Let's Get Wild!

Ruination: Return Chapter XVII

Fool's Errand Part I

Senna looks around the Worldstone. Everyone is staring at her with rapt attention, though most of their eyes are not on her face but on the spectral arm projecting from her bandaged elbow.

"I'll ask again," she states, gesturing to the eastern portion of the Shuriman continent, "Does anyone here know anything about a place known as Ixtal?"

She looks around at the assemblage before her and can tell many of them do not or are otherwise occupied with other thoughts.

Gwen is at her wounded side, tilting her head with a puzzled look. She, too, had seen the vision that had awoken Senna, but the name had meant little to her as well.

She looks to Lucian, who is eying her with that combination of love and worry that seems to be becoming his resting expression.

"I ventured a lot of places hunting Thresh and fighting back the Mists. Mudtown was my last stop before Bilgewater, but I can't say I heard anything about an 'Ixtal.'" he states; she nods and squeezes his hand affirmingly. Trying to put so much that is unsaid in the gesture, whittling it all down to a simple: "I really am fine."

The furrow in his brow deepens even as he smiles.

Diana and Olaf shake their heads while Vayne stares at her, "She offered nothing more?"

"The bond we have is not the most straightforward thing." Senna returns.

"Evidently," Vayne remarks, looking pointedly at her spectral arm, "But what, anymore, truly is?"

She looks at Riven and Yasuo. They seem as lost as the others, though there is something more, as they steal glances at each other while they believe the other isn't looking. Their eyes meet. Yasuo opens his mouth, and Riven closes hers tighter. Both of their hands twitch involuntarily.

Now, what has happened there?

Yasuo nods for Riven to speak, and she smiles at him, but there is… sadness behind it.

"Noxus pushed fairly deep into the Kamunga Jungle and likely would have added Mudtown to its number if the jungle had not… expelled them so aggressively." Riven offers, "I heard stories from fellow exiles in Ionia."

"What 'expelled' them?" Senna asks.

"The better question is what didn't," Riven offers, "Disease, native tribes, wild beasts, carnivorous plants, even the weather and land itself seemed out to kill each and every one of them the deeper they went."

"And that was before the Ruination," Vayne remarks, "What will be awaiting us now?"

"Nothing good," Yasuo remarks sardonically, and Riven smiles but looks away.

"We will need to be on guard," Senna agrees, "But that still doesn't answer my question. Does anyone here know about Ixtal?"

Ezreal holds up a finger as he flips through a beaten journal, "Give me a second."

"I am beginning to see why Viego has such a lead," Pyke states, emerging from one of the side alcoves and crossing his arms. Graves nearly leaps to the rafters, "You people waste too much time pondering than doing."

"Not all of us can throw our lives away so easily, wraith," Vayne states, "Caution keeps one breathing."

Pyke scoffs, "Mainlanders."

Ezreal speaks up, "Piltover also tried expanding into Kumunga, but they chose to go in from the Amaranthine Coast. It was… not favored by everyone. The Clans tried passing it off as an exploratory mission, with an additional aim to make contact with the locals. Then, some Sumpers uncovered the logging and excavation equipment. I stowed away and then slipped into the jungles, looking for artifacts, ruins, etc. Anything I could catalog and disguise so they wouldn't snatch or destroy it."

"What happened?" Gwen asks.

"Had some success, but the expedition did not; they eventually got pushed back to the coast; hell, I think they were forced to sleep on their boats. Now, the locales didn't exactly trust me at first, but my Mud Towner is passable. Never heard anyone talk about an Ixtal, but I did hear about mages fighting the outlanders. Never Ixtal, though, but… there was another name."

"Oh?" Senna asks, leaning forward.

"Nidalee." Ezreal offers, "Never met her or got a description, but I can tell you from personal experience that the stuff living in the jungles is particularly odd at times, caught plants following me, and I literally bumped into myself one day, but… I eventually found a path of clues that led me out of the jungles and to Shurima, where I met Kai'sa and, well, you pretty much know the rest."

"Could they be connected?" Senna asks, and Ezreal shrugs.

"Would the mage not know?" Vayne demands, turning back to Senna. "He's been around for… centuries. If his stories can be trusted, he has seen many hidden and forbidden places across the breadth of Runeterra."

"Not all doors were open to me," Ryze states, appearing next to Lucian, placing several scrolls on the table, "But this is what I have."

