The Climb, Part 1.

Rakan deeply exhaled, letting out a small cold cloud out of his mouth. "Huh...it's chilly."

"We're at the start of the mountain, wait till we reach the upper slopes." Sett joked.

The Ionians were standing on top of one of the lower slopes. Two Rakkor guides stood next to them. "Come on, the distance is quite long." one of them said.

The Ionians and the Rakkor guides moved forward, towards the village.

The Rakkor was the general categorisation of the many Targonian tribes. The first thing that theyhad to do was talk to a Rakkor priest, as in order to scale Targon, one would need to have a whole ceremony before it all started.

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"Lanius of Shon-Xan...are you prepared to scale the great mountain, overcome the difficulties and find what you seek?" the priest asked.

"I am." the young man determinedly said.

"What about you, Sett of Navori?" the priest turned towards Sett.

"I am." Sett replied, though he looked...afraid?

"You may bid farewell to those special to you, and then proceed with scaling the mountains, and may the Ascented guide you." the Rakkor priest anounced, before the rest of the Rakkor present in the ceremony cheered on.

Lanius and Sett stood next to each other and looked at the Ionians, who stood in front of them.

"Come back in one piece!" Kayn exclaimed and gave a punch their shoulders.

"We'll be waiting for your return." Akali added.

Rakan gave a fistbumb on each, followed by Xayah, who did the same. "Stay strong."

Ahri approached the Winter and gace him a long lasting kiss on the lips. As she was done, she whispered "Come back to me, Wolfy."

Lanius gave a quick kiss on the top of her head and whispered back. "We'll both come back. I'll return, Foxy." he said.

Then also gave a hug to Sett, and the two then left the village and began ascending the giant mountain.

The Beast-Man and the Winter passed through a series of small bridges and then made it to the first snows.

Sett had brought with him a furred coat, similar to the one he had, but with sleeves.

The two warriors stood opposite of each other in silence for a few minutes, as they listened to the wind that passed through the holes of the mountain.

"Are you ready, Freezing Bastard?" Sett jokingly asked.

"I am. What about you, Beast-Man Bastard?" Lanius replied.

"More than ever." Sett replied and shoulder bumped him.

"Good luck, Sett." Lanius exclaimed and turned around.

"You too, you'll need it if you plan on finding that damned rune." Sett also turned around.

The two warriors took their own path and eventually dissappear, as theuy climbed higher.

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"So this woman tells us that the Winter has awakened and now wants revenge?" General Darius asked.

The witch, Darius, Swain and The Faceless sat at the throne room of the Immortal Bastion.

"Not quite, General." Leblanc stated. "He will surely be aggravated by the loss of his tribe and might seek revenge."

"Might? Might seek revenge...or WILL seek revenge?" Darius sighed.

"There is no immediate danger, I assure you." Leblanc tried to protest.

"My crows tell otherwise, witch. As it appears, the Winter has left Ionia and is travelling the world. Only a god knows what he is searching."

"This is in our favour." The Faceless then spoke. "Since the Winter is occupied with his own search, we should take this opportunity and strike first."

"Strike first? Another invasion in Ionia?" Darius asked.

"No, General. Consider this as the second wave of the Ionian invasion." The Faceless explained.

Jericho Swain then looked at his demonic arm...and thought.

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Ahri, Xayah and Rakan looked at the snowy mountain from the lower slopes.

"You think that it will be hard for them?" Rakan asked.

"As far as I know, the climb will be a difficult challenge. Most don't make it out alive." Ahri replied.

"In an odd and distorted way, it reminds me of our raids." Xayah muttered. "Speaking of a raid, I just remembered the plan you, Lanius and Kayn orchestrated in order to meet with me." she said and glared daggers at the vesani.

"This was almost a month ago,do you still have a grudge against me for that plan?" Ahri asked.

"No, not anymore. I don't view you as a traitor anymore. You've proven to be a strong vastaya, even if you want to let go of your heritage."

"My heritage..." Ahri replied. "I never wanted to do that. Heck, quite the opposite. I want to know about my tribe, I want to protect this knowledge. Lanius vowed to me that once all of this is done, well focus on gathering information."

"Speaking of him, I wonder what he's doing." Rakan muttered.

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Lanius grasped the frozen rock and continued to climb higher. With each move, shredded snow flew from below him into the void.

"Freida, what exactly will happen here?" Lanius asked as he pushed himself on top of a rock.

The young man got no response.

"Freida?!" the young man called out for the Spirit again and again as he climbed.

The wind howled below and above him.

A voice spoke as a response, but it didn't belong to the spirit. "In order to reach the summit, in order to find what you seek, Winter..." The voice was a deep male one.

Lanius paused for a brief second, overtaken by the voice that sounded in his head. "Who...who are you?" he asked.

"Who I am is irrelevant to this situation. I am here, because you have made me interested in seeing your small tales outcome." the voice continued.

"Then...tell me what I'll have to do." Lanius replied.

"You will need to face your past, your present and your future. If you overcome this obstacles, you shall find what you desire." the voice continued. "Will you succeed, or will you fail, Lanius, Son of Zefarin, The Embodiment of the Winter, The Prince of the Winter?"

The young man's eye lit up as he continued to climb up. He grit his teeth and kept on, propted by the strange voice.

"And so...it begins. The Climb has started."