Starlight Rising - A Star Guardian Story
Hey everyone! I know, I've been gone a while. Writer's block is a thing. But looks like I managed to get this short story through that blockade.
So, a quick background. I thought of this story while listening to the Star Guardian teaser song that you may have seen circulating (or at least the thirty second trailer clip), and decided to sit down and write it in one shot. I took a few creative liberties here, but I am a writer after all. And for those of you who are still mad at me about writing tragedies, I'm sorry. I hope this story makes up for it.
Anyway, on to the story! (And here's hoping we get to see the cinematic, along with getting an official copy of the song soon...)
All of the Star Guardians were gathered in an open clearing, split into the two existing teams with Neeko awkwardly standing in the space between them. Eleven Guardians all in the same place, Ahri thought. This has to be the first time there are so many present. She looked over at Neeko, her feelings torn regarding the – technically veteran, perhaps – guardian. Neeko’s appearance last night had surprised them all, especially her and Sarah. The two of them had never thought that there might be other survivors from that ill-fated battle. And while seeing her old teammate again had been a blessing, the news she had brought – Zoe was coming – was far from bright. Which is why Ahri had reached out to Lux and asked the young leader to bring her team here, out to a place far away enough from Valoran City to hopefully avoid the harming of bystanders. From what she remembered, Zoe didn’t hesitate to destroy anything in her way.
Lux’s team was looking slightly confused, having only just been filled in on the situation, but they looked as ready as a novice group could be. Ahri also noticed Ezreal sneaking looks over in the other leader’s direction, but she didn’t pull him aside for her usual warnings. She’d told him far too many teams that letting feelings develop for another Guardian could be fatal, but he’d never heard the story behind it.
Ahri tightened her grip on the two gems she held in her hand. The third she had handed back to Neeko last night, who had promptly informed her that it had been attached to a clone. That information had cleared up how the shapechanger had survived, though it also gave her reason to consider the other two gems, broken blue and green, to be real. A small spark of hope that she hadn’t even known she’d had, and that had re-ignited at Neeko’s appearance, died last night, and today she would avenge the last two of her old team, should Zoe dare to show her face.
Sarah was the only Guardian seemingly incapable of standing still. She was pacing, as she had been since she woke up this morning. Ahri had an idea of why, but left her second in command alone. Enough memories had been resurfaced for the both of them, and she doubted that she’d be any help at this point.
All they could hope was that between both teams and Neeko’s unique strengths, they had enough to defeat Zoe this time.
As that last thought vanished, the air around them changed. There was a sense of danger, and Ahri immediately recognized an old feeling she’d only felt once before. Kiko made a noise of worry, along with some of the other familiars.
Zoe was here.
Both teams immediately snapped into position, some drawing their powers to the surface. Ahri herself prepared a charm, while looking over at Neeko. The yellow Guardian was braver than she’d given her credit for, and stronger than most of the others gathered here. If Zoe was smart, she’d go for Neeko early on, so Ahri looked towards Soraka. Once she had the healer’s attention, she nodded towards Neeko, indicating that Soraka should be ready to help her. She got a nod in response before turning back to face forwards.
A checkered purple portal opened before the gathered Guardians, and a moment later, a familiar face appeared from within its depths. The ancient corrupted Guardian herself stepped out from her portal, laughing.
“Did you really think that all this time later, numbers would still be enough to defeat me?” Zoe asked as she waved the portal behind her closed. “I’ve only had time to grow stronger.”
“That may be true.” Lux spoke up before Ahri could, meeting her new enemy’s gaze. “But there’s also more of us than you. No matter how long it takes, eleven of us is more than enough to take on just one of you.”
Zoe laughed again, this time in amusement. “Only one of me, you say?” she replied. “Allow me to correct that notion.”
With that, she waved her hands again, and another, larger portal opened.
“Zoe’s plans work! It’s the Star Guardians’ fault things go wrong,” Xayah repeated for easily the thousandth time. She sighed, anticipating Rakan’s next question and adding, “… we may have to improvise.”
