Branded For Evil

by TrashBag05

Summary:

“I’ll give you 10 seconds to turn and get your sorry ass out of here, Trencher.” A thick British accent followed the ring of the gunshot, a tall woman lingering over a shorter and dirtier looking person, the rifle prepped and aimed directly into the shorter half’s face.
“God, those stories about you Pilties being hostile really are true, huh?”
“Five. Four. Three.”
“I’m off! I’m going! Jeez…” With a light, sarcastic chuckle and a flick of the wrist, the shorter, more colourful woman had vanished with her braids in tow, leaving the area quieter than it had ever seemed to be before.

An Arcane apocalypse AU since I haven’t seen any before. Caitlyn, Jayce and Viktor live together in a rundown old building they call their camp, Ekko travels alone, all while Vi, Powder, Mylo, Claggor and Vander stay together, wandering the wasteland of Piltover for any supplies to help them survive the aftermath of the Noxian invasion.

Chapter 1

Firing off a warning shot, the bullet cut through the thick polluted air and vanished in seconds as the barrel of the rifle smoked.
“I’ll give you 10 seconds to turn and get your sorry ass out of here, Trencher.” A thick British accent followed the ring of the gunshot, a tall woman lingering over a shorter and dirtier looking person, the rifle prepped and aimed directly into the shorter half’s face.
“God, those stories about you Pilties being hostile really are true, huh?”
“Five. Four. Three.”
“I’m off! I’m going! Jeez…” With a light, sarcastic chuckle and a flick of the wrist, the shorter, more colourful woman had vanished with her braids in tow, leaving the area quieter than it had ever seemed to be before.

Caitlyn sighed heavily as she unbolted the support on the side of her rifle and folded it in half, effortlessly slotting it into the bag on her back. A few light steps and she was back inside, looking over towards her last living support. A taller, well built man who was stocked head-to-toe in leather and metal plating, and a shorter, more scrawny man, holding himself by a crutch as if it were the only thing keeping him alive in the current moment.

“She’s gone again. I made sure she didn’t get her hands on any more of our supplies, but I can’t guarantee she won’t be back.” Caitlyn slumped down onto a torn up armchair in the corner of the room they had reclaimed and then declared as their camp. After the Noxians travelled over under Ambessa Medarda’s belt and had gone to war with Piltover and Zaun, both sister cities had become a wasteland. Neither of the two cities were built for war and thus, didn’t stand a chance against the battle hardened land of Noxus and their soldiers.

“She will be… it just depends if she brings along anybody else with her next time.” Jayce spoke up, turning his head to look at Caitlyn with a hardened stare. “We have more powerful weapons and defences than them, but Zaunites are crafty. They’ll find a way.”
Caitlyn pinched the bridge of her nose as she squeezed her eyes shut, thinking hard to herself. They always find a way, whether it be through violence or stealth… There's no guessing what a Zaunites next move might be.

Viktor coughed into a scrunched up, dirtied napkin he often kept in the inside of his rugged blazer, staining the cloth in fresh blood. Air hadn’t been too clean as of late, the same kind of pollution in Zaun’s atmosphere rising up into Piltover after too many years of neglect. Time was running out for the frail man. He could no longer fight for himself and his scientific endeavours were often cut short due to a fault in his calculations. Jayce was always by his side, protecting Viktor with his life and helping him with his scientific discoveries whenever there was time.

Caitlyn on the other hand, often stood guard, using her expanded knowledge of rifles and weaponry to defend the small group that had formed since the downfall of Piltover and Zaun. Often tired, burnt out and disheveled, Caitlyn stood guard as long as she could before inevitably passing out from exhaustion. It wasn’t good for her, it was never good for her, yet she hadn’t passed out when faced with a thief, and she swore to keep it that way.

The sun began to set again, painting the sky in a ray of beautiful colours that were often covered by the thick smoke of burning buildings. Jayce and Viktor began packing up whatever progress they had made with the Hextech gemstone, hiding it away from anybody's desperate grasp. If anything could save their city from this hellscape brought upon them, it would be Hextech.

