To all who read "The Renegade's Path", I want to apologize for my delay. An unexpected job opening, combined with the retcon of some of the League's lore, made me slow down and plan everything from the start. The fourth chapter is finished, and ready to publish as soon as I can. I put this message here because all my stories about League of Legends are connected. Even the smallest of stories are spent in the same universe as that of Marcus Du Couteau, the Renegade. Reading these side stories isn't mandatory to understand the main story, but it sheds some light and adds some depth to it.

For those who haven't read it, and this is your first exposure to my works, I hope you enjoy it and please don't forget to review, no matter if you hate it, love it, or something in between. Have fun.

A Tale of Dusk and Dawn

The winds blew strong in the Howling Abyss, threatening to throw the fools which got too close to the bridge's sides of into their demise.

The newest Field of Justice was also the oldest, not even the mighty Summoner's Rift rivaling its age. The Last Stand of the Watchers, one of the most important landmarks of Freljord history, now served as a battlefield for the champions of Valoran to clash it out, a training ground for summoners wanting to learn the mechanics of mind tapping and influencing champions, considering they weren't allowed to directly control them unless strictly necessary.

The field also served as an unofficial arena. Champions which desired to duel reunited in the Abyss. The arcane magic emanating from the place was powerful enough to allow a completely automated summoning. Usually, it was simple sparring, other times it was brutal combat, but it was mostly friendly fights. However, there were times, if rare, when long sworn enemies faced each other, ready to solve the dispute once and for all. No outside influence. No minions. No towers. No spectators. Just two people ready to let their rage finally pour into one glorious battle.

Such is the case today.

It's a curious period of time, that before the day rises and the night withers. Were both the sun and the moon sleep. We can feel the shadow of the night mother gloom without neither the white light nor the bright rays to fight it. We have to do such ourselves.

It was in this small window that the Radiant Dawn and the Scorn of the Moon agreed to meet. Without the Summoners filtering outside blessings, both champions could be affected by their "gods", receiving an unfair advantage. This time allowed them to fight without anything in their path. It would be only them. Only them.

It has been long since they had time for themselves, even if it was motivated by hatred, or so they said. Their last one on one meeting was as unpleasant as this, at the Solari Temple.

Restrained by two elite guards, the Radiant Dawn struggled to come free, to stop the madness happening in front of her. But there was no use. Night settled hours ago, and she was no more powerful than the normal foot soldiers of Rakkor, and no match for a regiment of Solari's Enlighted. She had been forced to watch as her best friend's face was scorched with the symbol of the moon, and as she was about to be executed for "heresy". Her goals were noble! All she wanted is to be accepted, to find her place. And this? This is what she was getting for it? It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair!

The kneeled girl in front of the elders wielded the blade and armor of the Lunari. This enough was what it took for her to be put to death. No trial, straight to execution.

"Why?! What have I done to deserve this? All I wanted was for both the Sun and the Moon to work together!" – she shouted, half to the Elders, half to whoever divinity was willing to listen to her.

"We warned you time and time again, Diana. We told you to forget it, to let this heresy die forever. But still you insisted. You brought this upon yourself, Scorn of the Moon. Now follow your antecessors and DIE!" – The executioner took this as a signal and raised his broadsword to strike the young woman down.

Every memory after that feels fuzzy. Both girls remember little more than a white light coming down on the condemned Lunari, a blur of movement, and the aftermath. The cut corpses of the Solari Elders and elite guards, the statue in the middle of the temple releasing an aura of sunlight, empowering the uninjured Leona, to make sure Diana would never leave to spread her heresy. And both remember too well Leona simply dropping her weapons and letting Diana go. Although casting out would be a more precise also remember her screaming and cursing the Lunari as she left.

They stood there, staring at each other for minutes which felt like hours, wondering what the other would do. Who would say the first taunt, who would jump in first, who would break this dreadful silence and just say something?! To call it tormenting was to be generous.

Such silence, a blessing and a curse, was not present when the duel was asked for.

Before that day, they had a unspoken agreement to ignore each other, interactions between them limited to a few angry grunts. But at the summoning platform after General Du Couteau's first match, it was all anger contained broke loose.

Du Couteau looks visibly tired. It was pretty clear he wasn't used to the toll being teleported across Valoran took on people. In the end, his team had lost by an inch. The enemy's Darius had been unstoppable, to the point where you could say his hate for the ex-General had overpowered him.

"Don't worry much, partner, everyone has a bad start" – Graves tapped the Noxian's back, comforting him.

