Lanius walked inside a large round room. It was dimly lit with a red shade. In the center of the room sat a man in the lotus position, presumably meditating. He was dressed in red clothing and a steel mask was placed in front of him. Despite his while hair, he looked like he was in his mid thirties.
"What does the Winter want from the Yánléi?" his voice was smooth and calm, in contrast to his whole appearance.
Lanius approached the man and the whispers grew louder. He stopped in front of him, trying to locate both the source of the light and the whispering.
"Im here for two things." Lanius sat down in front of him. His eyes then landed on the ceiling. A giant circular monolith composed out of stone floated against it, rotating rhythmically and emitting the red light.
"And what exactly are these two things?" Zed opened his eyes and looked at him.
The Winter lowered his eyes back to the Master of Shadows. "The first one is quite simple. I need Intel regarding the Rebel."
"For what reason?" Zed did not move, instead, he just waited for an answer.
"For a reason greater than anything in this land. It is time for the First Lands to finally fight back." Lanius exclaimed.
Zed did not show any signs of surprise upon hearing these words. Instead, he continued to meditate with a nonchalant expression.
"Who agreed? Who will organise it and what is its purpose?" he'd now inhaled.
"The Blade Dancer and The Enlightened already agreed. It's up to the rest of the High Council to form the army. I was also sent into specific locations to take people to our side." The young man raised his arm in the air and formed a small but sharp ice claw on his thumb.
He then unrolled the bandage, exposing the finger and sliced at the side of the index, deep enough to only draw blood. He wanted to test something. A tiny cloud of teal smoke the size of a pea left the wound. It then hovered above the young man's head, before it turned red and flew towards the monolith. Zed was collecting life force.
"As for the attacks..." the young man paused and looked at his cut index. The skin around the cut had gone purple, as if it was bruised. He rolled back the bandage. "The Blade Dancer and I will lead the attacks. Should you accept, you may as well." He continued.
"...And you perhaps think that you have the power and honor to lead this war?" Zed exhaled.
"Not yet, regarding power. As for honor, why does one that practices taboo arts speak of honor?" Lanius muttered. "It's neither about strength, nor about honor. It's about determination."
"And you are determined to drive them out?" Zed raised his right hand in the air with his fist closed aside from the thumb and middle finger.
"I am determined to win this war for my own reasons. I have one goal and a big part of it is similar to yours." Lanius placed his bandage back on. "So...which side will you pick?"
Zed opened his eyes and looked at him. "Which side are YOU picking, Winter?"
"That of the First Lands." the young man's crystal eye looked at Zed.
Zed stopped meditating and looked at the Winter. "Supposedly the Yánléi join your cause. What then?"
"Then, you must stop trying to rip magic from this land. You're wounding it and breaking the pact we formed with the vastaya." Lanius replied.
"Small sacrifices must be made to free this land. One of them is the risk of harming it. I simply cannot forfeit this power, even if a halfling vastaya asks me." Zed's voice changed from nonchalant to harsh.
The Winter grit his teeth. "Then I shall tell you otherwise. Cease this or the Winter will decimate you. You are hurting this land and nature always gets its revenge."
The Master of Shadows looked at him as anger slowly built inside him. "Impure fool. The Shadow powers are beyond any authority."
"Impure...I might be, but a fool I am not." Lanius got up. "I think that you are afraid of losing your strength."
Zed frowned and also got up. "Tell you what, Winter. I challenge you to a duel. If you win, the Yánléi will pledge their loyalty to the war, and cease the magic hoarding. If you lose, you'll have to exterminate the Kinkou for me and anyone that gets in my way."
"I accept this duel then." Lanius straightened his back.
Zed then disappeared, leaving a smoke trail behind him. His mask also disappeared.
"I shall now show you the power of the so-called taboo." Zed's voice echoed in the tall room.
Lanius formed a set of ice gauntlets on his arms and raised them, bracing himself.
A whistling sound caused him to spun around and raise his hands, blocking a large 3 bladed shuriken that tore the air towards him. The weapon bounced back and returned to Zed, who jumped down from the roof towards the young man with a growl. The double blades on his arms extended forward. Zed pulled his left arm back and released it in a stabbing motion as he approached Lanius.
The young man rolled to the side as Zed's blade stabbed the air where the Winter previously was, followed by its owner. The moment the Yánléi Master touched the ground, Lanius delivered a punch towards his liver.
Zed spun around and placed his blades in time to block the punch, sending ground up ice and sparks everywhere.
.
.
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A few minutes passed since Lanius had gone inside the room. Ahri waited outside for the entire time. She turned towards Kay, who was leaning against the wall opposite to her. He seemed to be thinking about something. Ahri looked at him from top to bottom.
He was slim with an athletic build. He had braided his black hair similarly to Lanius, tho the boy had slicked back the top and left two bangs in front of his face. The right bang was also colored blue. Lanius just tied his silver hair neatly into a simple braid, not bothering to spend endless hours styling them.
He was topless from his waist and above, and wore a bronze kusazuri, bronze and purple haidate, along with black wide-cut pants and leg guards with black boots - basically your typical Kayn but without the corrupted arm and eye-.
"Do I look that bizarre for you to be staring at me, vastaya?" he asked, startling her.
"No, not at all. Who in Ionia doesn't look bizarre?" Ahri replied. "How did you know that I am a vastaya?"
The boy opened his gold eyes and looked at her. "Vastaya give off a different aura than humans. Is it because of the magic running through your veins? I'm unsure." he said.
"Judging by the way you speak, you're not an Ionian. You're a Noxian, aren't you?" she asked.
"I...I don't know. Tho I was dropped at one of the Ionian shores when I was a child by the Noxian armies for sure. Master Zed and the Yánléi found me and took me in. The Order is everything I have...the only thing I have."