The Dredge: Chapter 1 [FANFICTION]
Hello everbody!
This is something I've been working on for awhile now. Ever since Urgot was released, I've had an interesting idea for a story floating around in my head. One day, I hope to fully publish a book, and I'll be using this mini series as practice.
Before you get into the story, I do want to remind you that what you will read is fanfiction, and NOT canon. I am not affiliated with Riot in any way shape or form except that I play league.
######(But if Riot wants to make it canon, I wont object)
There also will be no TL;DR. This is meant to be entertaining, and making a TL;DR kind of ruins the whole thing.
One last thing, because I feel I may get a few comments on it: You may notice that I am VERY light on details. This is on purpose. I'm not being lazy, instead, I want to focus more on dialogue and interactions, while only giving minor details as to the setting. I let the imagination of the reader fill in the rest. This, I expect, makes the story more personal and impactful, because the characters and setting are of the reader's own design.
Hope you enjoy it!
"Excuse me, nurse." She very reluctantly pulled herself away from her piece of paper, which, apparently, she was dead set into transforming it into a museum worthy work of art. After noticing that the man talking to her was obviously not an employee of the hospital, she quickly plastered on that fake smile that nearly every woman in Piltover had essentially mastered.
"Yes? How can I help you?" "I was hoping you could lead me to Sherriff Vi's room." She got up from her seat to point down a hallway. "Room 28. Down that hallway, fourth door on the right." She followed this with another one of those smiles, but a bit more exaggerated this time, possibly to try to convey her irritation. "Thank you, and beautiful artwork by the way." He said, with honest sincerity, only to receive silence in return. "Not even a thank you in return? They'll hire anyone these days." He thought.
That was especially true for the person he intended on interviewing. The obnoxious, pink-haired, hot-headed Sherriff known as Vi was a bit of a mystery to the people of Piltover. So many questions surrounded her, and all of that curiosity spawned just as many rumors, which in turn spawned even more questions. Alright, perhaps "a bit of a mystery" is probably an understatement, but it isn't as if anyone is complaining about her.
In the years since becoming Sherriff Caitlyn's partner, someone who had already earned the title of "best Sherriff Piltover has ever known", the two have truly been a force to be reckoned with. They have captured hundreds upon hundreds of criminals together, and have also shipped an untold number of Noxian spies and diplomats back to their fortress city, and usually not without many bruises, and a few broken bones. Their track record is nearly perfect, with only one criminal ever being able to avoid being captured, of which is another mystery altogether.
This isn't to say, though, that the two of them, or better yet, Vi, hasn't gotten in trouble in before. There have certainly been more than a few instances where Vi's hot-headed nature got the best of her, and if the rumors are true, what happened a couple nights ago just might be her greatest mistake.
He gently knocked on the door, and let himself in. Although he had an idea of what to expect, he certainly didn't expect to see Vi wrapped practically head to toe in bandages, with only half of her face visible, and both her right arm and left leg completely enclosed in casts. Someone could only wonder what she looked like before they wrapped her up.
"Excuse me, but, who are you?" He didn't even notice Sherriff Caitlyn sitting in a recliner in the corner. Even though he didn't expect to see her here, it was no surprise that she would keep her partner company, especially since it was unknown if Vi had any friends or family that weren't from Zaun. After seeing that Caitlyn was apparently reading a book before he let himself in, he realised he had done so without uttering a single word.
"Ah, my apologies, Sherriff. Name's Don, I'm a reporter for The Piltover News." He offered his hand to give her a handshake, but it was returned with nothing more than a raised eyebrow.
"And why are you here?" "Uh…I was hoping to get an interview with Sherriff Vi." "Right after she's been admitted to the hospital? I'll have you know, that it's only been two days." "Well…yes, but we at the Piltover News do strive…" "As if I care. Do you have any amount of respect for others? Not only do you let yourself in, unannounced, you also want to have an interview from Vi without giving her any time to recover?" "Well….I…." "Seriously, journalists these days. Get out of here, and come back when you've…"
"Cupcake." This startled both of them. Neither had expected Vi to be awake, let alone save Don from getting the scolding of a lifetime. "The man's just doing his job, don't be so hard on him." "Just like you were doing yours?" "You're still angry?" "Angry? I'm still on the verge of going into a fit of rage, and this stupid reporter only made it worse!" "There's no need to get so riled up about…"
"You nearly died!" Caitlyn was practically screaming by now. It even looked like she would burst into tears. Only after a few moments of silence, did Vi decide to break it. "How about you go home and get some shut eye? Its obvious that you need it more than I do." "Giving me orders now, too?" "Yes." "You seem to forget that I'm…"
"Caitlyn!" This stopped her cold. It was obvious that Vi rarely ever called Caitlyn by her name, let alone raise her voice when saying it. Only silence followed, with the two of them simply staring at each other, and Don off to the side trying to make sense of the situation. Minutes passed, and again, it was Vi to break the silence.
"Go home, cupcake." "Fine. It's plainly obvious you don't want me here." She gathered up her things, donned her iconic purple top hat, and headed out the door without another word.
Don could do nothing but stand and stare, digesting what he just witnessed. Everyone had simply assumed that the two Sherriffs were really close. It only made sense since the two worked so incredibly well together. Perhaps what happened to Vi was actually far more severe than any of the rumors had made it out to be.
"Don't worry. She'll be over it in a day or two, if not tonight. She's not someone who holds onto what makes her angry for very long. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if she heads down to our shooting range. It's her way of blowing off steam." "I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble." "Nah. We've had worse than this. Though, I would say this is one of our darker hours." "You've……nearly died before?" "Oh, no. What happened a couple nights ago was definitely a cluster fuck. I was talking about our argument we just had. No, me being here is my fault. Oh yeah….you're here to 'interview' me on that night, right?" "That's…what I was hoping for, yes." "Well, what do you want to know?" "Anything and everything really. We want to make this a feature length article, so, the more information the better." "Alright. How about I start when I had the pleasure of meeting the Queen Bee herself?"
