I don’t know if you have noticed, but I have a very unhealthy relationship with the undead. No, I’m not a necrophiliac if that is what you are thinking. I just am fascinated by what it would feel like to be between life and death, living and dead, walking without a pulse. Anyway…I thought to myself, “What would happen if I got my favorite undead monster (zombies) and put them in Valoran?” I’ve asked myself this question many times. So, here are the results of my twisted little brain in its real action. Disrupting the Balance is just my romantic side. If you really want to see my…crazy side, this is where to find it.
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Chapter 1: Ryze Wants a Hug

“Did you hear about the necromancer?” One of the League healers asked me while I stitched up another of Riven’s wounds. Since her joining the League, she had been in many fights. Noxians hated her, Ionians hated her, and even Demacians hated her. The only friends she found were ones that did not take sides. And even then, she stayed away from them.

Riven rolled her eyes upon hearing the necromancer rumor once more. The rumor spread like a virus once it was reported a robed man sitting in various graveyards, chanting incantations that no one had known of. Even Karthus himself was not familiar with the incantations.
“Typical gossip,” Riven said under her breath, subtle enough to die out before it reached the other healer’s ears, but loud enough that I heard it.

“Yes, I heard of the necromancer,” I replied to my colleague. She was the real gossip; I only participated in it to keep her entertained while we worked. I could see Riven’s impatience with how slow I was performing the procedure. Sometimes I liked to tease Riven and went slower than normal. This was one of those times. I could have just healed her arm using magic, but sometimes healing magic had side effects, especially if the person using the healing magic was only a trainee such as me.

“Pretty scary huh? They say no one, not even Karthus knows what he is chanting,” My fellow healer said in a somewhat worried tone. I looked to see Riven becoming very impatient. I was only halfway done stitching the wound but decided to go ahead and finish up. Like a rocket I finished the last half of the wound. Riven shot me an angry look to which I smiled sheepishly in response.

I was about to bandage the stitches when all of a sudden Riven pulled her arm away from me like I had some sort of disease. “I can do with just this thank you,” she said before almost storming out of the infirmary. I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t.

The rest of the day was pretty normal. I fixed up a few champions who were injured while training. I had always wanted to help Pantheon whenever he was injured, but Soraka, my teacher, never let me. She always healed him because of his wounds being too much for someone like me to handle.

When I was finally done with the day, lessons complete, patients helped, I packed up my bags of my own medical supplies and headed out of the institute. As I began walking through the giant halls, I took in the sight. I had been through these giant pathways time and time again that I had forgotten how beautiful they really were. I guess the champions of the League never really took the time to appreciate such beauty.

Anyway, I exited the institute, heading straight for the train to take me to my home town of Noxus. What? Did you think we were all power hungry? Well maybe the majority of us, but Noxus would not prosper without having healers around. I was never cut out for the whole ‘fighting’ thing anyway. I was sad to say that I had no combat skills of any sort of useful talents except that of healing of course.

Upon arriving home, I instantly plopped down on my couch. I was tired from the constant travel between the Institute and my own home. Getting a home at the institute wasn’t a bad idea, but considering the limited space and the fact that almost anyone was allowed to become a champion, I declined the offer. Besides, living with someone makes you sick of them. I didn’t want to get sick of my favorite champions.

A yawned escaped my mouth as I sat down on the couch and soon after, I was dead asleep. Tomorrow would be another day. Perhaps I would finally be able to speak to her without chocking up. Though I doubt that I would be able to.

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So the next day seemed pretty normal. I woke up, took a shower and got dressed for another day of healing and fixing up beat up champions. I didn’t hate my job, as a matter of fact, I signed up to be a healer for a reason. When I was younger, I had friends whom decided to sign up to become part of the Noxian military. I really didn’t want to fight; it was not in my blood. I did, however want to stick with my friends and decided to be one of those ‘side jobs’ that don’t necessarily include fighting. Medic was one of the only choices that actually sparked my interest. It was better than interrogator. I could never torture someone, not in my blood either. When the League began, most fighting stopped and I still had all these medical skills, so I decided to join as a healer after a year of contemplation.

Though something seemed….whats the word? Off? When I left for my trip to the league. The streets were also empty. Odd. When I got to the train station, I noticed no one was around and all the trains were still in place. Oh well, guess I’ll take the carriage. The trip was 4 hours longer than taking the train. I was going to be so late, but at least I had an excuse.

