Chapter Text
You were nothing but a street rat to the citizens of Piltover. To them, you were the gum at the bottom of their shoes. Yet, they couldn’t continue without the labor that the citizens of Zaun did for them. They paid horribly low wages, but wages that kept food on the table and kept the kids in beds. Your parents did everything they could for you. You were uncharacteristically skilled for a child, and they desperately wanted a better life for you. They worked hard in the mines to be able to provide so it was a surprise when your mother ended up pregnant again. When your brother was born that only spurred them further. He was a genius just like his older sister. Baffled, your parents couldn’t believe what was happening before them.
You and your little brother did everything together. If you learned something, you taught it to him as well. Your parents didn’t want you and your brother to do anything that would put you in harms way, but that didn’t matter to a child grown in the pits. You leaped from rooftop to rooftop, snuck into buildings, found lost things, and stole found things.
To their dismay, you and your brother got your hands dirty. At the age of eight, you ended up working with Benzo and fixed things up. Your brother liked to focus more on the hardware while you liked the thrill that the electricity brought you. If it had wires, you learned how to take it apart and reassemble it to look like it had never been touched. Being only a few years apart from your brother was an advantage you used to get rougher jobs, but it also came with a responsibility.
You had to protect your only sibling. You knew your parents wouldn’t have long. A few years at most given how hard they worked themselves. Your mother was completely barren at this point due to the gas from the fissures. So, you did what any older sibling would do and learned how to fight. It started off with reading any books that you could find or sneaking down to the arenas where people duked it out. On occasion, you’d see a bar fight that spilled out onto the streets before you scampered home to practice the moves in your room.
That’s how you met Vi and her sister Powder. There was word going around that Vander’s kid was going to teach some of the street kids how to fight. You had heard word of them when Vander stopped by to visit Benzo but kept too busy to check them out. On one of your slow days, you headed over to the spot your brother had scoped out. He tagged along with you in hopes of learning how to fight as well. You hovered on the rooftop above the small corner alley spying a small group of kids sitting around.
“Alright, I think this is everyone?” The pink-haired girl gazed around. The people around her nodded and she nodded back and stood in the center. “Okay, so, I’ll start with showing you the correct form for a punch. You want to use your body, not your arm. You can injure your arm and your punch won’t be as strong.” She demonstrated and jabbed forward with her shoulder. You leaned in closer to get a better look and gasped as your brother lost his footing in the corner of your eye.
He let out a yelp and skid off the beam, his arm reaching out to grab yours as you lunged forward. Your hand barely missed his as he went tumbling over the edge, “Ekko!” You exclaimed as your brother’s shout mixed with surprised exclamations. You slid down the roof after him and watched as the pink-haired girl lunged towards him.
“Woah there!” She gasped as she caught him in her hands, “You okay there, little man?”
You grunted as your feet hit the ground and staggered forward. The pink-haired girl put Ekko down as you pulled him into your arms, “You’re okay!” You breathed out in relief as you checked him over. He gave you a sheepish grin, “I’m sorry, sis.”
You narrowed your eye at him and huffed, “Rule number one of being on the roofs?”
“Find your footing before you place your weight.” Ekko said as he rubbed the back of his neck. You nodded and looked up when you heard a throat clear. You looked directly into icy blue eyes and blinked when you realized it was the pink-haired girl.
“Hey there.” She waved, “What uh… What were you doing up there?”
“Watching your training!” Ekko said enthusiastically. The girl gave him an amused smile.
“Yeah, we heard from Vander that you were going to be doing this and I wanted to see.” Your gaze went up to the spot that you were perched in seconds ago, “We didn’t come down because I didn’t want to interrupt. I’m sorry about my brother.” You blushed from embarrassment. She gave you a reassuring smile and placed her hand on your shoulder, “It’s alright, kid. I’m an older sibling too.” She gestured over to a girl around your age with blue hair, “That’s my little sister, Powder. She’s around your age?” She perked up at her name and waved shyly. Ekko gasped and looked at you before rushing over to Powder.
“I’m Y/n, and that’s my little brother, Ekko. He’s seven and I’m nine.”
“Yup! You’re a little older than my sister. Well, Y/n, welcome to training.” She backed away and you moved to go sit with Powder and your brother.
“Oh, Y/n!” You paused and turned, “My name is Violet, but you can call me Vi.” You grinned at her before sitting down.
After that, you and your brother became one of them. Vi introduced you to her friends Claggor and Mylo. Claggor was kind but Mylo seemed to hate that he was surrounded by geniuses. He was horribly cynical and you made it a point to put him in his place when he messed with your brother. Vi and them started calling Ekko “Little Man” after he fell from the roof. Mainly because he was the youngest out of all of us.
They never gave us a hard time because our parents were alive. If anything, they took care of us more because our parents were alive. Ekko and Powder got along amazingly. They became best friends almost instantly, and you found yourself loving her as your own little sister.
