Ashe stared down the length of her arrow and to her target in the distance. She adjusted slightly as she felt her hair being blown to the left in the wind. The corners of her eyes caught sight of the grass swaying lightly to indicate that the wind was not a steadily blowing constant. She let her body bob with rhythm and kept her view locked on the man in the distance. She drew her breath in and released the arrow.
It flew through the air and sank its sharp head deep into the neck of the large Demacian man. He held the gash as he toppled to the ground in pain as blood oozed out of the wound. Ashe grinned as she saw him exhale his final breath into the wind and collapse motionless. For the prince of Demacia, he was not the best of fighters.
"Nice shot! That'll give us a good minute or so to push forward!" called out a voice. It belonged to a boy by the name of Nunu. He had a heart big enough to share it with every cold resident of the Freljord, and he backed it with the trust he had built with his loyal mount; Willump, the Yeti. How he had created the bond with Willump, Ashe did not know, but the possibility of it was not anything that she doubted, knowing his personality. Nunu was among a few of the youngest champions in the League of Legends. Some people found it quite odd that someone would dedicate themselves to a life time of fighting, at such a young age, but Ashe was fairly certain that he had nowhere else to go after making the decision to travel with a yeti: so perhaps the League was truly the only place for him to go. He seemed to like it there, and Ashe was thankful for his presence: especially at times like then, on the Fields of Justice.
Ashe turned and smiled at the boy while brushing the hair from her eyes with her free hand. "Thanks," she replied.
"I mean, he will have respawned in just a few minutes, but he is out of the way for now! Let's go!" Ashe grinned at his ridiculous level of excitement and walked behind him and Willump. She felt fairly safe standing behind such a massive creature, yet talking to Nunu was often made strange due to the fact that she had to look upward in order to talk to a kid. Regardless, they were a combination that was very scary to combat.
Nunu, Willump, and Ashe killed off the minions that stood between them and the enemy's tower-like turret in order to attempt to knock it down. They let their friendly minions take the shots from the tower so that they did not have to, and after a minute or so of Ashe shooting her materializing arrows of true ice, Willump punching the tower's structure with his club-like hands, and Nunu throwing some rather ineffective snow balls at it, the stone turret crumbled to the ground and rose a roar of satisfaction from the audience. They turned around and sought cover as quickly as they could while aware of the fact that the opposing team was likely sending reinforcements down in a late attempt to save their turret. Ashe was crouched down among some tall foliage and her summoner was creating a teleportation circle around her to take her back to base. A short ways off, Nunu and Willump were attempting at the same while taking visual cover in the density of the forest's trees.
The two managed return to base without any conflict and Ashe allowed her summoner to purchase items for her to fight with on the battlefield. She stood around and took a short breather while she waited and noticed that her husband, Tryndamere, appeared back at the base shortly after she did. He was currently spending his rest time doing pushups on the floor. She rolled her eyes and walked over to him.
"Seventy hundred thousand and one, seventy hundred thousand and two…"
"You could go faster if you just said seven million in between each one instead of seventy hundred thousand," Ashe jested. Tryndamere thought for a moment then realized that he should not still be doing pushups anyways. He got up and looked her in the eye before smiling widely; an action very rarely seen from the man when he was not around her. He turned and started to walk back out into the middlemost lane and Ashe kept pace behind him. She had to walk slightly to the side however; his sword was dragged along the ground and the crevice being created was fairly uncomfortable to walk along. "How are things going in the other lanes Tryn?" she asked.
"I took out a few of the towers up top already. The buffoon who was against me was too old to stand up straight."
"Tryndamere, that was Xin Zhao. He is a Demacian soldier and has been most of his life. The fact that he is in as good of a shape as he is, is quite amazing."
"Clearly he isn't in as good of shape as he should be…" Tryndamere said while rubbing his flexed pec. Ashe blushed a little and pushed forward with her bow ready. Tryndamere saw the motion and grinned, but continued to march along his warpath. Shortly behind them, Nunu and Willump were waltzing in as well. The fact that Nunu was capable of riding the yeti despite its slow and awkward lumbering, amazed Ashe.
The lane appeared to be completely unguarded. As they arrived at the tower, a large majestic bird that appeared to be made out of pure ice itself, hovered in the air just slightly off of the ground. Her name was Anivia, and many, including Ashe, referred to her as the spirit of Freljord. She was born there, although no one quite knows how, and watches over the land and its people. She was enrolled in the League of Legends as it seems most fit that the spirit of Freljord be able to participate in battles that could determine fates of the country. Out of the forest to the side of the lane, Gragas emerged. He stumbled out to join his team and barely spent more time breathing than he did drinking from his keg of grog.
The team pushed forward with its line of minions to ensure the destruction of Demacia's tower. It crumbled quickly under their combined force and the team pushed onwards to take the next one in line to make progress towards their Nexus crystal. Once that structure went down, the match would be over. Ashe was hoping that Demacia would have been able to put up a better fight, seeing as half of their turrets were destroyed and there seemed to be nothing attempting to stop them.
