Chapter 1

Shayera Hol flinched as the explosion blew her back against the wall. She tried to stand up but the ship rattled, knocking her down again. She moaned in pain as she felt the broken bones in her wings rattle against her back. She desperately tried to reach the control panel, but another explosion from the right wing of the ship threw her to the left side of the ship.
It was supposed to be a simple patrolling mission. That's all it was. She was just supposed to take her ship and patrol the city, then return back to headquarters where she was going to quickly change out of her armor and go home in time for her brother's coming of age ceremony. With this celebration, he would be inducted to the Academy and be well on his way to become a captain or a general. Anything better than the officer position she currently had. She shouldn't complain though it was better than holding the private rank, but she was already tired of being overlooked by Chieftain Azure who seemed to favor the other Captains over her. Shayera honestly couldn't understand why she was overlooked. She did her best to be a good captain, she even helped capture and imprison several dangerous criminals-whether they were Thanagarians or visiting aliens.
The ship rattled again and the glass on the windshield cracked under the strain. Shayera blearily looked at it before closing her eyes and waiting for the ship to finally either crash in wherever the destination was or explode in warp space. Her patrol around the city had turned into a high-speed chase into the stars.
Byth Rok, the notorious pirate, had escaped military prison and hijacked a military ship stocked with several important artifacts. Shayera was the only one who was capable of chasing him down. Every other officer on hand was ready to retire for the night. She had managed to intercept him but at a fatal cost. She didn't know that he had already set up the hyperdrive and was ready to make the jump. She intercepted him just as he had pushed the button and the ship collided with hers. Shayera's ship managed to withstand the impact from Byth's ship and was still held together when Byth's ship exploded. Shayera watched as Byth's ship exploded, sending debris in every direction and a kinetic wave that rocked her ship. She was too busy trying to keep her ship from careening in warp space that she didn't see the broken wing of Byth's ship hit against the side of her ship.
Shayera panicked when she lost control of her ship. She tried to regain control, but the ship was already pulled into the warp space meaning that any attempt to get out would be fruitless. Shayera had struggled for less than half a minute before the explosions began, with one catching her from behind and breaking her wings.
Now here she was, huddled in a corner waiting for the end to come. She felt her mace bump against her leg and she looked at it with tired eyes. It was her father's mace and was given to her during her own coming of age ceremony. She was never seen without it after it was handed to her and she proudly used it, often at times preferring it over the other advanced weapons that was supplied to the law enforcement forces. Now as she looks at it, she could feel tears swell up as she thought of her family. She will never get to see her brother grow up, she will never get to attend the Wiendiga Festival with her mother, she will never get to have witty conversations with her father again. She was going to lose so much over her brash desire to end things quickly.
The ship rattled again and Shayera could see outside the cracking windshield that she was exiting warp space. The ship rocked violently as it exited warp space and Shayera could see unfamiliar planets pass by her. She again attempted to stand on shaky legs and could see a blue planet in the midst. It had several large land masses but the majority of the planet seemed to be covered in water, very different from Thanagar.
An explosion on the left wing sent the ship hurtling towards the planet and knocking Shayera off her feet again. She could feel the orbit of the planet pulling her in. One look outside the window and Shayera could see fire surrounding her ship. The sound of torn metal was heard and Shayera knew that if she didn't make at least an effort to escape from the ship, then she would be doomed to die in the ship and she would be damned if she at least didn't meet her end fighting.
She crawled over to the side of the cabin and with her mace in hand she whacked against the wall. As the ship neared the waters, Shayera managed to break open a hole large enough for her to crawl through. As she crawled through, she tumbled into the air and with great strain she spread her wings to attempt to slow down her fall. She screamed out loud as pain shot through her shoulders and straight into her head. Black spots clouded her vision and she struggled to keep her wings open. Just when she thought she would hit the water, she felt herself skim over it. She wobbled a bit as she struggled to keep the pain at bay, but the black spots became bigger as her wings began to feel numb.
Shayera felt herself dip towards the water and before she could even comprehend the danger, she was submerged in water. A new type of pain invaded her mind and Shayera began to struggle in the water. She quickly looked around the dark water and could see a glowing orb up above her. She swam to the surface and began to scream as her wounds began to burn. She quickly looked around to see her burning ship sinking below the waters and a nearby cliffside. She swam towards the cliffside, struggling as her burning wings weighed her down before they went numb, becoming deadweight. It didn't help that her armor was also a weighing factor but she didn't have the time to remove it as the waves jostled her around.
When she reached the shores underneath the jutted cliff, she crawled until she was a good distance away from the low-tide. She rested up against the cliff and watched as the last remaining parts of her ship sank in the distance. It was dark and Shayera could see that this planet had a moon overhead. She tried to light up the electrical charge of her mace, but she decided that she should only take it out in emergency. No point letting any possible spies or scouts know what she's capable of. She looked at the stars and almost choked out a sob when she realized that she didn't recognize any constellations that were up above her. Where was she? Shayera looked at herself and aside from a few dents in her armor and her mace still attached to her hip, nothing seemed to be out of place.
Shayera licked her lips, tasting the water. It was bitter and it held properties that seemed very similar to the sodium solutions Thanagarian doctors use to speed up the healing enzymes that Thanagarians hold. This explains why her wounds were burning, her wounds were being dried up but Shayera knew that she would have to find a stable medical solution before infection sets in. Shayera wondered if all of the water carried sodium in this planet. She had accidently drank some of the water swimming to shore and she was already feeling the effects of dehydration. Shayera felt the numbness fade away and could feel her wings again. They twitched when she moved her shoulders but the pain had thankfully dulled down to a slight throbbing, but that only meant that she needed to tend to her wounds quickly. Shayera shivered as a breeze blew past. It was cold and Shayera needed to find shelter before hypothermia sets in. Shayera spotted a steep incline going up the cliffside and gritted her teeth before making her way towards it.
She grabbed the smooth stone edge and attempted to climb up. Pain shot through her again as she strained her muscles and pulled herself up over the edge. Shayera gave a small cry as she felt her wings brush up against the cliff walls. The incline had walls on both sides and she was beginning to feel claustrophobic. She walked up the incline, gripping the walls with her hands, often at times slipping and cutting open a new wound on her fingers. She couldn't retract her wings to fold against her body through her pain and instead gritted her teeth as they brushed up against the walls.

