New Passengers

A little while later, the four Yordles, who had briefly passed out from the fall, began waking up one after another.

Tristana rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of her surroundings, only to be knocked off "Yordle Mountain" by Lulu beneath her. She tumbled to the ground.

"Ow!" Tristana's voice rang out as she grimaced and rubbed her backside. "I knew it was you without even looking, Purple-skinned Garlic!"

Ato noticed Ryze quietly take a few steps back from the crowd, awkwardly rubbing his nose.

"Who are you calling Purple-skinned Garlic?" Lulu stood on Kog'Maw with her hands on her hips.

"If Teemo hadn't gotten his directions mixed up and set our landing point in the Vast Sea, we'd already be in Ionia! In all that confusion, he only managed to lock onto a ship!"

"Uh, could you get off me first?" Kog'Maw asked weakly through his beard.

"Ugh..." Teemo, trapped at the very bottom, couldn't even speak.

Were all Yordles this noisy?

Sarah knew Yordles existed and that they got up to all sorts of strange antics, but she'd never imagined they had personalities like this.

"Wait, Lulu," Tristana finally got her name right for once. "These people are..."

"Whoa! Pirates! This is a pirate ship! It's all Teemo's fault!"

Lulu panicked and quickly jumped onto the deck beside Tristana. She waved a wooden staff as tall as she was, trying to look intimidating.

"Pirates!" Kog'Maw sprang to his feet. "Leave this to the Ace Pilot! Wait, let me find my aircraft first..."

"Ugh..." Teemo was trampled beneath Kog'Maw once again.

Sarah and the others watched the four Yordles perform in silence. They all shared the same thought: When would they finally quiet down? They couldn't get a word in!

Ato, meanwhile, couldn't help wondering what would happen if the four of them were locked in a room with Aatrox.

"Hey! It's Purple-skinned Baldy!" Tristana spotted Ryze trying to hide among the crowd. "You there, Purple-skinned Baldy! Did the pirates capture you too?"

Everyone moved aside at once. They'd seen Ryze's power and didn't want him mistaking them for captors.

"Fancy seeing you again, Ryze!"

Lulu was just as delighted to see Ryze. She waved her staff at him, then remembered something and used the motion to rap Tristana on the forehead.

"Ow!" Tristana clutched her head. "Purple-skinned Garlic! What did you hit me for?"

"Use your brain!" Lulu gave her a contemptuous look, as if she were looking at someone with an intellectual disability. "How could Ryze possibly get captured by pirates? Is there any pirate in the world who could capture him?"

The crew moved even farther away.

"I told you it'd be troublesome... but we did get to see something interesting."

Ato was in a good mood. Only by crossing over into this world could he meet these characters in person and hear such unexpected conversations. He found it deeply satisfying.

"It's good to see you again..."

Ryze shook his head. It was hard to tell whether he was actually glad. He crouched in front of the four Yordles and ruffled Tristana and Lulu's hair.

"Ah... not again! Could you stop patting our heads? My mage hat won't stay on!" Lulu puffed out her cheeks, looking especially cute.

"It brings back memories!" Tristana grinned, unfazed by Ryze's gesture.

"Hello to you too... and Kog'Maw, Teemo. It's been a hundred years in the real world since I last saw you."

"A hundred years? How long is that? Can I play in the real world for a hundred years?"

"How many places could we visit in a hundred years? How many strange people could we meet? How much food we've never tried could we eat?"

Lulu and Tristana chattered away at Ryze, leaving everyone else speechless.

Taking advantage of the moment, Sarah quietly asked Ato, "Why did Mr. Ryze stress the time in the real world? Don't the Yordles live in the real world?"

"They live in Bandle City, a place that doesn't exist in the real world, though humans occasionally wander into it."

"Very few of those people ever make it back out. What we know about Bandle City spread from the stories told by those survivors."

"They say everything in the city is dazzlingly colorful, and its food and water are so delicious that you can savor them for years. Sunlight glimmers gently, spring waters flow without end, and every plant bears a bountiful harvest. No one knows if any of it is true."

"Where is Bandle City? Does time pass differently there?" Sarah asked the most important question.

"That's right. Time flows differently in Bandle City, but neither the humans who wander in nor the Yordles themselves can feel it."

"As for its location, I can't be certain, but I suspect it's in the Spiritual Realm."

"It sounds like a lovely place. I hope I get the chance to see it someday," Sarah sighed. "Of course, that'll have to wait until I've gotten my revenge on Gangplank..."

"Hm? So there are things you don't know, little thing? Hahahahahaha!" Aatrox suddenly cackled. "So you're not all-knowing after all. I finally feel better about myself..."

"Ah, a monster!" Lulu pointed and spotted the terrifying Demonic Sword of the Dark.

"Eek, how scary!" The Four Little Ones immediately clung to Ryze's legs in pairs, making him sigh helplessly.

"Ryze, beat him up!" Tristana clenched her tiny fist and cheered Ryze on.

"Don't be scared. He's our companion," Ryze said bitterly, trying to change the subject.

"You're headed to Ionia too, right? We can travel together for part of the way. But after we get off the ship, you can't follow me anymore. I have something very important to do."

"You're going to Ionia too!" Their attention was immediately diverted.

How could they be so carefree? Ato grumbled inwardly. What if I really were a bad person?

"Sorry, Ms. Sarah. Could you take these four aboard? I'll cover their passage, along with any damage they cause on the ship..."

Ato had to fight to keep from laughing at Ryze's expression.

Why did everything get so strange whenever Yordles were involved? Was this why comic relief characters had to be outside the power scale?

Sorry, but when Runeterra favored you, you could do whatever you wanted.

Sarah agreed without a second thought. There was plenty of space left on the ship, and Yordles were small...

"Thank you for your generosity. When we disembark, you can check whether anything is missing or broken and charge me the replacement cost. I've traveled the mainland for years and have managed to build up a fair amount of wealth." Ryze inclined his head.

"It's just a coincidence that the little ones are going to Ionia too." Sarah waved a hand, but a sudden bad feeling crept over her...

Could they really end up causing a huge mess?