Sister's grief

Chapter one:

The message

The day was calm and peaceful for a change, an event rarely seen anymore, and the titans were free to enjoy themselves. The first to suggest leaving the tower was Starfire, wanting to see some new movie that had come out, but to the rest of them it looked childish and boring with to many clouds and rainbows for the rest of them, so they all ended up staying home. Robin was there to keep her company anyway so she wasn't unhappy anymore. Cyborg had challenged BeastBoy to a new game he bought the moment the store opened and the two had been locked in combat since, regardless of the fact that the sun was beginning to set. Lastly Raven had her usual pastime that was boring to the others, but, by far, her favorite pastime: reading.

She had dug through her shelves and found a book she rarely read anymore. It was called Untamed, named after the heroin she admired as a child. For a moment the Azrathian was surprised she had the book anymore, it's heart wrenching tale almost to much for her, but she still opened it and read it once more promising herself that when she came to the end she would stop and put it away.

Only a few things distracted her from the Azrathian legend. One of which was the breathtaking view of the sunset still falling over the horizon of the city. Streaks of golden sunlight stretched out to the sky from behind skyscrapers. Clouds were painted by its light so they held an almost creamy shade of gold. Truly it was a beautiful sight.

The second was a bird that caught the attention of all in the room. It was almost exactly like an eagle, with the exception of its brightly colored feathers ranging from red to orange making it look like fire in the setting sun. It circled the tower once, twice, and then a third time before it changed the angle of its flight and tackled he widow that also served as a TV for Beastboy for the moment. Unlike other foul that hit the transparent glass before it broke through, its hard head crashing into the glass as its wings tucked in and it died.

Instantly the titans gathered around it, Raven sighing as she put down the book. Beastboy was already wining about having a dead bird right next to him. The Azrathian pulled him away from where it lay and looked to Starfire who knelt beside it. Her movements were slow, almost as if she to was grieving for the loss of the bird. She took from its talons, the muscles forever clasped around what she easily took from him, a small rolled piece of paper. At first Robin looked over her shoulder to read with her, but then stepped away.

"It is a message from Tameran!" She identified quickly, partially because it was written in her language. "It says, Surrender the gems?" She paused and gave the paper quizzical look, "That is a funny thing to ask of me. But that is all it says."

"But what are you giving up?" Robin asked, "If it's something important then you should have us go with you."

"I'd imagine it is, but, you see, I have no gems to give." She sighed and her head hung, "Perhaps I shall return home and the Grand Ruler shall make this clear to me."

"We'll go with you."

"No," She sighed instantly becoming sad, "Something tells me I must be alone. I feel as though something very, very bad will happen and I must be alone." Then, without saying good by to the leader she flew through the hole in the widow and soared higher into space.

Raven took the bird in her arms and started to walk away, but Beastboy stopped her, as she should have expected. "What are you gonna do with it?" he asked.

"Take him to the water and leave him there." She answered not wanting to hear the reaction that came instantly.

"You can't just dump him! He's an eagle! How'd you like it if someone started throwing ravens in the water for fun."

"I wouldn't care and he's not an eagle, he just looks like it." She sighed, "This is a Talmerainian Cesark, a trained messenger who expects no reply. His life's purpose is to deliver a message and keep the person he delivers it to from answering by dyeing. Afterward they are buried in water and it dissolves."

"But why? He should get like a funeral or something."

"He's not an earth bird. Out there, where people don't wonder if there is life on other planets, things are a lot different. Don't be surprised. You can join me if you want." He shook his head and then became a bird himself, no different than the one she held save for his green pelt, and flew away going she didn't want to know where.

On the rocky shore of the tower Raven took one last look at the bird and hesitated. It was wearing something, a chain necklace tight to its throat so it wouldn't slip off during its mission or suicide. Hanging from it was a pendant, nothing more than a small hexagon that held a small blood red symbol. It was impossible that she could see it, a small S with little red marks around it. The mark of scath, the symbol of her father, dead now for years. But was she really strong enough to kill him herself, or simply weaken his power?

Whatever the case she knew what she had to do now and took to the skies taking only a slightly different path of travel than Starfire did. She could have used magic, but wanted to delay the journey, she didn't want to go.

But somehow or another she was going to face Trigon again