"Surely you have seen for yourself… the pain and suffering that fills this world."
Third POV:
It has been a couple of hours since Ahri had separated from the mysterious man named Grey. She has been walking through the village, trying to find a ride to the next town to save herself the trouble of walking there. "I'm sorry, but I can't think of anything," another merchant on the ground said, answering her question about where she can find a ride.
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan sighed. "Thank you for your time," she said politely before she started moving away while keeping her cloak covering her.
Honestly, she was tempted to walk there just so she can take the cloak off during the way. Keeping her tails so restricted wasn't very comfortable. Plus, her ears also preferred to be uncovered instead of having the hood of the cloak on top of them.
Ahri then looked over her shoulder, to see two familiar men at the merchant where she used to be. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She had noticed them stopping at every place she was at right after she left, trying to look like they were shopping. They were trying to follow her unnoticed, but they weren't doing a very good job in her opinion.
This isn't the first time someone was after her. After all, she was the legendary Demon fox that took people's souls. That reputation was bound to get people after her. She honestly blamed no one but herself for that. But, her guilt wasn't strong enough to let her give up her life like that… yet.
Ahri knew that she couldn't exactly lose them in the crowd. After all, it wasn't really that hard to find someone who was covering their entire body in a cloak in the middle of a town filled with traditionally dressed people and taking off the cloak would only make her stick out more.
Seeing no other option but to either confront them or ignore them. The first one was more dangerous since it might leave her open for attacks. So, she had to lead them somewhere and confront them. This was her fight, the people around had nothing to do with it.
Looking around, she spotted an alley that would lead to one of the edges of the village. Ahri walked through the people and entered the alleyway, wanting to get out of the place.
"She's moving," one of the men noted as he saw where she took off. "That leads towards the forest. We'll make a move there," he told his partner who took out a strange, rectangular whistle before blowing on it.
To the people around, it looked like a grown man playing with a children's whistle, so they didn't pay it any mind. But, in truth, they were calling for their partners who were spread out and getting ready for their signal so they can strike.
Ahri had made it out of the village and into the forest. It was sunset, so the place was covered in an orange glow. The shadows of the large trees gave a slightly dark aura to the area. She made sure to make a safe distance from the village before looking around.
The only thing around her was trees. No people. No animals. Perfect for a little scuffle. "I know you're there, come out," Ahri said as she turned around.
However, now she realized that this would far more than a little scuffle. What came out of the woods were 12 men, all surrounding her in a circle. Ahri immediately cursed her cloak. If her ears weren't covered, then she might have heard these people gather while following her.
They were all wearing a dark silver armor the covered their shoulders, chest, forearms, and knees. The chest plate had a blue diamond in the center with golden edges. They were wearing dark brown pants with a chain-mail shirt for extra protection. They held a variety of short-range weapons, such as swords, maces, and clubs.
Ahri narrowed her eyes suspiciously at their armor. The men who were wearing it were Ionian, but the armor was not. Searching through the memories she has stolen, she recognized the armor as Demacian. Why Ionian men would wear Demacian armor confused her, but she still kept her guard up.
"Is there something I can help you with, gentlemen?" the Nine-Tailed Vastayan asked, trying to get some knowledge on who these people are.
"Take off that cloak," one of the men ordered, holding up a sword in an attempt to look threatening.
Ahri simply smirked under her hood. "Oh, so you are a bunch perverts?" she teased at their question. Normally, this wouldn't be a good time for joking, but any chance to get to her opponents' heads could be helpful.
"We know it's you, Demon Fox," one of them called out. Even though being called that hurt, she didn't even show any signs of it. After all, she believed it was her fault for getting that title in the first place.
Ahri decided that there was no point for the cloak anymore, she took it off, but not without making a show. First, she lowered to reveal her beautiful features, which immediately caught their attention. She then sensually took off her cloak slowly, making sure to show off each of her curves one at a time while running her hands at her sides and spreading her tails.
All the men were enthralled by her beauty, which was exactly her plan. Men were easy prey for her. Some didn't even need her to charm them. Just a sultry look, a flash of her beauty, some suggestive body language, and they were pretty much toys for her to play with.
