[4 - A familiar face]

Callian contemplated the foreseeable future for a minute longer before sliding off his stool and getting up to leave the bar.

He had gotten what he came for, now it was time to move.

The cloaked figure glanced at Vander one last time, mulling over whether to save the larger man's life and alter what fate had in store for him, or stand back and allow him to fall as intended. 

Vander was unimportant, just about as relevant to their plans as was the taste of the wine he had been served earlier.

The doors ahead of him opened again, breaking Callian away from this depressing strain of thought as he prepared to dart around whoever was approaching to make his exit.

To his surprise however, a group of four unruly-looking children stumbled into the bar, each one sporting some kind of injury.

Callian's heart skipped a beat and he froze mid-step, recognising the two girls that stood before him immediately. 

His pink eyes flashed a brilliant violet in response to his heightened emotion, quickly dimming however when he recollected himself not even a second later.

The damage was already done though, as all but one of the children before him looked thoroughly spooked by his glowing irises.

He resumed his stride, with the tallest of all the children pushing the younger, blue-haired girl back and out of his way, the boy's steely gaze hidden beneath a large set of makeshift goggles.

The cloaked figure pulled the door open once more, exiting the crowded tavern without looking back and disappearing into the bustling crowd beyond.

—

Vander finished up with the newcomers, having served them cheap ale which was all that they could afford after working in the mines for all of that day.

He sighed, unhappy at his inability to serve them something better. But he had a business to run, and couldn't give out charity to those who could never afford to pay him back.

The state of the undercity was abysmal, but it was preferential to the alternative. He had gone down the path of rebellion with himself as its leader and lost the two people who were dearest to him because of it.

He would not make the same mistake again.

The door to the bar opened and Vander looked over to see four familiar faces framed in the doorway. His adoptive children walked through, looking utterly exhausted and covered in an unhealthy smattering of bruises and cuts.

The newcomer was walking towards them, having finished his drink and clearly aiming to exit his bar to be on his way, wherever that may be.

The oldest of his children locked eyes with Vander, quickly averting her gaze shamefully. Whatever had happened was likely her fault, again. Violet had probably dragged the rest of them into one of her crazy plans, again.

Vander sighed, shaking his head and looking away.

The group suddenly stiffened in response to Callian, who had stopped walking and was now standing stock-still in front of them.

This standoff continued for a few seconds, causing him to worry, afraid of what the small man would do to the children blocking his path.

The children were afraid, that was clear, but the man had made no move to intimidate them.

Claggor wisened up to Callian's intent to leave and quickly pushed Powder behind him, freeing up the man's route to the exit.

He left, and Vander let out a sigh of relief. Just what had the man done to make them freeze up like that?

The group looked at each other for confirmation as to what they had just seen before Claggor shrugged silently and began leading them forward into the bar.

Vander beckoned the children over and bent down to grab the medical supplies he had on hand. This kind of situation happened so often that he now kept the first aid within arms reach, instead of leaving it where it should have been.

One by one, they all hopped onto the stools opposite him, with Powder struggling to climb and sit comfortably on hers.

"Well? What happened this time?" He asked, looking down at them all expectantly.

"It's Powder's fault." Said Mylo, jabbing his finger into the younger girl's temple, pushing her head to the side. "She's a jinx, every job we bring her on goes wrong somehow."

"Hey! It wasn't my fault this time." She cried out indignantly at the jibe, refuting the unfair comment. Powder slapped his hand away from her head, turning her face to hide her teary eyes.

"Yeah right, because who else would mess up a basic stealth op." He snarked back, smacking his hand onto the top of her head and shaking it roughly. "Your stupid gadget failed and it blew the whole thing wide open."

"Get OFF ME!" She yelled, pushing the lanky boy away from her and stumbling off the stool she sat on.

The group got a good look at the steadily growing tears pooling the corner of her eyes before she sprinted towards the door, wrenching it open and running out onto the street.

"Powder!" Violet yelled, getting up to run after her.

"Stay, your injuries are far worse than hers." Vander cut in, grabbing her hand firmly before the taller girl ran off untreated.

She gritted her teeth angrily but stayed put. The girl whipped around to face Mylo, shouting at him accusingly. "Why did you say that?!"

The boy had an uncomfortable look on his face but doubled down on his harsh comments. "Am I wrong though?"

"You didn't have to say it like that."

