A Search Through Runeterra (Arcane)

"The unseen blade is the deadliest."~ Zed, The Master of Shadows

New Volume. New Arc.

Important information: I did some really stupid things with the travel time and distance. Basically, the characters in the story cover a lot of distance in one day of travel, like inhuman amounts. The travel from Noxus to Rakelstake should have taken months minimum. I have addressed this before but now that I'm looking toward Targon I can clearly see the issues. To fix this, the only change would be to consider the travel times for days to be weeks and weeks to be months. That would also mean that it is around two years forward in time. Like around 996AN (Might be wrong I'm guessing from memory). So yeah..... the passage of time will be more... not by a lot but something feasible in a world with magic and the like.

ONE CHAPTER A DAY TILL WEDNESDAY

Drop some comments. Drop some stones. If you are feeling spicy, drop a review.

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Gregori sat on the front deck of the ship and looked through the gaps in the railing as a spec of land in the distance was gradually increasing in size.

The initial shouts of happiness from sighting the land from the children were gone. Land was coming. But slowly. So slowly in fact that it would take them nearly the entire rapidly approaching night to reach landfall.

It was just the way things worked.

Things moved slowly.

Especially when the wind was not in your favor.

Lazily tilting his head, he turned to his daughter, Briar. She looked bored out of her mind as she lay sprawled out on the deck next to him. 

The sea and its endless blue was novel at first.

But it got dull. Fast.

Gregori sighed. It had been dull for him as well but he could stave off the dullness by just falling into thought about various things.

The children?

They could not do that.

The occasional sea creature that surfaced caught their attention for quite a while. Their conversations revolving around them until they got bored once again. Though the length of the conversations changed based on size of the creature spotted.

Gregori had tried story telling. And so did the ship hands and even the captain. But the children could only take so many stories before getting tired of that as well.

The adults then quickly figured out a way to manage the children.

Fishing. 

It was a slow thing.

But reeling in the first fish had given them an immense amount of happiness he wasn't able to replicate through anything else.

The last two times they made landfall was fine enough.

But when they left Aurma the children broke. They couldn't take sea travel anymore. 

They cried. Rolled across the deck. Threw the biggest tantrum he had ever seen these mostly well behaved children throw. 

But he couldn't let up. They were almost there.

Targon was a week or so away. 

Would landfall mean that they were at Targon? 

No.

It just meant that they would finally be on the last leg of their journey. Landfall meant that they were on Shuriman lands.

"Are we there yet?" Sydell lazily asked as he looked forward from his position. His position being stuck horizontally to the wooden walls that housed the sleeping quarters. The display of magical abilities had scared the seamen initially but they had seen more bizarre things. Magical children were just another thing on their list.

"Tomorrow." Gregori answered.

"Ughhhhhhhhhh-" Sydell groaned.

"Shut up." Rell interrupted, "It is really annoying when you whine." She had also made herself a cozy resting place. A metal dome with a nice curve that let her see the view while also curl up with all the fur lining the inside.

Though to her surprise, Daisy had managed to squeeze herself in. Despite the initial discomfort, Rell did not mind the intrusion.

Gregori sighed. He didn't know how to manage the lot. It was a rather long journey and the kids had already explored each and inch of the boat. He stared at the blot of land in the distance, they were taking the easy route anyway.

The prison ships had no stops.

Straight from the docks of Demacia to the lands of Targon.

A treacherous journey. There were a significant amount of deaths just getting there. Food was scarce, only the seamen were given daily rations. And just making the journey gave them a massive payout. The prisoners? Barely any food. Barely anything that could keep them going.

It was what made the climb worse.

They would be hungry, tired and above all.... broken.

It was why the Crown of Stone was likened to that of an execution. Because it was one. Just one done after a torturous journey.

This journey was a lot better.

From the docks to Dawnhold. Then along the coastline to Palclyff and finally to Trevale, the final stop of Demacia. After stocking up and preparing in Trevale, they travelled straight south to Aurma, a small landmass that stood in between the two continents.

The island had the children become alert. Everyone except Daisy that is. Aurma just like the next stop was a trading destination. And they had trade deals with Noxus. Specifically, one of the leaders, Mistress Arathmae had a deal with one Clan Medarda. A consequence of this deal being Noxian flags and ships at the docks.

But there was not a lot of their influence in the port town.

The children, with a lot of convincing, began to slowly let their guard down and enjoy what was put in front of them.

Then after restocking and letting the kids let lose in Aurma for the night, they began following the coastline toward their destination in Shurima.

Kalamanda.

He turned around to check on the other three and found them leaning on Oompa and Loompa, passed out.

It was also extremely lucky that not a single one of them got sea sick. Very fortunate. However, he guessed that they would begin to show symptoms if he had let them know that it was possible to get sick like that.

The children had reached a common consensus.

The sea was beautiful and all.... but sea travel? 

Never again.

Gregori found the change of pace nice. When he had moved to the mountains near Delverhold, it was in order to settle down. His days of travel were over. The easy life of staying in one place had changed. Thinking back on it... it felt like a decade had passed.

Countless battles and the endless walking to destinations. It was wearing him down. Mentally.

Physically, he was at a state similar to his days as The Gray. The transformations and the travel had helped him lose a lot of weight and regain the muscles he had once had.

It was almost night and day from how he looked when he was living with Leanna.

Looking at his face in the mirror and the reflections on the sea water, Gregori couldn't believe himself. Age had done him more favors than he had expected. Twenty year old him couldn't hold a candle to the current him.

Leanna had really fallen for him when he had looked like that huh?

His face fell. Thoughts of Leanna and his unborn child still ran rampart through his head, he had expected to get over it as the years passed but it only brought about more regret. What if he had stayed at home with the children.

Why hadn't he listened to Leanna? 

Nothing short of an entire army could have stopped him then. He would be weakened after the fight but his enemies wouldn't be alive. Blood would return but the dead? They were forever gone.

His family would have been whole. His child alive and his children with a mother.

Then images of all the other children flashed through his mind. His thoughts cleared. His family was whole. Just a different kind of whole.

Those regrets would remain just that.

Regrets.

He left out a long breath.

Those days seemed almost a lifetime ago. The small home in the woods. The little creek. The chirping birds. That fireplace. That rocking chair.

Those memories put a smile on his face.

Maybe....

He looked at his children once again.

They were tired of the traveling.

Maybe it was time to settle.

The woods past Targon. It would be relatively safe. The children would have a stable home.

A cottage.

Something similar to what he had built previously..... just a little larger. Seven growing children needed a lot of space.

With those thoughts he drifted off to sleep.

"You have now traveled the entire distance of the Conqueror's Sea!" The captain exclaimed to the excited children as they reached the docks. "How do you feel?"

"They are excited because they will be on land soon James." Gregori said as he patted the man's shoulder.

James's face dropped, "Ah... I had hoped at least one of them would take to sea travel."

BUMP

The ship made contact with the docks.

"IM FREE!" Sydell yelled as he leaped onto solid ground. "LAND! I LOVE YOU!"

The other children rapidly clambered onto land as the drawbridge connected.

"It seems they despise the mode of transport." James said sadly.

Gregori grabbed the reins on the two beasts and led them to the drawbridge. "They are children. They need entertainment. One of them might like this once they grow older."

James nodded and held out a hand.

Gregori shook it firmly, "Thank you James. I hope you have a pleasant journey back home." He turned around and caught a flash of blue light above him. "What was that?" He exclaimed.

James laughed, "That? Don't worry. We had the same reaction as you when we first saw it."

His eyes landed on the structure from where the blue light came. A vague memory surfaced from the far reaches of his mind. "I've seen this before...."