I decided to start cleaning up some older files and story ideas that have been collecting dust in my hard drive. This one was supposed to be a prologue about a RivenxIrelia story (Let the yuri flow through you). Feel free to use the prompt in a story.
Her comrades are dying, sparks of flame and darkness incinerating their very flesh, their bodies rotting, boiling, breaking down to atoms in an instant like poor quality ragdolls carelessly tossed into a whole bathtub's worth of acid. The smell of decay hits her nostrils and Riven instantly doubles over and empties the contents of her stomach right next to her screaming friends and terrified Ionians. Her eyes are burning, hopeless tears silently cascading down her bloodied cheeks as the toxic maelstrom raging around her squad seems to devour friend and foe alike. Their dying screams filling the poisonous air like a concert of gutted pigs forcefully being led to the slaughterhouse.
The soldiers around her are wailing, they try to breathe, filing their lungs with boiling acid and toxic fumes as their broken swords slowly slide out of their charred fingers and another barrage of chemical bombs abruptly hits the ground.
River starts running at this point, stumbling among rapidly dissolving spears and shredded Noxian flags, her legs slipping and sinking, drowning in crimson mud. The pleas of the dying swarming her head until she can't even hear her own screams as the venomous mist shrouds the entire valley in mere seconds.
But the Noxian soldier has no other choice but to press on, marching in the blood of her dear friends and comrades.
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It is almost nightfall when she spots them. Two ghastly men dressed in Ionian armor stumbling and coughing as they are attempting to carry another injured soldier safely wrapped in an old torn Ionian flag. Riven cautiously approaches them, too tired and out of breath to even attempt outrunning them before they inevitably decide to give chase to her. Luckily for her the soldiers are gravely injured and probably on death's door, covered almost entirely in deep still-bleeding cuts and chemical burns. The two of them are also obviously completely blind.
One of the soldiers must have heard her approaching because he abruptly turns towards her at the very next moment and the white-haired swordswoman suddenly stiffens, but the dying man merely tries to ask her something in a wet desperate tone before he abruptly starts to choke and his frantic questions instantly gets lost into a fit of coughing.
Riven remains silent for a second or two, as the Ionian soldier tries to voice his question again and then sinks into the ground, his violent coughing turning into a deathly croak. Riven is about to walk away from them when the other Ionian soldier slowly unwraps the flag. There is a young woman hidden beneath the stained fabric, clad in ceremonial Ionian armor, her black as raven wings hair bloodied and dirty, covered in soot. The man then collapses mirroring his friend, he tries to repeat his request in broken Noxian and then dies in less than a heartbeat.
Riven just stares at him, the soldier's white milky eyes silently staring at her as if gazing into her soul, before her tired irritated eyes slowly glance towards the wounded woman.
…
She starts dragging the flag.
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It is only after midnight that Irelia finally regains her consciousness, she tries to move around only to stop after hissing in pain. A woman bearing the Noxian crest on her chest kneels beside her and offers her a flask of water. She recognizes her even though her eyesight is blurry and dim.
She is Riven, the killer from Noxus, the one that recently cut a path among their ranks drenching her giant runic blade in the blood of her countrymen. She instantly refuses the drink and spits in the soldier's face and Riven just sighs and then sits under a crooked withering tree. Irelia keeps sending her death glares until the accumulating exhaustion of the war finally sets over and Irelia falls asleep before her body even kisses the ground.
…
Irelia doesn't know what has woken her up. The two of them are resting inside the hollow of a tree, her head carefully placed on top of the Noxian's lap. The Captain is feeling weak, the Zaunite poison already seemingly taking its toll on her and even Riven doesn't seem to be doing much better either. The Ionian blinks, her eyes searching for any signs of danger outside their questionable shelter.
She can actually hear the Noxian butcher breathing slowly in her sleep, the presence of the bloodied warrior somehow making her calm down much to the Ionian commander's distaste. There are few more dreadful things lurking among those ancient withering trees after all that are more dangerous than the blade of her captor and savior. But it takes less than another lazy blink for Irelia to instantly reconsider that thought as she suddenly comes face to face with a beast that seems to have crawled straight out of a child's nightmare.
It is a wolf in the body of a man, his sharp ivory canines permanently coated in saliva, blood is slowly dripping out of the wolf-demon's mouth and there is grey fur covering the majority of the filthy beast's flesh. The marred patches of fur under its angled chin already stained with dry blood, its extended hand silently hovering so close to the woman's face that Irelia can even make out the golden leafs coating the beast's razor-sharp claws.
Irelia tries to scream, but the only thing that comes out of her mouth is less than a warrior's challenging roar and more of a whimper, as she frantically tries to crawl away and only succeeds into ramming the back of her head against Riven's stomach. The Noxian warrior barely grunts as Irelia desperately tries to put more space between herself and the beastman's claws.
The wolfman smiles at her, his hand still arching, moving ever so slowly while trying to reach her face. The Ionian shudders, she tries to scream again, but her voice dies an ugly death inside her dry throat and the bloodied grasp of the wolf is even closer now, mere inches away from her, almost able to touch her face. The golden claws start descending, lunging towards the Captain's eyes and Irelia can only watch frozen in terror.
