The Subcritical

Introduction

“SHE is with me!”

—Vi, Chapter 26

The spirit-god Janna, guardian of Zaun, has been twisted into a force of wrath. The rapid development of Hextech during the years of Piltovan militarization has produced rampant pollution, as well as more subtle ‘arcane destabilization’ effects. Meanwhile Zaun’s bitterness and pain has been festering, reaching an all-time high during the tragedies of the failed uprising and the subsequent crackdown. Janna has been corrupted by these forces: the goddess is in agony, a force of nature that has grown furious and bent toward destruction.

This comes to bear in Chapter 26, when Janna resonates with Vi and infuses her with power, sending her into a frenzy.

But I’ve referenced air or the wind in some recurring cases so far:

Almost every time Vi hallucinated Powder; including some cases in Caitlyn’s POV where the wind acting up is meant to imply Vi is hallucinating

Moments in late Part 1 / early Part 2 where Vi is trying (unsuccessfully) to hear Powder again

A few other points when Vi is particularly wrathful, in turmoil, or feeling lost

The goal was to remain subtle, while making it possible to pick up on the pattern of the wind accompanying these dramatic moments over time. From the time Vi hit her lowest point, however far she traveled, the guardian has been following her — drawn to a Zaunite in need, as she surely is to countless others. But with her power dwindling, Janna largely lost the capacity to meaningfully help or inspire her people, and was left to simply stew in suffering.

The extent to which Janna has been merely watching Vi versus influencing her is deliberately left ambiguous. I will confirm that Vi’s turmoil is not caused by Janna’s wrath; but Vi's state serves as a magnet for it, and is potentially exacerbated by it.

So, here are the Janna “cameos” and a couple other hints throughout the fic so far! I will quote chunks for context, but bold the significant bits to facilitate skimming.

Compilation by Chapter

Chapter 4: Enforcer

Powder’s ghost is introduced when Vi is enraged after Caitlyn attempts to knock a reminiscing Vi into the river.

(...) the prisoner bared her teeth and glowered defiance. Vi leaned in, glaring back at her. Blood pounded in her ears. The wind was rising, shifting gusts tumbling down the walk. And she felt the weight of that gaze, the dying eyes all over again, like a waking dream. The eyes that found her when she faltered. They didn’t have any mercy for me, did they? (...) Vi had been Topside, on a walkway by the river. Vi had been down there, when the world burned. Vi was neither here nor there. The transit of air, the back and forth churn through jaws and throat and lungs, was explosive. A tug on her arm. A small hand brushed the back of her palm. Gently folded it into a fist.  You can always be strong, can’t you? For me?

The flashback concluding the chapter shows the first instance of Powder appearing, after the teen Vi is distraught over killing two Enforcers.

A gentle breeze rolled through the alley, misty and cool on her skin and her scalp. A soft hand on her arm, a once-familiar clinging at her side. The effect was immediate, steadying, and the ground was solid beneath her again. As if the core of her — her heart, her identity, everything she was and had ever once been — remembered, in that presence, that she needed to be strong. You did what you had to. You did great.

Chapter 5: Soldier

The flashback to Vi’s obsessive hunting of Enforcers during the Uprising

An Enforcer, threatening a beggar. Opportunity — a distracted Enforcer. Make him go away. Running, leaping into open air. The wind in her hair, the downward swing of her arm as she plunged; an acrobatic spin, through a two-story drop. Cast iron to helmet, breaking her fall.

Chapter 7: Renegade

When Vi has stabbed Sevika in the leg for “You could do about as much for our cause as you could for your sister.” Unusually, Powder urges Vi against violence.

“D’you keep things like that in your back pocket, just in case you need a quick potshot? Tell me.” Teeth gritted, eyes losing focus, the older fighter lifted a trembling and bloodstained hand toward her. She gave Vi the middle finger. Vi. This isn’t what you should be doing. Cold air washed through her lungs. Vi flinched, a sensation like breaking sharply from sleep. She saw her opponent, really saw her. Blood welling thickly between her fingers about the rapier. Zaun's blood, on a Noxian blade.

Chapter 10: Protector

Vi’s peaceful dream about looking out at a scenic coastline with Powder

The balmy breeze curled past their arms and faces, protective.

