Irelia's knees sunk hard into the ground as her body collapsed in defeat. Riven, The Exile of Noxus now hung in the air, noose around her neck. Her fists bore into the ground, trying to find some way of releasing the emotion she had stored inside her. Her eyes were filled with an unwelcome liquid. But no amount of strength prevented the tears from streaming down her cheeks. They pooled up on her nose and dropped down to the ground, and she felt as though she could hear the sound of every one hitting the ground. Behind them they left a salty trail, the path down her cheeks ran as a river, drops hitting like a small rain. Her head thrashed around, launching tears all around her. The grass had loss its green color. It was now a dull green, its bright color gone. Although she tried to look away from the situation, it played in full detail in her mind. Riven sat on the platform, her red eyes showing a wide variety of emotions. Fear, sadness, happiness, all in one glance. Her hand reached out, through the crowd, as if trying to grab her own. Their hands hundreds of feet apart, connected only through their thoughts. A small smile broke upon the face of the fated Noxian before her body dropped down, her life ended. Her body rocked around, her hands at her side. The death had been quick, her spine snapped instantaneously. She would have felt nothing in her final moments. But that wasn't good enough. She had made her a promise. She was going to get her through this. They had so much they still needed to talk about. They were going to talk about what they felt for each other. They had to. She had promised. She had promised. But now, due to one simply mistake, she had resulted in her death. Her fists pushed the ground, and she rose to a stand, her pose a mix between standing proudly, and appearing as though the wind itself would launch her into the air like a sheet of discarded paper. She placed her feet, one in front of the other, toward the Noxians body. The tears no longer clouded her vision. There was going to be a time to mourn. But that was not right now. Right now, she had to apologize. Step by step, she closed the gap between her and the Noxians body. It sat still suspended in the air. The muscles that had once allowed her to swing around and wield her sword with fluent precision had ceased to function. Her body jerked around side to side in the spams of death. Arms and legs swinging around in the air, no longer affected by the environment around her. The sight of this reconfirmed the sadness she felt inside her. The actions didn't fit her. Her actions were trained. Not even in death did her movements seem normal. The distance closed between the two, though the Noxians protests of death had not ended. Her body continued their jerking actions. Irelia had seen death. She had seen far more of it than anyone should ever have to see. And she had felt it herself. But despite having seen so much death, no one ever shuddered this long in their final moments. They had been mere moments, quick bursts of the person who had once been contesting their demise. But people had always ended so much faster. And the closer she got, the more the actions seemed controlled. Finally, as only fifteen feet remained between the depressed Ionian and the platform that ended her friend's life, the Noxians eyes shot open.
"RIVEN" she screamed as loud as her coarse throat would allow
The Noxians eyes found the source, fear the only emotion that was now apparent. Her red eyes still had the same glow that they contained the night before. Her hands rose to her neck, trying to lift her from the noose. But her muscles didn't have the oxygen they needed to function. Her attempts at lifting herself free would never become less futile than they were right now. Irelia's legs popped into action as she dashed at the platform.
"Draven, finish the job please." Came the voice of the summoner who had ordered Riven's execution.
"I've got the best job." Spoke the tall man. His hand in one fluent motion grabbed one of the enormous axes off his back and launched it in a perfect arch towards Riven's midsection. Its blade was a deep black with reflective silver around the outside. The blade spun quickly enough that even the designs on the sides of the blades had become a whirl of color caught in the arch. The axe was also well aimed. She could tell just from the trajectory of the blade that it was going to be somewhere that it shouldn't in several seconds. But that was more than enough. One moment, the axe cleaved the air, its colors a whirling masterpiece. The next it was burrowed to the hilt in the platform, the blade completely hidden inside. The second axe flew even faster, but now that she knew what was coming, it was tossed out of the air with mere ease. As she was about to let to let her guard down, a large, shaded object leap from the crowd on a path towards the Noxian. His axe, standing nearly as tall as he, hung behind his back, poised to slice upon contact. His cape drug behind him in the wind, thrashing side to side as it did. Despite being so heavy due to his heavy armor and large weapon, he managed to leap several feet into the air and with great momentum. But her training had prepared her to counter any sort of opponent, no matter his size. Her blades shot out, gripping his axe and legs, before launching him back into the crowd, causing them to scatter like ashes to the wind. She turned tail and leapt quickly onto the corner of the platform, and she felt the wind breeze alongside her face as she turned around to make sure that nobody else was going to try and end her friend's life. Once she had almost resulted in the death of Riven, and that was already once too many. She felt her blades swing around behind her and cut the noose, and the panicked gasps of air that came shortly afterwards. She didn't hear the noise of Riven crashing to the ground, so she assumed her blades had her suspended in the air. Moments passed like days as time froze to a stop. The dazed on look of the crowd, shocked by the turn of events. The look upon the executioners face, his eyes displaying shock. The summoner who had ordered her friend's death, looking around as though he expected someone else to rise to the challenge of trying to kill her. It felt as though minutes had passed before she heard the sound of Riven's limp body collapsing to the platform, the sounds of her limbs crashing down one by one. She turned around on her heels, her blades floating just over the Noxians head, gliding around in the air softly as though riding on the air itself. She ran over to the collapsed woman, bringing herself to kneel in front of her. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, pressing the two together. The Noxian had her hands poised firmly around her neck, her deep breaths long and wheezy.
