So I stopped my other story since I made copious amounts of mistakes. And I found inspiration and then I got an idea for a new story. So, learning from my past mistakes, I made a new romance with an actual planned out plot. Hopefully you guys will liketis one better because I put in alot of effort. As far as ff.net goes, I may or may not post there. It depends on how I want to rate this, but as it is, I like it. Dunno. Enjoy
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Prologue

Abyss.
Death was nothing more than an eternal abyss like dropping down an endless rabbit hole, except without the sensation of falling. Perhaps this was purgatory, but how could she know? Does time pass when you're dead? Well, she still had her thoughts, so clearly that had to mean something. She wasn't sure what though. She wasn't even sure that she was making sense, but then again, why bother making sense? She had all eternity to do nothing but think. She cursed the Noxian scum for greedily invading her home and slaying her people as well as herself.

The young and noble Ionian hadn't been dead for very long. Noble though she was, her death did her no justice. She had charged, recklessly, into the middle of the onslaught, and though she killed numerous Noxians, she was cursed by a spell that would slowly kill her over time by a mage. She kept up her murderous endeavers with an unhindered determination, paying no heed to her mark of death and knowing fullwell that she'd soon be but another corpse that littered her once beautiful home. Alas, her attacks came to a crippling slow as her life force slowly depleted until, finally, she collapsed with a thud as her armors hit the blood-stained dirt, only a simple magic mark upon her body denoting the morally foul and cruel manifestation of her death. Her bravery inspired her fellow Ionians and, with renewed vigor, they charged into the Noxians like a crazy lynch mob, pushing them back a considerable distance and leaving Noxian bodies in their wake. The armies had swapped morales and the fields that were occupied, almost entirely, by Ionian corpses minutes ago were now half and half between both the Ionians and the Noxians.

And now with the tide of the fight moving beyond Irelia, Soraka took the opportunity to advance and kneel besides Irelia. She was dead, but her soul still lingered, rapidly decaying and fadeing from existence. With all of the power she had left, she channeled her mana into the lingering soul, but there was no sign that it was working. Soraka didn't stop though, she gathered the power from the rest of the lingering souls, mostly the Noxian's, and transfered it into Irelia's soul. Soraka was going to run out of mana soon, and if she didn't have enough to bring her back not only would she be unable to save Irelia, but she'd also be useless until she could regenerate more.

Irelia's soul dropped below the ground and within an instant, her mark vanished and she gasped. She sat upright and next to her, her blades levitated mysteriously. Irelia nodded to Soraka as a thank you and made haste back to the front lines, her blades dividing the air as they followed closely behind. Soraka had done her job and she went back to the temple to regain her mana. The Zaunite machines had been destroyed and all that remained was a few battalions of Noxians. The tides were turning.

Slice after slice, Irelia dropped Noxians like rain from the sky. The air was thick and filled densely with the smell of death and decay, a sight to match it that could easily reduce a grown man to the sickliest of states. Within the hour, the entire Noxian force had been annihilated, which was in no small part thanks to Irelia.

"Captain Irelia, a message from the Xiao outpost. A Noxian commander has single-handedly killed the entire team we have protecting the village. It also says that she has received reinforcements and they're moving towards the temple. What will you have us do?" A sargeant asked. Irelia thought for a moment, trying to think of a good strategy.

"Take half of the army to the forest and hide the other half behind the Xiao Mountain. When the Noxians pass through, flank their back and surround them." Irelia ordered. She decided to take Soraka and head to another battle that was further, but also a much higher priority. With that, the remainder of the Ionians marched to the ambush point. Unfortunately, she didn't know that the Noxian commander was the same one who had brutally sundered the rest of the southern Ionian defences with an inhuman strength and lead the assault.
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Elsewhere in Ionia...

An honored commander lead her fellow Noxians through the shambles that were left of Ionia. They had just finished laying waste to a small village of Ionians and some of their military, all of them were proud except for her. Even when all of her comrades marched on, cheering to eachother patriotically, she couldn't bring herself to feel proud of their cause, nor could she persuade herself that the invasion was just.

As a young girl, Riven had been taught to value strength, for those who were strong rose to power, political or otherwise. Growing up, she trained herself with unparalleled commitment and it all paid off. She held Noxus in the highest of regards, proud to have been born and raised in a city-state that she had believed was strong because of it's inhabitants, and she wasn't wrong either. Though Noxus was abundantly strong, both phyically and mentally, the military insisted that sheer strength that relied solely on humans was a liability and an accident waiting to happen. So they incorporated machines, things like tanks and mechs they bought from Zaun, and issued guns to some of the infantry. Riven took both gestures as an indirect and silent slap to the face, seeing them both as major underminers to Noxus's authority.

But now, as she watched her fellow Noxians mercilessly exterminate the Ionians with their guns and their mechs, she couldn't help but think that this wasn't the Noxus she knew or prided. The Noxus she was proud of didn't use machines with guns and missiles to/or kill defenceless women and children. A knot the size of her fist rested in her stomach, it made her want to vomit. Each passing second Riven spent thinking about how wrong this whole thing was, she grew exponentially sicker and the knot grew exponentially thicker. Watching her state feed into these mindless, skill-deprived, point-and-shoot methods was something akin to watching your idol cheat on national television. Not that most people even watched television on Runeterra; people were too involved in their environments to dally with such dull, lifeless "activities".

Their next objective was a temple that was a little further in, towards the island's core. What was an uneventful march quickly took an awry turn for the worst when they were surrounded by a massive Ionian force. Without a single second thought, she initiated the fight and her fellow Noxians followed her, brandishing their swords and drawing their guns, recklessly attacking the closest Ionian only to be countered and stricken sharply through the chest. With a flourish of her epic black-stone sword, Riven charged in, shields spawning around her to block attacks, then lashed out in an unblockable series of ferocious strikes and killed several Ionians with the final strike launching them back into their comrades. Riven could take all of them, granted she'd take severe and grevious wounds, but that wasn't the problem. Riven couldn't siege their capital alone, her primary objective was to get them there alive so that when all of the Noxian armies united, they could storm it without any problems. But she was no tactician and this mistake would likely render her troops useless if they survived.

Their superiors promised reinforcements within minutes, which seemed impossible when taking into account that the nearest battalion was 6 klicks north of them. Riven was skeptical when the squad's signaller informed everyone of the news, but regardless, she kept on swinging with all her might and no signs of fatigue. The sounds of metal hitting metal and going through metal pierced the air with the company of gunshots and screams of death and agony. But the worst was yet to come.

