Chapter Text
Vultures loomed at all hours of the night; the sound of their wings thrashed against the air above them, keeping Caitlyn awake during the night. Every small noise always managed to keep her awake; the window shutters squeaking against the wind, the harmony of the breeze flowing in and out of the cabin, the scuffling of rats underneath the ground, or the sound of the wooden floors squeaking from people twisting and turning every few seconds. Anything could wake her up. Sometimes, a mere nothing like dread or shame would loom over her and watch her sleep, whispering in her ear, “Don’t get up” and “Go back to bed, Caitlyn, I’m not trying to wake you up,” whilst she made every attempt to revisit her dream that never came back.
Vivid dreams consumed her nights, reliving the crash when the fire blazed beyond the metal hull of the aircraft. The sound of death repeatedly screeched in her ears, the smell of blood flooded her brain; it was inescapable. The dreams were always twisted, one time, she dreamt of the water reaching above her neck, swallowing her in the toxicity of the water, breathless. That was until she was awoken by the sunrise to a blocked nose. She dreaded sleeping because of it.
However, she was fortunate to be surrounded by people; the layout of their room was cozy, sleeping side by side to stay warm and using each other's coats and jackets as blankets. She complained every second of the day, dreading Maddie’s response of “You’re so entitled,” and whatever else she could come up with to belittle her. She never understood Maddie’s motive, guessing it was an attempt to make Caitlyn look stupid so that she could have Vi for herself.
The days before consisted of Maddie and Vi constantly missing from group settings, arriving late to the cabin hours after sunset, and having constant private conversations. The envy in her only grew since she refused to speak with Maddie and Vi for space, wondering if their kiss meant the whole world to Vi as it did to Caitlyn. Did she hear the fireworks going off in the background as they held each other close with their legs tangled under the water? If only she could’ve seen the regret in Caitlyn’s eyes when she pulled back from her face.
But she tried avoiding the thought, and instead focused on her fight with Mel from three days prior, forgiving her but never fully trusting her, regardless of how long Caitlyn had known her for, only speaking to her when it was necessary.
It was difficult to accept the fact that people change.
She pondered for hours, staring at the chipped wood dangling from above, watching the soft light bounce off of it so it looked as if it were protruding out more than it actually was. Jayce fixed the ceiling a month ago, wondering why it was deteriorating already.
It was only then that she heard muffles from across the room, not a conversation, just one person, guessing it was Jayce sleep talking again. The last time, when Mel and Jayce slept over at Caitlyn’s house, she woke up in the middle of the night to Jayce speaking gibberish to himself. She wanted to tell Mel, but decided it was best to let her find out on her own since she thought it was funnier that way.
She turned to where Jayce was, lying soundly next to Mel, realizing it didn’t come from either of them. The sound didn’t bother her, except for the fact that now she couldn’t go back to sleep. She got up and decided to sit outside on the porch, admiring the way the leaves on the trees swayed against the wind.
“Couldn’t sleep either?”
The door lightly opened, revealing Vi stood at the foot of the door, closing it behind her.
Caitlyn hesitated; the weeks of her avoiding Vi came down to this moment, if it was better to speak or to run back inside and pretend this wasn’t happening.
“No.”
Vi sat down on the ground next to the wooden chair that she was on. Caitlyn had spent so much time by herself that she now hated the way she portrayed Vi in her head, even without speaking to her, just observing. Observing her running off with Maddie often, staying by her side during meals, or whispering amongst each other when they would play card games by the campfire. It was infuriating, even though Caitlyn never said anything about it out loud.
But it was those times when she would catch Vi glance at her across the room, softly exchanging a smile before Maddie interrupts and begins talking about God knows what. She was in a state of limerence, her days revolving around Vi even though she refused to speak to her. She didn’t know why it had to be that way; it just felt right to have space.
They both sat in silence, watching the moths reach for the moonlight as the sound of muffling began dying down.
Vi broke the silence first, resting her head against the wall of the cabin as she glanced up at Caitlyn. “You doing alright?”
“So now you care to ask?”
“Cait, you’re the one avoiding me. What else am I supposed to do?” She questioned, her foot lightly tapping the ground. Caitlyn stayed silent for a minute or two, refusing to look down at Vi.