"Must be rough" – remarked Jayce, who had taken the mid lane – "Losing one on one to the asshole after trashing his brother so hard a few days ago."

"Had Miss Sunlight engaged properly, maybe Darius wouldn't have been so much of a headache" – Graves turned towards Diana, clearly surprise by her words. Being somewhat of a veteran in the Institute, he has been around long enough to see that she and Leona had never traded a word before. Having massive synergy with the Radiant Dawn he had the chance to remark that time and time again. He signaled the other two to back away a little, and thanked the Summoners they neutralized champions until they got to their rooms, either taking their weapons and placing them there, or simply siphoning their magic until they were out of the summoning chamber.

"Excuse me?! And who provided what amounts to no help in top lane, even after everyone saw how Darius was?" – Leona stepped forward towards her nemesis

"Maybe if you didn't prove completely useless, I wouldn't have to babysit bot lane against that damned Warden and his pet yordle gunner, I could have helped Du Couteau!"

Jayce tried to intervene – "Girls, please, there's no need to…"

"No one asked you to come help us!" – with no success.

"Of fucking course, because why would the Radiant Dawn ever need help? Sorry I can't be as perfect as you obviously are!" – they were practically face to face by now.

"No one ever asked you to be perfect! Just not to be such a screw up all the time!" – this one surprised everyone, including Leona. She was widely known for being controlled and polite, even for her enemies. Besides the occasional well intentioned taunt, she never insulted anyone, directly or otherwise. And for a first timer it had obviously taken it's toll on the "target", Diana's face flinching, trying to contain tears.

"Yeah? Then let's settle this, once and for all! Howling Abyss, tomorrow!"

"Fine!"

And with that, both women turned their back on each other and left.

"Is it like this every time?" – asked Du Couteau

"It never is actually. It's the first time I see both of them fighting." – replied Graves

"These type of things tend to solve themselves. We'd do better not to think about it" – Jayce remarked, ending the conversation.

Diana finally broke the silence – "Afraid to initiate? How unusual of you."

Leona immediately used Zenith Blade on the taunting girl, catching her slightly off guard. It connected, and Diana took the full blunt of the Rakkorian girl's armor. Usually, she swiftly positioned herself behind the target, to follow with a shield bash. She didn't even bother with the last part, colliding with full force with Diana, sending her across the lane. Her back collided with the ground, forcing her body to stop moving as her armor absorbed most of the kinetic energy.

"Ahah… Nice one… I admit." – struggling to get up, Diana used her blade-scythe as support for her weight – "But I have some tricks of my own."

Demonstrating she knew how to fake her injuries, she swung her blade with remarkable speed, sending a wave of moonlight into the Radiant Dawn.

Leona tried to dodge the harmful magic, but its curved path made it impossible. The mark on her head didn't last long, for Diana rushed towards her, swinging her blade to open a defense in Leona's shield before shielding herself with a magical barrier. However, the Radiant Dawn's reaction was much quicker than before, and she placed reinforced her own defense immediately, sunlight enveloping her as she skillfully dodged the moonlight orbs, experience telling her those things aren't nearly as innocent as they look.

She backtracked to avoid the first one, putting her shield up to avoid the scythe attack the Lunari threw at her. She followed by bashing it against Diana, stunning her, while using her sword to cut through the second orb. At this point, her sunlight shield detonated, and without the summoner's magic to protect it, the last orb was banished by the rays of light, which managed to scratch its owner as well.

Recovered, and furious, the white haired woman lost no time regaining dominance. In the same unusual manner Leona used her Zenith Blade, Diana Lunar Rushed at the Dawn's back, surprising the redhead, and before she could react, she stabbed her scythe into the ground, knowing it alone couldn't pierce through Rakkorian armor.

"Twilight fades!" – the ground was imbued with magic, glowing like the night sky, and pulling Leona against her. Using the power she harnessed, Diana released a burst of energy of her blade, knocking the Dawn's down, the weight of her own armor preventing any countering.

Leona tried to get up, but she found a blade scythe against her neck. Slowly moving around, Diana used the time she had her immobilized to kick the Solari's sword away and drag the shield with her feet.

She was at Diana's mercy. Finally she could gloat how the Solari were inferior, finally she had demonstrated once and for all her superiority, finally she could strike down her opponent, even if temporarily.

Then why didn't she want to?

