Chapter 3 - The Lion's Den

Sienna

It was now lunchtime. After training with Talia, she allowed me to eat breakfast with her out in the courtyard. Nothing special. Oatmeal. Dried Fruit. Water. I had showered and was now standing in the large dining hall with my lunch tray in my hand. I looked at all the crowds of men in front of me. They were rowdy and loud.

They were all without their samurai gear and were in shirts and sweatpants. I could see all their faces clearly now. I did get a few fingers pointed at me, and some chuckles from a few people. Not too many. Some were eating, laughing, yelling. Some even spoke in a foreign language. Being here made me anxious. How could anyone stand to be in a room with so many people. You could barely hear yourself think. Plus, I had no idea where to sit. This wasn't like school where I could find an empty seat and hope someone would join me,or could hope someone would notice me and ask me to sit with them. These were all grown men and a handful of women, so I doubt they wanted me near them - and If I did find an empty table, it would probably just attract more attention towards myself.

I scanned the room. Where was Talia? Maybe if she was here, I could eat with her. All I had to do was get my food. I had gone through this too many times since I was little. Being biracial in a dominantly white country, I was always being left out. Behind me, a group of men entered the hall. I followed behind them as they went into a line that was serving food.

My plate was filled grilled chicken and vegetables. I took a water bottle from the counter. That's when I spotted Talia sitting alone in a table in the back beside a window. I sighed and felt relieved.

I watched Talia take a sip of water. She spotted me as well. She looked at me, then averted her eyes towards her plate of food. She began eating as if she had no care in the world. A man walked past her. As he did, he must have said something that made her laugh. He walked off and then she continued on with her meal. A woman who was sitting beside Talia, a slightly older Japanese woman who looked about 30, got up and they kissed on the cheek. The woman placed her hand on Talia's shoulder, then the woman pointed at me, smiling. Talia nodded and laughed, but didn't look at me. She looked like she was telling the woman to hush.

I imagined the conversation went like this: Is that the girl? She's cute. (bitchy laughter, some shhhhs) I'm going to go say hi. (more bitchy laughter from the woman, then Talia gave me her "dead eyes" stare) I didn't think she was at all shocked or embarrassed by what her friend was about to do. She seemed content. Talia watched as her friend made her way over to me. She was wearing cargoes and a black cami and her hips swayed as she slowly approached me. Her eyes were set to kill.

Talia watched her friend walk most of the way, then went back to her meal. She was not smiling anymore.

The woman then stopped beside me, rather than in front of me. "The League isn't a place for little girls," she whispered into my ear, as she walked past.

I stood there at the front of the line. Frozen. It was clear she didn't want me to join her. It was also clear that they were both in agreement on what the woman whispered to me. I slowly stepped out of the way, unsure of where to go next. I took a couple more steps before a man from behind me who was in a rush, ran bumping my shoulder. It jolted me and almost knocked me and my tray to the ground - but I felt a strong hand grip my elbow and pull me up.

Loud, throaty breathing filled my ears before I even had the chance to turn around - though I had a clear idea of who it was. I turned around to see that it was none other than the masked man.

I was apprehensive about looking him in the eye, but did so anyway. If he helped me, he couldn't be that bad of a guy.

"I - I'm sorry." I said, softly. It was all I could say. Sorry he had to go out of his way to help someone as pathetic as me. I could probably now add him to the list of people wondering what I was doing here. I didn't want him to feel that he had to watch out for me because of my age.

"You'll have to learn to navigate around here on your own. You won't get any special treatment here." His voice was loud and booming. Everyone in the room would have been able to hear him, if they weren't already so loud. I was glad for that.

He gestured towards Talia. "Especially from her."

I turned around and followed his gaze. Talia met both our eyes. But she seemed to be looking more at him, then she turned away. I looked back and forth, between the two. I couldn't read their faces. There was a history between these two that I couldn't even begin to imagine. They had given each other a similar look back at the practice room.

I turned back to him. "I know. I'll watch where I'm going next time."

He nodded, then asked, "You wanted to sit with her?"

"No, not really." I lied.

