A long time ago

"Boy! Where are you?!"

Loud heavy footsteps drum across the hardwood floor, and the door to his room blows open with a bang that rattles his bones. The blond feigns sleep, pressing his pillow onto his face to drown out the noise.

"Ezreal." His uncle taps a booted foot impatiently. "I know you are awake."

As usual, the old man didn't look a day above two hundred; though he clearly forgot to reapply his hair dye if those white hairs were any indication. Ezreal wondered if there were artifacts younger than his uncle was. His scalp reminded him of the city actually, towers of silver sticking out from all the darker older buildings.

"I'm up, don't need to be mad." The wannabe explorer groans. "What is it?"

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Huh?"

He looks down at his watch, noticing a nine instead of an eight. Oops.

"Yes Ezreal, you did miss both of your morning classes."

Ezreal wouldn't have cared normally, the prodigy could always catch up later, but he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Uncle Lymere's gaze narrows, hardening faster than Piltovan concrete. His beige coat billows out from behind him like the wings of an angry drake.

"Expect make-up sessions later this evening."

"What?! But I have plans later!"

His uncle scoffs in disapproval.

"Your definition of 'plans' is a trip to the Undercity only a few steps away from trespassing."

Ezreal falters when he realizes his Uncle knew about his 'expedition'. Then again the old man wasn't too busy to notice the copious amount of gold slipping out of Ezreal's bank account. Zalie wasn't open to negotiating the prices for his custom outfits.

"Welll - it's not trespassing if you get don't caught right?"

"Ezreal, this is no joking manner." His uncle grunted. "You will not leave this apartment for any kind of shenanigans. Is that clear?"

The blond splutters some kind of rebut, but his uncle doesn't seem keen on backing down. Ezreal switches strategies: the silent treatment always seemed to get his Uncle off his back. But the old man's cane continues to tap on the ground, more insistent by the second.

"You have three seconds to respond."

"..."

"Two."

"Fiiine." Throwing up his hands and flopping onto the bed, the young man lets out a sigh. "I won't leave the house." Won't have any fun either while I'm at it."

Satisfied at ruining his day, Uncle Lymere nods- before leaving the door with a gentler bang.

"Ugh… By the Gods I'm going to die of boredom!"

The wannabe explorer takes a moment to mope- before looking out at the view from his window. It wasn't anything impressive, just kids living their lives without an overbearing uncle breathing down their necks. Ezreal huffed in envy. With a bit of time to kill until later that evening, he kicks a discarded soft drink can: letting it roll despondently across the floor.

"Welp, guess I've got nothing better to do but-"

Down below, his Uncle leaves with a screech: the car's wheels creaking as he disappears out of the neighborhood and out of Ezreal's life for a brief moment of respite. The beginning of a half-cooked scheme formed as he kicked aside a discarded soft drink can. Doing the math, his grin began to grow a little wider.

This was either going to be spectacularly fun or the worst day of his life.

Without a second thought, Ezreal grabbed his backpack: containing his prepared supplies and a blank notebook, before rushing downstairs to put on his shoes.

Now

Something kicks his shin lightly.

"Ugghhh… Five more minutes…"

Another push comes, less gentle. He is rolled over, and Ezreal gets a mouthful of sand for breakfast. The explorer spat out the dust and wiped the bitter taste from his mouth.

"So soon?" He groans. "It's been like a few hours."

"The Void does not sleep."

"It doesn't, yeah. but does Kai'Sa sleep?"

His 'temporary traveling companion' rolls her eyes at his latest joke. Again, he wondered if she was still human beneath that weird second skin of hers. It takes a second for his brain to start working, but eventually he remembers where he was.

Shruima lay out in all its beauty, sand spreading beneath a rapidly fading canvas of stars. The wind blows across the desert, messing up his wild hair.

"Well?"

"Oh, right. My bad."

Silently, Kai'Sa watches him tidy up his stuff, the explorer trying not to stare too much at her mask. Those glass-like empty eyes still gave him the creeps - even after all the time they had spent together.

"Alright, alright - hold your horses I'm almost done-"

Ezreal is shut up when a scarf is thrown onto his chest. It was the one he had used as an eye mask last night, a Shuriman design that made good use of all three shades of brown. Despite it's drab appearance, the shawl was crucial: ever Piltovan explorer worth their salt had emphasized the importance of not getting sunburnt in the desert.

"There. Now I'm done." He smirks, though she can't see it beneath all the cloth. "Let's roll."

A nod.

He is given a split second to blink backwards as the girl disappears into the horizon. She reappears on a distant sand dune, looking back at him impatiently. Closing up his journal, Ezreal swings his heavier backpack onto his back. Learning from his previous mistakes, the explorer had taken the time to add a few buckles to it: Ezreal was not going to let it even a centimeter out of sight.

"Man, I should really get back to the Prof. Maybe he might actually miss me after all this time."

Then again, Professor Lymere would probably have him chained to his bed post, and spend a whole day just shouting at him for being a 'spoilt brat' and 'tarnishing the family name' or something along those lines. To be fair, Ezreal was kind of doing both.

"Right. Right. Focus."

He could always think about Piltover later; it wasn't like they wanted him back anyways. Especially after that whole incident with the fire demons that Ezreal was only partially responsible for causing.

