A Search Through Runeterra (Arcane)

The rules hold you back! Leave 'em for someone who needs 'em." ~ Akali the Rogue Assassin

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"I'm not Noxian."

Leanna raised her head in surprise. But Gregori just continued.

"I was born to a high Demacian family. And as Demacians do when they don't like something, they either destroy it or hide it away. Most of my early life was just me trying to figure out why my parents liked my siblings more than me. I was left behind in everything. At one point I started to believe that that's just how parents were. My only happiness was from a friend and the maid assigned for me. She raised me alone like her own child. And despite everything she was all I had."

Gregori stopped for a little. Staring right at Annie. Recounting this story just made him more determined to be a better father. It also put into perspective his own worries. His own insecurities and shortcomings. He definitely wasn't the greatest parent or husband but he wanted to be a good one..... one his daughter would remember fondly in the future after his death.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. The green eyes just looked at him, trying to relate to him and help him. She didn't speak any words but the action alone was enough.

Placing his hand on the window, he continued his story.

"One day.... I don't know why.... but it seemed that my parents had had enough of me. And they sent me off with criminals to certain death. It was guaranteed. The only person on my side couldn't do anything to stop them. Her last words to me were, "Survive. Please Live. Whatever happens just don't die." I just nodded in response. I mean..... I didn't even know what would happen and where I was going. Only later did I find out that my family abandoned me and I was sent off to die. But that journey had its own highs and lows. The older 'criminals' took care of me. I was barely a teenager forced to handle the dangers of the world but I wasn't alone." Gregori spoke with a faraway look in his eyes as if living those moments again.

"Later I was secretly passed on to a tribe while the 'criminals' faced their punishment. An impossible task. Time passed and I believed I was abandoned once again. Months of travel with people who genuinely cared about me was my second time experiencing anything like love. Not parental but one you would show to a child. Harmless kindness. But as I grew older I understood, I wasn't abandoned... I was protected. The tribals were not welcoming but its warriors were. Age didn't matter to them, a warrior was defined by their experiences and so started my training alongside warriors of the tribe."

A smile crept up onto his face as waves of nostalgia hit him. 

"It was the most fun years of my life. I was not liked by the regular tribe members.... but that didn't matter. The warriors treated me, an outsider, as one of their own. We ate together, trained together and fought together. I made friends and eventually considered them as family. That was my third experience with love. A familial kind. One where you would lay your life down for another because you simply loved them. But those days came to an end too. The tribes were invaded. We faced something akin to a force of nature. Unkillable. Unstoppable. As I watched it slaughter the warriors..... my family, those words rang in my head again. "Survive. Please Live. Whatever happens just don't die." And I did something I regret to this day. I.....I turned and... and ran."

Those words didn't come out easy. His fists were clenched tight. He swallowed trying to stop the knot in his throat from fully forming. The hand on his shoulder went from being soft to a firm grip. Trying to emulate the intensity of support Leanna wanted to show.

He looked at Annie, trying to find some sort of strength from her. And he did find some, just enough for him to blink away the tears forming.

"Then I wandered. Travelling across the land and somehow ended up in Noxus. A few years was all it took until I found her. Amoline. She was headstrong, quick to anger but still innocent. The kind you cannot spot in and around Noxus. We spent the rest of the years together. Finally, after her urging and our constant planning, we moved here to start a family. Away from the politics, away from the wars. It was peaceful. And a year later Annie came into our lives. A year after that Amoline.... she passed away. Time passed and well... here we are."

Leanna was left shocked after listening to his story. The man in front of her had gone through so much. At first she had believed that he was just a Noxian soldier who moved away to raise his daughter but she couldn't have been further from the truth. Every happy moment in his life ended abruptly, even now he kept searching for some semblance of happiness and love. Moreover he showed the love he had never received to his daughter.

She didn't even entertain the fact that she might have been lied to. Men who lived through wars seldom lied, to those who have seen death at that scale, something like lying was beneath them.

That was true. Gregori hadn't lied the whole time. But he had omitted some parts. That was fine, after all some moments of his story were best left to himself.

It was decided. Leanna was sure that the decision she had made was the right one now. Everything would take a turn for the better.

And just like that, the two of them spent the rest of their time looking out of the window watching the kids play.

Annie's world view was a little crooked but it was a result of her innocence. If she liked something, she wanted more of that thing. She liked her father. She liked being a family. So more family was something she always wanted. And her father had got her that. Now she had someone else to play with, playing with Tibbers and her father was all she ever did before. She had played with other kids before but now she had more family to play with. 

