Nero began to think they'd been walking in circles for hours in the sun, walking aimlessly from one place to the next. Everything seemed to look the same out here, tiny creatures scuttling left and right to avoid being squashed under Skaarl's feet. To pass the time, Nero had been asking Kled questions.

"So...you've been out here all this time?" He carefully stepped over a beetle.

"Nowhere else suits me. Soldiers thrive in the danger of the wilderness." Kled insisted.

"Soldiers, huh?"

The two stopped near what looked like a ruined statue. Nero could tell its been here for years. Plants had begun to grow in its crevices and break the brittle stone apart further.

"Damn right! You gots t'be tough to survive."

"Out here...there is no living?" Nero was baffled. "Only surviving?"

It made sense; the dusty winds would be unfit for most to live in. Kled was probably insane for choosing to live here. Then again, a lot of the things he says seem to indicate that anyhow.

"Didya think this was going t'be some fairytale?" Kled laughed, shaking his head. "This is Noxus, Cous."

"Noxus seems to have the same look wherever we walk, Cous."

"There's that fools talk again. Look. We're south of the center of these plains."

Kled gestured towards the statue they had found themselves at. Nero squinted at it and tilted his head. He didn't see how this statue could indicate anything. It looked like just another old monument lost to time.

"Might this be...a landmark?" Nero glanced back towards Kled.

"Yessir!" Kled nodded, folding his arms. "I'ds let you be the eyes of patrol, but that's Skaarl's job. He always does it well."

Nero had to give Kled credit. He would've just ignored the ststue had they not walked up to it. How well does he know this land?

"I recall Skaarl being addressed as female." The Ionian looked unimpressed.

"Dunno myself. She's whatever I think he is!"

Skaarl growled, dopey as always. Perhaps Kled would say she agreed. Nero just shook his hesd, umimpressed. If this was going to be his only kin for miles, he might as well put up with him.

Kled hopped off Skaarl and walked in front of the statue, taking off his hat and pressing it to his chest. It didn't take a genius to know this was a sign of respect. Nero looked up towards the ruined statue. Perhaps this was someone important that died long ago in a war. Maybe someone influential? No doubt an important aspect of Noxus whoever it may be.

Nero buckled his legs and sat on them, clasping his hands together around his pendant tightly. Kled adjusted his hat on his head again and looked to Nero.

"Ain't you Ionian?" he asked, "Why respect a Noxian soldier?"

"...I...I'm sure he died, didn't he? If the war was so long ago and they made a memorial of him." Nero looked to the plants taking root on it. "There's a purpose for everything, even war- I was told by a Noxian. And...I know from Ionia that everyone has a path they choose to follow. And if that path means death, whether foolish or courageous, it was to fight for what he believed in. For him doing what I could not. That is why."

"...What's your fixation on death anyways?"

Nero grunted. Kled had managed to focus on that despite his wording. He should give the yordle credit for being sharper than Nero thought.

"I've experienced a loved one's passing."

"Relatives...? And lemme guess...was it part of a war?"

"Yes, actually, how-"

"If a conquest is happenin', I knows about it. Used t'lead some!"

Kled hopped back on Skaarl. "Skaarl and I, that is, led some. But we were there during them all!"

"You're as old as Noxus itself then..."

"I'm as young as anyone! Age ain't nothin' but a number out here, right Skaarl!?"

Skaarl hazily nods in agreement. Kled didn't seem to worry about too much, did he? Is this rough life the freedom he's desired his entire life?

An Hour Later

"That's enough ya need to know 'bout me. I got questions for you."

They arrived at a pond, with Nero's attention immediately getting drawn away from Kled. He moved towards the edge, dropping to his knees and staring into the water. His pendant began shining again. Skaarl began lapping up water, and Kled hopped off her to sit near Nero.

"That trick ya did earlier...you control water?"

"Effortlessly. Impressed?" Nero raised an eyebrow."

"Thought you were like that hemo-somethin' from Noxus." He laid on his back, hands resting behind his head. "Magic folks always mean trouble. Nothing but trouble! Noxus used to rely on other things than magic. Now it's all about revenge and greed. Ain't gettin' us nowhere."

"I'm not trouble."

"Course you ain't. Yer Ionian. Peacemaker folks. Probably why Skaarl likes ya. Would've run off if you attacked."

"But she's-"

"Said that already. Still runs off. Don't understand immortality no-how!"

Nero thought to himself. There were mages here in Noxus? And not just a few, but a lot...Perhaps he could learn from some of them, but...he wasn't interested in 'dark magic' and forbidden spells. He heard of a man in Ionia that could control one's shadow and another that was darkness itself. If Noxus was full of those like that...

"Is that why you dislike the city?"

"Cuz Skaarl keeps runnin' off? Makes no damn sense is what-"

"No, I mean...the magic."

"EH? Oh, yep. Had to...take my leave permanently after a yordle that used to be here turned to the same methods."

He looked down to the water, seeing Skaarl's face, and realized she was right up against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"...Some magic can be beautiful."

Kled gave a dry laugh. "Optimism ain't gonna getcha nowhere."

He took the edge of his hat and tipped it down over his eyes. Nero glanced to Skaarl and thought for a moment. He whispered into one of her ears.

"Miss, would you accompany me? I think a demonstration's needed."

Skaarl licked his face again, getting a very irritated look from the yordle. He sighed and turned towards the water.

"I'll take that as a yes."

He carefully put one leg over Skaarl, mounting the drakalops. Grasping the rope attached to the saddle, he launched ahead with her, the shout he gave out instantly causing Kled to turn his head.

Over the pond's surface they went, water shooting up from under them and beginning to freeze. Curved ice rose up around them as Kled stood on the edge of the water.

"WHAT'RE YA DOIN' WITH SKAARL!?"

Nero didn't answer, the top of the ice stem under Skaarl and he- just under the curved ice- fanning out in the shape of petals. The stem itself became spiky, easily sharp enough to cut something. Kled backed up in awe as he observed the massive ice rose sculpture, with Skaarl and Nero sitting at the center, smiling back at him- Nero more smug than Skaarl.

Skaarl hopped up out of the center and brought Nero with him.

"'What am I doing', you ask. Well, just what I do best." Nero leaned closer to Kled. "Impress."

It was hard not to be in the face of the sculpture. Kled's jaw might as well have hit the ground at this point. The ice gleamed in the sun, making it seem all the more incredible.

"Optimism and hope is my courage. And with it, I can do this." The yordle nodded. "You just have to...give your power form. And with it..."

"...comes a gift." Kled mumbled.

He sat there with Nero and Skaarl, looking at a shining light of hope.