Born to a wealthy and influential family of hextech artificers, Caitlyn swiftly learned the social graces of life in Piltover, but preferred to spend her time in the wilder lands outside it. Equally adept at mingling with the moneyed citizens of the City of Progress or stalking a deer through the mud of the forest, she could confidently track a bird on the wing over the merchant districts, or put a shot through the eye of a hare at a hundred paces with her father\u2019s repeater musket.<\/p>\n
Caitlyn\u2019s greatest assets, however, were her intelligence and willingness to learn from her parents, who reinforced her understanding of right and wrong. Though the family\u2019s engineering skills had made them wealthy, her mother always warned of Piltover\u2019s seductions, and its gilded promises that could harden the kindest heart. At first, Caitlyn paid little heed\u2014to her, Piltover was a place of beauty and order that she cherished after each trip into the wild. All that was to change one Progress Day, some years later. Caitlyn returned to find her home ransacked and empty. The family retainers were all dead, and there was no trace of her parents. Caitlyn secured the house, and immediately set out to find them.<\/p>\n
Tracking within the confines of a city was very different from hunting in the wild but, one by one, Caitlyn located the thugs who had invaded her family home. None knew the identity of the individual who hired them\u2014only a proxy with the initial\u00a0C<\/i>. Even so, the trail eventually led Caitlyn to a secret hextech laboratory where her mother and father were being forced to work for a rival merchant clan, and she rescued them. The Piltover Wardens, acting upon her information, later arrested the clan leader behind the kidnapping, though no trace could be found of the mysterious \u201cC\u201d.<\/p>\n
Caitlyn and her parents began to rebuild their lives\u2026 but something fundamental had changed in her. She now recognized ambition and greed were as deadly as a cornered beast, lurking just beneath Piltover\u2019s gleaming veneer. She had seen people in need of help, and knew she could help them. And, though she loved her parents dearly, Caitlyn had no desire to learn the family trade. She established herself as an investigator of sorts, utilizing her hunting skills to act as a finder of lost people and retriever of stolen property. For her twenty-first birthday, Caitlyn\u2019s parents presented her with a hextech rifle of exquisite artifice, with greater accuracy than any musket. The weapon could take a variety of specialized shells, and be easily modified in the field, and so went with Caitlyn whenever she took a case.<\/p>\n
She turned a tidy profit in a profession that taught her, first-hand, both the allure and danger of untested hextech and chemtech development. In just a few years, she made a name for herself as someone who could help with matters mundane and\u2026 more\u00a0esoteric<\/i>. After a particularly traumatic case involving a missing hextech device and a series of child abductions, Caitlyn was summoned by the Wardens. She had been recommended by one of their number who had also developed something of an affinity for stranger cases\u2014and their battle with a host of rogue chimerics in the employ of a lunatic chem-researcher driven mad by his own concoctions led to her being offered a formal position as a sheriff. At first, Caitlyn refused, but eventually came to realize that the Wardens\u2019 resources could potentially get her closer to discovering the true identity of \u201cC\u201d, the only person still unaccounted for following the attack on her family home.<\/p>\n
Caitlyn has since become a highly respected officer within the ranks of the Piltover Wardens, maintaining order in the City of Progress. She recently partnered with a new recruit from Zaun, the brash and reckless Vi. How such an unlikely pairing came about\u2014and been proven so effective\u2014is the subject of wild rumor and tavern speculation among their fellow Wardens, as well as those they haul away to jail.<\/p>\n
Even three bells after the Sun Gate had closed, Piltover was still full of life – life that was currently getting in her way. Caitlyn sprinted down Mainspring Crescent, weaving a path between midnight revelers strolling down the fashionable promenade of cafes and bistros. The supper clubs were emptying, as were the nearby theaters inside the Drawsmith Arcade, so this street was going to get a whole lot busier. If they didn\u2019t catch up to Devaki soon, they were going to lose him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you see him?\u201d shouted Mohan from behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I could see him, I\u2019d already be drawing a bead on him!\u201d<\/p>\n
The hextech rifle slung over Caitlyn\u2019s shoulder was loaded and ready to shoot, but she needed a target, and Devaki was more nimble than a spooked doe. He\u2019d robbed three clan workshops (that they knew of) in the last five weeks, and Caitlyn had him pegged for two others. Working a hunch that something big was in the works, she and Mohan had been keeping watch on one of House Morichi\u2019s workshops, and sure enough, Devaki had shown. Though they hadn\u2019t known it until the city lighters had worked their way down the street to ignite the glow-lamps and Caitlyn caught his reflection in the glass of the cafe across the street. Devaki had seen her in the same instant, and took to his heels like a startled wharf-rat.<\/p>\n
Caitlyn skidded to a halt at the next junction. The caged flames atop the fluted lampposts bathed the dozens of surprised people staring at her with a warm, amber light. Her pale blue eyes darted from person to person, seeking Devaki\u2019s distinctive silhouette.<\/p>\n
A young man crossed the street toward her, his cheeks ruddy with a night\u2019s enjoyment. He waved at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou looking for a man on the run?\u201d he asked. \u201cFella with a big hat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d said Caitlyn. \u201cYou saw him? Where did he go?\u201d<\/p>\n
The young man pointed left and said, \u201cDown that way at a good clip.\u201d<\/p>\n
She followed his gaze and saw cheering theater-goers spilling from the Drawsmith Arcade, a vaulted structure of colored glass and ironwork columns. They mingled with stall-holders selling refreshments and promenade-girls looking for a wealthy mark. Mohan finally caught up to her, sweating and breathing hard. He bent at the waist and propped himself up with his palms on his knees. His blue uniform coat was askew and his hat tipped back over his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cFigures he\u2019d try to lose himself in the crowd,\u201d he said between gulps of air.<\/p>\n