The sound of something whistling eerily through the air above the ambush caused everyone to look up. Riven took a quick glance up, fear and the feeling of betrayal crossing her mind. She knew exactly what they were. They were poisonous smoke bombs designed specifically to eviscerate large, concentrated armies with deadly efficiency. Knowing this, Riven pushed through the awestruck Ionians and made a tremendous dash as far as she could, letting her momentum tumble her even further. The whistling grew louder and louder while Riven grew more and more desperate to gain distance. Finaly, the canisters hit the ground, unceremoniously, and emited a purple, toxic gas that engulfed everyone, even Riven. Riven held her breath and kept running, the fact that she had already exhausted her lungs making it harder not to gasp as well as run. She cursed Singed in her head for creating such a cowardly device, and also her superiors for being cold-hearted, obdurate, savage, ruthless tools. To them, everyone was a mere pawn and so expendable that simple math would be the deciding factor, and likely the only one, as to whether or not they intervene with weapons that would kill all of either side's troops.

With her lungs empty and the clearing out of reach, Riven grabbed her empty water bottle and put it up to her lips, carefully unscrewing the cap with her clenched teeth and free hand. As the cap came off, she sucked in as much clean air from the bottle as she could before the vacuum pulled back with even strength. It wasn't much, but it was enough to last her. As she burst through the purple smoke, her face equally purple, she gasped a long and deep gasp, followed be an equally long and urgent exhale. She panted furiously, running further from the expanding purple smoke.

When she was finally far enough from the cloud and caught up on her breath with lactic acid burning on her exhausted, overworked legs, she gathered her thoughts. With Noxus being corrupted under the influence of General Swain and being counted dead by her own people, she ultimately concluded self-imposed exile. She took a long and reflective look at herself on her blood-ridden sword, her blurry and dirt splotched reflection looking back at her. She applied the analogy on Noxus. At first glance it seemed everything she thought of it, just like herself. But closer inspection would unveil the loathsome faults it had, again, just like herself. She was no better than that which she'd come to despise. She followed her orders willingly with no questions asked or any resistences, she killed those who only fought to protect themselves. The knot in her stomach had become as big as the rock that she sat on.

With her decision being made and final, she sat her blade on the rock. While her emotions urged her to vent with tears, she ignored it and picked up an even bigger rock, nearly the size of herself, and stood by her sword.

"Mark my words, I will fix this." She vowed to herself. With the boulder raised above her head, she projected all of her disappointment, sorrow, and rage straight into her arms and threw the rock down. A large smoke screen of rock sediment followed, and as the wind blew it away, her shattered sword lay beneath it. She took the hilt and headed to the shores. The invaders had left dinghys at the shore and that would be her best way off the island. The Noxians wouldn't question her as they hadn't and wouldn't be informed of her death, plus, as long as she was supposedly dead no one would ask about her. With a few confident steps forward, she began her exile.

Prologue : Complete. Page 1.
Chapter 1: Complete. Page 1.
Chapter 2: Complete. Page 1.
Chapter 3: Complete. Page 1.
Chapter 4: Complete. Page 1.
Chapter 5: Complete. Page 3.
Chapter 6: Complete. Page 6.
Chapter 7: rawr.

I update bi-daily (this post).

Chapters will probably start rolling in less. I didn't really plan these chapters. But thats the fun part! So, im just picking ideas out of my magic hat. Hope you guys like what I come up with. Feedback is appreciated, eventually im gunna do a huge edit to the finished story, then post it on fanfiction, then try to get it shown on summoner showcase . Meh, who knows?

Bad news: the story has to end.

Good news: I came up with another story that kinda fits with this one. So when I finish this story, a new one will almost immediately be released.

An excellent tale so far by what I've read! Keep it up! You have very good word choice and I found it easy to get caught up in the pedantry of the conflict! It also flowed quite well.

Very well done. I like your imagery and how it gave a sense of the characters feelings. Keep it up.

Thanks. Sorry though, I would'vr liked to update yesterday but I got carried away with some... Very good reading. Either way, quicker than most so that's k for me

Chapter 1: Mutual Ties

A year later, days prior to Riven's joining the league...

"Is that the best you can do? You're nothing more than a frail rock, for which I use to sharpen my blades against. Try again, wimp; I'm wide open!" The Ionian portion of the crowd watching the match cheered at their screens, more specifically at their representative.

Riven ignored the defeasible taunts and, without a word, resumed her minion killing spree, not even wincing at the drawn out, curvilineal laceration that spiraled down her leg. As far as she was concerned, it was just another scar that could be conveniently remedied by a trip back to the summoner's platform. She and Irelia were, ironically, paired against eachother in the top lane of Summoner's Rift, so far niether opponent having an advantage save for the wound Riven had taken. When the minions systematically arrived in the center of the lane, Irelia dashed, blades first, directly into an unprepared Riven, who only took a lengthy cut down her leg. Irelia, satisfied with only a single hit, backed off with a grin on her face and started ordering her blades to assiduously mince the minions. The Noxian's jeered Riven along with the Ionians when she had endured the cut.

Riven couldn't see the conglomeration of rage that inconspicuously teemed through Irelia, even channeled into her blade as it nimbly cut minion after minion, but she knew it was there. She knew the lithe woman hated her guts because of how many innocent Ionians she had slain. Riven understood that, even felt a mutual, slightly-less-violent anger towards herself for allowing her superiors to use her like a mindless, dependent, and feeble puppet. But now wasn't the time for these emotions, she had ample time for such reflections during her exile, and now her first priority was to get through this match so that she could devise a feasible plan to reform Noxus to the way it should be. She still hadn't the fainstest of ideas where to start on that, even with all of the time she'd been gifted to think.

Irelia never took her eyes off the Exile, whom was too concentrated on the minions to notice. She wanted to tear her apart limb from limb, to make her wish she'd never messed with her people, to make her feel the pain she had so viciously issued to her dead comrades. But, and she loathed to admit it, she would only be able to deliver said pain to her if she could get a good edge over time. Then, and only then, she could issue a swift, curt kill. The voices of her ancestors' chants rang, bleakly, through her mind, telling her to execute the Noxian vermin with unforgiving and extreme prejudice. She reassured them that they'd be avenged, her only regret being that she couldn't do it outside of Summoner's Rift so that the atrocity would stay dead, just as she had once been. The thought of Riven spending eternity in that abyssal nightmare soothed her anger as water does to a fire.

The expression that death is too good for someone, Irelia found, wouldn't be so popular if people knew what she did about death. But suddenly, amidst her thinking, Riven retaliated with triple the damage she had been dealt with her standard combo of strikes, sending Irelia flying a few feet back. She wasn't about to let this Noxian trash zone her from her minions. She dashed at the speed of sound with the fury of a cobra, stabbing straight into Riven's lower abdomen, but before she could twist the blade, Riven raised her own blade and stunned her. Phasing out her immense pains, she kicked Irelia into her minions. As she got back to her feet, Irelia brushed off the dirt and readied her blades for another charge. The crowd ignorantly and half-wittedly scolded Irelia to themselves, as if they could do her job better.