She had killed Leona many times in the fields. The summoners influenced their champion's decisions but didn't control them directly, so she had taken her down many times. But here, free of any outside influence, free from the mind link which told her what to do, she couldn't bring herself to kill the woman beneath her. Her hand started to shake, giving away her weakness. What was it? Was it her silky red hair? Her beautiful face? Her deep, loving eyes? Or maybe it was that even in defeat this woman seemed composed, powerful and… and…

Years of repressed feelings rushed to crawl away from the place were these were escaping. The guilt of killing those which were once her elders, the shame of being condemned for execution, the loneliness she felt while traveling, and the pain of missing Leona.

Her legs trembled. She couldn't keep her blade in her hand longer, and it fell close to the Dawn's weapons. Unable to stand on foot, she let herself fall on her knees, unable to contain her tears. The war paintings she wielded started to spread across her cheeks.

Leona slowly got up and close the gap between her and the Scorn of the Moon. Diana felt pathetic and worthless, and had no doubt the Radiant Dawn would not waste this advantage. She closed her eyes, waiting for the final strike…

…and such was her surprise when she was tightly hugged by Leona. The woman emanated a natural warmth which Diana could not help but to enjoy. ENJOY?! What the hell was wrong with her?! This was her enemy, her nemesis. The friendship with this woman was long gone. Or was it? Thinking back about the recent events created a lingering doubt on the Lunari, which kept growing and growing the more she thought about it. The look of sheer terror on the Dawn's face after she uttered the foul words, her focus on the moon orbs instead of Diana, the complete lack of usage of her sword while fighting…

Almost unconsciously, she whispered – "You are going easy on me".

Leona tried to fake a puzzled expression and utter a "what?", but Diana could see right through it. It had always been like this since they were kids.

"Ah! Too slow!" – Said Diana, as she dodged Leona's hook. The girls had been sparring all evening.

Their interactions sure were a curious phenomenon. Although the Solari were supposed to be in isolation from the rest of Mount Targon, Rakkorian and Solari children tended to meet at half point and play. The Elders did not interfere much besides the occasional lesson about honor towards the sun's rules and that sort of stuff, but they knew as long as the kids were entertained they did not interfere in the daily rituals. It was something they were expected to outgrow. But Leona and Diana never received that memo. While others stopped coming, Diana kept her daily trips to their meeting spot, and Leona was always there waiting for her. They met during the night, to avoid being discovered. It was funny. Most people had little to say to each other even after knowing them for years, yet the two of them always had too much to talk, never managing to talk about everything they wanted in one session. And when they didn't feel like talk, rare occasion, they sparred, just like now.

She followed her dodge with a punch in the stomach, taking Leona off her pose. She didn't seem injured or hurt, so it was even more curious when she called a timeout.

Diana lost little time expressing her disbelief – "You know, it's a little weird that a girl whose combat experience can be summed up to fighting for the last sweetroll at the cafeteria can beat up a trained Rakkor warrior 50% of the time now."

"You're just getting better, that's all" – she remarked, dismissively. – "Unless the topic is jokes, in that area you're a lost cause." – Diana wouldn't let the smirking Rakkor change the subject that easily – "Hey, don't try to mock your way out of this one, I know you're…"

"What's the difference between Diana telling a joke and a yordle fighting with a claymore?"

"Oh seriously? This is just…"

"At least you can laugh while watching the yordle!"

"That's it, you're going down!" – Diana shouted, as she jumped on the unsuspecting Solari. The impact caused them to fall into the grass, rolling around as they clanged to one another. It ended with Leona on top of Diana, asserting dominance.

They were face to face with eachother, panting, tired and blushing from the exhaustion and the heat of the "battle".

"Guess we both went down" – Diana joked

"Yeah…" – replied Leona

They stayed in their positions for what seemed to be hours, awkward silence filling the air. It was Leona who broke it, letting Diana go off her strong hold.

"Yeah… uhm… I should be, you know… going, because, uhm, it's getting pretty late, I mean early, so… bye." – Leona's stammering and awkwardness were extremely out of character, but Diana decided to let it slip, for the sun would be rising soon indeed. She started her climb towards the temple, but stopped and turned around – "Hey Leo?"

"What… is it, Di?" – asked the Solari, still stammering a little.

"Promise me you won't go easy on me next time"

Leona let a small smile grow in her face – "Promised."

A promise which hadn't been kept

"Don't even try to deny it!"– the Lunari shoved away the Dawn – "It's been like this since we were kids! You never thought I was worth it did you? That I was worth the challenge? You despised me too much to give me the honor of a propel duel!"

