The Kiramman girl had held up better than Camille might otherwise have expected; children of her age usually cracked in their composure after mere days if not hours, but still this one spiritedly sought answers to her questions, her loyalty to her rogue cause unfaltering. Of course, if her family had a shred of care for their own survival, they'd reprimand the girl and re-discipline her upon her return; ruinous developments tended to come about when houses would neglect to groom their heirs for leadership, particularly sole heirs.
Camille sneeringly wondered whether her own brother would one day grasp such a concept.
"How's your strength?" she asked lowly within the girl's earshot as they moved, the weather drowning out all else. They'd managed to make it off the rooftops before the rain had followed, though down amongst the rabble their path had been less than optimal; the warden of the undercity had his soldiers everywhere, it seemed. It led Camille to wonder whether they'd developed their own form of rapid communication down here, one that she was somehow unaware of; the turnaround time between her extraction of the girl from the safehouse and the search party seemingly commencing had been unnervingly brief…
"I'm good," she heard Caitlyn say weakly. "…Are you taking us toward the Bridge of Progress?"
"Too loud, Kiramman," she hushed, halting them to unassumingly take some momentary cover from the rain, just as a pair of undercity civilians carrying no particular urgency might. The girl might learn a thing or two from the experience; even some brief tutelage under any of the adepts of Clan Ferros could yet turn her into a formidable soldier. Camille could see it in her; despite all else, her resolve was notable, and she was aware of the girl's competition achievements in marksmanship. One day, she might have cause to apply those talents and to take a life, in furtherance of the Kiramman family legacy; on that day, her mettle would face its true test.
Camille looked upon the girl's face, noting the pale hue of the skin. "You're certain you sustained no wounds— no lacerations?" she urged quietly, discretely lifting some of the girl's layers of clothing to give a visual scan of her mid-section.
"I don't feel anything— just the cold," was her reply.
Camille shook her head. "Do tell me if you feel faint."
It was likely time to move again, though Camille had an unfavorable idea of what awaited them, with the Alcove District laying less than a league ahead. While information regarding Silco's safehouses hadn't been terribly difficult for Camille to obtain using her clan's resources, the Kirammans hadn't been able to resist drawing other invested parties into the loop; Jayce Talis, for example, perhaps the individual they viewed as their true prodigy ahead of their own daughter.
Clan Ferros had of course honored that young man with a modicum of trust itself, when a decade ago he became the first purchaser of the family's hex-crystals to hail from any of the northern regions, and vowed to be the one to unite their arcane nature with the burgeoning power of technology. Overwhelmingly successful as he had been, Camille's father had accordingly seen fit to resettle their clan from Shurima to Piltover, whereby to more closely manage all dealings with their new primary economic partner.
It seemed as of recently however, that Jayce Talis had gained some new friends, too; the Medardas, whom Camille's father trusted little given their Noxian origins. Though, after Jayce had caught wind that a rescue effort for Caitlyn Kiramman had finally become feasible, he'd insisted on looping them in, losing Camille the ability to plot her own extraction point for the mission without suffering potential accusations of insubordination…
It wasn't as much the daughter sitting the Council that Camille mistrusted, but the mother; the actively warlording Noxian who'd taken an indefinite visitorship within the city, along with a small battalion of her most elite guards. Ambessa Medarda's machinations seemed to spell nothing good for the posterity of either house, in Camille's estimation; the woman seemed to itch for an upset to the balance between Piltover and its undercity, which by design would see the two plunged headlong into vicious conflict. And of course, with Hextech added to the mix, such a conflict carried the risk of seeing both sides obliterated, with the Noxians presumably conquering the ashes.
For all Camille knew, the woman's plans beyond that involved conquering Shurima too; seizing both the means and the material source of all the power that Jayce Talis achieved with Hextech, and arming themselves to rule over the known world with an irrevocable fist.
Somehow, Camille felt that it would ultimately fall upon her to have both Jayce and the Kirammans see this…
"In a moment, we continue moving— up ahead is our rendezvous," she told Caitlyn, while silently studying all those who passed by them.