"Very good, Riven. However, you are still behind and will die if you push your luck with your current conditions. You aren't nearly as good of a fighter as I had anticipated." Irelia taunted. Riven ignored it again, waiting for the perfect moment just outside her turrets attack range. For Irelia, the silence had irked her to no end, like that clueless blonde who always asked how you were when you were having the worst days ever. That was enough to provoke her to dart towards the nearly-dead Noxian. With her military instincts kicking in, Riven dashed backwards into turret range and gaining her shields only to have Irelia break them as she followed Riven into turret range. Big mistake...

With another stun and 3 more brutal collisions between sword and armor, Irelia's life had dwindled down next to nothing. The turret fired a tracking shot at Irelia, who stayed, condemned by the stun, in the wretched spot. Her legs quivering and waning, Irelia's lithe body tilted back and forth for a few seconds and, finaly, took an elegant nose-dive forward into Riven's waiting arms. And for the first time that match, Riven spoke in a quiet, calm manner.

"Forgive me..." She whispered, sincerely, into Irelia's ear. Irelia could hear her as she was waiting to be revived by the summoners. Her anger only flourished exponentially more with the umbrage she took from Riven's plea. Riven laid the girl's head down gently onto the ground before standing back up. "I'm so sorry." She mouthed to herself, it was a humble, yet meager attempt at making the unfathomable guilt go away. A vain attempt, but it was true.

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"Filthy Noxian scum, you will fall!" Irelia shouted as she striked Riven with blind fury in her eyes and her blades. Riven dashed back behind her minions to catch her breath. It wasn't easy to block a blade that could strike her anywhere, anytime, and in rapid succession.

"I'm done." Riven stated, dropping her sword to the ground between her and Irelia. She sat on her legs and looked down with patient anticipation. "Make it quick." She said aloud. She didn't care anymore. A small part of herself wished she wouldn't be revived, the thought of sweet, blissful death a welcome alternative in contrast to this overwhelming guilt that haunted her to no end.

"Don't mock me!" Irelia shouted, irritation affecting her voice with a high pitch and a voice crack. That had only made her even more angry. But Riven didn't move. Irelia stomped her way over to the undefended girl and, with her hand, raised her chin so that they could make eye contact.

"Get up!" Irelia slapped her across the face hard enough to leave a crimson hand print on her cheek. Riven's eyes stayed closed and she didn't make any attempt to block or talk back to the infuriated Ionian. Irelia kicked her back onto the ground and sat on her chest, grabbing her by her rags.

"You think you can slaughter MY people in MY home and insult ME in front of thousands of people?! Get your sword and fight me you coward!" Irelia was screaming now and shaking Riven violently. The Ionians watching the match joined their chants with the ones Irelia had been hearing for the last 10 minutes in her head. And then the unthinkable happened. A miniscule tear slid down Riven's cheek and dropped off her cheek onto Irelia's hand. Irelia stopped at the cold, wet feeling on her hand and looked back at Riven. Everyone watching the event kept an intent eye on the girls in top lane, Noxians chanting with the Ionians. Irelia's hatred softened involuntarily as she searched the poor girl's eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Irelia asked. Her violent manner disappeared and instead of shaking Riven, she tilted both their heads together until their noses touched briskly. Another tear descended Riven's bruised cheek.

"I told you, I'm sorry. If you want to avenge your brothers, now's your chance. Just make it quick, please." Riven plead with an unfaltered gaze to the Ionian. Irelia's anger shifted to confusion, unsure of how she should react to such an unorthodox dilema. The ghostly voices of her ancesters in her head were shouting "KILL HER! KILL HER! KILL HER!" with the crowd. Riven nodded as Irelia raised her blades. Niether girl noticed the blades shaking slightly as they awaited in the air beside Irelia's head. Almost every part of her being wanted to kill the Noxian filth and avenge her people, but her blades idley shook beside her head for what seemed like eternity, feeling like her death all over again. She phased everything out except Riven, and for just a second, Irelia felt... Empathetic towards the girl. Even though Riven would revive, she couldn't do it and she didn't know why.

Everyone had been too caught up with the extraordinary goings-on in the top lane to notice that Riven's team's bottom lane had been pushed to the inhibitor, which easily and expectedly lead to a surrender. Riven opened her eyes, curious as to why she hadn't been killed yet and watched Irelia walk away without looking back. She briefly considered following her and asking her why she hadn't just done it, but she didn't want to push her luck.

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Irelia allowed her legs to walk her back to her room while she speculated to herself about the match. She was flustered. Why? Why had she hesitated? She hated Riven, still did. After all, she didn't have to forgive her. Just because she had apologized for her past deeds didn't make her obligated to reciprocate in a benevolent manner.

She continued on with her self-eluding charades, her mind hiding the true reason she froze from herself. But her conclusion would be to forgive Riven. She was going to have to spend a vast amount of time in the league so it only made sense that she forgive her, but that would be it. Not friends, just not enemies.

She strode through the torch-lit, spacious halls of the institute towards Riven's room. She heard that the room number was 37F. 34... 35... 36... 37. She lifted her hand and knocked 4 times and awaited. She didn't intend to spend more than 30 seconds talking to Riven, but then she didn't expect Orianna to answer the door but she did. The robot examined Irelia and opened the door fully.

"Lady Irelia, I expect you are here for Riven?" Orianna asked, her tone changing with every word. Irelia assumed that they were room mates, which seemed fitting since they were both loners.

"Uhh, yes, yes I am. Is she here?" Irelia looked into the room. If Riven was home, she was in her room, because the living room and kitchen were empty.

"Yes, she is in her room, getting ready for a nap. She told me her last match had tired her. Please, come in?" Orianna said. Irelia wondered how she could be so tired since the last match had been fairly underwhelming in her own opinion. Irelia was lead to Riven's room and Orianna knocked twice before calling Riven's name.

"Yes Ori?" Riven answered.

"You have a visitor." Orianna left and went back to whatever she had been doing previously. The door opened and Riven looked at Irelia, bewildered.

"Look, I came to tell you that I accept your apology." Irelia stated, determined to keep this visit short.

"Oh... Well, thank you Irelia. It means alot." Riven said. Her lack of social skills showed in everything she said past greetings.

"I said I accepted your plead for forgiveness, not that I'd be your friend. Know where you stand and don't speak to me as a friend. I'll be going now." Irelia spoke, making sure to place an authoritive line that wasn't to be crossed.

"Right..." Riven murmured as Irelia left.

