Forge of worlds - League of legends fanfic

Chapter 14 - A silent oath

Gasps for breath, longing for fresh air. Groans and grunts echoed from the walls, the only sounds that brought some kind of life to the mansion. Drops of sweat stained the ground, shadows that danced around one another.
After the visit of the Vastaya Ezreal had focused on the sparring with Kai'Sa that same day, what he least expected when she no longer wore her second skin, was that she actually fought better. Every aim he threw at her that was remotely magic or held a form of art, Kai'Sa dodged with such skill he sometimes could not follow every step of her moves. He learned the harsh way that the suit had not made her the warrior she had entitled herself, it was the strength and determination she put into fighting the void that drove her to become as lethal as he faced her. A week straight from that morning on, he had practised with her in the gardens. When her offer to become his mentor in the martial arts was given to him as consideration he feared he would live the same trial that he had with his uncle, that took his swift success for arrogance. If he were given a bow, he would hit for an eye, if he needed to find an escape, he would find a way to success, if he were threatened with death, he came home with another day spent alive to brag on the death, but this?
He managed to dodge another hand that was launched at him, blocking it from hitting his shoulder with his arm. Gasping for air he felt sweat rolling down his temples. He expected Kai'Sa to be a fierce mentor, instead she had granted him the patience and support he needed when he failed at performing at his best. Fighting an actual guardian that fought monsters from up close made him realise that every time he were in trouble, a close ranged attacker would have his advantage with his lack of skill, that the magic in his gauntlet could not even protect him from every danger, it gave him the only advantage that was in his favour: distance.
'You learn quickly.' Kai'Sa exclaimed out of breath after sparring with him for over an hour, dealing out another kick aimed at his head. Overtime he build to move as graceful as swiftly, building both distance as a defence mechanism to keep her stalled.
Ezreal rubbed the sweat from his forehead and spit out saliva that was building up from dehydration. 'Not sure if I should take that as a compliment.'
Caught off guard she ran at him, testing his reaction time she aimed for his neck, when he deflected her hand she stared at it from below and hooked her ankle behind his foot. Ezreal lost his balance and almost fell to the ground if Kai'Sa had not gotten a hold of his wrist to keep him from falling. 'Why would it not be a compliment? Progress is what should be strived for when lacking in certain departments, in your case-' She let go of his wrist and watched as he fell. '-Focus.' Quickly regretting her poor decisions to let him fall she quickly ran to his aid, wrapping his arm around her shoulders she helped him to get back up.
'My uncle wasn't very keen on me learning things so quickly, he thought it only fuelled my arrogance.' Appreciating her support he leaned against her, listening to their footsteps echoing through the hall.
'That is expected from those that suffer of greed, if they find someone succeeding at things they lack, they tend to get arrogant themselves and punish the good.' With a gentle pat on his bare shoulder blade she gave him the approval he always wanted from his uncle.
'You think I'm good?' Surprised by her judgement on him, though he never really took someone else's feelings into consideration and stole what he could find, only to enjoy the aftermath of his actions, it never made him feel really good about himself, unless he were off to think about his parents and their time spent together.
Kai'Sa nodded, her hair that stroke over his chest as she helped him climb the stairs. 'You saved my life when you could have just ran away with the tear of the goddess, offered me a place in your own house and best of all,' She set him down on his bed when they reached his dorm, unwrapping his arm from her shoulder she walked towards his dresser. 'You became my dearest friend.'
Ezreal rested his elbows on his legs, his chest still uncontrollably moving fast while trying to catch some air. He managed to get a smile on his face and wiped his forehead once more. 'You saved mine to begin with, more than once and did not judge me for my behaviour, not even when others tried to cloud it.'
Kai'Sa leaned against his dresser, holding a fresh shirt out for him and a towel from him to dry off. He had finally taken her advice to not get overdressed, since the first few days of sparring would take a heavy toll on him, the last thing she expected was for him to not wear his shirt AND his gauntlet. Whatever drove him to better his skills, it certainly payed off when he started with it. 'You never had a real shot in life, did you?'
It was as if she could read him as a book right now, they really had spent too much time together, not that any of them minded it, they learned a lot from just a simple glance at the same direction. 'Most people assume I'm just this curious, arrogant guy that has his head in the clouds.'
'You have had your hardships in life, some people find it difficult to relate.'
'You're perfect example to it, no one looked back at you.' They were caught staring at each other again, both of them wondering how two worlds, so different from each other, could be so alike. Never had Ezreal really related with anyone, because he never allowed himself to get attached to anyone, it would bring him down too much and remind him of his parents, but this was different. He really had made great development and though none of that showed whenever he were not around Kai'Sa, he knew that he deep down had changed into a better version of him. Leaning from his bed he took a few steps towards her, trembling on his legs. 'Come here.'
Kai'Sa curiously looked at the ground and back to him when he spread both his arm towards her, was he going to... hug her? She nervously walked towards him, her senses sharpened in case he was going to surprise her with her own moves, instead he closed his arms around her shoulders, pushing her hair out of his face to hold her into a embrace.
For what felt like a few seconds she stood still, staring before her to digest what was just happening to her. He knew what she looked like, what her cause was, with who she spent her time with, what lived on her body and not once were he disgusted, not once did he cast her out. Her fingers trembled when she raised them up to hook them on his shoulders, her wrist resting against his shoulder blades. This... is when she really felt like she were home.
'I know you don't need it but, good luck out there again.' He mumbled against her shoulder, taking her scent in one more time before he would let go.
Kai'Sa nodded against his shoulder and sighed deeply. 'If you ever need a guide, anger the void.' She joked, one she rarely ever made, he guessed it was most appropriate during this moment. After tonight, they would say goodbye. Kai'Sa refused to let him travel all the way to Shurima, just to drop her off and leave again, they both reckoned it would be too much in such a short period. Of course they had promised to one another to meet again, no matter how far time was apart from each other. Not like he had a choice, every night since the visit of Ahri, he had been summoned to travel the galaxy with the others to find hints of the fallen guardians and he bet that tonight would be no exception, aside from him now being able to stick around, instead of leaving when dawn would once again light the city.
He wondered if Ahri felt the way he did right now when he lost Xayah, Rakan and Neeko. Various times he had caught her walking away from the group, sobbing as if she failed not once, but every minute they were somewhere she could not aid them. Though he did not understand, during those times he jumped in to cheer her up, maybe that is what she had really seen in him, the ability to let go, even when times are at their worst.