It must have taken me about 10 minutes before the horse began to finally stop rearing, probably because I was now stealing a horse from a carriage but I completely needed it!! I hopped onto it and began riding towards The Institute of war. As I was leaving Noxus, I noticed the gates weren’t exactly closed. They were wide open and even a little beat up. There were no guards. Ok maybe there were guards, but they were too busy eating to actually be watching the roads. I would have to tell someone about that.

The trip from Noxus to The institute wasn’t a long one. I mean granted it wasn’t a 10 minute trip by horse. It was more like a 6 hour trip. That is, with a fast enough horse and a well built one also, like the one the carriages used. They were bred to be fast and have a huge amount of stamina. Anyway, during the trip back to the institute, I saw a few lone people walking by themselves. Nomads or wanderers they had to be. The strange part was that nomads or wanderers would normally ask for a lift if they needed one, but these guys seemed to be completely uninterested in getting a ride.

6 hours later. And believe me those 6 hours SUCKED. The Institute of war was finally in sight, though it must have been a busy day since there was a huge crowd of people surrounding it. New champion maybe? Everyone trying to get his/her autograph? I don’t know, but the smell; let me tell you, atrocious. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled a group of more stinking humans in my life, and that’s because I was a medic.

“Uh…Hello?” I said aloud as I got off my horse. The entire and I mean entire, group of stinky people looked at me like if they were confused. I could see their drool and mouths watering. Were they looking at me like I was their next meal? It was then that I saw Ryze, him and his zombie outfit. “Oh, hello Ryze,” I said cheerfully. He must have been happy to see me because he started heading straight for me with arms out stretched. Did he want a hug? It was then that I noticed the entire group of stinky people began walking towards me. “Uh…guys, you’re getting a bit too close!” I said, backing away from the group.

“HEY!!!” I heard from one of the windows of the institute. It was a female voice. “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?!” The woman shouted at me. I looked up to see Riven looking down at me. “Get away from here before they get you!!Wait…is that the healer!?! Guys!! The healer is outside!”

My attention had been turned towards Riven but when I looked down towards the crowd, they were already starting to descend on me. Ryze was leading the pack. I turned to run but my foot must have caught a rock or something because I found myself on the ground. Just my luck

The people began grabbing my jacket and their faces were starting to get in my personal space. Their mouths opened and I could feel their drool landing on my jacket and clothes. I tried to kick a few, but I was way too feeble to actually do any sort of damage with my legs. It was then that a spear flew and impaled the person closest to me. It made most of the crowd stop and the sound of spear hitting shield drew more of their attention. The group of, whatever they were, got off me and began heading for Pantheon.

Just my luck

As the group of stinky people began heading for Pantheon, I scrambled to my feet and picked up my bag of medical supplies that had fallen when I tripped. I guess a few of the people didn’t like that because a group of at least 4 began heading for me. When I finally got to my feet, I managed to push away the closest one, but it was no use. One grabbed my arm and was just about to bite down? Until it’s head turned into shreds. Warwick stood in front of me, tearing the other three people to shreds with his claws. It was then that I noticed a multitude of champions coming out of the institute to fight off the crowd. Warwick grabbed my arm and practically threw me towards the door before turning to tear up another group of…things. Riven pulled me to my feet.

“What the hell were you doing out here?” She asked before lifting me up and carrying me inside the institute. “Alright!! We got him!!” Riven shouted to the other champions fighting of the group. One by one they started heading back into the institute. Pantheon was the only one who stayed outside. “Pantheon!! Get inside!!” Riven commanded but he was way too busy kicking ass.

“Close the doors!! I will lead them away, or kill them. They are the perfect enemies. Numerous, without pain and unrelenting. If I die, I shall die with a spear in my hand!!” Pantheon responded after bashing an undead's head with his shield.

“NO!! Get in here now!!” She shouted but it was already too late. Pantheon was leading the crowd away from the doors. Only a few were actually heading for us, but Riven cut them down easily with her blade.

“Since you insist!!” He replied and crouched down. The crowd began surrounding him but after a short delay, Pantheon was flying upwards through the air and, moments later, landed right in front of Riven and I with a loud crash. Almost like clockwork, the two warriors shut the doors of the institute. “Barricades!” Pantheon shouted. A few of the champions began blocking the door with various objects till it looked secure.

Just as I was about to speak, a giant gloved hand back-handed my face, knocking me to the ground. When I looked up, Riven held a fist full of my jacket and was threatening to punch my face again. “Do you have a death wish or something?” she snapped.

When you have an angry, white-haired woman standing over you with a giant gloved hand about to punch your lights out, you forget that you have the ability to talk. I looked up at her with a confused expression. “What do you mean death wish? I was just coming for another day of work,” I explained after a long pause. The look in Riven’s eyes was beyond anger. Her fist came down on my face again, this time drawing blood.