…which turns into a nightmare, as Powder dies again, and Vi can do nothing to save her

Vi nodded, self-assured and smiling as she remembered what had happened to her, and put it to words. “Powder… I’m different, now. I got strong enough to protect you.” “Vi…!” Their hands clasped, tender hands in armored ones. Tears rolled from soft blue eyes. “Vi, that’s great! But I’m still gone.” The sound cut out. No crash of waves, no cawing gulls, only a wind as steady as silence. The world blanched, anemic and grey, the color draining out in time with the roar. Vi’s smile stiffened, and her unblinking eyes found the open wound, the bright red gush of blood.

At the park with Caitlyn, Vi is entertaining with a story and is suddenly shaken, implied to hallucinate Powder in the water. As an aside, it is also revealed this chapter that Vi brought the body off a shore of Zaun by way of burial; maybe she saw an image related to that in particular.

A point in the escapade made Caitlyn scoff, and then give way to laughter. Vi’s eyes softened on her, strangely innocent. Enchanted. Then the warmth bled from her expression. Her story trailed off. “Vi?” Caitlyn asked, but her look was vacant. Fixed on nothing, in the water. The wind picked up from the lakeshore, dusting them with spray. Caitlyn reached for her shoulder. The Hound swatted her hand away, harsher than thwarting an attack.

Revisiting the site of Powder’s death, Vi vividly relives the scene and then steps ‘through’ the memory of her teen self.

Vi knelt; Vi supplanted the stooped and howling weakling; Vi closed her arms around the body, in her counterpart’s place. Felt the weight settle into her arms, sure as the breeze on her rain-damp skin. “Powder,” she said. “I came back again… I'm stronger now. I’ll make it right.” I know, Vi. The small hand on her cheek. I know. Vi broke. Vi broke down in bitter, shaking sobs.

Chapter 12: Monster

When Legion Vi rampages on the battlefield, brief wind imagery mixes with her typical fiery themes.

The Commander-General’s boom— “Blood for Noxus!” A redundant command. Dissolving into chaos. Dissolving in a sea of souls. Tapping into a vein of the world, and injecting herself into it; taking hold of a river of fate, and contemptuously upending it. Scattering them as she pleased. Transcending herself — lighter than air, cracking with impact, rampant as a burning gale. Reveling in all she was, all that had been built: a vessel for the tear and snap of thirsting jaws. Jaws that would take every offer.

Chapter 13: Drumming Song

Somewhat related, the day is dreary. The frequency of overcast days, and an unusual chill, are noted multiple times from about this point in the fic

Another connecting point, Vi’s eyes are described as silver (as they are a few times when she is at her darkest/'least human’; including when she stares down Ambessa in Ch24, and again while possessed in Ch26) in the grim moment that she intimidates Caitlyn after the spar, and it begins to rain

The eyes of the woman above Caitlyn shone almost silver in the grey pallor of the clouds, icy in a world that had been cast crisp, cool, and bright. Crimson hair, dark and dimly sapped of saturation. A flat line of her mouth. A mercurial, unblinking stare.

A sudden thunderstorm breaks out after the tense moment. It is Cait's POV, but as they argue, Powder is probably urging Vi to violence.

Vi grabbed her wrist, teeth bared. “Stand up. I'll drag you if you make me!” “Drag me, then!” Caitlyn shot back, while cold rain lashed down in gusting sheets. “Hurt me, force me, and stop pretending you’re better than it!” The wind whistled and whipped. Something rattled in the distance, a metallic clanging on hard ground. Caitlyn saw Vi’s eyes darkening. Then, with a shuddering breath, the soldier ducked her head. “I’m…” She looked up again, anguish in the grit of her teeth, and failed to say the word. No apologies, after all. There could be no betrayal where there had been no trust. “Please,” Vi said instead. “You have to make it to tomorrow.”

Chapter 16: Drumming Song (Reprise)

At the close of the duel, after Powder has steadied Vi in taking up the axe, and Vi returns to the block

A broken stage; a crisp fall breeze; a drumming heart; a drumming heart.  Vi squared her feet, grinding a sole into the ashen dust.  Caitlyn saw her purge a last, smoldering spark of compassion, blazing cold in the absence. She saw the warrior’s heart anneal with tempered wrath. She watched Vi transform, and wished she hadn’t. But there, she supposed, was her last sight. A demon who longed for cruelty. The wind howled, rippling over crimson hair and crimson cape. The gallop of drums melded into steady thunder, climbing to a crescendo. Caitlyn closed her eyes. Vi hefted the axe.

