I put a shield upon you, I didn't mean to hurt you--

[dragonvariation]

Who: Ra's al Ghul and you~
When: Mostly after sirens on Sunday night - but also one Saturday thread, and open for threads for the rest of the week.
Where: In the Darkness across the city
Summary: Ra's goes out to investigate the Darkness for himself--with a special interest in the people who go out to fight it.
Warnings: Violence and monster guts

Comments

[kingofrooks]

It had taken time for Bruce to be used to the smell of the Darkness; to have the smell be delegated to the back of his head and not noticed - the second night, perhaps. He had rarely let these things affect him, not when there were people who still needed his help. Not necessary people who wanted it, but if Bruce only went to places where he was wanted he would have never gotten anything at all done. He worked base on necessity; it was Clark who chased the public's approval, for Bruce had made sure that they were often wrong-footed about his very existence.

Though, that was difficult here, on such a small island on such a smaller population. With the Joker and Black Mask. They knew he existed- and as a result he used to be a wanted man. Used to be only on the virtue that he was reported dead at one point. There was more than enough proof of Batman's existence- yet his methods and intentions were still a mystery

[dragonvariation]

Waiting always rewarded in the end. Tonight, it rewarded early, for his 'wildlife' watching was already beginning to pay off. The Gotham Greater-Eared Bat; larger than any other variety across North America, and twice as dangerous, though nobody had ever been killed by one--so to speak.

Batman's landing was utterly silent. It had taken Henri time to teach him that, because rich people were often clumsy, and their large houses had no ears to care that someone was making too much noise. Fighting in silence was an art, but he had taught him how to catch his weight from considerable heights, to take the shock and sound of landing through his legs and back

[kingofrooks]

The calm was something unexpected for a supposedly new vigilante haunting the night- but the voice was something even more difficult to swallow. That was Aslan's voice. Much sharper, much more human without the steady calm and godly wisdom threaded in every word- but that was still undeniably Aslan's voice. His voice in a body that looked nothing like a lion- and, more important, in a body that not once had held itself like a God. There was something in his body language that spoke of arrogance; a look in his eyes that spoke of judgment. Nothing that he could have ever found when it came to Aslan. No, this man was

[dragonvariation]

Twenty-seven seconds. It was a magnificent pause for thought, and he wondered for a moment whether his once student considered lunging forward to pull the balaclava from his face, whether what he learnt from what he saw before him was sufficient enough to satisfy his curiosity; his overbearing need to understand. He wondered whether he would consider it hypocritical to pull away another man's mask while still hiding behind his own, or if so doing would be a justifiable hypocrisy

[kingofrooks]

It was a fighting stance that he recognized. A reminder of Tibet, of old masters sliding their arms around him, adjusting the way he stood and punched and kicked and spun. For a moment, Bruce paused, looking at this man wearing a balaclava on his head, and wondered if he could take up the challenge and use it as a chance to flip the mask off this man's face. To look at what was underneath; to know exactly who carried a god's voice and yet acted so much like a man. But then again- would it be worth it? Would seeing a face tell him anything

[dragonvariation]

Ra's did not move, did not flinch or waver, and as Bruce made clear he intended to move behind him he straightened like a rod, closed his eyes, and listened. He felt Bruce's breath on his ear, more confident, more mired in mystery and masquerade than the Bruce that he knew. Older, he reminded himself.

And now he was actually trying to bait him into an answer? Into perhaps attacking him like some teenager? Maybe that had worked with Bruce back in his Ivy League college - 'I heard your mommy was a real MILF, maybe I'll go dig her up' - but to reflect it on an unknown ninja was just as childish--and a truly magnificent way of learning more about him

[kingofrooks]

Another move on the board. Bruce knew instantly that he was dealing with someone who was far more dangerous than those suede gloves with those zince trimmings had first suggested. Those were mostly likely picked up in a hurry, then. Possibly at one of the budget costume shops selling the last of its stocks for Halloween- or the expensive ones, because this man didn't seem the type to walk into a shop and pay for his clothes when he could simply steal in and out. The operative word being, of course, steal.