“Don’t play stupid with me. I am not in the mood for it!” She snarled. I was puzzled to say the least and a little bit angry.

“I’m not playing anything!!” I retorted. “I woke up, got ready to come over here, grabbed a horse and began riding.”

Riven’s grip tightened on my jacket. “You mean to tell you on the trip over here you didn’t see any of the undead walking around?!?” Riven was practically shouting at this moment. Her fist lifted for another strike but Jax grabbed her arm.

“Leave the poor kid alone. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know what’s going on,” The Grandmaster said before letting Riven’s arm go. Almost instantly her anger vanished and she let me go. Jax grabbed my hand and pulled me up while Riven stormed away.

“Thanks,” I said before covering my mouth. After pulling my hand away, I could see a thin film of blood covering my palm.

“No problem,” Jax replied and patted my shoulder. “It’s a miracle you showed up. We have a few injured and no one to take care of them.”

“Soraka?” I asked. Jax only shook his head. “Taric?” another shake. “Sona?” this time, Jax lifted his head slightly.

“We have no idea where she is. She was out for a concert yesterday and we haven’t heard from her at all today,” Jax replied.

“What happened here?” I asked, looking around at the injured people. A lot of the champions I could see, but some were missing.

“We’re not entirely sure ourselves. Last night, someone was banging on the door to the infirmary. Naturally, one of the healers opened it up. After that, everything went downhill. The patient went crazy, biting anyone he could grab and before long, anyone bit became the same way. It got so bad that we had to seal off the infirmary. It didn’t take too long for the group you saw outside to gather up,” Jax explained.

“Riven said something about undead…What does she mean?” I asked. Jax sighed.

“We think that’s what they are. We aren’t completely sure, but it hasn’t been dismissed as a theory,” Jax responded.

“What about the summoners? They couldn’t do anything about the undead?”

“When the infirmary was being attacked, almost everyone headed over there. This gave Nocturne just enough time to break free of his chains without any guards there to keep him. He slaughtered a good amount of the summoners and a lot of them were caught by the undead,” Jax explained. Such a horrible fate.

“I think they might be waiting for you, don’t let me hold you up.” Jax said before motioning towards a group of champions and other people who worked various jobs around the institute. They were lying on the ground together wrapped in blankets from the champions’ quarters.

Finally having some sort of purpose, I headed straight for the injured. Fortunately, none of them had any serious wounds that basic first aid couldn’t fix. A few gashes and broken bones but nothing a suture kit or splint couldn’t fix. By the time I had finished, I had exhausted all of my medical supplies. I had very little left and if anyone else got injured, I wouldn’t have been able to help them. I needed to get into the infirmary, but Jax told me they sealed it off because it was lost to the undead. It was the only place to get anymore medical supplies but who knows how many of those things were still in there? I was hesitant to ask for any sort of help and decided to just to sit down in the corner of the main hall.

To my surprise Riven was the only one to approach me. She sat down next to me and sighed, “I’m sorry about earlier,” she said monotonously.

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied, checking my mouth to see if I was still bleeding, which I wasn’t.

“Thanks for helping out the wounded.”

“It’s kind of my job,” I replied. It took me a while before I finally mustered up the courage to ask Riven a request. “I need to get into the infirmary.”

“No”

“I ran out of medical supplies. If anyone else gets hurt, they’re going to have to deal with it until I get more,” I said, almost instantly in response to her answer. I guess this revelation made Riven think because she stayed quiet for a long time.

“If you’re going, you’re taking Jax, Pantheon, and Warwick with you,” She said after a long pause. Her face leaned close to mine. If I didn’t know better, I’d say a kiss was about to happen, but I did know better. “If any of them end up undead. I’m holding you responsible. Do I make myself clear?” she whispered, her words laced with icy venom.

I could feel my hands shaking with fear, “y…yes ma’am,” I replied.

“Good,” was her only reply before she stood up. “I’ll gather up your force, but you’re going to have to talk to Warwick,” She said.

“Why do I have to talk to him?” I asked.

“There are still…scars between us. I don’t want to get into an argument with him, especially since we’re surrounded by the undead,” She explained. I guess it made sense. I mean, Riven was a traitor to Noxus and I was still Noxian. I didn’t hate Riven, and after she joined the League, I understood her reasons for leaving. “I’m going to go speak to Pantheon, you go find Warwick. He may be bloodthirsty and vicious, but he isn’t stupid.”

