(Peregrine - Mako)
He looked toward the drifting clouds as they approached the stronghold. His features remained stoic, regal, focused. Cunning onyx eyes watched the lightning dance amongst the sky.
He didn't flinch when the head rolled to his feet.
The beheaded lilac haired woman with beautiful emerald eyes had her mouth agape in shock.
Disgust lined his lips in a pulled up sneer. "You're sloppy."
The seven year old remained unflinching, the blood that had sprayed on her face already dried up along her round and innocent looking features.
The woman used to look at her with such disgust. She would sob and demand that "the abomination should be banished from my presence, before I slaughter it." Nights were always spent awake with one eye open, as fear would constrict her body while a shadow hovered over her menacingly.
Today though, she stood as bold as this stronghold. Her rail thin body blocked the woman's doorway and only exit. Her small knuckles were fisted tightly, and her shoulders rose and fell in an aggressive heap; she was ready.
"And what do you think you're going to do?" The woman sneered. "You're pathetic!" She spat while her slim fingers ran over the edge of her finely crafted saber before she slid the steel back in its adorning scabbard. Her long body was covered in the most elegant battle leathers, her fair lilac hair tied back revealing her swan like neck. She was the epitome of Noxian nobility; all elegance and ferocity with hints of too much arrogance.
"I don't understand why the Grand General chose you as an heir. I should never have agreed to carry you. You're going to be his downfall, you absolute failure," The woman easily pushed the girl out of the way, causing her to fall on her back.
It was then that the seven year old had snapped. She waited as the woman fully strode out of the doorway. With inhuman speed, she reached to the scabbard attached to the woman's hips, grabbing the hilt of a cold Noxian steel dagger. She easily climbed the unsuspecting woman's back, digging the dagger into her pale beautiful neck. The woman's hands came up behind her to grab at the back of the small girl's ragged shirt. Her thin fingers scrabbled for the material, clasping the cotton before she tugged with unexpected strength and threw the girl into a nearby wall.
Finally, the woman fell to her knees, her hand clasping her neck. "You little bitch," She hissed, as blood spewed from her lips. The seven year old shook her head from the blow with the wall, rising her small frame to face the woman.
"Blood for Noxus," The girl murmured as she kicked the woman's abdomen causing the woman to sputter forward on her hands and knees. Her small fingers wrapped around the green hilt of the dagger as she ripped it from the muscle and slid the edge along pale skin. Blood spilled to the dark marble woman finally collapsed, emerald eyes held open as death took her.
The seven year old's hues locked on to the four eyed raven that perched onto an exquisite arm chair. Standing amongst the shadows of storm clouds and twilight, and the other relics of Noxus, was the Grand General himself.
The girl lowered her head.
"Your handy work seems terrible. The cuts are uneven, " He growled. "If you are to prove your strength like that, you need to fix the way you attack. You were inefficient. You have a lot to work on." H
The raven flew from her perch and landed onto the girl's small shoulder, long talons digging into her muscle. The raven cawed softly to the girl, nuzzling her gnarled beak into her pale neck.
Swain looked to his daughter, regarding the blood covering her arms and front, with an emotionless mask. "She was becoming too much of a coward. She was afraid of you. I told her to get herself together before you finally did something. No one heeds my warnings like they used to," He sighed. "We'll have to notify her family that she died like the dog she was bred to be."
He turned on his heel, clasping his cane with long fingers. He strode over, grabbing the young girl by the scruff of the neck, making the raven on her shoulder flutter away and perch upon his.
"Your training is effective immediately. General Du Couteau, will have quite the work on his hands with you, girl," He snarled.
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(Summer Clouds - How Great Are the Robins)
The clink of ice tapping against glass seemed foreign in a haven like this.
Late spring brought over a rekindled freshness that was always so long forgotten in the bleak of winter. The scent of the bordered forest, damp from the recent rain of yesterday, caught part of her curiosity. The rest of it laid to the field of tall grass brushing side to side in the breeze, the manicured flowers and hedges bristled along, the sweet breath of honeysuckle, lavender, mint and peonies, and the soft babble of the small stream that took over a part of the west side of the back garden.
But what mostly kept her attention fixed were the drooping boughs of the giant willow tree swaying and following the rest of its dance like its fellow brethren of nature.
"Thank you, Rose," She smiled toward the nanny, who dropped off the lemonade before her.
