[The silence seems to drag on for ages, and when the sound finally comes, it's not at all what Caitlyn was expecting. She tries to find a little bit of humour in it, to force a smile across her face to match Sevika's laughter, but she can't quite find it in herself.]

Of course not. [Oh-so-earnest and sincere.] I'd spent months investigating a myriad of seemingly unconnected crimes. Missing children, strange experiments, robberies and murders, and they all had too many things in common to truly be unrelated. I was certain one person had organised it all. I only needed proof. And when I met Vi--

[Everything had changed quite rapidly once she'd met Vi.]

I couldn't give it up and go back to being-- To being 'Piltover's little princess.' [As Sevika had so succinctly put it.]

To find the truth.

[Not a particularly complex or interesting motivation, but it's honest.]

And because...

[It feels odd, to the say the least, to be discussing this with a member of Silco's gang. And she barely knows Sevika, yet here she is, confessing the sorts of things she would so much rather keep to herself. But that's the point of this, isn't? If they confess, they'll be set free. With a sharp sigh and a frown, she continues.]

My family name carries a certain amount of weight. As I'm sure you can imagine, [she adds ruefully.] People make assumptions, when they hear it. That I'm sheltered, or pampered, or incapable of anything more difficult than sipping cocktails at a gala. Even my own family insists on treating me like a child in need of protection. If can prove that I'm right, they'll see that I'm not— that I'm more than just my name.

[With barely a pause, she keeps going.]

And once I'd met Vi, I cared too much for her to leave her. She brought me to the deepest parts of the fissures, and I... I saw what shimmer is doing to the people there. I thought if I brought proof of Silco's crimes to the Council, they would do something to stop him. I thought they would help those people.

I did. They declined the opportunity.

[With a bitter little frown, she tries the cage door again. It gives this time, but doesn't quite open, as though the latch is barely catching on something.]

What more do you expect me to confess? [Oh, she's frustrated. Not speaking to anybody or anything in particular, given that their captor is nowhere visible, but making her feelings very clear in her tone nonetheless.] That I forged Jayce's signature on Vi's release papers? That I once purposefully refused to wipe my shoes before entering the house and tracked mud all over the rugs because I was angry with my mother? That I once snuck out of a ball to show a waitress my firearm collection after my mother tried to set me up with a visiting diplomat's daughter and informed me in no uncertain terms that I was to stay and make a good impression? That I was formally disciplined for taking case files I hadn't been assigned? That— that I have romantic feelings for Vi?

[One of those things works, because when she gives the door a jerk it unexpectedly opens, causing her to lose her balance, topple forwards, and — despite her clumsy attempt to catch herself — flop into a long-limbed sprawl on the ground beneath the cage.]

A week. [Which she knows is a little fast, but she and Vi have been through so much together in so short a time, Caitlyn feels as though she's known Vi a lifetime.

She can't help but interpret the very large woman looming over her in near-darkness as potentially threatening, especially given that her first encounter with Sevika was far from peaceful. So she pushes herself to her feet, making her best attempt at appearing tall and intimidating.

Never mind that she's a little unsteady after that fall.]

I— I am not— That is— How dare—

[How else is she supposed to react to Sevika's extremely blunt and mortifyingly vulgar way of phrasing it but with barely coherent sputtering? It takes her a moment, but she finally manages to get the sputtering under control, punctuating it with a loud scoff.

In an attempt to reclaim some measure of dignity, she tries to wipe some of the muck off her uniform, and then looks upwards, peering through the darkness, looking for movement in any of the hanging cages.]

There may be others in need of help. We should check the other cages.

What if they're unconscious?

[The lighter does little to illuminate the cages, particularly the ones higher up, but Caitlyn peers upwards intently nonetheless, searching for anything at all that might indicate other prisoners.

Seeing none directly overhead, she begins to circle around the tree, and calls upwards:] Is anybody there? We can help you.

[It feels like a lifetime of shuffling quietly around the tree and then waiting, frozen in place, for the creature to depart. There are long moments that she fears she's going to die, killed by a monster in a dark pit and her parents will never know her fate and she'll never see Vi again. But finally it leaves, and the only sounds are the creak of metal as the cages sway from the branches.

Caitlyn takes what feels like her first breath in minutes.]

I think it's gone, [she whispers.] We should leave before it returns. [As though Sevika hadn't been urging them to do that exact thing before the creature showed up.]

[Caitlyn jerks her arm back when Sevika smacks it. It's a blow to her pride more than a physical harm, but she holds it protectively against her chest for a moment nonetheless.

And, in another blow to her pride, Sevika seems comfortable navigating the area while Caitlyn feels nearly blind. As soon as the tunnel is pointed out to her, she strides towards it, determined to appear both confident and competent.]

Let's go.

[In her rush to be taken seriously, as a leader and as someone who knows what she's doing and doesn't feel overwhelmed and scared and can't quite see where she's going, Caitlyn hadn't even considered that the tunnel might not be stable. There's a visible hitch in her step as she grinds awkwardly to a halt behind Sevika.]

Good.

[Of course, unless there's another escape route, they'll have to chance it, won't they? And Caitlyn is not one to risk another person's life in place of her own, or send anybody to do a task she wouldn't do herself. So, she squares her shoulders, takes a breath, and says,] I'll go first.

[Sevika will need to step aside, though, since she's taking up the entire entrance. Caitlyn might be willing to risk her life in a hypothetical tunnel collapse, but shoving Sevika out of the way is another matter.]

[Into the tunnel Caitlyn goes, trying terribly hard to hide her nerves, only to have the light snuffed out as soon as she steps in. She stops abruptly, flinging her hands out to either side in search of the walls.

Very slowly, she inches forward, gingerly tapping the ground with her foot as she goes to make sure she doesn't stumble over uneven rocks or put her weight on something that will only give out beneath her. Or — a terrifying scenario that she can't get out of her head now that Sevika's brought it up — step out into nothing and plunge to her death at the bottom of a pit.]

A light would make this easier, [she snits, pointedly.]

[Sevika's close enough to tickle the hairs behind Caitlyn's ear, and, with a sudden horrible sinking feeling in her gut, she's reminded that this woman very nearly killed Vi. And Vi — powerful, strong, muscular Vi — is far less killable than Caitlyn, especially unarmed and blind and standing on uneven ground as she currently is.]

The more time we waste, the higher the likelihood of that creature returning. And I doubt either of us want to find out what it would do to us, should it find us here.

[She tries her absolute level best to sound unflinching. Tough. Like she knows what she's doing and cannot be intimidated. And really, there's hardly any fearful quaver in her voice at all.]