Eerie glows and black inky shadows, withered seeds and ancient cobwebs, priceless antiques and small green seedlings skillfully planted inside cheap plastic pots, the thick veil of darkness covers them all, hiding them, flooding them, suffocating them, choking their dusky forms in its terrifying dark mysterious embrace.

Kabooooom

The sudden deafening sound of thunder abruptly breaks the night's relative silence, grey and black hues abruptly turning a bright white, blinding undertones of silver and alabaster pouring forth from the leaden guts of the stormy clouds, the unexpected disturbance causing the small form wrapped around the Spider Queen's arms to shift uncomfortably and whimper, uttering small scared noises before pressing its head against the slumbering woman's chest.

Kabooooom

The blinding serpents of lightning suddenly lunge towards the dry earth, illuminating the heavy clouds hanging from the sky. Silver and black shards now whirling between the tiny droplets of moisture falling down to earth, rushing to meet the brown warm soil.

Kaaaaaabooooooooooooooom

Pit pit pit

Another thunder booms in the distance, light and darkness dancing on the horizon, the comforting shadows of the bedroom suddenly retreating for only a brief moment, but long enough to reveal the slumbering plantmage still clinging to the flabbergasted Spider Queen for dear life before the rightful dominion of the night is yet again restored.

Elise wakes up after the third lightning finally disappears behind the heavy dark clouds, the pitter-pattering of the raindrops against the bedroom's window and the excitable gurgle of the water draining from the gutter the only audible sounds except from the quick terrified breaths of the agitated plantmage.

Elise smiles after spotting Zyra, the plantmage still clinging to her form, her curvy yellow-green body pressed against her own, soft crimson hair spilling all over the pillow like the scattered petals of fragrant roses after a particularly windy afternoon.

The spidermage's good mood wouldn't last for long however and it only takes Elise a quick glance across the room to realize that something is definitely amiss.

The Spider Queen blinks, her smile disappearing, scarlet eyes narrowing dangerously, thin elegant eyebrows furrowing as she finally spots the thorny plants blossoming all over the bedroom.

Elise pauses, calm ruby eyes now wandering towards her slumbering partner, her previous guise of irritation instantly melting away, immediately replaced by one of worry upon witnessing the unconscious plantmage's agitated expression.

"Zyra?"

The plantmage remains still, her orange phosphorescent irises rapidly moving behind her closed eyelids, but although Zyra swifts in her sleep she doesn't wake up even though her grip around the Spider Queen's waist suddenly tightens considerably eliciting a small grunt from the still dazed cultist.

Elise grunts in pain, her already narrowed crimson eyes now suddenly turning into red slits filled with sanguine fire, the unholy light burning inside those crimson eye sockets almost managing to illuminate the whole room.

A few tiny spiderlings slowly start creeping out of their nests near the ceiling and behind the old heavy furniture, the small crimson glowing dots of their eyes shining eerily in the dimly lit room like bloodstained fireflies buzzing among the shadows.

"Zyra?"

Silence, the sounds of splattering water and disturbed rippling puddles of dirt and mud the only sounds that manages to reach the Spider Queen's ears, plants and shadows, spriderlings and cobwebs all standing still as if frozen in time, simple witnesses to the odd sight before them.

Kaabooooom

The last lighting finally roars in anger, coiling behind the clouds, shouting its fury among the frigid raindrops and the howling gusts of moisture, splitting the sky in two even as it dives for the wet ground below.

The plantmage screams, her voice rising in terror as orange phosphorescent eyes abruptly open, the deadly pink flowers littering the illuminated room suddenly bursting to life, demonstrating their acidic petals and uncoiling their thorny poisonous vines, ready to defend their queen and maker even as the enraged spiderlings swiftly abandon their cobwebs and various hiding spots and start hissing lowly in warning.

The battle seems imminent, the conflict unavoidable, black and green armies of creeping death are already springing into action, both adversaries ready to maul and kill, intending to defend their respective queen at any cost, even if that means sacrificing their lives.

The varmints hiss, the creepers slither closer, vines and fangs dripping with liquid death moving to intersect the shadowy path leading to the small bed currently occupied by their respective sovereigns, both of them silent, both of them still, staring intently into each other's eyes as if trying to guess their partner's intentions.

Zyra is the first one to break eye contact, she just sighs in defeat, tiredly shaking her head before burying her face into the spider queen's bosom making Elise smile softly.

The cultist's expression softens considerably, she nods dismissively at the spiders around the bed and then sighs, smooth pale arms carefully wrapping around her little flower.

The room is silent once again, the deadly armies of green and black silently sinking back in the shadows, scarlet eyes and crimson thorns disappearing under the blanket of darkness smothering the scarce moonlight.

Elise waits for a few long moments, her mind lost in thought, delicate taloned hands kept occupied by caressing the trembling back of her favorite plantmage, crimson irises alternating between trying to steal a peek at her lover's face and staring confusingly at the glistering dump window.

"Forgive me if I am wrong, but aren't plants supposed to enjoy rainfalls and water in general?"

Zyra doesn't answer at first, she just nods and then remains silent, letting the minutes keep ticking by, one of her wet tearstained cheeks still pressed against the spidermage's heart and the scarlet waterfall of her hair still hiding her crestfallen expression.

The two of them remain like that for what feels like hours, silently hugging in the dark, their curvy bodies tightly pressed against each other, merely appreciating each other's calming, reassuring presence until Zyra finally manages to gather her wits enough to whisper a few strained sentences from the safety of Elise's bosom.

