HI! I asked porcelaindakota if I could finish off this story and she said yes. These first four chapters are hers but anything after that is mine; I hope I can live up to the first four chapters!
KKA
(Starfire).
"There are many things he does not know about me.
"Robin, I mean. He does know more than Cyborg or Beast Boy…but in many ways, that is not saying much. Robin is my closest confidant. He will always hold a special place in my heart…but I digress.
"What you are about to read…it is my story. It is the story of my trials, my hardships, and my pain. In some sections, it is the story of my joy…but it does not begin that way. My story does not begin that way at all…"
(Eight years earlier…Tamaran).
The sickening stench of blood was thick in the air, as nine-year-old Koriand'r ran through the hidden stairwells and corridors beneath the Imperial Palace, dragged along by her k'norfka, Galfore.
Tamaran was under attack by a vicious alien race known as the Citadel. They had conquered all of the planets in the Vegan Star System…except for Tamaran. And so, they were storming the castle, determined to cripple their final opponent once and for all.
Meanwhile, the royal family, excluding King Myand'r, who was supervising the battle upstairs, and Komand'r, who had been gone for several months, were fleeing for their lives as the battle for Tamaran raged overhead. Even through the nearly impenetrable stone and steel that made up the palace walls, Koriand'r could still manage to hear the screams of the wounded and dying. She couldn't help but wonder if she was next.
"Just a little further, my bungorf…we are almost there!" Galfore shouted, his voice engulfed in the cries of those in the palace above. Suddenly, the wall on Koriand'r's right blew apart. Koriand'r let out one cry of disbelief, and fell into Galfore's waiting arms. From behind the wall, Citadellians emerged, guns at the ready.
"Give us the princess," their leader said in his alien language. Galfore straightened and moved Koriand'r behind him, eyes narrowing.
"Never," he growled, preparing for battle. Tamaranian royal guardsman stepped out from all sides of the enormous man, also readying to defend the princess.
"You do not understand," the Citadellian returned. "We are taking her. If you value your life, or those of your warriors," he pointed at the surrounding guardsmen with his outstretched arm, "You will give us the girl." In response, Galfore leapt towards the alien, screaming out an incensed battle cry.
(Present).
"Starfire?" Starfire looked up from her musings to see Robin gazing at her questioningly. She had been so deep in her thoughts she had not even seen him enter the room, much less sit down next to her.
She smiled sweetly…deceivingly, she couldn't help thinking. "Yes, Robin?" He grinned back, obviously glad to see her change in demeanor, though his smile faltered when he spoke.
"What's wrong?" Starfire knew to act as if she was surprised by his instigation
"Friend, nothing is wrong! I simply became overly engrossed in the program of the television!" Starfire had been 'watching' her favorite show, The World of Fungus. Robin shook his head, and grabbed her hand lightly.
"Then what is this?" Starfire looked down at her hand, confused, and could not help but gasp when she saw the damage. It appeared that, during the midst of her thoughts, she had begun clenching her fist…hard. Her nails had dug into the flesh of her hand, going deeper than they would have on a normal human's, thanks to her superhuman strength. There was a deep, abrupt cut down the center of her palm, disrupting the silky landscape of the rest of her hand. Blood was flowing freely and dripping slowly onto her uniform, the couch, and Robin's hand.
"Just 'watching,' huh?" Robin said, staring at her intently, waiting for an answer which Starfire did not give.
Instead, she stood abruptly, causing Robin to fall back in surprise. "I must go, friend! I have just remembered…I have to, um…" Unable to think of an excuse, she fled from the room, leaving a miniscule trail of blood on the carpeting.
"Starfire! Wait!" Robin called after her, leaping up from the floor and beginning to give chase. But by the time he had reached her room, her door had been long since shut and locked.
Inside, Starfire was leaning against the door, panting heavily and clutching her hand against her bare stomach. It was no small feat to beat the Boy Wonder at sprinting, after all. After regaining her breath, the Tamaranian ventured into her bathroom, and opened a small drawer. She removed gauze and bandages and began to wrap her hand, while wondering how to calm Robin.
He would, no doubt, be worried. Which presented a problem to her…when Robin was worried, or anxious about any of his teammates, not just Starfire, (though especially so with her), he would not stop at any lengths until he could put his worries at rest. And Starfire had no intention of telling him anything about her past. Especially not of the events that had transpired that night, or many of the nights thereafter.
Hard, heavy thumps came from the door to her room. Robin…she thought hazily. He will wish to know if I am all right…help me with my bandage…from there, her thoughts trailed off, and once again she was gone from Earth, no longer Starfire.
