The Noxian Deadlands

Riven smiled and grasped Sivir's hand at the wrist, gripping it firmly in a single shake. Such was the grasp of a soldier, and a comrade in arms. "I'm glad." She paused as she felt another hand.



Riven looked to Sivir and Astrid, a fire growing in her heart as she placed her other hand atop Astrid's and spoke. "When Noxus is free from corruption and darkness, when Valoran no longer has to fear and despise us, and when the dead have found the peace they deserve, our names will live forever in the hearts of our people. We do not ask for this honor, only that our goals be reached. Our path is set, and we cannot stray from it...for those we have left behind."

She was silent for a moment after that, as if remembering all the death and sacrifice she had visited upon others, and had been visited upon her as well. If her single, miserable life was to have any meaning at all, find any hope of solace, this was the only path she could take, and nothing but death would stop her from accomplishing her goals. After a few more moments of silence, Riven would release the grip upon the hands of both women. With her words, both would understand why she had been so loved and adored by the men and women of Fury Company.

She had something that other warriors did not, a certain spark that ignited something in the spirits of those that fought under her command. She had eaten what they ate, fought and bled with them, and endured the same conditions with them. They were her family as much as they were her soldiers. Despite the pain she had suffered, the loss she had sustained, she still carried that spark somewhere within her heart. However, as quickly as that fragment showed itself, it was silenced and hidden away as Riven nodded.

"Well...I suppose we'll all need to rest up." She looked back to her small camp. "Battle-Mistress, our camp is yours as well. Help yourself to the fire." She turned and walked back to the camp and took a seat upon her bedroll. "I've been out of the loop for quite some time as you may have guessed. What's going on in Noxus these days, outside of the corruption?" Wandering the wilds left little time for Riven to catch up on current events.

She didn't know about the attack by the Arrow of Retribution, nor did she know about Swain pulling Noxus from the League. The only thing she had gathered knowledge on was a sort of Void resurgence in Icathia, and that was where she had originally planned to go.

Riven raised a brow and sighed, shaking her head. "Corruption is not what caused him to attack, I'm sure. Grief, pain, and loss is a terrible thing for anyone to endure for so long." Riven spoke with the wisdom of one who had experienced such things for herself. "But more violence only brings more violence. A warrior must choose her battles wisely, for lives and blood spilled can never be returned."

Riven ran a hand through her hair to clear her mind and glanced again to Sivir. "I assume the Grand General took action against his assault. Probably used it to bolster his cry for Noxian strength in some way?"

"He withdrew from the league...?" Astrid ask, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Is he stupid...?" Although she was still a loyal Noxian, she still seemed to question Noxus because of it's turns.

The color visibly drained from Riven's face as the Battle Mistress explained, and her sword, which she had picked up and begun to sharpen with a whetstone, clattered to the ground. A chill ran down Riven's spine and her worry was plain as day across her features.

"He...he did what?" Her amber eyes sank toward the ground, her mouth hanging open ever so slightly. Her gaze was far away, as if she were staring through the terrain itself to something in the distance only she could see. "How does that... Does he even understand what that means? I knew he was not the right choice for Noxus, but this...this isn't even a good choice for Valoran..."

In an instant, Riven's eyes snapped back into focus and she looked to Sivir. "How long ago did this happen? How long has Noxus been separated from the League?"

"I don't like this." She shook her head. "Everything about this is sending warning signals through me. The only reason one would leave the League would be to be able to act outside the guidelines of the system it has put in place." She looked again to Sivir and Astrid.

"None of those things bode well for Noxus or Valoran." She angrily struck the ground next to her, casting a small cloud of dust and dirt into the air. "But how do me make the people see this is the wrong path? They're so blinded by their nationalism that they cannot even see how corrupt the system has become..."

Riven sighed in frustration. "Somehow I doubt you will be able to change his mind..." She was silent for a moment after that, seemingly thinking over a great many things. Her eyes focused on the flames and embers rising from the fire before her until she finally spoke, her voice quieter.

"...I'm not ready for this...but because of the way he is progressing, it may yet be time for me to return to Noxus, and address the people directly..."

Riven's left arm would snap into place to protect herself from Sivir's swinging hand. Her right hand had gripped the handle of her weapon to defend herself when she noticed the look in the woman's eyes. Riven listened to the words the other woman spoke, lowering her blade as she did. She heard the words, but did not agree. She wasn't ready to march into the city she had once called her home. She wasn't ready emotionally, nor was she ready in the eyes of the people, not in her mind, anyway. She glanced to the hand upon her shoulder.

"You flatter me with your words, but let us be honest. I was a captain of a company, and while under my command, all of them, every man and woman other than myself, was lead to battle and killed. I was no general, no military genius. Their payment for loving Noxus, for trusting my orders and commands, was death..." Riven gently removed Sivir's hand, crossing her arms and turning away from her.

"I am as much responsible for what happened to them as anyone or anything else, and no words or actions will ever allow me to forget that." Riven turned to look over her shoulder at Sivir. "I fight to make a better Noxus to give the deaths of all who have been touched by its black corruption meaning. I fight to find some solace for my own soul and conscience, in a futile attempt to wash the blood from my stained hands. And, I will fight until I succeed, or die trying, because this life is all that I have left to give for those who were lost..." She turned to face Sivir once more.

"I love Noxus, my homeland, our homeland, more than I could ever love myself, or almost anything else in this world. And so, I will march into the city to face those that turned their backs on me, not because I am ready or prepared for it emotionally or physically, but because it is what must be done." She looked to her blade in her hand. "I do not wish more blood upon the hands of my brothers and sisters in arms for the selfish gains of another tyrant. I do not wish Valoran to suffer more needless death due to the demented wishes of a corrupt and detestable coward claiming to bring strength to our people." She sighed and looked to Sivir.

"I am no hero, no larger than life figure. I'm simply a soldier who swore to give everything she had for Noxus, and I have. The only difference now, is that the Noxus I serve is not the one that currently exists." She turned to face the skull-faced mountain in the distance, faint orange lights dotting the plains and marking the location of Noxus in the darkness of night. "And with every ounce of what I am, I will fight to save Noxus from those who would seek to do her harm. It really is as simple as that..."