Day 5

Holy smokes, I've made it.

I got into contact with a follower of the Hawk Father - and she has agreed to take me to Shurima City to meet him. To clarify, Shurima is the region - and Shurima City was the old capital of the Shuriman Empire based in that region. Confusing, I know. But semantics aside, all three of those things are dead: and I went into this assuming I was going to see nothing but ruins.

I was wrong.

The city is alive, like actually alive. They even had the real Sun Disc, with the floating upside-down pyramids and everything. It was so beautiful to look at, Gods I wish I got that camera back in Piltover. There were also magical people and carnivorous plants and guards made of sand, but that doesn't really matter. I see those all the time, by the way - by virtue of being the Greatest Explorer of all time.

What does matter, however, is that I have the slightest of ideas on who the Hawk Father might be. Because I can't erase what I write with this pen, I won't say who I think the Hawk Father is- but I do have a hunch, by the way.

Anyways, if I am right (and I always am), this person is only the most important person in all of Shurima. If he is still alive, even a single word from him could change archeology as we know it. I even have a list of questions pre-planned, so you could say I'm going all in on this gamble. What was life like back then? Where do you guys keep your shiniest treasures? What traps were in style back when you were king?

I'm half joking, seeing as my days of tomb-raiding are probably over after I post my unbiased first-hand account of Shurima's history.

The twelve or so books I have planned detailing these interviews are bound to go flying off the shelves. Can you believe that? Me, a little kid from Piltover, meeting one of the most influential people in HISTORY and becoming a best-selling author. That's probably going to go into the whole title thing, along with Daredevil - though Daredevil might not be the best one to add.

Would Prodigy work better? Maybe I should ask her about it.

On a more personal note though, Kaisa isn't feeling too happy about this whole thing. I was a bit mad at her for being moody, but truth be told I feel that after what she's gone through - even someone like me would be a little testy.

Honestly, maybe I should

"Should what? What can I do?"

Kai'Sa had her own reason for doing this - she always did - but the thought of dragging her away from her war against the Void still made him feel more than a little guilty. Then again, Ezreal had burned through sidekicks like a flame to candle wax: but she wasn't just a sidekick.

She was a friend. His friend.

"Is it rude if I ask her to leave? I feel like that's rude." Ezreal sighs, face-palming and groaning. "On the other hand, it's kind of ruder if I don't say anything. The whole world is in danger, and of course I have to make it about me."

Giving up, the blond throws his journal onto the table. As frustrating as it was to deal with Kai'Sa sometimes, her communication skills not exactly the best, he finds it hard to stay angry for long. The girl had been through so much, and like an iceberg - there was likely much more tragedy hidden inside her heart that she hadn't told him about yet.

"Hey! Guard outside of my room!"

The door is swung open, the hollow eyes of the hawk-headed helmet staring into his gray eyes. The fact it had no lock bothers him only a little bit, Ezreal was still a professional sharpshooter with the gauntlet of Ne'Zuk at his disposal after all, more worrying was the fact that it had heard him. Would the guard tell all his other guard friends about what he was saying? Did sand guards even have friends?

"Can I go see my friend for a minute? I wanna talk to her for a-"

SLAM!

"... Ok then, well guess it'll have to wait."

The door rattles with a locking mechanism. Ezreal scoffs, flipping both his middle fingers in vain. Unable to contain his energy by bouncing his leg alone, the explorer stretches up and rises - exploring his given suite for the third time that night. Anxiety, restlessness and excitement make for a potent combo to keep Ezreal up away from sleep.

His room was a showcase of their patron's riches, with a large open window to cool off and an antique bed that was probably more expensive than his entire collection of artifacts back home. Every brick was shined to a blinding white, rimmed with golden highlights that he found fit more inside a museum. There was even a private bath with water so clean that Ezreal had to remind himself he was in Shurima and not his apartment.

"Nah." He shakes his head, turning away. The nights were cold, and dipping into the water was only going to worsen that. "Maybe tomorrow. I know she could definitely use a warm bath."

To top it all off, the view of a thriving Shurima City from the innermost sanctum was breathtaking: golden pillars glittering from even the most minute amounts of moonlight.

It was something out of a museum's models, the gleaming towers carved out of pure white stone. The outskirts of the city were far more inviting than the royal palace, the orange glow of firelight signaling the presence of other humans. The gardens are quiet, the blooming flowers of the carnivorous plants forming streaks of lavender flowers as they crisscross over the greenery. A paradise tucked in the heart of Shurima, one of the most unforgiving landscapes in the known world.

