Runeterra

Unlike the massive and most known field of justice, Summoners Rift, the Proving Grounds was in the secluded regions of Morgan's Pass, and therefore didn't have the ability to hold spectators for the battles. But what the arena lacked in places to spectate, it made up for in history. While the Summoners Rift has held many battles within its grounds, Morgan's Pass held battles of the Rune Wars themselves. Armies would clash, and further decay the crumpling bridge. Legends fought and died on this bridge, and gods were born here... Now it would serve out a last series of battles: The Tournament of Heroes.

The only sounds that whispered inside the cave were the sounds of the Nexus'; the massive energy crystals being lowered into place, and the warriors gathering themselves. Right now, it was Epheias turn to rise the challenge of the Tournament, and become a Legend herself... For Demacia, for the King, for her brothers and sisters in arms.

While the Title Captain of the Demacian Guard was quite an honor for Epheia, she had a larger goal in mind. All her life her family was tightly woven with the Royal family, which meant she spent plenty of time with Jarvan V, despite him being a few years older than her. But she was very young when the grown Jarvan was being grommet to be King of Demacia, and one of her only true friends was taken away from her... When she had reached adult hood, it was as if Jarvan (Now Prince Jarvan) had almost completely forgotten her. She aimed to fix that.

Epheia, standing a little over 6 feet, took her polearm in hand, and readied herself for the coming battle. From the listing, and the stench of dead vermin, she knew her first foe was none other than the dreaded Pestilence; a foe she had not been looking forward to fighting. She had heard such horror stories about the Vermin Caller, but was getting ready to test those stories herself.

Checking her armor one more time, Epheia slowly stepped forward off of the summoning platform as the announcer proclaimed:

"Let the Tournament, begin!"

To anyone else, the air in the stone armory would be considered extremely foul, giving off a stench that made the polluted sewers of Noxus look like a luxury demacian bathhouse. To Pestilence, however, it was perfect. At first, he was appalled by the smell just as much as the others but he soon got used to it. Now, it provided him with a sense of calmness as his children crawled through his empty eye sockets.

A small cloud of blackflies, vicious little insects that can rip off hunks of flesh with a single bite, drifted from his right eye to find their meal. When no meat was in sight, they went back into his skull. “Patience my children, there will be much food for you on the battlefield." With a small buzz, his mosquito sentry landed onto the champion’s bony shoulder.

“A polearm? Interesting.” Pestilence’s sightless gaze rested on the numerous weapons lining the walls. He could easily pick a spear or bow but why waste them when he’d never use them? The only weapon Pestilence needed was his children. Through them he saw everything, spread fear and disease and carried out his will, something his decrepit old body could not accomplish without them.

Light shone from the roof and he knew it was time to go. With a sharp whistle, millions of insects from all over the kingdom filled his skeleton, ready to be used on command. If he had muscles on his skull, Pestilence would have given the faintest of smiles. He’d never learned to whistle even when he had lips. The sound had been the music of a Snowy Tree Cricket. It was always fun seeing his crickets torture someone with their constant droning until they were driven insane. With a flash, the light enveloped him.

His eyes opened on the summoner platform as he took in the unfamiliar sights. Though he had never been to the Proving Grounds, he already knew the layout by heart thanks to the indigenous vermin. A maggot wormed its way across his forehead as he switched his gaze to the insects sitting absentmindedly in the brush and back to the flies in his eye. No matter how remote a place was, nothing was forbidden to insects. Pestilence waved his hand and leapt off the ground, his skeletal frame held aloft by a soft cloud of vermin.

As they neared the most central place of battlefield the grass began to quiver in excitement, numerous gnats hopping in to the colony creating his very being. With a brush of his mind, two Kambadier Beetles dropped from his ribs and ran to the bushes, quickly burrowing themselves into the ground, leaving only their tiny antennae sticking out the top to detect any movement. Pestilence loved Kambadier Beetles. Not only did they explode with the force of dynamite, they left a paralysing mist in the air afterwards. They were the perfect ambush tool.

With his traps in place, Pestilence waited for his opponent to arrive.

“Soon my children you will feast on her corpse.”

Tenebris was just skulking around the Voodoo Lands. The residents just called him a demon,monster,and anything else that can give you the willies. He then sees a light, a very bright light. Tenebris knew what this meant, it was time. Tenebris then tunrs into the cloud of shadows and hovers over to the light. The moment he was next to the light, he was engulfed by it, like a whale to krill. He then awakes on the field of justice platform. Tenebris then sees the nexus, the great structure that he must protect. Tenebris then sees in the distance, another nexus. "Our target brother, we must destroy this but we know what we really want" says Tenebris. He talked in second person and sounded like two demons talking in unison. "Mm yes we want murder, where is our enemy?". Tenebris then runs off of the platform and takes a quick snarl and sniff with his 'nose'. It smelled like a dog.