“Cait, you need to sleep. They never come for us at night, you know that as well as I do. You just end up passing out, and then I have to carry you back inside.” Jayce looked up from the armchair he was sitting upon, frowning at the woman standing in the doorway.
“You never know. They could be planning anything.” Caitlyn held onto her rifle, standing guard outside of the small building.
“You think they would’ve come for us a while ago if they had a plan.”
“They’ve been waiting for me to drop my guard. That’s exactly what they want… they want me asleep.”

Jayce sighed heavily. No matter how long he persisted, Caitlyn never listened and continued standing outside in the cold, an enforcer's face mask being her only protection from the clouded air. “You’re overthinking. Just come inside and sleep for once, I guarantee we’ll be fine.”

Caitlyn hesitated before she walked inside, shut the door and removed the mask from her face with a hiss. “If we lose something tonight to a trencher, we’re selling your left leg for a supply restock.” Jayce could never tell if Caitlyn was threatening him or joking, but he took it as the latter to save himself from overthinking.
“Fine by me.” He joked back, getting a slight scowl from Caitlyn. It was definitely a threat.

 

The sky were deep shades of black and red, stars scattering around, interlacing themselves with the foggy clouds. For as long as she tried, Caitlyn couldn’t get herself to sleep and instead was lying on the torn up couch, fully alert and prepared, her gun within arms reach and loaded. Every slight rustle of a bush or howl of wind had her jumping slightly, brushing her fingers over the barrel of the rifle. Jayce snored loudly as his other half quietly lay beside him, a pillow separating their heads in an attempt to dampen out his roars. Caitlyn hadn’t spent the night inside the building in a long time, as she didn’t trust the shadows which followed in its wake.

A sudden cracking sound on the upper floor followed by some scurrying brought the Piltie to her feet in an instant, gun readied in her gloved hands. Quiet steps towards the bottom of the staircase, waiting. Waiting for them to come downstairs. Waiting for them to appear. Waiting to blow a bullet into their heads and paint the walls with crimson. But nothing showed. No noise echoed down the stairs, not even a mouse squeaked, as even it knew the sudden demise it would meet. Caitlyn squinted into the darkness as she held her breath, step by step up the staircase and into the adjacent room, rifle up and readied.

But not a sound was heard, apart from the light sway of the trees outside and the cool night air blowing its way through the shattered window, howling and crying as it entered. The shattered window. Caitlyn couldn’t see a thing. The room was pitch black, even with the broken window, but she knew somebody was in the room with her. If she had ever listened to her gut feeling before, it was now screaming at her, tugging her out of the room and yelling for the others… but she couldn’t yell. The shadow in the room had a weapon. Any sudden move meant certain death, and no Kiramman was to die to a trencher.

The shadow didn’t dare to breathe, unseen in the darkness, or so it thought. Although unseen, it was not unnoticed. Caitlyn was too smart for that, and so the Piltie and the shadow stood face to face in the dark, neither seeing one another yet still knowing they were there… and not one of them dared to move.

Was it fear? Perhaps a deer in headlights situation? No. A Kiramman never froze in the face of danger. So what was happening now? Caitlyn found herself unable to move. She had the advantage, she could just fire a single bullet ahead and be over with it. What stopped her?

Caitlyn was never afraid of being alone in the dark. She was afraid of not being alone in it.

 

Firing off a warning shot, the bullet cut through the rotting floorboards and vanished in seconds as the barrel of the rifle smoked. In the sudden flash of light given by the gun, Caitlyn could see a person. A person struggling to push themself off the floor without making a noise; without breathing. They had flinched from the loud noise but as soon as the darkness had swallowed them both again, Caitlyn heard the sound of fabric, the shadow turning its head to look in Caitlyn’s direction.

Both had made eye contact without seeing one another at that moment, each person seeing the other as a shadow in the dark void of the room. A shadow of an unknown person. They had never met before this, but in this moment they shared, it felt like a truce. Both with weapons, both unknowing of the others identity yet both aware they were on opposing sides. Both a shadow to the other, yet not fighting. A word not spoken, but a million agreements made. They were not going to fight.

