"A hunter must hunt."

Third POV:

Grey walked into Wel'hel. At least that's what he believes its called. The town was filled with wooden houses, stalls, and obviously a harbour with lots of ships there as well as one metallic ship that dwarfed the other ones. It looked out of place in the villages nature-themed appearance. However, that was not his concern.

He had little interest in the town itself and whatever festives they were preparing for judging by the decorations and the preparations. He only cares that they have boats for him to use. But that still left a problem for him yet to be solved.

Without Ahri, Grey had no guide in this land nor someone who knows their culture. He can only go by what Ahri told him and hope that the money they acquired in the Fighting Pits would be enough to get him a boat to Bilgewater.

The Abyss Watcher's form was easy to spot as he walked through the streets. People were avoiding his menacing figure and a few children were even pointing at him before their parents took them away. He walked towards one of the stalls and looked at the owner, a man with greying hair and beard selling lanterns.

"May I take a moment of your time?" Grey asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Ah, a traveller passing by, I presume? You don't look like your Ionian or Noxian," the old man did not seem that intimidated and looked closer to being bored.

"I am a traveller, indeed. Can you help me find a boat to travel by?" Grey asked another question, getting straight to the point.

The old man's features soured. "You came at a terrible time, stranger. It's the Spirit Blossom festival. Most boats are already docked until it's over and the ones that aren't are on their way back," Grey simply nodded at that information. The old man did not say that there were no boats, just that they would stay until the end of whatever festive the village is throwing. "There's some Noxian ships around. You can keep asking if you want, but I still think you're better off waiting."

"Thank you," Grey nodded and walked away. Grey did not mind waiting, but he believed that asking around is better than doing nothing.

While he walked away, Grey noticed a few men in a grey and black armour, most likely Noxians, move around the village and leave large metal boxes. Normally, he would not have bat an eye to that, but he noticed that the locations they were leaving the boxes in seemed... strategic.

Grey decided to keep an eye on them but not do anything yet. He knew a festival was happening, so he did not roll out the possibility that what the men were doing were part of said festival.

Meanwhile, in another part of Wel'hel, Darius was marching through the docks, looking for Prexis. It was time to confront him of what's going on. Runes to heat ships? Boxes being left in strategic locations? The soldiers practically jumping just from Darius being around?

He wasn't gonna believe for a second that what's going on was normal.

Finding Prexis was not hard. The bald man was standing at the center of the docks while talking to two soldiers, both of which tensed when they noticed the Commander walking up to them with Farron behind him.

Prexis, seeing the soldiers' reaction, immediately looked at the approaching Darius. "Commander Darius, is there some-"

"Enough, Prexis," Darius immediately cut him off and glared. "I want answers. What are these boxes your men are leaving? What's with these rumours of you leaving Noxian strays? Either answer truthfully... or you'll never get the chance to lie again," the threat was followed by a not so subtle sign of reaching for his axe.

Prexis stayed still for several seconds, which the soldiers behind him spent simply getting more nervous and sweating, before he reached for his back pocket and pulling out something.

"Well, Commander, this should explain everything and ease your worries," Prexis held his hand forward and it showed a small tube the same size as his palm. Darius looked curiously at the tube as it had no features except the shape itself.

Until he noticed the ticking.

Before Darius can react, the tube exploded in a flash of light and caused a large cloud of smoke, catching Darius and Farron off guard while causing Prexis to scream as it went off in his hand.

Darius coughed as he tried to blink away the spots in his vision. Battle-honed instinct took over and he immediately reached for his axe before slashing upwards. Feeling and hearing his weapon tearing through armour and flesh, Darius stepped back and tried to regain his sight.

After a few blinks, the spots vanished and Darius can see again. Looking around, he noticed one of the soldiers standing behind Prexis a few moments ago was laying dead on the ground in front of him, the wound from his axe on his chest. He saw the second soldier struggling as Farron held him by the throat, shaking his own head from the small explosion.

But Prexis was not there.

Suddenly, a large flare shot up somewhere from the docks. Specifically, one of the ships owned by Prexis. As soon as the flare was in the air, all the soldiers under Prexis' command dropped whatever they were doing and held up their weapons.

"Prexis was right," Darius cracked his neck as Farron snapped the soldier's own neck. "That DID explain everything," the Commander held his axe as the soldiers began turning towards him, captain Farron pulling out his chained stars.

...

Grey stared from the merchant area at the flare as it glowed in the air, wondering if the festival had already began. He wanted to find a quiet place to wait it out should that be the case, but that didn't appear necessary as he saw how the people around him were equally confused and were asking around.