"Of course, Miss Kiramman," Rose Doyle returned as she set the rest of the table with iced drinks and a tray of sandwiches. "Mister and Missus Sampson will be here shortly. They are just returning from a promenade in the city center."
Caitlyn gave the barest smirk of recognition. "Are the children with them?"
"Sadly not," Rose scoffed in bemusement. "The wee ones are keeping themselves entertained. Young master Sampson is minding his sister. Proudly, I might add."
Caitlyn's grin grew wider. "Let me guess, they're making mazes in the tall grass again?"
Rose shook her head and rolled her warm brown eyes. "It's a wonder how they never get lost."
With that, the nanny bowed and excused herself to await for the presence of Sarah and Eli.
The veranda that Caitlyn Kiramman sat in was a grand piece of expert carpentry. It was painted in white and soft sky blue, matching the gentile colors of the exterior of the house. A set of eight wicker chairs were hand made to match it and a grand round table that precariously took up most of the space. A beautifully hand crafted rocking chair, polished in dark cherry wood, took up the corner across from her. Vines of flowers and shrubbery collated around the banisters and railings that supported the round structure.
She took a sip of the lemonade, humming at the wonderful taste before she rose from her seat. She smoothed out her cream coloured linen pants. They were a high waisted material that hugged her hips. The mint green dress shirt she wore was tucked into the pants and her sleeves were cuffed at her wrist. It was a very light material that allowed for perfect air movement. Her leather oxford style shoes clacked against the wooden board of the floors while she made her way to the stairs.
Once her shoes met grass, Caitlyn looked down and frowned. Quickly checking behind her, she sat herself down on the last step, untied the laces and kicked off the leather. She carefully gathered the shoes and put them on the very top of the stairs.
That would be enough for Sarah to know that she would be back.
She rolled up her pant legs to the middle of her calves and then let her toes curl into the soft grass.
It felt so good. Good enough for her to let out a sigh of relief and stretch her arms to the cloudless sky. The sun touched her pale skin and warmed her to her absolute core. It had taken such a long time for her to feel so comfortable here. After the forest fire…after that night, the back garden of the Sampson manor held a very bad taste in her mouth. But with the help of Sarah and her rowdy children, those harsh memories were replaced with something better, more positive and full of love.
Like a shot from her gun, Caitlyn took off. Her long legs carried her as she stretched and glided toward the back field. Even though her lungs screamed and throat threatened to close from the effects of tingling childhood asthma, Caitlyn Kiramman reveled in the feeling of the sprint. Her physique had gotten stronger with the training from the police academy, and she could really feel the difference as she bounded down the lawn.
She stopped as she approached wooden fencing, the two horizontal pieces inviting her to jump over if only she took a moment to breathe. The smell of the long grass and soon to be summer sun swirled around her.
In the near distance, the sound of a young voice counting caught her attention.
She climbed up each rung on the fencing and stopped at the top. She put her hand above her eyes to get a better look against the light of the glare. In the middle of a trodden down grass circle was Elric Sampson. His young hands were clapped over his eyes. His golden blonde hair made him stand out in the sea of green. The sun kissed his exposed shoulders from the white tank top, revealing many light freckles and a tiny tinge of red starting at the tops of them. He seemed to have gone through a bit of a growth spurt since the last time she had seen him. It had been nearly ten months since she went to the police academy and now as a new graduate she had come back for a month of leave before completing two more months of on the beat training with her newly assigned precinct.
She hopped off the fencing and made her way through the waist high grass. Silently, she came up behind him, taking careful quiet steps.
"Forty seven, forty eight, forty nine…" He called loudly.
Once she was fully behind him, Caitlyn placed her hands over his. "Fifty, fifty one, fifty-."
The gasp of surprise and joy mirrored his face as he jumped back to inspect the tall young woman who stood behind him. "Cait!" He screamed in joy as he launched himself at her. His gangly limbs circled around her waist as he accidentally knocked her over. They both fell to the ground with laughs and giggles. "You're back!" Elric beamed from ear to ear, his sapphire eyes sparkled in pure joy.
Another body jumped on top of Caitlyn. The young woman gave a surprised 'oof' as she felt younger arms curl around her neck in a tight embrace. "Caitlyn!" Dakota screamed excitedly.