She was beyond excited when they brought Daisy back. As they walked back from Delverhold she had continued talking with Daisy. Pointing things out in the forest. Telling her stories of the forest around her house. She wanted to play with her, read with her and draw with her.

Fun Fun Fun

Dragging Daisy by the arm, she led her around the house and out to the creek by their house.

"Come come! Hop... Skip..... JUMP!"

She jumped from one little rock to the other and made her way across the creek. Daisy watched at first. She was scared. But looking at Annie who easily crossed over, she felt a strange sense of competitiveness. Upon Annie's further urging she made the first jump.

And 

SHWOOOP

She was plucked out of the air mid jump.

"Ah!" She gasped in surprise.

Daisy looked at the arms that held her, her legs flailing.

"Don't cross the creek alone Annie. I told you this before. And don't rope in Daisy into any dangerous okay?"

Gregori put Daisy down next to him. Bending down he gave her a once over, to make sure everything was fine. Then he walked across the stones, lifted Annie by the cuffs of her clothes and carried her across the creek.

His way of carrying Annie elicited laughs from both Daisy and Leana who made her way there.

Annie blew raspberries at them and started flailing her arms and legs. Without caring about the movement however, Gregori carried her all the way to the house. 

"Hmph!"

Annie pouted and folded her arms tightly.

Looking at her Gregori spoke, "Oh! Is my firefly showing me attitude?"

Giving her a once over, he continued, "How many times have I told you to not cross the creek alone?"

"But I wasn't alo-"

"You know full well what I meant by that statement." He cut in. "Now lets get you and your new sister inside for some food."

Pushing Annie inside, he beckoned toward the two who moved toward him. 

"Daisy.. child.. go inside and sit with Annie okay? Me and your mom will bring out some food." He looked toward Leanna who gave a slight nod.

Daisy looked at her mother in askance.

"Go in Daisy. Play with Annie." Leanna spoke.

With a happy face she ran in as fast as her little legs could take her.

"She's excited." Leanna started.

"And hopefully happy." Gregori moved his hand, indicating her to step inside. "Come lets get the food going."

Leanna tilted her head to the side, "Never took you for a gentleman."

"Trying to make a name for yourself in Noxus tends to teach a person some etiquette..... Well then m'lady, after you."

"If you say so Sir Gregori." She gave a crude curtsy and walked in.

"Heh.." Giving a small snort, Gregori followed her and led her into the kitchen.

"Yeah..... is Elnuks stew fine for you? I had prepared some yesterday in expectation for the both of you.

Leanna's eyes lit up as she saw the big pot but then she frowned. "Wouldn't the food have gone bad overnight?"

Gregori lifted the lid off the pot and gave it a couple sniffs, then tried a spoonful. "No.. its still good." Lifting the hefty pot he placed it over the kitchen fireplace.

Leanna gave him a confused look.

"Keeping the food cold stops it from going bad."

"I know that. I grew up near the Freljord remember? The question is how do you keep it cold enough." Leanna spoke back.

Gregori shrugged and flicked his hand toward the fireplace.

WHOOOOOOSH

A fire sprouted from under the pot.

"Magic is pretty handy isn't it?" He gave a look at the growing fire proudly.

"Isn't it?...."

Hearing no reply he turned to face Leanna once more. And found her staring at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"Ah....."

He walked up to the kitchen counter and poured a glass of water. Moving the glass toward her, "I apologize... I completely forgot to inform you of my magical capabilities. Both me and Annie have a capacity for magic. Well considering how Noxus is actively searching for mages, I kept this secret pretty well, wouldn't you say so?"

Giving him a vacant nod Leanna gulped down the cup of water understanding why his parents had treated him so, even she had heard the stories of the way mages are treated in Demacia. Only a few seconds later did she speak. 

"That is a very dangerous piece of information Gregori. The price for information on mages is enough to keep me and Daisy going for a couple of years comfortably."

Nodding, Gregori spoke," Yeah. It could. But we both know that this is a better arrangement in every way for the both of us and our children. And if you are going to be living with here, with us... then you are privy to this information. As a form of trust. Anyway... I do believe that I am a pretty good cook. Try some." He pointed toward the pot, the stew inside bubbling.

Leanna lifted a ladle and poured some in a bowl. Trying a spoonful, her eyebrows raised up.

"Not bad! The meat is cooked well and so are the vegetables. I am impressed." 

Gregori smiled at her, happy his food was recognized.

Leanna grabbed a few more bowls. "Now lets pour some for the children."