Hallo. I am a new writer and I would like to get better. This is inspired from playing a lot of League of Legends. All characters are from Riot and I hope they do not mind me using them for this story.

The cover image is "Please Don't Take My Dream Away" by HelloBaby on DeviantArt.

Please enjoy and please send any criticisms or reviews.

-Stormy

Institute Archive Building

Fourth Floor

Gathering Room C

3:00

Summoner Eiko

Yasuo glanced down at the slip of paper in his hand and then the plaquard on the plain wooden door. The hallway echoed gloomily with the hushed stuffy silence of a library and, aside from the archivist by the first floor stairs, he had not encountered another soul. He could hear nothing except for the muffled sound of music and an indistinct voice behind the door. Ambush or invitation, he thought warily, his hand tightening around his sword in preparation as he entered the room.

Whatever he was expecting, it was not a wizened old man in a simple white Ionian robe with a small summoning orb in his hand, and a woman seated by the window in a traditional and ornate Ionian dress with an instrument in her lap. Yasuo recognized neither, but he was beginning to see an Ionian trend, and his shoulders, back, and arms tense up all the same. Of the champions he had met in the long month since his arrival, the Ionians have been the most cold and unwelcoming, even moreso than the Noxians.

"Excuse me, I must be early," Yasuo said politely by way of announcing his abrupt insertion of what must have been a private meeting.

Summoner Eiko swung his wrinkly and bald head to him and beamed. "Ah, you made it, good good, come on in." He pauses as if in thought and the summoning orb on his hand pulses with light. "Sona says that you're not early but she is late." The summoner's voice was welcoming and strong, belying his fragile appearance.

"Time flies when you converse with a beautiful woman, even at my considerable age, " the summoner was saying, turning and smiling at the woman. Without pausing for breath, the Summoner switched from the common tongue to Ionian. "Ah, but where are my manners? So modern I have become. Please, allow me to make introductions. Sona, please allow me to present to you, Yasuo - so dramatic the monikers are these days - 'the Unforgiven'. Yasuo, please meet Sona Buvelle, our 'Maven of the Strings'. And of course, I am Eiko." Summoner Eiko pauses and the summoning orb glows with light once again.

The Ionian warrior tried to stifle the bewildered expression on his face as the fragile and energetic Summoner Eiko seemed to take a breath. He was expecting persecution, an impromptu trial, and a small part of him was prepared for a battle.

The way Summoner Eiko made the introductions also made him pause - it was in the common way, the way of introductions at the Institute, not the way of Ionia, despite the the Summoner speaking in Ionian. Yasuo hesitated as he mentally ran through the best way to respond. He had experience in greeting masters and teachers in spades. Women, decidedly less so.

Yasuo shifted so that his sword was held before him, unsheathed, and bowed his head first to the summoner and the woman, Sona. It was the form of greeting among warriors before battle, but it also conveyed the highest respect.

The woman had detangled herself from her window seat and smiled to him. While her movements were graceful, he could tell that she was unskilled and unschooled in martial arts. He could relax, since if it came down to a fight, he could cut down the elder Summoner and her with relative ease.

With a rather bemused expression, she gestured for her instrument, which obediently raised and hovered in the air before her as she dipped into a feminine bow in answer. Her Ionian robes and the ornate jewels in her hair gave her a stately elegance.

"My dear boy," Summoner Eiko cried with a chuckle, "are you going to do battle with her? Fight her?" He shook his head and stroked a thin hand over his white beard. "So formal, you are. If you do intend to do battle, perhaps you can convince Sona to put aside her Demacian loyalities and join the Ionian cause." He commented to Yasuo with a wink while Sona made a wry face and ran her hand through the strings of her instrument to make a discordant sound.

The summoning orb grew bright again as the Summoner paused. Yasuo stared between the two of them. Sona appeared to be the epitome of an Ionian lady, both in dress and mannerism. That she was allied with Demacia seemed like a farce. The Summoner seemed either eccentric or insane. Or it was a good cover for wisdom. He'd seen both in Ionia.

"Sona instructs me to inform you to ignore me." Summoner Eiko announced suddenly, pulling Yasuo from his contemplation. "She also bids you farewell, as she has ungodly companions to consort with."

"Farewell," was all Yasuo managed to reply before Sona stepped lightly from the room, her instrument floating behind her like an obedient puppy.

"So tell me, my boy," Summoner Eiko started when Sona's retreating footsteps disappeared and the summoning orb dissipated into whisps of light, "how are you finding your time at the Institute?"

"It is fine, although I am still adjusting to living here," Yasuo replies carefully. Now the real trap begins. He is not sure where the Ionian Summoner is going with the conversation.

"And the other Champions, they are treating you well?"

Yasuo shrugs, "As well as expected," was all he was willing to commit to.

Summoner Eiko stroked his beard and nodded sagely, "Ah…" he said a bit sadly as he looked over Yasuo. "I asked you to join me today because I have an interest in Ionian champions and champions that are associated with Ionia, in the case of yourself." He lapsed into silence again as he paced the length of the room to retrieve his cloak.

The Ionian warrior remained silent. Out of courtesy, out of discipline, and also having nothing to say in response. All would be true. Silence was his company, he is familiar with it and he has spent many hours and days in its presence. First at the school in meditation and after, as a wanderer, and now still, as an outsider and loner as a Champion.

"Now, for what reason and whom do you fight?" Summoner Eiko asked as he turned around, his cloak draped around his shoulders. "Are you here for fame and gain, like Draven of Noxus, or a personal revenge mission like Morgana, Twisted Fate, and Graves, or do you feel a sense of duty, like the Crownguards?"