Chapter 2: Epiphany Dance

Riven laid back down in her bed, pondering. She stared at the ceiling as if it knew the answers to all her questions. She wasn't really tired. She only wanted to take a nap to pass the time, but now it seemed that was out of the question. She heard Orianna humming outside her room while she dusted the shelves. It wasn't her job to clean, and Riven wouldn't mind doing it herself, but she always insisted that she liked to clean. She said that her creator's biological daughter liked to clean and that in doing so she felt a sense of fulfillment, even if it was supposedly impossible for her to feel anything. Orianna was the only person Riven talked with regularly, mostly about their days and matches. Orianna knew Riven detested talking about her past so she never pressed her to reveal anything she didn't want to.

She thought mostly about Irelia. She was a wildcard to Riven; always so vexatious towards her like everytime Irelia saw her, she got this impulse to radiate her scorn. But then, earlier in the match, she rejected the opportunity to kill her, and now she forgave her. And to add to the mix, she hadn't wanted to be niether friend nor enemy. Such a mystery, Riven thought as she picked up her sword. She looked at the blackstone, into the reflection of her tangerine eyes. Irelia's sapphire irises were always framed with an imaginative fire to Riven, but today she realized the fire was absent and the blue qualities had a prominent scintillation. She set her sword down and gave a quiet sigh. Any chances of getting a nap had absconded along with the hate in Irelia's eyes.

"Ori?" Riven echoed through the small dorm as she opened the door to her room. Orianna came out from her room and looked at Riven. "What do you do for fun?" Riven asked.

"How ironic. You are asking a robot what it does for fun. Well, I usually dance to Sona's music whenever she practices her etwahl." Orianna said. She couldn't smile but she would've if she could. "Why do you ask?" She added.

"I can't sleep and I'm not sure if I want to anymore. Would you like to dance with me?" Riven asked, flashing a smile. Riven seldom smiled so Orianna jumped at the chance, literally. She gracefully jumped into the hall and lead Riven to the door.

"Where are we going?" Riven asked. Orianna opened the door and pulled her into the halls.

"We are going to the theater since no one is using it right now. And Sona is not practicing so we will have to use some music from the theater anyway." She turned a few corners and then pushed open 1 of 2 large doors. The room was wealthily spacious with a high ceiling adorned with various lights that had multiple chromatic lenses, at least 5000 comfortable seats with leg rests and cup holders, and a massive platform that could easily fit every champion on it at once with room for props. Orianna kept tugging, skipping vivaciously as she did so down the small, sloped aisle and caused Riven to stumble between unsteady steps as she tried to keep up without bumping into her. Riven couldn't dance, but it beat training more and thinking of ways to reform Noxus. The task was exhaustively daunting, so much so that Riven had procrastinated throughout most of her exile.

Orianna lead Riven around the corner that seperated a small set of stairs to the stage, then adjusted 1 light to focus on the middle of the stage and turned off the others, leaving most of the room a pleasent dark. The rest of the room was lit, but only by the reflections of the single light. Considering the room was nearly the size of Twisted Treeline, the illumination from the center stage nigh did anything. The curtains were set aside and the room was empty except for the 2. Orianna looked through a large stack of CDs that mostly consisted of party music or Penta X Kill until she found a CD that looked promising and put it into a mechanism. Heimerdinger was single-handedly picking up the technological slack for Runeterra. He made a new invention every week it seemed. Orianna walked over to Riven after pressing a button on the machine.

"It is a slow song, so take your time and just do what I do." Orianna said. The music started and Orianna formed an arch above her head with her hands with the slow crescendo of the music's pitch and Riven followed her movements, thinking about how dumb she must've looked and how glad she was that no one was watching. Orianna planned to start with something easy. She let her arms fall into a horizontal line and slid her left leg out so that her position resembled a starfish. Next, Orianna tip-toed backwards rapidly for a few steps and curved her right arm over her head, took her left arm and straightened it to face the same way as her right hand, and crossed her right leg over her left. Riven kept up surprisingly well, admittedly not nearly as nimble with her movements as Orianna, but she still did a splendid job for her first time dancing.

Orianna leapt forward at the sound of a high note, right foot first and landing perfectly, then following up with a faultless pirouette. Riven leapt but tripped on her awkward sandels and landed on her forward-stretched arms. She started giggling at her amateur mistake. Orianna couldn't stop laughing as she helped the pink-faced girl up.

"Guess I should've changed out of these..." Riven snickered at her clumsyness. Orianna let out an odd laugh with her speakers, hardly concievable as a laugh. She pressed another button on the machine and a new, faster song came on. They stood near eachother in the spotlight and reset their positions for the next dance.

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They danced until it was dark outside. Orianna taught Riven a little bit of everything; jazz, tap, modern, hip-hop, tango, swing, and even free style. They danced for hours, laughing and learning, learning and laughing, having the most fun with swing and hip-hop. Riven couldn't help but laugh at her attempts in both while Orianna made her feel terrible with her flawless dances. Regardless, it was almost definitely the most fun either of them ever had.

Riven was too tired to dance anymore. She hastily panted as she sat against the wall at the back of the stage. Orianna danced her way over and promptly sat aside Riven. If they hadn't been dancing together for hours this would've been most awkward for Riven, but she'd become unbothered by it. In fact, it bothered Orianna more than Riven. But during her panting, a very small bit of air came through her nose and she caught a whif of a very small, yet potent smell. It was disgustingly rank but, thank the gods, it went away shortly after. Riven disregarded the smell, too worried about her air.

"So, what are we going to do now?" asked Orianna when Riven's panting became less urgent and essential.

"Well... I guess I should probably start thinking about how I'm going to reform Noxus. I haven't even started yet..." Riven sighed. If it were as simple as a fight, she would've jumped at the opportunity like Orianna did earlier, but this was beyond her area of expertise.

"Why have not you started yet? You have had over a year to think about it."

"If it were that simple, I would've done it already. I just don't know how to start. It's not as if I can simply run for king of Noxus." Riven stared into the rest of the room and all 5000 chairs stared back at her through the darkness. They mocked her, as if discouraging her from her impossible aspirations. "Impossible is just a word..." She thought.

"Why not?" Rivens musing had been interrupted.

"Because Noxus is ruled by General Darkwill and is, more or less, a dictatorship." Riven said.

"Oh. Well, would you like to brainstorm some ideas?"

"No thanks, Ori. I'll tackle it tomorrow, after I get some sleep." Riven stood up and helped Orianna to her feet, then jumped off the stage. As they left the room, the light switch was flickered off...

After they turned the first corner, Master Yi was walking towards them. They couldn't see it, but behind his goggles he was staring straight at Riven.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Noxus' ex-puppet." He sneered. Riven ignored him and pulled Orianna with her. Master Yi moved his blade in front of the 2 before they passed him.

