Chapter 89: Taliyah - The Sparrow from Shurima
It snowed for two days, or was it three?

Talia couldn't remember.

She hugged herself and sat next to a pile of snow on the side of the road, her thoughts drifting to the warm land of her hometown.

"I'm so hungry. I'm just hungry."

She murmured to herself, "Mother Weaver, have mercy on me. I can eat even a rabbit, a bird, or even a mouse."

As if in response to her plea, a faint creaking sound came from under a pile of snow not far away.

A small gray-furred animal, no bigger than her fist, poked its head out of its hole in the ground.

"Thank you." Her lips were trembling from the cold, and she could only whisper softly, "Thank you."

She fished a smooth stone from her pocket and carefully put it into the leather pocket of the sling.

And the little animals kept looking at her curiously.

Although she was not used to kneeling down to throw stones, since it was a gift from the Mother Weaver, she had no reason to waste it.

She pulled the sling tighter, and the stone spun faster between the leather cords.

The little animal still showed no sign of running away, but continued to stare at her.

Talia felt her whole body go cold and her arms began to tremble. When she felt that the speed was about right, she let go of the rope.

whoosh-

The stone broke through the air.

But unfortunately, it didn't hit.

Talia couldn't help but let out a sigh, then fell back to the ground, an unprecedented feeling of frustration surging up and blocking her throat.

"I'm starving."

She spoke to the empty snow cave.

She sat there for a while, just as she was about to look for food again, a faint light at the foot of the mountain disturbed her sight.

She followed her own footprints on the snow and looked into the distance. Beyond the sparse pine branches, she saw a man appear in the empty ancestral hall.

She couldn't help but hold her breath.

The man sat there quietly, his head lowered, his chin almost touching his chest.

The cold wind blew up his thick black hair, and he looked like he was dozing off or sleeping.

Seeing this, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Not Noxian.

In her opinion, no Noxian would do such a leisurely thing under the eyes of outsiders.

click-

Just then, suddenly.

There was a crack.

It immediately turned into a low rumbling sound.

The ground beneath my feet began to tremble violently, and there was a friction sound between the thick snow and the rocks. The rumbling sound soon turned into a continuous and shrill whistle.

Talia immediately shifted her gaze to the top of the mountain.

There, they saw a tall wall of snow, rapidly rushing towards their location.

She hurriedly got up, not knowing where to go, but suddenly, the little animals hiding safely in the hole in the ground came to her mind.

To protect them, she held her breath and imagined the thick ridges of stone rising from the rocks.

A huge row of stone rails suddenly rose up and rushed into the air. The rock layer arched high above her head, and the avalanche rushed right in front of her.

There was a loud bang.

The avalanche hit the stone railing heavily, splashing a huge, sparkling snow waterfall that poured straight into the valley.

Taliyah covered her mouth and watched as the deadly snowfall swallowed up the valley and covered the ancestral hall.

Just for a moment.

The avalanche stopped and even the cold wind died down.

The black-haired man had disappeared without a trace, probably buried by ice, snow and rocks.

"What on earth did I do?!" Talia was a little overwhelmed.

Although she herself escaped the avalanche, she killed an innocent person.

Moreover, they buried the person alive.

"Are there any new characters?"

"Talia"

"No wonder they say that power is naturally used for destruction. It turns out that it can manipulate rocks."

"The weirdo mentioned earlier must be the man who was buried by the avalanche."

"I guess so, but who is he?"

"Considering the previous text, I think it is very likely to be Yasuo."

"My current mood can be described as terrible."

""Just escaped from a Noxian invasion fleet and accidentally buried the first Ionian he saw.""

"Realizing the seriousness of the problem, I hurried down the mountain and searched for his traces in the snow. "

“I remember that the last time I saw him, he seemed to be sitting under the eaves.”

"Yes! It should be there."

Taliyah came near the ancestral hall.

Near the trees, she saw two fingers sticking out of the snow.

She almost rolled over and crawled, staring at the pair of pale fingers, "Don't die, don't die."

She knelt down carefully and dug away the snow, revealing the human figure inside had turned into an ice sculpture.

"Something bad has happened!" she wailed, then pulled him out from the deep snow with great force, splashing a large piece of ice crystals on the snow.

Then, she used her ability again.

A granite pillar rose from the ground, holding the ice sculpture down from the bottom.