Chapter 21: Dear Friend...

By the garden pond, Vi seems to instinctively listen for Powder when she hears the wind; as Vi strains to hear her again, it only intensifies.

The water’s surface stirred beneath the breeze. Vi watched red leaves twirl down at a gust; she stared and listened, as if she might still hear someone. But Vi was alone. She closed her eyes, listening intently, listening for anything more, as the rising drone of wind flooded her ears. Vi was alone. “How is your mind?” The world fell quiet. Vi looked slowly back at the Wolf on the nearby trail. She faced the pond again, and took a sip of her tea. The cup turned in her hands. “Someone who used to follow me around… has gone quiet. I don’t know why.”

Ironically, she notes that someone who used to follow her (Powder) has gone quiet, but doesn't realize that another who follows her around (Janna) is practically screaming at her

Shortly after, Vi begins to sing; I attempted to frame the End of Part 1 sequence that follows — the brief moments with the key players, punctuated by the lyrics — as the wind thematically ‘carrying’ her song across the city.

When Vi had been alone again for some time, picking over her thoughts and clutching her emptied mug, she once again began to hum. She tried to focus on that. When no voice joined her, the words rose to her lips. The somber tune rolled through the garden, carried on the wavering breeze, slow and intent as a ceremonial march. “Dear friend… across the river… “My hands are cold and bare…”

Chapter 22: Anchor

In Vi’s opening scene of Part Two, the first sentence suggests the weather is noteworthy.

From her perch, Vi tipped back her head, eyes shut, for her nostrils and parted lips to drink in the cool damp of yet another dreary morning.

She tries to tell herself she’ll be fine without Powder. But as she sits alone and questions who she is, growing increasingly distressed:

I’m in control. I’m— The wind cackling like static in her ears, scouring her burned-out veins, winds picking over crumbs of flame that might just die in the kindling.

Shortly after, she gets an outright vision set up such that the reader can write it off as a metaphor -- this image of a storm-tossed ship, referencing Janna’s lore of guiding lost seafarers.

(...) a scoff cut its way from her throat, a sharp outburst of hoarded air, clean air crammed into the rusted, leaking cage of her lungs. What good has it done—? A storm-tossed vessel skidding down over the waves— eyes casting wildly to the stars, finding only dark—

The opening chapters of Part Two are Anchor, Vessel, and Figurehead, referencing Vi’s “anchor” of rage (first described by Ambessa in Ch14) while also nodding to the the sailing theme.

Chapter 24: Figurehead

When Vi learns of the recruiters set up in Zaun, she metaphorically storms back to Ambessa

Vi broke from the rails, tore away in a thunder of hooves and whipping wind, of sprinting boots on clean halls, and all the revolt amounted to was to return her to the familiar.

It is briefly noted when Vi arrives in the tea room after her disastrous chat with Cassandra that she has been rained on, though it was dry just before; again, the timing could be written off as coincidence or the narrative ‘bleak weather goes with dramatic events,’ but it coincides with Vi at her most emotionally fraught and wrathful.

Chapter 25: Commander

As Vi hesitates on taking pursuit, the wind now more overtly calls to her, and Powder's voice returns. Tangent to seafaring, a navigation motif is referenced in compass metaphors. In effect, the winds set Vi on the course that we learn, next chapter, will bring her to Janna’s temple.

With the shift of pressure, a gentle tide dragged against her, wisps of it tickling her hair, clattering and whispering around. Not against her — amplifying her. Drawing her in. After them. She could settle it alone. Vi could fix it all, alone. The outcome in her hands. Wasn't that for the best? She gripped the edge, felt the strengthening grasp spasm like a compass needle. She faltered. Go, Vi. Her eyes shot wide. She swung her legs over, and plunged into the abyss.

Chapter 26: To Ashes and Blood

Ekko and Jayce note a thunderstorm breaking out.