"Where do you think you're going?" He growled. They stared eachother down, niether backing down.

"Look, I said I was sorry." Riven gritted her teeth.

"Yes, I heard it all and I won't forgive you, nor will..." Yi was cut off.

"Let her be, Yi." Irelia ordered, calmly putting a hand on his shoulder. No one had any idea where she came from but Master Yi lowered his sword and walked away. Irelia went the same way as Yi.

"Thank you Irelia!" Orianna said. Riven silently thanked her, unsure if her thanks were welcome.

After they made it back to their dorm, Riven wasted no time in getting to bed. She climbed up into bed and lay her head facing the eye-level window, looking at the moon. The day's events began summarizing in her head. And then it hit her like Malphite's Unstoppable Force.

"Ori, you're a genius!" She exclaimed.

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In Noxus...

"I see... So she thinks she can simply take what has been mine for the last few centuries? What a funny girl. I don't know what General Du Couteau saw in her. Perhaps it was a cruel joke." General Darkwill laughed in his chair. He opened up a jar and gave some gold to Twitch.

"Here, go buy yourself some soap. Also, you don't need to follow her anymore." He said after handing Twitch the gold. Twitch left with a twisted grin, or perhaps that's just the way his face is... Anyway, General Darkwill pushed a red button on his chair and within a few minutes Katarina and Talon appeared in his room.

That spy twitch. Too stronk.

Chapter 3: Daunting Trials

Far too early in the morning it was; the cold blades of grass coated by sheens of dew from the dawn's mist, the early morning darkness that enshrouded the sky with a celestial aptness, the cold air and lack of sun that assuaged the Ionian's fervent, exhausted bodies. Far too early, indeed. The sun wasn't going to rise for another hour, and yet the Ionian youths didn't give even the slightest of hints that they wanted to stop. Foot ball was always more fun in the early morning, or more specifically, watching people slip on the slick, moist grass was fun. But there was no time to dally on laughing at what was, quite truly, an amusing spectacle. Every second spent laughing was a second that an advantageous lead wasn't being utilized.

Out of the bedlam cluster of blue and green-shirted people came a young Irelia, juggling the ball between both feet with enviable and prodigal finesse. She was a foot ball prodigy; nearly the youngest of all the teen-age girls with all the skill, and more, of the oldest ones. After the crowd finally found that the ball wasn't in the brawl anymore, they all watched as Irelia scored another point for green team with a perfect kick that sent the ball soaring passed the goalie. It was tied at 6 all. One more skirmish would be the game decider.

Irelia leaned forward with her hands on her knees and panted, netting in all the air she could before the final play. She felt eyes on her and looked up, still panting over her vapid body. There, in front of her, stood a blue-shirted girl, smirking at her with rivulets of sweat running down her fair, ecru-colored visage. She brushed her shoulder-length, violet hair out of her enchanted, garnet-red eyes. This was Irelia's nemesis, Xivianna. The infamous "bad girl", according to her brother Zelos. She was the only reason the scores were tied between the teams and it irked Irelia to no end, that stupid girl was stealing her thunder! She couldn't let her win, she wouldn't.

The referee dropped the ball in the middle of the field only to have it intercepted mid-air by an eager blue boot and knocked towards green's side. The whole blue team swarmed around green's side, teeming the ball and adding to the ensueing chaos. Irelia made a dash and stole the ball before blue could go for the score, then she slipped out the side too fast for anyone to stop. She saw Xivianna guarding the space a few meters ahead of their goalie, full focus on the ball. Irelia smirked at her as she kicked the ball to the net. Her smug grin turned into a shocked jaw-drop when Xivianna back flipped and kicked the ball straight back into green's net. Xivianna returned the smile when the referee blew the whistle, then got picked up by her team and carried off with exultation. Just like that, it was over, however, Irelia's anger wouldn't be so fortunate as to abruptly end.

Irelia hadn't moved at all. She wasn't shocked anymore, now she was just furious with herself. And Xivianna. Irelia wanted, more than anything, to just beat the **** out of her. She stomped a foot into the ground and headed off to find that evil girl. She'd show her!

She saw Xivi going to the concession stand located behind the nearly vacant bleachers and followed with a visible anger shown through her body language. However, when she turned the corner, Xivi had vanished. The sun still hadn't risen and thus it was hard to see much more than the faint, moonlight-induced glimmers from the bleachers and the concession stand. But suddenly, she was pulled by her arm towards the blinding darkness behind the bleachers and turned around, then, before she knew it, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and another around her neck.

"I was hoping you would follow me," Xivianna said, a grin definitely sitting on the crescent-lit side of her face. Irelia opened her mouth to ask why, then Xivianna kissed her and pushed her tongue, passionately, against the awestruck girl's. Xivianna had expected Irelia to pull away, and so did she, but it never came to be.

Xivi's tongue was almost as effective as hypnosis to Irelia; she was hooked and reciprocating before she knew it. They stood in eachothers arms in the semi-darkness, kissing for minutes until a sharp pain hit Irelia in the shoulder followed by a spiteful shout.

"Wrong! GAY IS NOT THE WAY! GAY IS NOT THE WAY! Filthy SCUM!" The menacing figure kept assaulting them with his rocks and words, soon joined by even more people who followed his example enthusiasticly. Another stone to the forehead and Irelia was out...

Irelia woke up bawling her eyes onto her bedsheets like a faucet. "Not again," she thought. This nightmare came to her occasionaly, but it's potence was never dulled, it's punches never pulled, although, to Irelia, they felt more like the stones that hurt her all those years ago. It always reminded her of Xivi. She missed her former lover more and more everytime she thought about her. Even though Ionians strictly forbid homosexuality it never stopped her or Xivi from being together.

Through and through...

_____________________________

So simple. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Well... She knew why, but it didn't matter now. All Riven had to was convince the people of Noxus that she could do better than Darkwill, or at least get them spurred on enough to question his rule, then they would campaign for supremacy over Noxus. It sounded pretty stupid, but it also seemed like the most practical and peacefull way to go about it. Besides, surely her people would rather have her than him. With a few little guiding words, she'd easily have it.

Of course, Noxus doesn't have annual elections. It was, after all, a dictatorship, which meant that the people would have to instigate the whole thing. But the true problem was getting them to a point where they'd protest for it. Now, of course she didn't expect the high command to sit there and twiddle their thumbs whilst rolling with the punches, which was good. If they punished their citizens then they'd want Riven even more, and could become relentless. However, they could also become discouraged. It was up to her to rally their courage and stir their anger. As Noxians, anger was always present, sometimes latent, but always present. All she had to do was provoke it.

