Being rendered practically immortal due to Soraka's celestial magic after being hit by a particularly nasty Noxian curse, Irelia had witnessed a lot of things during her admittedly long lifetime, some good and some bad and some spectacularly horrendous and terrible. The rise of her beautiful nation for example and then the bloody Invasion of Ionia, the discovery of the mysterious Vastayan folk suddenly coming out of the woodwork and Ionia's fragile alliances with Demacia and Piltover. And yet after witnessing all of those dreadful and remarkable events and the futile struggles of man and even the various peace treaties with both Zaun and the soulless Noxians, the once proud Captain of the Ionian guard had long since grown tired of conflicts and meaningless bloodshed, and so Irelia one day decided to exchange her floating blades for a collection of farming tools before retiring to pursue the honest and more serene life of a farmer.
Qqqq
The golden sun is slyly peeking from behind the mountaintops, a few shy rays of sunlight slowly spilling out of the wet foliages as the black sky slowly turns from black to blue before transitioning to a clearer bluish white. Irelia grumbles as she spots the blue and white hues, green blurry eyes slowly blinking and scrunching shut only to open once again as the immortal retired warrior sluggishly gets up and puts on her faded new attire. The fleeting glow of an oil lamp and the crowing of a few roosters in their pen the only form of companionship the once great warrior now experiences as Irelia silently puts on an old clean shirt and a pair of jeans before she grabs her muddy boots from next to the dusty bed stand.
Irelia glances one last time towards the foggy white and blue sky, she then makes a beeline for the kitchen and her favorite stool and a much needed pot of hot steaming coffee.
Qqqq
It isn't until much, much later that the black-haired farmer finally comes across her ruined crops, emerald eyes only glancing at the remains of the vegetables and fruits before narrowing dangerously. Two jade-colored orbs slowly following the small trail of crushed leaves and half-eaten fruits and carrots as the edible trail coils and turns, leading somewhere outside of the Ionian ex-Captain's property. Irelia's expression darkens as she pauses to grab a hoe from the tool shed and then stalks after the trail left behind by the ravenous crop thief with murder in her eyes.
Qqqq
The Ionian farmer's smoldering hard glare instantly softens when she finally spots the heinous crop thief. The child is one of the infamous Vastayan and a hybrid of human and bunny at that as it seems, if Irelia has to guess just by the small grey bunny ears perched on top of the orphan's snow-white messy bangs and the fluffy ball of a tail peeking out from behind the sleeping form's torn, ragged trousers. A few purple rags wrapped around the child's sleeping form and an orange belt the only other articles of clothing clinging on to the young, humanoid bunny's skinny body.
Ireilia pauses for what feels like an eternity, stormy jade-green orbs helplessly pinned on the little Vastayan thief, the small creature currently curled up into a ball and yet somehow still desperately clenching in its sleep the remnants of a half-devoured, muddy carrot.
The hoe descends as it slips from the still peeved farmer's grasp, the sound produced by the clash of earth, iron and wood more than enough to awake the slumbering kid and make it jump up in fright, the remnants of the half-munched vegetable now pointed towards two narrowed emerald orbs like some kind of sword or frail primitive weapon. Irelia doesn't even attempt to waste her time with yells and annoyed words, neither does she stop to peer at the scared red eyes that are currently brimming with tears and fear. She just marches straight at the trembling bunny-girl, grabs the poor kid by the wrist and then merely stomps back to her house and her destroyed farmland.
Qqqq
Night has once again fallen on this peaceful land. The fields are quiet, finally after long hours of hard work the farmers have returned back to their humble residences. The doors of the houses are locked shut and their windows are dark with the occasional flickering of a smothered lamplight attempting to pierce the night's black veil. The crops have been watered, the cattle are slumbering, safe in their respective pens and barns. Everything looks static, deserted and tranquil and yet there is something more than what meets the eye in this serene fertile land gifted with such rich dark-brown soil. And if anyone were to wander towards one of those quiet homes and try to take a peek inside a particular farmer's shack they might be able to spot the two curled forms sleeping peacefully next to each other, or the tiny pale child's hand silently grasping the hand of a sleeping adult that grumbles and pulls the small bunny's form even closer, wrapping sun-kissed arms around the slumbering little crop thief, embracing the young child protectively.
The End
Notes: This one was written a few days ago while I was visiting some relatives and so I ended up in the middle of nowhere with no internet connection and a tablet with a single fighting game and a writing app I have so I can write down story ideas whenever inspiration strikes me. I had to write to keep my sanity. I just can't handle relaxing days. I really like the simplicity of this story, it starts with the random thought of "What if Irelia decided she had enough of fighting and war and decided to retire?" and then I went to town with it. The child is intended to be a young Vastayan Riven even though I never confirm it in the story and that leads to another interesting personal revelation I've had.
We don't have to explain everything or be strictly keeping the timelines in a story. We can take a skin concept like the bunny Riven skin and turn it into Riven's first actual realization. What if Riven was a bunny Vastayan that somehow ended up in Noxus or maybe lived in Ionia among the rest of her kind until someone realized she had Noxian blood in her and her tribe exiled her after the Noxian invasion? How would that influence her character and her relationship with both Noxian and Ionian champions? What if Irelia later found and adopted Riven? Would she still become a warrior of some sorts and if yes which side would she fight for? What would happen since she will never be there to murder Yasuo's elder? Will Yasuo still somehow become the Unforgiven? And the most important question of all, did Irelia adopt the little bunny out of the kindness of her heart or is she just waiting to fatten Riven? 0_0 Just some random thoughts I had while writting this story.