Maria walked silently along the halls towards the summoning platform, thinking of all that had happened to her. From an innocent girl who was caught up in the Noxian invasion of Ionia, all the way to the cheerful village of Kalamanda... a village that no longer existed... watching in horror as Jarvan IV and Swain engaged in deadly combat at the centre of a massive battle... fleeing from soldiers of both sides, each thinking she was an agent of the other, forcing her to crawl through the dust and painful, rough earth of the mines, hiding her sobs as she prayed that the Noxian troops wouldn't find her, for if they did, she would have been slain on the spot; just another spot of blood on their axes.

But no, she had overcome that. She had managed to remain hidden, her hands and feet bloody messes from crawling through the hard earth. She had been spared from the Demacian swords and the Noxian axes, but perhaps the fate handed to her was even worse - she was trapped, trapped there, energy from the nexus seeping into her. She was trapped.

For two decades.

Remembering the screams and the burning sights of Ionia and Kalamanda, the silent maestra, stepped onto the summoning platform. The next thing she knew, she was near a Nexus. It was different from the one she was trapped beneath in Kalamanda, but a Nexus was a Nexus nonetheless. With a single swipe of her hand, she summoned Latrodectus, the magic above her which housed her strings, and awaited her opponent.

The world out side of Freljord was so... different. It was warm, usually unpleasantly so, and green. After a life of whites and greys with the occasional yellow of air starved grass Sholani was ill-prepared for the colors of Runeterra. There were more shades of green alone than she had ever imagined. But that wasn't the end of it. Red, which she as only seen previously as blood, seemed to be a popular color amongst plants called flowers. In the southern lands yellow became a bright, vibrant color, not the one of sickly plants.

It was also croweded. Sholani had lived in the harsh tundra of Frejord, where it was rare to encounter another living thing, even if you were looking for one. Here there were farms, cattle, stinks, noises, and, greatest of all, humans. They were everywhere. The sheer number of them was enough to warm her blood up with fright. Many things came with humans. Feuds and wars, battles and gallantry, lies and assasins. How could they live with all of this... this... action?

And she had forced herself into the middle of it, asking for a place to represent her people in the League of Legends. In the tundra wilderness of her homeland she had learned to survive through brute force and determination. Those things were needed here as well, but not in the same way. One had to learn when to fight the enemy and not pacify him with pretty words. One had to learn how to speak up for oneself yet at the same time not seem bullheaded and stubborn. In Freljord there was no worrying about these things. Hunger was the enemy. Cold was the enemy. You couldn't appease or negotiate with them. They were final and absolute.

In her homeland Sholani had represented a new hope for her clan. Now, years later, she was striving to fulfill the expectations of her people. Maybe not in the way they had anticipated, but she was helping them nonetheless. She was learning the games of humans. Although she was daunted by many things about the new world she had thrust herself into she would not fail her people.

Sholani stood up from the shade of the tree she had been laying under and stretched. Tail swishing from side to side she made her way towards the summoning chamber. Her claws clicked over the stone hallways, the sharp noises echoing in the corridors. Without a pause she strode by the weapons room, head held high. Dragons needed no weapons other than the ones that nature provided them. Blood heating with excitement, Sholani stepped onto the summoning platform.

A light enveloped her and then she was in the Proving Grounds. Apparently some old human battles had taken place in the Proving Grounds, but at the moment Sholani didn't care. Her attention was focused on the upcoming battle. She stepped off the platform, making her way down the single lane. It was time for the battle to begin and she didn't want to dissapoint her opponent.

Joseph was anxious,he was sitting in his home, running multiple checks, he had already calculated the millions of things that could go wrong, his gun could jam, he wouldn't time something right, he might transform without meaning too, while outside the rift he could be transformed indefinitely but in here he would only have about thirty seconds, sure he would be strong, but who knew what his opponent could do?

The light blinded him and he was there, standing on the altar, his natural senses kicking in, he could smell something but it was unlike anything he could think of, if he were to guess, it was a gas, which explained why he couldn't really smell it, just that he knew something was there. Joseph grinned nervously, priming his gun, ready to fire the concoctions he had loaded into it, then as if by instinct, Joseph let out a bestial howl, letting his opponent know what he was up against.

Looking down the bridge towards her opponent, Maria did betray her mask of coldness to let out a small frown when she saw the sheer size of Sholani. Wondering whether she would be able to defeat such a massive creature, she thought of her strategy, in which she planned to sit back and harass Sholani, increasing her damage to true damage with piercing veil, and using puppeteer if she got to close to put distance between her and the dragon.