Day 1 (Technically Night 1 but eh.)

Long time no see huh Notebook? Well, a lot has happened but I'll keep it short and sweet.

Basically I found an ancient mana crystal - which is basically pure condensed magical energy. I'm using it to power the gauntlet, but I'm sure the scientists back in Piltover can use it for something. If I find any others, I might consider selling some - maybe then the Archaeologists Association can finally acknowledge my numerous contributions.

Also I met a girl, her name is Kai-sa. Not sure if I spelt it right, not an expert on the Shuriman writing system. She's cool, though honestly a bit scary.

Their plan was simple. At least, the way Kai'Sa explained it was simple.

Find a Void tunnel, go to the Sai Kahleek and find out why all the Xer'Sai have started to hunt outside of their natural range. Also they had to kill as many Xer'Sai as they could on the way, and whatever other monsters they met while traveling (in near perpetual darkness) across one of the most hostile places on the continent.

They also had to worry about supplies, meaning that they were likely going to have to find civilization. For one reason or the other, Kai'Sa had warned him specifically about 'bandits' and other people looking for her.

Seeing as he hadn't been in a 'real' fight in his life, Ezreal was not looking forward to seeing what the gauntlet could do to a human body.

After what felt like hours of traveling, Ezreal slumped onto a rock: chugging water from his canteen. Half-empty already? The explorer huffed, blowing aside a lock of golden hair from his bangs. Kai'Sa lingered nearby, watching his every movement with the hollow eyespots on her mask. Creepy.

"You know," He starts, an attempt to break the tension. "I've actually been to the Sai Kahleek."

It worked - to a degree. Kai'Sa regarded him curiously as he pulled out a small book from his backpack; a collection of all his greatest adventures and stories worthy of a novel or two. Like that time Ezreal got intoxicated off some spoiled plant juice and argued with a tree over how to pronounce the word 'tomato'. Ok, maybe that last one wasn't that great.

"Check this out - it's great isn't it?"

Kai'Sa relaxes once she realizes the book in her hands was not going to explode or bite her hand off. Her mask briefly snaps off, revealing her pale face and sharp features. Ezreal pointedly decided to observe a distant rock instead. Everytime his friend did something, she always looked so intense; her glare could burn the paper if Kai'Sa wasn't careful with it.

"Why did you write these in Shuriman and Piltovan?"

"For practice. I had plans to spend a long time here and writing is a good way to get the hang of the language."

Her perpetual grimace remains throughout, even if Ezreal included a few wise-cracks and puns within the writing. Then again, he wasn't sure how well Piltovan jokes translated into Shuriman. Based on her reaction, not very well.

"You have been to Icathia?"

"Uhh, I wrote that?" Ezreal quickly yoinks the book from her hands, scrutinizing his own handwriting. "I wrote that. Right."

"So you have." Kai'Sa looks him dead in the eyes, much to the explorer's discomfort. "Why did you not tell me?"

"Ok, wait a moment, there is a very, very good reason for that."

Her interrogating gaze narrows.

"I technically made it to Icathia, but I never got over the big mountains. It wasn't exactly what I thought, and I'll admit- venturing into the definitive lost city of Shurima was very, very tempting for even the Number One Adventurer. But I didn't have the gauntlet yet, just my massive intellect and charisma - none of which exactly work against Void monsters."

Ezreal sighed, which did nothing to stop her scrutiny.

"Also my guide got into a little accident with cactus juice beforehand so he was back at the camp along with all of our supplies. I couldn't leave him so I went back."

Instead of chewing him out, the girl's expression returned to its deadpan stare; though it was hard to tell what was going on in her head.

"You ran away."

Her bluntness dents his ego. Ezreal coughs into his palm, flexing his fingers within the gauntlet.

"No, no. I did not run. Explorers don't run from danger. I just - saved Icathia for later."

"Do not be ashamed" Her deadpan tone was oddly comforting. "You made the right choice in being afraid."

"Afraid?" He jokes, despite having been very afraid. "Psssh, I wasn't that scared of Icathia- I was actually worried about my guide. Who knows what monsters would have eaten that poor guy if I hadn't been there to save him?"

A pause.

"What do you think about the book by the way? Try not to praise me too much by the way, I totally get it all the time-"

Despite his flair, the explorer's ribcage was rattling from the pounding of his heart. Ezreal had never actually shown anyone his unedited notes before, despite his ambitions to get them printed as merchandise. Kai'Sa was the first.

"It interests me."

"... Really?"

"I would like to read more." Ezreal couldn't tell if Kai'Sa was being sarcastic or not. "It has your charm, despite the lack of structure in your Shuriman.

"Is it really that obvious? I mean, compared to other foreigners- I'm like above average right?"

Somehow, the silence was louder than if the girl had said anything.

"Well ok, if it's really that bad, why don't you teach me how to speak Shuriman like a local? We've got time to kill anyway, might as well make something good out of it right?"

To Ezreal's surprise, she nods.

"Later."

The girl quietly dons her mask- before dashing off into the dunes. Ezreal takes a moment to process all of this, before throwing the traitorous tome back into his bag.

"Hmph, accent. What accent? I don't have an accent."