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amumu.
Perhaps Yuumi is not a human, but she thinks that it will make the mummy happy, even if just by a little, if she befriends him. And her assumptions are correct. The mummified yordle opens his heart out to her and she grins at the prospect of a new friend. Tail swishing happily behind her tiny figure, she makes conversation with the mummy, the others quietly watching the two.
Amumu points them out and she grins. “They’re sorta like my family and friend at the same time. They’re also yours, now, too.”
Amumu looks caught off-guard.
“Trust me,” she winks at him, “if it was untrue, you would know. They have a soft spot for tiny and small things like us.”
Amumu’s eyes water and Yuumi lowers her head in kind. She wraps her tail around the mummy’s wrist and nuzzles against him with her whiskers. She’s his first friend and he couldn’t be more grateful.
rammus.
Rammus is limited to one word, and that word is ‘okay’, but that specific word delivers and relays a variety of feelings and emotions. The issue is that most creatures and humans cannot exactly decipher it, so Rammus opts to just…stay quiet.
Naturally, it comes as a surprise when he finds another living creature that can in fact understand him.
“Oh, don’t worry, spiky armadillo! I understand what you mean!” She exclaimed when he released a dull ' okay’.
He stared at her for quite a bit after that occurrence.
From there, he decided to accompany her, because, after so many years of being misunderstood, it was nice having someone that could actually interpret what he was saying.
She introduces him to the rest of the group, and immediately he recognizes the green-ladden yordle. He makes an acknowledging nod of the head to him and gets a small smile back.
“This is Rammus! He can only say one word, but it means a lot more! I can interpret for all of you, though!” She presents.
There is a man with slicked-back raven hair, a white cloak wrapped around his figure, a pale white mask attached to a dirty blue rope adorning his waist, giving him a thoughtful stare. Yuumi notices the small interaction and giggles.
“That’s Jhin!” She whispers to Rammus. “He’s the oldest and a bit of an oddball! But he’s great! ”
He gives her what seems to be a deadpan response of, “Okay.”
She frowns.
“I’m aware of that, but I don’t think it’s an issue anymore,” she responds quietly.
Rammus nods. “Okay.”
‘If that’s what you think, I’ll trust your judgment, then.’
nasus.
Yuumi is so incredibly small in comparison to the large ascended canine that is Nasus, but despite that, she stands her ground, hissing and growling at the nine feet — nearly three meters — figure in front of her. They let out a deep and resounding laugh with their canines glinting under the shimmering sun.
“You… You are full of life, little one.”
Yuumi huffs in barely concealed amusement, “Thanks, big dog man!”
He chuckles. “I am Nasus, the Curator of the Sands. What is yours?”
“I’m YuumI! The people behind me are my family!”
He shifts his head to make eye contact with them, nodding his head in acknowledgment. “I see. It is a pleasure to meet you. As long as you mean no harm, I will walk upon these sands with you. The arrival of newcomers spread quickly, after all.”
“Well, only if you’re okay with that…” She responds with a meek voice.
Nasus chortles. “I would not offer if I was not okay with it, little kitten.”
Yuumi whines. “Why does everyone call me little!”
He gives her an amused stare in response. “Perhaps it is because you are less than a foot tall,” he says in jest.
Tail curling downwards, she pouts, and Nasus gently pats her head in comfort.
(Nasus internally grimaces.
Her presence is much larger than life. Much larger than death. Much larger than anything in this world.
It is a double-edged sword that he knows others will be taking advantage of. He thankfully can count on her pseudo-family to protect her.)
azir.
Her meeting with the former Emperor of Shurima is quite the experience, to put it simply. She is scouring the surroundings when she notices a large armor-clad figure with a… bird head strolling through the scorching desert sands.
She yowls when its head rears in her direction, flinching behind a broken mural. Peeking out her head to check if the figure is still looking her way, she yelps when a voice intones from behind her. Turning around, two sand soldiers stand their ground next to the armor-clad bird.
“You… I have seen you before,” they mutter quietly.
Yuumi tilts her head. “Ah, Wolf and Lamb… Kindred... But Shurimans have seen them as a Gazelle and Hyena, am I correct?”
The figure nods.
“You must Omah Azir, right? The way you control those soldiers… It is certainly interesting to see you after so many years,” she hums.
“You are… the third one of them, right?”
Yuumi nods. “Yes, but I have long since left my role as such. I passed away many eons ago, and have been since revived. I now live the normal life of a cat… well, as normal as this life can be…”
He gives her a small chuckle in response. “I see. But, I must ask little one, what are you doing here in the desert?”
She sniffs, her nose scrunching up. “Ah, well I’m waiting for Nasus and the others to get back here.”
Azir blinks at her. “Nasus! You perhaps don’t mean—”
Yuumi smiles. “Yes, I mean that Nasus. I think he’ll be happy to see you.”
Azir’s head feathers ruffle in anticipation. “I sure hope so. He was rather interesting to me as a child.”
her & them ; them & her.