From her recent reconnaissance, Camille had learned that the undercity had seen some shifts in its power structure when one of those they called 'Chem-Barons' had perished, along with a further two seemingly exiting the picture also. From what she'd gathered, all had occurred following in-fighting pressured by the onset of the Piltovan incursion; an incursion she'd of course recommended against at the time, before Jayce had been swayed by the majority of his Council and by the Medardan whispers in his ear.
Having some actor from the undercity acquire and harness Hextech for themselves should of course have been expected; they ought have prepared for such a development. Instead, they panicked, and everything had soon fallen to mess; she hoped they'd been keeping watch of the sheer number of enforcer casualties already seen so soon into their assault. The Piltovans had likely learned few lessons from the last rebellion, Camille supposed; victory hardly ever demanded adaptation…
"Rendezvous with whom?" Caitlyn whispered, as the sound of thunder bellowed around them.
"Allies of your mother," Camille told her, if only to keep her contented. It was time to move; they were sitting ducks down here…
"Those people there— they're looking at us…" the girl then said, meekly as a mouse.
"Right now, you're a Zaunite," she urged her, "and we're only trying to make it home in the rain."
They continued on, but Camille realized the girl had been correct; there were eyes on them. Perhaps she ought to take them up higher again, she thought. Their disguises were still intact; Camille only began to begrudge the fact that her rescuee was a girl who stood at over six feet tall…
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Rain still pounded against the window, whipping back and forth with the wind. Jinx hoped that it might've washed away the blood that had remained after they'd disposed of the bodies, back where Dustin and Krester had died.
Back where she'd killed them both.
She'd known each of them for almost seven years; long years, and she now got the feeling that she'd be cursed by their memories forever…
'All because they made the mistake of being a part of your forever accidental family,' chimed Mylo.
'They weren't my family,' she grimaced, 'I chose my real family over them— Vi, and Isha, and…'
She knew he'd leap at that. 'That's right— Garou, who went and got killed trying to save you,' he laughed scornfully. 'You're the reason he's dead.'
She sat up properly. She wouldn't rest her eyes here; not with Mylo haunting her every toss and turn. Being alone wasn't helping, she thought, hopping off the couch and venturing back to the dining room where they all sat.
She hadn't yet learned much of the barrel-chested giant Vi called 'Cheese', but he seemed to be good with kids, she thought, watching him attempt to pal around with Isha. She'd even seen him elicit a smile or two from the kid over the few hours they'd all spent recouping, in the run-down apartment he and Vi seemed to have found to hide out. The man almost reminded her of Vander… at least of his gentler side; she wondered whether such a notion had ever crossed Vi's mind.
"Here, Powder," said her sister, approaching the table with a couple pried-open cans of preserved fish. "We snagged some of these on the way here— you can have mine too, if you want." She took her seat in the adjacent chair.
Jinx shook her head. "I'm still chuggin'… Isha's probably the hungriest of all of us," she observed as the girl hurriedly hopped up to the table at the sight of food being served.
She mussed up the girl's hair and slid her can over to her along with a fork, before giving a glance at Cheese. "Guess I should say thanks for keeping her company, stranger," she blithely remarked at him.
The man shrugged, sporting a friendly curl of the lip. "Say— I know Vi ain't the one out of you two who's dyeing their hair— was on the rock with her for long enough that I think I'd have have noticed that," he smirked.
You're funny…
"Powder got her blue from mom…" Vi chimed in, briefly nestling a finger between one of her braids. "She'd have been jealous to see her daughter's hair grown this long though, I bet…"
Jinx thought back, but struggled as always to recall the details of their mother's face. She thought she remembered her 'blue' hair to be more of a darker navy, though.
They all heard Isha stifle a rough cough as she shoveled slivers of fish into her mouth.
"It ain't a race, you rascal," Jinx said flatly, laying a hand on her upper back. "You good? You're saving some for me too, right?"
Isha gathered herself, before seemingly taking a look at the remaining level in the can and giving a guilty glance. Cute as a button, she handed the rest of it back to her.
"Somebody actually teach you manners while I was gone, huh?" she japed, and Isha made a pouty expression.