"Riven, are you ok? Can you breathe alright?" She asked the winded exile.
"Yeah, I am. Thank you" she coughed, her breathing irregular and loud "thank you for saving me."
"It's the least I can do. I got you into this mess and I plan to get you out of it. I promised you that last night right? I don't plan to take back on it."
Their short conversation was cut short by the sounds of boards creaking. As she turned her head, she caught sight of a man, wielding a knife in a very inefficient way. His hands shook, the end of the knife painting small circles in the air. His body was small and frail. He looked as though she could've launched him halfway to the plague jungles if she tried hard enough.
"Irelia … I … I want you to … back away from Riven… Right now … alright?"
She had to force herself to not break into an outburst of laughter. She'd stopped two people from killing her already, and she wasn't going to let Riven die now.
"You back away before I send you flying into that crowd without even so much as a second thought." Her voice changing from that of caring and compassion, to stern and forceful. She wouldn't let him lay a hand on her, and she wanted him to know.
"I… I'll stab you too if you don't get out of the way. And don't think that I'm joking. I'm not." His voice wavered, his attempts to hide his fear in his voice failing.
Irelia unwrapped her arms from the panting Noxian, her body turning to face the shaking man. Her posture was tall and frightening. Her shoulders pressed back, her back extended. Karma had taught her this. It was used all the time between government officials as a sign of their serious intentions and respect. But it could also serve as a method of intimidation. She walked towards the short man, her blades whizzing around her body, the red orb in her hand.
"Do you really think that I fear that small knife? I wouldn't use that to cut the bread I eat." Her pose remained strong, her shoulders still pressed back as she approached the man with the quivering hands, his posture now wavering as she approached with no sign of fear. Her steps remained constant, her breathing rhythmic.
"I'm warning you one more time. If you take one step closer, I'll stab you. You… you better step back!"
But his empty threats did nothing to falter the Ionians stride. She walked with pride in her step. She felt proud. She approached the man faster now, who backed up to attempt to avoid a face to face confrontation. But Irelia rapidly increased her pace, closing the remaining distance and grabbing the man's free hand. The sweat poured from the man's face in droves. His posture slumped as he tried to shrink himself, but the grip on his wrist remained firm. The knife was positioned against her breastbone, applying a strange feeling as the tip pushed her skin in ever so faintly. It wavered against cloth shirt she wore. Her armor remained back in her room, as she hadn't had time to throw it on in all the commotion that had occurred.
"What are you going to do? Are you going to stab me? In front of all of these people for standing up for what I want to believe in? If that's the case, your knife is three inches too low and four too far to the right to get into a place where you can actually hurt me."
His expression changed from a false sense of authority behind a wave of fright to a much more acceptant, enlightened one. He knew that he had no hopes of standing up to her in an actual fight. The knife shook around as it hit the ground, alternating between hilt and knife edge as it jittered on the ground.
"I don't know what I'm doing. I don't want to stab anyone."
"Of course you don't." She turned back to face Riven. "Thanks for dropping the knife by the way."
She strode back towards her downed ally, the breath starting to return to her lungs. The Noxians face had begun to recover its color, or what little color that it had. The white-blue skin now returning to a very light tan, her face looking far more human. Irelia lent her hand to Riven, who gladly accepted it to pull herself back to her feet. Her warm smile showed only for a brief second before switching to a face of extreme terror. Her head swiveled around to see a hooded figure, knife in hand, vaulting towards the duo. Irelia's body turned around and her arms outstretched, trying to cover the noxian as well as she could. His figure flew quick from the audience.
