Vina screamed profanities as she was dragged through the streets of Zaun.
That was, until her captors became annoyed and one of them clamped their hand over her mouth. They didn’t seem to care how much she bit and gnashed her teeth, not even when she could taste blood.
She continued to writhe, thrash, and slow their progress. But she ran out of energy soon enough, and when she did, she acquiesced to watch the streets go by. She hated this. Maybe she really should have sided with the Sable Sails. It had been bound to happen eventually, but like always Vina had ignored the possibility that anyone would actually come after her.
She missed Felix. She missed Iris, and Mira. She kinda missed Fina too.. sort of. She couldn’t blame her, at least. She hadn’t exactly been nice to Fina as of late... or really, over the past year or so.
Where anger and frustration had sat, now a creeping sense of dead and worry began to settle in. Vina could see the people stealing away within the darkness, she could spot the many pairs of eyes, different statures, different uniforms. She knew where she was going now, but this time it was not of her own volition, and she agonized over whether to be afraid.
She was terrified anyway.
Buildings morphed into lobbies and offices, dark shadows changed into tall men and women, equally as ‘curious’. Vina found herself pushed to her feet and ordered around, rather than simply carried and silenced. She complied, to eventually find herself in a grand office... not too unfamiliar.
“Heya, sparrow. Sorry for the rather rude... uh... pickup, but your airship somehow disappeared literally hours ago and we have reason to believe our files on ya might be compromised as well. Take a seat, I got things to talk to you about.”
Tilly Millsey, of the Nightwatch. Fina had... told her to stay away from Millsey. It wasn’t as if she had a choice now. Vina shuffled towards the center of the room and sat herself awkwardly in the seat opposite Millsey. Everything seemed a little too big for her - the chair, the desk, even Millsey herself seemed to be larger-than-life against the backdrop of her own company.
“Now. You gotta stay with the Nightwatch for a bit. I can’t tell you how long, but it’s non-negotiable. Fina will understand; I’m actually gonna talk to her about working together on what’s causing this. But yeah. I’m gonna call it ‘protective custody’, and so are you. No practising magic, you have to stay around Nightwatch people at all times, you can’t go out without at least four other Nightwatch agents. You also gotta tell them you’re the VIP they’re supposed to be protecting, and...”
Vina just watched the redhead as meaningless words dripped from her mouth and gestures were thrown about loosely. While Millsey caught on and began to write her words down, the Sparrow leaned back into her chair and gave a dejected sigh. She’d surprised herself; already so resigned to her fate. It wasn’t as if she could do much, but then; where did her fight go? Maybe she should have waited until she got to Millsey’s office before trying to escape. But she should want to fight anyway, she could still be free if she really tried. That’s what she wanted, wasn’t it? Freedom? Casting off the shackles so many people had thrust upon her?
“Hey, airhead. You even listening? I can’t write down all of this, you know. We’d be here all day. Not that you don’t have all day now! Hah.”
She looked up as Millsey caught her attention.
“You- You want to go home?” Millsey snorted, and dumb laughter filled the room. The Paragon of Zaun stood, and leaned over the desk, grinning as the Sparrow shrunk back into her seat. “You wanna go home? Portleft, are you even listening? You can’t go home! You exiled yourself! You ain’ got no home! And if you keep this up? If ya don’t at least pay attention? Your friends aren’t gonna have a home either! You-”
Millsey faltered. She sat slowly back down. She pinched the bridge of her nose, and grit her teeth.
“Vina. Babydoll. Girlie. You’re dealing with things waaaaaay beyond your knowledge base. -Piltover’s at stake here. I don’t care about the place one razor-beaked ass but I sure as shit know you do, so godsdamnit listen to me. There are people out there who are craptons worse than I am. There are people out there who would destroy everything you know, for money and greed and power. I’m not nice. Damn, I know that well. But I’m a helluva lot better than those guys, and I have the sense to side with the people who get shit done and look after the rest of us, yeah? You know old Tybresa back at the IoW? The Bastion? Their side is the logical one to take, okay? I got their interests at heart, even if it doesn’t look or feel like it. Sometimes I can’t do what would benefit, but I try, huh?”
Vina... Vina just let her head hang. She almost looked like she had something to say, but ran out of strength to speak. Millsey fell back in her seat and chuckled, running a hand through her hair.
“Aww man... I know that look. We’re all tired, Vina. Everyone is! But c’mon. Don’t sweat! Just hang in there. Fina will understand. You’ll be fine and sh- stuff’s gonna be okay. Lemme protect you, huh? You’re safer with me than the Sails. We got better tech, better people, more safehouses.”
Vina wondered if Millsey would’ve done this if there was no ‘logic’ behind it, if she had been in danger some other way. She didn’t want to know the answer.
“Hey. Sparrow. I’m gonna go pick up some ice cream for us, alright? Someone’ll be along shortly to take ya to your room. It’s pretty big. It’s got a computer and everything! Books on landscapes and drawing. Books on flight and how to pilot things! No windows though... But hey! It’s as much as I can offer.”
“I don’t wanna...” She sniffled.
“...You don’t have to be happy with it, Vina. It’s fine. I know it’s not the best situation! But you just gotta bear with while this all blows over. I’m just trying t’protect ya. Yo, can I get a hug?”
Millsey rolled her eyes and slid from her seat, vaulting over the desk in one smooth motion and tugging Vina to her feet. The Sparrow had no strength to resist, and Millsey pat her head as she slumped against her.
“It’ll be fine, sparrow. C’mon. I’ll be the one to show you around. The place is top secret, too. It’ll be fun, but ya can’t tell anyone what it’s like here. And then you can see your room, and I’ll get ya anything else ya need. Okay?”
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