Azir bows to the smaller figure, hand gracefully placed on his chest. “Emperor Amumu, it is a pleasure.”
Amumu’s bandages twitch. “Emperor Azir, it is also a pleasure to meet you too,” he responds in kind, head bowed.
Akshan turns to stare at both of them. “Hold up, you two are emperors? Of Shurima? ”
Azir chuckles. “Well, former, more like. This little yordle was rather kind and meek to be considered an Emperor, but he was one nonetheless.”
Kayn quirks an eyebrow, arms crossed. “Wasn’t Amumu a completely different era from you?”
“Yes, and in most cases, it would be hard to gain that info. However, Ascended beings such as myself and Nasus, are given most if not all information needed to look over Shurima. This is also the reason it is extremely hard to dethrone an Emperor, and especially Xerath who had taken over my to-be spot.”
“What does that exactly mean?” Sylas inquires.
Azir sighs, claws clenching. “It is a very long story. If you wish to listen to it, then so be it.”
There come multiple nods of the head and he sits on the smooth carpet floor of the small desert house they were temporarily residing in.
“First off, my name is not just Azir. It is Omah Azir. I was born into a family with many older brothers, so naturally, I was not supposed to inherit the throne. With this in mind, I spent more time investing myself in reading texts, historical documents, scrolls, books, tablets, and the like. I soon met a young slave boy. Slaves were not allowed names for they were seen as lesser. Unlike my siblings, I never truly understood such a mindset. They were the backbone of Shurima — a name is the very least they deserve. I disobeyed natural law and named him, whom you now know to be Xerath. We were so very close and I saw him like my brother.”
“Let me guess, something went terribly wrong?” Yone murmurs.
Azir nods in confirmation.
“Correct. You see, there was a yearly tour of the Empire that I went on, in which my brothers all were assassinated. Xerath, he managed to keep an assassin from killing me by throwing himself against their back. Nasus’ brother, Renekton, managed to keep me and my father alive. Only he, mother — the queen — and I remained. My father despised me, and so he and mother attempted to birth another child so that I would be unable to take up the position as heir.”
“Rammus says that, ‘your parents sound like despicable living beings’,” Yuumi states.
Azir snorts. “Perhaps, but it is was it is. It was important to my life story because this is where everything perhaps goes downhill. My father became bloodthirsty, and when my mother managed to bear a healthy son, terrible bolts of lightning struck down on the chambers, effectively killing her and the newborn. There were many speculations about my father’s reaction, the most common being he was overcome by grief and killed himself — this was not the case. His and his guards’ bones were found completely charred—” he turns to stare directly at the group, his emerald eyes piercing through their soul. “—I’m sure you know where I am going with this.”
“You cannot possibly mean—” Yasuo trails off.
Jhin huffs. “Xerath. Let me guess — dark magic…”
Azir nods. “Mhm. My growing hubris and unwavering trust in Xerath eventually led me to self-decide to ascend myself through the power of the Dais of Ascension. In the end, while I freed all the slaves and more, I became blind to Xerath’s hatred and the burning desire for freedom that had grown like a tumor. He pushed me out of the sunbeam and took the power for himself, but in the end, it overwhelmed him, and the power of the Ascension burned the city and citizens to ash. My last memories were all pain and fire. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Later on, in my corporeal form, I found myself subconsciously saving a woman from perishing, and gently placing her into an oasis, her injuries healed, leaving only a scar, and then… there was a flash. I rose from the ashes, and that is how I am now alive right now as an Ascended.”
the end (the beginning?)
Their time in Shurima soon comes to a close, and Yuumi finds herself much more bummed out than she expected. She lets out a large sigh and Azir’s eyes soften at her.
Opening his palm out to her, he urges Yuumi to grab the object from him. “It is a protection talisman. It will keep you safe, kit,” he states. “It will also bring us back together when the time comes; when it is necessary.”
Yuumi stares at him and her eyes water. Nasus, by Azir’s side, also lowers himself to her size and with a large paw, pats her fur. “Do not be afraid, for the path you walk from now shall be illuminated by Former Emperor Amumu, Emperor Azir, Rammus, myself, and the others you call your family.” His light blue eyes pierce through her soul, but it does not unnerve her; it makes her resolute and confident.
She nods and with a new sense of determination, she departs with a light heart and with an insightfulness that will help her in the future.
With her departure, the group of four exchange knowing glances with each other.
“The time will come where we will have to go to war with the Prophet of the Void and possibly the nation of Noxus, and if absolutely necessary, my sworn brother Xerath… In all of this, I believe that Yuumi will be the changing force,” Azir announces. “Steward Ta’Fik and Steward Zikka Taum’Vin are allied with Noxus, which will show itself to be an issue. We will need to see if Steward Dorrik cannot be compromised with… In the meantime, the four of us…Shurima is counting on us. Let’s get moving.”