Work Text:
She’s in the far North of the Freljord, if my map is accurate. I hope it is, I keep near religious watch over her battalion. 516, I think to myself every time I scour through every report, hoping to find anything hinting at her continual survival.
I don’t have any time to dwell on that though. I have work to do and lives to save.
I remember when the war started, I was already working for the government as a cartographer, some low position that worked me to the bones. I lived in a small apartment with Vi, something that we had paid for with our own money instead of my parents. Vi was a car mechanic, coming home everyday smelling like grease and a smile.
When Noxus attacked, Vi joined up almost immediately and I was dragged into work for the army. I became one of the lead cartographers, using the chaos to show off my talent. The few deaths of my colleagues certainly helped. Vi trained and soon, she was hundreds of miles apart at any given moment.
And I watched her from afar, savoring her letters and awaiting the end of this. I still am, counting down the days until we can go back to that peaceful life again.
When she signed up, she came home, sounding almost regretful already. I was going to leave the next day, I was wanted at a military base, and I didn’t know that Vi had decided on becoming a soldier so surely.
She whispered apologies to me but I told her that I knew she would come back to me. Vi just smiled at that, tucking her head into my neck and promised that she would miss me, that I would haunt her every waking thought. I promised that she would haunt mine as well.
I’m following the Black Rose currently, a near secret group of Noxus. We still don’t quite know what’s going on but I’ve scoured through enough intercepted and un-coded reports to make a good guess at their coordinates and movements at the very least.
I’m exhausted but I keep scanning the latest map, looking over the lines I’ve drawn and redrawn at least a million times and trying to figure out if there’s any attack we could plan. It’s hard, especially given that I don’t fully know what the Black Rose consists of and what kind of weaponry they have but I need to find something.
Vi’s battalion is only a day’s trip away from them.
Dear Cupcake,
I can smell death in the wind. I wish I had something better to tell you about but that’s it. There’s something going around, I haven’t come down with anything yet but there’s a good few bodies piling up. I miss you, I miss baking with you and I miss your laugh. I miss all of you, I miss everything about you.
My fingers are growing ink stained from how much I’ve been writing to you and Powder, though I barely ever get any responses from her. Have you guys been talking? How is she doing? I hope she’s having fun, she’s always loved puzzle games as a kid. Tell her how much I love her, I don’t even know if she reads some of my letters.
I don’t have that much else to say, definitely not anything happy, but I can’t wait to see your response.
All my love,
Vi
“Have you made any progress, Kiramman?” Grayson asks, my only remaining superior.
“No, I haven’t,” I sigh, tucking my pen above my ear. “Do we have anything about the Black Rose?”
“No,” Grayson says, voice dull. “I’ll inform you of when we do have something.”
“No leads? No theories at all?” I say, sounding rather angry. “There are people getting sick in Vi’s battalion, far too many and there’ve been a few similar incidents following the Black Rose. Maybe they’re being poisoned. That’s simple fucking reasoning and yet no one has even come up with idea?”
Grayson pauses, saying, “516 are dying off?”
“By the dozen from what Vi says. Go tell them to look into that,” I order, standing up and starting to march around.
“Take an hour off, Kiramman. Take a breath,” Grayson says before she leaves.
When Vi first left, I barely worked for days. My lines were shaky, my brain sluggish, and I hated every second of it. It was only when her first letter came through that I managed to return to something similar to my past work. Every letter gave me a hint of dopamine that always pushed me forward.
She was safe, I would think to myself, she’s safe enough for the time. Her life somehow became mine as well. Now, the letters aren’t the lifeline they once were, I know by the simple fact that I am still breathing that she is alive.
Powder and I are working at the same base, we will be for at least a few months more. We don’t talk often but she does come to my corner of the office, telling me any findings personally. When we can, we sit in silence, both working on our individual projects.
It’s nice to be around someone who understands the pain. I’m sure many understand the feeling but to miss Vi is different than missing anyone else, at least in my mind. I’m grateful to not be alone.
Caitlyn
There’s not much food anymore, I keep giving my rations to other people who need it more. I feel like I’m going to die, I’ve never been this hungry. I love you.
Vi
I want to taste your god awful cooking again
“We have something on the Black Rose,” Grayson says, putting a file down on my desk. “I’m entrusting this to you, Caitlyn. I expect a proper map of their base to be on my desk by tomorrow night.”
“Thank you,” I say, nodding as I start flipping through the files, finding some reports from our spies who’ve infiltrated the Black Rose. I smile as I start looking at the more promising looking ones as I start sketching out a map.
My darling Violet,
I believe we have discovered how to end this and save you as well. I can’t disclose anything more but if all goes to plan, you will be involved in the core of the matter.
I can’t wait to see you again, my love,
Caitlyn