❝ CARNAGE ! ❞

A growl and erratic huffs passed between dark lips. Renekton’s scent, strong and deadly, quite similar to his own but less rotten.

Send me 👋 to pet my muse! 

At first, there was confusion.  Who in the world was petting the top of his head?  He had yet to find a mortal that was tall enough to reach his head without assistance.

He turned, a question already formed on his lips which died as the air left him.

For a brief moment, he forgot.  He forgot the time Renekton spent locked underground.  He forgot about Xerath’s betrayal, of a thousand years of self-inflicted pain.  He forgot about Renekton’s madness and the world around him.

It was just… him and his brother.

“Renekton…?” he whispered, staring for a long moment.  “You-…”

Something lurched in Nasus’ stomach, pulling at his heart as he watched the emotions dance across Renekton’s face.  Something had struck a chord in the Ascended and Nasus faltered, hesitating in the face of it.

His plan was still in place, but his stance shifted, no longer on a defensive guard.

“Regardless of what hatred you hold in your heart now,” he said, hand clenching, “do not look to the past.  Look to where you are going to go in next.  I do not want to see you like this- both of us like this.  I still remember those days when I would steal mother’s cookies from the jar for us to share, then you taking the blame for it…  But those days, they have long passed.”

It was a constant war with his heart and his mind.  He still loved Renekton, as his brother once meant the world to him.  Now, this new world need Nasus’ attention, his knowledge and guidance.

“Maybe we cannot have what we once did…  But please, take the time to look around you.  This world is different from the one we once lived in.  Do not think about what happened then and what you are going to do now.  Think of where you will be in the future, what you will do then.  We cannot afford to think short term anymore, not in this day an age.  And if you find out what to do then…  Come find me.”

The wind picked up, sand filling the air between them as Nasus stared down Renekton.

“Please, brother.  This hatred, this pain…  Is it worth it?  In the end, after everything, if I no longer walk this world…  Will it be worth it?”

Renekton’s claws dug into his own snout with enough force to draw blood. Crimson flowed through his fingers and onto the sand below, his eyes were squeezed shut. He backed away further. His brain felt like it would explode through his skull. It had been a long time since he last felt his head ache in this way.

Confusion, dread, anger - so many emotions squeezed at his broken psyche. Memories, distant, broken - as though they were from another life - one not his own crossed his vision. He felt lost somewhere between then and now. Renekton was being crushed in the in between of these moments. 

“No more!” He roared at last, sounding like a petulant child who wasn’t getting his way. “Enough!” He removed his hands, shaking his head side to side sending blood splattering around him. A growl rumbled forth from him and for a moment it looked like he might rush the jackal, like he might charge him and continue this fight after all... But then his furious eyes widened for a flicker of a moment.

Send me 👋 to pet my muse! 

At first, there was confusion.  Who in the world was petting the top of his head?  He had yet to find a mortal that was tall enough to reach his head without assistance.

He turned, a question already formed on his lips which died as the air left him.

For a brief moment, he forgot.  He forgot the time Renekton spent locked underground.  He forgot about Xerath’s betrayal, of a thousand years of self-inflicted pain.  He forgot about Renekton’s madness and the world around him.

It was just… him and his brother.

“Renekton…?” he whispered, staring for a long moment.  “You-…”

Nasus side-stepped, ducking under the axe and circling away from Renekton.  His feet brought him to the wagon, standing firm with his back to it.

“Then tell me this brother: what will you do when I am gone?” he replied, axe in hand.  I was no longer a problem, no longer among the living, what would you do then?  Have you considered what your future will look like without me?  Without this world?”

The base of his axe hit the ground three times, the sound resonating into the earth.  After that, he hefted the axe back up, stance widening as he prepared for Renekton’s next move.

To him, it was simple.  Nasus had, for the most part, moved on.  There was always some linger pain there, that he couldn’t do more to help his brother…  But he couldn’t linger on it.  Time moved in one direction and that was forward.  Focusing on the past only meant he was going to miss the future.

Besides, there was more to life than revenge.

The words should have meant nothing to Renekton in his current state, but against all odds they stirred something within him. Memories danced in his head like fireflies. He remembered being young, his brother - his best friend away at the collegium. He had felt lost, lonely. 

He remembered years spent in the dark with only the ascended magus for any sort of company. Renekton recalled missing his brother, heart aching for the sibling he might never get to see again. 

The crocodile grabbed his snout and growled; the memories blown around like sand in the wind. His heart felt like it was being crushed in his chest; something was at war within his shattered mind. He shook his head quickly, eyes further unfocused, past and present muddling themselves into one.

Renekton was frozen in a haze of confusion, “I don’t know,” the words had all of the fire sucked out of them. Was he even aware he was speaking? “I don’t know... what I’ll do.”