They are old treatises, stories, and legends, a city on the edge of the Shuriman Empire, independent, or perhaps simply allowed a level of autonomy thanks to the power they helped invest into the wider Empire. Tales of expert elemental mages, rumors of vast guardians, edifices of magical experimentation that could have changed the world.

"This is all ancient. What do we know now?" Senna demands.

Ryze glances at her. "Ixtal is… gone. The one that I knew, the one that held itself so high, its legacy can be seen in the various clans that call the Kumunga home and the monsters they accidentally left behind."

"Such is the legacy of all ancients," Diana murmurs, looking up at Ryze, "But I do not think you are being quite so honest, magus. I have heard murmurs from the south, here."

She points to the Worldstone, and where her finger alights, the old mages show to be the location of the grandest city of the Ixtal: Ixaocan.

Ryze stares at her and then looks around the room, seeing all eyes burrowing into him.

"I am bound by more than words not to tell you everything," Ryze admits. But I do mean what I said. The Ixtal I knew is gone."

"The world is ending, and you can not forsake a promise?" Vayne demands, slamming her hands down on the Worldstone.

"There are many an entity in this world that carry more power and influence in their domains than Viego could ever hope." Ryze states, looking at Senna, "It is foolish to upset such beings, especially the one that awaits in Kumunga."

"Can you give us a name, at least?" Senna asks.

Ryze's brow furrows, and he nods, looking up to the assembled Sentinels, "Skarner, and pray to whatever Gods that you hold dear that the Ruination has passed him by."

"You're sure?" Lucian asks, looking at Graves with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I-" Graves begins rubbing the back of my head, "I can't get back to living my life until this is all over. Y'all are the first people that could have a shot, least I hope, feel like I'm running into y'all at a bit of a rough patch."

"You-you could say that," Lucian admits, looking over to Senna, who was in the middle of a tense conversation with Ryze, Ledros, and the Sentinels that guarded the Isle.

"But look, I lost something to this Ruination, same as anyone, but there ain't anywhere I can go to ride this out, so… if you want another gun, you have it," Graves states, "Long as you got something I can shoot that actually hurts the bastards."

"I think we can accomplish that," Lucian notes.

Pyke appears at Graves' shoulder and nearly gives the mercenary a heart attack.

"I'm joining up as well." Pyke growls, "Someone needs to be here to make sure you can actually get this done.'

"You think we don't have it in us?" Lucian demands, eyes narrowing.

"No, I don't." Pyke returns, "But maybe you can prove me wrong."

Lucian stares at the pair for several moments, trying to ignore the rising tune playing at the base of his hearing.

"Fine, now repeat after me," he states.

He glances at Senna, wondering if she should administer this instead, but she seems deeply engaged in her current conversation.

"I think it is best that I remain behind." Ledros states, "I am still learning what new gifts I have been given, and with Gwen present, I may find myself redundant."

"Outside of that, attempting to draw the Hallowed Mists, even an iota, could do wonders in bolstering the wards your Ionian members spread about the Isle." Ryze notes.

"A sound plan," Senna notes, looking up to Ledros. Are you sure, though? Could meddling with the Hallow risk you returning to as you were before?"

"Little has changed, outside of a presence of warmth within me, lost for millennia," Ledros offers, "I am still me, perhaps a bit more yes than the shadow of Viego's making, but I would rather risk myself than Gwen, the only other fount we can rely upon."

"My work with her is why I am willing to pursue this line of thinking," Ryze cuts in. If she were willing, I am sure between the two of them, I could form a ward of substantial power and with less possible risk."

Ledros shakes his head, "She is needed in the field with you."

He nods to Senna, "She worries for you, and I do not think anything any of us said could convince her to stand aside while you walk back into danger."

Senna smiles and glances over at Gwen, who is waiting patiently for their conversation to finish. In one hand, she fiddles with her skirts, and in the other, she spins her scissors. She is clearly nervous and excited to continue their work.

"You're right. She and I… have a stake in this that few others do. I won't ask her to stay even though I do think it would be the best way of keeping her safe," Senna states.

Her spectral arm throbs at the thought of something similar or worse befalling Gwen.

That. Can not happen.

"Very well," Ryze remarks, "With Viego active once more and a good number of the fetters safely hidden away here, any addition to our defenses would be a good course of action."

Senna goes to speak and a soft cough distracts her, she turns and sees Diana approaching them.