As the next tower's concrete structure began to lose its final supports, a yell echoed out that resonated through the very soul itself. Every member of the Freljord team turned their heads to see Prince Jarvan IV leaping through the air with a surreal height acquired, and his mighty lance pointed down at the ground. Seconds later, the massive man smashed into the dirt with such a force that a crater was left surrounding the entire team. After recovering from the initial impact, Ashe looked up to see Shyvana, a half dragon that fought by Jarvan's side, leaping through the air and joining the action. As the Avarosans attempted to recuperate, Luxanna Crownguard began shooting beams of intensified light into the crowd with incredible precision. Ashe saw the members of her team flailing about as the combined ambush was quickly diminishing her forces. In a last ditch attempt to save his team, Gragas hurled his barrel of grog high into the air and moved his large body as quickly as possible to get away from the impact sight. The keg landed on the ground in an eruption of pressurized grog that scattered everyone in the vicinity. The distraction was enough to allow Freljord to get back onto its feet.
"You alls owe me some drink…" Gragas muttered as he unhappily walked back towards the base to acquire a new barrel. Ashe chuckled and turned back to face her foes. Nunu and Willump appeared to have fallen in the fight, but no other casualties were retained, aside from the now retreating drunkard. Tryndamere lifted his sword from the ground and sprinted at Jarvan and Shyvana, planning to take both of them on by himself. Ashe fired a volley of arrows at them in an attempt to distract them and give the Freljordian King the upper hand. Behind her, Ashe heard a cry and loud thud. She turned about and saw no Demacian standing behind her, but Gragas was lying in a massive heap on the ground. Without any hint of an enemy, Ashe felt a thick bolt pierce into her stomach. Her eyes widened and she groped her abdomen in pain. She fell to her knees and saw Vayne, a stealthy hunter form Demacia, nod at her before sprinting towards Tryndamere.
By then, only Tryndamere and Anivia were left standing. If they both fell, there was no doubt that Demacia would be capable of winning the match before the Avarosan team's summoners were capable of reviving any of its members. Ashe slumped to the ground and did what she could to retain consciousness and watch the fight unfold.
Tryndamere noticed the lack of arrows flying his way and turned to see Ashe lying on the cold dirt with blood oozing from her stomach. As he turned, Jarvan took the opportunity to thrust his lance into Tryndamere's chest. The chilling sound of crackling bones was heard and the Prince grinned at his victory. However, Tryndamere did not fall limp to the ground. His head lowered and his weapon fell, but he was not unconscious yet. The Demacian man looked confused, and twisted the spear inside of the Avarosan's torso in attempt to do more damage. His action was responded to with a gentle hand placed upon his arm. The hand was Tryndamere's. A soft chuckle started that grew into a menacing laugh as Tryndamere punched straight through the lance and picked his sword up out of the ground. He hurled himself at Jarvan and slashed away until he was rendered incapacitated. Xin Zhao charged in from behind and skewered Tryndamere through the back in a late attempt to save his prince. Tryndamere seemed not to care as he spun around and cut the man in two with his massive blade.
Next, Shyvana shot to stop the man and Luxanna fired lasers from a distance. The dragon's fire blasts scorched his skin and exposed bone in some parts while the lasers had a similar effect from behind. By that point, the man was shouting out with a rage so intense that the sun could have fallen from the sky in fear. The dragon noticed how ineffective its fiery breath was and lunged at the barbarian in an effort to crush him under her weight. Tryndamere ran at her and slid to the ground in a baseball player's slide and rotated to keep his back to the ground. As the dragon was in a low level flight above him, he kicked against her underside and knocked her off balance. Shyvana toppled to the ground and crushed Luxanna in the process. Tryndamere got to his feet and propelled his sword through the air towards them. Shyvana roared and turned around to make another lunging attempt towards the Avarosan but was met with a five foot blade to the top of the skull. The light flickered from her eyes and she fell limp to the ground.
Tryndamere stood among a bloody mess of corpses and began to walk towards his queen who was on the verge of death. Before he managed to get besides her, a thick bolt landed in his torso and knocked him to the ground. He was attempting to get back to his feet when another bolt hit him in the arm. One after another, Vayne fired silver tipped shots into the man in hopes of removing the remaining stamina he had left. Nearly twenty shots later, Tryndamere was completely fixated to the ground by the arrows and rendered a pincushion. He chortled a few more times before sputtering out a mixture of blood and hatred onto the ground while glaring into Vayne's eyes. He finally smiled in defeat as his head fell back against the dirt and he remained unmoving at long last.
"There's a reason I married him," Ashe whispered softly into the air just moments before she let out her final breath. As soon as she was clearly dead, the summoner in control of her began the resurrection ritual. While he would not finish before the match was over, he would be able to bring her back to life; the League made sure of it. Deaths on the Fields of Justice were never permanent.
