Missing - Chapter 1 - LoL fanfiction by Kuraudiachan on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Deviation Actions

Published: Jul 22, 2017

Literature Text

Chapter 1

Ziggs P.O.V.

“Rumble is missing.”
It took my brain a whole thirty seconds to register what Poppy had just said. I blinked furiously, images of his lively smile coming to mind with the thought that I might not see him again.
All the yordles had been called to an emergency meeting, to which I’d been late. I hadn’t known it was actually going to be important. Poppy hadn’t beaten about the bush, she’d just uttered those three words and the tension was nearly palpable in the room. My own tummy twisted and I thought I was going to throw up.
“What?” I whispered in a harsh tone. ‘No, no, no. It can’t be.’ I screamed inside my mind.
“Rumble didn’t appear today when he had to play a match.” The female yordle calmly said, raising an eyebrow at me. “We have looked in his apartment and his lab, and he’s not there. We believe he has ran away.”
But that didn’t make sense. Not any.
“Can’t be. Rumble wouldn’t do that.” I frowned.
“Fraid so, kiddo.” She sighed, drooping her shoulders.
“He’s probably been kidnapped or something!” I cried out, unwilling to believe what was right in front of me.
“His mech is missing too, Ziggs.” Poppy whispered, her tone soft, as if telling a child to not be disappointed. “I know it’s difficult for you to understand.”
“But, but…” I tried to say something – anything! – but my lips just quivered mercilessly. ‘Tristy is gone.’ It was all summing up in my mind, logic surpassing hope, breaking it and crumbling into tiny pieces.
But it just didn’t make sense. Why would he do this to us? Why would he do it to himself?
I got up, still not facing defeat and ran out of the room that we’d been assigned to speak things over.
I nearly fell down the stairs, then bolted down the hall into the lab section of the building. I knew where his was nearly better than I knew where mine was situated and got there as quickly as I could, breathless and trembling apprehensively. Opening the door in a rush, all I saw was the cluttered lab that I knew so well. And, to my dismay, no Tristy. She wasn’t in her normal spot.
My heart started beating slower, as if time had stopped itself. It was weird to have barged in and not get a miffed look from my friend, but then a gentle greeting and maybe even a smile. It felt… empty.
‘He has ran away.’ Was all I could think off, tears in my eyes, shock displayed clearly on my face. It felt like I’d been hit in the gut and the air had been knocked out of my lungs. I pushed the door open again and started up the stairs, to reach the room again. I burst in, panting and still surprised.
“It’s not there!” I shouted at them, as if it meant that we were all going to die.
Heimerdinger scoffed, bobbing his head up and down.
“Rumble ran away…” I muttered, going back to my seat and slumping in it.
“While you were away, Ziggs” Poppy talked, looking directly at me, showing me how annoyed she was with my sudden leaving “We discussed the consequences of his actions.”
“What’s gonna happen to him!?”
“Well, if he doesn’t come back soon, he will be banned from at least five matches, and… if he takes even longer to appear… he will be kicked out of the League.”
“No! Rumble can’t be banned!”
“I’m afraid those are the League’s rules. He shouldn’t have just ran away like that. It was unprofessional.”
“I’m going after him. I’m the only one that can talk some sense into him.” I abruptly got onto my feet
“No! Ziggs!” Tristana shouted at me, getting up too. “You’ll get banned too.”
“I don’t care.” I went towards the door, but she followed me and grabbed my shoulder. I shrugged her off and turned to look at her.
“Plus, how’re you going to find him? Ziggs, don’t be silly. I know you’re not stupid. Don’t do this. He’ll come back when he feels like it. It’s Rumble we’re talking about.”
“I’ll find him. I know where to look.” I lied. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m leaving.”