Riven walked off to find The Artisan of War while I stayed, stunned that I was actually going to meet Pantheon. I mean, despite the whole undead thing, I was going to meet my favorite champion!!!

Looking for Warwick, I stumbled upon Pantheon and Riven talking.

“So, the pipsqueak wants me to help him get medical supplies from the infirmary?” Pantheon asked.

“Yes. Well actually, I kind of requested you go with him. It would be stupid to let him go in there alone,” She replied.

“I don’t want to have to baby sit him,” Pantheon responded.

“Yeah, and I don’t want to have to stay in this god forsaken institute, but we all have to do things we don’t want.”

So that was it. They thought I was weak. I mean, granted I was, but still…They thought I was weak!! They thought I was a baby, a pipsqueak, a weakling. It’s not that it hurts that they thought I couldn’t handle myself. What hurt was the fact that Pantheon thought so little of me. I think something in me broke that day because I didn’t go look for Warwick. No, I headed straight for the infirmary.

Without anyone noticing me, because no one ever really notices the healer, I managed to make it to the infirmary door. They had put up barricades to block the passage, but I could lift a few chairs and desks out of the way. After a good amount of time, the door was uncovered. I could open it and run inside, grab what I needed and get out before too many undead noticed me. Or atleast that’s what I was hoping would happen.

“Hey,” I heard from behind me. When I turned to look, I saw Jax standing there. “What are you doing?” He asked almost as if I wasn’t about to dive into a group of undead and possibly get eaten alive.

“I’m going to get some medical supplies,” I responded, moving the last chair out of the way and reaching for the handle.

“By yourself? Riven told me to come and meet you here before you went in there,” He replied. I only shook my head. “No you aren’t going in there by yourself?”

“Yes I’m going by myself,” I said, gripping the handle in my hand. “I’ll be back soon.”

What happened next was a bit of chance mixed with irony. I opened the door, walked inside and saw the halls practically covered with blood. “WHAT THE HELL!!” I heard behind me from an angry woman voice. I turned to see Riven practically running for the door, but I was already closing it. “JAX!! STOP HIM!!”

The door closed before she could reach it and I locked it before she could open it. She pulled at the handles in vain. “****it healer!! You open this door now or I’m going to beat you to near death when you get out of there!!” She threatened.

“No, I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” I responded through the closed door in a much softer tone then her. “This is something I’ve got to do.”

“Let him go Riven,” Jax said quietly. I could hear him through the door.

“Jax, he is the only healer we have and if he dies in there, we’re going to be out of luck when people start getting hurt,” Riven argued, but she knew there was no way I was unlocking this door. I guess she realized this because her voice was much quieter when she spoke to me. “If you don’t come back, I’m taking it as a personal insult.”

The small joke made me smile, “I’ll be back before you even start to miss me.”

“Who said anything about missing you?”

That kind of hurt. Anyway, I began slowly creeping down the hall of the infirmary. There wasn’t much there except for blood and gore spread all over the floor, hey, that rhymed. I made my way into the first room to my left. No undead, that was good. I immediately headed for the cabinets of the room and rummaged through them. Suture kit, good, bandages, awesome, medicine, great. I threw anything that seemed helpful into my back pack that I always carried.

Though I found some good stuff, it wasn’t nearly enough to fill my bag's capacity. I need more. The next place I headed too was the room next door, but as I peeked around the corner, I saw an undead just standing there. Instantly, I pulled my head back from the doorway and merely stood still with my back against the wall. What was I going to do? I needed to get to the medical supplies but I couldn’t with that undead in my way. Ok, I needed a plan, and I found one. I ran inside the room and planted the hardest kick I could do onto the undead’s chest and it fell like a sack of potatoes to the ground. I knew it wasn’t dead and began stomping on its face repeatedly till its head busted like a melon.

I took deep breaths, shocked by my actions and kind of horrified that my entire right leg was covered with blood and brains. Once calmed, I began going through the cabinets again. More bandages, can’t have enough of those, more medicine, also good, a pair of splints, that would come in handy. I grabbed the two splints and held them as weapons; they would have to serve that purpose for now till I finished my trip. My bag was almost halfway full, a few more rooms and I would have been good.

So, on to the next room. I crept across the hallway into the next room and found it to be clear of undead again. Internally, I threw a party. I rummaged through the cabinets and shelves, finding exactly what I had been wanting to see. “Health potions,” I said quietly to myself and began throwing them inside my bag. There wasn’t a lot of them, but enough that would last us a good amount of time. The cool thing about health potions was that they healed exactly what needed to be healed. The perfect combination of science and magic.

