Legends of a Fallen King: Zara [Chapter 9: Dawn upon Zaun]
Tick. Tock. CLANG!
That thing left with a bang.
I arrived at the outskirts of Piltover, but it's not considered that. Rather it's considered another place, plagued with vile rats.
I looked at my chest and looked at the rest. I look like a pest. No way can I go in city streets. In a place so high, it's called PiltOVER, I need to look better than this.
I'll make my start with glum slum pawn, in the suburbans they call Zaun. And so I go, into the unknown, at the crack of dawn.
Who am I kidding, this place is garbage. Literally, it is garbage. There was no underestimating it, the streets were plagued with rats. Noxious fumes filled the air and poisoned all who breathed. How fortunate am I to not require breath, but how unfortunate am I to be stuck here. Well, I have to make due with what I have.
I look up and see metropolitan skyscrapers. I gaze in awe as the gears fall in place in the city bursting with innovation. I look away and happen to find a youngster admiring the skyline. I guess this is why they call it Piltover. The land of overachievers casting big dreams to any would even look their way. However, this is a place that is down in the dumps in a literal sense.
"This place sure has changed," I muse while leaning on a stone slab. "It was a shoddy little kingdom last I remember. My how things have changed Daedalus."
I gaze at Icarus, written on the stone slab in front of me. "I wish your sons and daughters could have told me about it. Alas, it seems your only son fell even before you did."
I scratch my shoulder as I move off of Daedalus's gravestone. "Well, I'll figure things out one way or another. You are relieved of your duty Chieftain Daedalus. You have served me well. May you rest in peace." There is nothing left for me here, but I am going to take out the trash while I'm still here.
I firmly grip my blade as the Zaunites scurry in the shadows. None dare face me, but it seems that is the norm around here. This is a place where individuals seek to advance their secret ambitions, and so everyone is a stranger to each other. Unfortunately, that means it is quite difficult to learn anything about the culture around here. The history of this place is shrouded in rumors. Of all the rumors only one of these rumors caught my attention.
From what I've gathered, there exists a bewitching assailant known to eviscerate and impale the most prominent of men. The devil who strikes from shadows and disappears before witnesses can address the dead man's cry. These rumors are fairly commonplace as Zaun is known to be a fairly shady district. Rather, what caught my attention was-
"The Shadow Isles?"
"Yeah, I heard she was from the Shadow Isles." The butcher hollered as she struck down the joint of a raptor leg.
"Shh! She might be listening." A lady with a black veil over her face warned.
"Eh. Don't be such a worrywart. She only targets men anyways, fine men that is. So, I have nothing to worry about here." The butcher's husband, working at the Bridgewaltz stall alongside her, pauses as they stare at each other for a while. "Heh, don't worry! You're still fine enough to me. Can you pass me the hog scraper honey? So lady, you got nothing to worry about. You're already a widow aren't you?"
The widow's expression contorts to a frown as she glares at the butchered raptor.
"As always, I'm sorry for your loss." The butcher wraps up the raptor legs alongside some ground bison she scraped together.
"Thank you for your sentiment," the widow responds as she takes the wrapped up meat. "However, I'm not worried about myself. It's my sister."
"What about her? Didn't you hear? She doesn't do women."
"Well that's just it. Her husband is coming to town."
The butcher stays her blade, mulling for a moment.
"Dear god..." The butcher despairs, staring the widow down.
"Yeah, that gaudy bastard," the widow scoffs.
"What the hell is that guy doing here anyways?"
"Oh, probably to brag about his success to her. All while we are stuck here barely scraping by. The widow releases an audible sigh and groans, "Honestly, I don't know what she sees in a guy like that. However, regardless of what I think, he is going to be targeted by that fiendish widowmaker. I don't want her to go through what I've been through."
Scratching her head, the butcher suggests, "Well, the only thing you can do is tell him about it. I mean, what else can you do?"
The widow clenches her fists. "I want to stop her."