"If we wish to truly bolster our defenses against Viego and his ilk, I could return to Tarric," Diana offers.

Ryze blinks, "You've met the Protector?"

"Do you think all Immortals seek only solitude such as you?" Diana probes.

"I-I was not aware the Moon Goddess had chosen such a path," Ryze admits.

"I learned that I need not be alone, nor have I ever been, just as the stars join the moon in the sky each night, many a light surrounds me." Diana returns.

"I apologize for any surprises or insinuations," Ryze offers, looking to Senna. I had not known the Ascended were so active again."

"We've met a few," Senna states, nodding to Senna "Some, like Diana, have been more than helpful, others…"

"Have joined Viego," Diana notes, "The Pantheon."

Ryze's face contorts strangely, and Senna tries to get a read on this ancient wizard the Piltover Mission had seemingly stumbled upon and gets… nothing.

It is just a wall of long-coached composure.

"Then, yes, you should seek the Protector as quickly as you can manage," Ryze states, looking at Senna. "The mission to Ixtal is important, I understand, but that kind of threat must not be ignored."

"And I have no intention to," Senna states, looking up to Diana, "Go, have Ezreal send you, but be careful."

"I ever am," Diana states, turning to leave but pausing and placing a hand on Senna's shoulder. "I urge caution as well. Urgency is important, yes, but do not risk yourself more than you have."

"I-" Senna begins, feeling a twinge in her spectral hand, "I will try."

"That is all any of us, mortal or otherwise, can do," Diana returns, "Take care of them."

Senna looks to Gwen, "I will."

Diana follows her gaze and smiles softly, "I was not speaking to you."

The twinge in her arm echoed within her chest, a guilt and a protective urge not entirely her own.

With that, Diana leaves, Ryze and Ledros parting from her a moment later to see to the Isle's defenses, leaving Senna standing in the middle of the war room, uncertainty billowing within her.

Yasuo stares around the room, observing the others moving around and getting prepared for this latest leap into the unknown.

Yet his eyes keep being drawn back to the person standing on the opposite side of the room: Riven.

"Are you okay?"

Yasuo starts and looks down, realizing Gwen has been standing next to him for… well, he isn't sure how long.

"I-I'm fine." he returns, "Just… distracted."

"By Riven?" Gwen presses, looking over to the Noxian swordswoman and looking like she is about to say something more.

Yasuo lunges forward, wrapping a hand around Gwen's mouth. He looks up and breathes a brief sigh of relief as Riven is in the midst of her own conversation with Olaf, the latter utterly blocking her line of sight.

He releases Gwen's mouth, who is looking at him even more puzzled.

"Yes, I-she-we," he tries to explain, partially mad at himself for returning to what feels like a teenager immediately.

"Have feelings for each other." Gwen finishes for him with a pleasant smile, yet her words feel like palm strike to his chest.

"How do you-" he demands, and she cuts him off with a surprisingly conniving smirk.

"Ezreal and I had a bet," Gwen states impishly, "You were rather obvious, or so I think, but perhaps I am just used to observing hushed feelings from afar?"

"What-what do you mean?" Yasuo asks.

Gwen turns, and he follows her gaze to the departing Ledros.

"I've seen a lot of love," Gwen states, sounding surprisingly wistful, "Pining never realized."

Her eyes shift from Ledros to Diana, "A deep bond turned to grieving pining."

"Love crafted by time and dedication, and maybe a bit of desperation," she continues, her eyes flicking to where Lucian has approached Senna and wrapped her in a sudden and intimate hug.

"Love so fresh one can not recognize it," she looks to Ezreal, perched in the corner, flipping rapidly through his journal.

"And I saw that mad, passionate, true love that is now consuming the world at its impetus." Gwen finishes, looking up at Yasuo.

"It is a thing worth pursuing, a thing worth having," Gwen states, sounding older and more sagely than he had ever heard her before, "But there are also plenty of reasons to fear it."

He looks up and sees Riven watching him, longing and sadness and confusion pooling in her hazel eyes. He can feel her lips on his once more, and the winds, for but a moment, wipe up around him.

"So, what's yours?" Gwen whispers, leaning closer to Yasuo.

"Have… have you ever felt love, Gwen?" Yasuo asks, looking down at her, "You seem to know how to see it, how to codify it, but-"

Gwen pauses, and a shy smile crosses her face, "I don't know, I love easy, I love most everyone I have met, as you are all a joy to know, but romantic love…."

