yordle who had never been outside her hometown in her life, let alone in the presence of so many inspiring legends whom she'd only ever heard about, it was an exciting and overwhelming experience.
But despite the occasion's numerous celebrities, Tristana had not taken the opportunity to talk to any of them; instead she had had been content to spend the past two hours simply soaking in the atmosphere. In part, this was because the normally confident and fearless yordling was too intimidated to start up a conversation with the daunting and renowned guests; but for the most part the twelve-year-old had been on the look out all night.
She may be furious with them at the moment, but Tristana was far from heartless and upon hearing of Teemo's plight she'd instantly promised to look out for his brother's old friend (though it also helped that the boy had asked her for the favour before the whole picture fiasco). Indeed, they were all curious about the yordle's sudden disappearance and then sudden reappearance as the new Demacian Ambassador. But, despite how hard she looked, Tristana could find no trace of the older, blue-skinned girl.
With a sigh, the twelve-year-old scanned the room once more before ducking out of sight behind a large moustached, Freljordian warrior. Poppy wasn't the only one she was on the lookout for; she'd also been purposefully dodging Litani (she, thankfully, hadn't seen Klive at all) all night. Contrary to what it may seem, it wasn't out of fear of the confrontation that she was avoiding the family, but rather because the young, yordle girl didn't think she would be able to control her actions if she got close enough to pale skinned brat. And she highly doubted that her parents would be pleased if she punched the mayor's niece in the face. After all, she was supposed to be on her best behaviour for her mother's 'special night'. So the blue girl had kept her distance. Thankfully, the dark haired girl had been keeping her distance too – though Tristana liked to think it was because she was scared of getting her nose broken.
Needing a distraction to stop herself from doing something stupid, Tristana scanned the other side of the room. Despite their short stature compared to the majority of the guests, the blue girl easily picked out her parents by the centre windows where they were avidly conversing with the new Piltover sheriff. Despite the obviously involved conversation, Tristana did notice that the pair would occasionally turn quickly from the young woman in purple to check on her current position. However, that was the only sign of parental protectiveness they showed. The girl knew that with the near-constant vigilance they'd kept up, they had almost certainly noticed her strange behaviour and avoidance pattern; but surprisingly, that hadn't triggered her mother's controlling instincts. She did not know what her father had told the high-strung woman, but she was grateful that the two were willing to give her some breathing room and let her do her own thing tonight – or at least for the moment.
Glancing around the Freljordian's shield towards where Litani had been, Tristana let out a relieved sigh as the older girl disappeared back into the throng of people, deciding to make a break for the buffet table. She swiftly turned in that direction, only to rapidly come to a stop as she collided with something solid. The yordling took a stumbling step back, trying to regain her balance, but the unsteady nature of her uncomfortable shoes only made her predicament worse. Windmilling her arms in a vain attempt to not fall flat on her butt, the young yordle was surprised when a pair of hands shot out to steady her.
"Woah there kiddo."
"I'm so sorry," the blue girl apologised to the person she'd accidently run into as she regained her balance back on her precarious shoes. "I didn't mean-" as she looked up at the figure before her however she stopped short; mouth gaping open in shock.
The yordle woman standing before her had golden-orange skin and a tight-fitting black dress that went perfectly with her iconic mass of fiery, red curls piled stylishly on the top of her head.
"Oh my gosh!" an excited grin threatened to split the girl's face. "You're Artemis Dubear! The best Megling Commando in the force. Great-granddaughter of Megling herself! You come from a huge line of commandos and they say that you're the best cannon-wielder that's ever lived. Not to mention your leadership skills: your direction during the 20BLE raids is legendary. I can't believe I'm meeting you in person! You're my hero. When I grow up, I want to be a Megling just like you and your family."
The orange yordle gave her an amused look as she spoke, "Well, it looks like I don't need to introduce myself, since you already seem to know all about me. But I would definitely be curious to learn your name, if you wouldn't mind."
"Oh right," the twelve-year-old sent her a sheepish grin. "I'm Tristana Chevalier."
"Chevalier? Like Pearl Chevalier: the senator who organised this whole shebang?"
Tristana felt her ears flick in annoyance, "Yeah, she's my mother."
The redhead sent her a look of mixed sympathy and humour, "Judging by your expression, I take it you're not thrilled that she dragged you along tonight huh."
The blue girl deflated. "Is it that obvious?"
"Just to me," Artemis winked. "Though that's probably because I used to hate coming to these sort of events when I was younger too."
"Really?" Aqua eyes met hers in surprised interest. "You hated them too? But you don't seem like it."
"Oh trust me, it's true," the golden yordle grimaced. "I hated them when I was younger. Didn't see the point of all the prim and proper niceties I was supposed to endure. After all, I wanted to be a soldier, not a show pony."
"I know that feeling," Tristana commented dryly, causing the older woman to laugh.
"I'm sure you do." Turning back to the girl more seriously, the Megling continued. "But as I'm sure you've found out, it's not something you have much control over. Being a part of the Megling family and also being one of the best commandos out there, I learned pretty early on that I was destined to endure the spotlight anyway. And I hated it. I hated it with a passion. At least until my mum gave me some good advice. She told me not to think of it as an obligation, but as a challenge. After all, you never know when you might be called into action. To be an exceptional warrior you're required to be prepared for any situation, no matter where you are, or what you're wearing. So I challenged myself. Every time I was forced to go to a function, I would practise perfecting my ability to move and fight in the ridiculous outfits, until it no longer became a burden that I dreaded, but an opportunity to look forward to."
"So you're saying, you can kick butt wearing that?" Tristana asked incredulously, taking in the slinky dress and high stilettos.
The redhead winked again, "With ease."
"So cool!"
The woman gave out a hearty laugh, her smile growing at this yordling who, more and more, was reminding her of herself when she was younger.
"Now, I'm really enjoying talking to you Tristana but I'm starving. So why don't we head over to the buffet table so I can grab something to eat and you can tell me why you're hiding from the girl in purple over there."
The blue girl's face lit up as they started walking towards the spread before she corrected her idol. "I'm not hiding from her. I'm trying to resist punching her in the face."
"Now I'm even more curious."
Pearl cast a worried look towards their daughter once more, noting the fiery yordle and tall warrior she had been avidly talking too for the past hour were still there.
"Leave her be," Charlie whispered reassuringly to her.
"But they're not exactly the most refined guests are they. What if they give her the wrong idea about being a soldier?" the blue woman couldn't help but worry.
The white yordle gently lead his wife over to the centre of the room as he continued. "Tristana has a good head, and I'm sure that none of the guests she's met tonight are going to encourage her to blindly jump into battle. Just trust her. She been on her best behaviour all day and she's enjoying herself tonight. So why don't you relax and do the same. Everything turned out perfectly. But I know that a dance with you would definitely make my night all the more perfect." Green eyes met hers as the male gave her a small bow, hand outstretched. "So may I have this dance?"
Pearl sent her husband a dry look, before the smile she had been holding back broke through and she took his hand. "Sometimes I forget how much of a smooth talker you can be."
He winked as his hand came up around her waist. "Someone has to keep the peace in our family."
Well, only one chapter left in this arc :(. Then we move onto the next one :) yay! Sorry again for the short chapter. Hope you liked it :D.