He looked at me like he didn't believe me. For a few seconds, he did not say anything. Then, he spoke.

"Have a nice afternoon, then." It sounded more like a question though - but I definitely wasn't going to ask to join him. Talia would probably chop of my head.

I just stared at him. I wanted to know who he was before during practice, but Talia cut me off before I had the chance to ask her. So I guess now was my chance -
but he turned around and was gone.

Talia eyes were now boring into me, like I had killed her firstborn. It couldn't have been for more than a seconds so I wondered if I had imagined the entire thing.

"You can sit with me if you want."

I brought my focus away from Talia, and to the man in front of me. I glanced up to see the other man from this morning. The blue-eyed one who called me "young wolf" I now noticed he wasn't as old as I had previously thought, but that he was about the same age as Talia.

He smiled. "Hello, anyone in there?"

"Sorry." I smiled. "- thanks."

"What's your name, kid?"

"Sienna."

"I'm Barsad", he told me. "Alright, follow me."

I glanced behind at Talia. She wasn't watching me anymore.

He took me to a table on the other side of the room, away from Talia. Though from where I was sitting, she was still in my line of sight, while Barsad's back was to her. The masked man was probably long gone by now. Talia still wasn't looking at me. She had picked up her pace, and was now scooping up spoonfuls of food quicker than before. I watched her eat. She was getting ready to go somewhere.

"How's Talia been treating you?"

"Fine," I said, while my eyes were still planted on Talia.

"She hasn't been busting your balls? "

"No," I replied, softly still not meeting Barsad's gaze.

"Then why do you keep staring at her, Sienna?"

"Huh?" I asked,though I knew exactly what he had said. I stopped watching Talia and finally met Barsad's eyes, slightly embarrassed.

"I'm just pulling your leg." He shook his head as he scooped up some food off his plate. "She's one of the best females here you know. It's understandable if you want to stare."

"So I've been told - but I don't want to talk about her really." I told him, as I began eating as well.

"Why not?" He questioned.

I shrugged. "She's kind of -"

"A bitch."

"No - I wasn't going to say that, I mean - Cold. I meant to say cold."

"It's OK. They're kind of the same thing, aren't they."

"No, not really." I blushed.

"They are." He said. "Hey, I saw you take almost took a dive back there."

"You did?"

He nodded slowly and was now grinning at me like he knew a secret.

"What?"

"Nothing." he replied, but he chuckled to himself. Then he answered. "Are you scared of him?"

"What, no?"

"But you knew who I was talking about, right?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked him, blushing slightly.

"It's OK. They all are."

"But not you of course?"

"Nope."

"So you know him?"

"Yes, I do and you shouldn't get too interested in him. He's been here for a while, as long as Talia, but you probably wont see him around too much. He keeps to himself and they let him do his own thing. Much like Talia."

"Uh, Barsad - Does everyone get special privilege here after initiation?"

"Initiation. What do you know about that?" He asked, with a smirk.

"Nothing really. I just heard some things." I looked up at him. "Have you been initiated?"

"Yes, but I've also been apart of one." he said, wondering what I was getting at. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." At that exact moment, I watched Talia get up, empty her tray in the trash and exit through the cafeteria doors.

"You want to know what its like?" I turned back to Barsad.

"Yeah." I told him.

"Well, it's different for certain people. Talia's only a year older than me, she has different skills than me, but she's a member. Her initiation would have been different than mine because her fears are different than mine. Her strengths and weaknesses are different than mine. Everyone has a certain role they play in the League so the tests aren't exactly equal. Lucky for you. If you pass, you become a member. You're not required to stay here anymore if you choose not to."

"What about you?"

"Let's just say I just stopped by for a visit as requested by Mr. Ducard."

"So you must be pretty good then?"

"Not exactly in strength, but in other ways. I'm pretty great with a sniper."

"Also - who is Ross?"

"You mean Ra's?"

"Uh, yeah - my bad. Talia mentioned him, but I don't know who he is. I've never seen him before."

"Ra's al Ghul." he proclaimed, loudly. Then, he chuckled to himself, like it was some inside joke. "He's the one in charge here."

"Oh - and Henri's not."