"Leave"
A clear voice, rough and yet so frighteningly calm rings into the night as an injured hand suddenly darts out of the rotted tree hole and manages to grab the werewolf's forearm forcefully holding it in place mere inches away from the feverish Ionian woman's eyebrow.
Irelia sighs, the wolfman snarls, but against all odds the Noxian killer still manages to hold the beastman's crimson gaze.
"Leave this forest and never come back here Warwick, that's your final warning."
The wolfman snarls, glares at them, but leaves as if reluctant to start a fight against both the injured Noxian commander and the poisoned hero of Ionia. The beast glares at them one final time and then swiftly vanishes, dashing through the night and trees, the wolfman disappears in seconds. Riven then sighs and lowers her head. Irelia stays silent, it is pathetic really but she still can't stop shaking, the image of the horribly mutated man colliding with the teachings of inner peace and tranquility taught in the traditional mystical temples and dojos of Ionia.
"He was a man once, you know. A renowned Zaunite apothecary hell-bent on capturing all sorts of rare beasts and magical creatures. Tracking them, capturing them and then mercilessly dissecting them. Selling the poor creatures' body parts to all kinds of shady scientists, peculiar collectors and eccentric witch doctors."
Irelia listens, dully noting that her traitor of a voice has suddenly returned now that the human beast has long since fled into the night. Well, one of the human beasts at least, the other one is actually still here and even attempts talking to her…
"What happened to him?"
"He snapped, he drank an elixir devised by the same abominable madman that bombed our armies, it was supposed to grant him immense strength and inhuman speed and help him track his prey even faster. And so it did in a way, it worked like a charm. Warwick became stronger, alright, but his mind, his human self started fading giving way to the beast's feral instincts. Ans so now he roams between the borders of Noxus and Ionia, stalking, searching for a creature rare enough to trade for the antidote before his human reasoning completely fades away and his mind is lost forever."
Both of them remain silent for a while and curiously enough Irelia is the first one to break the tense silence.
"What happened on the battlefield? I remember flanking a Noxian unit and then... nothing, just screams and death. And blood, so much blood and yelling…"
Riven shivers
"It was a massacre, both armies were bombarded by the Zaunites, blown up to smithereens they were, erased from the Valley in an instant."
That draws the Ionian's attention, she snaps her head to meet the hardened warrior's distant gaze.
"Both armies?"
Riven can only nod, the screams of the dead still roaring inside her head and the Noxian invader somehow doubts the voices are ever going to leave her alone.
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There is dust on her lips and acid running through her veins. Irelia's vision is blurry as Riven slowly carries her through the forest. The Noxian swordswoman is beyond exhausted at this point, gathering all her strength to just continue putting one foot in front of the other and keep dragging them across the ancient trees. Her feverish face drenched in sweat and her tired limbs both trembling and heavy.
The poison is killing them, Singed's noxious concoctions are pumping inside their injured bodies, hitting their insides like giant war hammers. Irelia is the first one to collapse, her frail body silently collapsing on the ground. Riven pulls her up, wrapping her arms around her frame she keeps walking aimlessly, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.
And soon enough Riven is also rushing to meet the dark soil, she manages to spin around in mid-air cushioning the Ionian's fall as the black-haired swordswoman lowly grunts in pain.
Riven merely glances at her, she doesn't even know why she keeps bothering dragging the Ionian woman around with her as both of them are certainly going to die before they even catch the next sunrise. Is it because she is scared of dying alone, or perhaps she hesitates to abandon someone to that chemical nightmare constructed by the madness of Singed? She doesn't really know the answer to that, but even a hardened war veteran like her acknowledges that allowing her nemesis to perish in that twisted depiction of hell would be an insult to both hers and Irelia's honor.
And maybe… just maybe Riven has seen enough death recently to dissuade her from ever taking a human life again, even if it so happens to belong to one of her bitter enemies'.
Night is falling soon, a wolf howls in the distance. Irelia coughs violently, splattering even more blood all over the wounded Noxian's already bloodstained military uniform.
"What now?"
Riven wraps her arms around the poisoned woman, there are red dots dancing in front of her eyes and while she may not be able to hear them, she can certainly feel the damned wolf pack slowly closing in. Peeking at them from between rocks and roots and the vast forest's rich plant life.
"We pray that the poison inside our bodies tastes as bad as it feels, bad enough for the wolves to lose interest in us and leave us alone."
"Noxians…"
...
And surprisingly enough it does, the wolves scatter after taking a few tentative bites out of the two downed warriors, mainly Riven it seems as the Noxian swordswoman attempts to keep the Ionian soldier safe in her arms, covering Irelia's immensely weakened body with her very own bulkier one. The Ionian might have even mumbled something resembling a thanks between their grunts before she finally lost consciousness.