Of course, as the standoff in the temple reaches a breaking point and Vi sinks into despair, the air is charged, the winds howl, and all hell finally breaks loose as Janna takes hold.

Conclusion

That should be most of them! Whether you noticed beforehand or not, when things went down in Ch26, I’m curious if the increasing emphasis on the wind felt familiar from the story so far. If so, this is why!

Vi is a misguided champion finally returned home — possibly to save it, possibly to herald its ruin. In the temple, her and Janna’s hearts at last converge.

I'll leave you with this:

Beyond these walls, the storm’s fury grows Over land and sea, the storm’s fury grows But I have nothing to fear For the blue bird is with me

In Chapter 15, it's revealed that the execution is tied to a trial by combat between the "Champion of Piltover" and "Champion of Zaun." Caitlyn and Vi are to duel to the death; the victor is meant to take up the axe and slay the loser. Caitlyn learns of this only as the Noxian ceremony kicks off. The victory of elite warrior, soldier, and former Reckoner Vi is considered a given.

Most of the foreshadowing falls into a few general categories of Vi being suspicious, but in ways that appear reasonable.

Vi sparring with/training Caitlyn, and details of how she spars (discouraging carelessness)

Vi alluding to the nature of the ceremony in ambiguous ways that make more sense with context; such as her insistence that Caitlyn be ready to kill her if she has the chance

Vi ensuring Caitlyn is well-fed, beginning to bring her healthy breakfasts and arrange for a daily nutritious dinner

Vi discouraging Caitlyn from overexerting herself, even on the supposed 'last chance' spar on Day 9. Vi is focused on productive training and on Caitlyn being in good shape for Day 10.

There are also several moments in sparring that are echoed in the duel and events that follow; as well as significant foreshadowing for the means by which Caitlyn will take control of the fight. But I'll leave most of those out, and keep this post focused on the foreshadowing for the duel itself!

I know some of these may feel trivial, but they ramp up as they go.

Chapter 6 (Day 5)

This chapter opens on a few-day timeskip to show Caitlyn and Vi have begun the sparring arrangement, initiated by Vi's request to feel the fellow warrior's strength (maybe that is Vi's only surface intention at first; as her respect for Caitlyn has grown, she becomes interested in understanding her strength. The dedication to actually train and prepare her naturally follows, probably first in an honorable sense, then with her increasing fondness for Caitlyn personally).

We see the first hint that Vi, though committed to holding back, discourages Caitlyn from being lax on her defense. Caitlyn will not be able to afford neglecting her guard in the later duel, when Vi will not be holding back.

The Hound did not harm her, striking barely hard enough to qualify as unpleasant, striking only somewhat harder if Caitlyn began to grow careless.

We also introduce in the arrangement the expectation that Caitlyn go all out, and the accepted risk that if Caitlyn can incapacitate her captor, she will kill her.

“You could get lucky. Lay me out, take my dagger, slit my throat.” She’d drawn a finger across, almost playfully, as she said it. Madwoman. Of course, Caitlyn accepted.

Vi probably is not starting this as a conscious scheme, not with the outright thought I'll train and prepare her; even so, she has already begun encouraging Caitlyn to kill her if she 'earns' the chance.

Chapter 7 (Day 5)

At Belinda's, a moment that gains additional meaning with the duel context:

But the next time the baker saw Caitlyn — saw either Caitlyn or Vi — would probably be in five days. On a stage. Piltover and Zaun, upon the stage. Piltover and Zaun, as witness. And Caitlyn would not be all right.

She is presumably thinking about the duel (in which she expects to crush her opponent) as well as the execution, and no longer relishes in the thought of either.

Chapter 9 (Day 6)

Vi first brings Caitlyn a boxed breakfast — an equal helping to Vi's breakfast, in the spirit of fairness.

“It’s hardly your gourmet Piltie fare, but nutrition-wise, you won’t find much better. And your sparring frankly needs all the help it can get.” (...) Inviting Caitlyn again to try her best to slay her, with some addled sense of warrior’s honor. Seeming to believe a hearty breakfast could make just the difference, and even more nonsensically, offering it regardless.

We also see more of Caitlyn's uncanny observational skill, with Vi reflecting on her rapid progress. Vi is impressed, but doesn't really register it as a threat. Except:

It may have been moronic to give her so much practice.

