Princess Poppy

Well, Poppy thought to herself. This is different.

She'd travelled all over Demacia, looking for the hero that Orlon had prophesized. She'd seen everything, from its silver cities, to its fertile farmland, to its highest peaks (well, maybe not the highest, but near the highest – yordles weren't meant for climbing). That included some of its forests as well, but looking at the sight before her, it was clear that she hadn't seen every forest that Demacia had to offer. Because this forest was…well, weird. It had all the things you'd expect from a forest, from the grass to the trees, but they all looked off. Not solid enough. Like they'd been stitched together out of wool, or felt, or…anything! Anything other than wood at least. Taking off a gauntlet, Poppy ran her fingers across one of the leaves.

Yep. Definitely not your average piece of flora

What it felt like exactly, she couldn't say. Only that it didn't feel anything like a leaf was meant to feel. And the animals…where were the animals anyway? The forest didn't just look different, it sounded different. Or rather, had no sound at all.

"Hey! I'm not giving up today!"

Or rather had no sound up to this moment. Poppy clutched her hammer, scanning the forest floor for the sound of the voice. She could tell that the voice was female, young, and if it belonged to a bandit, was probably proof that the voice owner needed a new career path. Still, she kept her guard up. If she fell in this forest today, the world wouldn't care, but if it meant that Orlon's hammer never found its true owner, then…She shook her head. She couldn't think about that. Bandit or no bandit, she had to keep on her guard.

"Because there's nothing getting in my way!"

She tightened her grip. She could tell it was part of a song, but if there was nothing getting in the singer's way…did that mean the singer was a pleasant sort who had no enemies in the world (fat chance in this day and age)? Or that the singer was so powerful that no-one could stand against them? She'd watched Sona on the Fields of Justice often enough to see how dangerous someone's voice could be.

"And if you knock knock me over, I will get back up again!"

You only needed to say knock once.

That was Poppy's first thought. Seeing the singer emerge from the undergrowth though, her second thought was what the heck?

There was a small…pink…thing, running along the ground. Chasing her was a larger black thing that Poppy recognised as a spider, only a spider that looked like it was made out of wool. The pink thing didn't look as fluffy, bar the just as pink ponytail that came from her head but she did look…off. Like she belonged to another world entirely. And she was small. The spider was bigger than a normal spider, but its intended prey was even smaller than a yordle.

"If something goes a little wrong, you can go-ahead and bring it on…"

She was singing and running at the same time, Poppy realized. Who did that? If you were running for your life from a giant spider that wanted to eat you, you didn't sing, you saved your breath. Or maybe screamed, if you had to – there shouldn't have been any lyrics other than "ahh!" or "help me, help me!" She watched as the small pink thing ran near her, apparently not noticing the armour-clad yordle in her path, while the spider got closer, and-

WHAM!

And she brought down Whomper on the spider. Course the sound was more like "wham," or "squish," and "Whomper" wasn't even the hammer's real name, but hey, one dead spider, one alive pink thing. A pink thing that stopped, looked at the spider, looked at the yordle, and smiled.

"Nice," she said.

"Um, thanks?" Poppy asked. It was odd to hear the pink thing talk. Obviously it could sing, but its voice still had a melodious quality to it. The type of voice that put one at ease. Herself included, if only for a moment. She couldn't afford to let down her guard. Not now. Not ever.

"Huh." The pink thing walked over to what was left of the spider. "Nice hammer you've got there."

"It's not my hammer," Poppy said. "It's the hammer of Orlon, the hero of…" She paused. "Never mind."

"Hammer of what?" the pink thing asked.

"Nothing."

"It's the Hammer of Nothing?"

"It's a hammer okay?" Poppy snapped.

"Alright, alright, don't get all nasty," the pink thing said. "I was only asking." She paused. "What's your name anyway?"

Poppy shrugged. "Nothing special."

"Aw come on, tell me."

