Wow… I know this particular storyline is kinda popular but I never expected such a positive reaction to the first chapter, thank you all for following and for your positive reviews, it means a lot.
For this story, I was heavily inspired by Stegro88's 'Heir Apparent' as well as 'Legends of Canarrow' by QueenCanarrowDeathstroke. Both stories are benchmarks in their field, and if my work can be half as good as theirs, I'll be very happy indeed.
In some ways, this is a blending of the two, in terms of Nyssa and Slade working together alongside Oliver and Sara, which I don't think has been done before. Some elements may be similar, but I fully intend on making this my own story, with original plot points. Any similarities are coincidental, or forced to be that way, but nothing is plagiarised from other stories, I promise.
I know a lot of you had questions about various things. Hopefully you find some answers in this chapter, though it is my recommendation to read it carefully.
Trees.
Rocks.
Dirt.
The scenery raced by in the dim, early morning light as the three figures ran.
The branches flicking at their arms were ignored, as were the sharp stones beneath their feet. Humidity permeated the air, saturating their ragged clothes with sweat, sticking them to their skin.
This did not bother them. They were used to it. More than that, they had somewhere they needed to be…
Picking their route carefully, they came to a sudden, sheer rockface, about four metres in height. Such an obstacle did nothing to deter them however, and one sprinted ahead, sliding to a perfect stop in a crouched position at its base.
Working in perfect harmony, another – a man in a green hood with a shaggy beard poking out of it – upped his pace and leapt onto the first ones back, vaulting off it and latching the top of the rock with his fingertips.
With incredible strength, he hauled himself effortlessly up, before reaching down and grabbing the wrist of a blonde woman in tattered clothes – the third of the trio – and pulled her up too.
The woman purposely left one of her legs hanging down, just low enough for the first figure to jump up and grabbed it. They pulled themselves up the woman's body and all three found themselves on top of the cliff.
And there they saw it.
In the distance, about two hundred metres off shore, was their salvation: a small fishing boat, patrolling the shallow coastal inlet for the day's catch.
After glancing at each other quickly, the three wasted no time running after it. They leapt over small boulders and tree stumps with ease, weaving back and forth in the undergrowth, ascending higher and higher all the way, until eventually, they came to what they were looking for:
A clearing, high above the nearby shore of the island they were on.
The man crouched low, unfurled a protective tarp and pulled from within it an ornate recurve bow. Just over a metre in length, it was jet black with a series of Arabic carvings along the handgrip, while a small brass ringlet protected the user's fingers. The entire thing was sleek, beautiful, and positively evil.
Holding the bow firmly in his left hand, he retrieved an arrow from the blonde woman, before turning to his right and facing the third figure.
"Your shot or mine?"
The third person, another woman – this one with eastern features, long, ratty black hair and in similarly tattered clothes - shook their head. "It should be you, beloved." They said gently.
The man nodded, and took a deep breath before striking the arrow against a rock, igniting the material around its head in an instant.
Calmly, with a steely gaze, he drew the bow tight and took aim at a pile of wood strategically placed on the shore, in full sight of the boat.
Briefly, he flashed back to a similar shot he had made in another time, another life. That time, he had missed. He knew there was no such chance this time, but the memory was still amusing.
It was just one of many memories he had of this place, this purgatory. Most were painful beyond measure, and he would do anything to forget them, but for all the suffering they held, each was a snapshot, a moment in time that helped shape him into who he was this day. They became him, defined him.
They had changed his life.
The blonde woman stood on her toes and placed a feather light kiss on his cheek. "You've got this…" she whispered.
The faintest of smiles formed in the corner of his mouth. He closed his eyes. Felt the wind on his face. Heard the bowstring tighten.
Then he released.
He never broke eye contact as the arrow sailed through the air, impacting perfectly with the kerosene soaked wood pile on the beach, and the next instant it erupted in a fireball, lighting up the sky in a furious ball of light and heat.
The three shielded their eyes from the glare, and when it cleared, all that was left in its midst was the boat that was now changing its course.
It was now moving towards them.
The man lowered his bow, his eyes lingering on the approaching boat.
"Come." The black-haired woman spoke up. "We do not wish to keep our rescuers waiting in this cold."
The three turned away and began making their way down from the lookout, towards the beach that the boat was now approaching.
They stopped along the way to retrieve one thing: a large green crate marked with Chinese symbols before continuing on, eventually emerging from the trees onto the sandy shoreline. They stood side by side holding hands, with the blonde woman in the middle as the boat made it ashore.
The Chinese fishermen looked astonished. And so they should have been. It did not seem believable that anyone would be able to survive on one of these islands in such desolate conditions, let alone three, yet here they were.
The fishermen quickly ushered the three castaways onto their vessel, wrapping them in blankets and offering them hot tea, which they all accepted gratefully.
