This will follow Laurel on her journey to fully becoming the Black Canary. In this story she will trained by Lady Shiva (cause of what happened to Ted in Uprising. He isn't dead). She will also have some romance with Ted Grant along with some BoP team ups.

"Get up, Little Bird", Lady Shiva's voice was soft but stern. She turned her back and walked away from her student who struggled to make it back to her feet. Dinah Laurel Lance sat on her knees for a moment heaving from the blow she received to the stomach. Lady Shiva, who walked some feet away from Laurel stopped and turned to look at her, noticing that Laurel had yet to make it back to her feet. "Get. Up", her voice became colder and stronger. She did not like weakness coming from her students. After managing to get air into her lungs, Laurel forced herself to her feet and she meekly took a fighting stance. That made Shiva smirk.

"We're going again?" Laurel asked in a weak voice. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. Every part of her body ached, she could hardly stand, and every breath was a struggle.

Lady Shiva gave Laurel a once over. She took note that Laurel's face slightly bruised and there was a cut on her cheek dripping with blood. She did a number on her pupil. As usual. "No, you have had enough today. Go get cleaned up and rest", Shiva watched as Laurel came out of her stance and as she relaxed with relief. While holding her still aching stomach, Laurel bowed to her teacher before entering the house, moving slowly as she went. She then gingerly made her way to the bathroom. Once there, she retrieved the first aid kit from under the cabinet to tend to her wounds. She dealt with her face first, looking into the mirror as she did so. She cleaned her wounds and bandaged her cheek. Once she was finished, she pulled up her shirt slightly to see the damage done her torso.

Her ribs were purple and bruised. Which didn't come as a surprise since as they hurt like a bitch. After rolling her shirt down and fixing it back, Laurel slowly made her way to the kitchen to retrieve ice for her ribs. On her journey, she took in her surroundings. Lady Shiva had a small and simple two bedroom house that was lost in the middle of nowhere in China (think countryside). When she reached the kitchen, she was met with ice packs at the ready sitting on the counter. She grabbed them and made her way to the small table sitting in the dining room. Once there she pulled a chair and sat down. Laurel laid back in the chair, placed an ice pack on her ribs and sighed. A few minutes later Lady Shiva entered the dining room carrying two cups of tea. She sat at the small table across from Laurel and placed one of the cups in front of her.

Shiva stared intently at Laurel with her cold, almond shaped eyes. Her stare made Laurel uncomfortable and self-conscious. Laurel fidgeted slightly and sat up straighter in the chair. Shiva was always able to make her feel on edge. That was how it had been for the few months that Laurel had been under Shiva's tutelage. They rarely spoke, Shiva didn't display much emotion, and she scared the hell out of Laurel. Shiva was perhaps the most dangerous woman on the planet and saying that she had a sketchy history was an understatement. There was no telling how much blood was on her hands with her assassin past. The woman took the lives of countless master martial artists with her bare hands. She was also a mercenary for hire and a former valued member of the League of Assassins. It was rather surprising that they weren't hot on her heels.

"You are improving," Shiva stated simply, voice broke Laurel out of her reverie. Laurel met her gaze in surprise. It sure didn't seem like she was improving. Every single sparring session was child's play to Lady Shiva. She beat Laurel with such embarrassing ease.

"Sure doesn't seem like it", Laurel replied softly. She tried with all her might to take in all of the knowledge and information Shiva poured into her. But when it came to putting it to practice during their sparring sessions, it didn't seem to show.

"You are learning and putting that knowledge to use. I see it when we spar and I see it when you are training on your own. I am simply much, much better than you" Shiva told her. Laurel smiled a bit at that. That was rather encouraging unlike the results of their one-sided sparring sessions. Lady Shiva was also not bragging, she was not one for that. Her skill set and capabilities were what they were. "Finish your tea, Little Bird. Then go clean up and rest. Tomorrow, you will train by yourself. I want you to PT (physical training), and work on your sword work. There will be no sparring. You need to heal and I will be gone for tonight and most of tomorrow", with that, Shiva got up and left the dining room. A few moments later Laurel heard the front door open and shut close, signaling Shiva's departure. After finishing her tea, Laurel got up from the table and placed both her and Shiva's cups in the sink.

She then made her way to her bedroom to grab some clothes and then made her way to the bathroom for a much needed shower. After entering the bathroom, she turned the shower on to its hottest temperature. She then stripped down and stepped into the water. She sighed and closed her eyes. Relishing in the hot water cascading down on her body. Laurel thought back as to how she ended up here on other side of the planet, far away from her home town.

It was an accumulations of things really. From needing to improve her skills, to losing a teacher in an injured Ted (a warmth spread through her at the thought of him), to needing some space from the team while they worked with the man who killed Sara (that thought never failed to piss her off), and finally the fallout with her father. After finally telling him about Sara, the lies, and about dressing up as her deceased sister, he exploded. So much to the point that she feared he would have a heart attack. He yelled at her in anger and broke down in sadness. When she tried to console him, he pushed her away. Laurel didn't blame him. What she did was horrible (C'mon y'all that voice thing was a bit too far).