By the time Shayera reached the top of the cliff, she wanted death to be upon her. Her head felt as though it was going through a vice so she removed her mask in order to give her head some relief. It worked for a moment and she felt good enough to place the mask back on. She took in short gasps of air as her lungs felt as though they were collapsing in on themselves. She felt her legs give out from underneath again and she fell, smacking her head against the ground. Shayera closed her eyes and tried to gather more strength, but she was so tired. She lifted her head and saw that she was at the entrance of a thick forest. She crawled over to a tree trunk and laid down up against it, feeling her mace bump against her leg.
Tears of frustration ran down her face as she looked up into the night sky. The moon illuminated the sky and ground. Shayera had no way to understand where she was or if she was the only inhabitant of this strange planet. She recalled seeing illuminating dots decorate the planet, but was it civilization or a new form of botany that glows? Shayera had no way to know unless she investigated. She got up from her position and gritted her teeth against the pain, not wanting to cry out in case she attracts any predators.
Shayera forced herself to move deeper into the forest, her hands wrapped around her body to preserve heat and to hold her wings closer to her body. She walked all through the night, trying to find some form of civilization. She hoped that they spoke a language she is familiar with. The only languages that she could speak aside from Thanagarian was Tamaran and Jurgon, the universal language of her galaxy. She never bothered to learn more since she had it in her mind that she was never going to leave Thanagar.
Shayera walked until she felt as though knives were poking at her feet. Her mace bumped against her leg with every step she took. She hoped she made it further into land and away from any potential predators. Shayera almost gave up until the ground she stepped on sounded differently. She looked down to realize that unlike the dirt ground, she was stepping on a black smooth surface with double yellow lines running down the middle.
Shayera observed the black surface with interest. It seemed artificially made and not something naturally occurring. Shayera looked at both ends of the artificial ground and decided that going west would give her a better chance to find civilization.
The sky was turning into a lighter shade of blue which Shayera took to mean that morning was coming. She wanted to rest and sleep for the day and stop the exhaustion and dehydration from overwhelming her, but Shayera was determined to make it home so she needed to know at least what type of alien-life she was dealing with. Her wings provided Shayera a small shield against the wind but it didn't stop Shayera from feeling the coldness that hung in the air.
She was so tired… The black spots returned in her vision and Shayera attempted to keep them away by stopping and shaking her head a bit. She could feel her senses shutting down and Shayera realized that she needed to rest, whether she wants to or not. Shayera was so tired that she didn't move fast enough to even look over her shoulder to hear the roar of an incoming vehicle come from behind her. The last feeling she was aware of was an extreme pain on her back before unconsciousness finally overtook Shayera.