She felt a little bad scoffing the rest of it down in front of her, but she hadn't realized how much her body needed it; her stomach groaned for more when she was done.
"I don't think we should stay here more than a few days," Vi said to the room. "I suppose they're all looking for you, Powder, but… we can all stay safe if we stick together."
"We're still gonna go over with—?" Cheese started, until Vi gave him a sharp look that caused him to halt his thought. It wasn't lost on Jinx, but teasing out the meaning of it could wait; she had her own secrets to keep from Vi still…
She didn't allow herself to sleep that night, waiting patiently until certain that the rest of the household had fallen silent to make her move. She needed to see Silco again, even if for the last time… before Vi whisked their new little party away to wherever it was she'd decided to take them. Besides, they weren't going anywhere without first finding Garou, and Silco would know something of how all of that had gone down; of whatever exactly had happened to him…
Isha shared the room with her, but she'd seen that girl sleep through just about anything, and Jinx figured the continued rainfall would only help that. Even still, the window to their room wouldn't seem to budge without a heave which would no doubt wake the rest of them, so she crept out into the apartment's living room to attempt with one of the windows there.
It required a bit of effort before sliding upward with little resistance, though her success would be short-lived; a floorboard creaked behind her, causing her head to turn.
It seemed her sister still knew her too well…
Jinx sighed as Vi approached her, the same expression of sadness and guilt plastered to her face as had been since she'd returned.
She wouldn't run, Jinx decided, allowing her sister to cross the room and make her plea.
Vi seemed to take a moment to choose her words thoughtfully. "About earlier, Powder…" she began to whisper, "it… it shouldn't have been on you to kill those two— it was careless of me, leading us down there without spotting them, I should've seen them…"
"That's not—" Jinx quietly demurred, "I've killed plenty, trust me…"
"I—" Vi faltered, "I know you've done what you had to to survive—we all have—I just… you shouldn't've had to…"
Jinx had no more arguments for her, letting her words hang in silence for a moment. Then she thought about the earlier conversation over dinner. "Vi… where are we gonna go…?"
"Just— somewhere safe, Powder," she replied, without meeting her eyes. "Please, please don't go back to him— if he gets you back now, after all of this, he won't give you up again— you have to know that…"
Vi's dodge that time caused the answer to dawn on her, and Jinx had to wonder then, whether Vi might ever be able to come to terms with the fact that 'Powder' was no longer here; with the fact that her sister was different now…
After all, Ekko certainly did know this, and it seemed during whatever meeting they'd managed before Vi had eventually found her, that he hadn't adequately convinced her of this. There just wasn't any way that Vi could bring Jinx to whatever remained of Ekko's Firelights and have them take refuge there; that idea was so stupid on its face that Jinx wondered whether Vi had thought about any of it at all.
Then she sighed, realizing that her sister probably had this plan in her mind since before she'd even gotten out of Stillwater, and suddenly part of Jinx pitied her. She had to learn the hard way, over the years that Vi was gone, that nothing was ever going to be as it once was; Silco had ultimately taught her that.
It seemed that it was Vi's turn to learn this lesson.
"Just… tell Isha that I'll be back as soon as I can," she said, and it wasn't a lie; she wasn't leaving them. She knew she could make Silco understand.
It looked to take Vi all the fortitude she could muster not to speak out to overrule her. "Let me go with you," she insisted instead. "Cheese won't let anything happen to Isha, and then we'll come back, right…?"
Jinx clenched her eyes shut, the indecision crushing her.
Vi lay a gentle hand against her arm. "Please, Powder— don't do this alone…"
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Sevika had begun to guess that the blue-haired brat had simply run away, having crumbled under only the smallest amount of pressure…
She could tell it had been getting to Silco; if Jinx was still alive, where else would she go if not back to him, her enabling protector? Maybe the girl had in fact seen her boyfriend's body when it had been all mangled and her mind had snapped…
'That kid is something else, though…' she thought in recall of the moment Garou had re-emerged as some inexplicable blood-drunk beast that Silco claimed Singed had turned him into. What remained of the kid seemed like he was looking to set out on a warpath until he found the girl…
She wondered if she could convince Silco to leave the Jinx search-party to him instead; they were wasting enough of their men on this damned goose-chase.