“I just needed space.” She replied coldly.
“It’s been three weeks, Cait. Is this about Maddie?”
She swallowed the thick air clogging her throat, pausing before shifting her whole body to face Vi.
“You know what, yes, it is about Maddie. We kiss, and then you take everyone else’s side and start running off with her.” She raised her voice slightly, but not loud enough to wake the others up. “She’s like in love with you, Vi.”
The darkness made it so Vi couldn’t see the sheer tear slowly running along her cheek. She hated confrontation, but it never held her back from speaking her mind.
Silence echoed, realizing Vi wasn’t going to say anything. “Are you in love with her too?”
“She’s just a friend that I got kind of close with, I know it’s weird because she’s your ex but-“
“So was I ‘just a friend you kind of got close with’ too?” Caitlyn interrupted as she did speech marks with her fingers.
Instigating an argument at this time of day only asked for more trouble, especially knowing it would end on a negative note, but she needed this conversation badly without anyone eavesdropping and gossiping about it later on, so it was either now or never.
“You know that’s not how I think of you.” It was almost as if Caitlyn could feel Vi’s heart drop at the question, like it should have never been an option in the first place. “Why don’t you believe me?”
“It’s been a long two weeks, Vi. Cut me some slack, it’s obvious that I barely trust anyone here.” Caitlyn could feel the hair on her arm stick up from the goosebumps all over her body.
“You can’t just ask me to stop hanging out with Maddie.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Caitlyn breathed out.
“Then what are you saying? Because you mean a lot to me, Cait. It’s not easy pretending I didn’t have the time of my life at the lake, then end up with you pushing me away.”
Her heart felt heavy, realizing Vi was right. Making herself the victim of her own choices only made Caitlyn look selfish. But coming to terms with the fact that Vi had taken Maddie’s side still lingered in her head.
“I pushed you away because you took Maddie’s side after what she said to me. You have to look at it from my perspective, Vi.”
She stayed silent, watching how conflicted Vi was. All of her rings had gone missing, so she no longer had anything to fidget with except the skin around her fingernails, peeling it off layer by layer.
“It just feels hypocritical, you guys used to pick on Maddie constantly, and now that it happened to you, it’s like the world is ending. Cait, we’re all stranded here. I know it feels like it hit you the hardest, but trust me, we all feel it too.” Vi replied softly; her voice lingered in Caitlyn’s mind, repeating it to herself. How selfish has she been this entire time?
“So what do you want from me?” Caitlyn asked, finally looking to Vi, who hadn’t moved an inch from when she last looked to her.
“I want you to come with Maddie and me when we go hunting later today, just the three of us.” Vi offered, the darkness made it difficult to see her, only making out Vi’s eyes locked on Caitlyn’s
“And why would I do that?”
“So you can see how much Maddie has changed, your dumb fights are costing all of us.” Vi pleaded. It felt sincere, even knowing how much Caitlyn despised Maddie, Vi knew she wouldn’t say no. “Just this one time.”
Considering how gullible Caitlyn was, she agreed, returning to the cabin with Vi and eventually falling asleep to the sound of snoring coming from Jayce’s side of the cabin. She was awoken the next day by Vi gently shoving her shoulder, greeted by the blinding light as she shut her eyes immediately, stretching her back with her arms raised above her head.
“Cmon we’re leaving now, I thought you were already up,” Vi said, pulling on Caitlyn’s arm to bring her to her feet.
She was greeted by surprised faces. A few sat around the campfire as she glanced at Ekko, who looked as if he was getting ready to go down to the lake. Powder was sitting against the porch with her notebook in hand and a few pens scattered around her, staring at Caitlyn with wide eyes.
Vi had told Caitlyn that she had convinced Maddie to go along with the plan, agreeing to let her on their hunt. She knew how awkward it would be, but then again, she’d do anything for Vi if it meant they finally spoke.
“Ready?” Maddie approached Caitlyn with an unreadable expression, her gaze stuck on Caitlyn.
“Should I bring anything? I could get my knife, that could help with-“
“No. You’re just walking with us.” Maddie interrupted as Vi stood dumbfounded beside her.