She pauses, looking up at the ceiling. "No, I have found some people… rather charming. But our meetings were too fleeting to develop something true. At least not yet."

"But you do think yourself worthy of love?" Yasuo asks, sitting down on a crate.

She joins him and gives him a critical look, "Of course I do. Do you not?"

"I-I am fine with people caring about me," Yasuo states, "Took a bit for me to get there, but that I can understand. Someone holding true affection for me, th-that is not something I can really… grasp yet."

"Yet, someone does," Gwen states.

"Yet, not so long ago, I had thoughts of avenging my woes on her," Yasuo hisses, "I… I would have hurt her, even though I had no idea who she was, what she had gone through, what she had-"

Gwen places a hand over his, quieting him down.

"Do those things bother her?" Gwen asks.

"I…" he pauses, staring down at the ground, "I don't know.'

"Then maybe you should ask rather than spiral with self-loathing," Gwen states comfortingly.

"But I thought-" he presses, and she cuts him off again.

"The past is the past; what do you think of her now? All those things you did not know, do you know them now?" Gwen demands.

"I do, and she… she's an inspiration," Yasuo states with a soft smile. "Everything I went through broke me, made me bitter and angry. I turned to drink and let my wounds fester and rot."

"She took everything forced upon her, everything she suffered and worked to make peace with it, worked to right the wrongs she had done in a constructive way. She'd run to face her problems when I had just run away." Yasuo admits.

"You admire her a great deal," Gwen states.

"I do, and her humor, her curiosity, her kindness, all of it has drawn me in," Yasuo continues, rolling his flask about his hands.

"So then, why do you hesitate?" Gwen asks.

"Because she is not the only one that my heart longs for," Yasuo states, grimacing.

"Oh…" Gwen murmurs.

"I had to leave her behind on the Isles, and I have yet to know how she is," Yasuo states, "I was supposed to keep her safe, and I failed. We… I am not sure what we were becoming, but it felt… it feels, much like how Riven lingers in my mind."

Gwen taps her chin and glances at Yasuo, "I do not think there is anything wrong with loving multiple people. Not as long as you have made no promises or commitments to one that denies the other. This person you left behind, did she-"

"Admit her own affections?" Yasuo finishes, "No… no, there wasn't the time."

"But it was evident?" Gwen asks.

"Yes," a voice growls, and Yasuo jolts in surprise to see Pyke leaning on the crates beside them.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Pyke," Gwen states cheerfully.

Pyke scoffs and looks at Yasuo. "The only thing holding you back is you. And if I remember correctly, you and Ahri never shared a kiss after one of your late-night chats."

Gwen's eyes go wide, "You and Riven kissed?!"

Her voice is a bit too loud, and several heads turn in their direction, including Riven, a blush growing on her face.

"Not so loud!" Yasuo snaps.

Pyke chuckles, and Gwen squeezes Yasuo's hand.

"Just… talk to her, be honest, be forward, with her and yourself, and let yourself be happy, even if it isn't forever," Gwen advises, smiling genuinely at Yasuo.

"Doubt you need to worry about that," Pyke grunts, spinning his blade, "Ahri didn't seem opposed to sharing."

Yasuo had chosen to take the briefest of swigs from his flasks and promptly chokes.

"Even better!" Gwen states, clapping her hands. Yasuo stands, looks at Riven, and goes to talk to her, only for a sharp whistle to draw his attention elsewhere.

Senna looks around at the assembled Sentinels, taking account of Graves and Pyke now amongst their numbers, the former wielding a relic cannon nearly as large as hers that he found within Sanctum and the latter having had his sawtoothed weaponry augmented with relic stone.

"Get ready to depart. We've taken some licks," she states, holding up some spectral arm for emphasis, "But we defeated him once and set this world on a better path for the better part of a year. A handful of losses are not enough to break us. Let's show Viego and his sycophants that we are far from broken!"

Gwen begins cheering and clapping, joined by Olaf and the others, though most of the rest are more stoic in their agreement. Lucian smiles at her, but she can tell he is distracted, and has been ever since she awakened.

"Ezreal?" Senna asks, turning to look at him.

"Alright, folks," he states, spinning the Wayfinder in his hands. "It's time to brave the unknown!"