"Hey, Sevika," one of the Stillwater-escapees she was tasked with commanding called to her. "We're heading back inside— that cool? Getting drenched out here…"
"Won't hear a complaint from me," she grumbled. "Let's go somewhere else, though— Silco's hardly open to excuses at the moment…"
Even through the haze of the storm, she could make out the silhouettes of the Topsider airships hanging over the Alcove District as the walked, only some way further up. She wondered how long it was going to take for the other shoe to drop; everything going the way it had been, her side seemed woefully unprepared to take them on, numerous as they now were. No; she'd seen the upgrades the Pilties had been bestowed to their weaponry first-hand, and they hadn't felt trivial. Jinx, on the other hand, hadn't seemed to have done much of anything useful with the Hextech items she'd stolen before she'd gone and disappeared; they found no further ammunition for that childish rocket-launcher she'd built, and apart from that there'd been only a single pistol, which Silco was keeping under lock-and-key for if she ever decided to return.
The only hope they had in the arms contest were with the new, improved Shimmer stims they'd begun to distribute to everyone, though their production had been forced to slow too. Sevika pulled the cape away from her brass limb for rainfall to loudly clang upon it, and verified that her dose was still in place within the shoulder, ready to be administered in a bind. She'd given her spare vial away out of a sense of duty, though she'd begun to regret that too.
At that, she wondered where Singed had defected to; few of the Chem-Barons who opposed Silco even had territory to call their own anymore, and Sevika couldn't think of a particular reason why the man would try his luck with any Topsider deal, given the way she imagined they'd view the damage he'd wrought over the years. She supposed his talents would probably prove valuable to a great many more people than she was even aware of; it just didn't seem his style…
As she and her men neared their destination, the faint clang of a ladder caught her ear. She turned and glimpsed a couple of civilians through the fog of the rain, one of them hoisting the other up onto the roof of a terrace. Two women.
She watched them for some moments; they were both wearing coats with hoods to shield from the rain, but she couldn't make out any details on their faces from distance.
Sevika's curiosity got the better of her, so she ordered a few of her men to peel off with her and to follow. They all begrudgingly complied, and managed to cut through an alley ahead of the two until Sevika was confident they'd encircled the building the women had just traversed onto; if they exited that rooftop Sevika might be able to identify them, if they were in fact anybody worth identifying. Though, hopping about across buildings in the storm seemed strange enough behavior.
A flash, before thunder ripped through the sky once more. One of the men looked at her, wondering what she wanted them to do next; it seemed the two rooftop hoppers had concluded their fun.
"Okay, pack it—" she started, before spotting something more; out of the window behind the building's fire escape, somebody's wiry arm crept out with pistol in hand, though aimed at nobody in particular. Sevika immediately unholstered her own weapon, and nodded at her other men to do the same as they closed in.
The hand holding the pistol had since vanished from view.
"Can you reach the ladder up th—" Sevika began to ask, before watching him crumple to the ground with a knife plunged into his chest.
"Shit—" she cursed, hurriedly ducking up against the wall so as not to become a target; the knife had clearly been tossed at speed from above.
Gunshots soon rung out, as she watched a couple of the others take blades to the chest before falling, too; right in the heart, the same spot each time…
'Somebody with some intense training,' she recognized, hastily shimmying around the corner. She wasn't about to die here; not in this misery.
One thing about the knife-throwing type, she thought, is that you can't carry as many knives as you can bullets…
Sevika thrust her boot through the door to the apartment block, ascending the stairs inside with her pistol thrust out in front of her. The few residents who ducked their heads out at the commotion quickly receded and deadbolted their doors as Sevika stormed past them, climbing to the floor she'd counted to from the outside.
She paused at its entry, crossing the hall lightly on her toes and backing up to the wall beside the doorframe. The two women behind it spoke in hushed tones, one sounding somewhat younger than the other, as gunfire still cracked intermittently outside.
It was opportunity enough, she decided, shrugging her cape from her brass arm and stepping out before the door. Breath filled her lungs, and then she shot out the lock, kicking the door open simultaneously with her hammer-cock, readying to fire again.
