āit takes a lot of courage to lead a group of people⦠even if you think you are not worthy, you have lead them to victory.ā ā pantheon
ā I never meant to lead ā I fought, and they followed.Ā āĀ Is there courage in it if there is no choice? Irelia knows her boldness better than anyone else; was it bravery, or the last, desperate act of a girl running towards death because she was tired of running away from it? Her blue eyes glance at him with uncertainty. The dancer can feel the power that emanates from the Targonian, but that isn't it. She seldom feels compelled to open up. What's different this time?
Perhaps that he is not Ionian, and would not think her ungrateful for not wanting the pedestal she was placed upon. Perhaps that he seems to know the burden power can be.
Perhaps all that and the fact that if anyone knows how destructive war can be, it was the host of its aspect. He would not judge the wreak it left behind.
Gently, a strand of long dark hair is pushed behind her ear, almost bashful; a girl in her twenties, not some mythic, ageless war hero. She sits, welcoming the soft grass beneath her; love felt and returned by the land beneath her. Irelia bears many scars, visible or not, and she knows she will acquire many others still. She loves Ionia. One day it'll cost her life.
āĀ It wasn't my victory, either,Ā ā No mention is made of how she cut down most of the Noxian High Command alone. She can't even remember it clearly; most of them are blurred faces in dark metal armor, necks cut and chests stabbed. Swain is the only one she remembers.Ā ā If I fought alone Ionia wouldn't stand today.Ā ā
āĀ And it's not...Ā ā Knees brought close to her chest, the dancer considers how to phrase it best. āĀ It's not worthiness, necessarily. I'm just not what they make me out to be. I'm just not the savior they paint me as.Ā ā
And yet she would fight for her people and her homeland, alone if she must ā for there is no version of reality where Irelia does not fight for what she loves.