Sorry, it has been a while guys. Hopefully this chapter will be as good as the last one. I decided to continue on, instead of skipping the pit escapade. Plus, I might get a little further into Ren's past because I don't feel like I was descriptive enough previously.

Chapter 14: Pathetic

It was silent, which was something Ren had grown use to, but this silence was odd. She crawled forward across the moist, rocky floor that the cavern provided. Her hands covered in dirt, strands of hair sticking to her forehead by thick sheets of swear, eyes reflecting upon the faint light, coming from the opening of the pit. She tilted her head as her eyes focused through the darkness, a man, several. They covered themselves in long shrouds of shrunken and beige material, bare feet, calloused and broken skin. They stood at the catwalk that led up to the pipe.

The Pit had its affect on everyone, both physically and mentally, but these men were affected by neither. Their appearance was of themselves, a natural overlay of years of hard work and filth. Her hand caressed up the side of the concrete wall and she leaned back against. Eyes focused on the men that seemed so far out, but so blended.

"Who are they?" She whispered over her shoulder, the man who had told her about the pipes coming up behind her.

"They are the guards, they disguise themselves as prisoners to be ambiguous, they prevent riots and such."

"But those happen all the time."

"Did I say they do their job? Now quick, go do yours." Ren stared longingly at the men, then suddenly her back became straighter, her stance taller, her chest puffed out. If they looked they would have seen her.

"No." The man bounced back, blinking several times. He thought he had her under his control, he couldn't have been more wrong.

"What?!" The man hissed, reminding himself to lower his voice. Her gaze still transfixed upon the men that blocked in her mind, her only way of escape. "What do you mean?" He whispered in her ear, nearly growling loud enough for his voice to echo through the soft cavernous walls of Hell.

"They are waiting for us. They are doing their job." His eyebrows furrowed an his face wrinkled in disgust.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's a subdued state of mind, you do something long enough and it controls you." She takes a step forward. "These men want me to do this, they want me to fight them and try to escape." She takes one more step forward, her foot hitting the floor loud enough for their ears to pick up. The men turn their heads in her direction, all attention falling from the once interesting exchange of words. The man cowered backward into the darkness, but Ren kept on forward.

"What are you doing back here?"

"The water is so beautiful though, Master." A young girl grazed a hand across the surface of a pond.

"But it is dangerous. Sometimes you have to realize..." He crouched down beside her and placed a leave in the water, she looked up at him; adoration, admiration, pride. "That something can be both."

"What are you doing here?!" Ren ignored the off-handed question and went straight into the fire. There were three of them, closing in on her. She was not supposed to be in this part of the prison, this deep in it. She threw a punch, sending a crack through the air.

"Ren." A voice hissed at her, the metallic gratings of a mask on each word. A hand snatched her wrist and she looked up into dark brown eyes. A morsel of pain running up her arms and mildly subduing her consciousness. "It's not time for dinner yet." He released her hand when Ra's Al Ghul entered the kitchen, Talia following close behind.

"Yes, Bane. I apologize." Ren replied sheepishly before stepping away from the wooden counter. He had touched her. His hands so rough, her mind so young.

Her arms were each taken by a guard, holding her back as the third one threw punches at her stomach. She spat up blood, aiming to the one on her left and elbowing him in the face.

"Fuck you." She hissed, sweeping a leg under the other he fell to the ground and she punched his face. The one that had been punching her, grabbed her hair and dragged her off of the man. Ren let out a loud scream, her jaw almost collapsing at its intensity.

"Stop! Stop it! Don't hurt me! Stop please." She screamed, her body tossing from side to side. Her eyes flashed open and she jumped up from her bed. Talia sat up in hers, which was directly across from her own and stared. Ren sat on the edge of her bed breathing heavily, staring down at the wooden floorboards. Frantic footsteps came stomping down the hallway, Ra's Al Ghul slid open the paper like door, Bane behind him with a candle in his hand.