—————————
It must have been around 30 minutes since they left the cabin, feeling like it had been hours, aimlessly walking through damp trees and puddles. Vi had made sure to stay silent to let Caitlyn and Maddie bond, which had not been successful yet, considering she was given glares instead of conversations.
“Last time we came, there was a whole family of rabbits, no clue where they ran off to,” Vi said, watching the large space between them.
“Caitlyn probably scared them off,” Maddie whispered to herself as Caitlyn continued trekking across the muddy path, pretending not to hear.
“I don’t think they’ll stay here if you guys keep coming to this area, you know,” Caitlyn said, raising her voice slightly as she hiked further away from them.
“Well obviously,” Maddie turned to Caitlyn, feeling her watch her from behind. “Where are you going?”
“There’s a spot near the river, I remember seeing beavers there.” She replied, stepping over vines and roots protruding from the ground.
They followed Caitlyn to a thin stream that led to a larger river down the hill. As she expected, a family of beavers was inhabiting near the foot of the water. The wilderness was abnormal to Caitlyn, a new environment, weather, and whatever else she didn’t have back in Piltover. But watching how at home the wildlife was, how easy they made it livable. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as she thought.
She didn’t have to worry about how she looked; nobody cared after the first few days anyway. Money wasn’t an issue; then again, it never was an issue for her. Having no oven, no phone, and no heater became less of a problem every day they spent. The bugs became normal, except for only having to get used to the spiders that Jayce continuously throws at her.
Maddie ran off to get closer, preparing her gun with the strap around her back.
“How’s everything with Mel and them?” Vi asked, sitting down on the grass next to a broken-down log.
“I made up with Mel and Jayce, hopefully they could convince Maddie to give me a break.” She replied, pulling at the vegetation beneath her. Vi was speaking to her as if she hadn’t seen her in years, catching up on random stuff they thought the other might find interesting. Having this conversation over coffee would’ve been nice, then again, the sun on her back heated her up perfectly as a breeze flew by. She didn’t even like coffee.
But she technically hasn’t spoken to Jayce since the request of a new knife, but he does whatever Mel says, so she figured that was the case. She admired his loyalty.
“I’ll talk to her after this, but hey, at least you’re making progress.” Vi chuckled, only now she noticed a small dimple forming on the sides of her mouth. Caitlyn was facinated on how much she barely knew Vi, exploring her inside and out but still managed to find new things about her.
Caitlyn chuckled in response, gazing off into the distance as she watched Maddie with her finger over the trigger, her hands wrapped tightly around the neck of the gun as she put her eye to the lens. She reminisced about the days with Grayson when they would go out to the shooting range every other weekend, knowing she’d be disappointed if she found out Caitlyn wasted all her skills because she couldn’t pull the trigger.
Caitlyn expected to hear a shot ring out, but nothing came. She turned to Maddie, who stood up abruptly, tossing the gun onto the ground as she gravitated towards the bark of a tree, causing the beavers to scramble away.
“Maddie! We don’t have enough food, what are you-“
“What the fuck.” Maddie shouted, pointing at the tree the beavers were previously under. Marked on it was the symbol she saw on the paper, walking towards it subconsciously to get a better view.
The horror on Maddie’s face was indescribable, hurrying backwards to immediately grab her bag, lightly tripping over the gun on the ground.
“Maddie?” Vi asked, oblivious to what was in front of her.
“The tree, do you not see it?” She stuttered, finger remaining pointed at the tree bark. Caitlyn shouldn’t have felt this satisfied, but it was justified.
“What tree?” The symbol was carved out larger than the other few she had found, causing Maddie to raise her eyebrows in confusion.
“Vi, do you need glasses?” Caitlyn asked, a smirk slowly appearing on her face.
“What? No.” Her voice was pitched higher, she was horrible at lying, and her tone was the main indicator.
“Fuck this, I’m getting out of here. I’m not about to be haunted by whatever the hell is out there.” The comment from Maddie was enough to freak Vi out, quickly scrambling to grab their stuff as Vi pulled on Caitlyn’s arm to leave.
They arrived back at the cabin faster than they left, hands on knees as Maddie’s breath grew louder.
“This place is fucking haunted,” Vi said, her legs giving out as she lied on the ground next to the campfire. Caitlyn calmly approached them, attempting to hide the satisfaction on her face whilst grabbing a cup from the water bucket for a drink before Vi snatched it from her hand to take a sip.