"Man." The blond brushes aside his hair, taking a deep breath of the clean air and looking up at the few stars left unhidden by the clouds. "Why can't things just be easy? Haven't we done enough? Don't we deserve a break?"

The gauntlet hums on his hands. He smiles, rubbing at the cold Tear of the Goddess. On days like this, Ezreal wondered who Ne'Zuk actually was - and what they did with the power in their hands. Teleportation was always one of his best party tricks.

"Well, whatever. At least I still have you with me."

Something knocks on the windowsill. That's odd, considering birds didn't usually knock.

"Huh?"

He looks over his shoulder, and suddenly becomes self conscious of his hair. Ezreal quickly straightens himself and brushes off the creases of his coat, taking a deep and tense breath. The shadow tilts her head curiously, an innocuous gesture that makes the explorer suddenly fumble for composure.

"Is this a bad time?" Kai'Sa asks evenly. "I can leave."

"No, no no - come in, feel free."

She nods, slipping through and into his room. Ezreal uses the brief silence to tidy his hair, Kai'Sa taking up residence on one of the many, many chairs in his room. Her body language was relaxed, a rarity considering where their adventures had taken them.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"W-what? You heard all that?"

"Only the slam of the door, not whatever else you were saying to yourself."

With Kai'Sa, he couldn't tell if she was lying: though Ezreal had a sneaking suspicion that her sensitive hearing picked up most of what he had said. His cheeks flush a little pink.

"I-It's nothing."

"Hm."

The huntress fiddles with her claws as the explorer takes his seat on his bed. He takes off the gauntlet and wrings his arm, letting the skin breathe after being trapped under the metal. Ezreal should really go back to that glove-harness project, unless he wanted that one area of his arm to fall off from poor blood circulation.

"Do you have any spare bathing gel?"

"Sorry, did you mean soap and shampoo? Well of course I do, I'd rather die than not look this good all the time."

"Can I have some?"

"Oh? You didn't bring any?"

The huntress looks down at her armor, explanation evident. Ezreal didn't think it had pockets, but now he knew it didn't. Well, the more you know.

"Sure, sure - just let me go get it."

Kai'Sa shows the slightest hint of shock in her eyes as he drags his overstuffed backpack from the closet, the act leaving Ezreal out of breath. While Peregrine had advised them to pack lighter all the way back in Zuretta, Ezreal couldn't just throw all of the hard-earned stuff he brought in Zuretta.

"What is in there? What do you have?"

"Oh you know, this and that - you know what they say, fail to plan and you plan to fail."

"You do not strike me as someone who plans."

The explorer ignores her with a cough, digging through the stuff and occasionally dislodging a trinket here and there. He can feel her watching him, silently judging the growing pile of stuff Ezreal was prying from his backpack's bloated corpse. Truth be told, archeology was a far more preferable option than braving the Void and fighting hordes of alien monsters.

At least temple traps didn't move or bite.

"Oh?"

With some effort, he manages to wiggle out a large box from beneath the pile. Right, I bought that. Ezreal fishes out the requested bottles while he's at it, balancing them on top of the box as he rises from the backpack. There was certainly a mess, but that was for future Ezreal to deal with.

"Hey, check this out."

Ezreal watches with bated breath as her eyes narrow, scrutinizing every inch of the package. Her claws pick at the rope bindings.

"What is this? Is it dangerous?"

"Well, I did buy it in Zuretta so it can't be that dangerous."

The huntress holds it a little further away from her face, shaking the box as if it might explode.

"Ok don't be silly, it's just a gift. Feel free to open it this year, or at least before I grow a beard."

It takes Kai'Sa a moment to cooperate. Her stoic face betrays no emotion, but the girl hums with a pleasant surprise as she unfurls a bright pink and white blanket. The merchant didn't know what a sleeping bag was, but Ezreal just told them 'really big blanket' and that got the idea across.

"Well? What do you think?"

"I-"

Something drops out of the bottom. Kai'Sa reacts faster than either of them can think.

THUNK!

The doll is sent into a wall with enough force to bury the soft toy halfway into the sands. Ezreal hides his laugh and turns it into a snort. The pink of her flustered blush stands out even more against the paleness of her unnatural skin. It was so hard not to tease Kai'Sa, especially with the cuteness of her half-frown. She suddenly avoids his eyes, and Ezreal can no longer hold back a slight chuckle as he grabs the little rabbit.

"Woah, easy there. I didn't know you were afraid of dolls."

"I was- I am not." Kai'Sa stutters, blush deepening. He huffs light-heartedly, savoring the way her brows furrow in what looks like embarrassment. "It just caught me off guard."

"What? This little guy? Are you sure you're the same girl who fights Xer'Sai with her bare hands?"

