Author's note: Hello! I wrote this late one night. ^.^ I might be partially sadistic~ But anyway, this is a nightmare that Starfire has one night~
Hope you enjoy~
Disclaimer: I don't own TT
Starfire walked happily along the streets, sunset just arriving in Jump City. She strolled down the sidewalk, occasionally stopping to look in a store window or wave to a passing person. She was glad that Robin had asked her to patrol on this night. The weather was wonderful, and the streets were quiet.
She was so excited to finish her patrols and get back to the tower, where Beast Boy had promised a wondrous movie night. She giggled at the exciting thought and continued on her way, floating down the streets bathed in orange light of the setting sun.
She stopped when a voice suddenly rang out from her left. "Young lady! You there, yes!"
Star turned to see an elderly woman sitting at a table outside of a small café. She slowly approached the small metal table, and asked, "Do you need assistance?"
The woman looked at Starfire for a moment before a smile cracked her weathered lips. She reached over to the other side of the table and gestured to the chair opposite, "Sit, my dear."
"But- I must go on with my patrols. If you do not need any assistance-"
"But dear, you don't want to leave. I can read your fortune," the woman said, a twist to her lips and a certain shine in her dull eyes.
"Fortune?" Star asked, unsure.
"I can see your future, your past, what blessings you might receive, any future relationships you may have. Anything you want me to tell you, my dear, I will."
Though the woman still gave her s chill down her spine, Star's curiosity overpowered her unease, and she smiled lightly, "Perhaps you may read my future?"
The woman smiled and waved to the chair again, which tentatively Starfire sat in. The metal was cold against her legs, but she ignored it and looked at the woman expectantly.
The woman rummaged in her purse a moment before drawing out a vial. "Future, you say?"
Star nodded once, staring at the vial curiously. "What is in that bottle?"
"Oh, just some lotion. It helps my reading abilities," the woman replied smoothly, and Star believed it. "Now, if you would please extend your hands, we can get started."
Star stared at the vial suspiciously before laying her hands on the table. The woman lifted one and turned the palm up, squirting some of the 'lotion' onto the skin there.
Star gasped and tried to take her hand back, "I-it burns! Please get that away!"
But the woman held on with a surprisingly strong grip, "Now now, dear. It's just a little pain. It'll all be over soon."
Star did not like the tone to her voice, but tried to relax her tense muscles. The burning in her palm didn't go away, and with another squirt, the other was burning like the first.
Finished, the old woman put the bottle away and held Star's hands firmly.
"Now, now, let's see here."
The woman held Star's hands up close to her face, inspecting what Star expected to be her burning red palms. Was this woman trying to help her with the burning?
"Oh, oh dear." The woman's tone made Star's own fear escalate.
After a few moments she asked, fear in her thin voice, "What is wrong?"
The woman slowly raised her head, her eyes suddenly dark, a wicked smile twisting her lips. "I am seeing your future. The future that I have written for you, my dear. You are going to die. Rather soon, as a matter of fact. And you will die without your friends. You will die all alone."
Starfire gasped and tried again to get her hands back. But the woman's grip was like iron, her smile turning Star's heart to ice.
Suddenly, the woman's hands began to glow, the glow seeming to soak into the lotion smothering Star's hands. Star bit back a scream as the pain intensified, but this time the burn flowed through her hands, arms, then throughout her body.
The scream tore from her throat as the burn attacked her heart, her chest seizing. She opened her eyes to see the woman disappear right before her in smoke, her voice coming back to Star in an echo. "You might want to hurry, dear. You don't have much time."
The pressure gone from her hands, she lurched up from the table. Her vision kept drifting, the ground swaying underneath her unsteady feet. She looked around, panicking as she saw the streets completely empty.
"H-help! Help!" she screamed, her voice catching as her heart continued to burn and seize. "A-anyone! Please!"
She stumbled out to the road, clutching her chest and looking around wildly.
Suddenly, the loud the thump of her hurting heart seemed to turn into the loud ticking of a clock.
Your time is running out…
The woman's voice seemed to follow her, coming from nowhere.
"Out of- out of-"
She remembered the rest of the woman's fortune. The words drifting back to her.
You will die alone…
Star lurched and her scream echoed off of the buildings, "Friends!"
She slowly turned in the direction she knew the tower to be and began to desperately fly toward it.
