The fabled Might of Demacia stood at the entrance, but his front was only a shadow for the moonlight shone upon his back. With a wave of her hand, Queen Ashe signaled the feast to continue. Everyone returned to their original state in respect for their queen, but they were a bit confused as to why the Might of Demacia would be here. Some of the drunk ones thought he might be here to join the feast and be merry. Someone even mentioned that Garen might be a secret suitor of the queen or the king himself. Many rumors have been floating about the Might of Demacia, but one struck true. He's been harboring feelings for the Sinister Blade of Noxus, and it's been said that Jarvan IV had caught wind of it. Whatever reason Garen had, he did not approach any further. Perhaps in respect of the King and Queen for he did not want to intrude.
Tryndamere approached Garen and clasped his shoulder in greeting. "Greetings, oh Might of Demacia. What brings you to our feast tonight?" he said.
Garen made no response. Tryndamere looked at Ashe. Ashe returned the look with the same amount of confusion found in the King's eyes. Feeling someone hospitable, Ashe approached Garen as well.
"Maybe a word in private?" suggested Ashe.
Garen nodded. Tryndamere and Ashe had a moment of staring at each other, and they somehow concluded that Tryndamere would talk to Garen and Ashe would supervise the feast. Tryndamere watched his queen walk off back into the crowd, and Tryndamere led Garen into a guest cave (since the home of Tryndamere and Ashe were a large series of icy caverns) and made Garen sit down on the cot. Garen had an empty look in his eyes, and Tryndamere couldn't be his usual self when an esteemed League Champion such as Garen was acting like an empty shell of the man he really was.
"What brings you here at this hour, Garen?" Tryndamere asked.
"I come to seek refuge..." replied Garen, devoid of emotion.
"Refuge? From what?" Tryndamere inquired, now curious.
"I'll tell more details when you and Ashe are able to hear it simultaneously," Garen said, then removed the magic spell that held his sword to his back and leaned it against the wall near the cot.
Tryndamere thought he could respect the man's decision, so he nodded and left the guest cave and returned to the feast. A few hours later, when everyone either went home or passed out in the gathering hall, Ashe and Tryndamere went to where Garen was sitting. Ashe had been briefed by Tryndamere along the way of what Garen told him. When they arrived, Garen was exactly the same when Tryndamere left him.
"I'm here, Might of Demacia. Perhaps you'd tell us why you are seeking refuge?" Ashe mentioned, sitting beside the seemingly depressed champion. Tryndamere leaned his back against the wall, listening in. Ashe always had a way of getting information.
"First of all, I apologize for appearing unannounced to your home," Garen started.
'Hmm... So he's not here on behalf of the Institute of War...' Ashe thought. She then said, "Oh, it's not a problem."
"I come here to seek refuge... for I have been exiled out of my home, Demacia," Garen said. "The Prince ordered it himself, after discovering that I had some affection towards the Sinister Blade, Katarina."
"The Sinister Blade? Why, I'd banish you too-" Tryndamere started but was cut off with an icy glance from Ashe.
"So the rumor is true, then, that you have feelings for Katarina," Ashe mentioned.
"It is true, but I do not let it get the better of me on or off the Fields of Justice, nor in Demacia or anywhere in Valoran," The Fields of Justice is a special place where League Champions do battle and settle fights.
"Except here," Ashe said smartly.
"Yes, that is true..." Garen admitted.
Hoping that she could give a fellow champion a modicum of hope, Ashe gave Garen's shoulder a pat before saying, "Well, you can call this your home as long as you do not bring trouble to us, o' Might of Demacia."
As soon as he heard that, Garen smiled, then looked at Tryndamere. Tryndamere gave a nod in agreement, and Garen returned the nod.
"I thank you, King and Queen."
"Oh please, I prefer to be called by my name, not title," Tryndamere stated. Ashe tilted her head with a shrug, showing how she has mutual feelings with Tryndamere.
"Well, now that this issue is settled, we must get rest. Don't run away in the middle of the night, Garen," Ashe said, and started walking to her own room.
"If any trouble stirs and it's not of your doing, you can handle it while we're not there, right?" Tryndamere said to Garen, trying to raise Garen's self-esteem. Garen nodded, and when the two exited his cave, he removed his armor and lay down on the cot, closing his eyes to get some rest. The Might of Demacia really hadn't gotten any sleep since his exile.