"..."

Noticing her harsh glare, Ezreal quickly hands her the victimized doll without another word. Kai'Sa, thankfully, does not react so explosively the second time around. She fluffs the rabbit's plush fur, and speaks only once she verifies the softness was up to her standards.

"Why did you buy it?"

"Remember when I said I'd get you a sleeping bag because you casually said you slept on the ground or something? Looks like sleeping bags around here come with bonuses. Besides, I know how much you like soft things - and a rabbit just suits you, you know?"

Ezreal hadn't taken her for a hugger nor a fan of dolls from how utterly terrifying she looked. Then again, she had the tendency to hog their blankets whenever they slept together. He wonders if Kai'Sa had snuck any of the Palace's pillows into his backpack he wasn't looking, seeing as a few had somehow hitched a ride across the desert.

"Do you like it?"

"It is very cute."

Her content frown turns into a thinking frown. The longer he stayed with her, the better the explorer got at reading facial expressions: even if the huntress only had one.

"But I cannot take it." Kai'Sa sighs, gesturing to her lack of pockets. "I cannot carry this with me."

"Ah-a, lucky for you - a good explorer is always prepared. I know you can't use a backpack with those cannons of yours, but I did have something else ready just for this."

Ezreal leans over and triumphantly reveals one of his old fanny packs from somewhere within the pile, one that he was actually planning to use for himself. The explorer eases the rabbit into her (because it felt like a her) new home, beady black eyes poking out from the makeshift pouch.

"Here you go, I'll keep the blanket until we find you a backpack."

This time, Kai'Sa does not hesitate to put it on: clipping it around her waist. Her second skin crackles briefly, but the huntress does not acknowledge it outside of a clenching of one of her claws. Ezreal would have asked about it, but she speaks before he does.

"What is that?"

Their eyes both land on the box, bright blue and yellow.

"I don't know." He didn't remember buying that. "What is that?"

It looked like a cloth of some kind, and Ezreal watches as Kai'Sa fishes the whole thing out of the box. As the length of fabric unfurls, it is his turn to grow red with embarrassment. Piltovan dramas were always corny about matching clothes, much less a matching sleeping bag. It was identical to the one that Ezreal had just given her. His brain screams in embarrassment.

"Oh."

To add insult to injury, a blue and yellow jungle bat clung onto the blanket with one claw: bearing a cartoonishly wide smile and a big pair of beady eyes. Its connection to the rabbit was obvious.

"I swear I didn't know about this."

It didn't make the judgemental look Kai'Sa gave him any easier to bear, but it was something at least.

"Look, if you want to return it I-"

To his complete shock, the huntress laughs.

Her muffled singular giggle is a cute noise that makes the explorer's heart race, her lips curling into the slightest of grins as she folds up his blanket for him - tucking the bat into a miniature burrito bundle. Ezreal holds it as if it were the elixir of Uloa.

"My friends and I used to have matching seashell bracelets. I understand."

Ezreal nudges the outer edge of the pile with his foot. Upon seeing the full scope of the unleashed mess, the boy realizes just how much stuff his backpack actually contained. Everything from deodorant to hair gel to at least a dozen or so coin pouches, strewn about with a distinct lack of order. Kai'Sa scoffs, underneath her breath, though it is empty of any real disapproval.

"We have to work on your packing."

"I mean, I don't mind doing it on my own." He chuckles shyly. "Unless you want to help?"

"Not tonight."

And just like that, she was serious again: as if that brief laugh had never happened at all.

"We need to rest, to better prepare for your meeting tomorrow."

Out of the corner of his vision, Ezreal thinks the doll winks at him as Kai'Sa turns to the window - heaving herself out with one fluid motion. She gives him one last look over her shoulder, one half of her face glowing beneath the moonlight.

It was hard to speak.

"You didn't have to come here, you know?"

"I know."

"But why then? Why don't you just - you know, go back to the Void and everything. Isn't that more important than chaperoning some random dude to Shurima City?"

The huntress mulls over her words, Ezreal averting his eyes to watch the lines of pulsing purple plasma moving across her armor like the wires on a circuit board.

"It's like you said isn't it?" She nods, with the barest hints of a second smile. "Even if all of Shurima and the Void itself come for us, you would have my back. I am only returning the favor."

Why was his heart beating so damn fast?! Ezreal didn't even remember half the things he said, but clearly Kai'Sa had better memory than he did. His brain distracts itself from the new emotions by skimming across every single bit of their dialogue for any embarrassing moments.

"Good night."

"N-night."

He doesn't want her to go, but Ezreal doesn't stop his former roommate as she disappears through the window.