“That’s why you’ve got me, babe!” Rakan told her enthusiastically. Oddly enough, he almost seemed excited about being face to face with the Star Guardians again – or, as he called them, ‘star nerds.’ Xayah suspected it was because he would finally get to use that name to their faces and watch the reactions. But no matter what, he was looking forward to an opportunity they would soon have, and she couldn’t quite figure out what exactly that would be.
Rakan looked over at her, giving her a soft smile. Back before she’d died, Xayah would have reacted with an answering smile, but now she stayed neutral, waiting for Zoe to provide them passage.
The two were silent for a moment, and just before Xayah anticipated Rakan asking whether the plan would work again, the portal they’d been expecting began to open up in front of them.
“Remember,” Rakan added suddenly, his face serious for once, “no matter what happens, I love you.”
“Cut it out, we’re being evil,” was her reply as she jumped through the threshold, Rakan soon following after her.
Ahri watched the portal warily. What sort of minions would Zoe be summoning today? Last time she had faced the corrupted Guardian, her team had dealt with tricks and illusions, along with devastating bursts of power.
Yet as she watched, two familiar figures jumped through. Ahri froze as she recognized the faces of her two fallen teammates, still side by side as they always had been. Xayah had lost her wings and instead was sporting a cape somewhat similar to the one Rakan had always worn, though in a deep purple with accents of her old green. Rakan’s cape, on the other hand, had gone from blue with white tips to a dark, almost black purplish color, accented with an eerie blue-green.
After a moment, Ahri noticed the pair’s gems. Both bore two-colored gems – Xayah her old green bordered with pink, and Rakan green with a much darker pink, close to the color of his cape. She had a feeling that the gems’ appearance meant something, but what exactly, she had no clue.
Still frozen from shock, Ahri didn’t even notice dropping the two gems she’d been carrying – now likely fake, based on the fact that the suspected owners of those gems now stood before her. However, she did notice Sarah drop to the ground, clearly overwhelmed by remorse.
After all, the two of them had left Xayah and Rakan alone, and that decision had given Zoe free rein to destroy them. Clearly the trickster had thought of another idea than simply kill them, though, and now the pair stood before them.
Neeko, still standing alone in the center, now was regretting her choice to not inform Ahri and Sarah of Xayah and Rakan’s survival. The other eight Guardians, however, seemed completely confused. None of them knew about the other two members of Ahri and Sarah’s old team. Despite Neeko’s existence being explained as an old team member, somehow none of the new Guardians had made the connection that there had been a team of five then as well.
As Ahri finally recovered, she noticed Lux looking in her direction. Since a quick glance confirmed that Sarah still had not fully recovered from the newest discovery, she opened her mouth to speak.
But Xayah beat her to it. Her voice as sharp as the daggers she carried, Ahri’s former teammate announced, “You left us alone and weak on that forsaken planet. You let us die. And now it’s about time we returned the favor.”
After a moment, Ahri finally found her voice. “I never meant for this to happen to you,” she started, but was then cut off by Rakan.
“Sure, you never meant this to happen. You never think about what your actions will do to those around you, since all you care about is yourself,” he remarked. Under his breath, but just loud enough for her to hear, he muttered, “Still basic as always.”
Sarah jumped in to defend Ahri. “Leave her alone,” she snapped at him. “You were the one who chose to stay behind when Xayah was too weak to escape. And I’m sure between the two of you, you could have found a way out.”
Finally, before any of the four arguing veterans could add anything else, Lux finally piped up. “Ahri,” she asked softly, looking over at the other leader, “what happened?”
Ahri was quiet as she answered. “A long time ago, Sarah, Neeko, Xayah, Rakan and I were a team. We found Zoe and had to fight our way out. We lost track of Neeko, though Sarah did find a dead body that looked exactly like hers. Then, just before we were able to escape, Xayah was fatally wounded, and Rakan stayed behind with her. We should have gone back when it was safe … but we were still weakened, unable to face Zoe if she was still there, and then when we were finally ready, we had a new team to take care of.”