The water wasn’t as clean as she would have preferred, but the river water was good enough for her not to complain. She realized she stopped complaining about a lot of things since the first few week since the crash, finally being able to utilize her hobbies to entertain herself with crafts and cooking. Life began looking better, the color slowly flooding back into her vision a shade at a time.
Maddie began ranting nonstop about the symbol, Vi pitching in occasionally as Caitlyn just sat back and watched. It was the way they all were drawn towards Caitlyn since she happened to be more knowledgeable on the so-called “cult”, giving her guidance afterwards truly satisfied her pride with responsibility pushing on her as the group sat silently. Listening.
Her words felt like they were engraving into their minds; the look on their eyes proved just how much power she had over them. This time, nobody questioned her story, fully attentive to what she had to say.
“This one was larger than the rest. What could that mean?” Maddie asked, her legs stretched out on the couch with her neck twisted to face everyone else on the ground.
Only Caitlyn was standing, leaning against the fireplace inside the cabin with her arms folded over each other. “Don’t take my word for it, but doesn’t it seem like a map? We can try mapping it out with the other ones we found.”
“Dibs not doing it,” Jayce interfered, putting his hand in the air.
“Relax, no one’s asking you to, I was just suggesting it,” Caitlyn said.
Powder’s head was resting on Vi’s lap, gently stroking the strands of hair falling over her face. The sisterly body they had was admirable, knowing how much she meant to Vi as Powder wiggled her eyebrows at Caitlyn upon realizing she was staring. Powder chuckled, getting up from the ground to pick up her notebook.
“You guys can keep freaking yourselves out. I’ll be outside.” Powder said as she made her way to the door. Caitlyn had forgotten about Ekko’s desire for her; no one else knew about it except her, which made it feel more special than it was, knowing Vi would flip if she found out.
Their bond was inseparable, meaning it was on Vi to make sure Powder was well mentally and physically at all times. But when it came to love interests, she drew the line. The unknown scared her; it scared them all, which made it harder for Ekko to spend time with Powder without it being obvious.
She shook her head to Ekko, knowing he was asking with his eyes to follow Powder outside until a yell echoed outside. Caitlyn ran outside first to find Powder cradling her knee on the ground, her head tucked down in agony as she yelped in pain.
Everyone ran outside with her, kneeling to the ground as they sat her against a tree, realizing she had tripped into a shallow hole and had dislocated her knee.
“You left a second ago, how’d you manage this?” Jayce asked, attempting to lighten the mood.
It was Vi who first comforted her, watching a tear fall down her face as she inspected the injury. It wasn’t fatal, but without medical attention, it was basically impossible to ensure she would be fine.
“It’s okay, Pow, I’m here,” Vi whispered, kneeling beside her as she wiped a tear off Powder’s face.
“Please tell me someone knows how to fix this..”
Luckily for Caitlyn, the months of isolating herself in her room after breaking up with Maddie left her to go down a rabbit hole of watching Grey’s Anatomy, researching dozens of injuries briefly, which led her to be vaguely familiar with how it worked.
She would be going off of pure memory, yet again, there was nobody else who could help.
“I’ve watched a video online a while back, could I try?” Caitlyn asked, running a finger along the bone that was protruding slightly out of the skin on her knee.
“Of course you did,” Maddie said as Vi smacked her hand on Maddie’s leg, telling her this wasn’t the time.
Caitlyn reassured her, asking her to move her toes, to which she did. Caitlyn watched Powder squeeze Vi’s hand as Caitlyn placed a thumb on the lateral side of her joint, extending her leg out before hearing a pop as she winced inadvertently at the sound. Upon realizing that she had done it, the group around her began praising her, everyone including Maddie whose face read relief, surprisingly.
———————————
The days went by gracefully afterwards, with her heart lighter than it ever was; not a day went by without worrying about eating alone in her shed or stressing over the bad looks she used to get. She made sure that Powder wouldn’t lift a finger until Ekko insisted on looking after her, carrying her to the campfire, or simply bringing a cold towel for her knee. Vi had her suspicions, but it stayed between the three of them as Ekko finally got the courage to ask Powder the big question in the middle of the night. It was the cliche of bringing her outside and confessing. Caitlyn didn’t hear it in the moment, but she knew it was special when Ekko described it to her.