Riven lays still listening to Irelia's strained breathing, observing the Ionian thrusting and turning in her sleep. Who would have thought that the famous Captain of the Ionian Guard would have had such terrible sleeping manners? Not that it really matters, or that the white-haired swordswoman would ever be able to share her surprising findings as the two of them will probably be dead by the morning if things continue like this.
Heh, Riven never would have thought that she would one day be dying laying underneath an unconscious Ionian general, but there were far worse ways to go after all… like dying in the midst of a chemical barrage for example.
Riven sighs, but stills as her ears suddenly detect the sounds of yelling and hurried footsteps and it isn't long before she sees the distant lights of torches and hears the loud shouts in agitated Ionian common tongue scouring the forest for something important.
She lays still, as the mob is obviously searching for something among the bushes and trees mere meters away from her and the sleeping Ionian, leaves and branches crunching underneath the search party's feet as they carefully part tree branches and inspect vibrant foliages. What are all these people even doing here? Riven wonders as she suddenly feels Irelia slowly stirring inside her arms.
Irelia, but of course. She is an Ionian hero, a general's daughter and captain of the Ionian guard, there is no way her people are going to abandon her. Not like her own… Not like Darius, Swain and Noxus.
Irelia is fully awake now, she hears the voices of her countrymen and manages to lift her head. She is trembling from the exhaustion, her face's color a sickly green, she eyes Riven and then opens her mouth in order to alert her countrymen and the Noxian invader can only hold her breath as the cracked lips of Irelia part and the Captain's voice is sure to follow.
She is dead, she is without a doubt dead if the Ionians get their hands on her and yet the snow-haired swordswoman doesn't have the strength to stand on her feet or even attempt to run away. But fortunately for the Noxian she doesn't have to since Irelia's voice dies inside her throat before it even begins escaping it, the only sound coming out of the poisoned Captain's lips too low to even compete with the faintest whisper.
The Ionian woman growls, she licks her dry lips and then tries again only to fail miserably. Not a sound, nor muffled scream, not even a whispered vowel actually manages to escape the Ionian's lips and Irelia has no other choice but to silently slump in defeat as her head lifelessly drops back on top of the Noxian's torso. Her sorrowful emerald orbs still desperately locked on the distant torches slowly moving farther and farther away from them as the search party finally decides to try their luck on another part of the shadowy forest.
The weakened Ionian is trembling now, sweat beads rapidly forming against her feverish forehead, she licks her lips and tries to shout again, her pale cheek unwittingly pressing against Riven's dirty breastplate. There is a muffled croak that makes her cough, but the lights have already almost disappeared by now.
The Noxian just stares at her dying nemesis for a moment and then glances at the moon shining brightly above the inky sky, she sighs. Riven is already kind of dead anyway.
She has no job or home to go back to and there are at least two countries that would love nothing more than to put her severed head on a pike. She doesn't have any living friends or family, most of them had died in the valley of death, her world has just shattered and her body is flooding with poison., but her nemesis may still have a place to return. A family to get back to, and Riven can't help but wonder if she is selfish enough to deny Irelia's loved ones that relief just so she won't have to die alone.
Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, the Noxian death wagon is already traveling home, her dog tag already riding amongst her brethrens. She can at least spare the Captain's life or let them bring back the Ionian's corpse. Irelia is a strong brave warrior fighting with honor after all, the Ionian hero deserves to at least be buried among her friends instead of becoming food for the wolves and vultures.
Sigh, Katarina would be laughing her ass off if only she could see her right now.
Filling her lungs with air feels like breathing in acid. Painful, unpleasant, the two words she would most likely chose to describe her life and probably her ending too if it goes as bad as she can imagine. Two deep breaths and her cracked lips open, Irelia is already looking at her as if she is some kind of crazy maniac juggling with bombs inside a magical construction and Riven can't really blame her when she is not only tasting her death but even downs the bottle and asks for seconds.
Here lies Riven, betrayed by all except from her conscience may she die with pride and honor.
"WE ARE RIGHT HERE!"
Her voice breaks the silence, shattering it like a gunshot, the torches appear again, footsteps are rushing to meet them. Irelia is observing her, her face frozen in awe and shock and Riven has to narrow and almost close her eyes when the vibrant flames dancing around the torch suddenly illuminate her dirty face. Someone drags Irelia away from her and she can hear people conversing in quick Ionian, there is also some kind of strange green light.
She has to close her eyes at some point. And then someone kicks her in the stomach and her body glides across the leaves and scarred earth like a ragdoll. More kicks and yelling, so much yelling in angry Ionian, but Riven can't really blame them their soldiers would've probably done the same thing if they were the ones to find them.
A final kick to the head and Riven almost blacks out, more yelling, a feminine voice rising among the others, a soldier grudgingly decides to stomp away all the while cursing the downed Noxian.
Riven is almost unconscious by now and she can barely see through the dirt and blood obscuring her eyesight. She somehow manages to perceive a pale purple woman with a horn kneeling right beside her, her touch southing and gentle, the Ionian checks the wounds on her hands, face and legs, her amber-colored eyes filled with nothing but compassion.
She utters a few words and then there is a smudge of green light and Riven promptly passes out as her world is drowned in merciful darkness.