Should the dragon prove more susceptible to her attacks than she previously hoped and looked like it was rather heavily wounded, then in that case... she smiled as she thought of the prospect of ensnaring another prey for Latrodectus. Of course, since the dragon seemed to be devoid of mana, she would not be able to find her with Moonlight hunt... but with a prey that large, Maria had a feeling she wouldn't even need to.

And with that, she charged towards Sholani, activating piercing veil and taking advantage of her near full mana to strike at Sholani from a distance. As for how effective they will be against the dragon? Well, she supposed she shall see.

Seeing the dragon suddenly lunge, Maria admitted she was caught off guard as the freezing breath chilled her, the ice being cold enough to feel as if it was a burn instead. Knowing that Sholani was too close for comfort, she flung her arms, activating puppeteer and Latrodectus brought down strings down on Sholani. Using the chance, Maria deactivated piercing veil and put distance between herself and Sholani, using this opportunity to naturally regenerate some of her mana. As she ran, she looked back, wondering whether or not the dragon would forcefully remove the strings from herself via crowd control removal.

And through it all, she waited, knowing that a single mistime of either puppeteer or spider's web would prove deadly to her.

Now... what will you do, dragon? She wondered with the smile of a chess player waiting for her opponent's next move.

He had won.

Aleph Crownguard had claimed victory in the first of his battles, and did so against an inhuman – but smart – opponent. It was some creature, some beast that had spawned (presumably) from the void. If anyone was experienced with terrors of the void, it was none other than himself and he sighed as he stood up from his knees, glad that he had been the victor of this spectacular battle.

This was not simply a one-on-one battle, but more of a game of cat-and-mouse. Asteridax approached from behind most of the time, slipping in and out of the shadows as if it were part of them. This proved difficult, but not too much, and this tactic was soon overcome by Aleph’s determination, resilience and strength, which never faultered nor fleeted. It never did though. As a son of Garen, the Might of Demacia, he could not ever quit nor let someone else win without giving it every ounce of strength and energy he had with him.

A brief recollection of the end of the fight flashed through his mind, as if a vision.

The beast, armed with a scythe to slay, slammed his weapon on the ground. The sheer force of gravity pulled at Aleph as if to grip him, stop him from doing anything – and it did. Yet, that was it. This beast, this monster…. It did not hit him hard enough to stop him. It was essentially a rat attacking a ballista, and when Aleph struck back, it was without hesitation. A blinding movement – much too quick for anyone in armor such as his to normally move had caught Asteridax from his guard. His blade began swirling in a fantastically deadly display of control and strength, cutting through whatever you would call the substance that bound the void creature together. Not losing his momentum, he dashed back---and summoned the most powerful of blades – The Might of Demacia itself into his hands. Heavy it would be, but the young Crownguard did not make it appear so, as he then lunged forward with more force than he had ever shown – all within a second’s time.

The creature had not time.

The creature made no sound.

The creature had no chance.

“Victory” he heard from an onlooker’s voice. It was the announcer – a new voice. It was one he would hopefully come to hear quite often, that line in specific. Aleph took a calm, yet deep breath in and looked up. There wasn’t much light, and he couldn’t see the sky. He saw a ceiling, nothing else. But, he smiled and exhaled. It was truly over and he was the victor. He knew father would be proud, and mother too, where she was. He didn’t know, but he knew she would definitely watch.

Once more, he sighed in happiness and victory. Today was his and his alone. Today was the day that Aleph Crownguard had defeated his first of many opponents. Today, he proved a bit of his worth. He would make sure that the next fight would result no differently. “I am victorious….” Were the last words he mumbled to himself before he had left the Proving Grounds.

OOC: I stuffed up >.>

Sholani's freezing breath hit Maria, causing the human to jump back. She also used some sort of spell, causing a web of cords to fall down and stun the dragon. The strings bit into Sholani's skin, making her want to roar in anger. She resisted the impulse, knowing that it was a primal feeling. In order to play the humans' games it helped to think like one of them, not some visceral beast.

Once the stun was over Sholani looked about for Maria. The human hade retreated a considerable distance. With her ranged advantage Maria could manipulate the battlefield from afar. Sholani only needed one misstep on the human's part, though, for her to be able to tear Maria up. The question was if the human would be careless enough to let the opportunity come.

Sholani thought for a moment, giving time to let her stacks of Ice build up. Yes, maybe that stategy would work. On the Freljordian tundra prey didn't always run away. Sometimes they fought back instead, acting as if they were stronger than they were to try to scare the hunters off. They bluffed. Sholani planned to try a similar tactic. She would act stupider and more reckless than she really was in hopes of the human letting down her guard. It was a risky tactic, but there wasn't much Sholani could do otherwise in this matchup.

With that in mind, Sholani activated winter winds and advanced on the human, clawing at her in a somewhat haphazard attack.