#ezrika

“We good?”

“Got it.” Erika readjusted the gauntlet to fit on her left wrist better and grinned. It had been years since she tested out how powerful her control over her Ki was, and she was excited… and honestly, frightened. The last time she practiced resulted in a destroyed redwood tree and her sister’s coma. (Shen and Akali taught her how to be calm, collected and patient, not how to use it as a weapon.) Even now, nearly 8 years later, she could still see Riven’s widened eyes as the wind slashed into her. Her final cry reverberated in Erika’s ears:

Release your anger on me!

The blonde interrupted her thoughts. “I have no idea how this Ki thing works, so I’m gonna keep a close eye on you, okay?” Ezreal stood a few feet behind her, leaning against one of the buildings in the dead-end alley. He was holding some weird device that allowed him to take notes ‘electronically’ and ‘call’ people. “Let it riiiiiiip, Rika!”

“Yeah, yeah.” She held her left hand up and gripped the handle of her katana, an Ionian-forged weapon won by her father. The accident was the last time she could properly hold a sword, and she still wasn’t entirely sure of herself. Her forehead was slick with perspiration, and she was breathing heavier than usual as she faced the brick wall.

“Hey, no sweat. You got this,” the Explorer called out.

“Hush, handsome boy, you’re breaking my concentration,” she grumbled, dropping her hands and glancing backwards to throw him a glare. He simply laughed and waved her off.

She took a deep breath and once again held her katana, quickly unsheathing it and holding it in front of her face. “It’s been a long time since I’ve used you,” she murmured, looking at the steel blade. It was light and easy to hold with one hand, but Erika felt imbalanced and completely unprepared - the last blade she confidently held was Riven’s asymmetrical, top-heavy broadsword. It should have been exciting, but there was a familiar knot in her stomach tightening the longer she stared at it. Then came the pounding bricks against her temples. And then the rapidly increasing heartbeat, the constricting, suffocating feeling as if a noose were wrapping around her neck, as though her lungs were being ripped out of her chest, and her muscles tensing, freezing her, needles shooting through every nerve of her body, stopping her, ending her, eliminating her very being.

Then falling… falling… the ground getting closer with each passing second…

Then nothing.

“Erika!”

Two hands tightened on her shoulders, stopping her from slamming face-first into the concrete.

“Eh?”

She blinked back the darkness a few times, and Ezreal appeared in her line of sight, his eyebrows furrowed. “Are you okay?” he whispered, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

“I’m okay,” she affirmed, trying to smile. You’re strong in your own way, Riven used to tell her. Not physically, not strategically. But you walk your own path. You always walk your own path.

“You don’t seem okay,” he said. “Maybe we should try this another day.” He frowned again, and the lines on his forehead deepened. Sighing, Ezreal bent down to pick up her katana, - Wait, when did I drop that? Erika wondered - his hands shaking slightly. “Gods, bro, you gave me a heart attack,” he grumbled, handing her the weapon as he leaned up.

I’m happy you’re not dead, Erika.

…You always seem to overcome the most impossible of odds.

Stupid gutter rat, she thought, a smile spreading across her face.

She turned and looked at the brick wall a few yards in front of them. “I want to try it,” she said, her grin widening as she brandished the sword. “I’m sure I can do it this time.”

“Rika, please don’t push yourself,” he sighed, resting his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know why that-” He gestured to all of her. “-happened, but you shouldn’t risk it.”

“I figured it out. I know why, and it won’t happen again,” Erika replied firmly, tilting her chin up and rolling her shoulders back. “Trust me.”

“I don’t like this…” Ezreal murmured, taking a few steps back and watching her closely.

Her fingers tightened around the handle, and she breathed in as she swung the katana backwards. Erika focused every last ounce of her attention on throwing the weapon, and the gauntlet flashed a bright blue glow as the katana went spinning toward the brick wall. While the katana was midair, Erika stared at the weapon and held up her left arm, willing the wind to work in her favor as the gauntlet pulsated that aqua hue. The katana struck the wall twice in a flawless X, and the wind blowing around it forced the weapon to move back to its owner, who smiled as the Ionian blade rapidly spun toward her. Erika flicked her wrist down, and the wind immediately halted all momentum, causing the katana to hover in front of her face, its sharp end pointed right between her eyes. Ezreal gasped. The girl grinned and called the wind to sheathe her sword without even touching it.

“What the hell was that? Your eyes -”

“Just a little something-something I picked up in Ionia and Noxus,” she replied, shrugging as she tapped a few buttons the gauntlet.

“And Noxus? See, that’s why you shouldn’t go running off on your own without your bestest bro,” Ezreal exclaimed, laughing hysterically.

“Like you need super cool elemental powers,” Erika rebutted, rolling her eyes. “You got enough going for you, man.”

“That was insane. Dude, that device doesn’t cause wind to suddenly control objects! You did that. And your eyes?” He threw his hands in the air. “They had this eerie, but still super cool glow to them. This is soooo cool.”

She laughed and simply stared at the gauntlet on her left arm, grinning. “Thanks for making this, Ez.”

“No prob, bro.”

“The possibilities are endless with this,” she mused, whispering to herself. “I can definitely forge my own path, sis…”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing!”