Under the sunlight the golden armor of the Solari Avatar did not simply gleam but rather shone in the narrow canyons characteristic of the near-river sections of the lower jungle, the sheer presence of a woman clad in shining light as much as metal and cloth seeming to push back to enclosing walls to grant a little more breathing room, an inspiration to those who strode with her.
Or at least, it would be were she not alone. Ezreal was only a scant distance away, blasting minions while the enemy champions cowered under their tower, leaving him to farm in peace and her to go renew the wards that had failed a minute ago, darkening the river to her eyes once more. The 'fog of war' as the summoners called it was always somewhat disconcerting with the way it caused her awareness to clip and distort without someone or something to extend her 'vision' and she closed her eyes to keep from disorienting herself with the sudden extra sight the ward would grant her as she tossed the crystal-capped totem into the brush by the riverside.
She opened them to an all-too-familiar blade of curving silver in her face...
As the ward sailed through the air, Diana -who'd lain in wait in the brush as she watched her once-love draw closer- had charged, the faint presence of the moon overhead letting her rush forwards as a being made more of light than anything with actual substance. Leona's blade came up instinctively and they clashed, a familiar ring of silver curve on straight gold opening the fight.
There was always a melancholy air to their battles... Memories of what they had once been tarnished the frantic clashes and struggles and so there was always a grim sadness. Neither truly wished to kill the other and only did so because commanded (not that the rift ever let it stick), but as they fought, ignorant of what happened around them, something passed over the world, and a shadow descended across the rift...
The moon's ambit, faint in the sky, began to blaze with too-bright fire as it moved between the sun and the earth, and in the rift, the summoner's connections suddenly went dead.
Their blades locked, and they held them, and suddenly, words that had been held back before came spilling forth in the silence.
"Why?"
It was Diana who blurted it out, anger and heartbreak making her voice crack slightly as the force left her grip.
"Why can't you just admit they were wrong? That Solar worship is wrong?" There was something deeper behind the question, hidden back there, but this newfound freedom didn't release them from all inhibitions. "You can't possibly think... That this is right..." "Diana..."
With the summoner's connection cut off, neither was aware any longer of Ezreal's movements nearby, but both were lost in this sudden moment, brought on by the magical disruption of the eclipse. "Diana... Please... Come back to me... Just let go..." Faces close, breaths hot, tears glistening against both their eyes that all the stoicism in Runeterra was only barely managing to hold back...
It would only take a few inches to kiss, to melt into each other's arms and hope it would all go away...
Or at least, it would be were she not alone. Ezreal was only a scant distance away, blasting minions while the enemy champions cowered under their tower, leaving him to farm in peace and her to go renew the wards that had failed a minute ago, darkening the river to her eyes once more. The 'fog of war' as the summoners called it was always somewhat disconcerting with the way it caused her awareness to clip and distort without someone or something to extend her 'vision' and she closed her eyes to keep from disorienting herself with the sudden extra sight the ward would grant her as she tossed the crystal-capped totem into the brush by the riverside.
She opened them to an all-too-familiar blade of curving silver in her face...
As the ward sailed through the air, Diana -who'd lain in wait in the brush as she watched her once-love draw closer- had charged, the faint presence of the moon overhead letting her rush forwards as a being made more of light than anything with actual substance. Leona's blade came up instinctively and they clashed, a familiar ring of silver curve on straight gold opening the fight.
There was always a melancholy air to their battles... Memories of what they had once been tarnished the frantic clashes and struggles and so there was always a grim sadness. Neither truly wished to kill the other and only did so because commanded (not that the rift ever let it stick), but as they fought, ignorant of what happened around them, something passed over the world, and a shadow descended across the rift...
The moon's ambit, faint in the sky, began to blaze with too-bright fire as it moved between the sun and the earth, and in the rift, the summoner's connections suddenly went dead.
Their blades locked, and they held them, and suddenly, words that had been held back before came spilling forth in the silence.
"Why?"
It was Diana who blurted it out, anger and heartbreak making her voice crack slightly as the force left her grip.
"Why can't you just admit they were wrong? That Solar worship is wrong?" There was something deeper behind the question, hidden back there, but this newfound freedom didn't release them from all inhibitions. "You can't possibly think... That this is right..." "Diana..."
With the summoner's connection cut off, neither was aware any longer of Ezreal's movements nearby, but both were lost in this sudden moment, brought on by the magical disruption of the eclipse. "Diana... Please... Come back to me... Just let go..." Faces close, breaths hot, tears glistening against both their eyes that all the stoicism in Runeterra was only barely managing to hold back...
It would only take a few inches to kiss, to melt into each other's arms and hope it would all go away...