The young woman couldn't help herself as she embraced the two children. She pulled Elric up to her chest and enveloped the two Sampson siblings. She had missed the ten and six year old so dearly and to see them now filled her heart with so much euphoria.
Dakota pressed her forehead into Caitlyn's, her wide child-like smile bright and excited. Both of their ice blue eyes regarded each other with happy nostalgia. Dakota's raven black hair was braided back, with broken pieces of grass tangled in the mix. Her round cheeks and button nose were scrunched up in joy. Her linen robin's egg blue dress had specks of mud touching the edges and a grass stain on her left hip. A dark blue ribbon was around her waist, slightly frayed and covered in dirt.
Caitlyn then inspected Elric who was exactly in the same state from a morning well spent playing in the wilds.
"You're not wearing shoes!" Dakota expressed happily. She jumped back to sit on her bottom and wiggled her bare toes in the air. "Mummy is gonna have to scrub our feet," She giggled playfully.
Elric cackled as he rolled back, his feet full of mud and grass as well. "If she can catch us!" The little boy laughed. "Now that we have Caitlyn, we can never be caught. She is immune to the law."
The young woman rolled her eyes playfully before she ruffled his golden curls. "That is not how that works, El. I have to follow the law even more perfectly than before."
"Yeah, but you can at least keep us from mummy's rules," Elric suggested with a boyish smirk.
"I'll see what I can do," Caitlyn chuckled as she crawled toward Dakota and tickled the young girl's sides.
The Sampson child let out a cacophony of giggles and loud laughter that sang in the young woman's heart. Dakota rolled this way and that to escape the relentless finger tips of the Kiramman woman.
Elric jumped to the rescue on the twenty year old's back pretending to tackle her away. Caitlyn feigned being defeated and fell to the side to avoid squishing the boy.
The Sampson children cheered victoriously.
Caitlyn returned to sitting up right, crossing her legs before her and loving the feeling of the sun on her back. Bugs chirped and flew around, birds sang from the trees, the breeze kissed at her skin. Dakota came over and settled into Caitlyn's lap. A long piece of grass was clutched in her tiny hands, her fingers quick to get to childish destruction.
Elric sat next to her and leaned his head on the Kiramman's shoulder. A long sigh left his tiny chest as he stared toward the trees in content.
"Were you two playing hide and seek?" Caitlyn asked, placing her chin on top of Dakota's head. Her arms circled around the girl in a sense of comfort.
"We were," Elric confirmed. "Dakota hides really good. It's fun to try and find her."
"Is that so?" Caitlyn asked curiously toward the little girl in her grasp.
Dakota wiggled in her own self pride. She began to hum a lovely tune. Caitlyn was sure she heard Sara singing it one time.
"Do you still want to play?"
Elric stood up immediately in excited glee. "I wanna be the seeker again!"
"Are you sure?" Caitlyn asked just to make sure the boy didn't want to miss out.
"I'm not good at hiding. But I'm very very good at seeking."
"He is!" Dakota giggled in confirmation.
"Alright then. Can you count to a hundred?"
"Of course I can! I got good grades in math this year."
Caitlyn chuckled at the young boy as she picked up Dakota and placed the girl beside her. She stood up to her full height. "I'm glad to hear your studies are getting better, Mister Sampson."
"I'm glad to hear you're back, Miss Kiramman," He beamed in reply.
"Let's go!" Dakota shouted impatiently.
Elric turned his back on the two girls and began to count.
Dakota tugged at Caitlyn's hand. "Follow me," She hissed in a rushed whisper.
The Kiramman followed along as Dakota took the beaten path Caitlyn had taken to reach them in the first place. She scurried through the fence rungs and led them through the soft short grass of the Sampson back garden. They ran past the veranda, toward the small stream bank and the drooping willow tree. Once enveloped in its great boughs and leaves, Dakota stopped.
Thankful, Caitlyn took the time to catch her breath, hands on her knees, and chest heaving for relief. "You..are…very… fast," Caitlyn remarked in awe to her biological daughter.
Dakota gave a shy smile. "Elric can't catch up with me. I always beat him when we race back home for dinner."
Caitlyn gave a short laugh. "Good to hear. Now, where do we go to hide now, master hider."
A cheeky grin spread through Dakota as she pointed to the tree roots. "He hasn't found me here. I lied earlier, Elric is really bad at seeking, so it makes it more fun. This is where I go to hide all the time. Even from mummy and daddy."