"Alright! Everyone on the ground!" Grey turned and saw one of the Noxian soldiers that was carrying boxes earlier now held a weapon high and was pointing it at people with two other soldiers behind him.

"W-Wait, what's going-" an Ionian man tried to speak up but was punched in the face and sent to the ground by the Noxian soldier.

"I said on the ground!" He held his weapon to point at the fallen man's throat. "You two, keep an eye on the big guy in the back."

The two soldiers looked around, seeing no one fitting that description. "What big guy?"

The first soldier looked in confusion as he saw that the man in the pointy metal hat was no longer there. Suddenly, there was a gust of wind and the sound of flesh being torn along the sound of something dropping on the ground. Turning quickly, the soldier almost didn't have the chance to gasp as an armored hand grabbed his throat and raised him off the ground.

"The only reason you live is because I need answers," Grey stated as the bodies of the other two soldiers lay on the ground. Without heads. "So, I suggest you make use of that reason," he stated as his hold got tighter and the struggling soldier doubled his efforts.

...

Darius cut throw another soldier as he walked through the docks, looking for Prexis. Farron was not far behind, knocking soldiers away with his large size and attacking the rest with his chained stars.

A large soldier holding a spear came charging towards Darius. The Commander swung his axe, almost knocking the spear out of the hands of the soldier. Swinging back his weapon, Darius cut the soldier across the chest, causing him to take several steps back and hold his wound, but he immediately held his weapon with both hands again.

Swinging at the commander's neck, the soldier attempted to behead him. Darius swung his own weapon and they both clashed, though only the spear shattered once meeting with the stronger weapon and the strength behind it. As the soldier stared in shock, Darius took his head with the next swing.

Looking around for any sign of Prexis at the docks across the rebellious soldiers which were now fighting the forces he came with, Darius noticed that Prexis' men were forming a wall near the end of the docks.

"Captain Farron!" That call was all that the captains needed from Darius.

The large armored man walked in front of Darius as he rolled his shoulders. Taking a stance, Farron began charging with a war cry towards the wall of soldiers, any who tried to stop him were knocked away. Fear covered the soldiers as the captain got closer and closer, raising their weapons as an attempt to protect themselves.

It was for naught. Farron broke through the wall of soldiers and sent them all flying. Darius came in looked around at the groaning and/or unconscious soldiers before scoffing. He kept walking and found Prexis standing between the docks and the town itself.

Prexis' hand, the one that held the bomb, was heavily burned and bandaged in a rough and quick manner. He looked otherwise unharmed and a few soldiers held an elderly man in front of him. The man was obviously Ionian from the clothes, blue robes and a few wooden accessories, and had a long beard and looked panicked.

Turning around, Prexis glared at Darius. "This is the village chief. You move, he dies," one of the soldiers held a knife to the chief's throat. Captain Farron was about to step forward but Darius held his hand up and stopped him. "Tell me, Commander, when did you become so weak?"

Farron growled and glared at Prexis from behind his helmet while Darius just raised an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Peace with Ionia? Have Swain gone mad?!" Prexis cried out while motioning to the land around them. "We could have won this war! No, we SHOULD have won this war! Yet when the Institute came in and placed their rules, you and Swain kneel over?!"

"If you believe for a second you're aware what the Institute of War is capable of, then you're more of a fool than I believed you to be," Darius replied, thinking of a way to deal with this.

"I know we can take on the Institute! Noxus is the strongest and no overly fancy building filled with pajama wearers is gonna be an obstacle for us! I-"

"Are you the leader of these fools?" The area became silent as a new voice tore through the area.

The Noxians looked and saw Grey standing besides the now free chief. His sword was in his hand and covered in blood. The bodies of the Noxian soldiers all lay headless on the ground. The chief himself was looking shocked and trying to register what just happened.

"W-Who the hell-"

"Answer my question," Grey asked, taking a step forward and making Prexis back up.

"N-Not so fast! I still have the entire village as my hostage!"

"If you mean your men, I already killed them all."

"Not them! Bombs. I have bomb!" That caused Grey to stop and narrow his eyes as Prexis pulled out a small device with a rune on it. "I've had my men cover this whole town with boxes filled with explosive runes! All those boxes have a detonator connected to this one. I press this, and this whole town goes up in flames, and they'll be war again no matter what the Institute says!"

Grey narrowed his eyes. He had seen those boxes as he cleared out the town from Noxian soldiers. While they were not everywhere and he doubted they can actually destroy the whole town, they were still strategically placed in populated areas.

That was easily delt with as Darius axe came flying and sliced off Prexis' arm. The one holding the detonator.

As Darius' axe passed my him, Grey immediately rushed forward. Before the hand fully fell to the ground and Prexis finished his screaming, the Farron Greatsword pierced him through the chest. Grey watched as the life slowly left the Noxian's eyes.