The doorway opens, and before he can say another word, Olaf is already through it, Gwen a step behind.

"So… just a question," Graves asks, as the others begin to rush past him through the portal, "But do we any sort of pay or-"

Senna shoots him a flat look.

"Didn't think so," he grumbles, unholstering his new cannon and rushing through the portal.

She looks back and sees Lucian waiting for her, hand outstretched.

"Shall we?" he asks.

She reaches for him and hesitates, her spectral hand an inch from his. His smile softens, and he crosses the gap, wrapping his hand tightly around hers.

"It's still you," he murmurs, and with that comforting thought, she drags him after her through the portal.

Lucian blinks and looks around, seeing that they are standing in the midst of a ruin overgrown with all manner of verdant foliage. The roof had long caved in, leaving it exposed to the roiling gray sky above, but just a cursory look revealed it to be larger than all other outposts they have visited, except perhaps the Serpent Isles Outpost.

"Look," Ezreal states, pointing as he steps through the portal.

And there on the far wall is a single bare patch, around which the foliage had withdrawn or never grown to begin with.

The drawing of a red butterfly sitting right in the middle.

"The symbol of the mage's rogue conspirator," Vayne growls.

"And another ruined outpost," Senna notes, looking about, "Though this… one looks like it has been abandoned for far longer than the others."

"Seems they did not go willingly," Olaf states, pushing some of the foliage away to reveal immense claw marks raking up wall, caving clean through hints of a secondary level.

"This place was a fortress, well appointed, very well made," Ezreal states, swiveling around and eying the stonework with a critical eye. "It would have taken a lot to destroy this place."

"Do we know where we are?" Graves asks.

Ezreal glances around, and vanishes, appearing atop the tallest wall, pivoting around.

"We're above the canopy, but I don't… recognize any of the landmarks," Ezreal calls down, "No sign of the Delta or Mudtown, so I'd say we're pretty far so-"

He pauses, staring at something to the southeast.

"What is it?" Senna asks.

"You're gonna want to come up here." Ezreal calls back down.

It takes a moment, but they all manage to join Ezreal, guided where to stand by the young archaeologist's keen eye.

And from there they see the sight that had left him speechless.

"Wow," Gwen breathes.

A vast pyramid, or is it a city, rests in the heart of the valley below them. White stone resplendent against the greenery of the jungles, its edges smooth as if it were shaped from one piece of stone rather than carved. Great gems float and spin in the air, gleaming with energy as a flickering dome of energy fights to keep the Black Mist at bay. The Mist spills off the dome above the city pyramid like waterfalls, forming a roiling moat, though tendrils thread and weave through the wider jungle-like befouled arteries.

"Ixtal," Senna states.

"The fetter has to be there!" Gwen states excitedly, "And whoever is there is holding off the Mists."

"For now," Vayne remarks, looking for paths down from their current perch.

A faint rumble catches Senna's attention, she looks around, seeing some of the loose stone atop the wall jittering and dancing.

"Then that is where we are needed. Let's get moving, Sentinels," she commands, turning her attention back to the distant city.

"Wait," Riven interjects, holding out her arm and looking around nervously, "There's something in the air-"

"I feel it too," Yasuo agrees, reaching for his blade.

Olaf sniffs the air, "I smell nothing but the reek of the Mists and our new friends."

Pyke looks at Olaf flatly and leaps off the wall without a word while Graves tries to covertly sniff himself.

"It's not a scent," Yasuo remarks, "It's like… a vibration, a ripple in the air but not one caused by wind."

"Like… echolocation?'' Ezreal asks.

"Or music?" Lucian interjects a bit too forcefully, drawing Senna's attention.

"The former," Riven states.

Lucian winces and holds his head.

"Lucian?" Senna asks. He shakes his head and slides away from her, eyes flicking down to the jungle below, searching.

"If it's echolocation, something knows we are here." Vayne notes, "So we need to not be here rapidly."

"Then get moving," Pyke calls up from below.

Senna nods.

He can feel them.

More Outsiders.

At the relic, he excised after they failed to heed his warnings.

What did they want?

Were they a threat?

How must he protect his people?

He reaches out.

And finds them swiftly. Near a dozen strangers walking in his lands.

Bearing magics of those who denied him and those who currently beset him.

That.

Would Not Stand.

Yasuo is the first to feel it, with Riven a moment behind.