"What was that!?" Yelled out Tim Drake, as Bruce Wayne parked the Batmobile to the side. It was a long night of crime-fighting and the Batmobile suffered through intense damages from Bane as the masked villain tried to reach Tim in the vehicle. Throughout the beating, much of the tech on the Batmobile were destroyed. Tech such as the radar and night vision setting were glitching, causing the windshield to distort and impair vision. Bruce and Tim had quickly made quick work on Bane and after surveying the city decided to call it a night and quickly return to the Batcave to fix their broken vehicle for another night of crime fighting. The duo looked around the vehicle to spot a prone body lying beside the hidden road that led to the dead end; of course it really wasn't a dead end but the entrance to the Batcave.
"Oh no! We killed somebody!" Cried of Tim as he rushed out of the vehicle and ignoring Bruce's order to wait. He ran quickly towards the body, hoping that perhaps through some miracle the person lived despite getting run over at eighty miles per hour. He stopped far enough to see the person-woman-still breathing. He breathed a sigh of relief as Bruce came up behind him, carrying a first aide kit.
"She's ok." he said as he led the way towards the woman. Tim wondered though how anyone could survive any incoming projectile at eighty miles per hour: was she a Super? A Meta? He walked towards the woman determined to help when he felt Bruce's hand grasp his shoulder to stop him.
"What are you doing? She needs our help!" Said Tim as he tried to fight off Bruce's hand.
"Wait." ordered Bruce as he pushed Tim back a bit. He cautiously approached the unconscious woman before his widened when he saw the broken wings attached to the woman's back and the deadly mace attached to her hip.
Bruce walked up to the side of the woman and knelt down, setting the first aide kit by his side. He looked over the woman to see that she was covered with fresh wounds, but not from his vehicle. Her armor, mask, and mace glinted in the morning sun, making her seem more lethal than calm. Bruce then saw fresh blood seeping from her wound and realized that she needed immediate medical attention. He bent down and picked her up bridal style, being mindful of her wounds and her broken wings.
"Bruce? Is she an angel?" asked Tim as he saw for the first time the wings, the armor and mace. He watched as his mentor laid the woman across the backseat face down, being mindful of the wings.
"I'm not sure who or what she is. She might even hold some answers though to the recent murders lately." Explained Bruce.
"You mean the dismembered heartless ones?" Asked Tim. The increase of dead bodies with their hearts ripped out was steadily rising for the past three weeks and Gotham soon had a curfew placed in an attempt to stop the body count and catch the criminal responsible. Bruce was the one to notice that the murders coincided with a meteor crash that happened just outside of Gotham in the Midway National Park. Bruce had investigated the crash landing before scientists had arrived and spotted footsteps leading away from the crash. He made an attempt to follow but the tracks ended as though whoever crash landed simply disappeared without a trace. If whoever walked away from the meteor was the same as the woman in the backseat, then chances were that the escapee had wings as well.
Tim jumped into the passenger seat while Bruce hopped in the drivers seat. After checking on the woman and making sure that she was secured and comfortable, Batman and Robin made their way to the Batcave.