Huddled closely together, the three locked eyes, silently conveying a message. A promise, one that was their duty to fulfil.
The man removed his hood and allowed his tangled sandy brown hair to fall free, revealing icy blue eyes. He watched the Island disappearing into the distance behind him. Five years worth of memories flooded his mind. Five years that was about to come to an end.
But as one journey finished, another was just beginning.
…
Oliver Queen is alive!
Found by fishermen in the North China Sea five days ago, his rescue comes five years after he was announced missing and declared dead following an accident at sea which claimed the 'Queen's Gambit'
Queen was a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene. Shortly before his disappearance, he was acquitted of charges stemming from a highly publicised drunken altercation with paparazzi.
Queen is the son of billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board at the time, but is now officially confirmed as deceased. Miraculously, he was found accompanied by fellow Starling City resident Sara Lance, and another woman who is yet to be identified. How all three were able to survive, and how they recover from this ordeal, is something only time will tell.
In other news, there has yet to be another sighting of the four suspected Vigilantes, who have been plaguing our streets for the last month…
The news report went unnoticed as Moira Queen hurried down the hospital corridor, Quentin Lance hot on her heels.
Both were desperate to see their children after years of grief, mourning and sleepless nights believing them to be gone forever.
Having been told at the service desk that the three had refused to be separated, they stopped just outside the door, where they were met by a man whose badge identified him as Dr Lamb.
"Where are they? Are they alright?" They questioned rapidly.
Dr Lamb held his hands up placatingly. "Mr Lance, Mrs Queen, I understand your concern, and you may see them in a moment but I need to talk to the both of you first."
Moira frowned. "Why, what's wrong?"
The doctor took a deep breath.
"Did something happen to them… while there were… gone?" Quentin asked nervously.
Dr Lamb fixed them with a serious look, one that brought a lump to their throats. "I'm afraid so…" he said sadly, turning to Moira.
"It is a standard procedure to examine the physical condition of any missing person. This check revealed that twenty percent of Oliver's body is covered in scar tissue. We found burns on his back and arms, the remnants of blade incisions all across his torso, and what appears to be a shark bite on his hip. The X-rays we took showed twelve fractures that never properly healed."
Moira gasped, and clutched her chest in anguish at the description of what had happened to her son.
"And Sara?" Quentin asked anxiously, almost not wanting to hear the answer. "What about my baby girl?"
"Sara looks to have received the same injuries. She has the same incisions on her torso, and we identified ten imperfectly healed fractures, most of which were ribs. There are no burns or bites, but she had scar tissue on her back that we've never seen before. Miss Raatko is similarly scarred, but we have been unable to locate any relatives of hers to contact. Interestingly, all three of them have an identical triangular tattoo on their shoulder blade. We believe they gave the marks to each other"
Before they could say anything else, the doctor led Quentin away from Moira, out of earshot. "Deep tissue damage on Sara's lower belly is indicative of an improvised caesarean." He said gravely.
Quentin choked, and felt like he was about to collapse where he stood. Sara could have been pregnant? What the hell had happened on that Island?
"Have they said anything about what happened?" Moira found her words first, as Quentin was still too shocked to speak.
Dr Lamb shook his head sadly. "They've barely said anything. Mr Lance, Mrs Queen, I think you should prepare yourselves. The people in that room might not be the same ones you lost."
He bowed his head, and Moira muttered a sombre 'thank you' as she moved past and prepared to open the door to the room.
…
The lights of Starling were different, Oliver thought as he looked out the window. That stupid wig and beard were long gone, and thankfully his hair was back to its normal, close cropped length.
He'd seen the lights recently of course, but there was something different about seeing them through his own eyes, per se, instead of the persona of an assassin. They were softer, more familiar.
Humanising.
"What are you thinking?" a voice came up alongside him.
He turned and saw Sara standing beside him, her hair washed and her face clean. Without thinking, he stretched out and grasped her hand, their fingers intertwining instinctually.
He sighed. "Would you believe me if I said I wished Slade were here?" he looked back out.
"Yes." She replied softly after a moment.
"Of all of us, he's the one that deserved a proper rescue..."
"You know why he couldn't." an accented voice spoke up, and the two looked over at a chair in the corner of the room, in which sat the aforementioned 'Miss Raatko'.
Or as they knew her: Nyssa Al Ghul.
The raven haired beauty rose from her seat elegantly, and made her way over to join them at the window. "There could only be three of us, and it was better to have yourselves and a total stranger rescued off Lian Yu instead of a former government spy." She said quietly, "Just as it was better for us to start our crusade before said 'rescue'. We can't afford any questions."
"I understand." Oliver replied, also keeping his voice low. All three of them knew the security cameras in their room would pick up any audio. "You two are much better company anyway…"
Nyssa smirked at that, while Sara snuffed a laugh.