Caitlyn took a few steps back as she found the doorway and looked for the faint light at the bottom of the staircase, going down and collecting a light. She dropped her rifle on the couch, leaving it behind as she carried the light back up to the room. walking inside, she shined it at the shadow, finally giving it an identity, pulling it out of the darkness. A pink haired girl, just as colourful as the last girl Caitlyn shooed away that day. Her leg was cut from the shattered window, a large blade clutched tightly in her hand. She looked up at Caitlyn, squinting in the light's presence.

“Just my luck.” The girl lying on the floor in front of Caitlyn, smirked, her lip twitching as a sting of pain shot through her leg, her nose slightly scrunching up to follow.
“It’s your fault, really.” Caitlyn replied sharply.
“Where’d that fancy gun of yours go?”
“Downstairs. I didn’t see a need to shoot you, and you’ll be leaving the same way you came, so don’t bother thinking about stealing it.”

Caitlyn could get a better look at the woman now. A dirtied vest, a red leather jacket tied around her waist and tattoos trailing from her back, right down her arms. She was well built, her pinkish-red hair being an odd colour to see paired with such a bulky body, yet still fitting. The woman laughed as if Caitlyn had made some kind of joke, sitting down properly and stretching her leg out to see the damage done by the broken glass. It had seemed the side of her thigh got caught on the glass before she fell through and cut her shin in the process, leaving 2 opened wounds on her leg. She grimaced to herself before pulling the dirtied bandages from her arms, using them to quickly wrap the cuts on her leg to stop further bleeding.

She had gotten this far and she wasn’t leaving in this condition. With a heavy sigh, Caitlyn walked back down to the main room where Jayce and Viktor slept blissfully unaware. I’m having your left leg for this one. She collected a roll of fresh bandages from a first aid kit Viktor had found back when they were looking for a base camp, returning to the upstairs room and crouching next to the woman, taking the filthy bandages off her leg before wrapping clean dressings over the top of the woman’s pants. Maybe not enough, but enough to get her out of the building and back to wherever she came from.

Caitlyn proceeded to give the rest of the roll to the woman, knitting her brows together as she looked up at her. The trencher had been watching Caitlyn with interest, intrigued by her sudden hospitality.
“What’s all this for?” She asked, watching as Caitlyn looked at her with slight frustration.
“The faster I wrap up your wounds, the faster you’ll get out of here.”
The Zaunite chuckled as she shrugged. “I don’t think I’ll be walking for a little while. My family is gonna think you kidnapped me or something and come looking. Caitlyn’s face dropped.

“They’re all going to come here!?” She stood up, almost prepared to just pick the trencher up and throw her out the window herself.
“Well… my siblings will most likely come looking. I’m not sure if my old man’s up to a rescue mission.”
Caitlyn groaned loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. “Why did you come here in the first place!?”
“My sister said you had some nice gadgets and what-not, but you pointed a gun in her face… so as any good sister would do, I came to get what she wanted.”
“You’re- you’re her sister? And-“ Caitlyn looked baffled. The amount of times the double braided, trigger happy teen had been around to bother her was uncountable at this point.

 

“The one and only.” The brawler smiled gleefully, almost as if she didn’t realise the amount of danger she was really in with being in the building. Caitlyn huffed, sitting down properly on the floor as she faced the trencher.
“So you’re not going to be able to leave…”
“Not until I can actually walk. I would’ve left before you came upstairs but y’know… I got unlucky with the window.”
Caitlyn looked agitated to say the least. Housing the sister of the one who constantly torments and steals from her and the other two. Just having the pink haired Zaunite around means that little blue maniac will arrive anytime soon on a saviour mission, but maybe that wasn’t so bad. Caitlyn could just chase the both of them out once the trencher gets collected by her sister.

“Name’s Vi.” The brawler spoke suddenly to break the awkward silence before it began.
“We’re not on a first name basis.” Caitlyn replied quickly, standing up. “Don’t even refer to me.”
“Does Cupcake sound good?”
“Excuse me?”
“Since you just seem so sweet and fluffy, like a cupcake.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“You got it, Cupcake.”

