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Yuumi trods in the grass, meowing at the heat beating down on her bright-colored fur. The others were busy doing their own things, and Yuumi decided to explore an admittedly farther area away from their residing area than she meant to. But, she might as well make the most of it. Her Book hovers near her, expressing its panic to her. Yuumi laughs and lightly dismisses its concerns.
(Maybe she should’ve listened)
She notices a group of armor-clad soldiers chasing one man, whose wrists are shackled by chains; she finds it odd. She directs an experimental missile in the soldier’s direction and watches as they turn to her direction. She bares her teeth and winks at the man who is running away from the said soldiers.
She bounds over to their direction and smiles innocently. “You found my master! Thank you!” The cat’s voice is sweet and melodic — like that of a songbird’s — but a hint of anger bleeds through — only the criminal notices it.
The soldiers look at her oddly, as if not knowing whether or not to attack the cat or let her be with her supposed owner; Sylas is a criminal, but they can’t bring themselves to hurt the cute cat’s owner. So, instead, they let him go begrudgingly, hollering that they’d find Sylas again and recapture him. As their retreating figures slowly disappear in the distance, Yuumi lets out a deep breath and turns to the messy-haired raven.
“You alright, magic man?” She asks gently.
He raises his eyebrow. “You know I use magic, kitten?”
Yuumi smiles and rapidly nods her head in agreement. “Yep! Sylas, was it? I dunno, Kayn wants to talk to you, so here I am!”
Sylas clicks his tongue and purses his lips, trying to point his finger at the familiar name. He blinks in succession when he realizes exactly which Kayn the cat is talking about. “ Shieda Kayn? The boy with the Darkin Scythe?”
“Ah! That’s what they’re called!” Yuumi yelps in recognition. “But, yes — that Kayn! Can you please come with me? I’m hungry for some fish!”
Sylas has half a mind to respond with a resounding and firm refusal, but the anticipation and stars in the female cat’s eyes make him tsk, and he makes a hand motion to tell Yuumi to lead the way. He reluctantly follows her, wondering how in the world a cat knew Shieda Kayn so personally; Kayn, if he wants to talk to anyone, will meet up with that person personally — him having someone else do it for him, means that he must trust them a fair amount, at the very least.
The walk is quiet, but they soon arrive at a small cottage, and Yuumi meows loudly, catching the attention of the others frolicking in the yard. Akshan waves and gives a friendly grin to the man and the brothers follow closely behind, eyes widening in recognition, all the while Kayn gives a curt nod in acknowledgment.
“Did you want to talk to me, Darkin?”
Kayn narrows his eyes. “ First of all, it’s Kayn. Secondly, no. Not at all—” he fleetingly glances at Yuumi, “-did Yuumi perhaps tell you I wanted to?”
Sylas nods in consensus. “Yes.”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” He grumbles, placing his hand on his face in exasperation, “If I know her, then that means she wants you to travel with us.”
Sylas prides himself as being a smart and powerful man who can come up with all sorts of insults on the spot (he had practice while imprisoned, after all—), but he can't help but be rendered speechless.
A fucking magic cat wants him of all people to travel with her. And not with just her, but with a notorious assassin, some weirdo with a sort-magical crossbow who hates wearing shirts, a pair of brothers with the wind guiding them with an extra side of trust issues, and a supposedly former psychopath who is more-or-less unhinged. (And that says a lot coming from Sylas).
This is not how he thought his day was going to go.
“Anyways, it’s up to you if you want to, but I recommend going along with it. If you make her sad, then Jhin will absolutely go nuts,” Kayn hums. “I wish I were joking, but I’m sure you’re aware of his… reputation. ”
Sylas nods in agreement. Kayn gives a curt nod and as he is about to walk away to talk to Yone, Sylas asks him a question.
“How’d you get roped into traveling with this cat?”
Kayn chuckles, “Well, Yuumi helped me defeat Fiora — she was a pain in the ass, I must say.”
Sylas snorts in amusement and stares out into the distance. The breeze grazes his hair and forces the hood off of his head. His hair is messy, tussles of raven-colored hair blowing with the wind. His eyes seem distant as he speaks his next sentence. “I’ll join you lot. However, I have a hatred towards Demacia so you’ll have to deal with my personal agenda, too.”
A voice suddenly appears from behind the duo.
“That’s fine — none of us are affiliated with Demacia,” the voice states, “And even if we were, it wouldn’t matter. We’re well aware of the misdeeds and prejudices of every region of Runeterra — Demacia’s no exception. They have mistreated users of magic for much too long — for centuries. This group is meant to give the wandering a place to be themself. ”
It’s Yone. The crimson mist surrounds his lower half and swirls around his Azakana sword.
Sylas raises an eyebrow but does not say anything. He’s gotten a good enough read on their characters.