Seeing that they were distracted, Ahri created an orb of magical energy and immediately threw it at one of the men in front of her, aiming to finish this off as soon as possible.
However, much to her shock, when the orb struck its target, it shattered like glass before the pieces faded away. "Magic Resistance armor," the man she attacked smirked while tapping his chest plate. "Straight from Demacia's Mage Seekers," Ahri growled now knowing why the armor was Demacian. The Mage Seekers were a special force in Demacia meant precisely to deal with magic users, and that's exactly what she is. "Now, are you going to come quietly or what?"
Ahri getting into a battle stance by crouching slightly and raising her hands was all the answer they received. They all raised their weapons ready to attack. The first one to move was a man from behind the Nine-Tailed Vastayan, who came in swinging a club at her head. Ahri immediately side-stepped, dodging the strike before grabbing the man's extended arm and throwing him over her shoulder, where he ended up colliding with one of his allies on the right.
The men seemed shocked. They obviously didn't expect her to be able to use hand-to-hand combat. Ahri immediately thought they were stupid for believing that she survived this whole time just because of her magic. She wasn't a master in any way, but she still can take on pretty tough opponents.
Ahri looked at the shocked men around her with a smirk. "Now, who else wants to try their luck?" she taunted.
Her threat was answered by another one of the men coming in and swinging a sword at her from the side. Using her agility, the Nine-Tailed Vastayan jumped over the blade and kicked the attacker's face. She gracefully landed on her feet after doing a back-flip in the air.
Two of them attacked her at the same time, trying to catch the woman off guard. Ahri waited for the perfect moment before using her magic to empower her feet and jump high in the air, resulting in the two men clashing their weapons together.
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan might not be able to use her magic to hurt them, but she can definitely use it to help herself. Descending to the ground, Ahri landed on the heads of the two men that just tried to attack her and used her feet to smash their heads together before jumping off them.
Landing on the ground, Ahri was given no rest as another one came in swinging mace. She jumped away at the side… but then a robe coiled around her leg. The Nine-Tailed Vastayan was pulled to the ground, where she barely managed to land on her feet. She managed to see the other end of the robe being held by one of the men that didn't attack her yet.
Before Ahri can make an attempt at burning the robe with her magic, a man with a club came in and struck her at the side, making her grunt in pain as she was thrown to the ground. Two of the attackers immediately jumped onto her and held her down so that she couldn't move.
After some struggling, the two men that jumped at her pulled her up on her feet while holding her arms tightly to make sure she couldn't move them. Ahri struggled in their hold, trying to pull her hands free but couldn't. She was about to use her tails to send a magical bolt to their heads, but the man with the robe threw it around her tails and immediately tied them together while holding onto them to restrain them.
Ahri grunted being completely immobilized. "Finally," one of the men she attacked grunted while rubbing his head in pain. They all gathered in front of Ahri as three of them held her. "Hey, boss, you don't mind if we have fun with her after all the trouble she gave us, right?" he asked as he and the men looked over Ahri.
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan stopped struggling. "Oh, you caught me," she said sounding helpless. She raised her head and looked at the men around her as her eyes glowed a pink color. "Whatever shall I do?" she asked but her tone was sarcastic this time.
Her charm magic did its work and most of the men ended up staring at her in trance, including the ones holding her. Their grip started to soften and she was almost set free.
However, Ahri was then punched in the gut. The pain caused her to lose concentration and her magic started to wear off. "Don't fall for it, idiots!" the one who punched her, who was most likely their leader, yelled as the men around broke out of her charm. "Remember how many people fell for her tricks," he suddenly grabbed Ahri by the throat as the men let her go and he raised her in above the ground. "And no, you can't touch her. Do you have any idea how much extra we get if we sell her in mint condition?" he smirked thinking of the money that selling her and how it would be more than enough to make up for the very expensive armors they were wearing.
