Trapped : The Island of Torment

Chapter 26 : Injured

Isabella lowered her bow, her breath thickened as she stared at the body. Bruce can sense the tension in her body as she does so. They have both seen the rabbit, but the surprising addition of the dead body. "Did I..." she said, her voice trembling.

"We should check the body, before all things." Bruce said. He was suspicious, because they'd just been chasing a wild rabbit. Isabella knelt beside the body in silence, her hands trembling as she tried to take pulse measures. "Let me." he whispered, kneeling beside her and taking the measure in her stead. "No pulse." he said. "Body's been cold to the touch. The victim would have been dead for a long time, so I didn't think that it was your arrow that killed him." 

"Okay." Isabella said, her breath normalizing. "We should check the body." Together they searched the body from head to toe, pocket to pocket. "There's another map, compass... hmm... lucky." she said. 

"What is it?" Bruce asked, as he was studying the tattoos on the body's skin. 

"It's a flare gun." she said, retrieving a bright orange item from one of the pockets, as well as a few gauges. "Comes in handy for the right moment." she said. 

"Take a look at this." Bruce said, showing her the tattoo. 

"It's a League of Assassins' tattoo." Isabella said. "We'll need to give the deceased a proper burial." The name was no stranger to both Bruce and Isabella. She had been trained by Ra's al Ghul himself and was released from her vow almost immediately when her training was complete, while another tutor of hers, Kirigi, whose dojo was hidden amongst the snowy peaks of Mount Paektu, had ties to the league as mentor to some of the league members. Bruce's ties to the league were more complicated compared to Isabella's, as he had been sought as a husband for Ra's daughter Talia, which his son Damian was born following their on-and-off love affair, and not to mention his attempts to stop Ra's goal in committing mass genocide, which had also caused the once friendship that Isabella's grandfather had once had with Ra's, to sour, and now he called him a madman. 

Bruce had known about Isabella's ties with the league when Ra's goal to find and track down the map of various Lazarus Pits, which he had entrusted in Isabella's care before her departure, brought them together. Their romance had just blossomed and it was a shock to him that Isabella had been a part of the league, but Ra's actions towards her, which included imprisoning and torturing her, caused the cordial relationship between master and student to change. And now, he is nothing but an enemy to her. "Okay." Bruce whispered. "You'll do it right?"

"How familiar are you with the league's burial rites?" she asked. 

"Not very much." Isabella said nothing and proceeded to dig a grave with her own hands, in preparation for the burial, but her hands stopped. Danger flashed in her eyes and Bruce heard the sound of a bow being pulled. In a flash she quickly pushed Bruce away, just as an arrow came out from one of the bushes, hitting her in the shoulder and injuring her. Isabella lets out a muffled cry in pain as someone steps out of the bushes. 

"For a former member of the League of Assassins, that was considered lucky." it was yet another man in dark clothing. Bruce stepped forward to protect Isabella but despite her injury she is still ready to fight. "You have two choices." he said, drawing his bow and arrow. "Either the both of you come with me as hostages, or die here." 

"Like hell I would come with you." Isabella said. "I rather die." 

"Very well." he said. "Your wish is my-" Before he can finish a kunai dagger comes flying, impaling the man in the heart. He fell to the ground, as Candice, Isabella's cousin, emerged from the bushes. She had grown concerned when Dick told her that Bruce and Isabella had gone hunting and not returning, a fact that she was concealing her animosity towards him when she asked. 

"Isabella." she called. Isabella had a hand on the arrow that impaled her on the shoulder, while the assassin lay dead on the ground with blood draining from him. "I know it was trouble when you guys didn't return." Looking at Isabella's injury Candice knew that her cousin needed medical attention at once. "Let's move. We can't stay here." 

"I'll carry her." Bruce said. 

"No." Isabella said. "I can still walk."

"Not in this condition." Candice frowned. Bruce glanced at me for a few seconds, and without a word, lifted her from the ground. Isabella tried to resist, but the pain in her shoulder caused her to bite her lower lip in pain and stop resisting. "You're not going to hunt in this state." she said. Candice then motioned for Bruce to move first, while she followed behind him. Despite her pain Isabella clung to her husband as he carried her back to the cave in his arms. 

"We're almost there." Bruce whispered. "Hang in there." Isabella nodded, as blood began to seep from the wound in her shoulder where she had taken the arrow in his stead. He was worried, and also felt stupid that Isabella had taken the shot for him when he should be the one who should be in her place. They returned to the cave, and Bruce set Isabella down gently, so as to not exacerbate the bleeding on her wound. 

"What happened?" Nyssa came running, kneeling down to examine her wound. 

"We went hunting, and ran into a dead body, only to be ambushed by another assassin from the league. Isabella took the shot that was meant for me." Bruce explained. "We'll need to disinfect your wound." he said. Isabella dipped her head low, as by taking off her shirt the scars she bore as a result of her attempt to stop Selina from stealing the Ibiza Diamond would be exposed in broad daylight.