The fear of losing her father had driven her to do things that destroyed the close relationship she had with him. Laurel shook herself out of her thoughts and finished her shower. She climbed out and slowly dried off and dressed, careful not to irritate her injured ribs. Once finished she left the bathroom and made her way to her room. When she entered her room she immediately climbed into bed and got under the covers. Apart from her injuries, she was very much exhausted. Shiva had her training from the crack of dawn to the late afternoon. She needed to rest for tomorrow as well as re surge her batteries. She was going to go hard at it as any other day despite her mentor's absence. Shortly after climbing into bed, Laurel drifted to sleep.

The next morning, Laurel was up and about before the sun rise. After breakfast, she began her day with hard, physical training. That included running for six miles, hundred push-ups, hanging sit ups, work on the pull up bar, and hundred lunges while carrying sandbags. She started off with her run. Running along the acres of land that Lady Shiva owned on the country side of China. Once she was finished, Laurel ran back to the yard of the house where she did her push-ups, alternating between different types. Standard, clapping, and even handstand push-ups. She then made her way to the side of the house to where the pull-up bar was located. She did pull-ups then pulled herself completely up over the bar, holding the position for as long as she could. Once she was finished, Laurel retrieved a sand bag from the back of the house and did her lunges in the yard. By now exhaustion was well set into her muscles but she pressed on. On the last lunge, she dropped the bag and laid down in the grass. She closed her eyes and let her exhausted muscles relax. After a moment, her eyes drifted open and she looked up into the sky. It was some time after mid-afternoon. Laurel felt her stomach grumbled and decided this was the best time for a lunch break.

She got up and dusted herself off, brushing off grass and dirt from her tank top and baggy pants. Once she was finished, Laurel made her way inside of the little house. First, she went to the bathroom to clean herself off. Her hands were dirty and she was covered in sweat. After washing herself up, Laurel made her way to the kitchen to fix herself a late lunch. She quickly ate and cleaned up the dishes she used. She then went to the weapons cabinet that was sitting in the living room. She opened it and retrieved a katana. With the weapon in hand she went back outside the house to practice with it. She walked out a little ways from the house and came to a stop. She unsheathed the weapon and watched as it glistened in the waning sunlight. After placing the sheath down near her, Laurel began to practice. She went through many different movements that Shiva had taught her. Slowly and effortlessly, she made her way through them.

Laurel could tell that she had come a long way in her swordsmanship and her physical shape. When she first arrived, she couldn't even make through half the day before collapsing in exhaustion. She could hardly do any of the exercises that Shiva had instructed her to do. Now, she could make it through them with some sort of ease (they were still pretty hard but that was the point). She was also now familiar with different weapons. The main ones being the katana and the Bo staff. The katana being something that Lady Shiva insisted on and the Bo staff being something she wanted to learn in order to honor her sister.

At first, she struggled greatly to use the weapons correctly. She fumbled and stumbled about with them. But over time, she became familiar with them. Learning how to use them and what movements to use with them. For the past few weeks, Shiva had been teaching her more and more advanced moves. After two hours of practicing, Laurel looked up into the sky and took note that the sun was setting. She decided that it would be best to call it a day and rest up for tomorrow. It would more than likely be spar heavy and she was still feeling the effects of yesterday. With that in mind Laurel picked up the sheath that belonged to the katana, sheathed the weapon and headed back to the house. Walking up to the house, she noticed that the door was left open. That set Laurel on edge. She always closed the door when leaving or entering the house. Shiva did the same as well. An intruder had entered the house.

Laurel unsheathed the weapon in her hand and her body tensed as she slowly approached the front door. She dropped the sheath as to hold the weapon with both hands. When she made it to the front door, she slowly opened door. She felt a movement come from her left side and she reacted immediately by whipping the sword towards that movement. She didn't strike the intruder but ended up holding the sword in the face of an unarmed Asian woman. The woman looked at her in surprise. "Who are you", Laurel asked, her voice strong. The woman held up her hands but did not answer Laurel's question.

"You're Laurel Lance", the woman said in awe. Laurel lowered her weapon slightly, taken aback by the stranger knowing her name. She'd never seen this woman in her life.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Laurel questioned.

"I am not here to hurt you. I know you because I saved your ex-boyfriend Oliver Queen. I helped him after his fight with Ra's Al Ghul. My name is Tastsu Yamashiro"

So, Laurel has just met a friend and is about five months into training with Lady Shiva. Lady Shiva is perhaps the best hand to hand fighter in the DCU. Even better than Batman. I will play that into my story because I love her to death. I'm thinking about sending Laurel home in the chapter or she might have a little team up with Katanna and Lady Shiva. Please, leave a review telling me what you think and what I can do to improve.