Yasuo recognized none of the names, but surmised that they must be other Champions. "I'm here to clear my name and for Ionia." He answers truthfully, shifting slightly under the pressure of the questions. Summoner Eiko's demeanor had changed - the playful distracted gentleness was an effect of Sona's presence and with her gone, he was feeling the raw purpose of the Summoner's will. It set him on edge.

"Come, walk with me." Summoner Eiko offered as he nodded to Yasuo. "I'm due for a match, and you can accompany me as I believe the summoning platform is close to your residence."

"I'm old enough to be your father. I'm old enough to be your father's father. And yet I am still here, when I can be spending my time retiring at home. Do you know why I'm still here, boy?" Summoner Eiko asked sharply as they made their way out of the building.

Yasuo shrugged and shook his head, pacing his steps to fall in with the Summoner's. Its a strange feeling to walk next to someone, and this little action had not gone unnoticed. He noticed far fewer whispers, but more than a few questioning looks, which he attributed to the summoner's presence.

"Because I want to see an end to war. We Ionians revere and thrive in peace. Because even in my old age, I can make a difference. Our homeland deserves a bit of peace, hm? And perhaps a forgiving rain for the atrocities that have been committed, or purported committed, will cleanse the land." The summoner fell silent again as Yasuo pondered his words.

They walked a bit further in silence, neither particularly bothered by it. Summoner Eiko realized that this was perhaps the first polite and casual conversation that Yasuo has engaged in since the war in Ionia. It would take time to create chinks in the wall of the warrior's defenses and for his message to seep in.

"Well, my boy. Here we are, and I will leave you here. I'll check up on you now and then, and if you run into trouble, just look me up. I spend most of my spare time in the room we were in. You can find me there. Be well and take care." Summoner Eiko finally announced as they a rounded to the Summoning building. He smiled kindly at the young warrior and patted his hand gently.

It was a loss, it was a loss after a grueling match that lasted nearly an hour. Yasuo was exhausted, disappointed, and frustrated. The other Ionian champions on his team were cold and formal, much more formal than necessary. Formal and polite to a fault, to convey their disapproval and distaste for him. Yasuo was becoming inured to such double edged polite courtesy.

Of course we lost, Irelia had implied to Lee Sin after, when the match was lost and the champions were dispersing, we were disabled with a traitor on our side. Was it a true loss or was it aided?

The accusation stung. Yasuo gritted his teeth and strove to ease his breathing and not retort back. He focused on gathering his things, the most important being his sword, and ensuring that it was looped securely around his waist. Retorting would lead to more discord and the sort of picky fight that Irelia was looking for. The Will of the Blades has a short-sighted temperament to match.

"Alright Sona, I will see you later," a cheerful voice chirped from the ladies changing room. A black haired vixen emerged and smirked seductively at Yasuo before departing.

Yasuo was nearly done when Sona finally emerged a few minutes later. He was a bit surprised to see her in an Ionian styled tunic and trousers as he had pegged her for an ultra-feminine lady who only wore dresses. With her hair pulled into a braid, she was not as recognizable as a champion.

With them being the only two in the room, all other champions had long since departed, Yasuo felt a bit more comfortable engaging her in conversation. It had been weeks since he had first been introduced to her, and aside from a few short conversations with Summoner Eiko, he had not spoken to anyone else.

"Why is it," Yasuo asked neutrally, although he was frustrated, "that the Ionians embrace you, and you don't even fight for them?"

Sona shoved her bangs from her eyes as she looked at the warrior curiously. She wasn't sure if he was speaking hypothetically or if he truly expected her to answer him.

"Nothing to say or too good to talk to me?" Yasuo asked with a hint of bitterness, "So much like the Ionians you are."

Sona frowned at him before sighing deeply with a shake of her head. It was evident that he didn't know that she was unable to reply, so new and unexperienced he was with his fellow champion colleagues. She raised her hands to her instrument and carefully picked the strings.

Yasuo felt a sharp pain in his hand and he tore his eyes from her to look - on the back of his hand were cuts that formed the Ionian character for "Come/Follow". They had barely begun to bleed before Sona played a soothing tone and the cuts started healing, the cuts closing up and then disappearing, leaving his skin unblemished.

"You don't talk?" he asked in Ionian. Sona ignored the question and instead held her hand to beckon him to follow her.

With a defeated sigh, Yasuo trailed after Sona and her instrument, following her as she calmly departed the summoning room. In his few months at the Institute, he had not yet found his inclination to wander and explore. He tried not to be too impressed by her knowledge of shortcuts and pathways. The only way he knew to leave the Institute and venture to the city surrounding the League was through the main doors, but with a few twists and turns, she had led them through a gate where the smooth stone walks of the Institute ended and the cobbled stone streets of the city began.

"We are now in the city?" He asked, feeling somewhat foolish as she turned the corner which deposited them on one of the main streets of the city.

Sona glanced at him and smiled encouragingly with a small nod.

"Are we going far?" He asked instead of what he wanted to ask, which was where they were going.

Sona shook her head and pointed to a building at the end of the block.

"What's there?" Yasuo asked curiously.

She smiled at him and danced her fingers over her instrument. How she kept it hovering near her was a mystery, but the notes only conveyed a sense for him to be patient.

Please let me know what you think! I look forward to hearing from you :-D

I hope I did not make any mistakes, but please let me know if I did.

-Stormy