This story is part of the DC Mayhem continuity. Formerly a part of DC Genesis, but seceded into Mayhem.
Rated: T+
Continued from: http://www.comicvine.com/forums/fan-fic/8/dc-mayhem-deathstroke-ravager-4/704635/#6
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“King me,” Rose said, grinning.
Cassandra furrowed her brow, leaning over the checker board and carefully examining the piece that Rose had just jumped into her back row. She frowned slightly, leaning back again and finally placing a second checker on top of the piece. Then, she grabbed one of her own few remaining pieces and moved it forward.
“Hey, don't feel too bad,” Rose said, moving her new king piece back a space. “You're getting really good.”
Scratching her head briefly, the young mute girl moved another piece.
“Actually, I think we can try chess soon.” Rose slid another checker forward, holding her finger on it for a lingering moment before letting go. “It's a lot more interesting than checkers, and really helps you think strategically. I used to play it a lot with my... dad.” She went quiet a moment, breathing outwardly.
Looking up at her, Cassandra softened her eyes and tilted her head to the side. She wanted to ask a question... but had no way of expressing what that question was.
Rose knew what the question was regardless, able to sense it from the girl's sympathetic gaze. “My dad, yeah... he's a bad man. I always thought he loved me, but... well, I guess I was wrong.” She leaned forward against the table between them, watching as Cassandra moved another piece. “Your dad's pretty bad, too, huh?”
The girl suddenly froze, body going rigid and gaze becoming blank. Eventually, she bowed her head and slowly nodded.
“Yeah...” Rose uttered, pushing another checker forward. “I know the feeling.”
Cassandra looked at the checker board a long time, eyes shifting back and forth. Finally, she picked up one of her pieces and jumped it over three consecutive checkers of the opposite color.
“What the-” Rose said, sitting up straighter. She blinked curiously, staring at the board and wondering how the hell she had missed that. “Huh... nice move.”
Folding her hands in front of her, Cassandra gave a triumphant smile, legs swinging below her in her seat.
---
Rose took in a deep breath of cold mountain air, as she arrived in the snowy courtyard of the ancient Tibetan fortress. Despite the cold, the weather was actually pretty nice. Clear skies, bright sun... at least she wouldn't be training in the middle of a blizzard like last week. That had quite possibly been one of the worst training experiences in her life.
“You're early,” a voice stated.
Turning around, Rose noticed Lady Shiva approaching from across the courtyard. “Well, I think by now I've learned not to be late.”
The assassin smiled slightly. “Yes... after two years, I would hope so.”
“Seven hundred and forty-three days, to be exact,” she said.
“Yes... seven hundred and forty-three.” Lady Shiva shifted her stance, bringing her arms into a fighting position. “That's seven hundred and forty-three days of improvement.”
Taking in another deep breath, Rose shifted herself into a similar stance. “That's right. Care to see just how much?”
“As always.” And with those words, Lady Shiva lunged in with a quickness she very rarely showcased in a fight. This was different, though. This time, she wasn't holding back.
Rose watched carefully, waiting for the woman to come within striking distance. As the first strike whipped inward, time seemingly slowed down in her mind. Raising her arm, she blocked the blow and twisted her body to the side, countering with a palm thrust. Lady Shiva ducked, evading the attack and then driving her fingers into the girl's side.
With a subtle groan, Rose stepped back, catching her balance and fighting through the sudden explosion of pain in her ribs. Another attack lashed towards her, but she dodged, spinning around with lightning quickness. In less than a second, she found herself behind Shiva, using the opportunity to kick the back of the woman's knee. When Lady Shiva stumbled forward off balance, Rose followed up with a vicious kick to the back of her head. Shiva fell briefly before recovering and whirling back around to face her opponent.
“Very good,” the assassin stated, showing no visible sign of pain. “Now, again.”
They continued like this for the next seven hours, breaking only once for lunch. By the time they finished for the day, neither could stand straight. Rose walked with a limp and could barely move her left arm, while Lady Shiva bled from a cut lip and couldn't properly bend her knee. When the sun finally set behind the mountain peaks, they collapsed into the snow, remaining there for several moments to catch their breath.
“You have come a long way, little dove,” Lady Shiva said, wiping a line of crimson from her chin. “I am proud.”
