Yodle!
Hey, I told my reviewers and such that I would write this, and I do my best to keep my promises. It's not like people don't like bunnies anyway, so don't you dare flame the bunny. Flame me, but not the bunny.
So yeah; I don't own Teen Titans. I don't even own the bunny; I based it off of a friend's. She's a lucky female dog; we can't have pets because my sister's allergic to everything, even grass, no lie.
It was by far, the most odd creature Raven had ever encountered. It wasn't the first odd one, but the way it looked, moved, and, well. . . the way it simply existed, just couldn't be described in any means that she knew of, human or otherwise.
Sure, ever since she had come from beyond the 'room' of hers, animals seemed to have a habit of entering her room even when any and all possible entrances were blocked, but still. This animal topped the baby calf by far.
"What. . . what are you?" Raven spoke up hesitantly, and in response the furry creature only flicked its oddly shaped and long ears, black eyes staring up at her.
Raven was at a loss of what to do. She was supposed to stay away from this sort of thing. But they came to her, and she wasn't supposed to harm them either. And she didn't know how to get it to go away. . . . . it was quite the conundrum (a word that Raven knew worked because Azar told her what it meant and Azar would never lie to her. Never.).
". . . . Go away?" The strange creature only looked at her for a moment before resuming its, sitting - or squatting, possibly - on the floor. Maybe she shouldn't have stated it as a question, but she would get in trouble if she tried to force something else to do something she wanted. Of course, she wasn't supposed to want either, so. . . . . . "Would you please go away before your presence causes me to accidentally destroy you and the rest of all existence?"
Still nothing. This wasn't working.
"Uh, you really need to go," Raven tried, not phrasing it as a demand, but not sounding like it had many other options. Still, it just looked at her with blank, black eyes.
The small ten year-old let out a sigh as she hopped onto her large bed - much bigger than it should be for one of her size anyway - and began to swing her legs with a resigned abandon (if such a thing could be accomplished by a child of her state that is).
". . . You'll starve if you stay here," Raven stated simply, trying to get the thing to understand. The creature only looked at her again, it's brown mass giving away no signs of any comprehension. ". . . Do you even understand me?"
You'll never guess what the response was this time.
Raven let out another frustrated growl, which soon vanished into a deadpan face as she closed her eyes and placed her hands together when black energy crackled.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath. . ."
There was something touching her foot. Something wet, and solid, touching her bare foot. Doing her very best to keep her breathing under control, she opened one eye very slowly, trying to ignore the part of her that was screaming and running around the room (she's not allowed to do that, that's a big no no, she'll get in trouble).
The thing that was formerly motionless looked up at her, black eyes shining indifferently. Raven didn't know how long they made eye contact, but she knew, knew, that there was no way she was going to look away first. She may be a harbringer of destruction, but a ten year-old has their pride to worry about. And Azar was the only one she'd even think about conceding too. It was as simple as that.
Unfortunately, it seemed this one didn't get the memo. The creature kept eye contact every single second that passed its twitching nose and whiskers the only sign of movement. Eventually, even Raven had to admit defeat, looking away with what may have been a scoff, if she was allowed such things.
"This is pointless," she spoke aloud, casting what was almost (but never actually) a dark look. "You don't even understand sentient speech. I'm not going to try to engage you any longer. That's a fool's thing to do." At least that was something that sister Genevieve would probably say. And sister Genevieve was apparently right about these things, if her feelings of conviction and righteousness were anything to go by. Azar would say that she was simply, simply. . . . pompous, she believed the word was. She'd have to ask Azar to explain what the word meant later.
Raven frowned. She almost forgot. She had been told that she wasn't supposed to go and ask Azar these things anymore.
And then her bare foot felt a nose touch her heel again. Raven looked down to see the thing looking at her again, just as emotionless as before. Raven frowned.
"You are a strange creature. I hope you are aware of that." In response, the creature let out a sneeze, shaking its head before resuming to its task of pressing its nose against her foot. "Why are you doing that?"
"Hey! Get back here! Don't let it get -"
Raven looked up towards the sudden yelling to see a blur burst through her door and land on her bed, wagging tail and slobbering face completely. It was quite sudden, very unsuspecting. So very surprising, that there was no way even someone as composed as Azar or even Arella would be able to not react. That was logically, sensibly, and essentially true.
At least, that's how Raven really, really liked to think the monks would see it when they took a look at what was once a livable room. She wasn't quite sure how shards of the chair had gotten into the ceiling, but at least no one was bleeding. That had to count for something, right?
Two different monks raced in and secured the puppy that was now trying to eat Raven's face (luckily the bed managed to survive that encounter, though Raven was not happy with the slobber), while Azar walked in at a much calmer and slower pace.
