Arrow

{Chapter Two}

"Harder!" He yells. 

I throw a punch at him. 

"Quicker!" I duck under his arm and elbow him in the back. 

He topples to the ground and I slump over, resting my hands on my knees. My spidey sense starts to tingle but before I can do anything a foot connects with my rib and I sprawl out on the ground gasping. 

"Never let your guard down!" He yells at me while circling my body, "Stand up! We aren't done until I say so." 

Come on Peter, do it for Dad, come on. I push myself up from my feet and stand in fighting position again, I throw a punch towards Slade, but he blocks it easily. 

"You're to predictable!" He screams, and I kick him in the side... well try to, he grabs my leg and flips me over. I scramble to my feet again and jump over him, shooting webs at his arms and pulling him backward. "Kid!" Slade screams and arrows start flying towards me. I let go of the webs and flip over two arrows. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Shado running towards me. I quickly block her and throw a punch which she ducks, Slade grabs me from behind and throws me to the ground and pins me there. I lay there gasping for breath. 

"Maybe we should take a break," Oliver says, jumping down for the tree where he was shooting arrows at me. Slade stands up and reaches out a hand for me to take. I take it and he helps pull me up. My knees crack and I grunt. I have multiple bruises all over my body, some from Slade, Shado, and Oliver, and some from trees, animals, and even rocks. 

"You got talent, Peter, but you can't rely on your powers. There is some crazy stuff on Lian Yu and you never know what is going to happen," Oliver says handing me a small bowl half filled with water, I take a small sip and then pass it to Shado and the others. A familiar tingle rises in the back of my neck and my eyes widen. 

"If you use your powers you could be wanted, they could hunt you down, it would end up hurting you more than helping you," Shado adds, shaking out her hands from being clenched in fists. 

"Hide! Someone's coming!" I whisper, without question, the four of us run into the forest that surrounds our clearing. Oliver and I climb up the trees while Slade and Shado stay on the ground behind bushes and trees. The noise of marching feet gets closer and closer, I cling as close to the tree as possible. In the distance through trees, I can make out black clothing and shiny weapons. A guy with long black hair and a black beard emerge from the bushes, I hear Shado gasp and Oliver tenses. 

"They have to be close by," The man says. Another man looks to him and says something I can't hear. 

"Advance to the bushes!" The man with black hair and a long black beard calls out. I hold my breath as 20 men start walking towards us, guns in hand. Slade looks up to us and holds up a three on his fingers, he then slowly counts down. 

2...

1...

Oliver starts shooting arrows, and  I jump down from the tree landing on someone's shoulders, a move Slade taught me a while ago. I drop my body down and flip the man on the ground punching his face and then snapping his neck. I just killed someone. Before I have time to process I feel someone grab me from behind and I flip him over my body, however, he takes me with him. He lands on top of me and quickly puts his hand around my neck. I bring my knee up between his legs as hard as I can and then he rolls over in agony. Quickly, I stand up and kick his face, effectively shattering his skull. I roundhouse kick the man to my left, but he catches my leg and throws me against a tree. 

Pain erupts in my back and through my leg but I push myself up, not without a grunt of course. As I am about to charge him again,  he falls to the ground, an arrow through his heart. Only a couple of men are still standing, but the guy with black hair and a beard as well as a couple of others are nowhere to be seen. 

They must have fleed. Oliver drops from the tree and engages in a fist fight, effectively killing the guy. Shado is fighting a guy and seems to have it under control, grabbing an arrow from a dead body and stabbing him with it in the leg from her position on the ground. Slade however, is struggling. He is pushed up against a tree and the man has a hand around his throat. Without thinking I shoot a web and throw him hard against the tree and then grab an arrow and stab him through the heart. Slade looks at me and frowns before motioning for us to follow him back 'home'. 

Once we get to our shelter he hands me a really small cloth like think for the blood covering my hands and face, "What the hell were you thinking?" 

I frown in confusion. Is he talking about me saving him? "What are you-" Oliver stands up from where he was sitting and puts a hand on Slade's shoulder and whispers something to him. 

"You used your powers, and if Yao Fei saw, they are going to be searching for us non stop... even harder when they went before. Yes, you helped Slade but you also risked a lot more." 

"Who is Yao Fei?" I ask, guilt seeping through my voice. I didn't mean to get us into more trouble, I just wanted to help Slade. 

"My dad," Shado says. My mouth falls open and I look over to her. 

"Yao Fei, he was the guy with the black hair and beard. When the kid (Oliver) first got to the island Yao Fei was his mentor, but then he joined them to save Shado." Slade said, I looked over to Shado and didn't miss the guilt in her eyes. Oliver half smiles and looks to Slade. 

"He is more of a kid than me," He says matter-of-factly. 

"Whatever kid," Slade says. 

...

I walk through the doorway of our makeshift house, Slade and Oliver are preparing a meal and Shado is outside. 

"Shado?" I ask stepping to the side of the house, she is leaning against a tree and her hand is pressed to her mouth. 

"Hi Peter," She says, her hand dropping to her side. 

"I'm sorry about what happened with your dad," I say looking at the ground. I hear a shuffle and she walks over and puts a hand on my shoulder. 

"Don't worry about it Peter," I look up and meet her eyes, they are slightly clouded with tears but she is smiling none the less. 

I look at her a moment longer before asking, "How did you get here?" She lets the hand that was on my shoulder drop to her side and she looks at her feet, "You don't have to tell me," I say regretting asking her that question. 

"I used to be a lawyer. And a pre-med student. I was kidnapped by Fyres and used as leverage so my dad, Yao Fei, would join his side and help him. I met Slade and after my dad joined them he helped me. Slade met Oliver and brought him to meet me, and then Oliver met you and brought you to us," She glares at the ground below us. 

"I'm sorry," I say again. I can't imagine the fear of being kidnapped, not knowing where you are, being useless. 

"Stop apologizing Peter," She says with a small smile. I frown slightly. 

"That is what my dad used to tell me." I hear her sigh at my words and to my surprise, she wraps her arms around me. After a moment I return the hug. We let go a moment later when Oliver calls us to get dinner.