Nobody was there to meet her bullet, despite her straight view to the dwelling's living room window.
'Shit,' she thought, covering her corners and stomping inside, angling for the bedroom. The level of gunfire outside suddenly increased as she found its door, before she heard one of the men yell out in agony…
She suddenly felt the urge to pop the stim in her arm, and that was when the door burst open; even as she recovered her aim, she failed to line up the shot on the silver-haired woman that pounced at her and knocked her back, slashing at her with a curved dagger-like blade. The woman's steel clanked against brass, and Sevika used the window to get a hit in, before the overwhelming sensation of the Shimmer's effect set in and caused her body a brief convulsion.
The gash she received across her flesh only felt like a tickle, and as her eyes cleared of their purple haze Sevika saw the blade arc toward her once more as if it were moving only inches at a time. She reached out with her metal hand and caught it, closed her fist and shattered it. Sevika watched the woman make a tactical retreat while she pursued her, splintering the doorframe ahead of her and extending brass fingers toward the woman's throat. Sevika didn't even bother going for her gun; she was faster than her bullets.
Even still, taking hold of the woman felt like catching a rabbit, the way she darted about the room avoiding her grasp, and Sevika quickly reminded herself that she still had the partner to look out for, so as not to be blindsided—
The Kiramman hostage…?
The girl emerged from her nook in the corner of the room to leap for Sevika's weapon. As she reacted, the silver-haired rabbit was suddenly on her back, slithering her wiry arms around Sevika's neck to place her in a chokehold.
Sevika first concluded her kick toward the Kiramman girl which seemed to knock her out, and opened her mouth to replenish the spent oxygen before realizing the extent of her mistake; the arm around her throat contracted the moment Sevika gave it the inch it needed to do so, intercepting her blood as it attempted to make it up to her brain.
Dark splotches danced at the edges of her vision; she shook the woman violently, but to no avail. All she could do was…
Sevika sent them both hurtling out of the opposite window, twisting her body such that she landed onto the fire escape's staircase with the woman underneath her. Being less winded than her, the silver-haired woman was the first to hop straight back up after they'd concluded tumbling down the steel steps, and so Sevika attempted to parry her strikes without any breath in her lungs. She took a hit to the head, and so lunged at her once more, sending them both over the railing this time.
She barely felt the impact as the ground rushed toward her, running on the fumes of the adrenaline still coursing through her. She slowly staggered to her knees in the wet rain-puddle she'd landed in, her head pounding deafeningly to the point where she could barely think. She only hoped she'd live to count her bruises…
She quickly scanned for where her opponent might have landed, but the woman was somehow already on her feet again, plucking a throwing blade from a fallen body. Sevika grimaced as she realized her men's weapons were drawn on something else…
Another of them shrieked in pain; she strained to find the source of the sound. The woman approached again, but instead reached for the fire-escape ladder…
Then Sevika saw golden eyes in the gloom, and watched the immense creature they belonged to tear one of her men apart as though he'd been made of paper.
'What in the fuck…?!' her mind raced while she gasped for air.
Sevika found herself dragging herself backward, gripped by fear, as the animal ferociously charged forward and swiped at the ladder, sending it clattering to the floor along with the silver-haired fighter.
Sevika knew she wasn't safe; she needed more distance. She finally mustered the strength to haul herself to her feet, as thunder roared overhead and the wolf-beast reared itself onto its haunches and howled along with it.
Sevika stumbled into a nearby alcove, refusing to take her eyes off the thing. She watched it fling the silver-haired woman into a brick wall like she was a ragdoll, even after taking a throwing knife to the jaw. It roared in discomfort, attempting to shake the thing out, and all the while Sevika only wished her heart would stop pounding painfully against the ribs in her chest.
Considering taking a moment to slow her breathing, she remained worried that the beast would spot her, so she hugged the wall and crept longways even as she felt her panic set in. She told herself she'd be fine; that it wouldn't see her, and she tried as best she could to believe it.
