( IV )

Ryanne's personal aircraft landed on an isolated track near a small town in the Himalayans. Looking out of the window she glanced in the distance at the snowy mountain peaks. She knew that on one of those peaks, hidden from sight, where few have traveled, lay the hideout of her greatest foe.

Moments later, Ryanne emerged from the aircraft dressed in a long, snow white winter-coat with a hood, her nose and mouth also covered by a thick scarf. Every item of clothing she wore was white, including her boots and the backpack in which she had put enough food and water to help her survive the journey through the mountains. Her weapons, two sais, several shurikens –ninja throwing stars-, her samurai sword and two Beretta 9 mm semi-automatic pistols were hidden under her long coat.

The mountain wind was calm and refreshing where they stood, but Ryanne knew very well what strong blizzards she would have to face high in the mountains. After she had told the pilot to return and not wait for her, without another look back or any second thought, she sat out on her mission. There was no turning back now. She would do what she had set out to do and deal with the consequences later.

At the end on an almost five day's journey, Ryanne got to her destination only to see that she had once again reached a dead end in her quest for vengeance. The monastery serving as a training facility for Ra's al Ghul's secret organization appeared abandoned and almost entirely destroyed in a fire. Nevertheless, Ryanne was determined to at least look around the ruins in search of some clues. As she approached, climbing up on a rocky and more abrupt side of the mountain and then crawling through a narrow tunnel, she eventually found herself in some sort of basement, where the massive wooden pillars that had been long fixed into the rock still stood strong supporting the base foundation of the construction.

Sneaking along the pillars, always hidden in the shadows, Ryanne spotted one guard dressed in a black ninja outfit and wearing protective black armor. She was quite puzzled upon seeing this man, for his uniform was identical to that worn by the warriors with whom she and the other young Lin Kuei trainees had to fight in order to prove their skills. This had happened twenty years before, the same day that she had escaped from the compound.

Coming up to him from behind she rapidly put her hands around his neck and broke it with one rapid movement. Any of her weapons could have been used for the kill but she wanted to avoid tearing apart or staining with blood the outfit which she then removed from the man's body and put on herself. She hid the man's body and her white camouflage clothing under a pile of ruble and then, clad in black but carrying her own weapons instead those of the guard Ryanne climbed up one of the pillars and got inside the main floor of the compound through a large crack in the floor.

The view above was desolating, the wind blowing sparkling flakes of snow through the cracks in some of the walls that survived the fire. The main supporting pillars were partially damaged by the fire and still sustained the construction. Some staircases leading to the upper floors could still be used, though there were some portions where great holes in the floor of the stories and the roof gave a clear view of the sky all the way from the basement.

To her delight, Ryanne saw that there were many men walking about, working to rebuild the monastery. Maybe Ra's al Ghul was there as well and her journey hadn't been for nothing. She made her way upstairs and despite the fact that she was now dressed like all the other men walking about, she still preferred to go around rather than straight forward, always keeping close to the wall and to the protective shadows. The only weapon she carried was her sword, having left the sais and the pistols with her clothes, not wanting to draw any attention to herself by carrying even the slightest item that would differentiate her from the others.

Two guards walked passed her as she moved confidently, just like the others, along a balcony that was still intact. Nothing about her made them even consider the possibility that she was not one of them, so they went passed her without saying a word or casting a glance in her direction. The men were talking in a peculiar language she was not familiar with. Taking into consideration their geographical position her first instinct was to assume it was of Chinese origin, but she spoke some of the dialects and that did not resemble anything she had heard before.

Then the men suddenly stopped to supervise the labor of the other men below and to Ryanne's surprise, one of them spoke in English.

"Only that Ra's al Ghul is dead," one of the men unexpectedly responded in English to his comrade's previous statement.

It was like she had been magically turned to stone. The man's words ripped through her like a knife and she stood still for some minutes before she could move again. The strong message that the words carried prevented her from perceiving the ironical, amused tone on which the man had spoken, for the member of the League of Shadows undoubtedly knew better. Ryanne turned and saw the two men looking down at other men, not working but taking out a burnt body from under a pile of debris. Having failed to notice the man's ironical tone, she was now certain that the dead man below was none other than Ra's al Ghul.