Sarah finally looked at Xayah and Rakan, addressing the pair. “I still regret to this day leaving you two behind,” she said, not expecting either to care, but still wanting to say it.
Rakan merely scoffed at the words, and Xayah summoned a handful of daggers, becoming bored with the conversation. Zoe as well seemed to be more interested in opening up her bag of tricks than continuing to talk.
Sensing the battle brewing, the Star Guardians readied themselves one last time. There was a possibility some would die here, but at least a chance remained that Zoe could finally be defeated, even with two corrupted Guardians on her side.
Silence fell over the clearing as both sides waited to see who struck first.
Xayah drew back her hand, preparing to throw her first handful of daggers. She wouldn’t be warning anyone this time – every feather she threw would be fatal. She’d had long enough to brew in resentment, and wanted revenge for being left to die. Not just that – for dooming Rakan to die as well.
Speaking of Rakan, she noticed that he wasn’t ready to lunge into battle. “Rakan?” she asked quietly. “What are you doing?”
“What needs to be done.”
Before Xayah could ask what he meant, Rakan gave Riku a nod, indicating that it was time for the plan they’d made to be put into action. Riku instantly morphed from his usual unassuming form into a murderous ball of feathers, diving towards Zoe, who ducked to avoid getting pecked in the face. At the same time, he reached over and grabbed Xayah’s wrist, pulling all of the corruption lingering within her into himself. The change was noticeable – he went from feeling in control of Zoe’s influence to barely keeping himself from being swept away in a flood of power. He managed to press his gem, which he’d painstakingly cleansed of any trace of Zoe while Xayah wasn’t watching, into her hand before shoving her in the direction of the Guardians. The small part of him that was still his old self knew somehow that they could protect her while she recovered.
The first part of his task done, Rakan managed to turn himself away from the Guardians and face a surprised Zoe. Some part of him noted Riku lying on the ground near Soraka, who was reaching out to heal him, but the corruption in him didn’t care about his familiar. The small piece of Rakan’s personality that still clung on managed to convince the influence within him to focus on the same target – the very source herself.
Rakan allowed himself a quick look down, the darkness now shrouding him completely not bothering him. He then met Zoe’s gaze as he braced himself for an attack.
“There’s only enough room in this universe for one ruler of darkness, Zoe,” Rakan remarked, the corruption bleeding through into his voice. “And I intend for it to be me. After all, who wants a child as queen when they can have the lord of … hotness? Yeah, that works.”
With that, Rakan sprang at Zoe, who quickly opened up a portal behind them. As he collided with her, the two fell through the threshold, disappearing to somewhere else.
“Rakan, NO!”
Xayah screamed for him to stop as she watched her lover and her foe fall through the portal to who knew where. She was still somewhat in shock from having the darkness ripped out of her, and Rakan handing her his gem – surprisingly bright and free of Zoe’s influence – had given her reason to believe that this act of his was final. He didn’t expect to come back after this.
The short Guardian dressed in blue that had been standing with the team she hadn’t recognized at all had dropped her hammer and darted forwards to pull her away from Rakan and Zoe. Now, though, she struggled to break free, trying to stand so she could run towards the portal, that now had begun to close.
“Xayah, stop! You won’t make it in time.” Ahri was by her side, and for once Xayah didn’t immediately try to argue with her former leader, knowing deep down that she was right. In despair, she watched the portal seal itself and wink out of existence. A wordless cry escaped her, and somehow, she made it to her feet, barely steady but standing.
She looked over at Riku, worried about Rakan’s familiar. Thankfully, Zoe hadn’t done any lasting damage to him, just blasting him away to avoid getting pecked. Saki had flown over to check on him, and Ahri’s new healer – her gem shaped unlike anything she’d ever seen before – had almost finished closing up any wounds Zoe had inflicted.
Now knowing that Riku would be fine, Xayah spread her wings and prepared to take off. She didn’t even allow herself a split second to revel in their return, her mind focused on a singular objective – save Rakan.