Unlike Powder and Ekko, Caitlyn was stuck in a love triangle she desperately wanted to get out of. Her nights consisted of staring at the weathered ceiling above, contemplating whether to reveal everything she had bottled up inside her, knowing it was probably going to ruin their friendship. But it ate at her every day, limiting herself to admiring from afar at the only thing she couldn’t have.
Sure, she could burst and ruin everything she spent so hard building, but she knew nothing would ever be the same afterwards. Maddie and Caitlyn began as close friends until Maddie kissed her unexpectedly in one of their sleepovers, resulting in months wasted in a relationship she didn’t want to be in. She liked Maddie, but never felt for her as much as she did for Vi.
The sun shone bright, staying in her shed with multiple people coming up to Caitlyn for help on whatever they did. She took over Powder’s duties, meaning she was responsible for cooking, butchering, and now cleaning all of their clothes; now understanding why Powder dreaded the task.
But if it meant that Ekko and Powder got to spend more time together, she wouldn’t complain another day.
“Hey cupcake.”
Vi walked in on Caitlyn finalizing the holster she spent weeks making, creating a few pockets for her knifes and adjustments to fit her thigh. She glanced above to be met with rosy cheeks, her eyes sparkling underneath the light as she leaned a hand against the table with the largest grin on her face.
“Uh oh, what have you done now?” Caitlyn chuckled, poking a few holes in the leather strap.
Vi shook her head instantly, pulling up a stool from under the table to sit beside her. “Nothing, can I not come and say hello?”
“I know you want something, you have that look in your eye.”
“Fine, Powder’s hungry, I just came to see if you were busy,” Vi said. She looked as if she was holding her breath; she did that anytime she tried lying.
“Is Powder hungry, or are you hungry?” Caitlyn raised her brows.
“I’m hungry.”
Vi never failed to make Caitlyn laugh with her stupid lies, putting down the knife as she stood up to make her way to her shed, indicating to Vi to follow. They managed to store a few rabbits and squirrels inside, smoking and drying them before placing them in a cold storage in the shed so they wouldn’t rot.
To her surprise, the stash was wiped clean with no remnants of the food, once again. Caitlyn stormed into the cabin, slamming the door behind her as it gently opened again, with Vi quickly entering behind her.
“I’m sick of this. I’m gonna kill whoever ate our entire supply again.” Caitlyn exaggerated, her gaze switching between all the faces in the room. “And don’t fucking say it was me, Maddie.”
“Wasn’t going to,” Maddie replied.
The room fell silent, only the sound of the fire cracking in the fireplace filled the room as Jayce began adding firewood to the flame.
“We don’t have food for the day; we didn’t get anything from the hunt this morning,” Vi added, her voice was soft in comparison to Caitlyn's.
“God, just tell me if you’re hungry and I’ll cook something up. It’s even worse knowing one of you ate it raw.” Caitlyn said, met with a chuckle from Mel and Jayce. “Grow up.”
“Okay, we know Powder didn’t take it, and Mel and I were here the whole day; she can vouch for me.” Jayce interrupted, putting his hand on Mel’s shoulder.
“I was out with Vi and Caitlyn,” Maddie said, realizing Ekko was left by everyone’s allabys. They all turned to Ekko, immediately throwing his hands up in defense.
“Guys, I didn’t take it.” His voice cracked, shocked at the accusations as Caitlyn walked towards him.
“No, Ekko wouldn’t take it. He asks a lot for snacks, but he wouldn’t take it unannounced.” Caitlyn said as Ekko shot his head to her from the comment.
The hunts became limited fast, Maddie would go out often and return with nothing at times. They were going to starve out there.
“I’ll be outside, come to me when someone gets the guts to fess up.” She said, exiting the cabin to go back to her work table outside.
The night quickly settled, but no one had approached Caitlyn all evening. It was quiet when the darkness flooded in, until footsteps emerged from around the cabin with a small light following. A short figure stood in front of her in an oversized shirt and presumably no pants on. Blonde. Maddie.
“Can we talk?”