The most difficult part would be her speech, which was planned for tomorrow. She had to raise and unite her fellow Noxian's attitude to their pinnacles and the best way to do it would be a speech at the end of a match. Although... Now that she thought about it, she had to win. That could be the hardest part. But, if she did win, her fellow Noxians would have support from other regions like Piltover or Bandle City. Maybe she'd have some fortune swept her way and Demacia would support them too. To her dismay, she was only thinking best-case-scenario, and realisticly, this could be a colossal failure.

Now there was a series of knocks on the door, easily recognizable as Orianna's metal hands on the wooden door, despite her delicate knocks. Riven opened the door and nearly went deathly pale with disgust. Orianna's metal body was dented at least 5 inches deep in some places, her right eye was out, her metal dress was bent out of shape in multiple places. If she were a human, she'd undoubtedly have died.

"Orianna, who did this to you?" Riven squeeked, overwhelmed with sympathy and anger. She was so innocent, who would do something so brutal, so tragic, to someone as peacefull as her? It was tremendously infuriating.

"Katarina. They told me to tell you to back of or else you are next." Orianna's voice sounded like it was being rubbed against sandpaper and her head twitched as she spoke. Riven felt crushed inside with guilt. This was her fault. But she couldn't stop, even if Orianna was in danger. She'd have to protect her.

"I'll get her back for you Ori, I promise. But you understand I can't stop, right? I'm sorry if it's selfish of me." Orianna was busy trying to remold her dress back to it's normal shape.

"Oh, no, it is fine. I can not really feel pain anyway, just comprehend it's existence when I get hit by something. And it Is mostly my fault for leaving Ball home again. Speaking of which, any progress on your plan?" Her skirt was back to it's normal shape, seemingly perfect as if it hadn't been touched in the first place. Riven was slightly relieved that her only friend wouldn't have any permanent damage, but her anger was unaffected, still smoldering like the remnants of a fire.

"Yeah, I'm going to do exactly what you told me," Riven said with an inward sigh/laugh. The whole idea gave her an odd feeling, happy she had a plan, nervous towards it's frightening entailments (specifically the speech), and fear that it would be a massive disappointment.

"Oh. Would it not be a good idea to get a bodyguard? I assume that your opponents will not play fair."

"I didn't expect it either, although I figured I could handle anything they'd throw at me. Not to mention, if I get proof that it was a champion, Noxus could face some considerable backlash from the institute. But I think a bodyguard sounds like a pretty good idea. Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?"

"I'll be fine." She turned on her heel and left, leaving Riven to her thoughts. A bodyguard. Hmmm. Xin Zhao? No, he already babysits the prince full time. The Knikou? Probably too busy. Perhaps Malphite, or Galio, or maybe even Jax. Nah. What about... Irelia? She's strong, could easily take some hits, and she's kind of an assasin herself so that could give her an edge. Perfect!

Chapter 4: A Reluctant Prattle

387. Riven counted every step she took from Riven's door to Irelia's. Counting her steps was a habit she adopted early on during her militaristic childhood. It was her way of taking her mind off of things like nervousness, stress, or just boredom when she was walking place to place. Her favorite part was that, when she did it, she never had to look up, which was something she loathed doing with a passion. Much to her chagrin and angst, she was forced to look up every now and again and lose track of her counting, usually when someone called her name or bumped into her after turning a corner. Such was not the case this time, however, and she was silently appreciative of her luck.

With a hesitent knock, Riven heard feminine grumbles on the opposite side of the door before it opened towards a slightly-shocked Irelia and motionless blade set.

"...I thought I made it clear that we weren't friends," Irelia said with a furrowed brow while looking Riven over.

"Just a favor..." She was interrupted rudely.

"A favor? A favor is something you ask a friend, am I wrong? I don't believe I can simply ask a random summoner to go and fetch my..." Riven was getting a bit steamed.

"Look, I was just wandering if you had any experience as a body-guard. I need one." Her words were quick and clean, save for the smallest hint of spite. She didn't appreciate the way Irelia spoke to her like she was lesser than human. She understood that Irelia didn't like her, but that was no reason to be so stuck up when all she requests is a favor, and even then, Riven had every intention of paying her.

"What for?" Irelia inquired. She had a hard time grasping the idea of Riven needing a bodyguard. That was like saying Gragas needed to drink more to stay healthy, ignoring the fact that his brew heals him (with use of his passive, anyway) when he drinks it.

"Can you do it or not?" Irelia thought for a moment, deep enough to tune out Riven's tapping her foot against the ground. She gave an askewed smirk before nodding. She asked when she would start, to which Riven replied tomorrow would be fine.

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The next day...

Riven's luck was getting better and better. She had the chance to repay Katarina today on the field, in top lane. This was destined to be a good match.

Niether word nor attack took place between either of them since the match began about 5 minutes ago. The tensions were high and niether intended on gifting the other the satisfaction of a kill. But after a few more minutes, Riven was the first to attack. She charged straight to Katarina and went for a sideways cleave, but she found herself slicing air, no doubt Katarina's killer instincts were ready. No later did it dawn on her that Katarina had used Shunpo than a boot pierced her spine for an agonizing jolt of pain, coupled with the excruciating pierce of her blade that stabbed just above her hip. Riven wasn't a stranger to pain and this was a pinch on the arm compared to what she'd endured in her past. She raised her broken sword and exerted a strong ripple of ki, then used her last 2 strikes. With Katarina stunned, Riven's killer instincts kicked in too and she ran into the bushes, towards Katarina's side in hopes she'd get brave and follow for the kill, even though she wasn't very close at all to dieing.

To her horror, a half health Sion came from the river and soon she was surrounded. She couldn't help but think "Who the heck jungles Sion!?" Katarina ran into her bush, but before she could Shunpo, Riven Flashed out, almost to safety. Alas, Sion Flashed in close, then Katarina used her Death Lotus after a Shunpo. Thinking quick on her feet, Riven expended another burst of ki, interrupting Katarina's channel by the 4th blade and leaving her with enough health to stay in lane. She had one more trick up her sleeve though.

Sion closed enough distance and used Cryptic Gaze to stun Riven just outside of turret range. But was she really stunned? When Sion and Katarina were close enough, Riven used Cleanse. Sion and Katarina muttered some curses. However, Riven wasn't done yet. She figured she had about 5 seconds before Sion could stun her again. Riven called forth the Blade of Exile and, with a terrifying speed, caught up to Sion. 2 ferocious cleaves tore Sion apart fast, but then he turned around with a frightfull red aura and souls surrounding his red axe. Riven was prepared for this, though. A valorous side step to dodge his axe and then a final hit with her combo, sending Sion into the ground. She prayed she calculated her next move correctly. A normal attack and then Windslash gave her a... Oh no...

