The Calling (Open)

The days passed on slowly and the nights even slower. Quinn had put her faith in an intangible hope - that perhaps something or someone would assist her in her quest, but things didn't happen like they did in the books she flipped through. She should have known by now. Life did not work the way the pictures did. It was much more complicated and that only seemed to infuriate the ranger more.

Quinn was silently brooding, stoking the fire she had made. Valor was sitting on her shoulder, unwilling to fly at night where his eyesight was the poorest. He squawked, shuffling his talons against the worn fabric of her shirt. He glanced to the side and nipped Quinn's ear lightly. The ranger glanced up warily. "What is it?" Her hand crept towards her crossbow, her finger lightly caressing the trigger as she pulled it onto her lap.

A figure emerged from the darkness, glowing amber eyes first and a giant armored glove second. It was a familiar face, but not an entirely welcoming one. Her interactions with her fellow Demacians could only be described as strained, and incredibly so but Shyvana seemed to be one of the few who did not adhere to the aristocracy of Demacia. Regardless, had the half-dragon been sent to drag her back to the city? Quinn's grip tightened on her weapon as she detected the anger in the other's voice.

"I didn't run," she answered ruefully. "I... had business to attend to. Outside of Demacia." Quinn knew better than to get on Shyvana's bad side but she wasn't particularly frightened of the half-dragon either. Perhaps it was because her time spent merely sitting around had desensitized her to the 'local' dangers Demacia provided. "What are you doing here?"

Valor twittered and Quinn detected nervousness in the way he stretched a wing out briefly. As brave as her feathered companion was, they had met the half-dragon on the Fields of Justice, even if only briefly. She knew how the League suppressed some of their talents and heightened others. This... Shyvana had parts of a creature spoken only in myth. Valor knew the dangers, but the ranger was ignorant and purposefully so.

Quinn picked up a stick which was slightly charred at its end, poking at the fire. Her mouth was pressed into a stubborn line as the other began to interrogate her. She could feel Shyvana's eyes on her, burning with annoyance and impatience but Quinn continued to tend to the blaze. The fire crackled softly as she allowed Shyvana's queries to sink in, though she did not think. She simply mused at the answers, playing with what was there and what was not.

Finally, "Noxus is where I must be." Quinn said, knowing how it sounded and not caring. Let the half-dragon think what she will, Quinn was not a traitor. Not in that way. Though she held no love for the late King, she has - had - certain affections held for the Prince. Her King now, and she owed it to him. Nothing would get in her way, not even this.

Quinn looked up at Shyvana, the flames seemed to flicker around the other, shadows casting their long gazes over them both. "As for why... you'll not hear it." Let the dragon boil in her anger. Then her gaze was cast back to the blaze, the stick still brushing the sparks like a gentle mother. "Not from me at least."

Quinn shrugged at the other's reaction. The fire was crackling well, burning merrily as the ranger stared into the fire almost as if it would glean some hidden meaning or secret. Maybe a way for her to get to where she needed to be. She felt, faintly, Shyvana's irritation at her grow but it seemed as if Quinn did not care. Valor did however, but he had hunkered down now on her shoulder. His keen eyes were on the half-dragon, ready to react even if his companion was not.

She heaved out a sigh, "Your warnings mean nothing to me." Quinn responded testily, and still she refused to look at the intruder. The dragon's threat seemed to annoy her more than strike fear into her heart. Shyvana could bark and growl and rage all she liked, and if she was taken back to Demacia then so be it. Though she doubted Jarvan had sent her, there was no telling. He was a King now.

Then she smiled. "How can I tell you anything if I am dead?" Quinn tilted her head up to look at Shyvana, her lips curled into a small mark of amusement. "That would be a little counter-productive." She shrugged. The ranger was not completely without fear but what she had been through already made the other's wrath seem like child's play. She did not see a reason to shirk at death. Her reasons for being defiant were not so much as courageous as it was childish. She did not think Shyvana could help her, nor did she wish for the half-dragon's assistance. "Do as you will."

If not for the fact that Quinn had seen the woman move, she would have been more wary. But Valor's eyes were on her, his head turning as Shyvana stalked to the ranger's side. Still, her mind was not on the impending danger or on Valor's insistent chattering of danger. No, her gaze was on the fire and how the smoke made her eyes water and the slightly charred smell it gave off. She saw the blackened wood within the dancing flames and the way those pieces seemed to curl in the blurry heat.

So when the blow came fast, the ranger did not attempt to dodge it. Her body tensed as Valor let out a cry, his talons pushing against her shoulder as he flapped his wings mightily. Shyvana's attack forced her head forward, and it would have snapped her neck had the half-dragon put more force into it. But it throbbed all the same and though she could not feel blood, she could feel the beginnings of a lump coming to life.

However, it seemed to have shaken Quinn out of her reverie. Her hand first went to where Shyvana had struck her, testing the injury before standing. One glance at Shyvana and her voice was a low growl. "I owe you no answers, half-dragon." She saw Valor circling overhead, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Her back was to the fire, her weapon on the ground. By all means, she should have felt caged. But she didn't, and her brash words were testament to that fact. "What will you do when I tell you? Escort me to Noxus?" Quinn snorted, "You will take me back to Demacia all the same, whether I liked it or not."

Quinn rose, slowly for she was weary and cautiously because she was wary of this dragon who seemed to be so interested in her actions. The ranger peered at the other, as if seeing for the first time the way her eyes blazed and raged. Either Shyvana had a very, very short temper or there was something else to this interrogation.

"Are you my keeper?" Quinn asked suddenly, tilted her head to one side. She lifted her arm as Valor came swooping back down. His talons curled around the thick leather padding when he landed, his wings tucking in neatly though he was clearly still ruffled by this unwanted presence. Quinn paid him no mind. She kept her eyes on Shyvana as did he. "I am not bound to him as you are and I owe him nothing."

She loved Demacia. She still did, but the golden image of the City had been ripped away when Caleb had returned. She saw Jarvan as Demacia's savior, where he might stem the blue blood from flowing so forcefully but she owed him nothing. Nothing but her service, and what would happen if she returned? Be branded a traitor? Be told to walk the walls and defend it from their enemies? He should not have taken so many with him, so many Champions, to treat with the Shadow Isles. That was his mistake, not hers. But there was no sense in returning, she realized. They needed soldiers, not rangers. They needed obedience, not defiance. Demacia didn't need heroes like her.

Quinn clenched and unclenched her fists. "If that is the King's command, then I will obey. But I must finish what I started." She laughed, the sound brittle and false. "I owe him that much."

The ranger pressed her lips together as the dragon seemed to have calmed down, not so willing to waken a potential beast now. She let out a small breath, the one clogging her lungs. She watched Shyvana circle her camp, the fire wavering slightly at the motions before the half-dragon rightly decided to make herself at home. Quinn managed to turn around before her features gave anything away and she busied herself with a couple more branches to toss into the flames.

The ranger held her palms out towards the warmth once that was done. Valor had shimmied up to her shoulder now, his feathers pressing against her cheeks and her ear. He was tired, but he knew he couldn't sleep. Quinn blinked, a memory returning quite suddenly. Without turning to Shyvana, she spoke, her voice soft.

"King Jarvan would have sent a letter with you, if he commanded my return." From what she could remember, he liked his letters and his writing was always easy to read. She shook her head, the thoughts unwelcome and invasive. "Do you have a letter?"