Excited I found what would be most helpful, I turned around to look at the door, but only saw a horrifying sight.

On the other side of the door:

A loud scream could be heard.

“Was that healer?” Riven asked, almost anxious.

“I don’t know, sounded like him,” Jax replied.
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Author's Note: I know I said twisted, but let me get to after the Institute. I have much planned.

Also, I know I was going to wait after Disrupting The Balance, but I couldn't wait, so I posted it.

By the way, this is just for S&G

LOL i thought i was the only no lifer that thought of doing something like this

Dont know if that was an insult or a compliment but at least some one read it.

Ahahahahah this is awesome >
MOAR GORE!
MOOOOOARR BLOOD
MORE DISMEMBERMENT!!!!
MWAHAHAH
MWAHA
MWAHAHAHAH!!!

Chapter 2: Noturne Takes Me Out to Dinner

“Well then that’s it! We’re slowly going to start rotting away because Jax didn’t want to stop the healer from trying to suicide!” Riven was obviously angry. Jax merely stood there staring at her.

“I know him, he’s a smart kid, he’ll be just fine,” Jax tried to reassure Riven about the healer’s status.

Riven only looked away from him, hanging her head downward. She felt no feelings for the healer; he was stupid, oblivious, immature, and soft. She only wanted his skills. If anyone else could patch up their group, she wouldn’t bat an eye towards the healer even if he was being eaten by the undead.

“Just leave me alone Jax, you’re decision to let him go have cost us our lives,” Riven said, her voice distraught and melancholy. As she walked away from the two other champions, Pantheon approached her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“We do not know if he is gone for sure. Perhaps that fragile body of his contains more strength then we can see,” Pantheon said. Riven only shook his head.

“He’s an idiot,” She whispered before walking out of Pantheon’s grasp.
_

By the way, that scream totally wasn’t me. When I turned, what I saw wasn’t horrifying, well when I focused on it, it wasn’t. It turned out, it was just Ezreal, covered in blood and gore and guts and…..you get what I mean. I guess he thought I was an undead also because he almost instantly shot at me with that thing on his wrist.

“Hey man!! Watch it!!” I whispered harshly. I could almost instantly see the relief on Ezreal’s face.

“Oh, sorry, you’re alive,” Ezreal said before running over towards my side.

“Ezreal…right?” I asked. It was sort of hard to recognize him with all the blood splatter. He nodded. “What are you doing in here?”

Ezreal sighed, “They locked me in here. I tried to get out a few times but the door wouldn’t move. So I hid and covered myself in this…muck. I was thinking that maybe it would get them off me, and it did,” Ezreal explained. “What about you?”

“Medical supplies,” I responded. Note, we were whispering this entire conversation. Ezreal nodded in approval.

It was then that an undead shambled into the doorway. Ezreal was about to shoot it till I stopped him. Instead, I bashed its head with half of the splint I held. It fell to the ground where I vigorously stomped on its head, like I did before. My leg was now fully crimson with dark red spots where the blood was beginning to dry.

We didn’t have much time to celebrate as another undead shambled through the door and I could see more lining up for the potential buffet that was Ezreal and I.

“I think your little fiasco is catching up with us,” I said to Ezreal at full volume. What was the point of whispering if we were already about to eaten? Ezreal began firing his Mystic shots into the undead, which practically exploded on impact from it. I could only laugh. “That’s pretty awesome,” I said as another undead exploded.

We migrated into the hall where Ezreal shot undead; making them pop like balloons that got shot with a needle. He was in a combat high, shooting anything that moved, until….well.

Ezreal pointed his device towards another undead, but instead of firing off, it fizzed. “Uh oh,” He said, slapping his wrist.

“What do you mean ‘uh oh’?” I asked almost angrily.

“Out of mana,” He said before smiling sheepishly. “Heh...sorry.”

“Then it’s best if we high tail it out of here!!” I said, running straight for the exit. Ezreal followed. The undead, seeing that their meal was about to get away, began shambling at a much faster pace.

“HURRY HURRY HURRY!!” I said repeatedly. The both of us slammed into the door as I began to fidget with the lock, trying to unlock it. My hands were shaking with fear as the horde behind us began closing distance, moaning loudly as if demanding for a bite.

Finally the door opened, Ezreal and I fell to the ground in front of Jax. “QUICK!! BARRICADES!!” I shouted before standing up. Hastily, I began pushing the door shut as the horde was about to reach it. An arm made it through the door but was severed as Ezreal and I closed the massive pieces of stone. We felt the bashing of other undead as Jax began pushing tables and chairs at my way. With the combined efforts of Ezreal, Jax and I, we managed to build up the barricade enough to keep the undead at bay. Sorry guys, no meal for you!

