I know, I know ... You're probably thinking...
But NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!
The fox prided herself on being the forest's protector, keeping the haven of greenery away from greedy human hands. Hence, it came as a shock as she stumbled upon a clearing, a sight she had never before seen, disintegrated trees, craters, and clouds of ashes lingering above the ground. It had once been a heavily forested area, where birds sang, and animals left their groves to mingle with one another, and now it lay littered with corpses, some charred to the bone.
Ahri walked through the devastation, her feet sinking into the damaged terrain. A corpse rested at her feet, and she crouched, poking the once fleshy human. The charred corpse collapsed into ashes, and the nine-tailed fox recoiled, wondering what could have caused such chaos and destruction.
Whoever had done this must wield considerable power, or merely a fool with a death wish. It did not matter, either way, Ahri would see this injustice brought to its rightful conclusion. Whatever had caused this, the nine-tailed fox found that they were not hard to track. It left a trail of devastation like no other.
After a full day of hunting down the perpetrator, Ahri arrived just in time to lob an orb of magic in the creature's direction. She caught the Void-spawn by surprise and watched as its tentacle loosened, letting the human soldier go.
"You!" Ahri hissed, throwing another orb his way. "How dare you harm my forest! Destroying nature as you please with no consideration for the pain and suffering you leave behind." Vel'Koz felt a poke against one of his tentacles and glanced down. The human had thrown a rock at him. He turned slightly, his eyes leveling the girl with a withering glare, and much like a threatened spider, he reeled back, his tentacles spreading out to loom over the mortal as his eye began to glow.
Vel'Koz was never one to hesitate, but he couldn't help the intrigue when he noted the nine white tails on the human. It was a rarity he had yet to see. The temptation and bloodlust hung on the tips of his tentacles, but he decided against the bold action. Still, the audacity of this girl, to throw a pebble at him as though he would scurry off like a rabbit. Disrespectful.
The Void-spawn thought showing the girl mercy would earn him her disappearance, but instead, she came at him, as one would a foe. The nine-tailed fox, he noted, was feistier than anticipated, her magic was, for the most part, unknown to him, and while her claws barely scratched his surface, those magic orbs of her were enough to knock the wind from him.
Vel'Koz retreated, restraining himself from tearing her limb from limb. He was caught between a rock and a hard place; what was he to do? Obviously, the fox was a thorn in his side, but he couldn't very well kill her. He had never seen a being like her before, and his curiosity won out in the end. He had to end this conflict without harming her, or he would never forgive himself for passing up the opportunity to study a new specimen.
His thoughts were interrupted as Ahri lunged at him, her crimson eyes burning with rage. Another orb took shape in the palm of her hand, and Vel'Koz flinched. He did not like her magic, he concluded. The void creature slapped the woman down to the ground, interrupting her lunge, hoping that would stop her defiant act of stubbornness.
How wrong he was, watching as the nine-tailed fox braced her arms and legs, attempting to stand up. Vel'Koz tilted his head to the side, muttering a small apology as a tentacle wrapped around her waist, slamming her down into the ground a few more times. She was definitely sturdier than a typical human, but her relentlessness was beginning to annoy him.
Having had enough, Vel'Koz held her down. "Stop," he commanded. In turn, he received muffled insults as his tentacle pushed her head into the dirt; he had no interest in her words. Her sharp nails dug into the tentacle, forcing itself on her, and the voidling suppressed a chuckle. He could be ticklish at times.
Ahri managed to loosen the tentacle with her struggling, rolling over onto her back, her sharp teeth preparing to puncture the limb holding her down. Vel'Koz was no longer amused, and one of his tentacles slammed into the ground beside her head, the impact enough to crack the earth. To his delight, the woman caught on and relaxed in his grasp, unless she wanted her head to be next. Crushed as easily as a melon, Vel'Koz mused, patting the fox's with a patronizing touch.
"What are you?" he asked, fascination coating his previously bitter tone. Ahri did not seem intent to talk, and the voidling picked up her stiff form, floating to a more suitable location, where the forest sang and the animals chittered. From his time observing humans, he knew one thing for sure; they grew comfortable around food. So, he set the nine-tailed fox on a log and went about gathering berries, making sure to offer them up as a peace offering.
Vel'Koz wondered if he had done something wrong as the fox eyed the berries warily, her nose scrunching up slightly. She probably thought he had ulterior motives, he concluded, bringing a tentacle up to ponder further. He noted that her gaze traveled back and forth between him and the berries and did his best to provide a reassuring smile, but based on her reserved expression, it had not worked.
"These are poisonous..." she mumbled, pushing them away and out of sight.
Oh.
"Are they now?" The voidling scooped up a tentacle-full and poured the berries into his covered mouth, chewing slowly. He ignored the fox who rose in an attempt to stop him and savored the berries. Her arm hung mid-air, slightly slumped in defeat as he swallowed, rather delighted by the fresh taste.
"Well, you're not supposed to eat them!"
"They taste fine to me," he hummed, grabbing another tentacle-full. With a sigh, Ahri sat back down, sure that he had consumed enough poison to kill a grown man. The nine-tailed fox had met her share of Void creatures, but none quite like him. Based on her observations so far, he was not one of those so-called minions. He had considerable destructive power, but watching him eat those poisonous berries without a care in the world, she could have mistaken him for an infant with child-like wonder was it not for the malicious gleam in his eyes.
Still, he was the embodiment of death and destruction.