Caitlyn cocked her head in curiosity. "Why do you hide from mummy and daddy?"
"Sometimes they're very loud. Elric is loud and so is Rose. I just like to be quiet sometimes," Dakota admitted as she made her way toward the base of the tree.
Caitlyn could understand the sentiment. Even being in the academy, Caitlyn mostly spent her down time in the confines of the library in the quietest corners, or high up above on the roof of the training grounds. People were a lot.
Chauvinistic and vindictive police recruits were even worse.
Curiously, she watched as Dakota crouched down and shimmied into a fox hole. A moment of surprised horror struck Caitlyn. What if there was an animal in there? Did Dakota hide in an active burrow? Quickly, she bent down to check in with the child. Fear lined her being as she was met with darkness.
"Dakota?" She hissed in urgency.
There was silence met on the other end. Thinking better of her judgment, she poked her head down into the hole.
It was fairly wide, and well rounded from many trips in and out of the hole. There was a slight bend to it that rounded a small tunnel. A minutia of claustrophobia took over Caitlyn, but it still wasn't as strong as the fear for Dakota and making sure she was okay.
With a soft curse, she crawled inside.
The tunnel started to widen and open up.
Caitlyn stared in awe as she observed the large den Dakota had made for herself. The tunnel had led to a cover of tree roots. Light streamed through the small cracks that bled from the space between roots. It was cool in both temperature and in adjective. The floor of it was simply dug out of the dirt. It was a deep enough hole that Caitlyn could sit up in it comfortably. Dakota had taken the time to bring in small wooden pieces to make a shelf where a large round tin and a few bottles of various drinks sat precariously.
Dakota sat down and pulled out a leather notebook from another shelf.
A grin spread through Caitlyn as her memory reminded her that she had gifted the beautiful moleskin to Dakota after the child had begged her for it.
One like yours, so I can make notes on the stuff I find!
Caitlyn's heart warmed as Dakota dug into her dress pockets and pulled out the piece of grass she had mangled while sitting in Caitlyn's lap earlier. She rifled through the pages quickly looking for a bare spot. Her fists held tightly on a glue stick as she covered the leaf in the stickyness before slapping it down on the page.
"I'm running out of pages." The child frowned, her eyebrows slanted down.
Caitlyn chuckled as she crawled over to take a peek at the things Dakota had made note of. There were crayon scribbles, words that didn't exist in gibberish, large scrawled letters, some numbers randomly placed, plenty of leaves and flower petals and grass pieces. But something that caught her eyes was a square of blueprint paper and scribbles of a drawing of what she could decipher as an airship.
"You're keeping very good notes," Caitlyn admired proudly.
Dakota beamed happily. "I've been keeping it tidy. Just like yours," She piped up before she closed the notebook and placed it back on the shelf. "Elric is gonna give up again."
"Well, he might be able to find us."
Dakota shook her head, that same cheeky grin spread through her lips as it had done earlier before she dove into her little place of solitude. "When mummy and daddy get home he'll call quits. He always does."
Caitlyn raised an eyebrow to that. "You're very observant of patterns."
"What does that mean?"
"That you can pick up on what someone is going to do before anyone else. That's the sign of a very clever person," Caitlyn complimented.
"That's not what Missus Denon says. She calls me a stump," Dakota frowned while she wrapped her small arms around her legs. "I am very shy. It's not my fault I don't like talking to everyone."
A flare of irritation steamed through Caitlyn's system as she got protective of the young child. "Is this 'Missus Denon' your teacher?"
"Yeah. She is really mean to me. I don't like talking in front of the classand she makes me do it all the time," A moment of insecurity curled around the small girl. "Mummy sorted her out and I was put in another school. But she was still mean."
"She sounds like it," Caitlyn nearly growled. She nudged her shoulder into the young girl's body playfully. "Mean people never get far in life, darling. Don't mind her, she is just jealous of how clever you are."
Dakota looked up at the Kiramman woman with a small smile. "Do you want a biscuit?"
"A biscuit?" A perplexed smile crossed Caitlyn as she looked at the child incredibly.
Dakota nodded quickly as she scurried over to the round tin on the shelf. She brought it over and sat in Caitlyn's lap once again. She opened the lid which presented an array of cookies and chocolate covered biscuits. "I've been taking some when Rose bakes," Dakota admitted.