I began taking deep breaths because running away from a horde of undead and barricading a door while they are smashing at it is no easy task and gets your heart pumping. Ezreal and I sat on the ground while Jax walked off. After a few minutes of me cooling down, Jax returned with Riven. A giant smile immediately opened up on her face when her eyes fell on me. She ran to me and I swear I was about to get a hug until she grabbed the bag instead of wrapping her arms around me.

“There wasn’t anymore?” Riven asked after looking through the bag and tossing it at me.

“Yes, but I didn’t get it because-“ SMASH! Riven’s gloved hand struck my face.

“That was for going in there alone,” She said before grabbing a fistful of my jacket and punching me again. “That one was for almost dying,” She snarled before punching me once more. “And that one is for not getting the rest of the supplies,” she dropped me back onto the ground. I could feel blood trickling from my nose and various cuts on my cheeks. Oh god it hurt so bad.

Ezreal was holding back a laugh, but failed as he began bursting out into laughter. Riven turned an eye at him before giving him a bit of noxian equality and a fistful of justice. I guess two groaning men lying on the ground covering broken noses was a funny sight because Jax started to chuckle, though it immediately stopped when Riven turned to look at him.

“Hold onto your supplies, everyone is nice and patched up,” Riven said before I raised my hand.

“Not me!” I said loudly, still groaning in pain.

“You don’t count as a person,” She spat before walking away.

Jax walked over to me and grabbed my raised arm, pulling me up. “Wow, she really hates you,” Jax commented.

I reached into my bag and grabbed a bandage, wiping the blood off of my nose. I may have been an idiot in Riven’s eyes, but by no means was I stupid at all or as oblivious as people thought I was. I knew exactly what was going on with the usual shy girl who kept to herself a lot.

“Her military instincts kicked in. She isn’t like that on the fields because she doesn’t feel the necessity to survive when she’ll just come back. Now with the undead running around, it’s either kill or be killed, just like in the military,” I explained. Jax nodded his understanding.

“That makes sense,” Jax agreed and patted my shoulder. “Good job getting the supplies. Too bad you couldn’t get more, but I think you moved up a notch in Riven’s eyes,” he said.

“If not being a person is a notch above what I was, I don’t want to know where I stood before,” I said, wiping more blood off of my nose.

Jax pondered this for a moment before nodding, “Eh, half a notch.”

The day seemed pretty boring since I wasn’t needed. I looked for Ezreal; a few questions scratched at my mind that perhaps he had the answer to. The Institute may have been big, but a lot of it was sealed off from the undead rampage. It took me about ten minutes to find the prodigal explorer. He was sitting down next to wall fiddling with his nose to check for any permanent damage.

“Hey Ezreal, I have a few questions to ask,” I said, sitting down next to him.

“Uhh..sure…shoot,” He replied rubbing his face.

“If by any chance…did you see Soraka or Taric?” I asked. Soraka was my main teacher, but Taric had been there to teach me about herbs and earth magic. Most people thought he was uh…batting for the other team, but to be honest, he never once acted like that. Well not in front of me anyway. But I can’t really say I knew him more than just a teacher.

“Actually, yeah, they escaped the institute,” Ezreal replied. My eyes went wide with shock. “I was about to leave the infirmary when they began closing the doors. I saw that both of them were surrounded and picked off a few undead. Taric took care of the rest with his hammer and then they headed into the opposite direction I was going. I saw them leave out of a window. When I turned to reach the door, it was already closed,” Ezreal story had shined hope in my mind.

So then there is still hope that they are alive? I told myself in my mind. But then that means….

“Ezreal, you are not to tell anyone about this,” I said to him after a long pause.

“Why?” He asked. I responded to pointing at Riven.

“She’ll use me as fodder if we find Taric and Soraka. The only reason I’m still alive is because of my skills. Other than that, I’m just another mouth to feed. And if Taric and Soraka are found, I’ll be practically useless since they can heal better than me,” I explained. In my mind, it was all true. Riven barely considered me a person. If she found someone with more first aid experience than me, she’d throw me to the undead if she needed to.

Ezreal began to ponder this, “2 lives for 1? Seems like a much better deal,” he said quietly. It was true. 2 healers, one of which who can even fight for himself, was much better than a rookie healer with no combat experience at all who, to top it all off, was Noxian and not liked by many people. I couldn’t argue with Ezreal at all fairly.