Another savage boot to the back and she fell next to a still-barely-alive Sion. It was over now. Katarina raised her daggers above Riven so that they resembled the fangs of a snake, then Riven closed her eyes...

FIRST BLOOD!

What...?

DOUBLE KILL!

Riven opened her eyes in time to hear a thud as Katarina's corpse fell to the ground. What the...

"Well, I know you said I started today, but it's only the first match of the day. Honestly." Riven blushed. Downright embarassing. Come to think of it, who jungles Irelia? What an odd coincidence. Nevertheless, her timing was nothing short of a miracle.

"Thank you, Irelia... Even though I would've liked to have Katarina for myself." Irelia nodded. Riven attempted to sit up only to be rudely reminded of the grievous stab-wound that had soaked her back in blood. It was excruciatingly painful and the fact was, there's no way she could've stood long enough to teleport or walk back. She didn't want to, but she was helpless. Irelia started walking towards the enemy blue golem.

"Irelia... Could you..." She sighed. It was so pathetic. "Could you help me up?" Irelia stopped and turned her head. After checking around for any other undesired guests, she kneeled beside Riven and put an arm under her shoulder, then her other arm held the wounded Noxian up by her ribcage.

"Ready?" Irelia asked. Riven nodded. With a small groan from the pain, Riven was hoisted up onto her feet. Irelia inspected her for a second and, slowly, she withdrew her arms being very cautious incase she couldn't stand. She did this until Riven was standing on her own.

"I... can't walk," Riven muttered bashfully, hushed to a near-mute sound level, after stumbling into Irelia's waiting arms. This was so degrading, she wanted to drive her sword right through Katarina and watch her body fall to the ground again for causing this.

"It's okay, I'll carry you." Irelia's voice was soft and reassuring, almost loving. She reassumed her position and began to slowly guide Riven back down the pathway, minions still asininely fighting their miniature, endless war.

Riven's frown eased into a smile. She didn't know why, but, for some enigmatic reason, she liked being held. She'd never been held as a child, as her parents were always too busy with the rune wars and left her at, what could hardly be called, "childcare". As far as she knew, she managed to isolate and expel all of her mommy, daddy issues along with all but 1 memory. She had no recollection of what her parents were like, only a vague semblance of their silhouettes from her last memory of their presence in her life. It was a recurring dream of hers, but she could never remember what her dreams were about, anyway.

It was back when she was about 4. She was tucked in, eyes closed, pretending to be asleep like all children, and her mother kissed her on her cheek before turning to leave. She heard her stop at the doorway and giggle before Riven turned and looked. Her last remnant of her parents was them, kissing in the doorway before whispering goodnight to her, the candle in the hallway didn't shine on them. Only behind them. A few weeks later, her grand-mother told her that her parents died in the war. She said that, when a Demacian mage split the ground apart, her mother plummeted down, and then her father jumped in after her. Hardly an honorable death for their skill and fame. Then, a few months prior, her grand-mother died and she was sent to an orphanage.

Riven clung a little tighter to her rescuer, unaware of her own actions. Irelia didn't fail to notice this, but she didn't care as much as she thought she should've. In fact, it reminded her of Xivi... A tear and sniffle were unisonal-ly elicited from her at the thought. She, too, clung tighter to her charge, equally unaware of herself. She hoped that Riven didn't notice her tear or sniffle.

"Thank you, Irelia." Riven whispered, now leaning her head against Irelia's shoulder.

"Any time Xiv - I mean, Riven," she corrected before wincing. Shiz. No one, not even her own family, knew about Xivi. Riven picked her head up and looked at Irelia quizzically.

"I'll tell you some other time," Irelia whispered, an inward sigh at the agreement.

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With the 2 assists from the first encounter, Riven took her snowball-sized advantage over Katarina and rolled it into an even bigger one as time went on. Katarina couldn't do anything to stop her; whenever she tried, Riven would stun her, combo, and finish with her Windslash. She got revenge 3 times and, come team fight time, Riven attacked everyone. Irelia used the opportunity to attack their carrys and the first fight ended in an ace. By this point, Riven was pretty beefy with a high damage potential. It came as no surprise to anyone when their inhibitors fell and they turtled next to the nexus. It was more of a surprise that they hadn't surrendered yet, the crowd had been shouting at them ever since the second ace.

The minions flooded in faster than they could kill them. They could've just let them do all the work because defeat was inevitable now. Riven was the only person left in the enemy base, as everyone else went to kill Baron. But she felt compelled, as if by destiny, to stay. She watched as they helplessly tried to kill the minions, staring with hate-filled gazes straight back at her.

Time seemed to slow down for Riven. She saw the perfect opportunity. All 5 of them were below half health and too careless to heal. Acting on her guts, she Flashed into the cluster of minions by the turret, right next to a (metaphorically) stunned Veigar, and put her sword up to him so that it was pointed at his chest. She summoned Blade of the Exile, unceremoniously piercing through his blue cloak.

AN ENEMY HAS BEEN SLAIN!

Without a second's delay, Riven ate 2 turret shots like they were candy, then swung, mercilessly, at Nunu twice. He was about to run, but he was finished of by a well-timed Ki Burst.

DOUBLE KILL!

Her sword was glowing restlessly, begging for more. She dashed forward into 2 more turret shots, which were completely negated, and jumped high into the air. As she came down, she delivered a vehement strike that shook even the nexus, knocking both Katarina and Kog'Maw a considerable distance. In fact, she never would have caught up to them if she hadn't saved her best move. She pulled her sword back behind her head, taking another pair of turret shots in her back. With a calm- or at least, as calm as one could be on the situation- breath, she swung her blade outward with all of the force she could muster, and sent an omnipotent, green wave of pulsing aura into Katarina and Kog'Maw.

QUADRA KILL!!

She ran out of turret range, unsure of where their fifth person was. But only shortly after, a swift and critical wound drew it's way across her back. Runnels of crimson seeped out of her wound, further staining her torn vest.

Master Yi appeared in front of her, sword burning a translucent cerulean in his tightly gripped hands. There was not a word spoken before he used Highlander. Riven knew she wouldn't win this 1 on 1. She had to think outside the box and fast.

With a furious shout, Yi raised his sword high and ran forward at a scary speed. Wait, that was it! His sword! Riven side stepped the strike that impaled the ground, sticking the sword deep into the ground and spawning a large crack sent straight through meters of enchanted stone. While his blade was stuck, Riven's blade returned to normal, not that she intended to use it anyway. She dropped it to the ground and took a swing at Yi. Her fist didn't meet anything, not even air. So fast was her fluent strike that the air around her fist became a small vacuum. But Yi was faster, already beside her outstretched arm and bringing his knee up to her elbow. There was a roaring snap and a laugh from Yi. She had had run ins with broken bones brfore, but this was her most severe to date. Yi was still laughing menacingly.