Caitlyn couldn't help the laugh as she reached in and grabbed a chocolate chip cookie. Sitting here in the quiet of the willow roots, her daughter seated happily in her lap, and a cookie being consumed, Caitlyn Kiramman felt at peace with herself.
Dakota closed the tin lid and placed it beside her before she turned herself around in Caitlyn's lap and nuzzled into the young woman. "Why were you gone for so long?"
Caitlyn released a long sigh before she wrapped her arms around Dakota. Much to her own mother's dismay, Sarah had been adamant to keep Caitlyn involved in Dakota's life. If it hadn't been for Sarah, a relationship between Dakota and Caitlyn would not have existed. Every Snowdown, birthday, and milestone was met with a written update from Sarah and a formal invitation to visit the family. "I had to be trained to become an enforcer. I needed to learn how to protect people."
"Like school?"
"Yes, like school for grown ups. Sometimes you have to go away for a long time to learn things in grown up school," Caitlyn explained simply.
"Enforcers protect people," Dakota hummed matter-of-factly.
Caitlyn smirked. "Yes, enforcers do protect people."
"I'm glad you're back. Mummy told me you were gonna come back, but…" the young girl quieted down.
"But what, darling?"
There was a moment of unsureness and Dakota buried her face more into Caitlyn's chest. "I was afraid you wouldn't. Missus Denon said you shouldn't come back after you upset your mummy."
The young Kiramman's spine went ramrod straight as she protectively circled Dakota. Curse that annoying hag of a teacher.
It wasn't their worst…tiff. But the night before Caitlyn's departure, Cassandra has announced her disappointment once again. Not every Kiramman had to be a council member.
Not every Kiramman was Caitlyn.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. You shouldn't have been told something that wasn't true," Caitlyn whispered sternly. She pressed a comforting kiss on the top of Dakota's hair. "I will never be too far away from you and Elric."
"What about mummy and daddy?"
Caitlyn gave a soft chuckle. "Even your mummy and daddy. And Rose too."
Dakota nodded along. "Okay good."
The two of them sat in the silence again, enjoying the comfort they gave each other.
"DAKOTA! CAITLYN! I GIVE UP!" Elric yelled out somewhere in the back garden.
"I told you," The six year old chuckled.
Caitlyn couldn't help but laugh along. "Come on then. Let's get ourselves washed up and maybe your mummy and daddy are back. Then we can have lunch."
Dakota clapped her hands and began her trek out of her secret place. She excitedly led the way with Caitlyn behind her.
Once they came out, Dakota took Caitlyn's hand and pulled her out from underneath the leaves of the willow. Sarah and Eli stood at the top of the Veranda steps.
Sarah's hands were on her hips as her two children bounded up the stairs, dirt covered and happy. Elric and Dakota both squealed in excited delight as they went off to clean themselves up as per their mother's orders.
The beaming smile of Sarah Sampson warmed Caitlyn to the core. "Hello, Darling. This is such a welcome surprise! We heard you made top marks!" She beamed in absolute pride.
"Sorry to barge in unexpectedly. I thought I'd pop in to see you all before I had to go back to Kiramman Manor, " The young woman blushed.
"That's absolute nonsense. There is never any barging in, especially in this household. You're always welcome here. Glad you got back in one piece, sweetheart." Eli beamed as he waved her over. "Seems the kids gave you a proper welcome," His great laugh was contagious.
Caitlyn joined in as she looked herself over.
"Let me guess," Sarah began with her beautiful sun-like smile. "Dakota showed you the willow tree?"
Caitlyn nodded, her blush completely taking over her cheeks. "I'm glad you know about it. I don't like being a tattletale, but I was concerned at first if that was the safest place for her to be playing in."
"I went in and made it safer. There's support joists all around it," Eli comforted easily as he sat in one of the wicker chairs. He poured himself a cup of tea as he sat back. He immediately took a sip and looked over the property with a content smile. "All those years in the army digging trenches gave me some useful skills."
Sarah pulled Caitlyn in suddenly and embraced her tightly. "Welcome home, darling. Write glad you're focusing on your career path, but we've all missed you," The Sampson woman pulled away and sweeped a stray strand of Caitlyn's hair behind her ear. "Go get yourself cleaned up, and we can have a feast. I'll go fetch a bottle of scotch and you can tell us all about the academy!"