The analysis only ran at the back of his mind. He was most occupied by the fact that this man knew him. That he understood how he worked, and saw himself as equal. A man whom he didn't recognise at all and who knew him. Bruce's eyes narrowed, imperceptible beneath the white lenses of his cowl, and watched him even more carefully

[dragonvariation]

"Then the shadows you know are obstinate. A staff buried in the ground and overcome by greater forces will eventually snap, but a tree bends with them, and outlasts them all

[kingofrooks]

A man who spoke of shadows; a man who was bold enough to leap off the roof of a building knowing that he would land on his feet, like a cat. A man with great strength and ability, who could fight- who had the confidence and arrogance of a person who knew he was in the right and would always remain in the right. Authority conferred upon him not by himself, not by something as nebulous as god, but with the power that he had won for himself, step by step, sinking his fingers into each step of the ladder until he could push himself there

[dragonvariation]

This was not what Ra's had expected when he had moved to their new arena. Bruce did not come down after him, but stepped out from behind him as though he had been there all along, his hand around his throat, his grip on his arm a gentle test of strength. He allowed himself to be moved back out of the light and into black, enshrouding darkness, closer to the shadows than he had ever been in his life

[kingofrooks]

Bruce.

The name sent a jolt through him, straightening his back and causing his hands to curl into an almost-fist by his side. He had been expecting it, after all - this man hadn't exactly been subtle with showing exactly how well he knew Batman, so much so that for him to be exposed was definitely a possibility. Yet at the same time, he knew Batman's identity (he wouldn't say 'real' identity) and at the same time, Bruce only suspected his. His lips pressed into a line.

It was a double-edged clue. Bruce was armed only with suspicions - solid enough suspicions, but suspicions nonetheless - to face off against this man's knowledge. But at the same time, the clue cut against this man too, because now Bruce had a strong idea of exactly who he was. What he was, and what he thought Bruce was.

He didn't call him 'Detective'. Not 'Wayne', either. No, he had called him Bruce- and yet within that carriage and the tip of the head, he was unmistakeable as Ra's al Ghul. As the leader of a League, with hundreds or thousands or hundreds of

[dragonvariation]

It was interesting. Bruce took it with his back solid, not with a jab at his jaw. He'd grown out of his childish impulsiveness too, the hard, cruel side to him that Ra's had known, the darkness inside of him, too. This man was unmistakeably dark, yes, but he was not the kind of man who would refuse to save his enemy simply because he was an enemy. This was not the Bruce that had sent him to his death, and perhaps never would.

It was a subtle thing to learn by actions, because even the words spoke to contradict them, but Ra's had read enough during his day in the apartments to learn things.

He'd seen the Joker's post, for example. A man that was Batman's enemy, reborn with him. Free, not because he was good at staying free, but because he couldn't stay caught. The kind of man that the League of Shadows would put down without hesitation (such unpredictability couldn't be dependable), and yet Bruce had not. No, this was a different man

[kingofrooks]

'An old friend'. An odd way to try to qualify their relationship; an odd wish to try to describe it at all. The Ra's al Ghul he knew had always been nebulous, both an enemy and the father of the woman he (had once) loved; both the man who had done the most harm in to the world and the grandfather of Bruce son. The man who would respect his nemesis, giving him the name of 'Detective' and proposing that he became his heir- and the despicable creature who would use his own grandson, stolen and made with that nemesis's flesh, as his new body. Who would dug out his brain and soul and replace them with his own. To live in his own grandson's corpse just to save his own life.

And most importantly, he was a man who was unmistakeably an immortal. His arrogance was one whose mortality had been ripped from him; who knew that he might grow old but he would never die. Death stopped meaning anything for him anymore, for if he died all he would need to do was to take a bath and he would rise from the water revived. Resurrections were plentiful and

[dragonvariation]

"Saving. Look around you, Bruce. The people here live in fear of every night, and their lives are owned by the corporations by day. There is no benign company seeking to solve their problems for them, and no rumbling of revolution, only contempt for the few people who do try to exact change

[kingofrooks]

The sleight of hand caught his attentions just a little bit more than the the words. Words were common, a weapon that Bruce was used to seeing from this man. But the throwing stars... Ra's al Ghul commanded a league of assassins; he rarely dirtied his own hands, and when he did, he used a sword. Bruce had defeated him enough to know exactly how he moved, how he fought, and the weapons he preferred- and throwing stars were low on the list

[dragonvariation]

Preferring weapons was all well and good, but Ra's had discovered after his first night here that he would rather fish the stars out of the brains of monsters killed from a distance than allow them near him 'alive.' There was an acid burn on his hand that attested to that. Necessity outdid preference, and he was on his own; the choice was not his to make