The time had come, her greatest fear had finally hit reality, from this point on it was only hope for him to find her back that she was convinced that there was something in the world that did not think of as a monster, like any other civilian did. When Ezreal had left the room so Kai'Sa were alone with the bottle, she stared at it with terror. How long would it take for it now to fully cover her body? To regain it's form? Would it take months again? Days? or perhaps hours? They both had grown more mature, stronger, swifter, she feared that the moment their entities made contact again it would completely habit every inch of her skin again. Kai'Sa raised one of her hands to touch her fingertips once more, savouring the moment forever in case she would never see her dear friend again. With fear struck in her body she opened the bottle and did not have to wait long for it to crawl out and leap onto her, only difference was that she was no longer the child that stumbled backwards and screamed at it in horror, but the wielder of ancient toxins. Closing her eyes she already felt it spread further from her arm, every bit of skin that poked into her like a thousand needles. She did not know what hurt more, getting it removed, or letting it grow back. When the voidling managed to already cover one arm in a mere minute, she waited for almost an hour, for it to have taken complete control over every inch, the armour that was still in the process, along with her jets. She knew that by tomorrow, or perhaps the day after, certainly when she were back in Shurima, that she would enter it as she left: one of them.
When it were just a simple suit with the only texture of the void's scales and the cracking sound of bones spinning armour again, Kai'Sa walked as if it did not hurt her when the voidling used all of her resources to recover itself into it's former greatness.
Back into the light she could already feel the eyes of humans staring into her direction, not as disturbing as they would have been if her skin recovered sooner. Ezreal stood from a distance and watched as his friend would walk with the same, distant attitude as she had met him. Neither of them were prepared to say goodbye, none of them knew if they would even see the other again. All he knew was that he never experienced the love he felt for a friend, rather than someone you were romantically involved with. Anything could be broken when romance was in the midsts of it, but somehow friendship proved greater as their bonds to never severe.
The docks were not far from them and at the sight of the ship they both knew that their farewell had to be  mentioned now, but they both could not get a word out. After sharing so many stories, pleads of their past, secrets that they had hoped no one to hear, their farewell was quiet, almost not righteous. Kai'Sa gave one more glance towards Ezreal, straightening her back she acted as the tougher one.
Ezreal broke his silence when he finally found the ability to speak. 'Kai'Sa,' The daughter of the void cut her pace and stood still, not daring to look back. 'See you soon.' The silence returned and for a moment he had hoped she would walk away with a smile, instead she turned around with tears blurring her eyes. Ezreal quickly frowned and stepped in to embrace her one more time. He closed his hand around the back of his head, his other arm wrapped around her waist. 'Hey, what's wrong?' He asked worried, leaning back to observe her, though he failed when she tired to avoid his eyes.
'I always said that goodbyes are bittersweet,' She sniffed the tears away and blinked quickly to get rid of them. 'I guess I never knew what it felt like.' Ezreal could not help but smile and hugged her once more time before he let go and watched her wander off onto the ship. With every step she walked away from him, he felt a needle piercing deeper into his heart.
This is why he hated to get attached onto people, sooner or later, one had to say goodbye.
'She was certainly a nice sight to look at.' Ezreal sighed when the boat left the docks and Ahri had instantly taking the spot where Kai'Sa stood not five minutes ago. 'But that's not the only reason you're heartbroken, is it?'
Ezreal shook his head, trying to revive on of his grins and reported himself ready for their next mission. Ahri rolled her eyes out of disapproval and closed her fingers around his chin to draw his attention. 'Ezreal, you're allowed to be sad. I was heartbroken myself when I realised my friendship with Xayah was reduced to ashes, even more so to see her die in front of me. I can live with the fact that she hates me, but I'm grateful she decided to stay.'
'I'm surprised you're not seeing her as my girlfriend, like anyone else.'
Ahri crossed her arms and watched the sun sink into the vast ocean before them. 'Whatever she means to you, it's greater than romance, but just as strong as true friendship. People often think that the love from your significant other is all that one lives off,' She shook her head, her sight blurring of to the time she had seen her loved one die in front of her eyes and having Xayah, Rakan, Neeko and Sarah to fill her heart with love once more, love she did not have to charm or light herself.  'It's friendship.'
Ezreal chuckled and watched the boat disappear behind the mountain. 'It feels so cringy to believe that what we fight for, is actually something deep and serious.'
Ahri laughed along and stepped towards the waters, reaching her hand out to him. 'People hate to accept what makes them most vulnerable,' She winked when he pushed her hand aside and walked towards the ocean, where Xayah, Rakan, Sarah, Neeko, Syndra and Soraka were lined up, waiting for them to team up.

'Now let's meet up with Lux so we can cheer you up, because we found the location of the lost guardians.'