Chapter 10 (Day 7)

Vi brings another breakfast.

When they visit Zaun and the site of Powder's death, more on the nose hints are dropped in the exchange after Vi breaks down:

“You’ll be the last one. I’m going to rip out the fucking heart of the city that let this happen.” “Unless I can slay you first.” Not a question. “Yes.” A frustrated breath. “Does one or the other of us really need to die?” “Yes.” Resolute. “It’s not just for me. It was never just for me. It’s for the city to heal.” “What if my death won’t heal the city? What if conquest can't?” “Then prove it with your strength. Kill me first, and fix things your way.”

The last line alludes directly to the fact that they will be dueling for leadership of the city. My hope was for this exchange to stand out as at least a little odd, but for the sentiment to feel dramatic/tropey enough not to cause suspicion, given the sparring arrangement.

Chapter 11 (Day 8)

Some language implies Caitlyn picks up on Vi's longing for "triumph" — a deliberately curious word choice to describe an execution; but it is meant to feel reasonable symbolically, or able to be tied to Vi claiming her "overdue" kill from the battle in the invasion.

The end drawing near. Caitlyn realized that she looked upon a Hound who, with each fading minute, seemed to make peace with that again. A Noxian warrior. A warrior waiting to claim her overdue triumph.

Vi is deliberately written as kind of a jerk today, as Maddie has helped smooth her doubts and refocus her on her 'purpose.' But she still doles out advice and training that misleadingly can be assumed to pertain to the "final chance" spar tomorrow.

“Don’t get careless,” Vi advised, catching her wrist. The reprimand was punctuated by a stinging blow to the ribs — restrained, but still smarting at the checked upper threshold of how hard she would punch.

She hits on what will in fact give Caitlyn her resurgence in the duel:

“You can’t outlast me. You can’t overpower me directly. You need to use your greatest strength. Observation.” “I can’t observe my way to victory.” “Today, you’re probably right. You’re running out of steam. What you can do is plan your counterattack.”

She really does just keep going-

“Work out what’s your best bet to win quickly,” Vi continued, “when you face your very last chance. Take heed of what attacks you definitely need to avoid. Think what you’ll do if I’m not holding back. Understand?”

After the spar:

Vi had done her due diligence. Vi had rebuffed carelessness, nipped bad habits in the bud, let her opponent train her eyes to follow. Caitlyn would have her fair chance. What more could Vi offer her?

She then offers Caitlyn soothing ointment, asks what else she needs, and gives her a foot rub; all she can do to try to have her in top shape. This very belligerent Vi, even seeing Caitlyn as an enemy and trying to close her heart, cannot help but offer her some kindness/comfort. In a darker light, she is of course preparing herself for "necessary" violence by preceding it with as much benevolence as she can offer; and some part of her even hopes Caitlyn will actually win.

Another exchange where Vi's mind is on the ceremony:

“I'm… focused. Focusing on what I need to. And I want you to be ready to try to kill me.” “What do you suppose I’ve been doing?” “Death’s fangs haven’t come close,” Vi said simply. The Kiramman’s brow furrowed. “And you think I can bring them… closer to you? You want that?” “I want you to have a chance.” “You want to feel better about yourself.” “Would you rather not have a chance?”

A big hint is snuck in after Vi returns Caitlyn to the guardhouse—

At the lobby, Vi double-checked that the Commander was slated to receive a nutritious dinner, as Vi had ordered on day six and scheduled through this evening and tomorrow’s. The soldier at the front desk, who’d waved her over, confirmed almost before she could ask.

So Vi has arranged for Caitlyn to receive a nutritious dinner on the evening of Day Nine, after the final spar! This could be written off as just Vi being decent; but if not for the duel in mind, it might have made more sense to arrange for a fine dinner or Caitlyn's request, without regard for nutrition, on the final evening.

Chapter 12 (Flashbacks + Evening of Day 8)

Can't quite be called foreshadowing, but Vi reflects on her path up to this point, with the defining moment of the Reckoner arc being her horror at being pitted against Riven (a prisoner) in a duel. Vi in the present is preparing to fight and kill a prisoner in a new test crafted by Ambessa; her hesitation against Riven is the type of 'weakness' she is being pushed to overcome.