I’d been in my room for twenty minutes, packing. I’d narrowed it down to two shirts, some trousers and a few jerseys, just in case it got colder. I walked over to the kitchen, to stuff my backpack with food, which seemed the most important thing at that moment. I didn’t know if Rumble would have thought about taking any grub with him, and knowing the way he’d been acting the past few weeks, I couldn’t really rely on him to feed himself properly. I sighed, searching for stuff that wouldn’t go bad if left out of a fridge.
A light knock was heard throughout my house, and before I could answer, the door opened, and then Tristana started calling me. I kept silent and stopped what I was doing, hoping that she would go away thinking that I wasn’t home.
“I know you’re there, Ziggs.” I heard her say behind me. I sighed, turning to look at her, my shoulders drooping.
“Whatcha want?”
“Don’t do it. Just, think about it.” She calmly said, choosing a table to sit on. “Remember when we were kids and Rumble just disappeared one day? Well, it’s just like that. He’ll be back.”
“Yeah, I remember. Remember that I went after him? Remember that I brought him back?”
She kept silent, thinking of something new to say to make me reconsider what I was about to do. I knew it was stupid, she didn’t have to convince me.
“What’s up with Rumble, anyway?” She asked after a while of watching me look in all the cupboards, picking out cans of food and the like.
“What do ya mean?” I answered absentmindedly, scratching my chin.
“Why’d he leave?”
“He’s got an unreturned crush on someone.” I mumbled, not realising the information that I’d given away before it was too late. I cursed myself as I saw the change of expression in her face. I tried to cover up my mistake clumsily. “Oh, you don’t know her. She lives back in Bandle, that’s why I’m going there to see if he went to see her or something.” I was fumbling with my words by the end of my rant, but she’d paid it no heed.
“It’s me, isn’t it?” She whispered, her head lowering, her smile gone. She couldn’t look me in the eyes, something I was secretly glad about.
“What?” I murmured, trying to avoid answering.
“Rumble likes me, doesn’t he?” she asked again, this time a bit louder.
“Uh… no…”
“Oh, come on, Ziggs. I’m not stupid. His mech is named Tristy. He asked me out on a date. When he’s around me he’s all fidgety.”
“Yes, Rumble’s into ya.” I grumbled, admitting defeat.
There was a silence, only disturbed by the sounds of me stuffing food into my backpack, and occasionally getting something out.
“I don’t return the feelings.” She whispered.
“I know.” I answered, not really wanting to keep this conversation going. But, I couldn’t stop myself, I had to ask. “You and Teemo…?”
“No.” She sighed, rolling her eyes. “We’re just friends. I don’t know why people keep assuming, y’know? It’s just annoying.”
“Mmmhmmm” I put one last can in and then zipped it up. I swung the rucksack around my shoulder when I got to my feet and looked at her, silent apologies in my eyes.
“You know I don’t approve of this, right?” She murmured, hopping back down from the table and coming closer to me. She squeezed my hand tightly. “Just bring him back, safe. You know what he’s capable of doing… Be careful, ok?”
She hugged me tightly before walking out with me. I closed the door, and, for the first time in a long time, locked it. I gave her the key, telling her that I trusted her completely.
“You can have my food if you want. Don’t really want it to get rotten…” I trailed off, feeling a little empty and sad with what she had previously told me. She nodded, and we stood there for a while, unsure of how to say our final goodbyes.
“Take care.”
“You too.” I said, turning around and walking away.

“You’re making a mistake” Heimerdinger told me, walking past me. “You are not going to find him. You’re only getting yourself in trouble.”
“He’d do the same for me.” I didn’t look at him, only made my face sterner as he stopped in his tracks and started hopping behind me.
“Oh, really?” He asked. I swear I heard a snicker, which made me raise an eyebrow, incredulous. “Rumble would go looking for you?”
“Aha.”
“To be clear here, we are talking about the same Rumble, right? The one that burns your fur while laughing maniacally on the battlefield when you’re on opposing teams? The one that didn’t even bother to tell you what was wrong? The one that left you in the first place?”
“You’ve made your point clear. Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean anything. You don’t know him.”
“Oh, but I do. I know Rumble’s fuelled by mainly rage. He is arrogant and self-centred. He wouldn’t care if you went missing.”
“Of course he would!! He isn’t heartless! And for your information, he is none of those things!” I bit my lip in order to not shout out a bunch of insults at the yordle. He was kinda my boss back at the University.
“Just think about it. You’re risking far more than what you have to gain.”
I scoffed at him, stopping abruptly. “Rumble’s safety is worth less than the League?”
“Rumble’s fine, Ziggs.”
“No, he isn’t. I have a feeling here…” I pressed my thumb against my chest, frowning when I said it. “That he’s not alright. And, I will do this. I’m bringing him back, just you wait and see.”
He chuckled, bobbing his head and turning around, going back to what he was doing before. I didn’t even bother saying goodbye to him, I was in a sour mood.