Vel'Koz finished off the rest of the berries, examining the fox seated atop the log. Her posture had relaxed considerably, and he was glad the gamble had paid off. Still, he did not expect the berries to be to his liking. Perhaps now she would be more open to answering his question. "I have not seen one like you before, little one. What are you?" he asked.
"As if I'd tell-"
He would take that to mean no. The tip of his tentacle pressed against her forehead as he leaned in, his eye glowing slightly as he prepared to disintegrate the woman. Naturally, he would not follow on his hollow threat, but she seemed to buy it and shoved his tentacle away.
"Fine. I'm a Vastaya."
"What is...Vastaya?" Vel'Koz asked, curiosity now piqued, he spent too much time cooped up in the Void as of late. He watched as her lips thinned into a small pout, and he could tell he had hit a sore point of conversation.
"We are considered to be chimeric creatures..."
"I take it not everyone is as fascinated by your species as I am, correct?" The fox snorted but nodded all the same.
"I am the Eye of the Void, Vel'Koz. If your kin is not fond of you, then they must be terrified of me," the Void-spawn chuckled cruelly. Ahri recoiled away from his tentacle and stood up, putting distance between them. "Don't act so surprised, I am a being from the Void. I rather like you little fox, but when I tear this world from its seams, I might be keen to spare your life. Anyway, tell me more about these orbs of yours."
"What so you can kill me like those men?" The voidling's eye tilted up, imitate a cocky grin.
"If I wanted to kill you, little fox..." he wrapped a tentacle around her waist, lifting her from the ground. "I would have done so." His grip tightened, and Ahri flinched. He forgot his place for a second and set the fox back down, balling his tentacle into the shape of a ball. "As I was saying, these orbs of yours?"
Reluctantly Ahri held out the palm of her hand, raw energy gathering in the form an orb. And Vel'Koz nodded passively, fascinated by the creation of energy, it appeared to come out of nowhere, but he suspected her body embodied some sort of magic. Despite detesting most of humanity and its strange creations since leaving the Void, Vel'Koz found this particular mortal worthy of him. If anything, to at least study.
The voidborn extended a tentacle and touched the orb, consuming it shortly after. Delightful. Ahri's jaw dropped, and she abruptly stood up in shock. Vel'Koz frowned; she had to stop doing that, he murmured to himself. Still, he rubbed his tentacles together, his cocky grin returning. "How does one make such an orb?"
"Runeterra is pulsing with magic. We are surrounded by it. Everyone shapes this magic into something physical, something they can use. For me, it comes in the shapes of these orbs. Everyone embodies magic differently, especially among us Vastayas. It flows through our blood, and as far as I am concerned, humans cannot replicate our exact form of magic, so most use a medium to filter magic.
"Like a staff?" Vel'Koz hummed.
"Or a book," Ahri clarified." It depends, as long as it can conduct magic." Well, he didn't expect the Vastaya to give him an educational lesson on the beings inhabiting Runeterra. The Watchers would surely be pleased. "For example, I can absorb souls, but as far as I am aware, very few possess such an ability, even among my kin."
"Oh?" Vel'Koz smiled, wrapping a tentacle around her wrist. "Absorb mine then." The fox seemed to reluctant to agree, so the voidborn tightened his hold on her wrist until she flinched and agreed to try. His eye closed as her hand pressed to his would-be chest. Her hand was warm and soft, unlike anything he had touched before. It was definitely more pleasant than her nails trying to tear into him.
However, the Vastaya was not prepared for the visions that burdened her mind. He was dark and bitter. She was quick to pull away, stumbling back and nearly tripping over the log, had Vel'Koz not steadied her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm never touching your soul again," she murmured, flexing her hand with noticeable disgust. Was it that bad? Vel'koz wondered to himself. The Void-spawn could care less about his soul and hovered closer to the Vastaya, bringing her hand up to the side of his eye. "I told you-!"
"You are warm and soft, is this what humans feel like?" He settled on the ground, letting the fox gently run her hand across his hardened surface. Ahri shivered at the thought of him approaching another human without first disintegrating them to nothingness.
Velk'Koz chuckled as he released the Vastaya, propelling himself off the terrain. "You certainly are more interesting than a human. I will give you that. And those orbs of yours are very, hm, appealing. Like berries."
"They are not to eat!" she countered defensively, crossing her arms.
"So you say." The world was beginning to grow dark, and Vel'Koz did not feel like parting from his little companion just yet. "Why don't you show me more of the world, little one. I have a feeling we'd be beneficial to one another, no?" Ahri would have denied the being on the spot, but she did not feel in an adequate position to refuse, and with a sigh, she accepted.
"On one condition, you are not allowed to kill."
"A small price to pay," Vel'Koz chuckled darkly, extending a tentacle to the pouting fox. While he was by no means a passive observer, he would continue to do his job with due diligence, but he would have to leave the chaos and destruction to those who did best—the humans. And so, they shook on it, the verbal contract now in effect, much to the Void-spawn's delight.
"I may even feel compelled to follow your command...perhaps for an orb?" She did not seem on board with that idea and frowned. Maybe a bit of persuasion down the road would make her inclined to feeding him her orbs, but that was a thought reserved for later. "Hurry up, little one. I don't want to have to leave you behind this early in our journey."
IF you were curious, yes I pulled some of this lore out of my ass, dk if it's accurate but it seemed fitting xD Hope you enjoyed!