Work Text
Dear friend, across the river,
my hands are cold and bare.
Dear friend, across the river,
I’ll take what you can spare.
I ask of you a penny,
my fortune, it will be.
I ask you without envy.
We raise no mighty towers,
our homes are built of stone.
So, come across the river,
and find…
How could this happen?Poor little Maverick could recognize his Parent’s bodies anywhere, even in the red-tinted smoke on the bridge that both seems to separate and connect Piltover to Zaun. The cold lifeless stares into nothing shook the kid to his core. Goose, his best friend, stood and held him as the shorter one tried not to cry.Loud footsteps next. A large man, wearing an Enforcer’s Uniform, holding a gun pointed to the heads of the two children. The Enforcer hesitated once they saw what they pointed their weapon at.In an instant the smaller and more emotional child was clinging to the large but trusting man, Viper. Sure, he was an Enforcer, but Maverick knew him. Viper was the nice Enforcer! He used to travel down to the Zaunite slums and would have a drink or two with his now deceased father.The enforcer helmet and gun was dropped instantly, instead opting to hold the 7 year old child closely. Goose looked at the man with a mix of fear, anger, and yet also admiration. He seemed more angry though at the carnage, seeing his friend’s parents and wondering if he too was now an orphan.Viper looked down upon Goose, holding a hand out to him. Even if hesitant, the child followed behind the Enforcer back to their home. Over the sounds of muffled insults, shouts and even objects thrown at the deserter, Maverick looked up from the shoulder of Viper and back upon the other Enforcers with as much rage as a child like him could form.
He would bring hell upon them, he promised himself. There was no way they could get away with this. Not on his behalf. —— If you asked what Maverick and Goose were doing on their free-time from the prying eyes of the strict-but-loving guardian they shared, they’d both say they were pulling off the heist of the century. At just 14 and 15 respectively they were in the middle of Piltover, climbing on the rooftops.“Talk to me, Goose. What’s up?” Maverick huffed, tightening the empty Duffel Bag that was slung around his shoulders. He slid down one of the roofs and jumped on another that was mere feet away.
“Watch your step, Mav!” Goose called to him from behind. “You okay?”
Maverick huffed in annoyance yet again, kicking a leg up on the drainage until he was rolled up on his stomach the roof. “Your turn!” He called back to Goose while he carefully stood up and stabilized himself. He held a hand out, grabbing Goose’s arm the second he landed and nearly lost balance.The sound of Maverick and Goose’s worn and torn shoes running and jumping on and off the fancy roofings wasn’t as loud as they thought it would be, considering the fact that both shoes were held up simply by whatever scraps of tape they could find and Goose and Maverick’s nightly prayers to Janna herself.Any resource that existed was an extreme rarity down in the Undercity. Hell, Maverick had gotten into so many scraps with older and meaner kids over food that his Nose was deformed beyond repair, and he had a gap tooth that led into the slightest lisp. To say that Maverick was self-conscious about it was an understatement, he hated the deformities, but Goose always said it made him look more intimidating. Having scars meant you were tough and scary, and Goose and Maverick both wanted to be as tough as they possibly could be.“See that?” Maverick pointed to the sky, and for just a moment, Goose was sure he was blind from how dark and dense Zaun was until the giant Piltover-Designed Airship came into his view. It was just feet away from them, and the very ground rumbled as it passed over. “‘m gonna pilot one of those things. Just watch.” Goose laughed as he encouraged his brother-like-friend. He patted Maverick’s head, smiling brightly at him and showing the so slightly sharp teeth he possessed. “Yeah, maybe snap a neck too while you’re at it!” Maverick pushed his friend to the side a little and mock-snarled at him.“Are those others?” Goose pointed out four other people on the roofs just five buildings away. Wherever they were headed, it seemed important enough to have to be on the roofs just like them. “Yeah. See those clothes?” Maverick pointed out, causing Goose to look closer and hum. Almost anyone whom was ‘cultured’ in Zaun could recognize the outfits and haircolors of those four, quite easily too. “What’s the Vander family doing up here?” “Must’ve gotten a tip or something. C’mon.”When they reached their destination, it wasn’t far from the other kid’s job. While the others seemed to be having trouble with opening the Balcony’s doors, Goose was able to open the Apartment’s balcony doors with ease.Maverick placed the bag down on the floor of wherever they were. While Goose calmly looked throughout the apartment, collecting whatever he deemed would sell good back in Zaun, Maverick just shoved everything he could fit in the bag. “Mav!” Goose yelled out causing Maverick to flinch and almost drop what looked like a Hair trimmer. If it was a nose trimmer or something else couldn’t be deciphered, it all looked the same. “Don’t make so much noise, and stop overflowing it! We can’t carry this much.”“Gotcha.” Maverick tossed the trimmer aside, hitting the nearby wall with a loud bang. He started grabbing what was valuable and quickly attempting to stuff it all into the bag. “You think we’ll afford enough to get food this time?” Maverick asked Goose, who was trimming through all the books. If there was one thing they’d keep for themselves from this run, it would be the books. “Maybe.”“This should be enough…” Goose held the bag up. Five books and tons of trinkets… hopefully, this would sell enough coin for at least four days.