“Yeah, well... being trained by the world's greatest assassin certainly helps,” she replied, with a long breath. “Though I still don't know why you're training me.”
“The time is not yet right... but perhaps soon.” Slowly climbing back to her feet, Shiva waved for her pupil to follow her. “Come with me, little dove. I have something to show you.”
Rose lifted a curious eyebrow, then quickly hobbled up to her feet. “Uh, sure thing, coming.”
Lady Shiva led her through the mountain fortress, deep into its lower levels. In the two years that Rose had been here, she had never gone anywhere other than the courtyard, her bedchambers, and the corridors in between. These subbasements, lit only by a series of blazing torches along the wall, were entirely new to her.
“In here,” Shiva said, opening a thick wooden door.
Rose followed the woman inside, closing the door behind her. When she turned her attention to what the room contained, her single eye went wide. “Whoa...”
The large, round chamber within was lit with the same kinds of torches as the previous corridors. The floor was not man-made, but rather a natural formation of the mountain on which the fortress had been built, and at the center of the floor sat a deep pool of bubbling water.
“What is this?” she asked, taking a curious step forward.
“A natural hot spring,” Lady Shiva explained. “But not a normal one. It is... special.”
Rose knelt down next to the spring, running her hand through the hot water. “Special how?”
“It possesses healing properties.” Turning around, Shiva began disrobing, stripping off her silk gi. “Soaking within its waters will revitalize our bodies, and mend our injuries.”
“...seriously?” Rose glanced up at the woman, crossing her eyebrows. “And you waited over two years to show this to me because...?”
“Because you hadn't earned it,” she replied, kneeling down and folding her clothes into a neat pile. “But now... well, this is a special occasion.”
Rose blinked, briefly shaking her head. “If you say so.”
Lowering her nude form into the water, Lady Shiva gestured for her pupil to join her. “Come, soak in the spring.”
“Uh...” she uttered, pausing briefly as she stood up straight. “I don't think that's a good idea.”
“And why not?”
Rose fidgeted slightly, glancing over at Shiva's clothes, then down at herself. “Well, it's just... I mean... I have scars. A lot of scars.”
Lifting an eyebrow, Shiva waded across the spring towards her. “You are... ashamed of your scars? Self conscious, perhaps?”
“I don't know... I mean, I guess,” she said, with a shrug.
A brief pause passed between the two, as Lady Shiva hoisted herself up onto the edge of the spring. Calmly, she scooted herself over into direct torchlight, highlighting her own body with a bright orange glow that revealed numerous markings all across her body, some small and thin, others larger and bumpy. “You are not the only one with scars, little dove.”
Rose widened her eye, as she lowered herself to examine Lady Shiva's body. She very tentatively held out a hand, running her fingers along the woman's shoulder, feeling the scars. “I... I didn't know.”
“Scars are nothing to be ashamed of,” Shiva explained. “They are merely another part of us, no different from our hair, or the color of our eyes, and each one tells a story about who we are.”
“I... never really considered that,” she muttered. “I always hated my scars, because they... they remind me of some things in my life I'd rather forget. Bad things.”
Turning slightly, Lady Shiva gently brushed a hand against the girl's cheek. “No matter how bad, you should never forget the things in your life that have made you who you are. Don't let your scars remind you of the bad things in your life, but rather how to move past them, how to become stronger.”
Lowering her gaze, Rose exhaled a long breath. “I... guess that makes sense.”
“Now, come join me,” Shiva said, slipping back into the spring. “You'll be glad you did.”
After a brief moment's hesitation, Rose stood straight again and slowly disrobed, shivering slightly at the cold air against her naked flesh. Looking down at herself, she closely studied her scars, faint white markings that marred a fair portion of her body. Lifting a hand, she also briefly traced a finger over the scar that slashed across where her left eye used to be. Finally tearing her gaze away, she lowered herself into the bubbling water of the spring.
“Oh, wow,” she uttered, eye instantly going wide. The moment she submerged herself into the hot water, the muscles in her body fully relaxed, any and all pain vanishing completely. Leaning against the edge of the spring, she tilted her head back and groaned out a satisfied breath, eye closing. “Just... wow.”
“It is a wonderful feeling, isn't it?” Shiva said, closing her own eyes as she relaxed in the healing waters.
“I'll say...” Breathing in deeply again, a wide smile curled across her face. “Wish you'd told me about this place before. I'd have worked twice as hard to earn a dip sooner.”
