Chapter I
"Waiting for a match, miss?" The voice asked. It sounded friendly and was that of a man. She stared straight into someone's chest before glancing up in embarrassment. "Y-yes." She blurted out, stuttering as the man chuckled, "As am I. It's taking longer than usual, don't you think?" He lifted a hand to rub his shaven chin, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.
"Indeed. I have been waiting for almost 10 minutes, in fact." Nami nodded in agreement, feeling a bit self-conscious. All she was clad in was a small white frock and her cloak and she looked as f she had just woken up.
"Sigh, I just thought that I'd have the last match of the day. I guess I'll just try tomorrow." She shook her head, upset. Perhaps they had ended all matches a bit earlier today. It was, after all, already 7 in the evening and it was completely alright to do so. Activities in the league used to end before 6 but the schedule gradually got later and later until it became 8.
"Ah, don't get your hopes down!" The man quickly said before she could walk away, "We'll probably be able to. Just wait for a bit longer." She looked up at him yet again with a puzzled look on her face and he just smiled at her with a perfect set of gleaming white teeth. Nami quickly noticed the two unmistakably sharp canines protruding out of his gums. So he was the Crimson Reaper.
She, however, was not fazed or terrified whatsoever. Albeit the pointless gossip and accusing news about the 'devilishly handsome but vicious man who slayed mercilessly on the rift', he seemed like a friendly person now and that was all that mattered.
The Crimson Reaper glanced at the girl again, confusion plastered on his tan face. The silence was overwhelming and the sudden drop of atmosphere slightly bothered him. Was she afraid because he was the Crimson Reaper? "Uhm, by the way, the name's Tristan. Care to join my team on the rift later?" He started awkwardly, attempting to divert the girl's attention from fearing him.
Nami shook the doubtful thoughts out of her head and smiled at him ever so softly. If there was a safe place during the match, it would be on the vampire hunter's team. Although he did not scare her, she was still worried about the things he could do on the rift.
"Great!" Tristan, she found, beamed before waving his arms about frantically and making awkward hand gestures, a slight blush visible on his cheeks, "Uh-well, and you know...you are...?" The archer stared at him in confusion for a split second and the realisation hit her. She let out a small squeak before covering her face with her small hands. That was totally uncalled for.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! That was very rude of me. I-I'm Nami. Pleasure to meet you!" She blinked profusely as her mouth opened and closed multiple times like a fish, desperately finding words to speak. What had gotten into her today? What happened to the usually calm and collected Frost Archer?
Her face instantly turned bright red like an overripe tomato as he began to laugh. It was deep and possibly even sexy as it rumbled in his throat. She flushed even more at those unnecessary thoughts. Ping- a sound echoed across the half empty hall. "You see, I told you we'll get our chance!" Tristan grinned, earning a quiet smile from the girl, "Now let's-"
"Tristan!" The pair turned to see a group of four built males strut towards them with wide grins on their faces. Nami recognised them as the prodigal explorer, the blade's shadow, the eye of twilight and the might of Demacia - all equally intimidating and horrifyingly skilled. Nami stole a quick glance at her new friend and blue met red, him as confused as she was.
"What do you guys want?" He raised an eyebrow, his eyes shifting from one of them to another. "Let's team up, bro. Remember our last match? We totally owned it together!" The cheery explorer winked, linking his arm with Tristan's. It seemed as though they were all a close group and the boy looked extremely excited. Nami suddenly felt bad for being a lamp post.
The explorer's gesture earned playful hollers and whistles of approval from the men. The Crimson Reaper met Nami's gaze yet again and turned back to his friends to decline their invitation. "Look, actually I-" "Don't be such a woman and come with us!" Before he could protest, he was already dragged halfway across the hall. He shot Nami an apologetical half-smile and she simply smiled back and nodded as if to say it was alright. She actually also felt a little bit relieved to not have to wallow in guilt later on.
••••••••••••••••••••
The Frost Archer tumbled and tumbled, desperately searching for a possibly safe brush to hide and recall in. She was bleeding from her left arm and it wasn't very neat. If she did not find a hiding spot soon, the enemy team would probably track her and take her down easily. She had, so far, a beautiful score of 9 kills and no deaths - and she was planning to keep it that way.
She smiled to herself right when she stumbled next to a rather thick brush by the river that divided the rift into two. She quietly crawled into it and screamed when her eyes met another pair. "Shhh!" The person lifted a gloved finger to his lips and swiftly pulled her into his lap, "You don't want us to be found out, do you?" It was such a quick unfold that she did not manage to catch who her bush partner was but she could now recognise him as Tristan.
"Tristan? What are you doing here?!" She half-whispered-half-squealed. "Well..." He trailed off before pointing to the life bar above his head. Dangerously low and vulnerable. She could finish him with one flick. "O-Oh. What are you waiting for? Hurry up and recall!" She blurted out and lightly shook his shoulder.
The man looked at her in utter disbelief and confusion. "You want me to recall? You're on the opposing team, darling." He reminded her again, not sure where their conversation was going. "Of course! You're already half dead so it's best you recall now before some other dude sets up a ward and finds you." "Wait- why aren't you whacking me up already? This is a great oppurtunity." He said again.
Nami let out an exasperated sigh and urged him further, "Because you're a friend and I don't feel like killing you? Jesus do you really want to die that much..." The man nodded hastily and began with his recall spell. "Thanks, Nami." He smiled warmly as the archer felt her heart clench funnily, "But I can't guarantee I won't hurt you later." And with his last words, he disappeared into thin air.
Doesn't matter, Nami thought to herself, it is, after all, a game. She couldn't blame anyone if they were to kill her. As she started to recall back to her team's base as well, she clutched a small hand to her chest right where her heart was. I feel funny.