Leona was taken aback with these words – "WHAT?! Diana, it's not like that at al!"

"Then why?! This was supposed to be our battle, preparing for the prophecy! Dusk versus Dawn, the beggining of the end for the eternal dispute, and you treat me like a child. You think of me as inferior, as a worthless heretic, like the Elders did!" – Diana could not contain herself any longer. The tears she held after the match, and for that matter every day since her "execution", now flown completely free. The battle makeup was now completely undone, making her crying face even more difficult to watch.

"Stop it! You know full well I don't think that!" – Leona looked like she was about to burst after that last reply, her face completely red.

"Then what is it?! Why are you going easy on me? If it's not contempt, then why? WHY?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" – Diana's breath was stolen from her, rendering her unable to say a word. Leona, however, wasn't about to stop there - "I love everything about you! The way you always stand up for what you believe, no matter the cost. The punny jokes. The way your smile lights up an entire room, like a diamond in the sky. The way you always manage to turn things around, even when the situation looks most grim. It all adds up to make the girl I'd want to spend my life with."

The red in Leona's face wasn't showing any signs of disappearing, becoming stronger and fiercer instead – "I fought countless times, died countless times in the League, by being eaten alive, sprayed with bullets, poisoned, impaled, decapitated, cut in half, ravaged by magic, sliced up by kamas, filled with visions of what's to come and more. But yet, the biggest pain I have ever felt in my life was when I saw the Elders carve the symbol of the moon in your beautiful face, knowing I could do nothing to stop it." – she could not contain herself any longer, and like Diana before her, the Radiant Dawn's tears glided across her face. – "I am sorry if you felt I considered you weak, but I could never truly hurt the woman I love."

"But… but why haven't you said so before?" – Diana asked

"I was planning to do so after you came back from your travel to the ancient temple, but…" – The memories were painful, and she couldn't finish the sentence. – "After all of that was done, I was angry, not at you, but at myself. I couldn't stop them, and I couldn't contain you. I said things which I meant for me, not for you. Could you ever forgive me?"

Diana said nothing. Hell, the girl didn't even move. The two women stared at each other for minutes which seemed like hours which seemed like days. None knew what to say, how to say it, and if it would be best to even say anything. This time, it was Leona breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry Diana, you must think of me as such a freak. Sorry I ever said anything." – she turned her back on the Lunari, embarrassed and ashamed, walking towards the summoning platform. She just wanted to bury her face in her pillow and never leave her bed. What was she thinking? This girl hated her. After all that happened, it was foolish to think they could be more than nemesis.

Her thoughts got interrupted as a hand grabbed her arm hard – "Please don't go." – Leona turned back to see a sight like no other. Diana, doing her best effort to emanate a pout, a small glimpse of desperation, glee and passion. She also got treated to another beautiful sight as the Lunari dived right into her, sealing her lips into hers. And then she saw nothing, closing her eyes to fully appreciate Diana's deep, passionate kiss. Both girls melted in each other's arms, holding tightly as if afraid it was just a dream. Diana's tongue seeking entrance in the Dawn's mouth, however, proved more than enough to disprove that theory. She allowed it, and the kiss deepened, years of contained tension finally released.

The woman who initiated the kiss was forced to break it to take a breath, very much against her will. The two stared at eachother again, but this time the silence wasn't embarrassing. For there was no silence truly. They talked without words, thanking whatever divinity they could remember and praying this moment wasn't some kind of sick dream.

"What now?" - Diana asked - "You know we can't leave happily ever after. The Solari won't take me back, and I surely don't want to return in the state they are."

"Screw the Solari!" - Diana was a little taken aback by Leona's vulgar language, but then again, was that the weirdest thing that happened in this hour? - "I'm the Radiant Dawn, and that means I hold power over them, not the other way around. It might take time but they'll do what I say. And I say the Lunari and the Solari don't have to fight!"

"Really?" - Diana could barely contain the glee on her voice.

"Of course. The information you once brought showed we weren't always in war. There was once a time where we revered the sky together, Lunari and Solari. I think that time is one we should reinstate. What do you say... Di?" - The smirk on Leona's face was swiftly erased by a deep, loving kiss.

"I say it's about damn time, Leo."

There are many things a regular human can't see. The hidden beauty in the tiniest of creatures, the small details we watch but ignore. But there are some people who can spot the small diferences, and notice something great happened. And if one of those men and women were to look at the sky today, at the end of this dawn, they would see what appears to be a wide, paternal smile in the rising sun.

.