This time, Sarah spoke up. “You saw him, Xayah. We all did. He took on all the corruption you bore, so there’s no way he can fight that. And even if he can, that’ll distract him from handling Zoe. He knew he wasn’t going to survive that choice, so he made sure to save you first. Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain.”
Xayah shook her head. “He’s sacrificed his light for me over and over again, always trying to save me from Zoe at his own expense. I won’t let him do it again. And I can’t lose him. Not now, when we’re so close.”
With that, Xayah took off into the sky, not bothering to ask if any of her fellow Star Guardians would come with her. She knew they probably wouldn’t, and even if just one of the newbies was up for the challenge, this was her fight to finish.
A chirp startled her for a moment, and she looked over at her shoulder to see Saki flying beside her. “Not now, Saki,” she started to say, but another, determined sounding chirp from her own familiar stopped her. She sighed and then turned back to face the direction she was flying in, replying, “Fine, but you better not get yourself killed.”
Meanwhile, the eleven remaining Star Guardians were silent, not a single person sure of what to make of the events that had transpired. Finally, Ezreal, out of all people, spoke up. “We should go help her,” he said, sounding nervous about his idea yet determined.
Ahri immediately shut him down. “No, we’re not. We couldn’t take on Zoe before, and if Rakan is in fact past the point of no return, we’ll have to fight two corrupted Guardians now. I don’t think we can do that.”
“But how do you know that if we don’t even try?” Poppy piped up. The hammer-wielding Guardian tended to stay silent, but her few comments were always wise.
As Ahri tried to think of an answer, Soraka commented, “I have a feeling that this is the time we’re supposed to take a stand. We’re Star Guardians – our job is to protect the First Star and its creations, and we are one of those creations, after all.”
Soraka looked over at Lulu, hoping the other green Guardian would back her up. The younger girl quickly chipped in, in a more serious tone than anyone had ever heard her speak in.
“The First Light tells me a lot of things. And right now it’s telling me that we have to help her.” Lulu then grew distracted and turned back to her familiar, Pix, but the message was clear.
Everyone was silent again, as most of the Guardians waited for their leaders to decide. Ahri and Lux looked at each other, silently coming to an agreement. But before either of them could speak, Jinx literally jumped into the middle of the group.
“Come on! Let’s get moving already!” she shouted, pointing a hand in the direction Xayah had flown off to. “Besides, where’s the fun in staying safe all the time?”
Xayah was finally approaching the first spot she anticipated Zoe to have directed the portal to. Since it had been a defensive reflex, Zoe wouldn’t have had time to think of somewhere to go, so the spot she’d left Xayah and Rakan – and the last place she’d opened a portal to – seemed like a good guess.
She hadn’t quite been travelling at light speed – her wings couldn’t fly as fast – but she still had been pressing ahead as quickly as possible, determined to make it there in time. However, when the scene finally unfolded in front of her, she feared that she was too late.
Rakan was lying on the ground, seriously injured, while Zoe hovered over him, laughing. Xayah managed to meet Rakan’s gaze as he looked in her direction, sensing her approach. Despite the darkness shrouding him, a flash of recognition appeared in his eyes, and she knew that he was still in there, somehow. That had not been helpful in fighting Zoe, however.
As she drew closer, Zoe now turned to face her, a childish grin on her face. “Back already?” she called. “And I thought that this one had convinced you to stay away longer than that. Well, you’ve wasted his sacrifice – you’ll be mine again soon.”
Tendrils of corruption began to make their way towards her, but Xayah skewered them with feather daggers. “I’m here to stop you, for once and for all. You’ve tormented us for too long, and the Guardians whose gems you carry deserve to rest.”
Zoe merely answered with a laugh. “Five of you couldn’t kill me, so what makes you think that you can take me down alone?”
Xayah didn’t have an answer for that. But she merely shifted her stance, summoning a fresh handful of daggers.
If she died here, she at least would die knowing she had done the right thing – protecting her fellow Star Guardians, and trying to save the one she loved.