But as she did, she found that she flew painfully slow. As if she was flying through water, her body barely inching forward in the air. The ticking grew louder, the menacing tick tock echoing in her ears.
Her limbs were heavy and slow, making her feeling of drowning increase.
As soon as she stopped her flying, she fell to the ground, landing painfully on her arm. She slowly stood, the ticking continuing, like background music. But this was a song she did not want to hear.
She clutched herself and thought, 'I must get to my friends. But... I cannot fly… this horrible ticking…
With the fire still eating at her heart, she ran.
The fire in her lungs battled with the burning of her chest as she stumbled toward her home, running as hard as she could.
She stumbled up to the door and leaned against the cool metal. Her heart was burning worse than before, and now her systems were failing. Her vision was swooping, her muscles seizing up and she kept hearing the woman's voice echoing through her mind.
She turned and pushed at the door to the tower, gasping when it did not open. She knocked loudly and cried, "Friends! Please! Open the door!"
She pressed her ear to the metal and listened for any sound of her friends. There was none.
She turned and used her remaining strength to wretch the door open. She clutched her chest as she stumbled in, the fire flaring at her effort.
The tower was deserted. The lights were off and the place was cold. Uninhabited.
She gasped and stumbled down the hall, the ticking coming back, louder than ever before. The walls seemed to vibrate with the horrible clock noise.
She stopped in front of Cyborg's room, knocking hurriedly. When there was no response, she knocked with her fist and cried, "Cyborg! It is I! Please, open!"
Nothing. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she turned and staggeringly continued. Beast Boy's room.
Again, she knocked, but no one came. She tried harder, louder. But still, no face came to help.
The tears were leaking now, the small droplets sliding from her cheeks, falling onto the floor.
She came in front of Raven's room, the ticking escalating in volume and the deafening sound blocking out her tiny sobs. My time is coming….
She reached the door and pounded furiously, "Raven! I beg you! Open this door! PLEASE!"
Her hits were getting weaker, the banging of her knocks dying to a furious tapping. Her eyesight was fading, her heart ready to burst.
She pulled away from the empath's room and collapsed against the door belonging to Robin. The tears were flowing by now, her remaining sight blurred horribly from the tears constantly coming.
She raised her fist and knocked as hard as she could. Which wasn't very hard anymore.
"Robin, p-please," she pleaded quietly, broken, dying. She laid her hand on the smooth metal and let out a sob. The ticking was deafening, the ticks shaking her very being. Every tick a death bell.
The fire in her heart began to recede, leaving behind cold and still tissue.
She lifted her hand and tapped the door weakly, the last attempt. "R-Robin…"
And as the helpless knocking stopped, the ticking of her barely fighting heart stopped as well.
Starfire gasped and shot upright in her bed, drenched in sweat and the covers thrown off into the floor. She clutched her chest, where there was no fire, as there had been afew moments before. She listened fearfully, but the only sound she heard was her own rapid breathing. She blinked and shakily stood. The ground did not roll, and her balance was as good as ever. She took the few steps to the window and drew back the curtains.
It was a few minutes before sunrise. She could see the purple edge on the horizon. She let out a breath and sat back on her bed, calming herself. It was a nightmare. Only a nightmare.
She held her head in her hands and got her breathing under control.
It was not real… it was not real…
She looked up, hearing a loud snore from Cyborg's room. Her overwhelming joy came. Her friends were still here, she was not alone.
She had such an urge to go and hug every one of them, but they were still asleep and she didn't wish to bother them. Still…
She crept along the hall, listening at her friend's doors for anyone awake. She knew that Cyborg was still asleep, and listening closely she found that Raven and Beast Boy were both asleep as well.
She was about to turn back and wait for them in her room when Robin's door slid open and he stepped out, fully dressed and awake. "Hey Star," he greeted her with a smile. "What are you doing up so early?"
Star stopped and turned, her joy at seeing her friend so great that she lunged forward and threw her arms around his neck. He stumbled back in surprise but gently held her.
"Starfire? What's wrong?"
"Oh, Robin, I had a horrible nightmare and-" she sighed and shook her head, tightening her hold on him.
"I do not want to die alone, Robin," she told him in a quiet voice.
He gripped her tighter and gently said, "You won't, Star. We're all here."
She sighed happily, "I believe you."
Author's note: Don't know how it turned RobStar in the end, but owell~
Hope you enjoyed!