My Name is Thea Queen, I Am the Arrow

Like Yao, Like Shado

"You're teaching me that one." Slade grunts out with a smirk as he looks up at Shado who currently has him pinned down.

"Only if you show me where the knife was." Shado quips, slightly out of breath as she nods to where he has knife currently pressesd behind her back.

"Who taught you how to fight?" Slade asks as she offers a hand and pulls him to his feet.

"My father wanted a son." Shado replies.

"He got one." Slade jokes as she walks off.

"Careful! The tension of that bow's a 150 pounds. Snap it, you'll be covered by fiber shrapnel in your eyes." Shado warns me as she takes a swing at her water.

Slade looks at me and nods, signaling me to set the bow aside before I hurt myself.

"She's right. You're not strong enough, kid. Go again?" Slade sighs as he takes a swing of his water as well.

"It's pretty exciting that both of you are such bad asses but do you think that maybe we should be making a plan to stop Fyers. And I don't know save your dad?" I say as I place the bow down.

"Does she always whine this much?" Shado jokes as she walks back toward Slade.

"This is one of her good days." Slade replies.

"Can she fight?" Shado asks.

"I've tried. Never much success." Slade answers as he warms himself up.

"Hey! I'm sitting right here." I complain with a slight pout.

"Well I haven't tried yet." She says.

Slade laughs and I huff before going back to fiddling with the bow.

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:

"Hold your hand up. Palm facing me. Hit the water." Shado instructs as she stands in front of me and the bowl of water.

"What?" I question.

"Hit it." She orders.

I roll my eyes and hit the water. I look back at up her.

"Again." Shado says.

I hit the water once more, the water splashing and rippling back in response.

"Again. Harder." Shado instructs.

"If the point of this is to make me feel like an idiot it's working." I snap as I slap the water again with more force.

"'The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.'" Shado prophecies as she sits down.

"I'll take your word for it. I'm starting to see the family resemblance." I say before slapping the water again.

"It's Laozi. Again." She orders.

"Now what?" I ask after the slapping the water, looking at how the bowl isn't quite as full anymore.

"Fill the bowl. Start again." Shado answers.

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:

"My mom does yoga." I blurt out as I watch Shado do a handstand, her legs crossed as if she was sitting on the floor as she holds it.

Shado looks up and shots me a warning glare as she tries to maintain her focus.

"Hey, remember when Slade and I rescued you?" I question.

"You rescued me?" Shado asks in disbelief.

"Fine. When we all rescued each other. You said you knew why Fyers wanted Yao Fei and how he was forcing him to help him. Feel like sharing? We're almost out of slapping water." I say as I watch Shado gracefully falls back and land on her feet.

"My father was a Shangjiang in the People's Liberation Army. A general. I didn't hear the details of Fyers plans but he wants my father to be the face of it. A scapegoat, to take the blame and conceal their own involvement." Shado explains.

"Why was Yao Fei on the island in the first place? Fyers says he murdered people." I ask.

"No, he didn't. The Chinese military committed the massacre. Someone had to take the blame. They chose him. Sent him to this island for life. I spent years looking for him. A few months ago, a man came to my apartment said he had information about my father's whereabouts. I had given up hope. Let my guard down. Didn't see the taser until it was too late. When I woke up, I was here. I'm worried, this island what he must have had to do to survive. That it changed him." Shado explains as she fills the bowl with more water.

"He saved my life. He did so much for a little girl he didn't even know. He's still a good man, Shado." I reason.

Shado smiles softly at me before going back into instructor mode.

"Again." She orders.

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:

"Dinner. You're still doing that? Fyers better be careful with his bowls of water." Slade teases as he walks into the wrecks of the airplanes with food.

"When are we going to do actual training?" I ask, stopping.

"There once was a young boy whose father dropped him off at a Shaolin monastery to study Kung Fu." Shado begins.

"Good, a story." I mock, rubbing my face tiredly.

"After a year, the boy came to visit his family. When asked what he'd learned, the buy hung his head in shame. All the monks had him do was slap water in a barrel for a year." Shado continues on, sharpening her knife.

"But we don't have a year. So I hope your training regimen is a bit faster." Slade huffs as he prepares dinner.

"The family didn't believe him, so he showed them. He raised his hand and hit the table they were eating on. It broke in half." She concludes.

"I'm gonna be able to break a table in half?" I ask excitedly.

"Better. Pick up that bow." Shado says.

I go to pick up that bow and Shado stands next to me. She places one of my hands on the riser and the other on the string, positioning me correctly.

"Draw the bow." Shado orders.

"Kid." Slade warns, stopping his preparation for dinner.

Shado lifts up her hand in silence.

"Draw the bow, Thea." Shado orders once more.

I nod and pull the string back, drawing it easily.

"I'll be damned." Slade smiles proudly.

"What's next?" I ask as I slowly draw it back into place.

"We teach you to shoot." Shado answers.

I smile as I draw the bow once more before setting it down. Shade smiles slightly before placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Relax. We'll call you for dinner." Shado says.

I nod in understanding before walking off.

"I didn't think you had it in you. Or the kid to be honest with you." I hear Slade say it Shado.

"Thea's special. But we both will do well to remember she's not a soldier. She's a kid, Slade." I hear Shado tell Slade.

"Yeah. I forget that sometimes. This island damn well taken everything from her." Slade mumbles.

"We shouldn't let it take that. Yes, we need her to be prepared for the war that's to come. But we don't have to take her way her innocence." Shado sighs.

Author's Note: vote and comment what you thought! I can reveal that Shade, Slade, and Thea will definitely have some family vibes. So I'll be throwing in some fluff when I can!