Chapter 13 (Day 9)

A lot is sprinkled in on Day 9!

As they square up for the final spar:

They faced each other, a comfortable distance for the start. It all felt like routine, a mirage of unending normalcy between them. As if they had done this yesterday and each day before; as if they would again tomorrow.

Immediately after, Vi has a meaningful pause before she lies:

“I suppose this will be the last time,” Caitlyn remarked. Maskless, cold-eyed and serious, Vi stared her down for a long moment. “Yeah. Guess it will.”

She combatively urges Caitlyn to be ready, asking how many times she's killed up close (Caitlyn has never). Then:

“Tell me, then. If you can stun me, defeat me, will you go for the kill?” “Is that even a question?” “Say it. Tell me you’ll kill me.” A call to violence. A belligerent soul, calling upon another to reciprocate.

Caitlyn is here, and Vi's mind is on the fateful showdown a day out — and her resolve depends on the assurance that Caitlyn is equally willing to take up the axe and kill her. Caitlyn answers her goading, picturing taking her dagger to kill her.

“What good will it do?” Caitlyn pushed back, exasperated. “Ready your mind. Listen to me,” Vi said, and her voice grew resonant and clear, fervent. She brushed her knuckles to her own jawline, and briefly pressed; her eyes danced with a cold exhilaration. “You land a perfect strike, right here. I’m on the ground — your enemy is on the ground, helpless at your feet. You have the blade in your hands. What do you do?” (...) “I kill you,” Caitlyn spat. “I take your blade and kill you.” “Good.” A chill smile. “Don’t lose sight of that resolve, if—,” “Shut up and fight!”

Days of training and buildup for a final fight are then wrapped up in a few sentences, practically summarizing how Caitlyn reaches her limit and Vi proves insurmountable in the desperate clash. This is meant to be surprisingly anticlimactic while still able to be written off as its own twist, a subversion of the fight's importance, as we shift instead to the emotional core of the chapter. In actuality, the details of this fight are irrelevant with the real showdown in store.

Caitlyn cries out in frustration ("You said you wouldn't hold back!"), as Vi the day before had implied she would face her with her best. She also notes:

She had suffered restrained strikes and controlled throws. She was unsteady with exhaustion, and the Hound was not. Caitlyn had failed — even with the Hound pulling punches, fighting much as she had every day thus far.

The reason is of course that Vi refuses to harm her before the duel. But called out, Vi shows fleeting emotion, probably aching with what she hasn't told her, and steels herself again.

“Was this all a joke to you?” “I just wanted…” Emotion crackled through Vi’s expression. She pinned her eyes shut, and smoothed her exterior again. Her lip curled; head low, eyes newly savage, her face was one that refused to apologize. “I wanted you to have a fucking chance.”

She then discourages Caitlyn from overexerting herself, despite that this is supposedly the end.

“We should call it here,” she said, and gave the weight of the words time to sink in. “You’re just wearing yourself out.”

When the storm breaks out, Caitlyn bitterly refuses to move, and Vi almost but doesn't quite get herself to apologize for intimidating her. But Vi is highly invested in Caitlyn making it through.

“Please,” Vi said instead. “You have to make it to tomorrow.” Caitlyn yearned to spite her with disagreement. She didn’t care about tomorrow; she couldn’t care less about the sanctity of the Noxians’ gruesome spectacle. If she could have drowned the Hound or herself in sheer spite, she would have gladly. Vi shook her head, beseeching, at whatever it was she saw. “Please,” she said again.

If Vi only cared about the execution going smoothly, Vi would probably not be emotionally pleading here; she is this way because she considers it vital that Caitlyn have her last chance.

In their heart-to-heart at the Kiramman house, Vi suggests a way Caitlyn might be spared:

“You could plead. Proclaim allegiance to Noxus — stand with us, urge the people to submit. That could be as valuable as the… alternative.” “You still wouldn’t have me. I could grovel before you, escape with my life. But would I be myself any longer?”

Not much can be drawn from this now, but there is a point in the ceremony, preceding the reveal of the duel, that Ambessa will specifically ask Caitlyn if she will bow to the Empire. As it is presented in the ceremony, the idea is that because Caitlyn (representing Piltover) remains in defiance, Piltover and Zaun's dispute must be settled the way that follows.