It was a hazy field of tall grass, and Garen found himself in the middle of it. He tried running out of the field, but to no avail. It seemed like the tall grass ran for miles and miles on end, and there was just no end to it. Garen defiantly kept walking, knowing that he'll eventually get out of this field of grass. But then, Garen had the great idea of just clearing out a patch to be able to lay down on or to set up waypoints so he won't walk in circles. Every now and then, Garen used Judgement, spinning around with his sword for three seconds while moving forward, cutting tall grass in his way. When he was finally exhausted, Garen hid in the tall grass and rested, but a haunting voice started to fill his head.
'Garen...' The voice called. 'Garen...'
Upon further investigation, he saw Katarina with her red hair and black outfit standing in a clear patch of grass that he had just passed. He approached her with his sword lowered, and when he was in front of her, he saw Katarina vanish in a flash, and the next thing he knew was that he was staring up at the sky. The night sky was nebulous, filled with plenty of stars which reminded Garen of his home, Demacia. Soon, Katarina approached Garen from what would have been behind him, and she knelt down by his head, a dagger's blade resting on his throat.
"Nice to see you again, Garen," Katarina said, putting a little pressure on the blade upon his throat.
"You caught me off guard once again, Sinister Blade," Garen mentioned casually, but he raised his sword and lightly bopped Katarina's head with the flat of his blade. Katarina released Garen and helped him stand up, despite Garen wearing his heavy armor and all.
"I heard you were exiled," Katarina said while throwing a few daggers at Garen.
Garen blocked the daggers with the big width of his sword and answered, "Yes, and you had a hand in it."
The two danced around with their blades, clashing and hitting and ringing of metal filled the field of tall grass, until eventually, Garen was exhausted. Katarina went over to Garen and lifted his chin up, while placing her dagger's tip on his throat. Garen grabbed Katarina's wrist and fought hard not to make Katarina plunge it into his windpipe.
"Tell me, why haven't you killed me when you've had so many chances of doing so?" Garen inquired.
Katarina gave it a bit of thought, "I wouldn't have a fun rival if I did," she retorted. The two eventually stopped struggling with the dagger and Katarina held Garen's cheek. "If you die under someone else's hands, I'll never forgive you."
"Garen..." the haunting voice called again. "Garen...!"
Garen slowly opened his eyes and found Ashe and her white hair tucked behind her ears as she was bent over, shaking his shoulder, as well as her green eyes staring down at his face. Ashe sighed.
"Good, you're awake..." Ashe said, standing back up straight and put her hands on her waist, "Breakfast is ready, and it doesn't get any better if we saved it for later, so I figured I'd wake you."
"Many thanks for your consideration..." Garen said, getting up out of his cot and standing up. As he stood up, Ashe had to tilt her head a bit upward as Garen was a tall man.
"Follow me," Ashe said, before starting to walk to the gathering hall.
"Ah, the great Might of Demacia! Come, come! The food is perfect!" Tryndamere greeted Garen as he and Ashe entered the gathering hall. It was obvious something had happened for him to be so happy. Garen sat down on Tryndamere's left, while Ashe sat on Tryndamere's right. The three ate, conversing every now and then. Tryndamere and Ashe took special care not to get on the topic of Garen's exile. They talked about their prowess on the Fields of Justice, and eventually they drifted into more personal topics, such as rumors of Ashe being pregnant or how Garen liked tall grass. It was true, for Garen, because he always utilized the element of surprise on the Fields of Justice. However, Ashe didn't quite like the rumor that she was pregnant.
It was already late morning when they began eating, so by the time noon came around, the trio had just finished eating and a courier approached Garen and Tryndamere when the latter was training Garen better on how to "spin2win" while Ashe watched. The letter that the courier sent mentioned that Garen was to be summoned in a battle in the Fields of Justice in a blind pick. Garen geared up and was ready to go by afternoon, and he was conversing with Tryndamere and Ashe while waiting to be summoned. As soon as blue rings of light appeared around Garen, he clasped Tryndamere's shoulder while Tryndamere did the same, and Ashe gave Garen a hug as best as she could, for she couldn't completely wrap her arms around the big champion. Tryndamere and Ashe watched as Garen got summoned to Summoner's Rift.
"Say, don't you think we make good parents?" Tryndamere asked.
Ashe lightly pushed Tryndamere's arm and smiled, "Well, it's best if we spectated on our 'son's' battle, right?" she said, pulling on Tryndamere's leg.
Tryndamere blinked as his own plan to make Ashe feel somewhat flustered backfired. He shook his head and the two sat down on their thrones, setting up a magic ward that displayed the Field of Justice.