BROKEN TOYS ||| ARCANE

Consequences

Jax's eye shot open as he stared upwards, Half his vision obscured by blackness. He did not see the night sky, but instead the wooden roof of a cabin. Where was he? How did he get here?

There was an uneasy silence as he Pulled himself up from the cot with a grunt, he laid his back against the wall. He looked around the room which had the bare minimum. A small stool sat by the bedside, and a table stood in the corner with a rickety wooden chair. A jug and a steel bowl placed upon it.

Suddenly, he heard muffled footsteps approach the door. Getting closer and closer by the second. He froze, terrified of who or what could be on the other side.

The lock on the outside clinked as the heavy door creaked open. Slowly an elderly man poked his head in, his grey beard styled tightly into a braid being unmistakable. The lamplight bouncing off his bald, shiny head. "Gord?" Jax muttered.

He pushed the door open stalking in, Jax noticed the man held a set of clothes and boots. "Thought you weren't gonna make it, kid." He said solemnly, grabbing the small stool dragging it along the floor and next to the bed. The man sat down, the small piece of furniture barley holding the Bligewater native's weight. "You haven't moved for a whole week."

Jax stared at his feet, still lost in his own head. "Where are we?" he questioned. His tone distant and dreary.

"Onboard the Wayfarer. We'll be in port soon." Gord said as his large arm stretched over and set the clothes on the table.

Looking down, Jax saw a part of his right forearm completely gone. Now covered by a bandage and reduced to nothing but a bloody stump. "Why?" he questioned.

"It's far away from Silco, that's why." Gord stated bluntly.

Upon the mention of his name, Jax gritted his teeth. Remembering his fathers face, the hope he felt as they inched closer to escape. Then an explosion, his vision blackening. The pain he felt as he listened helplessly to Powder's wailing.

Watching as Vi abandoned her to the dogs.

He reached out, clasping onto Gord's collar roughly and yanked him so their eyes met. "Powder. What happened to Powder?" He raged.

The older man didn't flinch, refusing to submit to the boy. "She was gone when I got there, Jax." he uttered sombrely. "It was just..." Gord hesitated as Jax's grip loosened. "You and Vander left. No one else. She's gone kid."

"Bullshit!" He growled, sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed with every ounce of his strength. "She's alive, I just know it!" Jax glared at the rugged blacksmith and smuggler. "We have to go back, find her!" he rambled.

Gord shook his head in disbelief of the boys arrogance. After all that happened, Vander's death, his family torn apart and he still wanted to back home. "You really are stupid, aren't you? You think that's how this works?" he scoffed, "I just take you back and you wander the streets like a lost little boy calling out her name? Silco thinks you're dead, and that's good for us."

Finally Jax had enough of the mans cowardice. Shaking his head he clawed his way to his feet and pulled his good arm back. Using all his might to punch Gord in the jaw, knocking him to the wooden floor with a heavy thud. His breathing laboured as he stood over the older man who wiped away a droplet of blood. "I won't just cut and run while Silco's still breathing. While Powder's god only knows where! Because unlike you, I don't run out on people who need me!"

The older man looked up at Jax, his temper flared. "Don't push me boy." he warned standing to his full height, glaring down at his younger counter part. "I'm not your dad. Which means I have no problem beating and throwing your arse overboard."

Neither of the two backed down, both refusing to give in, their fist clenching as the door burst open. The navigator standing behind them. "Captain?" he questioned,

Gord snapped out of it and turned to him. "What is it?" he questioned, trying to regain his composure.

"We're here." He said as he scurried up the stairs and disappeared from sight, wanting to get away from the two human wrecking balls as soon as possible.

"It's what you want now that got your mum killed and you locked up." Gord commented snidely as he turned and walked up the stairs. "When you're off my ship, you're on your bloody own." he muttered, his heavy footsteps pounding up the wooden stairs.

Jax let out a shaking breath as he limped up the pile of clothes, he took the sleeveless blue tunic and placed it on. Wincing in pain as he used the laces to tighten it around his wounded torso. He then pulled on the brown pants and black boots.

When he was dressed, he Pulled himself up the stairs using the rough wooden banister to hold himself up. Each step making his muscles scream in agony.

Slowly he climbed up onto the deck, the bright afternoon sun blinding him as his eyes readjusted. The whole deck buzzed with life as each crew member did their job hastily. The ship sailed through a massive concrete arch, two hulking guard towers on either side. Both structures acting as guardians over the port they slowly sailed towards. The banners which hung on the defensive white cobbled walls became clear, the familiar red and grey sigil becoming unmistakable.

Noxus. His mother's homeland, the place that he had only heard about in her old war stories she told him as a child. A powerful Empire with a fearsome reputation, judged by outsiders as being ruthless and unforgiving. Although it was the opposite to those within it's borders. A place where anyone could rise from the ashes of poverty, so long as they showed strength regardless of their occupation. Weakness was not tolerated to any degree and their hardy people exhibited that.

The ship came to a halt as Jax walked over to the railing, looking out at what laid before him. A port brimming with life. Traders stood on every corner alongside their stalls as they frantically bartered with any would be customers. Crowds of people weaved together as dock workers helped unload the many merchant ships cargo.

The smell of exotic spices filled his nose as his lungs inhaled the fresh ocean air. He let out a raspy cough, his lungs so used to inhaling the polluted air of the undercity.

As he looked out over the strange new land, he held his hand over his left eye, feeling the bandage still wrapped around it. Deciding against fiddling with the cloth he took his hand away.

He glared over at Gord who was consulting with what looked like a port official. It was because of him that Jax now found himself on the other side of Runeterra. Unable to know if Powder was still alive, the guilt eating away at him. The fact that he was unable to save his father, that he wasn't strong enough to keep fighting. He gripped the railing tightly with his one hand. His nails digging into the wood.

He moved away. Stepping off the gang plank, the teenager glanced around as his boot hit the dockside. He was on his own now, in a foreign land with no friends, nor family. A rage unlike any other burned wildly as he walked off. A lust for revenge filling his entire being, yearning to finally reap justice upon the man who murdered his family.

That same feeling he felt at the Cannery falling over him. Clutching his head he shut his eye tightly as the clawing and scratching grew worse. However, this time he embraced it. Allowing the beast to break free of it's confines. Without even sparring a glance towards the Wayfarer, he vanished into the masses of people.

"One day, I'll go back. I'll find Powder and kill Silco. I'll burn the city to the ground if I have to, just to watch him suffer. I'll kill anyone who tries to stop me. No one will stand in my way."

"no one..."

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