"What is wrong with her father?" Talia asked, lifting the covers up to fully engulf her petite body. Bane's eyes glared wide at the shaken figure of a child Ren sitting upon the edge of the bed. Ra's approached, crouching down in front of Ren and placing a hand on either side of her face. Tears skimmed down her cheeks, she grabbed his wrists.

"Stop it." She whispered. "Don't hurt me daddy." Ra's used a thumb to wipe her tears away. "Please."

"Your father is dead, Ren. He won't hurt you ever again."

"No. He is alive. I see him everyday. In my dreams. He is alive." She replied, wrapping her arms around Ra's' neck. He hesitantly returned the embrace.

Ren started up the steps leading further up the prison walls. She glanced down for a moment at the several stories digging deeper into the pit.

"You! Stop!" Ren ran up the stairs, her feet pattering against the metal, until she had made it to the top. The pipe was quite a distance from the railing, protruding from the concrete walls that made the pit itself. A small ledge trailed across the edge of the wall from the railing to just under the pipe and around the prison.

"Stop!" The man was close now, not far up the stairs. Ren swung her legs over the railing and stood her tippy toes on the edge of the concrete it clung to. She gripped firmly onto the railing, licking her lips and looking over her shoulder at the ledge. It wouldn't be a far jump, she could do it, right? She looked back up and her eyes met bright blue irises, her body involuntarily shivered. His hand grabbed her shoulder and she froze.

"No!" The girl gripped onto her father's shoulder as he buried the knife deep into her abdomen. "Daddy stop!" She squealed out, her voice cracking as the pain increased. He pushed her off the blade and went in for a second incision, but paused. The blood stained blade held over his head, he stared down at her with wide bulging eyes. The eyes that would haunt her for years to come. His body fell limp to the side and behind him stood Ra's Al Ghul. A katana in one hand, while he gazed blankly down at Ren.

The man was on the ground, holding his stomach, where she had placed a firm jab.

"I love you, Talia." Ren said softly, gripping onto her sister with ferocity, tears stinging her eyes. Talia petted her hair with one hand and her back with the other, whispering sweet things into her ears.

"I love you too." Ren pulled away and smiled at Talia.

"I respect you so much. I aspire to be as strong and independent as you one day." Talia brushed a strand of Ren's hair behind her ear.

"You already are."

"Talia." Bane called, he stood not so far behind Talia, a duffle bag hanging from his shoulder. The snow was heavy, his boots imprinting a smooth pattern over the thick sheet. "It is time." Talia nodded over her shoulder and then looked back to Ren.

"Come with me, Ren. I know I would never be as strong without you at my side." Ren contemplated, she looked behind her at Ra's, who was waiting expectantly. At the temple. At the League of Shadows. Then her gaze went back to Talia.

"I have a purpose here. I don't know where else I would find it."

"With Bane and me. We will protect you, sister." Ren pulled away from Talia's sisterly embrace. Talia and her were like sisters. Friends. Companions. Bound by a blood they had never known was there, but had always felt it.

"Yes." Ren muttered under her breath, unable to meet Talia's eyes. "I will go with you."

Jump.

"Master, why have you given me these?" Ren held up the dual katanas, she treated them so fragile like. The weight barely settling over her fingers, she was afraid she would break them. Ren cleared her throat. "Talia deserves them more than me."

"No. You will need them more than Talia. You will need them more than me." Ren held them out again, too afraid to understand what he was saying. Too afraid.

"The leader shall carry these blades and that title does not fall unto me. It falls unto Talia."

"Ren..." Ren raised her head, finally meeting his hard eyes. "Take the fucking blades." He said it so calmly, never once in her life had she heard him say a bad word, but it was comfortable. It seemed so out of his character. But not. She agreed to keep the blades.

Ren's nimble fingers gripped onto the edge of the ledge, her arms hanging lankly.

"Someone stop her!" The man yelled to the lower levels of the pit, but it was useless. Her teeth clenched as her body weighed on the muscles of her arms, which began to grow sore as she slid gradually closer to the pipe above. Her cheeks grew in size as she inhaled a large gust of air, she winced, one arm letting go.

