League of Legends Series

Riven x Zac

The outskirts of Noxus were rarely inhabited, except for the war orphans residing in the rural farms run by the empire. It wasn't much of a farm, the rocky hillsides had little to provide, but Riven found a way to make do with what she was given. Living close to the border, the young girl often traversed into Zaun, in search of food and a place of solitude she could call her own. Her absence had not gone unnoticed, but none of the elders took great alarm in her absence, she always came back for supper, looking weary and exhausted, her steps limp from exercising and sparring with herself.

On her way down the mountain, crossing into Zaun, Riven scavenged for berries, picking a few and shoving them in her pockets to eat after her training. She began with her usual routine consisting of push ups, sit ups, pull ups, and lunges, using the terrain to her advantage. Once all was said and done, she began her hour-long jog, her breaths quick and ragged from the physical workout. She opted for a quick break as she wandered the woods, making sure to mark the way so she would not get lost.

Emerging from the thicket, she came upon a small makeshift playground, unintentionally she circled around it, checking for any defects and/or traps. It had become second nature, and she scolded herself for overthinking so much, but then again no one built a playground randomly in the middle of nowhere. Riven glanced around quickly, and sensing no one; she stepped onto the playground, her fingers grazing the chain that held up the swing. She sat on the swing and gripped the chains loosely, her feet kicking the ground to gain momentum. 

She had never been on a swing before despite seeing some as a child, but her father stressed the importance of working hard, and having fun was the opposite of working hard, she had deducted. Though she swung back and forth, she wasn't having very much fun, the feeling was new, but nothing extraordinary and she sighed coming to a halt. Her stomach grumbled, and she reached into her pockets taking out the berries. She stared at them long and hard and ate them in a hurry, knowing that all that awaited her at the farm was watered down soup and stale bread.

"What have we here?" A boy said, and Riven looked up in alarm. Some of the boys from the farm had followed her down here, and she cursed under her breath for leaving marks. Riven got off the swing wiping her mouth from the residue of the berries, but the action did not go unnoticed by the boys. "So this is where you wander off to every day?" One of the boys said, circling the playground, scrunching his nose at the poorly put together swing and merry go round. Riven did not answer.

"You think you're so special, huh?" One of the boys charged her, and despite Riven only being nine and the boys considerably older and broader, fear was not one of her specialties. She evaded his blow, taking hold of his elbow, forcing him down on all fours before connecting her knee to his jaw. Riven heard a satisfying crack and let of the boy as the others charged her. She found it almost therapeutical when her knuckles connected to the boy's face. She moved swiftly and with deadly precision taking out the boys one by one; she was a natural. However, she missed a step, and one of the boys rammed into her like a bull.

Riven fell on her side, groaning as air sprinted from her lungs, black dots invading her vision. She recovered quickly, however, but it was too late, one of the boys already had her pinned down, and she screamed, trying to kick him off in a fit of rage. Despite her martial prowess, Riven was still outnumbered and exhausted from her workout, and her body gave out. The boys pulled her hair and dragged her through the dirt, forcing her down against the terrain as they kicked her. It was painful, and she wanted to cry, to scream out, but instead, she curled up in a ball, desperate to protect herself.

"Pick on someone your own size!" A voice boomed through the forest, and the boys scurried to their feet, unable to spot who had said those words. Out of nowhere, a large glob of green goo emerged from the canopy, and Riven gasped covering herself as the goo landed on her. Strangely enough, though, it didn't hurt. Zac glared at the trio and swung at the boys; his arm expanded, limb flexible as he swept the boys off their feet, giving them a taste of their own medicine.