"It's not the rain that scares me, but the bright lights and the booming sounds that accompanies it. The light is bad, very dangerous. It used to start fires and turn plants into ash when I was just a green patch at the rich soil of Kumungu."

Oh, that actually made sense. Elise had spend so much time around the adorable plantmage that she sometimes forgot about the fact that Zyra had originally been nothing more than a small red flower proudly blossoming inside the heart of the unexplored jungle of Kumungu.

" I-I remember listening to the roars of the sky and seeing the bright lights that rained death upon all those unfortunate plants and animals that happened to be on their way. I-I… didn't have legs like now back then and so I couldn't run away from the fire and the embers that killed so much plant life. And… and then the light struck near my sisters and I… I couldn't help them and I could only hope that I would be lucky enough to survive the night, but t-then… then the lights suddenly struck again and-."

"It's ok, dear, I understand. You don't have to talk about it if the memory scares you."

Elise cuts her off and the Spider Queen can't help but smile ruefully. She acknowledges that she is evil, cruel and merciless, a traitorous heartless woman sacrificing innocent souls at the altar of her sinister spider-god in order to refuel her immortality.

Countless men and women have followed her inside the cave of that beast after listening to her promises of wealth and power only to die a horrible death at the venomous fangs of Vilemaw.

And yet Elise doesn't mourn for their deaths or feel any shame for their loss and she doesn't even care enough to bring the news of their deaths to their friends and families. No, those faithful lambs are just tools for her, their deaths serving what the Spider Queen deems a worthy purpose. And yet as cruel and black hearted as she is Elise can't even fathom to allow her little flower to even shed a single tear.

"Lie down."

Zyra just nods and the plantmage is quick to follow the spider cultist's instructions as she instantly crawls back under the covers, hands still wrapped around Elise, her head still resting against her lover's ribcage.

Elise pauses for a moment, waiting for the tired plantmage to make herself comfortable before trying her idea, pale taloned hands carefully moving across the soft green leaf like fins decorating the plantmage's head before suddenly stopping, milky white palms now covering the sentient plant's ears.

"Thank you."

Her little flower sounds much happier now and so Elise can't help but smile widely, a feral expression usually so wicked and utterly terrifying that you make even the most courageous of knights flee in terror now kind and affectionate, softening her beautiful features, love and warmth practically radiating from the villainous woman's lustrous deep red, crimson irises.

Ruby lips descend under the veil of darkness in order to place one last chaste kiss on top of Zyra's vivid scarlet hair and the redhead smiles in return, her orange eyes closing and her heartbeat slowing down as her breathing finally returns to normal.

And it is not like the storm is over or that the blinding white snakes of the clouds have finally decided to return back to their fluffy caves in the sky and retire for the night.

Oh no, far from it, the wind outside the window is howling like the spirit of a madman and the thunder god keeps stabbing the dump earth with his spears of flickering light, but Zyra can't even pretend to care anymore.

Because oddly enough she feels happy and safe trapped inside the loving embrace of one of the most terrifying residents of the infamous Shadow Isles.

And so Zyra is fast asleep before even Elise drags the sheets over their naked bodies.

It was raining today so I felt like writing something appropriate and then I thought about the fires started by lightning and so while looking for characters for the story I found Zyra and thought that she was a pretty good choice for the setting but I am not so sure about Elise. I could have probably used Lux or even Annie and make it bittersweet. (No, not romance, just an innocent child trying to help an inhibited naïve adult that doesn't know much about the world surrounding them and so they are kind of similar. )

I am really tired so I didn't check the chapter too intensively, it might have a lot of typos and mistakes. I also thought about putting small tags or summaries above each chapter so people would be able to know if the story interest them or not with just a glance but I am not really sure about it. It takes away some of the element of surprise, the stories are short anyway and I don't even know what tags to use at some of them. This one is completely neutral for example.

Bonus scene

Kennen grumbles in annoyance, stealthily walking away from the drenched neighborhood, shoulders hunched in defeat and forehead threatening to touch the ground. The yordle is angry, no, it is absolutely livid! It just lost its shot at the prank of the century!

How dares Zyra sleep so soundly during one of his thunderstorms? How could Elise calm the stupid plantwoman so easily? People weren't just supposed to overcome they deepest fears like that, or else how in Syndra's balls were Fiddlesticks and Nocturne still viable?

The electrocool yordle scowled, furious bloodshot eyes angrily staring at the drenched fur of its hands, its already disturbing expression slowly twisting into a menacing smirk crazy enough to make even Shaco and Jinx flinch and run away in fear.

Preposterous! Kennen thought, I am a mystical warrior, a preserver of balance, Barry Allen, the awesome Flash and that guy from Infamous combined! I am freaking Pikachu version 2 that can actually speak in complete sentences and has enough brainpower and medical knowledge to actually become a doctor! I am perfect! I even have a karate skin and can kick Lee's butt with my eyes closed! So why in Warwick's favorite tea set no one seems to like me!

The sound of thunder and the endless howling of the wind were the only answers the troubled yordle received as it slowly made its way towards the little forest surrounding the institute and also a really unfortunate sentient tree that would soon be set ablaze.

And Kennen in fact was so lost in thought that he never actually noticed the lithe figure following him from above the treetops jumping around like a buffed Kha'zix on steroids.

"Please notice me, Kennen Senpai."

Akali whispered while staring dreamily at the tiny yordle, her perverted mind already occupied by dirty images of Kennen and his strong, toned fuzzy body covered in syrup and frozen delicacies."

And somewhere inside the Institute's walls Shen shivered and snuggled closer to Blitzcrank.