Especially Kayn and Yasuo who have somehow divulged into arguing about something so childish after Yone said something so very superficial.
(Children. Literal children they are. What the fuck. They’re supposed to be adults—)
He takes a deep breath in frustration and Jhin places a reassuring hand on his shoulder before taking it off, and the man (it’s odd to see Khada Jhin without the mask) makes motions with his hands. Sign language, Sylas notes.
‘They’re idiots. Ignore them.’ Jhin signs to which Sylas snorts in response. Khada Jhin didn’t seem like the psychopath he was made out to be…
Okay. To be fair, Sylas is aware that it was only inevitable that Demacia would try to recapture him. But, he sure didn’t expect them to be so ballsy and capture the cat as leverage. Those soldiers, as stupid as always. Sylas knows that they have been spying on them for a while, and they should have known Yuumi is quite possibly the worst one of them all to kidnap. Yuumi was essentially the linchpin to keeping the group together — they all loved and cared about her. Although she’s only a cat, she’s more to them all.
To Jhin, she allowed him to see beauty in the world — the main source for his change. To Yasuo and Yone, she became the string to tie them together and allow them to live and heal as brothers. To Akshan, Yuumi is a loyal companion with kindness out of this world — a creature that allows himself to contemplate his motives and let him let go of revenge. To Kayn, Yuumi is a pure being, one that Kayn will not allow anyone to taint, and for Sylas, she is his will to fight — a reminder that Demacia has ruined his life and that Yuumi will always be there to support him through thick and thin.
So, yeah. Yuumi being kidnapped by Demacia soldiers to lure our Sylas was a one-hundred, absolutely, terrible idea on their part.
Jhin is going absolutely crazy, shooting his gun, shells clattering on the pavement. The blood spatters on the ground as he runs wild and plays with the guards, although his mannerisms and body language make the impression that Jhin is feeling anything but playful. Sylas winces not at the blood, but at the unfortunate end of the soldiers — Jhin is a brutal man whenever he wants to be, and those soldiers made a huge mistake — it was coming to them… They shouldn’t have pissed off Jhin.
Granted... it’s not like it was any better of them to make him angry… Because, here he is, threatening the men with his glare and harsh words.
“Shut up, čurák!” The curse comes naturally from his mouth, “Just tell me where the kotě is!”
The auburn-haired soldier being held by the throat adverts his eyesight, and Sylas clicks his tongue knowing that the man won’t speak. He tosses the man onto the ground and aggressively kicks him to Jhin with his foot.
Jhin nods appreciatively at the raven. “Gracias, hermano,” He mutters just loudly enough for Sylas to hear.
Just then, a body flies by the side of his head and he turns to the source of the wind. He stares, unamused, and Yasuo gives him an impish grin. “Oops!” He chimes — he doesn’t sound sorry at all. Sylas so dearly wants to give the man a piece of his mind, but Kayn beats him to it.
“ În pula mea, Yasuo! Don’t you know how to control your powers?!”
Yasuo rolls his eyes. “Calm down, Kayn. It’s not like it was going to hurt you, anyways.”
Kayn stares at him severely unimpressed, but walks away with a huff, muttering about ‘idiots’, and ‘a literal child.’
Sylas stares at the soldiers with a harsh glare, the cat hovering by his side, head laying on her book. He tightly grips onto his chains and dashes at them. The metal slams down into the ground, sparks of magic coursing through his body. His eyes glint golden as he maneuvers the chains around with his arms. They slam into the bodies of the guards and his mind goes blank — the demon inside him awakens, and he nods at Yuumi who smiles in response.
A ray of bright yellow shoots from Sylas, and roots procure from the magic, tendrils wrapping tightly around them all. He pulls them close with his chains, and something on the ground makes a sharp clicking noise, and he looks down, grinning at the trap. The man’s foot is caught and in a grueling few seconds, the man lets out a piercing scream, body collapsing onto the ground.
“I’ll need to wash the blood off, ugh,” Sylas clicks his tongue.
A shadow flashes by him just then, and they holler, “Let’s get outta here, now!”
“Mhm. Sounds good to me, Akshan,” Yone responds.
And that’s their cue to depart from the building — at least, what was left of it. No one ever said they weren’t destructive…
Yuumi jumps onto Yone as he swings his sword, dashing forward to clear more distance.
“Thanks for getting me out of there!” She meows.
Yone gives her a gentle smile and rakes his hands through her fur. “Of course, little one,” he whispers back.
The following evening, they solidify themselves as a notorious group. They have many names and descriptors to their group — a band of rebels, criminals, troublemakers, mischief-makers… The “Lake of Shadows”, “Crimson Signal”, “Folk Ties”, — it all depends where you hear about them.
But, there’s one thing for sure — one thing that is consistent in every narrative — mess with one of them, you mess with all of them.