A growing surge in the earth beneath their feet.

"Move!" He bellows, but he is a moment too late as the earth erupts with edged spires of rock, buckling and wrenching apart like a demented mouth.

The briefest glimpse of something immense shifting beneath catches his eye, and then it is gone.

And then so is Lucian.

Senna dives for him and is nearly impaled on a spike before Olaf can throw her aside and take the brunt of the strike himself. Lucian attempts to claw his way back up but fails, the rock shaking apart every handhold he attempts to grasp.

Ezreal is next, then Pyke, then Graves, the ground opening and battering them, sending them careening into the ground below, while the others dive and rush to avoid the widening chasm.

Ezreal attempts to teleport to safety, but a falling rock cracks him in the head, and he goes limp.

Lucian halts his attempts to escape and leaps for Ezreal, pulling him close as the pair fall.

Graves scrambles for any purchase and vanishes with a swear, and Pyke attempts to swim through the ground as he had so many times before, but Yasuo sees surprise cross the wraith's face for the first time as something within it rebuffs him.

And he, too, falls from sight.

"I'm going after them!" Riven states.

Yasuo reaches for her and then the ground buckles beneath their feet as well.

He tackles her, drawing her close as the ground buckles all around.

"Don't let go," he states as he hears the rest of his allies fighting to escape the ever-widening pit.

And then, with a jarring rush, they hit the water, and his head collides with a rock.

His vision blurs and then darkens, and when he regains his wits, he is hanging on the edge of a waterfall, Riven desperately clinging to his arm with one hand and the other holding tight to the ceiling above them.

Light fades as the stone knit itself back together behind them.

"Hold on!" she cries, drawing him back up towards her.

He scrambles up to perch beside her, the light growing thinner and thinner until he can only see her by the faint glow of the runes of her blade, activated by her adrenaline.

"Where are the others?" he asks.

"Senna and some of the others were dragged down another tunnel by the current,' she states, "But I saw Lucian and Ezreal go over the side."

She gestures into the darkness beneath them.

"I'm going after them," she states, preparing herself to jump.

"Wait!" he states, grabbing hold of her forearm, "You used up your incredibly dangerous leap of faith in Piltover."

She blinks at his joking admonishment, "I-."

"It's my turn," he says with a smile, and then he kisses her. It's not the passionate, intimate kiss like the night before, but a peck, a comfort, and an apology wrapped in one.

She blinks, half-stunned.

"I'll find them, and I'll get them back," he states.

"How?" she demands.

"I'll follow the wind; it always seems to blow me back to you." he returns, and despite the moment and the adrenaline, he sees her blush just a bit beneath the emerald glow.

"That-" Riven begins.

"I'm a poet, I know," he jokes, "But we're wasting time. Go find the others, and when this is all over, you and I are going to have a very long and complicated talk."

She nods, smiling, "We'd better."

He gives her hand a comforting squeeze and tips into the darkness beyond, wrapping himself in a barrier of wind, which slows his fall and shields him from any jutting spars of rock.

This time, when he hits water, he is prepared.

Senna surges to her feet, glancing around, fighting panic.

Gwen is at her side, Vayne a step away, dragging herself from the small pond they had been deposited in. Olaf stands on the shore, shaking himself like a dog, and a moment later, Riven appears, emerging with a gasping breath in the middle of the pond.

"Where are the others?" Senna demands.

"I don't know," Riven states, "Yasuo went after them."

"We need to find them. We need-" Senna begins.

"Senna!" Vayne warns, drawing a crossbow as something emerges from the jungle behind them.

Senna whirls, hand reaching for her cannon, as two immense cats with orange fur and strange green plates of bone across their faces push free of the jungle.

They part, and a woman holding an immense spear appears, dressed in fur and bone, though some of the former appears to be more a part of her than her clothing. Her black hair is a long mane down her back, and her cat-like eyes burrow into each one, her long feline ears flicking irritatedly.

"What you need," the woman states, leveling her spear as more of the large cats emerge. Her voice is thickly accented and uncertain as if she is not used to speaking. "It is to explain who you are."

And scene!

Next time, Big Cats Prowl, and Rivers Roar, all while Mist and Earth battle to see who forces the Sentinels out of Ixtal!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and again, the kiss just snuck up on me, as did "love scholar" Gwen.

As always, comments, questions, and critiques are appreciated. This has been VerBeeker, signing off!