"He is too, but Ra's is the one who started it all and he is more of a silent leader. Seen and never heard. Only on special occasions does he make an appearance. For special people" he added.

"OK - What do I need to know about the assembly?"

"Zasedaniye Klinka." He told me.

"Meeting of the Blade?" I asked him.

"Yeah that's right." he said, sounding impressed. "You know Russian?"

"Yeah, and German and Swedish. Don't ask."

"Multilingual, that's good. A lot like someone I know."

"Is there a certain reason that you could get picked to fight? I don't want to draw any attention to myself. Glance at the wrong person or something."

"Ah - OK. Maybe if someone had a good round at practice or maybe if some guy thinks he's a hot-shot and they need to knock him down a few pegs." He paused. "Or if you're new..." he peered up at me.

"Or - " I added, hopefully. "Maybe it'll be that guy. The one with the mask."

"Bane," he told me. "His name is Bane."

"Oh - OK, sorry. Bane."

Barsad shook his head. "Anyway, it wont be him. Ducard doesn't like him too much."

"Why? I thought he was good."

"He is, but Ducard won't choose him because he knows Bane will win. Where's the competition in that?" I nodded, but realized he didn't really answer my question about why Ducard didn't like him.

"He'll choose people who are less advanced. People who need to prove themselves. Maybe even you, like I said." He paused. "Do you know hand-to-hand?"

"No." I scoffed.

"Well we'll have to change that. After one more day with Talia - next, you'll be with me."

Talia

Talia exited through the doors and into the hallway. She ran to catch up to him, knowing that he would be walking, taking his time.

"Bane." She said his name in a such a gentle voice, that stopped him right in his tracks. "Do you have a moment?"

"Of course." He turned around slowly and met the young girl's eyes. He looked at Talia and she knew what he was going to say - but she still smiled anyway. She couldn't help it.

"The girl's only been here for a day, Talia. Do you think you could go a bit easier on her?"

Her smile faded. "Are you talking about this morning? She kept me waiting and I don't like to be kept waiting - but I understand what you're saying.

"Do you?" he asked, teasingly.

"Yes." She smiled slightly. "You have your methods and I have mine. I just don't do well with defiance."

"You also have a temper."

"And you don't?" She asked him.

"I'm a lot better at control than you are."

"Indeed you are. I guess it's something I need to work on then. Maybe you could help me."

Bane did not reply.

"So, where are you headed?" Talia asked him, in a quite a cheerful tone. A lot different from her usual one.

"Back to the practice room."

"You've eaten already?" He nodded.

"May I join you?" Bane stepped off to the side to make a space for her. They walked in silence toward the staircase.

"My father wants me to mentor her as well as train her."

"That's good. I'm sure she could use your help."

"Really? You think I could make a difference in a such a -?" Talia didn't finish her thought. "I can't help that I've always had a distaste for people born of privilege. They think they know everything of the world and how it works - but they know nothing."

"I agree with you - but you could have at least ate lunch with the poor girl."

"Anyway, she doesn't need me. She has your protegé, Barsad to keep her company."

"Barsad?" Bane asked, surprised.

"Yes, Barsad." she laughed. "He is the most friendly of us all, isn't he?"

"It seems so." He agreed.

After another long silence, Talia finally spoke again. "What did you say to her?"

"The girl?"

"Yes. What did you say to her?"

"I told her not to expect any special treatment from you." Bane answered.

"As expected...Is that all you said to her?"

"Yes."

Sienna

After finishing our meals, Barsad and I both brought our trays towards the garbage. We emptied them and placed them on top of the bin.

"There was something I wanted to ask. It's about what someone told me - A woman."

Barsad turned to me. "What did she say to you?"

I sighed. "She told me that the League isn't a place for little girls."

"So what? It isn't."

I frowned.

"Hey, it's no big deal." He shrugged. "I mean, that's why you have to show them you're not just some little girl."

A/N:

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about Bane's voice because there are so few ways to describe it - And if you don't already know what Bane sounds like, why are you reading this story? lol

I hope any mistakes I have aren't that big.

Every review is appreciated.

:)