Caitlyn immediately left the room and shut the door. Vi sat in silence, alone in the cold, damp smelling room. It was definitely a mistake coming into this building, but it could’ve been a lot worse. Her siblings would come looking for her in the morning, she was sure of it. Vi untied the leather jacket from around her waist, lay down on the wet, wooden floorboards and lay the jacket over top to keep herself warm, settling down for a rough night.

Chapter 2: Unwarranted Guest

Summary:

IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG OH MY GOD!? I had really bad writers block for so long- but hey, my 17th birthday is tomorrow so isn’t that fun? It’s 1am right now but I’ll try write as much as I can for this chapter! Hope you enjoy :)

The sun steadily rose over the hills as the beams of light began to shine through the window, chasing away the shadows in the corners and lighting up the face of the Zaunite. Vi hadn’t slept, eagerly awaiting the arrival of her family, yet nobody came. She sat up grudgingly, looking at the bandages that dressed her leg, stained through with the blood of her mistake. A simple curse to herself and a huff, she attempted to push her way off the damp floorboards and support herself on the opposing wall, clenching her jaw as pain shot up her leg and carried across her spine.

Powder had told her about this camp, but never warned her about the Piltie trash lurking around inside. Vi wasn’t sure how much time she had left before her brains would be painting the wall, but nobody had arrived to drag her out by her shirt collar and berate her. Time was running thin.

The trencher took a large stride with her good leg, catching onto the windowsill and cutting her hand on the glass in the process. Nothing a few bandages won’t fix. The jagged glass she caught herself on earlier was sticky with crimson, only now visible in the suns morning light.

Vi looked out of the window, staring down at the floor beneath her then looked at her leg. She wasn’t sure what the biggest risk was. Taking the stairs and leaving through the front door, a risk of being caught by the Pilties, or taking a leap out of the window and hitting the floor. Staying wasn’t an option in her mind.

A choice wasn’t going to be made as the door to the room opened, the tall woman lurking in the doorway once again. Caitlyn stared at Vi, her eyes darting around the room before meeting Vi again.

 

“What are you doing?”

“I was just on my way out.”

 

Caitlyn sighed heavily as she approached the Zaunite, pulling her from the window.

 

“I did some thinking…” Caitlyn began, knitting her eyebrows together. Her tone was harsh.

“Pilties can think?” Vi spat back a snarky remark. “I’m surprised, Cupcake. I thought you were all guns.”

“Well now I’ve changed my mind.” Caitlyn grabbed ahold of Vi’s shirt and walked her back to the window. “Go tell your lunatic sister that if any of you come round here again, I’m going to-“

“Okay, Okay! I’ve got the message!” Vi pressed her hands onto the window ledge, preventing Caitlyn from pushing her any further out of it.

“And…?”

“And, I’m sorry!” Vi quickly spoke as Caitlyn released her, stepping back. “God, what is your problem!?”

“You’re my problem.” She shot back quickly. “As I was saying… I was thinking, and I decided that since nobody has come for you, you can say up here until you’re able to walk.”

 

Vi stared blankly at Caitlyn, blinking in confusion. Everything had happened so fast. Vi broke in to steal food and supplies and ended up staying the night and receiving unwarranted hospitality from a Piltie of all things.

 

“I don’t know who you think I am, Cupcake, but I’m leaving NOW. I don’t need your ‘charity’…” Vi rolled her eyes. “Can I just leave through the door so I don’t have to throw myself out of a window?”

“Be my guest.” Caitlyn crossed her arms, standing to the side to let Vi walk. The trencher glanced at her before limping to the door, using the walls for support. “There’s no walls outside in the forest, you know… are you going to crawl back where you came from?”

“They’re looking for me… they’ll find me once I get outside.”

“Sure they will.” Caitlyn followed behind Vi, loosely grabbing ahold of her arm to steady her. She looked up at the Piltovian who just kept looking ahead, the stairs now looking like a death sentence to Vi.

 

“Y’know- I think I need to keep resting for a little while-“

“Oh no, you insisted! Please, do go down.” Caitlyn mocked, pulling Vi towards the stairs. Vi pulled back against her, limping backwards and away from the stairs.

“Yeah, well…” Caitlyn towered over Vi, drilling holes into her skull with her gaze alone. “Fine, I’ll stay until I can walk… god, what’s with you Pilties being so generous?”