The stone pillar trembled slightly, as if waiting for her next instruction.

Taliyah looked around and didn't dare to put him down rashly, so she pushed the stone pillar towards the bushes, intending to let the branches catch him.

After a muffled sound.

The dense pine branches caught the man and prevented him from falling directly to the ground.

"If you were alive just now, don't die now!" Taliyah said as she walked over to help him up. When she came to the man's side, Taliyah breathed hard into her palms, forcing herself to calm down.

She bent down and touched his arm.

Just at this moment.

The man let out a low cry of pain.

Before Talia had time to step back, she felt a gust of wind and a flash of light passing before her eyes.

A sharp sword blade was pressed against her throat, cold and piercing.

"I'm not going to die yet." The man murmured.

Then, a violent coughing fit caused his eyes to roll back and he almost fainted.

The sword in his hand tilted down and dipped into the snow, but he still held the hilt tightly.

Talia was startled.

But as the man's expression became so painful that he almost fainted, she felt relieved again.

At least he's alive.

The cold wind started blowing again.

She reached through his shoulders and dragged him towards the cave.

"It's Yasuo!"

"Who else could it be but him?"

"Why is it so fragile? Can't even the wind wall stop the avalanche?"

"He was probably sleeping at the time, so he probably didn't have enough time to use the Wind Control Sword Technique."

“I don’t know his name.”

"After he wakes up."

"I went outside and picked up a lot of stones. I wanted to make a stone bowl to melt snow for drinking."

"But he said that my movements were like a sparrow picking up food."

“He seemed to see that I had the ability to manipulate rocks, and then he laughed at me, saying that I had to use my hands to pick up rocks.”

"I blushed with shame."

"After the incident, I asked him if he was still angry because it was my mistake that caused him to be buried in the snow."

"He just smiled and didn't seem to care too much about it."

““He called me a sparrow from Shurima and asked me why I came to Ionia.”

""I told him--""

““It’s Noxus.””

The man raised his eyebrows but did not open his eyes: "Why?"

Taliyah's voice was filled with disgust. "They said my powers could help them strengthen the walls, but in reality, they just wanted me to kill people."

“I didn’t quite grasp the power,” she added. “They told me they would teach me.”

"They did educate you, but it was too biased." The man said calmly.

“So, I escaped.”

The man raised the sword, examined the blade, and then gently blew away the thin layer of dust on it.

“Destruction or creation, there is no absolute good or bad. What matters most is what you want to do and the path you choose.”

Talia was a little angry.

"My path is to stay away from everyone until I can learn to control this power."

"Because I can't control it completely, I always hurt my people unintentionally, like burying you in a snowdrift."

The man said meaningfully:
"The ambition of a swan is not to stay in the woods."

Talia didn't want to listen anymore. She walked to the cave entrance and wrapped her coat around her. "I'm going to go out and find something to eat. I hope I don't collapse this mountain."

The man sat back against the warm stone wall and muttered to himself, "Little Sparrow, have you found the mountain you want to conquer?"

"Talia has a good character."

"Yes, it's very simple."

"Now that I think about it, I was so amused. The sight of Brother Suozi being buried in the snow was a little funny."

"Yasuo seems to be much more mature now, and he has a lot of profound ideas."

"Yasuo: Little Sparrow, would you like to be my disciple? I used to be a genius in swordsmanship."

"But, I feel like swordsmanship and rock manipulation have nothing to do with each other."

"Maybe, not a professor of art."

"When I was with him, he always liked to lecture me at length."

"To be honest, I'm tired of such empty talk."

"But his words affect me all the time."

“Whenever I go out hunting, carefully using my abilities, his words of ridicule and pity always ring in my ears.”

【Why choose this path? 】

[I left my family and my hometown just to protect them! ]

[Do you still need to use your hands to pick up stones? ]

[I'm afraid of hurting you! ]

[The ambition of the swan is not in the forest. 】

【As you said, I am just a sparrow. 】

"His words seemed to have some kind of magic."

"It makes me feel bored and at the same time it makes me constantly whip my heart."

“I know that there are only two paths before me now.”

"Either continue to be suspicious and wait for death."

"Either cross the hurdle in your heart and throw yourself into the arms of power."

""And one day soon.""

“I was forced to make a choice.”

(End of this chapter)