The skinny boy tripled down, now pointing the finger of blame toward Violet now that the main target of his ire had left the building. "This is your fault too, don't even deny it. Centring a plan around those useless inventions of hers was never a good idea to begin with."

The pink-haired tomboy was outraged by Mylo's insecure bullshitting and looked ready to throw hands right there inside his bar.

"Enough." Said Vander, cutting any further argument short as he finished tending to Claggor's split lip.

He motioned Violet forward and the girl huffed before turning to face him, allowing him to get a closer look at what he was working with.

It was definitely far worse than what any of the others had, it looked like he was going to have to reset her broken nose.

"Mylo, are you fine with waiting around to get fixed up? Vi's got a broken nose I'm going to have to re-set, it could take a while."

In truth, it wouldn't take more than a second for him to fix, but they needed to be separated now before one said something to the other and regretted it later.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Replied the boy, wincing slightly as he made contact with his bruised cheekbone. "Mostly fine."

He got up and left, with Claggor standing up to join him a moment later, waving goodbye to Vander and Violet as he did so.

"Come here, this is going to hurt." Warned Vander, taking the girl's face in his hands and preparing to re-align the broken nose.

She nodded, closing her eyes and bracing herself for the oncoming pain.

From what her face ended up looking like, it hurt her quite a bit more than he thought it would.

She grunted, tears streaming down her dirty face.

He wiped them away with his towel, along with all of the blood dripping from her nostrils.

"Chin up Vi, it'll heal quicker than you think." He said, comforting the small girl opposite him. He'd ideally like to do more but knew the girl would rip off any dressings the moment she got out of his sight.

She nodded sniffily, wiping her nose cautiously with one hand before hopping off the stool she sat on.

One of the miners yelled a few words of encouragement too, laughing raucously at her predicament. "That's right lass, plus you ain't a true Zaunite till you get decked in the face."

Vander opened his mouth to agree with the man and tell her it wasn't all that bad, but Violet beat him to it.

"Fuck you old man, I'm more of a Zaunite than your Slump-working ass will ever be!" She yelled, flipping him off and spitting wetly onto the wooden floor separating them.

The bar exploded with whoops and yells of appreciation, most of them backing his little firecracker.

"She's got a point there you fucking bum, get back to the mines where you belong." A loaded insult was shouted from the crowd to his left, sparking another chain of jeering whistles and catcalls.

The man jumped to his feet, his face slowly turning red with embarrassment at being humiliated by a girl not even half his age.

Vander's gaze hardened and he stood up, stretching his wide back until he reached his full height. He towered over the approaching man, who froze in his tracks, unsure what to do in response to this new development.

"No fighting inside the bar." He ground out, glaring down at the man. 

The threat as to what would happen if this rule was broken was left unspoken, but everyone there had heard of Vander's rage through one tale or another.

'The hound of the underground' was a title that had died down in usage over recent years, but still commanded the same respect as it had before the revolt.

He had worked hard to maintain it, willingly or not.

The miner before him realised he was punching far above his weight and turned back around, mutely enduring the raucous laughter at his utter stupidity. Nobody in the undercity dared touch a hair of Vander's kids when he was near them.

Violet turned back towards him, satisfied with the submission the miner had shown in response to her threat. She hadn't realised that Vander was the one who had actually scared him away.

"Who was the new guy anyway? We don't get many visitors down here." She asked, the miner's comments now completely gone from her mind. The curiosity the girl felt towards the man with glowing eyes was growing larger by the second.

Vander paused, thinking carefully about what to tell her. 

In all honesty, the man reminded him of Silco. The way he talked, acted, and attempted to dodge his questioning was done in the same style as his former brother used to do. He had even made Vander laugh, making him recall the banter he used to have with his oldest friend.

He was also backed by a new, unknown player who may already be on their way to the Undercity. His Undercity.

All-in-all, the stranger was bad news. He could only hope that their home wasn't fit for his master's purposes in the same way that Piltover wasn't, but Vander very much doubted that.

He beckoned Violet closer, staring around at the rest of the bar warily before whispering an answer in her ear. "If I'm right about him, then he's dangerous. Very dangerous. Tell the rest to keep out of his way alright? I don't want you getting hurt."

She looked confused, but nodded evenly, trusting her guardian's judgement. He clapped her on the shoulder encouragingly, and motioned the teen towards the door.

"Now go and find Powder, make sure she's alright."

—

(Total word count 1900)