7:30 AM. A loud slam on the door to the room Nero was kept in startled the yordle from his slumber. The tiny bed he'd been given creaked under his weight as he toppled out of it.
"GET UP AND READY!" a booming voice called.
Nero groaned and picked himself up off the floor, his eyes hazy. He was still exhausted from yesterday, and didn't sleep soundly at all. Led here, told to be ready for daylight, and a slammed door was all he experienced since being in Noxus. He glanced over to a mirror in the room and looked at his untrimmed fur.
"You look horrid today..." Nero mumbled, putting a hand to the fur that flowed off his chin.
He'd aged a lot since the war, and it showed. His eyes tired and slightly strained, his fur just a slight lighter shade of what it used to be, and his stance weary. It was only then that he realized his fur was covering the pendant on his chest. He brushed it aside and grasped it. He used to get such a wonderful feeling from simply being in the presence of it, but where had that gone now...?
Then his eyes turned to the bandaging on his torso. He could see parts of it tinted red. A dull pain he had ignored for so long came back, and he buckled over slightly, gritting his teeth. A few breaths, and he shakily stood upright again.
He jumped once the slamming on his door returned. The knob turned and in stepped what looked like a general. Nero's eyes lidded as he turned to the man.
"You've had enough of a sleep!" He grabbed the yordle's hand and led him out of the room and into a hallway.
Nero let himself be brought along. "Can't have...Still exhausted."
"Your cooperation is needed. We have a special...organized training for you today."
As the yordle turned to the windows and glanced to the morning light, he saw the towering buildings of Noxus, and his eyes widened. Fog. There was tons of it. Everywhere it blanketed the buildings. The buildings themselves...intrigued the yordle. He'd never seen such architecture, all skillfully crafted- by delicate and strong hands no doubt. And combined with the fog, it looked-
He shook his head. No time to be mesmerized. They were responsible for the death of his father after all. A sour feeling in his gut came back, and the small frown he wore grew. But...he agreed to this. He agreed to cooperate. Who knows what they may have done to him otherwise.
Lost in thought, he was brought back to reality when he felt the sunlight on him. It was hard to see where he was, but from the view he saw earlier, he supposed he was somewhere out of the way of Noxus' center.
"...Where are we...?" Nero asked.
"The outskirts of Noxus. Where the barracks are. Why do you ask?" The man turned to the yordle.
"I've never been here."
"Of course, it slipped my mind." He spread his arms out dramatically. "Welcome to Noxian territory."
Nero's face fell and he stared towards the ground.
"Look alive, yordle! We have a big day ahead."
"But in this condition?"
"Mages do not need to move so much as to concentrate."
Nero's eyes widened. This man knew of his ability?
"And you would know such a thing?"
"I would not be fit to lead."
Nero's ears twitched. That was indeed true. When leading, you are expected to have the most knowledge, and that consists of every aspect of battle.
"This is the barracks, but is there a specialized place for training?"
"The training grounds are further North. We're already so far North already."
Northern Noxus. Hard to tell from the rest of the area. Nero didn't think too much of it. It was all the same to him. He found himself watching the fog again, the buildings from earlier slowly tapering out of view. Once again, he was brought down to normality when the general spoke as they reached their destination.
"Command General Darius informed me of your strength as a hydromancer. Unfocused, yet powerful enough to wash away the army that accompanied him." He began to take on a defensive stance. "Today we will focus on not only using that power, but giving it form."
Nero looked at his hand and tried to feel the energy from before flowing through him again. The fog seemed to be drawn to him, as it covered him as a suit of armor would. Fractions of it gathered in his hand, swirling here and there, shifting into a ball of water. His eyes widened, marveled at this discovery.
"Do you learn from idling?" The general asked him suddenly.
"I spent my days wandering the wilderness of Ionia." Nero shrugged, still watching the water. "I would suppose so."
'But what else would I be allowed to do with this power...? If I have the ability to shift what is made partially of water into water itself...Give it form, the man says...'
The water shook in the presence of Nero, the pendant he wore shimmering and glowing as the energy in his magic began to swallow him. It took only a moment for him to regain his strength. The tiredness he felt slowly began to disappear, and Nero stood upright once again with the strength he had from before.
"...I'm ready." Nero took a step forward. "Don't hold back."