Chapter 14 (Evening of Day 9)

Caitlyn enjoys a 'typical' dinner, i.e., the nutritious dinner mentioned previously.

The typical guard brought a typical, good dinner shortly after the Hound returned her (...). Caitlyn had eaten, and now lay contentedly on her cot, thinking about whatever she pleased.

She reflects on her and Vi's lovemaking, their peaceful moments afterward — and of course, Vi's tendency to make sure she has enough to eat.

Talking. Talking about nothing in the kitchen, talking like old friends, while Vi rustled through cupboards and set canned soup heating on the stove. Possessed by the impulse to nourish, as if there were any practicality in the upkeep of Caitlyn’s health. Comforting, all the same.

I went back and forth on wording of the above, debating whether it was a good level of 'hint' while not being too blatant.

The conflicted Vi has her scene anxiously drilling on the punching bag. Toward the end of her guilt-ridden reflections is the reveal that there's something she's been hiding, but not what; and the reason Vi hasn't told her, despite her present feelings for Caitlyn.

I should have told her. Shoulda’ told her everything. The knowledge wouldn’t change anything. It only would have robbed her of peace. (...) I should have told her. I should have told her.

Ambessa visits Caitlyn to give her villain speech about how Vi will be perfected by her sacrifice. As their increasingly bitter conversation ends, Ambessa walks away and takes the last word to supply some practical advice.

“Rest well, Commander. You have a big day tomorrow.”

Chapter 15 (Day 10)

Vi in the morning walks the city and eats a to-go box of her regular breakfast. The soldiers who arrive to transport Caitlyn offer her the same.

“A box has been sent — if I’m understanding the notes correctly, it’s the same you’ve broken fast on, the last many days? If you want consistency. Or if you prefer, any simple request and we’ll see what we can do.” Caitlyn didn’t know why she’d asked. “I’m afraid I lack an appetite, this morning.”

The Piltovan uniform Caitlyn is provided is noted to include "snug and sturdy" boots with a slight heel, and overall that everything is "sharp and functional." Care has been taken that she has functional clothes to fight in.

Ambessa's speech in the stadium is laden with subtle hints, such as her presenting Zaun's challenge as active, not yet settled.

"Zaun has earned the right to reclaim its dignity — to challenge the long-held status quo, and reclaim the future once stolen from it.”

Similarly, she frames Vi's 'intentions' in a way that makes more sense with her having opposition/the contest yet to overcome.

“Today, in the wake of the removal of this city’s failed body of governance, Vi casts forth a claim… to the rulership of Piltover. She intends to close the book on the past, and to rise, in just leadership, as founder of the next era of these great cities."

Not a clue but a fun detail. When Ambessa reveals Vi's title — that she will "uphold the ongoing peace of both Piltover and Zaun… as the Enforcer!" — the deciding blow of the duel is foreshadowed in metaphor.

Nothing could surprise Caitlyn anymore. Not a swift punch to the gut;

The soldiers lining the stage are meant to evoke the image of the soldiers framing the Mel and Caitlyn vs. Ambessa combat.

a block of Noxian soldiers sporting an abundance of banners (...). This contingent streamed up the steps behind the axe-bearer and to either side, beginning to trace out the stage’s perimeter in a stately wall of crimson and black.

At one point in the novel Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, Ambessa describes a land dispute within Noxus being settled "as Noxians do" (via war). The language is echoed here:

“But you bear now the great fortune of joining, of reconciling, beneath the banner of the Noxian Empire. We are gathered today that you may lay this unending feud to rest, as Noxians do.”

The naming of "Champions" to settle disputes is in this context a nod to oldschool League of Legends lore, as mentioned in the League references compilation post.

For the sake of concluding this post, the definitive reveal:

Caitlyn’s blood froze. Across from her, the Hound’s attendants were taking off her armor. “The chosen representatives,” Ambessa proclaimed, “will resolve the dispute via champion combat. The victor shall take up the axe and behead the loser!”

Should be just about all of them! I'm curious how many of the hints might have made you pause or been picked up on, or how early folks predicted the duel.