As the puppy was removed from her room, Raven couldn't ignore the exasperation and frustration on the two monks. Not only did they have to take care of the animal (get it away from her and keep it away, find out whether or not it had an owner, find the owner, etc.), but they'd have to fix her room later. Raven felt their (because she couldn't have feelings like that) build up inside her. If those animals would just leave her alone, this wouldn't happen. If she could just be left alone no one would be bothered.
"It's just so bothersome," Raven spoke as she began to swing her legs again. "What's so great about here that they feel the need to go through the trouble of breaking in here every time?"
Azar - who had remained oddly silent this whole time - chuckled a bit before turning to the one window in the room.
"Well, it is said that animals have a great sense of empathy." Raven looked over at her teacher.
"They do?"
"Yes," Azar nodded at her ten year-old student. "They can sense things about a person that no one else can by themselves. And since most animals are innocent creatures, they have a habit of trying to. . . cheer up someone if they're depressed, sad, or lonely."
". . . Is. . . is that why doves are constantly by Arella's chamber?" Raven frowned. It seemed that every time she saw the woman outside (which was very rare, and usually from a window), birds were flying around her like a protective halo, shielding her from any harshness from the world. Making up for what she had already experienced; at least that's what it seemed like.
"Perhaps." Azar responded as she moved towards the door. "Our lesson will be moved to three o'clock tomorrow, remember that."
"Yes Azar."
"And Raven?" Azar turned to her student with a small smile before closing the door.
"If you want to keep it from the other monks, I suggest you find a better hiding place for that rabbit under your bed."
Raven blinked a bit once the door was closed, before getting off and looking under her bed, to find a very familiar furry creature wedged in, black eyes staring back at her blankly as she had come to expect.
"You didn't leave?" Raven asked in bewilderment. This was new. Explosions usually made most animals leave so that they could protect their well being, what with the survival instinct. "So I guess you're not very smart either." When there was no response (as was expected), Raven huffed out a breath and resumed her spot on her bed. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Aza-"
Raven froze, every molecule of her body suddenly aware, all of her empathy automatically pinpointing to one being. Every sense on alert, no matter how hard she tried to stop. Every time, like some sort of instinct.
Slowly, so no one would sense her sudden demeanor change, Raven crawled over to the window, barely raising her head to look out. Where anyone to look up, they'd see a mop of purple hair and two similarly colored eyes, and if they had really good vision they might see a red flash of color as well.
Luckily, the person who Ravne was focused on didn't seem to have good vision in the middle of the day.
Arella slowly made her away down the path, stopping briefly for a moment as a dove (among several others flying around or on her shoulders) gently rested on her wrist before she continued her way into a tower to the right of Raven's.
The ten year-old slowly moved away from the window, wondering briefly why she could never stop looking. What was it she was looking for anyway? She slowly let her legs dangle off the edge of the bed, slowly swinging with a heaviness that hadn't been there before.
And then cold wet nose tapped her thigh.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Raven asked as she looked at the thing - rabbit, Azar had said, rabbit - that had somehow gotten onto her bed. "Are you really empathetic like me?" There was silence. A cold indifference seemed to emanate from this creature, and it was so familiar it almost scared Raven so much.
"Well," Raven huffed. "You obviously can't be, because I'm not upset. I'm not allowed to feel upset." The legs retracted themselves from the edge, and Raven rested her head on her knees. "I'm not allowed to feel anything, so you're stupid."
The rabbit placed its forepaws on her leg, and Raven slowly gathered its furry bulk into her arms. She held it to her body, pressing her emotionless face against the soft brown fur. She took a deep breath, knowing very well that in a few moments she'd have to put it down, before the monks came to clean and found the rabbit and took it away like anything else that showed any kind of interest in her. Azar was the only exception, and how long was that going to last anyway?
"Stupid rabbit."
And there it is. The epic, all-knowing, loneliness sensing bunny pwns all. It's a fact of life.
I hope this wasn't too bad; I've never done an entire story thing on young Raven. I hope I managed to get what I feel she'd have been like as a kid down right. If not, go on and tell me. That way I can improve.
And for those who wonder where I came up with this, click on the profile button - you know where it is - and check out Welcome To Jump. One of the chapters will explain everything (no I won't tell you, that'd spoil my master plan to get you to read and review the whole thing). And, if you feel like it, read No Excuse and Throughout The Ages (this one does have BBxRae in end, so be warned if you don't like that).
And for my loyal reader-reviewers who have come, I apologize for my absence. Things have been happening; all I'm gonna say.
Anywho, hope you enjoyed!
Yodle!