I was planning on really going back to Bandle. Maybe he’d be in the old junkyard, foraging for parts, trying to build a new machine or something. But I couldn’t leave yet. My mind was racing, something bothering me, forcing my tiny feet accidentally to his place. I entered and was shocked by how empty it felt. I took a few steps forward, awkwardly looking around, my eyes taking in every tiny detail which could possibly lead me to where my friend was.
I noticed he had gears and even a spanner just lying around the floor of his living room. His messy apartment forced out a little smile from me as I remembered he’d always been like this. Back in Bandle, when we were children and he’d sleep in on a Sunday when I wanted to play I’d sneak into his room, to wake him up by throwing the stuff that was on his floor at him. He’d always answer with a scowl or a grunt, and on a good day he’d toss his things back at me. It always ended with us playing together, be it at his place, mine or the junkyard. And when we were teens I’d found a few dirty mags that he’d sloppily tried to hide under a pile of clothing and I’d snicker for minutes on end until I’d winded him up enough and he’d get all defensive about it, saying he’d never seen them before in his life.
The memories of our childhood almost brought tears to my eyes as I tried to fight the ominous idea that there was a chance I wouldn’t get to see him again.
I quickly searched his room, finding nothing of interest there, which made my heart sink a little. I shut the door to his apartment behind me and started walking again.
I went over to his lab next. By then it wasn’t just sadness that I was feeling. I couldn’t help myself and I ran my paws around the papers on his desk, shuffling them around in my despair. I knocked a stack of blueprints to the floor before my eyes scanned the room. There was a picture of us hanging on one of the walls and a mountain of books on shelves, but nothing that could help me figure out where he was.
It wasn’t as if he’d leave a map with a marking saying “I’m going there” for everyone to see if he had made a run for it and wanted no one to know where he was.
I didn’t even know why I’d gone there. Of course there wouldn’t be any clues or leads for me. I sighed in defeat, about to grab my rucksack and leave when I turned to look at the empty place where Tristy should’ve been, my paws going to my head and tugging on my fur tightly. I was in so much pain.
Until it clicked. Tristy. Tristy! I screamed her name out as an idea struck. There was no way Rumble had managed to leave with his mech without no one seeing him. His beloved Tristy might be trustworthy in the battlefield, but she was big, loud and most importantly, slow. And that’s how I reached the conclusion that someone must have seen him leave.

I swear I’ve never bolted down that aisle faster.
“Poppy! Poppy! Poppy! Poppy! Poppy! Poppy!” I screamed as I ran, walking past other champions who looked at me in concern. I finally reached her, when she was about to go to the bathroom.
“Ziggs?” She asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Poppy!” My mind still couldn’t form a different word.
“Ziggs I swear to God if this is about Rumble…” She started but I stopped her by yelling.
“Tristy isn’t there!”
For half a minute she looked at me as if I were deranged. Or stupid. It’s as if she couldn’t believe the ridiculous thing I’d said. She took a deep breath to calm down and stared into my eyes.
“Yes, Ziggs, Tristy is gone.” She managed to tell me in her calmest voice, trying to reassure me. Maybe she thought I had gone into shock before and only now my brain had managed to register that piece of information.
“No, you don’t get it! Tristy is gone!”
She couldn’t take it any longer. “No, Ziggs, the one that doesn’t get it is you.”
“There is no way Rumble walked out of the Institute with Tristy without anyone noticing it.”
Her brow furrowed and her expression become dark. She grasped my shoulder tightly as she took in what I was saying. Good thing she was pretty sharp sometimes.
“You’re right! Plus, there are security cameras around!” She gasped, a hand covering her open mouth. “Why didn’t I think of it sooner?”
She leaded the way towards the Head of the Tribunal’s office and barged in, demanding to watch the security cameras footage. She had to do some explaining before we were given permission and they took us to the screening room.
“The sooner you watch him leave with your very own eyes, the better.” I heard Poppy mutter, tapping her foot impatiently against the floor. “Then maybe you’ll leave me alone.”
We were in that room for nearly two hours. We watched all the footage from all the cameras starting two days ago up until the moment we rushed over to the office. Poppy stood beside me, open mouthed and wide-eyed while I did a victory dance. I was stupidly celebrating the fact that I’d been right before the reality sunk in. No Rumble. It didn’t matter how you looked at it, the menace was nowhere to be seen on the tapes.
“Wh-Uh… What? He can’t have possibly vanished!?” The yordle beside me screamed, placing her hands on my shoulders and shacking me. “Where is he, Ziggs?”
Even the Head of the Tribunal was in shock. “We’ll… we’ll use the magic detectors. See if there’s any trace of magic that can explain this. If he’s been teleported somewhere, we’ll know.”
It didn’t take long for a bunch of humans with weird equipment to appear. I watched anxiously as they played with their machines around his lab, even outside it. Poppy was still with me, a hand squeezing my shoulder reassuringly. Now that she was a bit more relaxed, she apologized for her behaviour.
“Next time I’ll listen to your gut.” She whispered, and I nodded, but my usual energy was gone.
“Hey, Poppy?” I asked after a while.
She looked at me, a small smile spreading on her lips. “Yes?”
“We didn’t watch the footage from the labs.” I whispered.
“Oh. There are no security cameras down here.”
The men had finished speaking with the Head of the Tribunal, who turned around and looked at us. “There are no traces of magic here. Not recent, at least.”
“What… what does that mean?” Poppy asked, worried.
“It means Rumble’s still here. He hasn’t left the Institute.” I spoke slowly, my eyes widening at the realization.