"It's good to be back, Sarah. Thank you," A tear came to Caitlyn's eye, but it was quickly wiped away.
Sarah's proud beaming smile softened to something so comforting and motherly. She cupped the young woman's cheek. "This house has been lonely without you."
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(The Conscience Loop - James Heather)
"Kiramman?"
Marcus's voice carried across the bull pen taking her attention off of the parking infraction paperwork she had been working on.
"Yes, sir?" She replied, placing her papers in a neat section.
"Pile up on Orion," his gruff voice carried the usual disdain and heavy acclimation of something deeply rooted. "You and Davies take the transportation department and get it cleaned up before the rest of rush hour gets backed up more."
She nodded as the other officer got up, a curse carried on his stale coffee breath.
Davies was a large man, more rotund than muscular. He had spent over fifteen years on the beat. He generally seemed to not take much passion in his position. His jowls slapped together while he collected his oiled coat. "It's rainin'," he huffed in warning.
Caitlyn took the advice and gathered her own coat.
The journey to the wreck was quiet. It never really bothered her that her colleagues weren't very talkative with her. She actually preferred it. Chalking it up to being intimidated by her family, their silence or inability to cross the line to joke with her, seemed fair. And to be frank some of the jeering she had witnessed from colleague to colleague, seemed quite vicious at times.
Nevertheless, she would prove to them to be a valuable asset. She knew she would be stuck in traffic ordinances and general security for a while. She needed to take up the grunt jobs, show that she could do the dirty work when need be.
So, she planned her mode of attack of getting the perfect evidence for the accident, and making sure civilians stayed out of the way. She could cardone off the area, delegate with transportation to control the flow of traffic, take the witness statements, and then photograph everything.
Her thoughts all but halted when Davies gasped. "Gods above, this is going to be a mess."
He was right.
The pile up seemed to be a mess of a rail tram and six cars flipped, rammed and obliterated around it. A huge crowd of people gathered around the sidewalks, watching in horror as the patrol bots of Piltover kept them pushed back. Medics and firefighters streamed in and out helping those affected. A group of transportation workers were using a machine to pry open the door to a vehicle. Three bodies had white sheets draped over them, waiting to be placed in a vehicle and driven off to a morgue.
"I'll cordone off-," Caitlyn started, but Davies put his hand up.
"Have you been to an accident scene like this before?"
"No," she answered honestly.
"Have you seen…casualties before?"
"I…no, not like this."
Davies nodded before he turned to her. He placed a large sweaty hand on her shoulder. "This isn't what you think it's going to be, kid. This is going to haunt your dreams for a bit, and it's best you make peace with that. Accidents like this…to me they're worse than shootouts. You don't have the life saving adrenaline, and this, this is disaster at its finest. So don't come in here bull headed and planned. Take it a breath at a time. You'll kick yourself silly if you're more focused on cordoning when there are people dying beside you."
"Okay, what do you suggest we do?"
"Hang tight a second. I'm going to relay with Mike at transport. His lads have most of it sectioned off, we gotta make sure the ordinances follow bylaws, before we get to the nitty gritty. Right now, just take a second to let everything you thought you were going to do, go."
Caitlyn's brows furrowed. "Should I talk to witnesses?"
"Not yet, just…just stay here," he ordered gruffly, before he slammed the door of his automotive vehicle. He waddled away, shaking his head.
The young Kiramman frowned, her finger tapped relentlessly against her bouncing knee. There was so much to be done, and she was just sitting here, like some kind of toadstool! It aggravated her, making her tapping and bouncing be more aggressive. The flashing lights of the emergency vehicles bouncer off the glass and walls bombarding her sight. The constant calls and murmurs of the people and the emergency crew workers itched at her ears. Sweat beaded at her forehead.
It took her all of two minutes and fifteen seconds, to be exact, before she got out of the vehicle and pulled out her notebook. Davies would thank her later for getting on top of the work they were going to need to do.
She couldn't stay late again. She had dinner with the Sampsons once her shift was done.
Her boots tacked against the wet cobblestone. The rain had died off to a light mist hazing the bustling city. Reporters were quick to snap photos of the scene, busying themselves with the accident and not with her, for once. She placed her enforcer's cap over her head and began to scope out the accident.