Pulling his sword, Grey dropped the Noxian's body and looked over his shoulder at the elder as another Ionian man was helping him to his feet. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"A-Ah, yes. Thank you, stranger," the Elder said in gratitude before tensing as Darius walked closer with Farron behind him.

"I do not believe they were with the ones that attacked," Grey commented as he used his cape to wipe the blood off his sword before placing it on his back.

"His caution is understandable," Darius said as he approached them while passing a sneer at Prexis' corpse. He turned to the chieftain and straighten his back, taking a more professional figure. "Chieftain, I am Commander Darius from Noxus. I assure you, these rebellious terrorists do not speak for our land and I was sent here to deal with them for breaking the Institute's laws of non-agression. I hope this doesn't cause a misunderstanding."

"Y-Yes, it was obvious you were not in the best of terms," the Elder coughed before standing straight cleaning his ropes. "This does cause some problems. Especially because it happened at such an important time of the year."

"I assure you, Noxus plans to take full responsibility and clean this up," Darius added without hesitation.

"Commander Darius," a soldier came in running before standing attention in front of the Commander. "All of Prexis' men have been dealt with or captured. What are your orders, sir?"

"There boxes all across the village left by Prexis' men. Dispose of them with caution. They contain dangerous cargo," Darius instructed before turning to the captain. "Captain Farron, go deal with the traitors appropriately."

While Farron and the soldier nodded and gave a salute before going to follow through those orders, Grey raised an eyebrow at the former's name. It was a rather surprising coincidence. However, 'Farron' was still a name, and any can be given that name upon birth, so he did not think much of it.

"And who might you be?" Darius asked, looking over the Undead Swordsman. He did not recognise the armor or had any idea on where it could have came from the color theme matched Noxus' armors, but Darius knows every armor design from his nation.

"A passing traveller with luck bad enough to be caught in this," Grey replied before looking back at the Chieftain. "You are the leader of this village, correct? I wish to ask you for something."

"Ah, yes. Anything I can help with to repay you?" The man asked, seemingly far more relaxed with speaking to Grey than Darius for not being a Noxian.

"I wish to find a boat to a place called Bilgewater. Do you know of any?" Grey asked, getting straight to the point.

The chieftain's features soured. "I'm sorry, but almost all the boats are docked until after the festival. If you wish, I can ask for a few favours for those who aren't attached to festival and-"

"That won't be necessary. We have a boat meant to go to Bilgewater," Darius cut into the conversation, drawing their attention. "I can give an order to have you dropped there. Consider it payback for helping deal with these traitors. Noxus repays it's debts."

Grey nodded in appreciation before the chieftain cut in. "W-Wait!" The Abyss Watcher turned to the elderly man. "There must be another way for us to repay you. Why not join us in the festival."

"I apologise, but I have no information or connection to this land's festives," Grey respectfully declined with a shake of his head.

"Is there really nothing I can do?" The chieftain asked, hoping to repay his own debt.

Grey sighed and thought for a moment. Obviously, the chieftain was bent on repaying him, and now that he thought about it, there WAS something he could do for the Abyss Watcher.

"I had a travelling companion. A woman with fox-like features. She might come here asking for a boat herself. If you wish to repat me, then you may help her and consider our debt payed," Grey instructed and the chief nodded. "Now, I have another question to ask," Darius and the chief gave him their full attention. "Do either of you know of a place called Farron Keep?" His question caused them to look at each other to see if the other knew, which was enough to show neither of them did. "The Kingdom of Anor Londo?"

"I'm sorry, but I have never heard of either of those locations," the chieftain replied with a regretful shake of his head.

"I have learned many maps but I have not heard those names before," Darius doubted Grey would be referring to Captain Farron, though he did make a note to ask him later.

"I see," Grey sighed, seemingly expecting those answers. "I suppose it does not matter. I have a destination in mind. When and where will this boat leave to Bilgewater?"

"Head to the docks and wait at the furthest most right boat. I'll come there or send someone to give you permission to board," Darius instructed and the Undead Swordsman nodded before he began heading towards the instructed boat. The Abyss Watcher passed by Captain Farron, who spared him a look before he continued to the Commander. "Did you take care of the traitors?" The captain nodded. "Good job. We should make sure this doesn't get out of hand," Darius looked at the ground and cleared his throat. "Ahem. Did you... ever hear about a place called Farron Keep?"

The captain gave his Commander a confused frown before shrugging his shoulders, showing he had no idea of that name.

(A/N: Thank you for reading this.

Please comment, review, and tell me your thoughts on my story.)