Shen: A Journey.
This is a little something I put together for our resident flippin' ninja main. Enjoy.
Once, in the Fields of Justice, there was a flippin' ninja named Shen. Whose ninja skills were impressive, rivaled by few men. He could heal, he could shield, he could taunt and leap. Every so often, his strikes hit so hard they sent foes to the floor in a heap.
But one day, to the High Council chambers he was called, our flippin' ninja was simply enthralled. "Have they finally seen my talent?" The ninja asked with ninja excitement. "Only news of my glorious deeds would bring this invitement!"
However once he arrived, his hope died, unable to be revived. The High Councilors sat in their chairs, some faces severe, some were bright, and one face was a leer.
"Your performance is grand, but in the grand scheme boring, in fact in your last match your summoner started snoring." "We decided to alter your skills, your looks, give you a new breath of life, in time you shall see that we are guided not by strife."
The flippin' ninja protested, he begged and he pleaded, "A Visual Update," the ninja protested, "is simply not needed!" "My summoners may not be a large group, but they are loyal and proud, a fine troop."
But his pleas fell on deaf ears; their mind was set. They set upon a course that he would never forget.
They used their magic, a whole squad of summoners. They pulled some of his ki and weapons apart, and set it apart from the others.
His powerful strikes became his shield, a weak one at that. Shen stopped paying attention halfway though; he felt like he swallowed a rat. His blade was transformed, lodged into the Spirit World. But the job was only done part-way; in the visible air it lazily twirled. The ki for his shield was thrown to the Spirit Sword; a zone that blocked all strikes emerged, The leftover ki was simply purged. They felt not to alter his dash and his ult. "After all", they said, "we want this to be Shen, not an insult."
When they were done, Shen felt very dizzy, but what he was turned into, oh his summoners were busy. "Turn Shen back!" Their hollers sounded, "This kind of change was unfounded!"
Meanwhile Shen felt more dead than alive, As he saw he was tethered to a giant sword; each time he fought he had to wait for it to arrive. His shields felt weak and his vision felt muted. But he had to admit that the use of his zone was undisputed.
As time passed he started to adapt. Soon in his presence bones snapped. His summoners still fumed, they felt betrayed. But new ones were drawn to him; they liked how he was portrayed.
Eventually the chambers called him back, to give him news that threw him out of whack. "Times are changing, and we have discovered, that you are too strong, your last opponents still haven't recovered!"
With that they took a magical bat to every base stat. With Shen thinking, What have I done to deserve that? They left him in a state most crippled, said he was fair, not aware of what had rippled.
He lost every game, his summoners stopped coming. "He is useless now!" His summoners proclaimed, their veins thrumming. "He's so weak, his damage is naut!" "This was an improvement, or so you thought!" "What's the use of teleporting to another lane," "If he can't even win his own, especially against someone with a brain!"
The plain ninja, no longer flippin' Felt he might as well disappear, none heard his summoners' yippin'. He stopped going to League banquets and missed every game. His heart only broke when none remembered his name.
One day alone in his room, a special guest came to dispel his gloom. An old friend of his, at least one can assume. Her name was Akali, a flippin' ninja like him. "Like I was." Shen remembered, his voice grim.
"Don't speak like that," Akali insisted. "Don't get the High Councilors' intentions twisted." "They have seen their error, they know they made a mistake," "Their intentions were pure, but they now know your heartbreak."
Akali pulled Shen to the window, and to his surprise, his summoners were there; he couldn't believe his eyes. "We all still care for you Shen, there was no need to run." Akali insisted, her eyes shining like the sun.
Shen's eyes stung, with tears afresh. His summoners did care, they were all here in the flesh. He saw now that after their anger and sadness was done, They would come back to him, their friendship he had long ago won.
"You are still the same ninja we have all come to love," "Now get out there and have fun!" She said with a shove. "Your journey to balance isn't over Shen," "But until you get there I will come, again and again."
Shen walked outside, his head held high. For no matter what happened, he was still the Twilight's Eye.
