Author Note: Just a small, quick, story idea that’s been in my head for a couple of days now. Wanted to get it down on “paper”. I hope people like it.
The wind of the desert howled as Ra’s Al Ghul strode through the shifting sands beneath his feet; his hand holding the wound at his side. His hands were covered in blood—mostly his—but he was resolute that this would not be his end. The Detective had dealt him a good blow at their last fight. Ra’s had got him just as well.
Perhaps, He wondered, a death blow for the mighty bat.
Despite their differences, Ra’s had a certain respect for the man. He fought with his mind. No other could usually manage as such. Most people were controlled by rage, revenge, desire, jealousy, sometimes even love. But The Detective was different. He was calm and calculating in the face of anything. This Ra’s had seen many times. He did not doubt that he would see him again; eventually.
But there will be many chances for reflection. He thought as he straightened, pressed his hand harder to his wound, and picked up his slowed pace.
He was alone in this desert. Not even his beloved daughter, Talia, had come this time. Despite her pleas. Ra’s knew this was his journey, and he didn’t want his daughter to see what could be his end.
After all, he hadn’t been here for many years. Before his last fight, the Detective had destroyed all the Lazarus Pits. Ra’s did not know how this was possible given that the location of each was a closely guarded secret. But if the fates allowed, he would discover that later. Right now he had no choice. Ra’s had to make the long trek, injured, to the very last one. A place that was known only to himself.
The site of the original pit.
The very one that had given Ra’s his long life in the first place. The place where he had discovered the thin veil between life and death. But also the place where he had lost his wife.
Ra’s pushed himself on over the top of a large dune. There, at the bottom, lay a flat area of sand. A sinkhole gap sat in the middle. The entrance to the pit. A sinkhole was a very dangerous thing. Even know with the weight of knowledge the world has gained, but the possibility of a falling into one was what people off from discovering the pit. He picked up the pace as he tried to walk down the hill, which turned into a slow run, then a fall and roll as the sand sunk beneath his feet. Ra’s stopped inches from the opening and dusted himself off.
Stepping up to the gap, he stepped inside.
The familiarity of the place was nice as the faint dark engulfed him. Inside the cave a very faint green hue light flickered from the other side.
Ra’s Al Ghul smiled. The pit was still here.
The joy on his face was only momentary as he approached the rocky outcropping holding the precious liquid he sought. The pit was almost dry. A shallow layer of water—barely able to cover a rodent—reflected the light emanating from it.
“How?”
Ra’s exclaimed wondering how his last chance to heal could be like this. His mind began to wander about The Detective and whether he could have found his way here. But retaining focus he knew that no one else could have known about the whereabouts of this place. He ran his fingers through the liquid which rippled in his hands.
Was this enough?” He wondered.
He had never used the pit with this low of a source. He was unsure if the result would be the same. Would it work at all? Ra’s didn’t know.
He didn’t have a choice.
He pulled his robe from his shoulders, and winced at the pain emanating from his side, before dropping it on the cave floor and stepped into the pit. The water shifted around his feet as he turned on the spot and positioned himself before sitting in the liquid. It barely lapped over his legs but he had no choice. He lowered the top of his body backwards. The liquid only just coming up to the side of his bare chest, and only half of the near-fatal wound he had held onto for so many days.
Ra’s Al Ghul closed his eyes and let the waters energy wash over him.
With his eyes closed the water’s energy washed visions through his mind. Or was it his subconscious awakening? He was never sure. It just always came when he used the Lazarus pit. He could feel something working on his body as he drifted off to unconsciousness. Without warning he was back in Ancient Arabia with his wife, Sora. He knew the day. He had lived it so many times through the pit.
The day he lost everything.
The first few times he thought the vision was real. He had tried. So very hard to stop events from occurring but they always did. It took him many years before he realised that the pit was giving him a chance to be with her again; even if only for a little while. He did what he always did inside that tent. He embraced her. The warm feeling of her embrace in his brought his loss to the front of his mind. Suddenly his arms were empty and he was standing by the Lazarus Pit with the prince’s body as his guards lower him into the Pit. He could barely watch, or rewatch, as once again the prince leapt from the watery ground and begin attacking the closest people.
Once again he watched as the Prince leapt on Sora his hands around her throat as the life drained from her body. The princes guards once again attempting to pull the Prince free. But alas. Once again his wife was gone. Ra’s turned away. Once, long ago, Ra’s would turn away so he didn’t have to see. Now he watched, and said goodbye once again. He looked on as the vision showed him the Prince, recovering from the nature of the pit and what he had done, being taken away by his father. It didn’t hurt him as it once had. The Demon’s Head had gotten his revenge on the Prince a long time ago.
For the most part, Ra’s Al Ghul had long ago discovered the secret to fixing the pit so that the aggression would not take hold.
But that was his pits.
Man made.
This one. The original one. He had never resolved it fully. Something was always different about this one. A trick that even now, centuries later, he had yet to answer. Sometimes he wondered if he ever would. Not all secrets were meant to be revealed to mankind after all. Strangely, for the most part he was okay with that. Almost reassured.
His vision jumped.
The birth of his daughter, Talia.
Her mother passing during in childbirth.
Training Talia
Other memories flashed before his eyes. Some horrific. Others just sad. Ra’s wondered how long it had been in the real world. Was the Lazarus Pit even working, or had he passed on. He wondered if this was his punishment for things he had done. But he had seen these things too many times in the pit for this to be true.
Ra’s Al Ghul closed his eyes, and focused his thoughts on pulling himself free from these visions. His real eyes opened and, unwillingly, he sat up sharply in the shallow pool of water. His eyes, wide, and blood red as the wildness took hold of his body. Ra’s could see if happening as if he was a prisoner in his own body; an unwilling passenger. But this was another reason he didn’t want anyone with him here. The anger, and rage possessing his body ran around the cave before finding the way out into what was now desert night. Ra’s could feel the rage in his unwilling body begin to subside. It took all his concentration to regain control and force his body to drop in to a kneel. Ra’s paused to ensure that he had control. He pushed his body up to his feet and inspected the wound.
A clean scar.
It wasn’t as healed as the regular Lazarus pit, but he was at least happy with the results. For it was better than the alternative. It had almost come to pass that the Head of the Demon had met his end. But apparently fate, or destiny, had other plans. Plans that Ra’s would make good use of in his return home. He began to walk up the dune on his long path home as the moon shone it’s full light across the shifting sands.
The Demon wasn’t dead. But as far as the world believes… He may as well be.
Dreaming Screenwriter 