Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃ ─────⋅☾
THERE ARE THOSE WHOSE PRIMARY ABILITY, IS TO SPIN THE WHEELS OF MANIPULATION. It is their second skin and without these spinning wheels, they simply do not know how to function. They are like toys on wheels of manipulation and control. If you remove one of the wheels, they'll never be able to feel secure, be whole.
Deathstroke had been one of those people. Shadow had been his little toy. He along with Shiva watched as the girl effortlessly used a katana to slice several dummies in the past hour. He loved the little girl like his own, she was almost perfect.
All perfect except the fact that they hadn't had her vocal cords severed. Ra's had not allowed it. If Shiva and himself would agree upon something, it would be this. It would make her better. But then she would be incomplete in the eyes of the world. They could not have that. They'd have to settle for silence.
"She's doing well for someone who had two broken ribs and four?—"
"—Six" Shiva corrected and he clicked his tongue "Right, six stab wounds, minor ones, two third degree burns and a litter box of bruises" Shiva nodded "She is an exceptional one. Shame she is far too young for the main field, I would have her kill the Batman if I were in position to authorise it"
Deathstroke only stood silently as he watched her slice the final dummy before turning towards them and bowing.
Her entire body had been sore, Shadow wanted to cry out in pain as she stood again straighter but couldn't dare to do that. A few days after her time in Gotham with Artemis she had been tasked to kill some old politicians in Russia. Safe to say, their guards were well armed and competent. But she got the job done.
"Good work" Deathstroke praised and Shadow wanted to clock his jaw in that moment. The man was a manipulative bastard who was trying to get her loyalty by all means. She loathed him far more than she had anyone else.
Shadow would've been an easy target had it not been for the countless lessons she was taught herself in the arts of manipulation, deceit and overall human psychology. She may not agree with the beliefs of the League but she wasn't some commoner who could be manipulated so easily, she was a child yes, but she wasn't weak. Her ideology may differ from the rest but she wouldn't betray those whom she had been raised by. If she were to leave, she would do so by her own merit. Even if it meant knocking upon death's door.
She simply nodded at him and Shiva placed a hand on her shoulder to guide her away, towards her next training exercise. Shiva had been the only thing close enough to a mother figure on the island growing up. She was the woman who taught her everything she had known. She was incredibly skilled and one of the very reasons Shadow was internally scarred.
Shiva was a frightening woman and in some ways she was turning Shadow into something exactly like her. Three years ago the prospect would have delighted Shadow. To be like Shiva was an honour like no other. But now she wanted more than anything to be everything Shiva despised. She prayed for her herself and for the daughter she did have.
