Lechuza | L. Vikander ✔

[3.10]

Lavina could see that Richard and herself were two sides of the same coin but there were some clashes they had in their nature that she knew could shape their paths differently.

While she preferred staying in the wilderness away from the other people like an owl, Richard thrived on public attention. Being a performer from a very young age, he had learned to connect with his audience while Lavina had spent her early years hiding away in order to keep her identity as a Vikander safe.

Richard was also much more trusting compared to her. He could become fond of people easily, he could grow attached if given enough reasons and for her, it was easier to make him start to trust her and get close.

She decided that as he had told her about a turning point in his life, a decision that had gone wrong and made him question everything, she too should share one such event from her life. She knew that if she told him about Jeremy's death, it would make him relate to her more and understand what she had been through.

Had it been any other person, she would never have brought up that topic. But with Richard, she felt as if she should tell him.

So one day, she brought him to the house she and Jeremy used to train together.

It was the first time for her to visit as well after Jeremy's death as she hadn't stepped foot inside due to guilt and regret. A part of her still strongly believed that Jeremy died due to her and nothing she could say to persuade herself would wash that guilt away.

"Miss Vikander, why have you brought me here?"

She was shaken out of her thoughts by his voice and turned to face him, "you'll see soon, dear."

She led him into the hall where they trained and he halted, not expecting to see that extensive setup of obstacles and targets lined up ahead of him. 

"It's not easy to survive in this world," she remarked in a soft voice, "one should be prepared for everything."

He was still looking around with a mix of awe and confusion, seeing the daggers she had pulled out from a case.

"You told me about Tony Zucco and you said that you shouldn't have done that," she handed him a dagger, making him stand in front of a mannequin, setting a considerable distance in between. "Sometimes, we take decisions that we shouldn't and lose a lot as a result. But the thing that we should learn from it is that whether we took that decision or not, we still had to lose things one way or the other. If what we have gained is worth that loss then that decision wasn't wrong."

He had realized by then that she often talked in riddles and as it had been some time that he had been living with her, he had gotten accustomed to decoding those riddles and finding out the meaning behind her words. 

"I had a best friend when I was young," she spoke up, tone even softer than earlier, "and I thought I would do anything to help her out, without even caring for my life."

His attention had immediately been caught by her words that he was trying to understand but she corrected his stance, gesturing him to throw the dagger at the mannequin. 

He straightened, doing as he was told but when he threw the dagger, it missed the target slightly.

She gave him a chance to strike again but even then, it did not pierce the target that was marked by a red X shape.

She took the daggers from him and he stepped aside, letting her take her turn at throwing those blades. 

"But in saving that best friend, I lost someone I valued deeply. He came in between and sacrificed his life to save me. And now his family thinks I killed him which isn't far from the truth; he did die because of me."

He had gotten silent, watching her twirl a dagger in one hand, correct her stance and then threw it straight at the mark. Seconds later a dent formed in the mannequin and her dagger was sticking out from the dark X shape.

He was impressed and startled because he had not expected that she would be trained in that aspect too. Lavina Vikander somehow always managed to surprise him with the multiple layers she had to her personality.

"I regret taking Jeremy with me that day," she retrieved the dagger and came back to stand beside him, "but if he hadn't saved me that day, I wouldn't be here. I still can't figure out whether my decision was right or wrong because in saving one friend, I lost someone so dear to me and his family lost him too. He has a son, probably eleven years old by now and not much older than my friend's son who I did manage to save although I couldn't save her. Someday, I will take you to meet him."

"Your friend's son or Jeremy's?"

"Jeremy's family does not even let the boy meet his grandfather. But I can take you to see Melisina's son. His name is Lucas."

He recalled that she had often sent him to pay the monthly expenses of a young patient in a rehab center and he felt like the Lucas she was mentioning was none other than the boy he had seen from afar, whenever he had gone to make the deposit at the center.

But she did not resume the topic, instead she brought his attention towards the daggers, "as I said earlier, you have to be prepared for everything. And the first thing you should learn is to defend yourself. And no defense can be complete unless you know how to attack in need too."

He nodded, listening to each word she told him very closely.

"I think you do know how to fight already or else you wouldn't have survived in Gotham for this long," she judged, "is it true?"

"Yes. Back at the juvenile hall, I had a friend who taught me the basics."

"Good. That means I won't have to start from the very beginning," she remarked, "I will have to judge what base you have already and then expand on it."

There was a question that was bothering him and she saw the unease on his features so she nodded her head, indicating that he should ask what he wanted to. 

"Miss Vikander, when I told you that I had killed someone, I expected you would be shocked and probably tell me to confess to my crime. Yet you didn't do it and have now brought me here to teach me how to fight further. Why are you still trusting me not to hurt you after all this?"

A slow smile played upon her lips as she shook her head, "you could never hurt me, my dear."

"And how are you so sure?"

"Because that's not like you," she patted his shoulder affectionately, "you trust people when you find them worthy of your honesty and care. And you strike only at those who provoke you to do so. What reason do you have to hurt me? I am only helping you out, aren't I?"

He considered her words silently, knowing that she was right about it. He could never even think of hurting her and the fact that he himself asked her to be cautious further showed that he valued her well-being more than his own intentions.

"Richard, I trust you because you trust me," she reminded him gently, handing him the dagger again, "and I don't want you to go through the things I have faced just because I did not have people around me to help me survive in this lethal world. If you don't want me to do anything for you, that's fine with me. If you trust me enough to let me teach you, then I will gladly impart all I know."

Even if she hadn't elaborated, he would have agreed. But as she had clearly told him why she wanted to help him out, he found it impossible to refuse.

From that day onwards, Lavina would often bring him to the house and train him just like a Talon should be trained. He was an excellent student, making it easier for her to effectively impart all the strategies she had been taught by Christopher and Jeremy.

And in a few months, she had trained him enough to be able to stand his ground against the lethal Talons of the Court.

She had foreseen a lot of chaos in her upcoming moves of using him as a weapon against the Court. And for that, he had to be well prepared.

So she made sure that if the need arose for him to ever stand against the Court, he would be just as equipped as them or probably even better to be able to defeat them all.

***