That statement answered one of Ahri's questions about these people. Now she realized that they probably were after her to sell her for slavery. Beautiful women like her cost a lot if sold like slaves, especially Vastaya since they stay young for quite a long time, thus their looks stay with them.
Ahri had been wondering why they were after her. She suspected it was either because of a bounty or as an act of revenge against one of her past victims. Her thoughts were cut off as the leader threw her away and she ended up colliding with a tree, causing her to scream in pain.
"Now, grab her, and this time, knock her out so don't fall for her tricks," the leader ordered and one of the men nodded as he went to grab her.
Ahri growled as she sat up, supporting herself with one hand while using the other to hold her side. The strike from the club still stung, but she should be alright after a while. However, she did not have that time.
One of the men, the same one that hit her with his club, made his way towards her and raised his weapon in an intent to knock her out. Ahri growled not seeing a way out. Their armor protected them from her magic, and she was in too much pain to control the man's emotions.
Ahri closed her eyes, preparing for the pain that was sure to come with the club knocking her out… But, she didn't feel any. The only thing that happened was that she heard something cut through air and flesh as a thud was heard.
The unmistakable smell of blood made its way to her nose, along with something else. The smell of a wolf. Ahri opened her eyes and they widen seeing the body of the man that was about to attack her on the ground… headless.
The head wasn't that far from the body. Ahri looked at whoever her savior is, and saw a fluttering, blood-red cape and a pointy metal hat. After a couple of seconds, she recognized who they were. "Grey?" she asked in disbelief.
The Abyss Watcher simply turned his head and looked at her over his shoulder. She can almost see his blue eyes through the small mask. In his right arm was his Farron Great-sword, and in his left arm was the dagger that accompanied it.
"Who are you!?" the leader of the men asked for this stranger that appeared out of nowhere and killed one of his men. Ahri was also confused, but more of why he was here.
The Undead Swordsman simply turned back his head to the men. "Who I am should not matter to a soon to be dead man," he said raising his sword and pointing its tip at them.
"Do you know who she is?" the leader asked wanting to make sure that it wasn't just someone out to steal their catch. The Abyss Watcher shrugged his shoulders, showing that he doesn't have an idea. "She's a legendary Demon Fox! She's known in most of Ionia. She tricked countless people over the years before stealing their souls!" he explained.
Ahri looked down at the ground. She couldn't bring herself into seeing Grey's judging look. She would not completely blame him if he turned on her now that he knows her past sins. The leader was expecting the same thing and smirked thinking that maybe he can bribe the Undead Swordsman into getting on their side.
"That's it?" both Ahri and the men looked at the Abyss Watcher in disbelief. "Is that all she did?" he asked as if it wasn't that big of a crime.
Ahri was actually more shocked than the men. She herself would be the first to admit that her crimes were downright monstrous. But, the Undead Swordsman seemed as if it meant nothing to him.
Truthfully, Grey could not understand why taking souls seemed to be such a sin. Literally, everyone did it back where he was from. In fact, souls were pretty much currency where he's from, and barely anyone used things like gold and silver.
"What is wrong with you?" the leader questioned, not believing that Grey was completely sane from his response.
Grey did not answer, he simply swung his sword at his side and prepared for battle. The men were going to prepare but didn't have the time as a red blur dashed towards and cut one of them in half from the side. The men saw Grey standing at where the man used to. Even Ahri was caught off guard by his speed.
Not giving the men a chance to recover, Grey swung upwards at another man who barely managed to block using his sword, but it ended up being thrown out of his hand at the strength Grey used. The man was left wide open for the Abyss Watcher to swing his sword back downwards and cut him down.
One of the men charged at him from the back with a mace. The Undead Swordsman swiftly spun around swinging his sword. Thanks to its large size, Grey's sword managed to cut the man on half from the side of his midsection before he got close enough to attack.
Grey raised his sword near head-level and pointed it forward before dashing it two of the men. One of them was impaled in the chest, the Farron Great-sword going through the chest plate as if it wasn't even there. The man beside them was about to jump away but didn't get the chance as Grey's dagger was stabbed through the side of his head.