Son of a…fine! She sighed. "Poppy," said the yordle. "My name's Poppy."

The pink thing's eyes widened. Big brown eyes that were…very big. And very brown. "No way," exclaimed the pink thing. "My name's Poppy too!"

"Oh, er, really?"

"Yep. Princess Poppy, to be exact. Princess of the trolls."

A troll, Poppy wondered? The other Poppy didn't look like a troll. Trolls were big, blue, and lived in the Freljord. They weren't tiny pink things that ran from spiders and sang songs about not giving up. She watched as Princes Poppy began to stretch, apparently pleased with herself.

Part of Poppy wanted to go. Whomever Orlon's hammer was destined for, it most certainly wasn't this little creature. But the other part…it wanted to stay. It wanted to learn.

"So, er, Poppy," the yordle said. "What was with the singing?"

"Huh? Oh, that. That's my not-giving-up song."

"Your not-a-what song?"

"My not-giving-up song silly," she said. "I've got to rescue my troll friends from the bergens-"

The what?

"…and to make sure I don't give up, I have to keep singing that I won't give up. Kept me going the last few days."

Poppy blinked. "You've been…singing the same song for the last few days?"

"Oh, not just that song. I've also been singing I'm Gonna Win and No Looking Back."

"Oh." Poppy tried to smile, but it came out as more of a lemon-sucking grimace. "You might think that, er, you might want to save your breath for running?" Or screaming.

"Oh no, it makes me run faster," Princess Poppy said. She gestured to the spider. "And it reminds me that no matter what happens, things will always work out in the end."

"That's a nice thought, but-"

"So what's your story anyway?" the troll creature asked. "I mean, you've got my name, so I just know that you're an awesome person, and-"

"I'm a yordle who needs to find the Hero of Demacia and give them this hammer, so the nation of Demacia will be saved," Poppy said. "And I have to keep doing that, because no matter what happens, every hero I try to give the hammer to dies, and the hammer ends up back in my hands. And there's always these people that think I'm the Hero of Demacia, and they do that because some people are assholes, and think sarcasm is the best joke since sliced bread."

An uneasy silence descended between the two Poppies. No birds, no wind, no songs about not giving up or not stopping feelings. A silence only broken by-

"Oh," said Princess Poppy.

"Oh," repeated the yordle.

"That's…interesting."

"You could say that."

"Hmm." Princess Poppy put one of her feet behind the other, twisting it awkwardly. "Still, you did save me…so maybe you are the-"

"Don't you start," Poppy said.

"I'm just saying-"

"Well don't, say it," the yordle said. "You're the princess of the trolls who needs to save her people from bergens, and are so special that singing a song gives you invincibility. Me? I'm a yordle with a hammer who needs to find the hero who deserves it."

"And what makes you think that hero 'deserves' the hammer?" Princess Poppy asked. "If you're doing all this to get the hammer to them, while they just waited, why do they deserve anything?"

"I…you…"

Poppy couldn't answer. What was the hero doing anyway? Years of searching, and she had nothing to show for it. But if the hero's role in saving Demacia was dependent on a hammer…did that make them a hero at all? She-

No.

She couldn't afford to think like that. The hero was out there, and she'd get Orlon's hammer to them. Nothing else mattered. Not trolls, not bergens, not giant spiders made out of wool. Nothing.

"I best be off," said Poppy. "Good luck in your quest, Princess."

"Yeah…same to you."

She looked and sounded sad. For a moment, Poppy considered helping her in her quest. But she decided against it. Demacia had to come first. And if Princess Poppy's song really was a form of deus ex machina, then hey, more power to her. Perhaps a few years from now, the League of Legends would get a new champion, and she would have someone she could physically look down upon.

So with that, the two Poppies went their separate ways. Bound on their respective quests. Trudging through the forest, with no sound bar that of their footsteps.

"Looking up at a sunny sky, so shiny and blue and there's a butterfly…"

Well, almost no sound.