The Demacian woman shifted her attention towards the wounded Anivia and shot one quick bolt into her body. The shot was fatal; or so it seemed. A frozen crystalline egg lay where Anivia had been moments before and the woman analyzed it for a brief instant. She decided not to execute her and moved on to shoot down Freljord's remaining towers and finally, their Nexus. The audience roared in approval and a short while later everyone stood amongst one another, back at the Institute of War. Hands were being shaken and congratulations were given out to those who fought. Ashe stood in amazement at what had happened in what seemed like a second.
After she recovered from the shock of it all, she knew what she had to do. First, she walked over and gave Tryndamere the hug he deserved. He embraced her and apologized that he was not strong enough, Ashe slapped his chest and they both chuckled before turning to face Prince Jarvan.
"My Avarosan King and Queen," Jarvan stated with a light bow.
"My Demacian Prince," Ashe replied. She knew Tryndamere would still be bitter after the defeat and intended to do all of the talking for her country. Tryndamere replied with nothing more than a nod and Ashe continued the conversation. "You have proven not only your strength but you military cunning in our match. It was well fought; by both sides. As intended, I would like to offer not only a treaty of peace between our nations, but a partnership, and request for military assistance against the attacks on my homeland. I hope to avoid a civil war, but if tensions bring it near, I will need more strength than what lies within only my peoples. We are of peace and unity, not strength and force. I have a treaty written up, with a duplicate available so both nations may house their proof. Will you accept my offer?"
As she finished her monologue she pulled out the two scrolls and offered them to the Prince of Demacia. He took them in hand, unraveled them, read them thoroughly to ensure there were no tricks included in the treaty and that the copies read identically, then finally nodded his head and signed off on both.
"May our nations undergo prosperity and endure hardships, as one," the Prince said at last as he handed a copy of the treaty back to Ashe. She smiled and they hugged before she turned to face the applauding audience of summoners and champions crowded around them inside of the Institute. Tryndamere shook hands with the Prince and turned to do the same as his queen.
A few hours later the crowd had died out, allowing Tryndamere and Ashe to make their way back towards their room inside the Institute of War. They talked about the match a little and made their way into bed; however, they had not rested for very long by the time a messenger knocked on their room door.
"You got that, right?" Ashe asked rhetorically through a mumbled speech. Tryndamere sighed loudly and got up to answer the door. Right before he opened it Ashe called out.
"Hun, please put some pants on. No need to frighten the messenger." Tryndamere looked down and found himself to be butt naked. He rolled his eyes and threw on some pants before stomping back towards the door.
"What," he asked plainly. The messenger extended a frightened hand outwards with a letter in his grip. Tryndamere snatched it up before slamming the door and walking back into his bed. He threw the letter at Ashe as he got back under the covers.
"It's for you," he muttered.
"Oh it is NOT," she replied before turning on a nearby light to read the letter. Her eyes widened as she scanned its contents and she quickly shook her king back awake.
"Tryndamere, there have been attacks on our camps. It was Sejuani. We need to move out now."
"Daaammmn iiit aaallllll…" he replied through a groan. He got to his feet again and rubbed his tired eyes. He and Ashe got dressed into their battle gear and turned to leave the room. Once outside, they found the messenger sitting against the far wall breathing heavily in panic.
"What did you do to him!?" Ashe demanded.
"Nothing! He's just a wuss!" Tryndamere replied. Ashe sighed and they continued to walk down the hallways en route to the Prince of Demacia's room.
"I TOLD you to put pants on!" she said.
"I did!" he shouted while looking up at the ceiling in disbelief. Ashe laughed and put her arm around his waist as they walked through the hallways. They reached the Prince's room and knocked three times. A few moments later, he emerged in the doorway. His light was on and he appeared to still be half dressed in his armor. It did not seem like he had been sleeping. He cocked his head and looked at the Freljordian couple in front of him in confusion. Ashe handed the Prince the letter and he reviewed it carefully.
"You have my aid, as promised. We leave at sunrise. I will have a messenger request our leave as well. You will have myself a select few of our strongest champions."
"I could ask for nothing more, Prince Jarvan. Just Tryndamere and I will be traveling. I will leave some of our champions here, in case conflict arises for the League to settle. We will meet at sunrise," Ashe replied. They nodded to each other and Ashe turned to Tryndamere.
"How long is it until sunrise?"
"I dunno, a few hours probably. Can I go back to sleep?"
"In your armor? Shouldn't we be training and preparing?"
"It's not like I have a whole lot to equip…" He looked down at his war kilt and boots, and juggled his sword back and forth. She grinned at him in response.
"Fine. I'll go do the technical stuff. As usual," she told him.
"I didn't get these biceps writing papers!" he told her.
"You didn't get them sleeping either."
"That's debatable."
"I'm not responding to that," she told him. He smiled at her.
"You don't have to," he called out while on his way back towards their room. Ashe turned to go find the messenger and ask him to tell the Institute that they would accept the leave of absence in order to go settle the conflict in Freljord.
"Sejuani…" she said under her breath, deep in thought. "What have you done, my sister…"