“I mean, I COULD tell everyone what Taric and you did alone that one time,” I said. Honestly, I didn’t know for sure if Ezreal rolled that way, but right now I was desperate. It was a random shot in the dark.

Ezreal’s eyes widened, “How do you know about that?”

“He told me.” I lied

Ezreal cursed silently to himself before looking at me, “Fine, you win. I won’t tell anyone,” he said with anger in his voice. Oh gosh that was so lucky.

“Glad to do business with you,” I said before standing up and walking away.

As I walked away I could hear Ezreal saying “I told him not to tell anyone!”

Well anyway, the night was starting to rise and I was feeling tired. I guess it was the initial panic that made people get hurt. I curled up in my little corner and used my jacket as a blanket. It was covered in blood of the undead (and a bit of my blood too).

Sleep was easily found.

I had the weirdest dream. Riven and I were sitting at an ornate table, each dressed in formal wear. She had on a red dress that finely traced the curves of her body. I was wearing a black jacket that looked like something only a noble would wear. A candle stood, burning between us. I knew something was amiss here because I would have NEVER dreamed this.

“Nocturne,” I said politely.

The girl who sat across from me only smiled. “You have sharper eyes than most,” the woman said.

“I know where my feelings stand,” I replied. Riven laughed before lifting her arm up for me to see. Nocturne’s signature red blade protruded from it.

“You impress me. You would sacrifice two people for your own survival. If I was….human, I wouldn’t have done the same,” Nocturne commented, adding obvious distaste to the word human. “I knew evil and greed dwelled inside the souls of….mortals, but you do know you are putting more lives at risk by not letting have…proper care?”

I merely shrugged, keeping Nocturne from seeing what I was truly thinking. “I guess you could call me selfish,” I said to the woman, waving my hand dismissively. “Can we um…change the setting? These noble’s clothes are getting tight in places I really don’t want them too. And with that suit on Riven, I think I might get punched again and not just for doing something stupid.”

“But the meal is here!” Nocturne said in Riven’s voice. Just then, a black hooded figure set down two platters in front of both Riven and I. When the lid on my platter was lifted, I saw a cooked head with a single horn sticking out from the forehead.

“I guess I can stay here just a little longer,” I said still staring at the ‘food’ Nocturne was providing. I looked up just in time to see Riven/Nocturne biting a chunk out of a cooked head with long brown hair. I wanted to throw up, but I held it back.

“Mmmm! You humans have no idea what flesh tastes like, it’s just succulent,” Riven/Nocturne said using a tone that made it obvious that it wasn’t Riven.

“I guess I never really wanted to know,” I replied before giving my host a serious look. “So, tell me, what is it you are really doing here?”

The expression on Riven’s face went from happy and playful to cold and deadly. She wipped the burned flesh and meat from her lips and pulled a piece of bone from between her teeth. It was then that I noticed that we weren’t alone in the room. The two of us sat in a restaurant filled with other couples. Interesting, except that these couples weren’t human, they were undead. And they weren’t eating platters of food; they were eating platters of human flesh. Riven, if I could still call her that and I were the only human looking pair in this place.

“Well my dear healer, I’ve come to a sort of…conclusion. You see…these ‘undead’ as you like to call them. They’re cutting in on my business,” Riven said, looking down at her hand to see a red spot starting to grow on it. Her face showed displeasure.

“What are you asking me exactly?” I asked, watching as Riven began to scratch at the red spot.

“My dear healer, can’t you see? No one fears me anymore. It saddens me really to know that no one is afraid of the dark anymore. I…****ed spot….want you to become an agent of chaos and darkness. I want my name to bring trembles into those who hear it. **** spot!” Riven placed her right hand, the hand with the spot on it, and hacked it off with the blade on her left arm. A content smile stretched across her face, “Much better.”

“And if I refuse?” I questioned. It was never wise to question where he lived best, in the dream world.

Riven grinned before lifting the blade on her left arm and slicing her own head off. Grabbing it, she placed it on the table in front of me. “I’ll do this to her,” the head said. I simply nodded, hand covering my mouth.

“Done,” I said after turning to the side and throwing up. I’d seen a lot of things in the military, but never a decapitated body, even less a talking head. I sat there breathing heavily till a hand was placed on my shoulder. When I turned to look at it, it was Pantheon.

“Your actions bring me great pride!” Pantheon said from behind his mask. “Healer, healer, healer,” he began to chant. Slowly, everything began to fade and Pantheon’s voice changed to the voice of a little girl. When my eyes opened, I was being shaken by Annie. “Mr. Healer, someone is hurt,” Annie said to me. I stood up immediately and grabbed my bags. Before running off, I patted Annie’s head.