Her adrenaline numbed the pain and, for a moment, all she could see was Yi, everything else replaced by an opaque, somber shroud. Nothingness. Her unharmed fist tightened until her nails dug into her skin. She didn't know it, but her fist was surrounded in the same green energy her Ki Burst emitted. She screamed a violent, fear-inducing scream an pulled her arm back before letting it go like a crossbow bolt.

"HAHAHA-UGHHH..." He was paralyzed, whether it was by fear or Ki no one would ever know, but it wasn't over. Riven finished him with a powerhouse of a kick into the wall 15 feet away.

PENTAKILL!!!

Without much delay, the victory alert boomed over the field, at least for their team. Riven clenched her arm around her wounded arm as she watched their nexus shatter like a mirror. A crystal descended beside it's remnants, one of the many they used as cameras for matches. She reluctantly walked over to it. Everyone in the crowd watched the whole thing, many clasping their mouth shut at the gruesome broken elbow she nursed in her good arm.

"Fellow Noxians, no not those of you who only think they know what it means to be a Noxian, I'm talking to those of you who, like I, were once proud to be that which people think are weak. That's right, they think we're weak, and maybe with good reason, too. When I was young, there were no guns, no machines or anything else so cowardly! That was back when it was honorable to die at war, just like my parents and yours." She paused for a second. The crowd was in an ocean of feelings, most confused, but most Noxians were listening with astute, sagacious focus.

"Do you know why all of this changed? I'll tell you why. General Boram Darkwill has been corrupted by the immoral members of the Noxian High Command." The crowd broke out in whispers as if it was foul herecy and to be caught talking about it were a capital offence.

"Think about it. My proposal is this: in 7 days from now, you, the people of Noxus, will vote, between me or him, who will rule Noxus. If you wish to stay loyal to him..." The crowd hushed at the sight of Riven being stabbed through the chest by a large blade. She froze as the blade twisted, died as it exited. A train of gasps befell upon the crowd when Riven fell forward, Talon standing behind her.

Riven didn't like the way death was portrayed on the field. But it was short-lived as she felt her soul being tugged back into the realm of the living. She totally forgot she purchased a Guardian Angel Armor at some point during the match.

As talon walked away, he heard a familiar sound; the sound of revival. Oh, how he dreaded that sound. He turned around to a kick in the chest, knocking the breath out of him. She stood over him, flourishing her sword and pointing it at him.

"Unfortunately, I can't repay your shrewd deed, as you weren't summoned here and death would be permanent. I'll warn you, though. If you ever fail to kill me again, rest assured you won't wake up." She reclenched her arm and returned to the crystal. Most of the crowd nearly vomitted at the sight of her condition. Newly revived, yes, but she had a gaping hole in her chest, which was bleeding too much to see anything else that may have been sticking out, her arm was limply hanging the wrong way, and her back was red.

"I forget where I was... Oh, that's right. If you choose to stay loyal to Darkwill, you may continue to thrive as the proclaimed "cowardliest empire" in all Runeterra. And yes, "empire" was mock-emphasized. I don't know about you all... But I am NOT weak." As if to prove her point, she pushed the ball-bone of her arm back into place with another snap. The crowd watched in utter disgust, those with weaker stomachs vomitting on their floors. She teleported back to the summoner platform before she left.

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When she returned home she was completely filthy; some dirt, most blood. That, coupled with the fact that she was tired and stressed out, made her decide to take a bath. She entered her bathroom and ran cold water. She was way too overheated for warm water, she might even turn it warm just by herself. When it reached 3 quarters, she slipped in and let the relaxing, cold waters envelope her and ease the stress. Her arm was fixed and the hole had been filled back up. All her injuries were gone, but the pain lingered. She couldn't tell if she were imagining it from memory or if it was real.

Suddenly, Riven felt a hand on her hair, then on her throat, pushing her below the water. She tried to struggle by flailing her legs wildly, kicking up splashes of water. When she opened her eyes all she could see was a flurry of red swirls on the surface of the water. She tried to scream as a reflex, but her mouth was filled with water.

Katarina held tight, waiting until she stopped moving. But, when her legs started showing signs of slowing, she heard the door open. She kept holding until Riven stopped moving, completely. No sooner did the door open than Katarina slipped, unseen, out the window.

Irelia opened the door slow, so as not to invade on one's privacy. When she didn't hear anything she uncovered her eyes and looked at the tub. All she could see was water all over the place and an arm slung over the side of the tub.

"Oh, no, RIVEN!" She pulled her out of the tub and put her on a towel, then put one over her. She panicked, glancing at the window. This was her fault!

She put both hands on the part of the towel covering Riven's chest and pumped 10 times. Nothing. She tilted her head back and raised her chin, then she closed Riven's nose and cupped her mouth over hers. She breathed in 2 times. Nothing. Another 10 pumps. Nothing. Another 2 breaths. Still nothing. Irelia cried with the next 10 pumps, and then she smiled when Riven spat out a half-a-pint of water and sat up. The closest thing to a word that was spoken was Riven's grunt when Irelia hugged her.

Riven felt very awkward and exposed, but, at the same, she felt the love emanating off Irelia and she just let it go for alot longer than a hug between 2 friends should be, relishing in the feeling of being held. Eventually, she eased into it.

It took Irelia a while to become aware of herself, when she did, she stopped and looked at Riven, expecting a frown or a wide-eyed stare, something! But, when she looked, she was shocked to see a wide smile plastered across her close-eyed, beautiful face.

Riven opened her eyes and stopped smiling when she couldn't feel the loving embrace of her savior anymore. She felt the awkwardness and exposed feeling return again. She was a little relieved that Irelia wasn't looking at her body.

Irelia stopped thinking, because now wasn't the time to think. If there was 1 thing her time with Xivi had tought her, aside from her homosexuality, it was that you had to take what you wanted before it was too late. She crawled up closer to Riven and put 1 arm around her neck, then the other pushed her, gently, to the towel on the floor while she kissed Riven. She missed the feeling of a woman's lips on her own.

Riven felt incredibly uncomfortable, but she couldn't figure out how to use her arms. Well, aside from wrapping them around Irelia's soft, pearlescent skin. Before she knew it, she let Irelia's tongue slither it's way through her lips. Then Irelia's conscience came back and she sat up.

"I'm so sorry Riven, I-I don't know what came over me," She plead.

"It's okay, Irelia. Really. Uhh, just let me get dressed. Please don't leave." She got up and left Irelia where she was. Irelia couldn't figure out what just happened.