"Eh?" The butcher's expression contorts from confusion to scorn as she asks, "Have you lost your mind? If she is from the Shadow Isles then she's most likely a ghost. You can't kill the dead."
"Well, I need to do something. If I just sit around, doing nothing, then it's just going to happen again," the widow implores, but the butcher isn't having it.
The butcher slams her knife on the table. "Be realistic woman! If you are so eager for a death wish, how about you try picking a fight with that ghost over there?"
She is pointing at me.
The widow turns her head towards me slightly, but swiftly faces the butcher. "Don't point at it. It's watching us."
She called me it.
"What do you care?" The butcher barks. "Have you not heard about the Shadow Isles? It's haunted to all hell. I mean look at that thing. It doesn't even have a face. How can you even tell it's watching you in the first place?"
"Shut up, I can just tell okay. Don't make this any harder on me." The widow shudders at the thought of me watching her.
Grimacing, the butcher points a bone at her and replies, "Then don't make up stupid ideas you imbecile. I think we both know this is just about revenge for your hubby, but that's ludicrous. Don't pick a bone with someone you can't handle."
"God damn it, I know already!" The widow wails, tearing off her veil. Letting her adrenaline die down, slowly the widow slumps over her desk. "But I seen it. I seen what the kill looks like. Just imagine if he," the widow says as she points to the butcher's husband, who pauses in confusion. Then, the widow directs her finger to the meat he is handling, "Was reduced to that."
The butcher's eyes twitch as she imagines such a case. She clasps her mouth with her hands and winces sharply as she glares at the guts she's handling. "Unfortunately, I can picture this better than most can," she comments as she forces her eyes shut and rubs the cold sweat off of her forehead.
"It's as ugly as you imagine." The widow leans on the table, covering her eyes as she weeps.
I heard enough. I slowly rise from the bench I was resting at and leave the bazaar. Although I have no relation with the widow's folly, the butcher and the widow seem to freeze as I pass by them. It comes at no surprise to me. Wherever you go, paranoia plagues this place.
Even so, to think there was a place where ghosts reside. In the middle of the ocean though? Shadow isles, hmm... Never heard of it. Then again, I was stranded in the middle of the ocean. It wouldn't be all to strange if I was swept away from that said island. It's at least worth looking into.
Thanks for reading~! :D This is chapter 9 for Zara, The Cryptic King, a custom champion I made to represent my vision of The Ruined King. This also marks the beginning of his second arc. I think I will call the first 8 chapters, Arc 1: Our King Returns, since that's exactly what he does. Zara comes back from the dead and ends up in his old homelands.
This second arc I will call Method to the Madness as this will detract from his noble demeanor and explore the angles we know The Ruined King best for: his insanity. As is made quite evident, I'm setting up an interaction with
Evelynn. As such, I have made much progress in the next chapter already, but I will be waiting until we see her new biography before dipping into any chapters beyond that. The interaction with The Widowmaker and The Ruined King who lost his wife to such assassin should be... Well, in any case, it's something to look forward to.
You know I got to say it: Don't spoil anything that comes after this chapter in this chapter. Keep the content from here to the stuff that happened in the very first chapter. I'm not a real stickler about this, but there are two very good reasons to not do this. One, it's disrespectful to those who are sticklers about this, churning through the story. Two, it's obvious to talk about stuff that's going on in the chapter that it actually happens.
As always thanks for reading. Get ready for a coffee break in the next chapter: Good Morning Ghost. [sg-ahri-1]
Arc 1: Our King Returns
- A Distant Memory
- Conquering the Abyss
- Runic Affinity
- Yearn to Learn
- Forged from Sand and Runes
- The Blue Sea
- Pain and Pride
- Lost Homelands
Arc 2: Method to the Madness 9. Dawn upon Zaun 10. Good Morning Ghost 11. Knight of the Full Noon 12. Madness of Man 13. Worries of Women 19. Echoes in the Deep