Shayera groaned in pain as she attempted to sit up from her face down position. She was aware that she was in a vehicle of some sort, but she couldn't see who was piloting it. She was only aware of quiet whispers and the sight of black leather. She wondered if she had been abducted and attempted to sit up in alarm once the thought settled in.
The pain she felt previously was still there from when whatever had hit her in the back. She whimpered and tried again only to feel her wings twitch involuntarily in protest. Shayera struggled for a while until she heard someone hushing her and stroking her hair from behind. Shayera couldn't see who it was, but the effect was working: she felt comforted and safe by the hesitant small hands. She tried to keep her eyes open but her fatigue won out in the end and she closed her eyes to resume her sleep. The last thing she was aware of was the gentle voice hushing her and the hands stroking her hair.
Tim had first heard the woman wake up when he heard shuffling in the backseat and alerted Bruce. "Try to get her back to sleep," whispered Bruce, "I can't have her awake while I work on her wounds. They look like they might be infected and it might scare her if she was awake through the process of disinfecting them."
Tim had no idea how to get the woman to sleep, so he did the only thing he could think of. He reached out his hand and began to stroke the woman's hair. Tim surprised himself when he began to hush to her in an attempt to soothe her, much like how Barbara does whenever she slept over at the Wayne Mansion and he had his nightmares.
To his surprise the woman was calming down and before he knew it, she was back asleep.
"You might want to thank Barbara the next time she's over." Said Bruce. Tim looked over at Bruce to see him smirking at him and blushed. He looked over at the sleeping woman is me last time before facing forward. It only took about five more minutes until they reached the entrance to the Batcave.
Bruce pressed a button on the control panel and the dead end of the road opened up to reveal a cave tunnel. They sped on inside and parked in the middle of one of the world's most secretive places. With gadgets and advanced computers decorating the walls, the Batcave is a state of the art detective office.
Bruce and Tim both jumped out of the Batmobile and proceeded to set up the medical table. Bruce went back to the car and gently lifted the woman up, being careful of her wings. He set her down on the medical table face down and immediately hooked her up to the machines in order to keep her sedated and keep track of her vitals. He removed her mace and bulking armor, leaving her dressed in her tracksuit and her mask.
Tim meanwhile gently removed the woman's mask and backed away to let Bruce clean out the woman's wounds from the back of her head. Tim could now see that the woman was beautiful and wondered who she was. Was she the one causing the heartless murders? There really was no way to know until she woke up. Once Bruce had managed to bandage her head wounds, he began to work on her wings while Tim walked around holding clean bandages. Bruce gently turned the woman over and folded her wings carefully, bandaging them to ensure that they won't pop open and reopen any wounds. After a full four hours of helping the woman, Bruce and Tim were exhausted but satisfied to know that she was well on her way to getting healed.

Bruce had earlier on asked his oldest friend, Alfred, if he would keep an eye on the woman while he and Tim rested and in came the loyal friend carrying hot soup and water in his hands.

"Alfred, she's asleep." said Bruce as he eyed the hot soup and water bottle in Alfred's hands.

"When she awakens sir, she will be needing nourishment. I have heard in the news that an unidentified craft was spotted in the bottom of the coast off of Miller Harbor." informed Alfred as he set the soup and water down beside on the table and sat down in the armchair before proceeding to read the paper.

"I'll investigate right now. Tim, stay with Alfred and keep an eye on her. If anything changes I want you to contact me immediately." said Bruce. Tim gave him a one-handed salute before plopping down in the computer chair and proceeded to knock out. Bruce just shook his head and left, wanting to investigate the site and perhaps visiting Commissioner Gordon.

Hey readers, hopefully you liked the first chapter. Reviews and suggestions are taken with open arms, thank you :)