It quickly became obvious how prominent this group was here in the undercity. Vander’s kids. That came with a sort of protection the rest of us didn’t have. There was a threat that if you touched them, Vander would see to it that the residence knew who was untrustworthy. Eventually, those protections extended over you and your brother.
Over the course of a year, you managed to subtly save up money. You went on raids with Vi mostly in secret, but sometimes you’d join as another member. It helped you get better with your stealth as you were forced to hide from Vi and the gang as well. Just like your parents, you found myself wishing to get your brother out of Zaun even if it was just for a day. Take him on a trip or go sightseeing. Anything to show him that there was a world outside of the shop.
That became a focus of your life. You worked hard, took jobs that were grunt work, and looked after Ekko. It made you happy to see how easily he was starting to adapt. He thrived down here in the undercity unrestrained by Piltover laws and rules. On his eighth birthday, you bleached your hair white when he asked. When you asked him why he chose white, he said that he liked the way it looked and no one else you knew had white hair. You couldn’t deny that you liked how it looked under the neon lights of the undercity, and it became your favorite hairstyle.
“Hey, Benzo!” Vi’s voice carried up from the shop. You grinned excitedly as you looked through the rafters and saw the whole group. Powder was walking around and looking at all of the things on display, “Are Little Man and Y/n in today?”
“The little man is out on a run but his cat of a sister should be hanging around here somewhere.”
You giggled and swung your upper body down from the rafters, “Hiya!” Everyone jumped and snapped their heads in your direction. Wires were wrapped around your fingers, so you quickly untangled them before completely dropping down.
“Y/n!” Powder shouted and ran over to give you a right hug. “Hey, Pow!” You returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm, “It’s been a minute since we’ve seen you guys. Let’s head up top so we’re not crowding the shop.” You smiled and turned to walk up the steps, Powder and Vi fell into step next to you as you climbed the stairs.
“So, what’s with the new hair?” Vi questioned, “I think it looks wicked on you, but is there a reason for the change?” Everyone found a place to sit, you picked up a wire cutter and started fidgeting with it.
“Ekko wanted to dye our hair for his eighth birthday. He said that he thought we’d stand out and look cool. I couldn’t turn him down.”
“You look ridiculous.” Mylo scoffed, “You look like you have cotton on your head.”
“Mylo, what the fuck!” Claggor punched him on the shoulder. You sighed and ran a hand through your curls, “Hey.” You looked up to see Vi squatting down in front of you, “I think you look beautiful, okay? Ignore Mylo, he’s just miserable that you always look amazing.” You grinned, Vi’s words touching you and making you feel better about yourself.
“I always ignore what Mylo says.”
“Hey-!”
“Ha!” Everyone started laughing at that. You tried your best to ignore what Mylo said but it hurt. The things he said made you doubt yourself and affected your self-esteem. Yet, Vi was always there to say otherwise. You and Powder bonded over that. Without Vi, neither of you would be as strong as you are now. You and Powder would hide together and try to make little smoke bombs, and you love the gadgets she came up with.
While you loved Powder as a little sister, you couldn’t help but feel differently about Violet. She was an extraordinary person. She was so confident in herself, always doing her best to care for everyone, and she had a soft side. No one saw it except for you and Powder. Vi would take you places and teach you what she knew. Sometimes she’d take you out privately and personally teach you how to fight. Although, you didn’t tell the older girl that you practiced the moves she gave you in the arenas.
Bruises and cuts were carefully hidden by clothes and face shots were desperately avoided. If Vi found out that you hung around the arenas she’d lose her mind. You didn’t know how she felt about you, but you knew she cared. You ended up crushing on Vi and that brought some complications to your friendship. You were two years younger than her. Twelve felt very distant from ten when you put yourself in her shoes. So, you kept your feelings a secret… except for that Powder and your brother had figured it out.
“I don’t know why you just don’t tell her!”
“Because she doesn’t see me that way, Powder. Vi is too cool to like someone like me.” You sighed and threw yourself down onto the floor. The blue-haired girl threw herself down next to you and took your hand, “Well, I think it’d be awesome if you and my sister got together!”
You turned your head to her, “Really? I thought you wouldn’t have liked that?”
Powder turned to you with a grin, “Oh come on! One of my best friends dating my sister? We’d never be separated if you did! You’d always be in my life, and you’d really be an older sibling to me.” You raised an eyebrow and Powder stuttered, “N-not like an actual sister! That’d be gross!” You started laughing and Powder joined in. When you calmed down she rolled over and placed her head on your chest. You stared up at the ceiling in silence. You could hear the distant music coming from the bar. It was days like this that you cherished the moments.
“Hey Powder, no matter what happens in the future… let’s always be friends, okay?”
“Of course! You’ve always been here for me. Especially on days where I’ve been upset and wanted to be alone. You’re a great friend, Y/n.” She said softly.
“You’re a great friend too, Pow. I can talk about my insecurities with you and know that you understand me. I‘ll love you no matter what you do or who you become.”
You weren’t sure how you fell asleep after that but you dozed off in the backroom. Little did you know, those words would become everything to Powder.