Candidate: Vi

Date: December

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OBSERVATION

Vi saunters towards the giant double doors barring her way into the judgement room. She glances up without stopping at the words above her:-

The truest opponent lies within.

Vi simply smirks and looks again towards the doors. She continues her confident stride forwards. Her eyes dart around the hall, searching for traps, hidden switches, clues to what lies in wait, and for any weaknesses in the doorway. This was an old habit from her criminal history that had gotten her out of more than one tight spot. Her Hextech Gauntlets shine, the parts inside whirring and ticking with activity.

Vi stands in front of the doorway. She reaches out a massive fist and nonchalantly knocks on the doors. No-one answers. Vi smiles, raises her fist and positions herself to smash the door down, but just as she prepares to swing the door opens of its own volition. _________________________________________________________________________

REFLECTION

Vi entered the darkened room. She couldn't see more than 10 feet in any direction; she could only see the stone floor because of the column of light from the corridor behind her. More cautiously now, she stepped forwards into the hall. As a loud bang erupted from the space behind her Vi ducked forward, turning to face her attacker. It was just the doors closing. Perhaps she was less confident than she thought.

As soon as her eyes adjusted to the darkness Vi began to look for a means of escape, for a way out. It didn't take long for her to notice a small glowing orb. She slowly made her way towards it, wary of any traps. As she reached the orb she felt an urge to grab the it, another habit from her burglary days. But this time it was different. She had long since broken herself of that habit after stealing her partner's hat five times over a single weekend. She reached out towards the orb. She fell to her knees as a wave of nausea overtook her.

Vi looked up; the orb of light had gone. She looked down; so had her gauntlets. The room she was in was still dark, but there was something different, the room was warmer for one. As she tried to stand she knocked her head on something hard before she could even rise from a crawling position. She could smell something burning, and could hear a crackling sound. Her eyes widened and her heart suddenly started racing as she recognised where she was. She was trapped under the flaming ruins of the house she used to live in as a child.

She screamed, but it wasn't her voice that came from her mouth, but the voice of a terrified little girl struggling to free herself from the rocks encasing her. The air was getting thick with smoke and Vi was finding it harder and harder to breath. Her frantic efforts to free herself slowed as she began to suffocate and her screaming grew quieter and quieter. She lay down on the ground, and as her eyes closed she saw a small pillar of light shining on her from above and heard a man's voice shouting down to her.

Vi opened her eyes and lifted her head from the ground.

"Alright, the machines have stopped. Let's move," she said, standing up. She looked around at her crew standing in the overbearing gloom of the cave. After weeks of searching for a way into the mining facility they had discovered a small cave system just above some of the outlying tunnels dug by some of the miners. They were currently standing just above the point where the rock between the caves and the tunnels below was thinnest.

"You sure?" asked Garath, the leader of the group, "I don't like the idea of having to fight off any of those damn mining mechs."

"Don't worry," replied Vi, a confident smile on her face. Garath was ever the pessimist. "They may have been modified for security, but it still takes nearly fifteen minutes to start them up once they've been shut down, we'll be long gone before then."

Garath leered at her and raised his pickaxe to strike the ground.

The group of thieves were making their way through the tunnels on light feet, a skill learned after years of burglaries and heists. Every one of them had studied the schematics of the facility, and even though it was pitch black they all knew exactly where they were going. This job was big enough to make them all rich and they couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

Vi took the lead as they entered the main cavern where nearly all of the tunnels converged. There were no miners around, it was night and they had mostly gone home. Garath had said there was only a skeleton crew left behind overnight to guard the stores and service the mechs. This was where the group would split up, one team to set off explosives in the mech storage area as a distraction and the other would plunder the gem vault while the guards were investigating.

A boom caused the walls of the tunnels to shudder, and the electrical lights flickered. The team of thieves could hear shouts as a group of guards ran past them, towards the sound of the explosion. The thieves emerged from their hiding spots and headed towards the vault. When they reached it Vi stepped forward. The vault had only ten separate locking mechanisms. After half a minute she managed to open the large vault door. She looked around at the others with a smug look on her face. She began to feel a sense of urgency as the shudders of the tunnel seemed to become more violent. The rest of the robbers ran in and stowed as much loot as they could into burlap sacks they had brought with them. Vi watched them from the doorway as they did all the hard work for her. She preferred to save her energy for the inevitable scuffle that would ensue while dividing the spoils back at the hideout.