Then she heard a series of authoritative calls; commands. A new squad arrived from her right, paying her no attention, their intents fixed upon the man-sized wolf. They were entirely unfamiliar to her; dressed in red and black to match one another, all of them physically built, strong warriors. Sevika watched in awe as they sprung to action, all working in unison, armed with lashes and poleaxes, ensnaring the beast as it set upon them, giving it almost no opportunity to do damage to them.
Sevika backed further away seeing the animal grow enraged, swiping and gnashing ferociously and getting some hits in, though none of the men nor women corralling it cried out in pain. They only pressed forward and closed in with their restraining armaments, wearing the beast into submission as though the type of opponent were commonplace to them. It felt akin to whiplash, seeing the animal suddenly slipping and stumbling clumsily in the rain, having entirely lost its advantage and on the verge of defeat.
Though the water washed away her blood as quickly as she was able to bleed, Sevika realized that she'd better attend to her wounds sooner rather than later, before her strength faded entirely. She almost grew abashed at herself, for how afraid she'd been; she'd made it out in one piece as she always had, after all. Only, if she collapsed here in the street there mightn't be anybody to help her back; she was nearly certain her men had all perished back there…
She desperately kept her eyes open, as much as the rain had begun to sting; The Last Drop wasn't so far. It had naturally clicked for her then, what had befallen all those fools at Renni's compound, as well as Smeech, and as well as Garou; even that kid hadn't exactly made it away from the beast unscathed.
Those warriors; they must have been the Noxians she'd kept hearing about. It was perhaps one of the few times anybody had ever lived up to their reputation, Sevika thought as she rounded the penultimate bend before the bar, where—
Fuck...
She grimaced and fell, the gash to her abdomen proving nearly too much; she just needed a moment. The cold wasn't helping…
Then she saw perhaps the one other person she didn't want to run into.
Sevika's eyes darted around, considering going back the other way around; hoping she'd have the strength to.
Too late; she'd seen her…
Sevika slumped back down again, cursing herself. Her weapon was gone; she had nothing with which to defend herself.
And of course the brat pulled a gun on her the moment they locked eyes…
"What are you doing out here, huh…?" Jinx asked, looking just about as miserable as Sevika felt.
And where the fuck have you been all this time…?
"Trying to stay alive, kid…" was all Sevika replied with, but she sensed the danger she was in. She shifted to make what little move she could, hoping to maybe make it over to somewhere populated, but the brat kept the gun trained on her, not giving her an inch.
Lightning flashed again, and they both seemed content to wait for the rumble to conclude before acting again. Sevika's face tightened at the thought that this might be how she went out. The kid could get away with, too; doing it here and now. Nobody would know otherwise…
"How'd that happen?" Jinx gestured at her laceration.
You're really gonna play with your food, huh…?
"What the hell's it matter, kid…?" she groaned back, "if you're gonna do it, then do it— I know you want to…"
She had to suffer yet another pause, staring straight down the barrel of her pistol while the kid thought of how she wanted to do it.
"If I go up there… is he gonna be there…?" she strangely asked instead.
Sevika's eyelids grew heavy, but she decided to take a swing. "…You didn't think you wanted to come back, did you, kid?"
She frowned angrily at her, but seemed to have no immediate reply.
"What— do you want me to tell you how much he missed you, or something—" Sevika piled on without care to how it might hurt her chances of surviving the encounter. She hardly could care; the girl may as well have been a damned roulette wheel… Sevika began to wonder whether she'd even yet learned that her boyfriend had come back to life, too.
"Are you—" the girl began, before pausing again. "Shut up," she suddenly said, to nobody.
Sevika felt doomed.
"Kid—" she muttered, "do one thing right by me, and don't drag this out, would you…?" She leant forward and pressed her forehead against the end of the barrel to speed things along, as water streamed down it, over her weary face.
The kid seemed to sigh, pulling the barrel back slightly, before leaning in herself. "Close your eyes…" she murmured.
Fine…
Sevika did so, and she waited. It almost felt like floating; hovering in the emptiness above the earth, waiting for gravity to return to plummet her to her inevitable death.
Only, the moment never came. She inched her eyes back open, and Jinx was gone.