Fight and Flight (Lux/Jinx)

Chapter 2: The Dogfight

By the time Lux's watch cheeped at 6 am to rouse her from warm, bright dreams of her homeland, her partner's sleeping bag was empty.

Lux rubbed her eyes with one fist, pushing herself up to peer around the desolate tent. She felt a stab of disappointment at Jinx's absence. Was tenting with Lux really so terrible that Jinx felt compelled to scamper off before dawn?

Releasing an exasperated breath, Lux glared at her flight partner's empty bedding.

If Jinx is so desperate to avoid me, she can lose as much sleep as she likes.

After donning her uniform and tying her hair back, Lux crept out of her tent and into the brisk dawn.

The breeze whiffed past her ears and tugged at her ponytail. She spotted other pilots emerging from their tents in pairs, yawning beneath the navy blue sky. She stood by the entrance of her tent, watching the pairs meander side-by-side as a dull ache bloomed in her heart, then dragged her feet after them.

When she entered the mess, her first stop was a notice board nailed to one of the tent's poles. Upon a pinned sheet of paper was the day's date and a two-columned table. The first column contained a pair of names, the second an hour of takeoff, and it took only a few seconds' perusing before Lux found her entry:

Jinx and Luxanna Crownguard | 8 AM

Lux frowned, her eyes performing another search up and down the sheet. She saw full names in every entry, first names and surnames, none of the nicknames she'd heard tossed around the mess the evening before... Save for Jinx's.

Why was Jinx alone represented by her nickname?

The mystery tickled Lux's curiosity, but she had a feeling that asking her flight partner about it would yield an unhelpful answer along the lines of, 'keep your nose out of my business before I slash your plane's fuselage.'

Shortly, "Searchlight" was hailed by a few of the pilots she'd played cards with the night before. She wasted no time in grabbing a dish of oatmeal – at least, it looked like oatmeal, despite a faint scent of fish – and plopping down beside her friendly compatriots.

It was easy to forget her chilly partner when she hung out with the more personable pilots. Talking with them was fun, and she enjoyed hearing them share accounts of their most exciting trips in the air while she ate. When she told the others of her early flight time, they loaded her with last-minute tips for staying alive should Piltover's forces show up. Chuck procured a pack of cards, and Lux indulged in a few rounds of Rummy before standing to exit the tent.

"Good luck on your fist mission!" Ekko shouted after her as she departed.

Lux appreciated the sentiment. She doubted her own partner would have well-wishes to spare.

After a brief stop at the latrines, Lux reached the section of the Field where her and Jinx's Gladiators waited.

She quickly saw why Jinx hadn't been in the dining hall that morning. A dented, tin bowl – much the same as that which Lux had consumed her own fishy breakfast from – was abandoned next to the landing gear on Jinx's plane, along with a metal water canister. She must have fetched her breakfast early and eaten it out here.

Judging by the fact that Jinx was already strapped into her plane, it seemed that she didn't intend to return her dishes to the mess hall until after their flight.

Lux climbed onto the lower wing of her biplane and then into the cockpit. She strapped on the standard safety equipment which rested on her seat – an inflatable vest for water landings, a parachute in case she was shot down, her seatbelt, and her oxygen mask. This whole process was completed without a peep – Jinx offered no words of welcome, and Lux followed suite. Only the tinkling of her belt-buckles and the whistle of the ever-present wind filled Lux's ears, and she had nothing to miss when she pulled her cockpit shut.