A group of champions stood around Riven who was bleeding pretty harshly. She was lying face down with the word “Warning” carved on her back. “It’s about time!” She said angrily, pain filling her voice.

“Sorry, was tired,” I said, getting the suture kit from my bag. “Water!” I shouted out loud. Pantheon’s arm extended out, handing me a canteen of water. I poured the liquid onto Riven’s back, cleaning the wound. It was then that I began sewing it shut. I could tell she was getting dizzy from blood loss because her breathing slowed.

It took me about 30 minutes to stitch the entire thing, but I was done. I looked down at my handiwork and smiled. There would the small scars, but I knew enough healing magic to fix them. Riven was unconscious from the amount of blood she lost.

I checked the giant clock on the wall, noticing that I had only been asleep for a few hours. Strangely, I didn’t feel tired. As I sat down against the wall, I began feeling a burning sensation on my right wrist. I looked down on it, noticing a black bracer practically burned into my flesh. Strangely, it didn’t hurt too much. I flicked my hand out, letting the long red blade slide out of the bracer. I looked at it in awe but then retracted it, not wanting people to see what it is I had done.

The bracer was a shackle, a ball and chain. I was now a puppet to Nocturne’s will and I now regretted it. What was it that made me agree to such a deal? Was it seeing the gruesome sights within the fancy restaurant? Or was it simply seeing the decapitated head of Riven speaking to me? Or was it fear of Nocturne? I couldn’t say for sure, but what was done was done. I needed to do what it was that I had promised.

But then I began to think. What exactly was it that I agreed too? To bring fear into people, not death. I could do fear, that wasn’t hard. But that was for another day. For the rest of night I simply wandered around the giant room, inspecting the mix of people and champions sleeping within the main hall. The Demacians were not around, which made me think that they had left back for Demacia. Had that become a safe haven by now? It was a strong and impregnable city; perhaps it had survived the undead rampage. Though going over there now would be a bit risky for everyone and what if it didn’t hold against the undying legion?

I looked out of one of the windows of the institute. All of the undead were wandering around aimlessly with no real conviction to anything but to consume. I began to think of how they felt. Did they know? Could they see what they were doing but had no real control? I wanted to know.

I saw a lone undead walking far from his group. It made me think of myself, alone in a group was a perfect way to describe me. I looked down at the bracer one more time, then back at the hall filled with champions and workers alike. Nocturne wanted fear.

With everyone asleep, I walked to the large, unscathed wall of the hall and whipped my wrist, extending the blade. I stabbed it into the wall, carving out a pattern of lines, making the words as large as possible. The blade made no sound as it easily cut through the stone of the wall. When I was finished, I looked at the words with content.

I am free
-Nocturne

It was large enough for everyone to see. I smiled at it before retracting the blade from the bracer. I realized one question I hadn’t asked Nocturne when we spoke.

“Why me?” I asked myself. It was eating away at me as I began to think of others who would potentially do a better job as spreading fear than me. I guess Nocturne had his own reasons for choosing me and I didn’t have any reason to argue since he was superior to humans after being alive for so long.

As I walked through the sleeping bodies, I was shoved to the wall, a blade at my neck. “Alright, that’s it. You’re going to find whoever it is that Ezreal told you about,” Riven said, her lips next to my ear as she whispered harshly.

“God ****it Ezreal!!” I whispered.

“It wasn’t him that told me,” Riven replied.

“Then who was it?” I asked.

“Nocturne,” She responded.

It was then that my red blade found her neck. Both of us stood there, each other’s blades at the other’s throat.

“It seems we’re at an impasse,” I said.

“Yes it does,” She replied.
__________________________________________________ __________________________

Author's Note: I know this looks like it's very Riven centric, but I assure you that she is only important for this first part of the story. Later on, she'll be more....eh, i don't want to ruin it.

Keep it up, this is great stuff. As for being Riven centric, you are not obligated to use every champion in the game, use who you like.

On a side note, has anyone ever considered that if Nocturne was to break free, he would totally bust Brand out of jail? Both kind of have the same fight-the-system attitude. Might not work in this story, but its a cool thought.

Excellent start and the reason why he prob mentioned it not being a riven centric fic is because there are so many riven fics it has gotten rediculous. I hope Singed makes an appearance by running through zombies like a train with his shield out.

Hahaha a rescue mounted by all the inorganic champs? Skarner and Malphite would basically be invincible to the zombies

The Taric-Ezreal romance gives a perfect touch to the story.