“I figured that if I let you stay and heal, your sister would stop trying to steal from us. We’re not trying to be your enemy, but your family is making that difficult.”

“Yeah, well it seems like everybody wants to be my enemy nowadays…”

 

Caitlyn walked Vi back into the upstairs room, leaving her against the wall as Jayce yelled up the stairs, his voice booming and echoing around the building. “CAIT! SOMEBODY’S AT THE DOOR!”

Vi grinned as Caitlyn stepped back. “You don’t need to shout, Jay…” She looked at Vi over her shoulder before shutting the door and going downstairs, her eyes meeting with a tall, bulky man. Hair combed back and a beard with a few grey hairs, Caitlyn was relativity surprised to see a Zaunite this old still alive, roaming around topside.

 

“I don’t suppose you have a pink haired trouble maker in this building?” He had an accent Caitlyn had never heard before and an aura that was a little too comforting for her liking. Jayce quietly retreated back to Viktor’s side, watching the man closely like a hawk.

“We do… what about it?” Jayce spoke up, immediately silenced by Caitlyn who stared daggers straight through him.

“Well I’d like her back… if that’s not too much of an issue for you?” He smiled faintly but even Caitlyn knew that it was a mocking look. She stared at him for a moment longer before walking upstairs, leaving Jayce and Viktor alone with the man.

————

“… there’s somebody upstairs…?” Viktor mumbled to Jayce under his breath. He looked back, shrugging.

“Cait told me this morning when she was half asleep that a trencher was upstairs, but that’s all she’s told me… I haven’t actually seen them…”

“I’m sorry about all this… It probably would’ve suited you guys best if she successfully took some supplies and left, ay?” The man tried to joke, getting a quiet snort out of Jayce.

————

“Somebody’s here for you.”

“Took them long enough…” Vi pushed herself off the wall, stumbling as Caitlyn caught her by the shoulder.

“Yeah. Well quit coming back here because next time, I’m not being so nice…” She helped Vi down the stairs, steadily supporting her to the door with Vi’s arm around her shoulders.

The man stared down at Vi who refused to make eye contact with him, and instead dipped her head.

“What am I going to do with you?” He spoke quietly, a hint of disapproval in his tone.

“You left me here all night, what do you mean? I could’ve been dead and you’d wait?” The trencher sounded upset, riling herself up.

“I knew you wouldn’t be.” He squinted, walking over to Vi and putting an arm around her to support her, Caitlyn letting go and standing away from them. “So sorry about this… it’s not the best when you have the opposing side squatting in your attic, hm?”

“Mmmph.” Caitlyn leaned her weight onto one leg, placing a hand on her hip as she looked at Vi then Viktor.

“How about you keep your kids or whatever out of our city so we won’t have this issue again?” Jayce pouted, crossing his arms which caused Caitlyn to awkwardly sigh, looking away.

“It won’t happen again.” The man spoke as he began walking out, the pink haired trencher hobbling beside him.

 

Caitlyn shut the door before throwing herself onto the torn up couch, covering her face with her arm. Jayce shimmied over and sat next to her, looking at Viktor who just shrugged, a solemn look on his face. Caitlyn and Jayce both knew he was a Zaunite, yet he still ended up better off that most of the people he was surrounded by when born.

 

“Are you okay?” Jayce turned to Viktor who broke eye contact immediately.

“Yes. Yes, just… thinking…” He quietly replied, shaking his head to himself before coughing into his hand. Caitlyn raised a suspecting eyebrow. “I’m from the undercity, yet I am treated with respect. I just cannot see what is different between us and them.”

“The only difference is that they steal! They’re thieves!” Jayce leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as Caitlyn poked him in the side, warning him to shut his mouth.

“And how did WE get all of this stuff, Jayce?” Viktor snapped back, his eyes narrowing. Jayce went quiet, looking at the wall beside him. “Hypocrisy.” He stood up, grabbing ahold of his cane for support as he began walking into the next room, coughing into his elbow. Caitlyn sat up, glaring at Jayce harshly. Jayce lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose tightly as he exhaled, squeezing his eyes shut.

At least the Zaunites were off their tails… hopefully…