“Great. Let’s get the hell outta here!” Maverick opened the door slightly and whooped, before all hell broke loose.The sound of the boom, mixed with the blue-colored blast, had knocked Maverick and Goose to the ground. Maverick was quick to grab all of the loot, chasing after anything that slipped out of the duffel bag while Goose stared out at the scene. The building next to them was blown to pieces with the large debris from said blast almost smacking right into the two boys.“Shit!” Goose yelled as the Enforcers ran over to the building next to them, presumably to see what had caused the blast. Neither of them could be allowed to be caught, because then Viper would find out about this through the gossip at The Last Drop, and they’d prefer death over that outcome anytime.In a split second, the two were climbing down to Zaun at rapid speeds. They didn’t even care about the gang of older, meaner kids that tried to corner them and grab their loot, they just ran until they made it to their home. Their home wasn’t even much of a house; just an abandoned Water-tower that was empty of water, covered with graffiti, and very easily-located so Viper could check on them when he wasn’t dealing with Enforcers trying to get him to join the ranks again.“What WAS that, Goose??” Maverick searched through their items, sorting how much they could sell each item for in his head much like those fancy-looking calculators up in the Innovative District of Piltover. “I-.. I dunno, Mav..” The other responded, climbing up a rusty yet sturdy metal ladder and opening the tower hatch so they could get in their hideout. “Help me up.” Maverick tried to get up next only to be slipping his shoe on the rust. Goose grabbed his shirt and pulled him up to the hideout.For nearly an hour, the two sorted through the stolen items, each having a value of coins that they’d never have imagined would ever be seen upon their eyes. They now had two options… take it to a collector’s shop named Benzo’s and debate the pricing with the shopkeeper or sell it off anonymously to an auction for 30,000 Coins, which would be enough to gather food and sustainable water for the week.
In the end, they went with the latter.Maverick felt the weight of the coins in his hands, smiling bright as Goose sat next to him in their hideout. Goose was reading some fifty chaptered book on Piltover’s ever-moving conquest for innovation and science. “…lookie here, Mav. ‘Piltover, the city of innovation, has been credited with many inventions such as Airships, Medicine and…’” “Stupid ass-sniffing richies.” Maverick huffed, looking at just one of the 30 coins held delicately in the small string-tied pouch. Each one was worth 1,000 despite the value supposingly less in Piltover due to metal shaping being bent a little. Here in Zaun though, it was 1,000, through and through. Conditions didn’t matter when they were starving at the masses and the rich people didn’t care enough to help.He flicked the coin up with his thumb, watching it spin in the air before falling back into the palm of his hand.
“Hey Goose,” He started to talk with a laugh, “I got a question for you.”
“Hm?” The other turned his head, pulling a tiny, thin sheet of scrap metal into the page of the book so that he didn’t get lost looking for where he’d left off later.
“If you could buy anything in the world… what would it be?” Maverick asked. It was simple enough to others, but to them, was an impossible question to answer.
“Aw fuck, don’t make me choose.” Goose whined, causing Maverick to snicker as the older thought carefully. “Shit… dunno, maybe a lifetime supply of food and water.”
“Clean water and good food…” Mav pondered. “…sounds like a dream.”Goose stood up, opening the hatch of their hideout door. “One day it won’t be, Mav.” He said, as the other quickly stuffed the coins back in the little pouch and stood up. “One day we’ll have enough coins to last us forever!” He proudly proclaimed, imagining how they’d never starve again with a hypothetical scenario of millions of coins.Maverick watched as Goose slid down the ladder despite the rust, pausing near the trapdoor. “…one day.” He muttered, before jumping down and closing the door at the same time.