Metal seemed so strange bent in the odd shapes like it was. The bronze and silver of different vehicles intertwined almost in carnal sculptures. The ozone of beaten flames permeated the air. Bits of glass cracked under her boot, and when she looked down to inspect it, her ice blue eyes caught the small rivers of blood washing down between the cobblestones. There were people being tended to by emergency services. A firefighter rushed past her, nearly bumping into her. He sprinted over to a vehicle that oddly seemed familiar. It didn't surprise her, with only two models of hexmobiles that have been released all of Piltover had one of the other.
But there was something about it, something that made her gut twist.
Maybe it was the fact that on the left back bumper, now aimed toward the sky in it's flipped over state, still had an indent. An indent she left when she was first learning how to drive with Eli calmly giving her instructions. Or maybe it was the small blue dot sticker Dakota had left by accident after one of her birthday parties had ended joyously in a craft store.
Slowly, as Caitlyn approached the upside down vehicle, her heart sank further and further. The firefighters and patrol bots were working at the back doors of the vehicle.
But rather than focusing on them, Caitlyn focused on the cold sapphire eyes of Sarah Sampson. Her body was twisted oddly, her neck bent out of shape. A trail of blood spilled from her nose and lips, mixing with the shattered glass that desolated the ground. It looked like she had been thrown from the vehicle, the impact making her body take the inertia.
A cold feeling took over Caitlyn's spine as she swallowed in the gruesome sight. It was if her body wanted to collapse or as if the world turned upside down and she remained standing upright. It confused and terrified her.
Her eyes then found the limp form of Doctor Eli Sampson, his face sunken in from the impact of the steering wheel. His left arm was slack from her shoulder blades, and blood seeped down his white shirt.
This wasn't happening. These must've been the people that looked like the Sampsons. This couldn't have been them. It was absolutely impossible. Good people like them didn't die like this, not in such a gruesome way that was in plain sight for everyone to see.
She hoped to the voids and anything that could hear that the children were at home.
Her hopes crumbled to dust when the sounds of an eleven year old boy screaming in pain, caught her ears. She didn't know she could move so fast as she went over to the firefighters who had pried the metal apart, and revealed the way to the back seating. They carefully pulled a boy out from the wreckage, his blonde hair covered in the sickly red of blood. He was set down gently onto the concrete, a firefighter was at his side, making sure to keep his neck and spine in place.
"Elric!" She called out, worry sitting so heavy on her gut she wanted to vomit. She could have screamed until her face turned blue, with the amount of fear that curdled her thoughts.
"Caitlyn?" His warbled cry for her name shook her heart, making it fall to her ankles.
She went to his side and clasped a hold of his hand, careful to not impede the firefighter's work. "It's going to be okay," The enforcer soothed. "It's going to be okay, you're going to go to the hospital and it is going to be all fixed."
"Mum? Dad?" Elric sobbed.
"I don't know, sweetheart," She lied, doing her best to keep his eyesight away from the corpses of his parents. "Elric, I need you to tell me, was Dakota with you?"
"Yes," he hiccoughed. "She got out to get help! I don't know where she is."
"Okay, I'll find her, alright?" She squeezed his hand, even though it felt like she was outside of her numb body. She tried to control the shaking that took over her. "I will go to the hospital to see the both of you right after I find her, okay?" Twelve rivets go into the bridge hull of an airship. Fifteen in the tail. Seven competition targets. Twenty seven practice targets.
"Okay," the eleven year old sniffled, his face contorted into more pain.
The enforcer looked to the firefighter. "Please, don't let him see them."
The firefighter nodded. "I'll keep him safe, ma'am."
"Thank you," Caitlyn said, tears threatened at her eyes, but right now she couldn't let them spill. Her biological daughter was somewhere in the fray.
Rivets. Targets. Rivets. Targets.
Her mind instantly narrowed in on the facts. She did a quick sweep around the car, looking for clues of someone crawling out of the upside down car. It seemed like the driver's side wasn't as damaged as the one Sarah and Elric had been in. There was a bunch of glass that seemed to have been kicked about, some droplets of blood, mingling around them. She would follow that trail first.
The accident, as massive as it felt, was contained in a small four way area around market square. She couldn't have went far.
"Dakota!" Caitlyn called out. A few of the onlookers watched as the Kiramman woman searched, murmurs spoken among them. She paid them no mind. "DAKOTA!"
"caitlyn."
It was so faint.
But it was a reply.