"Confident, are you?" The general tilted his head, giving a grin. "You're still suffering from that injury."
"Last I heard, I was brought here for a special organized training. I understand if you're afraid."
The grin immediately disappeared, and so did the friendly atmosphere. Nero snickered at the man's sudden change of attitude. He couldn't believe what he was feeling. He felt every part of his being overflowing with energy. Maybe the adrenaline had come back. Maybe he had finally woken up. In a way, that was true. In reality...
He had finally given himself to his magic, and therein would lie his full potential.
The fog around the general and the yordle began to shift and swirl. Water. It was everywhere. A whirlpool it became as Nero circled his hands in the air. The general found himself watching the water as it swirled high above his head, quickly realizing this was a danger far bigger than a simple training session. With a call into the air, the other soldiers rallied.
'Give it form he says...'
With not all the fog used up, and with the air being clearer, Nero took the fog just on the edge of what was visible and formed it into what looked similar enough to himself. Shaky in appearance, it would not stay there for long. The soldiers surrounded Nero. No, he couldn't fight. Not like this, and he knew it...
As they charged for him, Nero exhaled and felt himself shiver, a calmness overtaking him as the water surrounded him, joining him with the fog copy he had created. He broke into a sprint off into the fog, shouts following him.
"Cut him off ahead! Band as a group!"
He couldn't fight...but perhaps under the cover of the fog...
It was difficult to see, and he understood that. If he could not, then certainly the soldiers wouldn't be able to either. He continued running, the pain from his torso coming back. He felt winds kick up around him. Dust? Dust-filled winds. He slowed his running.
"He's headed there..."
"Give up. We're not catching him."
It was...that easy? Were the winds of the Northern Plains of Noxus too harsh for the soldiers? No, of course not. They were specialized for these matters. Nero breathed a sigh of relief, one that quickly turned into a loud strained shout of pain. He collapsed to the ground, feeling a warmness coming back.
"D-Damn it...ripped the wound open..."
The bandages were beginning to be stained in fresh blood. Yet still, he stood up and limped forward, focusing on his breathing.
He could see now, undisturbed by the fog he had left behind. Out in the wilderness again, back to being a wanderer. But this time, crippled. He felt a headache coming to him, but it felt as if someone was repeatedly ramming his head into a wall. Perhaps he was imagining the pain, he didn't care.
The walking had caught up to him, and he finally was down again. He laid there on his back, staring up at the sky.
"...At least this view is beautiful..."
Even as he imagined death, he felt...calm. Calmer than he'd ever been. That anger was so far gone. He felt as if he was back in Ionia again.
'...I never said goodbye to her...'
He closed his eyes as his breathing slowed to a crawl, and he waited for the stillness of death.
...
Footsteps in the distance. Quick, but hard stomps across the ground. It sounded as if something was being jostled. A whistle.
"Looks like somebody went an' did the job for us!" A laugh followed.
A growl...?
"Yeah I think he's dead enough." The voice was so loud...
Nero opened his eyes slightly. Could they stop that...? His eyes widened as he saw the owner of the voice. Another yordle!? And...a strange lizard thing.
"I lied." The yordle shrugged, looking shocked at the fact Nero wasn't dead.
"I'm trying to die in peace here..." Nero shivered.
"Skaarl, when was the last time ya ever saw a talkin' corpse?"
Nero squinted. An old looking yordle stared down at the other, riding atop a strange lizard. He carried an axe, and looked fit to be a commander.
Oh he was just dreaming this. The surprise went away.
"W-Well then...! Off with you."
"Haven'tcha noticed yet? Yer on my property!"
He didn't have time for this. Nero laid his head back and closed his eyes.
"HEY I AIN'T DONE YELLIN' AT YOU FRIZZIT! Damn city folk! I say we kills 'em!"
His lizard angled his head at the yordle and clamped its mouth onto a leg, dragging him.
"Yer gonna eat that alive?" The yordle cackled. "Love the idea!"
His laughing stopped as he realized what Skaarl was doing.
"WHAT!? NO, WE AIN'T BRINGIN' HIM WITH US! Just eat him here!" The yordle screamed, "SKAARL!"
But the lizard had other plans. Nero looked interesting! Or perhaps it was just interested in the shiny glowy thing around his neck.