Zoe merely reached out, preparing some sort of attack. Xayah had seen enough of Zoe’s powers that she believed she could predict what her foe would do, but even then, she needed to stay wary. Zoe’s tricks and illusions could waste precious seconds she desperately needed in order to win this fight.
But just before Zoe unleashed an attack, she looked up, narrowing her eyes at the sky behind Xayah. Xayah herself risked a quick look behind her, and with surprised, she saw a pink streak rapidly approaching. Probably that new leader wanting to help, she thought.
Yet when the approaching Guardian finally landed, Xayah was surprised yet again to find Ahri standing there. Her old leader stepped forwards, glaring at Zoe before turning to Xayah.
“I made the wrong choice last time. And we all intend to make up for it now.”
“We?”
And with that, ten more stars blazed into view – two blue, two green, two red, two purple, a yellow and another pink. The Star Guardians landed in quick succession, still split into their respective groups, but this time with Neeko standing next to Sarah. The two leaders were closest to Xayah, the new leader she didn’t know nodding to her with a determined look on her face, and Ahri looking as ready for battle as Xayah had ever seen her.
The wand-carrying leader spoke up. “We’ll need to all attack at the same time in order to have a chance,” she said quietly. “It’s our best bet. If that fails, then at least we should be able to distract her long enough for you to reach Rakan and try to get him to safety. You can save him once you make it out.”
“I’m not leaving this place until Zoe is dead,” Xayah replied. “I failed to kill her all those years ago. But I won’t fail again.”
She turned back to face Zoe, who, surprisingly enough, had not moved since the Guardians had begun to appear.
“I’ve been waiting to do this for a long, long time.”
With that, Xayah leaped into the air, extending her wings as they shone with the full extent of her power. She had been far from weak before dying, and she suspected that holding Rakan’s gem as well as her own was increasing her capabilities even further.
To either side of her, the eleven Guardians were preparing their own various attacks, and Xayah saw the sudden fear on Zoe’s face. The corrupted Guardian reached out, trying to construct a portal to escape.
She’s not getting away from us now.
And with that final thought, Xayah let out a yell as she unleashed the full extent of her power on Zoe, accompanied by eleven other strikes from her fellow Guardians. For a moment, she had considered the old line she’d used with this move, but decided to go with something that was perhaps just a bit more fitting.
“Feathers fly!”
The combined attacks all struck Zoe at the same time, and a scream escaped the Star Guardians’ enemy as she exploded in a burst of starlight. Several gems escaped where Zoe’s body had been, but Xayah didn’t bother to watch them. Her focus was on the unmoving figure lying not too far from the point of impact.
The corruption had dissipated with Zoe’s death, returning Rakan to his original appearance, but as she sprinted towards him, Xayah’s concern only deepened. His eyes were closed, and he showed no reaction to her approach. As she dropped to her knees next to him, she worried that she was too late to save him. Pressing his gem back into place, she could only hope that returning it to him would work.
For a moment, nothing happened. Xayah fought back tears, fearing the worst. But finally, just as she was about to break down into sobs, Rakan’s eyes opened. He looked up at her, confused.
“Xayah? What… happened?” he managed to ask, looking around.
“Your plan worked,” she told him, relief clear in her voice. “Zoe is dead, and we’re alive.”
He stared at her, not quite believing her words. But his attention was drawn to Riku, who had landed on his shoulder and let out a chirp that could only mean he was mad at Rakan.
Shaking his head in disbelief, but slowly accepting what had happened, Rakan pushed himself up into a sitting position. “We did it,” he whispered.
“You were right,” she told him, a genuine smile on her face again after who knew how long. “Looks like love did save us after all.”
He grinned at that, and leaned towards her.
And in that moment, despite the eleven other Star Guardians celebrating nearby, Xayah and Rakan shared a moment alone, finally free.
Thanks for reading, guys! Hope you enjoyed the story, and hopefully I'll be back soon with another story of some sort.
Anyway, see you on the Rift! (Or the Howling Abyss, or Twisted Treeline - wait...)