Caitlyn followed the sound, looking toward one of the shops. Seated on the curb, the seven year old little girl clung onto her bleeding arm. Her ice blue eyes focused solely on the crumpled form of Sarah almost twenty feet away from her position. Her little blue and white dress was stained with blood and soot. Her whole face seemed paler than usual, almost as if she was about to be sick.
"Dakota, love?" Caitlyn breathed, the anxiety of the situation making her body shake. "What hurts?"
The little girl seemed to not register what the enforcer was saying. "Mummy hasn't moved. I don't like it."
Caitlyn decided to take a different approach. "It's strange isn't it?"
Dakota nodded. "We were singing, all together. We were singing her favorite song, and I was being bad…Elric was annoying me so I hit him. Is mummy not moving because of me being bad?"
"Oh, darling, no. No, this isn't your fault," Caitlyn soothed, her heart broke into bits at the theory her biological daughter had made. "It was the Tram wasn't it? Is that what hit you?"
"It went sideways."
"Dakota, did you get hurt anywhere else?" The enforcer approached, gently holding the little girl's arm. Blood seemed to pour from it, once the pressure went away. With a hiss, Caitlyn placed her hands over the gash, putting in as much pressure as possible. "MEDIC!" She called out.
"Miss Kiramman?" A stranger approached, he looked to be a young man at about nineteen wearing the uniform of a cafe waiter. A dish cloth was in his hand as he presented it to her.
She took it gratefully, and folded it as best she could before she applied it on to the stoic child. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she did not sob, only stared at the wreckage. "My tummy hurts. It's hard to breathe."
Caitlyn signaled for the stranger to hold on to the compress on Dakota's arm. She carefully cupped the girl's face and studied the wide pupils. "Does your head hurt too?"
"Yeah."
Finally, two medics approached, carrying a stretcher. Reporter's swooped in like hawks as Caitlyn made the same promises to Dakota as she did to Elric. The medics laid the stretcher down flat, and took control of the situation, gently getting Dakota to lay on it.
The stranger patted Caitlyn's shoulder, before he said his goodbyes and went back to work.
"KIRAMMAN?!" Davies screamed over the din. The medics took off, leaving Caitlyn alone. More photographs were taken. Davies sauntered over with his strange waddle. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
"I was just…"
"I told you to stay put!" His jowls jiggled in his rage. "You violated a direct order!"
More flashes of a camera. "Miss Kiramman, are you able to be a proper enforcer? Is this your first day? Does your mother approve?"
It was all becoming too much. Sarah's lifeless eyes, Dakota's blood soaking her uniform jacket, the crunch of the glass under her boots, the constant flash of lights blinding her eyes, the reporters pecking at her like squawking chickens.
"ALL OF YA, GET!" Davies spat, standing infront of his colleague. "GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE, YOU AREN'T TO BE TAKIN' PICTURES OF A CRIME SCENE, YOU KNOW THE LAW! I SHOULD ARREST EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YA!"
Like a scared flock of birds the reporters scattered.
Davies stood beside the young enforcer who looked blankly to the architecture of the square. "I was there that night, Caitlyn. I know…I know the Sampsons mean the world to ya, so you can see your kids. Go make sure they're okay, cause they're gonna need ya, Kiramman," He whispered to her.
Caitlyn snapped to the man. A protective energy slammed into her sunken heart making her metaphorical hackles rise up. Fire blazed in her eyes as she stared the man down, ready to give him hell.
"Don't worry, I'm not one for breaking open secrets. Besides, your mother scares the shit out of me. Don't want me well earned retirement gone like a puff of smoke," He winked. "Right now, I can get this sorted out. I might have to arrest some individuals for reckless endangerment, and driving while under the influence, but I can handle it all.
Caitlyn, taken aback, didn't know what to say. She took a moment to look around, making sure she was hearing everything right. "Are you…are you sure?"
"Yeah, absolutely. Your kids are gonna need a mother right now, they're off to the hospital and will probably be surrounded by Doctors fussing around them on account of their father. It's time to put on a brave face and protect them, like I just did you, yeah?"
"I…okay, as long as you're okay, I'll go be with them," The young woman sobered. She looked around herself, taking in the scene with an analytical eye. "There's shimmer amongst the glass."
"Good eye, Kiramman. I'll handle the rest of this. Go on."
Caitlyn turned on her heel, glass crunching under her boot. But before she took off, she turned back to the man and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Davies. I owe you."