Now, she was 9 once again, on Tamaran, shortly after that awful night. Her father had just ended the war…
(Flashback)
Her father had ended the war…
"But at what price?" many had asked. Their answer had come the next day, when King Myand'r had made a grand statement to all of the peoples of Tamaran: he had, in effect, traded his daughter for peace.
That was the cynical side of it. The actual deal was that in exchange for the royal hostage, Tamaran would be allowed to walk free. Koriand'r would act as a treaty, sealing an uncomfortable peace over the two great races of the Vegan Star System.
She was leverage. With Koriand'r as part of the Citadel, Tamaran would never take revenge upon the murderers that had destroyed half of their planet and warriors.
The announcement had come days ago. Now, Koriand'r was bidding her parents and brother, Ryand'r, goodbye. No tears showed as the tiny princess boarded the Citadel's ship, which would whisk her away from her family, and the only home she had ever known, into a life which would be…difficult, at aroyal hostage was not for the light of heart.
But it was the role life had assigned to her, and Koriand'r accepted it with dignity, as Galfore had taught her. Koriand'r was never one to sulk or to pity herself; it was simply not what she did. Galfore had instilled in her a sense of grace and character that she would carry with her until her death.
The hold door shut with a hiss, and the ship pulled away from its docking near the palace. Koriand'r gave one final wave to her family, which only Galfore and Ryand'r returned. The rest of them never had been much for affection, she reflected.
A Citadellian grabbed her roughly by the arm, and gestured for her to follow him. He led her to a room at the far end of the ship. Its corridor was entirely deserted, and its walls were adorned in paintings of Citadellians and other races in…considerable pain. The Citadellian pressed a button, and the door slid open slowly. Koriand'r stepped into the room, unsure. She was greeted with a face she hadn't seen in over two years…
(Present)
"Star, open up!" Starfire shook her head, clearing her senses slightly, and looked around herself. She was back in her room, on her bathroom floor. She supposed she must have fallen during her reverie…
"Star, open the door, or I'm kicking it down!" The tense quality of Robin's tone jerked Starfire all the way back into reality, and she painstakingly raised herself from the tiled floor. Evidently, she was too late.
There was a loud, crashing sound from her bedroom, and her door fell to the ground with a metallic clanging noise. Robin entered, his expression stormy, and purposefully strode over to Starfire in no more than four steps.
He grabbed her by the arm. "We're taking you to the infirmary. Now." He was scowling profusely, and his fist was clenched.
"Robin, I have no need. See?" Starfire held up her already-bandaged hand, waving it slowly in the air. "I am fine, Robin. You must calm down!" Starfire decided this would be a good point upon which to turn the conversation.
"This stress, Robin…it is not good for you. If you keep this up, you shall lose your gangva to the thimbars!" Her words caused him to grin slightly, and his grip to relax. Starfire knew she had control, and continued. She glanced pointedly out the window, pasting a wistful smile on her face. Robin noticed, and turned to look at the horizon outside, which had turned a beautiful burning orange due to the onset of dusk.
Robin grinned even wider, Starfire's coaxing allowing the tribulations of earlier to be forgotten. "Wanna go watch the sunset?" Starfire nodded enthusiastically, and completely genuinely. It was no secret she loved watching the sunset with Robin.
Starfire grabbed his hand, now forgetting her terrors from earlier. "Please, let us hurry! We may not be able to witness all of it!" Robin blushed slightly at the contact, but squeezed her hand as he pulled her out of the door, his cape fluttering behind them. He would die before admitting it, but he was strangely eager whenever an opportunity to watch anything with Star came around.
(Deep Space…Earth orbit).
The astronaut cried out in pain as the claws of the alien cut through his suit, and down to his unprotected skin. His cries ceased, however, when the same claws slashed through his airline, leaving him tethered to the outside of the space station, lifeless.
Inside, the intruders quickly incapacitated the crew and skulked to the control room, to the hub of the main computer. Their leader's claws flew over the keyboard, and an overview of the space station came to the screen, one section highlighted and flashing brightly. The alien put a claw to the screen pensively, slowly drawing his scaly finger over the console. Then, he turned to the others and issued a command in his native tongue.
In less than ten minutes, all of the station's weaponry, communications devices, and memory databases had been uprooted from their place and moved into the intruder's ship. The aliens had loaded themselves back onto their ship, leaving the wounded astronauts on the spaces station.
Once all of his crew was loaded on board, the lead alien masterfully guided his ship, which, throughout all of this, had gone undetected, away from the station. His legion had disabled all of the station's support systems…the astronauts would be dead within the hour. It would be days before NASA would realize something was wrong.
Chortling under his breath at the Earthlings' stupidity, the commander eased back in his chair and redirected his attention to the stations' stolen memory bases.
Perhaps they would be useful in locating the girl.