"Ahhhhh!" Her eyes slammed shut, her arm swinging from side to side at her hip. Her yelp emanated down the pit, prisoners began to gather around the bottom level staring up and shouting at her in some unknown language. She brought her limp hand up and grabbed the ledge more firmly again, so close to the pipe. She grunted, sliding over further, her eyes grabbed the pipe that was just about a foot away and a foot above the ledge.

"Bane... I love you." Ren said to herself as she stared into the mirror, but she wouldn't do it. She couldn't. Not to Talia. "I love you so much. More than I should." She covered her face with her hands. Ashamed. Blank. Nothing. Pathetic.

"Nothing." Ren closed her eyes in pain and shook her head, she looked back up to the ledge. "He means nothing to me." She hurled her body up and grabbed the gruff edge of the pipe, her palms bleeding with indents left by the sharp edges of the concrete ledge. She pulled herself up, the grime that slid down from the pipe daily came slopping over her forehead, leaving behind a dirty trail of whatever substance it was. It smelled terrible and stung her nose as it dripped down her oily hair and soaked into her scalp. She hulled her entire arm over the edge of the pipe and grumbled something incoherent as she pulled herself up into the pipe. The pipe was sufficient for her slim body type, but not quite roomy enough to provide air. The slop that resided there from weeks and weeks of mistreatment was the greater stench. The men were still chanting, Ren managed to lift her body horizontally into the pipe, realizing that the pipe made an incline. Weeks of sludge sitting there at the center of it; feces, grunge, rotten food. Ren nearly puked at the sight and smell of it all, the pipe was dark, no light from the other end.

She took a shaky deep breath and without hesitation, she did not look back. She crawled on her forearms up the incline of the pipe, struggling with her strength to keep from sliding back down and falling to her death. She shuffled up against the sludge, feeling unidentifiable objects and moist substances against her entire body. The darkness kept her silent, it kept her focused; the stench and the feel of the muck was all it took to help her become more confident. Her breathing was growing shallow, the further she went up the harder it was for her to inhale air of any sort.

Pathetic.

She yelled as loud as she could, muscles aching, body forcing itself to slide back down. She pushed harder, farther up the scratchy, metal incline. Her lips pulling as much air as she could find, more dirty slop came tumbling down the pipe. It hit her face and slid down her spine, her body was covered in it from neck down. She ground her nails deep into the bottoms of the pipe, pulling, fighting, screaming.

Her hand reached out and felt nothing, but slime. Her body was beginning to give up, but her mind would not allow it. She crawled as fast as she could, the darkness was only increasing in intensity the farther she went. Minutes turned to hours.

"Ow!" Ren shouted as a stick hit her stomach, she rubbed the now sensitive area and looked frantically around. Darkness. "Master, is this really necessary?" Her legs were swept out from under her and she fell onto her bottom, she rolled away and a loud smacking sound came from her previous position, the stick had hit the wood. "Can you not try to kill me, Master."

"You have to learn to accept the darkness, Ren." Ra's' voice sounded almost amused, taunting her through the nothingness. "Otherwise you won't be able to accept anything." Ren groaned when she picked herself up onto her feet.

"Why aren't you doing this to Talia?"

"Talia isn't afraid of the dark, is she?"

"No, master." Ren bit her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes shut. "She isn't."

Pathetic...

Ren hissed, reaching an arm out, she froze when she felt something hard out in front of her, a metal panel of sorts, blocking her from the rest of the pipe. Her breath was heavy, echoing through the pipe, which provided little space. She pushed forward and it moved upward, almost like a shutter, light came beaming through. She could feel musky, human air hit her skin. She slid up and out of the opening, the pipe dropped down into a pit of mud about an inch deep. The sun was beating hard onto her skin, burning her past the flaking sludge crusted on her skin. Her hair was black and cluttered with clumps of feces and wet dirt. She stood up shakily, eyes focusing on the hot sun and the desert that was laid out before her. She took one step forward and collapsed. Falling into an abyss. Falling and falling. Her mind lost. Her body dead. She felt nothing. Pathetic.