Once the bags were full the group began to make their way back to the main hall. Vi ran ahead to make sure the tunnels were clear of guards and to make sure their way wasn't blocked by any cave-ins. This was the part of the plan she was particularly nervous about, she didn't want to re-live the experience that had taken her family from her. She signalled back to let her partners know there was nobody around and that their path was clear. They quickly made their way across the cavern and back to the tunnel they first entered through, passing the rubble filled mech storage area on their way. It seemed all of the guards had escaped when the walls continued to shake instead of risking being trapped underground. This far beneath the surface help wasn't likely to be able to reach them for days if the tunnels came crashing down around them.

The earth trembled and shook around them, throwing everyone in the group to their knees as chunks of rock trickled down from the ceiling.

"We need to get out of here!" Shouted one of the men at the back of the group. Garath looked around briefly.

"Alright, there's nobody left around to discover us, lets run!" Garath shouted in response.

They broke out into a run for the exit, but Vi stopped. She heard something, someone crying out. She turned towards the blocked up mech storage area in horror. Someone had been buried alive under the rubble, a fate Vi wouldn't wish on any other person. A hand grabbed her from behind.

"What the hell are you doing?! We've got to go!" Garath bellowed at her over the ever growing noise caused by the tremors of the ground beneath their feet.

"Someone's trapped!" Vi shouted back.

"So? If we don't get out of here quickly we'll end up the same!"

"I'm not leaving them." Vi stated with determination.

"Damn it Vi, we don't have time for this," said Garath, feverishly looking back and forth between the exit and the best tech his crew ever had. "We're getting out of here, stay if you want but I'm not dying in this cave."

Vi's chest clenched up as the possibility of being buried alive under an entire mountain stared her in the face. She shook herself back into reality as Garath pounded away from her. She ran towards the rubble.

"Is anyone there?! Are you alright?!" Vi shouted.

"Hey! I need help! My buddy and I were working on the mechs... she's knocked out! Hit in the head by a rock or something. You've got to get us out of here!"

"Ok, gimme a minute," Vi shouted back "I'm gonna get you out of there!"

Vi started to look around frantically, trying to think of a way to get the trapped people out. Her eyes settled on the wrecked remains of a mining mech that had been blasted out of the cavern by the explosion. The mech was in pieces, it wouldn't function, and even if it did it would take too long to start up. She ran over to it and measured it up. It was no use, there was no way she could use it to free the workers. Then she noticed the massive fists designed to carry large boulders and rocks.

She tore the fists from the remains of the mech and started working on them with the toolkit she always carried with her. After a couple of minutes she had managed to fashion them into a pair of wearable gauntlets. She put them on and just as she turned towards the wall of rubble another tremor shook the cavern, causing a shower of rocks to rain down on Vi. She shielded herself with one of the huge fists. Unharmed and undeterred she made her way towards the rubble and started pounding her way through the rocks. She didn't have time to dig them out, so she would smash them out. It didn't take long to get to the man and woman. The man's face was covered in sweat and dirt, only recognisable as human by his wide frightened eyes. As he scrambled out Vi leaned forward to pull out the unconscious woman lying under the rubble. Vi shouldered her and jogged out into the cavern. With the woman over one shoulder and the man leaning on her other shoulder for support the three of them made their way to the main exit. They hobbled their way through a constant rain of small rocks falling from the ceiling.

They only just made it out. As the trio exited into the courtyard of the mining facilities' outdoor complex the tunnel collapsed behind them. Vi placed the woman on the ground and wiped some of the grime from her face. She recognised this woman, it was Caitlyn! Her partner! Wait, no. Vi didn't know a Caitlyn, she didn't know this woman. But she did. The woman's eyes opened, staring directly at Vi.

"Why do you wish to join the league, Vi?"

"What? What are you talking about, I..." Vi stammered. As she blinked she was back in the darkened hall, back in the present. The glowing light wasn't an orb, it was a lantern, and Caitlyn was holding it.

"Why do you wish to join the league, Vi?"

"You saw all that? Well then it's obvious isn't it. The same reason I've helped you all these years," She said, standing. Then she grinned "Besides, can't let you have all the fun now can I?"

The grinning form of Caitlyn disappeared as the light of the lantern went out. A different voice spoke.

"How does it feel, exposing your mind?"

The doors of the great hall re-opened as the question rang through Vi's head. She grinned and trotted towards the now open doorway, ready to face whatever challenge lay ahead.