I'm just a man that hates bandits.

"Ugh... I'm thirsty."

"Who wouldn't be after travelling for almost a day without bringing any fluids with him?" Freida told the young man. Lanius then saw an image within his head of the woman in his dream rolling her eyes.

"Eh.. Let's just hope that this village has an Inn or something similar." Lanius replied.

Lanius headed towards the village. It was a relatively small one, Eastern style, with a population of approximately four hundred people, both human and vastaya. Lanius approached it and moved towards the center. It had no walls, almost all of the Ionian villages had no walls, hence why Noxus was able to conquer many places relatively easy.

As he walked towards the center, the villagers that passed by him looked at him with curiosity and whispered to each other in Modern Ionian, but other than that didn't say anything else.

As he made it to the center of the village, he took a look around, spotting what seemed to be an Inn, something that confused him, since a village of that small population wouldn't need an Inn.

Nonetheless he moved towards it and walked inside. It was a simple one with Eastern decoration. A young feline vastaya, wearing something that resembled a kimono greeted him as just as he stepped foot inside and, after the young man left his boots at the front, directed him at a table.

Lanius sat down and looked around. The place was empty, aside from a young swordsman with a blue cropped cloak that was sitting at a table in the corner of the Inn with his eyes closed.

"What would the esteemed traveller wish for?" she asked with a smile, making Lanius also smile.

"Do you serve tea?" he then replied.

The female vastaya replied positively and the young man ordered mint tea. She then left the table and soon returned with a porcelain tea pot and a cup. He poured some into the cup and took a sip, letting out a sigh. This caused the female vastaya to smile even more.

"Does the esteemed traveller like the tea?"

Lanius nodded. "It's excellent! " he exclaimed.

"Is the esteemed traveller from here? She then asked. Lanius, seeing that the Inn was practically empty, knew that she was bored to the bone, so she decided to start a conversation.

"I could say that I am an Ionian." he replied.

"Well it's quite obvious, based on your face." she commente.

"My face?" he asked her with a puzzled look. He then rose his eyebrows as he understood what she said. The other vastaya's face flushed red.

"Ah! ...I-I mean from the markings on your f-face. The...esteemed guest is a vastaya, correct?" she stuttered.

"Well, half vastaya to be exact." he said with a smile, causing the girl to turn around and mumble something along the lines of "Enjoy your tea."

She left and continued to drink his tea but stopped when he noticed the female vastaya looking at him from the other side of the room.

As she saw that, her face flushed red and she spun around, heading towards a table to clean. Despite trying to hide her embarrassment, her tail still wagged.

"How cute." he thought and returned to his tea. Freida just scoffed.

"Am I that pretty?" he then though, also asking her.

"You are attractive, but you are way more in her eyes, as she has a thing for silver haired vastaya." she replied.

Lanius rolled his eyes, before closing them and enjoying the tea. It reminded him of his village. They always had mint tea in the afternoon, a tradition that he kept even when he left the village.

.

.

.

The sound of the alarm woke Lanius up from his daydreaming. Sounds of commotion could be heard from outside. He looked around the Inn, and grew even more concerned when he saw the owner lock the door. He got up from his table and approached her.

"Uh..what's going on?" he asked.

"Bandits, they come every two months! They steal our crops and animals. Sometimes they even take us!" she shouted. Lanius noticed despair in her eyes. He looked at the swordsman that was in the Inn. He didn't even flinch.

"Is he asleep?" Lanius though to himself. He then looked at the woman.

"I-is the esteemed traveller a combatant?" she said, looking at his kusarigama.

"Uh...yes." The young man said.

"I am asking too much, but...if the esteemed traveller can, please protect us!" she said.

Lanius though for a mere second, then he replied. "All right. Worry not, cause I shall save you. The Winter is with you."

.

.

.

Lanius approached the villages gate. It was actually a torii that acted as a gate. In front of it stood about forty men, barely armored and armed. The looked at him and once he approached them, one spoke.

"Young man, unless you're here to help, you better go and hide."

"I'm here to assist you. Better yet, I'll relieve you of them myself." Lanius said. The men looked at him with confusion, before looking at each other.

"Uh...all right." the one that spoke before said.

Lanius leaned against one of the torii's pillars and peeked outside. A horde that was riding horses approached the village. Lanius calculated that they were about a one and a half kilometers away. All armed and armored.

"How many are they?" he asked the villages warriors.

"About a hundred and twenty, mostly men, but there are some women too. And as you can see, all armed." one replied.

"Triple our number." Lanius muttered. "Are you all that the village has? I thought that us, Ionians are warriors." he said.

"Originally there were more. But first the war and then the bandits took or crippled the majority. Now it's just us." another said.

Lanius nodded. He was unsure whether or not he could take them all at once. He then decided that he'd try to intimidate them. He got and went to go outside, when one of the warriors yelled for him.

"What are you doing?! You're going to fight them all alone!?"

"Have faith in me." he replied.

"No way we're going to let you fight alone." some of them exclaimed as they began to move.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to intimidate them. I'll challenge one in a fight. Defeating them should cause the rest to back down." Lanius said, causing the warriors to stop.

"Who are you, young man? Not many are so brave." one asked.

"I'm just a man that hates bandits." Lanius replied with a smile and headed towards the enemy.

"Lanius" Freida spoke to him within his head. "Perhaps it's time for me to tell you about an ability that the previous Winters had. It should assist you in this battle."

"What is it and how can I use it?" Lanius replied, also within his head.

"It's called Sovereign's Dominance...."