"If you want something done, do it yourself!" he yelled in anger as he flew towards them.
"TALON! NOOOO!" Irelia managed to shout. Her blades flew into the air above her, ready to deflect his figure if he got too close. But as he was about to connect, his figure was propelled into the one of the posts that held up the platform, his arm getting jammed inside of one of the triangular supports that connected between the side and top of two beams, and his body wrapped around. The arm contorted into an inhuman shape, clearly broken. The wind also lifted Riven and Irelia into the air, but their preparation was much higher. Irelia's blades managed to intercept the two girls, holding their bodies in the air as the wind pushing them harder and harder into the smooth sides of blades. A gargoyle like shape sat in the audience, his mouth open, obviously the source of the intense wind. The wind ceased after several seconds, dropping the figures down. They both collapsed in awkward shapes, but no more injury was sustained. Talons arm was in critical condition at this point, but his face was hidden from sight by the support pillar.
"Riven are you ok?" Irelia managed to speak as her breath returned to her. The Noxian was face up, laying against the platform. "Do you feel pain anywhere?"
"No, I'm ok. How about you?"
"From what I can feel, not right now." She lied. She felt a pull in her back left shoulder blade. Pain shot out in waves, causing her teeth to clench. She must've pulled it after hitting the ground. The gargoyle appeared and helped the two girls off the ground again, their bodies battered.
"My apologies for catching you in that. You were not supposed to be hit. Are you in pain?"
"Not right now. Thank you for that Galio." His face displayed no emotion
"It's my mistake that this situation got this far. I should've spoken up sooner."
"What do you mean? You should've spoken up sooner?"
"That is not our concern right now. Right now, we must get this situation sorted out."
Behind them, a squad of soldiers in head to toe body armor and weapons of all assortments lined up in two lines, one crouched, with a standing line behind them. A taller man, also dressed in military apparel stood beside them, with three upside down V's on his left shoulder. His voice came out muffled and strong.
"You have caused so much commotion. This was supposed to be a simple execution, and now look what you have done Irelia. Now we need to execute you for assisting a criminal on multiple occasions."
"Sergeant Donavan, She hasn't done anything. Neither one of them have. They're both innocent on the charges placed upon them, and they haven't done anything to deserve this. Step down now."
"Galio, I'm aware that you believe that these girls are innocent, but I need you to step out of the line of fire before you need to put you down as well. Stop making this harder than it needs to be."
"You will not shoot these girls. I know their innocence, and I will not let you take them down now."
"How do you even know your eyes aren't deceiving you? You might not have seen the right thing anyways."
"You think that I haven't watched long enough!" I had to watch my masters corpse, the only person who I had any connection to, rot into a pile of bones in the ground. He was the reason I am here today. He made me, and he was my father. And then he was gone from me in the blink of an eye. I had to watch him die, I had to watch every moment of his death. I had to watch him breathe his last breaths. I had to watch him pass away. I had to watch him rot away into the ground. I had to watch for far too long. If you think that my eyes can deceive me, it is you who is deceived. You need to back down now."
The words seemed to turn the gears inside of the soldiers head, and several moments later, he made a gesture for the rest of his squad to lower their weapons.
"You have made the right choice today Donavan. What I told you earlier was not a lie, and I owe you one."
"Get them out of my sight, before something else happens. Now"
Galio escorted them off the stage and into the building as the commotion of Talon continued on in the background. They slipped inside the building and returned to Irelia's room, galio staying in the doorway.
"You two are going to stay here until you are instructed otherwise. We are going to get you out of this situation, and get your lives back to normal. Is that understood?"
"Yeah it is. But who is we?" Irelia responded with a confused voice
"Everyone who believes and knows of your innocent. Farewell" And with that abrupt ending, he closed the door behind him and left, the sound of his wings flapping slowly quieted and eventually disappeared down the hallway.
The two girls looked back and forth at each other, standing in the middle of the largest part of Irelia's room
"What do we do now?" Spoke the Noxian, her voice still quivering over the fact that five minutes ago, she was about to be shot, stabbed and hung.
"Right now? We do what he said we do. We wait." She replied to Riven. "We sit here, and we wait."
"I can do that with you Irelia. It's time we get to know each other a little better huh?"
Irelia gave her a small smile in return. "Yeah, it is."