"Now, get ready you two." Nyssa ordered, "I believe your parents are outside as we speak. You remember the plan, yes?"
Both Oliver and Sara nodded. "It's a fine line we have to walk." Oliver said. "Between survivors, individuals, and who we were before. We have to be seen as struggling, but not enough to get put in the psyche ward…"
"No suspicion." Sara added lowly.
Nyssa nodded, and all three stilled instantly when the door handle clicked, and it took everything they had to quell their instincts to attack.
"Oliver?" "Sara?" two voices asked, more than called.
Oliver and Sara span around together, laying eyes on their respective parents for the first time in five years. Even with all their training, they couldn't push down the sudden rushing emotions.
"Mom…" Oliver whispered as she crushed him in a desperate hug.
"My beautiful boy…" she said tearfully, hugging him as if she never wanted to let him go.
Meanwhile, Sara stood still as she locked eyes with her father. Everything was telling her to go to him, but something buried in the depths of her subconscious was keeping her where she was.
Quentin raced over to her, the conversation outside the door forgotten for now. All he cared about was seeing his daughter alive! He needed to touch her, hold her, just to convince himself she was real. He made to throw his arms around her when suddenly, she did something he never could have expected.
She backed away.
"No…" she whispered frantically. "Please… No!"
She cowered away from her own father as old memories returned with a vengeance. She whipped her head around, desperately seeking sanctuary.
She found it in Oliver's arms, and she locked her arms tightly around his ribcage, tears staining his shirt as she began sobbing violently. It broke her heart. She knew it was her father, but she couldn't help it. All she saw was a man advancing on her…
Quentin felt like his heart had just been ripped from his body, seeing his baby girl react that way. It brought back all of his fears from before, along with his anger at Oliver, for cheating on Laurel and condemning Sara to that Island, turning her into… whatever she was now. Too afraid to even look at him.
"What did you do to her?" he growled, advancing towards the younger man. "What did you do to her!"
He was stopped by the final person in the room jumping in front of him, and intercepting his hand before he could push Oliver away from Sara. Shocked, and in not a small amount of pain at the vice-like grip pinning his wrist, he looked down and saw an unfamiliar woman blocking his path. Her face was like concrete.
"I would advise against that." She told him in a voice cold as ice.
"Mr Lance, I promise you I did nothing to Sara." Oliver said quietly as he stroked the blonde's back. "I know you are her family, but that Island turned us into one of our own. If you try to break apart that family, we will fight back."
There was no malice in his voice, but Quentin was shocked by the sincerity in which he spoke. It was nothing like the Oliver of old.
He looked from Oliver, back to the woman in front of him. "You must be Miss Raatko?"
She regarded him for a moment, then nodded. "I am Nyssa." she confirmed.
"Well would you mind letting me go?" he said as calmly as he could. "That's my daughter over there. I promise I won't hurt her, I just need to see her."
Satisfied that he had calmed down, Nyssa released him, and he swallowed before extending his hand towards his daughter. "Sara… it's me…" he told her, almost pleadingly. "It's your father…"
Sara seemed to force herself to lift her head from Oliver's chest, and she looked at him with watery eyes.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, she brought her hand up to meet his, and Quentin felt tears of his own beginning to fall at the sensation of his daughter's hand in his after five years.
"I'm sorry daddy…" she whispered, "It's been a long time…"
"I understand baby." Quentin managed to get out, "But you're back now. You're safe."
He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, and when she gave him a small, soft smile his heart nearly burst with joy.
Finally, his daughter was back.
I know not a lot technically happened here. We're barely into the first episode, but there is a reason for this. Expect these first few chapters to be quite slow as I like to get all my set-up done early, so the later action flows together, and I find these establishing chapters easier to read if they are shorter.
Regarding pairings, well, I hope this chapter answered some of those questions, if indirectly. Yes, Oliver, Sara and Nyssa are together as a three, although this relationship is centred around Sara for an important reason. I will accept absolutely zero complaints about Nyssa being with Oliver, until the person doing said complaining has gone around and posted the same complaint on EVERY story where straight characters are paired together, otherwise you are nothing but a hypocrite. As for Slade, I've got something special in mind for him, that I'm going to stay tight lipped on (I hope it'll be a big surprise.)
Moving forward, I don't know exactly how long this story will go for, but I know exactly how it will end. I don't intend on doing full season rewrite, instead elements from the first five seasons will all be combined along with some fruity ideas of my own. Flashbacks to Oliver curing Slade and how they joined the League of Assassins, along with what happened to Sara will all be told, so stay tuned for those too.
I don't know how regularly I can update, because I have a couple of other projects that are taking priority at the moment, but I'll try and get a new chapter up every week or so.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of the story.