“Worry not about missed opportunities in the past,” Shiva stated, “and instead enjoy the now.”
The two remained quiet for a long while after, taking comfort in both the silence and the restorative properties of the spring. Tight muscles loosened, bleeding cuts closed up, sore joints relaxed, and peace found their stressed minds.
Eventually, Lady Shiva opened her eyes again, glancing at her student and breaking the silence. “You and my daughter have grown quite close, I've noticed.”
Rose opened her own eye, giving the woman a small shrug. “She's a good kid.”
“She likes you,” Shiva said. “While with her father, Cassandra did... interact with other children, but not how you'd think. Those other children were also assassins-in-training. They were only permitted to fight with Cassandra, to attack her. Cain wouldn't let them speak so much as a single word to her.”
“She... wow,” Rose muttered, lowering gaze to the water. “And I thought I had it rough.”
“That's why I'm glad she has you now.” Lady Shiva closed her eyes again, holding her arms around herself. “I rescued her from that life, and I am her mother... but what she really needed was a friend.”
Breathing outwardly, Rose folded her arms across her chest and bowed her head. “But even with a friend... The Syndicate still plans on using her as a weapon, don't they?”
“Yes,” she replied, nodding slowly. If ever Lady Shiva had shown an expression of true pain, it was now. “Yes they do...”
---
Rose sat cross-legged on the floor of her bedchamber, breathing in deeply and slowly, eye closed. She ignored the frost particles sticking to her body, and the shiver running through her spine. Though anyone else would be curled up into a ball right now, desperate for heat, she remained calm, breath steady.
Killer Frost stood over her, frowning. The icy blue woman paced around the girl momentarily, hands balled into fists and eyebrows cross. “You really... really like to spite me, don't you?”
Rose made no response, maintaining the meditative state that currently regulated her internal body temperature. It had taken her a year and a half to learn it, but now Killer Frost could no longer cause her pain, could no longer torture her like before. Now, she was the one in control.
“Did you hear me?” Killer Frost asked, leaning closer. “Say something!”
Again, no answer.
“Scream, damn it!” she exclaimed. “Or... or whimper. Or cry. Or something. At least attack me!”
Still nothing.
Killer Frost groaned loudly, bringing a hand to her forehead. “Come on... just a little smack?” She brought her face close, pushing her chin out. “Just like you used to... you know you want to.”
Silence.
“Damn it!” Finally out of patience, Killer Frost wound up her arm and clubbed Rose across the face, forcing the girl to the floor. “If you just want to get it over with, then fine. But you take all the fun out of this, I hope you know.”
Rose slowly sat up, rubbing her cheek. “What's the matter, Frost? Lost your cool?”
The woman's eye twitched slightly at the comment. With a vicious kick, she buried her heel into Rose's chest, pinning her against the floor. “I'll make you scream, do you hear me?”
“Go ahead, give it your best shot,” she replied, grinning. “If you think you're woman enough.”
---
Rose uttered a small groan, as she blinked her eye open. She saw nothing, only the blackness of night. With a small yawn, she sat up in bed and squinted into the shadows, waiting for her sight to adjust. Something had awoken her, some kind of sound... but what? When at last she could make out shapes in the darkness, she focused her sight on a small bundle in the middle of the normally empty floor.
“The hell?” she uttered, climbing out of bed. She briefly rubbed her tired eye, then fumbled around the table for a match and a candle.
When the candle finally lit, burning away the inky darkness around her, she turned once again to the center of the room, gaze focusing on the bundle one the floor. At first, she thought she was hallucinating, or that maybe she were in the middle of some kind of dream. To be sure, she knelt down and carefully examined the items on the floor. No, she wasn't hallucinating. Then, she pinched her arm. Nope... not a dream.
Placing the candle on the ground, she reached for one of the two swords, hand grasping firmly around the handle. “Hel-lo,” she said, drawing the blade out of its scabbard. A wide smile formed across her face, as she inspected the sharpened edge. “Come to mama.”
Sheathing the sword, Rose then picked up the black and silver outfit. No, not just an outfit... armor, and it looked to be exactly her size. “What on earth...?” And then, she lifted her gaze. What she saw next charged her body with adrenaline.
The door to her bedchamber, the door normally locked from the outside... was wide open.
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