The Abyss Watcher pulled his weapons out of the now-dead men and turned to the remaining six. Ahri, who was leaning back on the tree she was thrown at, could only stare in shock at what happened.
In less than a minute, Grey managed to kill half of the men. Ahri can tell by his posture that he wasn't even going all out. She can tell that this battle was beyond one-sided. However, something else caught her attention. From the bodies of the dead men, dark silhouette of air, somewhat like the life essence she would steal, floated and would vanish in his body.
Meanwhile, Grey was questioning if he even needed his weapons for this. These men were barely stronger than the average Hollow. He didn't doubt that the only reason they actually beat Ahri was because of their numbers or because they used a trick, maybe both.
He put those thoughts in the back of his head. This wasn't the time to worry about such things. So, raising his sword, he jumped dashed towards the men as they've hesitantly stared at him this whole time. Probably scared of attacking.
Three of the remaining men all raised their swords in an attempt to stop his attack. They all managed to block the sword as it was about to slice their heads off, but Grey then swept his dagger from the side, cutting into their necks and making them start choking on their own blood.
As the three men fell on the ground and started dying, the Abyss Watcher swept his sword upwards at another one of the remaining men, sending him and a part of the ground into the air, before he fell to the ground and his chest was stabbed by Grey's sword.
One of the last two thought that he has a chance now that Grey's sword was in the ground. So, after steeling his resolve, he came in swinging a sword at the Abyss Watcher, trying to cut him down.
However, Grey used his knife to parry the man's sword, leaving him wide open for the Abyss Watcher to bring back his knife at bury it at the side of the man's head, killing him instantly.
Grey pulled out his weapons and turned towards the last remaining man, which was their leader. The man took a few steps back, frightened after seeing what happened to his men.
He could hardly believe what happened. After all the trouble they went through to get the Mage Seekers armor, months of planning and searching for the Nine-Tailed Fox, he just watched all his men and plans slaughtered in front of his eyes.
He had to get away from this… this monster. He immediately turned around and tried to run away. However, before he even finishes taking the first step, a sword shot out of his chest as Grey stabbed him in the back.
The Abyss Watcher pulled out his sword and let the leader's body fall lifeless on the ground. He swung his blade at the side, getting rid of the blood that was on it before strapping it to his back and his dagger to his waist.
After making sure they were all dead and counting the bodies, Grey walked towards Ahri, who was a little cautious of him and knelt towards her. "Can you move?"
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan was slightly taken back by the question. She was expecting him to ask if she was alright but instead asked if she can move. "Y-Yes, and I should be alright," she told him.
The Undead Swordsman nodded and stood up. "We should go around the village, just in case there's more of them," he suggested. Truthfully, he wouldn't have trouble dealing with them, but he didn't want to get the villagers involved.
Ahri nodded understanding the logic behind his suggestion. With a grunt and some pain, she stood up and started following Grey as he started leading her around the village to the other side.
True, she had a chance to run away now. However, with her side hurting her, Ahri wasn't very confident that she can outrun him after seeing his speed. So, she decided to play it safe and stay with him. But, that didn't stop her from preparing some magic, just in case.
…
It was now midnight, the moon was high in the sky and was basking the entire forest with its light. One could almost hear the sound of owls through the area. Along with that sound was two pairs of footsteps.
Ahri and Grey have managed to go around the forest without any trouble. They were now traveling through the Ionian forest without a destination. Ahri figured out that Grey was probably just making some distance from the village to avoid any trouble. She was actually thankful for that, especially since she didn't have her cloak anymore.
Suddenly, the Abyss Watcher stopped, causing her to do the same. "We should make camp here," he said looking around at their current location. They were deep in the forest, so spotting them should not be easy.
Ahri nodded, agreeing with him. Truthfully, her legs had been tired from all the walking. Not to mention that she still hasn't fully recovered from the attack. She went to sit on the ground with her back leaning on a tree. Grey walked towards another tree and pulled out his sword to use to cut down some of the close tree branches so they can make a fire.
