The tunnels were empty, reeking of the Undercity stenches that permeated through the vents below the streets. Graffiti littered any and every exposed space, the walls covered in an array of artwork and nonsensical scribbles. Nothing but silence met your ears, except for the intermittent dripping of water from one of the pipes nestled somewhere in the darkness. To you, in a way, this was home. It hadn’t been for a while, but every bit about it was familiar.

Long before you had ever made your way up into Piltover, Zaun had been the city that you lived in. If you could even call it living— considering how much you struggled to make sure you had enough just to make it from one day to another. Dying. Not like those people living in the Uppercity, who barely even remembered there was a whole society beneath them unless they needed someone to blame for their problems. You knew you needed out, but there wasn’t exactly an easy way.

Thats when you met Caitlyn. You had a good work ethic— you weren’t lazy— nor did you intend on just barely scraping by. If you were going to live in Piltover, you were going to succeed in Piltover. What better way to gain a little rank in society than by becoming an enforcer? You weren’t the science-y type, and you could prove you could be trusted by following their laws and making sure others did as well. Plus, it’s not like they needed to know where you came from anyways.

You were placed on her team— albeit a bit begrudgingly, considering she didn’t necessarily want to train someone who wasn’t sure what they were doing. But you didn’t give her a chance to complain. You kept up, making sure you followed each and every order. Eventually, she came to trust you. Whenever it came to missions, she was picking you to be right there beside her. Then things turned sour.

Before you could do anything— before you could warn anyone— half of the council building was wiped out, taking Caitlyn’s mother with it. The younger Kiramman was understandably devastated— she never appreciated her mother trying to control her life— but she wasn’t ready to lose her. You tried helping her, sticking around the Kiramman estate to keep her company and help with the funeral, but you felt out of place. You knew you didn’t belong, as much as you wanted to pretend.

When she decided her next move was to hunt down Jinx before she could act again, things began to turn. She wasn’t the same person you knew. Changed by grief and anger, she was quicker to get frustrated, less willing to back down, and less concerned about helping the Undercity if it meant that she could get closure. It started small— patrols into Zaun, clearly meant to intimidate, then it turned into turning off the filter system her mother had made to aid Zaun. Now, she was willing to let them suffer.

Yet another mission into Zaun, this time into the tunnel system that weaved throughout the belly of the city, often going on for miles with not much end or direction. A hint had sent you down here, only to find that it was useless. The trail was cold once again, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to find Jinx in this maze. All you had to help you was one of Smeech’s ex-goons, clearly suffering the effects of the Grey.

He spouted off some slurred nonsense about where Jinx was off to this time, but even his assistance through his confession wasn’t enough to earn Caitlyn’s mercy. Instead, he was cuffed and sent off to Stillwater. The look in her eyes was downright off-putting, the way she lost the normal spark in her eyes, now replaced with a frustrated glare. As she ordered the team to get ready to continue into the tunnels, you pulled her aside.

The tension was thick, Caitlyn annoyed that you were getting in the way of the mission objective, and you clearly worried about the damage being done to Zaun. This was your home still, even if you didn’t live there anymore. You tried explaining your concern. You didn’t want her to change when you knew the outcome would be fatal. Quietly pleading, she hesitated before her hand brushed your shoulder.

“I won’t.”