Caitlyn took a moment to study their public-spirited helper. His clothes were finely-tailored and must once have cost him a pretty penny, but the cuffs were frayed and the elbows worn. Her eyes narrowed as she took in last season\u2019s colors and a collar that hadn\u2019t been in style for a year.<\/p>\n
Wealthy, but down on his luck.<\/i><\/p>\n
Mohan turned toward the busy street and said, \u201cCome on, Caitlyn! Let\u2019s go or we\u2019ll lose him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caitlyn dropped to one knee to look at the street from a different perspective. The cobbles were slick from the evening rain and were well trodden. From this angle, she saw the scuffs of heel marks on stone that only a running man would leave. But they weren\u2019t heading left, they were heading right.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much did Devaki give you to tell us that?\u201d said Caitlyn to the unfashionably dressed young man. \u201cIf it was less than a gold hex, you were swindled.\u201d<\/p>\n
The young man put his hands up and said, \u201cIt was five, actually,\u201d before turning tail and running toward the crowds with a laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the…?\u201d said Mohan, as Caitlyn sprinted in the opposite direction. She\u2019d lost valuable seconds, but knew exactly where Devaki was going now. She soon left Mohan behind, her sometime partner a little too fond of the sugared pastries the District-Inspector\u2019s wife made for her husband\u2019s officers.<\/p>\n
Caitlyn ran a winding path through the city, along seldom-traveled alleyways and crooked paths between the gables of tall, brick-fronted warehouses. She cut across busy streets, drawing cries of annoyance from those she barged out of her way. The closer she came to the great canyon bisecting Piltover, the narrower the streets became, but she was betting she knew the shortcuts of Piltover better than Devaki. After a dozen twists and turns, she emerged onto a crooked street of undulating cobbles that followed the jagged line of the cliff. Known locally as Drop Street thanks to the wheezing hexdraulic conveyer at the end that ran late into the night, it was deep in shadow.<\/p>\n
The iron-framed cabin hadn\u2019t yet opened, the lozenge-patterned grille still in the closed position. A group of fifteen Zaunites, a great many of whom were intoxicated, gathered around the ticket booth. None of them were the man Caitlyn was looking for. She turned and dropped to a crouch, resting the barrel of her rifle on a packing crate bearing the brand of Clan Medarda. Stolen property, no doubt, but she didn\u2019t have time to check it.<\/p>\n
Caitlyn thumbed the rifle\u2019s primer switch to the upright position. A gentle hum built within the breech as she worked the action to ready a shot. She pulled the butt of the rifle hard against her shoulder and slowed her breathing. Her cheek pressed into the walnut stock and she closed one eye as she took aim through the crystalline lenses.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t have long to wait.<\/p>\n
Devaki swung around the corner, his long coat billowing out behind him and his hat a tall silhouette. He appeared to be in no hurry, but then, he believed he had shed his pursuers. He held a heavy brass-cornered case in his metal-clawed hand; a crude thing Vi said he\u2019d had done in one of Zaun\u2019s ask-no-questions augmentation parlors when he was a foolish youth.<\/p>\n
Caitlyn focused her aim on the pneumatic monstrosity and squeezed the trigger. A searing flash of orange-red exploded from the weapon\u2019s muzzle and Devaki\u2019s hand vanished in a pinpoint blast. He cried out and fell back, his hat toppling from his head as the case fell to the ground. Devaki looked up, his eyes widening in pain and surprise as he saw Caitlyn. He turned to run, but Caitlyn had been waiting for that. She toggled a thumb-switch on the breech and pulled the trigger again.<\/p>\n
This time the beam struck Devaki in the back and exploded in a web of crackling energy. Devaki\u2019s back arched and he fell, twitching, to the ground. Caitlyn powered down her rifle and slung it over her shoulder as she walked toward the fallen Devaki. The effects of the electro-net were dimming, but he wouldn\u2019t be getting up anytime soon. Caitlyn bent to retrieve the case he\u2019d dropped and shook her head with a tut-tut sound.<\/p>\n
\u201cH-h-h…how?\u201d said Devaki, through the spasms wracking his body.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did I know where you were headed?\u201d asked Caitlyn.<\/p>\n
Devaki nodded, the movement jerky and forced.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour previous thefts were meaningless in themselves, but when I looked at them as part of a larger scheme, it seemed like you were gathering components to build a version of Vishlaa\u2019s Hexylene Caliver,\u201d said Caitlyn.<\/p>\n
She knelt beside Devaki to place a hand on his rigid body.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd as we all know, that weapon was outlawed as being too dangerous, wasn\u2019t it? No one in Piltover would dare touch that kind of banned hex, but someone, maybe in Noxus? They\u2019d pay handsomely for that, I imagine. But the only place you could get something like that out of the city is through one of Zaun\u2019s less reputable smugglers. This is the only quick route down into Zaun that\u2019s still running at this time of night. Once I saw you weren\u2019t going to try and hide out in Piltover, all I had to do was get to the conveyor before you and wait. So you and I are going to have a long talk, and you\u2019re going to tell me who you\u2019re working for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Devaki didn\u2019t answer, and Caitlyn grinned as she reached over his prone body.<\/p>\n
\u201cNice hat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Caitlyn Biography Born to a wealthy and influential family of hextech artificers, Caitlyn swiftly learned the social graces of life in Piltover, but preferred to spend her time in the wilder lands outside it. Equally adept at mingling with the moneyed citizens of the City of Progress or stalking a deer through the mud of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":8219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8220,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8218\/revisions\/8220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}