Half an hour later Ryanne was climbing up an abrupt cliff, having successfully left the compound as quietly as she had infiltrated it. Dressed once again in her white outfit and carrying all of her weapons, she slowly climbed with the help of customary mountain climbing gear, her mind and soul blank, incapable of producing a single thought, a single emotion. She pulled herself higher and higher to the peek, advancing aimlessly into an unknown direction. Only the vibration of her cell-phone attached to her belt made her snap out of her state.

"What do you want McCabe?" she answers coldly as always, seeing the name of the caller on the screen.

On account of the relationship between them, it would not be completely inappropriate to associate McCabe's profession with that of an agent. Paul McCabe was the link between Ryanne and her employers, the one who would tell her who she had to kill, when and where, also providing her with the necessary information and equipment and receiving for this a fair share of the overall price.

"I have another assignment for you and …… well, I missed you," he added his usual joyful remarks meant to have an entertaining effect.

Ryanne never did find anything entertaining in his remarks and without even an ironical smile, she ignored it as always.

"The assignment will have to wait. I am in the heart of the Himalayas, it will take me days to get back to civilization."

With a final pull she reached the ledge of the cliff and pulled herself up. A pair of dark boots was the first thing she saw and as she raised her eyes to acknowledge the person standing there she was taken aback to see McCabe, smirking down at her with his cell-phone to his ear.

"I know. That's why I couldn't wait. So how was it? Did you do it? Is it finally over, the great revenge scheme?" he gesticulated pathetically while questioning her with both curiosity and excitement on the outcome of her mission.

"What is the assignment?" she asked plainly as she passed him, paying no attention to his questions. She made her way through the snow towards a cleared, small path in the distance, tracing back McCabe's earlier footprints.

"What?" he replied confused.

"The urgent assignment you mentioned, the one that made you follow me here. What is it?" McCabe's beating about the bush drew from her an irritated reply.

"Ah … there's no assignment. I lied, I was dying to know how this ended up, so I called in on a favor from an old acquaintance of mine, and here I am."

She stopped where she was and slowly turned her eyes at him, her expression being one of surprise and fury.

"Well?" he asked anxiously when she had starred too long at him without producing an answer.

"He was dead."

"Oh, wow! Very good! There really isn't anyone out there you can't best, is …… Wait! What do you mean 'was'?"

"He was dead when I got there," she replied without looking back as she walked further away towards the path.

"You know who did it?"

"I was unable to retrieve that piece of information."

"I see … So now what? Go home, get back to the old business?"

"I cannot leave this place yet."

"Why?" She only stopped for a moment and turn to stare into his gleeful eyes with her cold piercing ones. He knew that look very well and understood she did not want to be questioned. "Never mind …… but, just so you know, I'll be staying with you."

"Now you won't."

"Yes I will … since I don't actually have a means to get back. On the other hand I did get us a place to stay for a few days."

"I doubt that. People here are very skeptical and reserved towards outsiders."

"Not necessarily. It is only a matter of making the right offer at the right time."

"What are you saying?" they had almost reached the cleared path when Ryanne turned to Paul once more.

"Ryanne, I don't think you've met Nawang. He has been kind enough to show me around these parts," he remarked sarcastically as his arm raised to point towards a native teenage boy who started back at them rather confused.

After shooting a death glance at Paul, Ryanne turned to the boy and greeted him on his own native tongue. This seemed to greatly please the boy who quickly responded giving out a rather long greeting, or so thought Paul who was standing aside, looking bewildered, understanding nothing of the words the boy spoke. Ryanne however understood him perfectly and once the boy started walking, leading them back to the village, she demanded an explanation from Paul.

"The boy told me our friend has not wakened yet but he will be most pleased to see that we have returned for him."

By the tone of her voice and the way she was looking at him, Paul knew that her statement had actually been a question and she was expecting an explanation.

"Yes, well, that's the thing I was telling you about," he began hesitantly, unsure of what her reaction would be. "When I arrived at the village I found out that they were treating an injured man, a foreigner, probably some explorer who lost his way in the mountains. I told them he was a friend of ours whom we've been searching for some time. It was the only way to get them to help me go look for you."

"But you do not know this man."

"Never seen him in my life."