Gathering the branches, Grey sat him on the ground and started to look for something to help him make the fire. Ahri decided to help him out, and waved her hand, shooting a fox-shaped flame at the branches, instantly setting them on fire.
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan was expecting him to be surprised. But, she didn't get any kind of reaction from him as he simply went towards another tree at the opposite side of her and sat down while resting his back on it. Truthfully, he already knew she was a mage after seeing her set the branches on fire while traveling at the carriage.
They just sat quietly, staring at the crackling fire as it burned through the branches. Finally, Ahri got fed up with the silence. "Why did you help me?" she asked wanting to know his reason. She was still cautious of him since the possibility of him just wanting her for himself didn't leave her head.
To answer her, Grey shrugged. "I don't know," his answer caused her to look at him in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. "I saw them following you in the village, and wanted to make sure you can take care of yourself," he explained before looking at her from the fire. "But, I want to ask you something," Ahri got ready for anything, from defending herself should he ask for some 'reward' to baring the insults that would come should he ask if what the leader of the attackers said was true. "Can you navigate this land?"
Ahri blinked a few times, almost like she didn't just believe her ears. That was his question? She then noticed that he was still looking at her, waiting for an answer. "Yes," she replied.
"Then I'll need your help with directions," Grey said before turning his gaze back towards the fire. "As I've told you before, I don't come from here," he reminded her of what he said during the carriage ride. True, he had the map that the farmer gave him, but he still didn't know the land, and that could be dangerous.
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan just stared at the Abyss Watcher. She could not figure him out at all. He just saved her life and said he didn't know why. He wanted to ask her something, and he just asked for directions. And she still couldn't feel any emotions from him.
Ahri knew that what she's about to do was wrong, but she couldn't simply sit here knowing nothing about the man that was currently sitting at the other side of the campfire. So, putting all her magic into use, she looked into his eyes as her own glowed blue and started searching through his emotions to look for anything.
For the first few seconds, Ahri felt nothing. However, the deeper she looked, the deeper she noticed that something was there. Then, she felt it. Buried somewhere deep, VERY deep inside… sadness… pain… loneliness… guilt.
"What are you doing?" Ahri's was brought back to reality when Grey asked her a question and noticed that he was looking at her suspiciously.
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan's eyes stopped glowing and she shook her head. "Nothing," she replied.
Grey kept looking at her for a few more seconds before returning his gaze into the fire. He noticed her eyes glowing, so he assumed she was using her magic. He didn't know what her magic was, but he let it go since he didn't feel anything out of place.
"Get some sleep," The Abyss Watcher told her. "I'll take the first watch."
Ahri looked at him for a few seconds before nodding. She laid down while using some of her tails as a cushion and the rest as a blanket. Normally, anyone else would be cautious to sleep near a stranger they saw kill an entire group of men. But, thanks to her ears, Ahri would be able to tell the very second he tries to do something, but for some reason, she doubted that he would.
While Ahri was falling asleep, she couldn't help but think back to what she sensed just now. She had seen cases like this before. Sometimes, when people experience a tragedy, they start burying their emotions so they don't feel pain anymore.
This explained why his magic didn't work on him before. People who locked away their emotions always took more power from her to control their emotions. However, Ahri had never seen a case this bad before. Grey's emotions were buried so deep, that she would bet that he didn't even need to try and keep his emotions in check anymore, that they were automatically locked away. It took all her power just so she can sense them, she can only imagine what it would take to control them.
Whatever happened to him must have been truly tragic for him to lock his emotions this deep down. Ahri felt some sympathy for him and wondered if there was a way to help him. But, she might not see him after tomorrow, so she just put those thoughts in the back of her head and went to sleep.
(A/N: Thank you for reading this.
First, I had a lot of free time so I decided to post another chapter. This is still experimental, and I want to test how the plot is going with you guys.
Second, if you don't know who Demacia's Mage Seekers are, then just read Sylas' lore.
Third, I hope the reason why Ahri's magic didn't work on Grey makes sense.
And lastly, I hope I'm not rushing things or messing up anything. If I made a mistake here, then please point it out for me.
Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)