A/N: Yay! Another Rowie fic. I just love Rowan. She's my favorite of my oc's. She's just so damn cute! Come on, who agrees with me.
Warning: Must Read "Some Comfort Here" first or there will be a lot of things you don't get.
Chapter One: The Old Blind Woman
Rowan hated the cold. That was it. Pure and simple.
Raven had told her to wear her jacket. "It makes me look like a giant Lucky Charm's marshmallow," She had argued.
"But they're magically delicious," Beast Boy said with a giggle. Rowan glared death into his eyes and he melted into a puddle on the floor. She had only been with the Titans for about a month, but already she had picked up a few of her older sister, Raven's, reclusive habits.
Now she was shivering as the Alaskan blizzard hit them with a vengeance, as Rowan stood, her little body wrapped in one of Raven's cloaks. Cyborg gave her an I-told-you-so smirk. Marshmallows are cool, Rowan decided.
"So, your are looking for the woman who has been terrorizing us?" The old women wearing sunglasses asked. Robin guessed that she was blind.
"Yes," he said. She smiled, her eyes lingering briefly on Rowan. "The woman is pure evil. She has strange powers. She can create fire in her bare hands." Rowan's eyes widened.
"Aw, crap!" Rowan snapped. "Not that Amazon again."
"Kestrel!" Raven spat. Robin nodded. The old woman smiled.
"So, you know of her?"
"Unfortunately," Rowan whined. Robin knew Rowan had to be scared. Rowan hadn't had a very good experience with the woman the last time they had met. Kestrel had attempted to kidnap her and use the little sorceress' powers for evil. It had been Rowan's overflow of power that had rescued all of the Titans. While Robin talked to the woman, Rowan's eyes swept the small general store. She examined every shelf, her fingers running over various displays of handcrafted items. She followed her curiosity to the very back corner of the store where she found a display of stone amulets. She picked one up off the rack, a wood carving of a wolf.
"Pretty isn't it, little one?" The old Indian woman said, startling Rowan.
"Umm…yeah. Did you make this?"
"My son did," she said, her chocolate brown eyes lighting up. She took the amulet in her hands and caressed the wolf's head. "My son adores wolves. He says that this one protects children."
"I thought wolves ate small children."
"Oh no, dear. That is a common misconception. They can be just as nurturing as a pet dog."
"I'm afraid of dogs," Rowan said softly. She chuckled.
"You see, my son is an adventurous and wild child. One day, he wondered out into a blizzard. He was lost, alone, and frightened." Rowan gasped, finding herself caught up in the old woman's tale. "Suddenly, he saw a pair of yellow eyes and heard a wolf's growl. He thought for sure he was a goner. The she-wolf made no threat to him, though. She touched her nose to his hand and she led him home. He carved a wolf out of wood to protect him always. He called her Aneko." Rowan smiled. The woman ruffled her hair. "Listen to me rambling on and on like and old parrot. You're friends are about to leave you, little bird. That's what you remind me of, a little sparrow. What is your name."
"Rowan."
"Ah, like the tree. I like Sparrow better."
"Rowan!" Robin called from the front of the store.
"Coming," Rowan replied. She moved to place the amulet back on the rack, but the old woman stopped her.
"Take it dear. It will protect you. Go, before your friends leave you." Rowan smiled a thank you before she bobbed out the door.
The woman watched the small child leave her shop with a rakish grin on her face. The child will be fine, she assured herself. I will make sure of that. That fire demon will not put that little girl in danger as long as I'm alive.
"The old woman said that Kestrel had made herself a tent up this hill." Robin said. Rowan wasn't listening. She was fingering the wolf necklace around her neck and thinking about the old woman. She was so strange, but Rowan couldn't help but trust her. She ran a finger up the wolf's spine, feeling like she needed the protection. Kestrel scared her. Rowan pulled the cloak tighter around her body as she shivered and she felt Robin's hand on her shoulder.
"You ok, Squirt?" She glared viciously at him. She resented the way he constantly babied her.
"Thank-you, I've got it." She snapped and he through his hands up in the air in surrender. She giggled to show he was forgiven. Raven smiled at her sister's closeness with the team leader. She had sort of been adopted by the entire team as a little sister.
The team heard a long and mournful howl as a large white wolf descended over the snow covered hill. Her eyes locked with Rowan's and Raven pulled her closer. The wolf's eyes met Raven's with a snarl, her yellow eyes narrowed fiercely. She howled once more and bolted into the forest. They all looked at Rowan, who shrugged. Raven released her from her protective-big-sister-death-grip and Robin motioned for them all to be quiet. "Kestrel should be here somewhere."
"Right little birdie!" said a deep female voice and Raven jerked Rowan back into her protective arms once more. Rowan brushed her sister off, turning to Kestrel with anger and, was it fear? Rowan forced the fear out of her gaze as the Titans formed a protective circle around the smallest member. Kestrel summoned her powers and sent a blast of fire right at Robin who leaped out of the way, leaving a hole in the ring-of-titans. Terra grabbed Rowan out of the way as Kestrel reached out to grab the little one.
"Azarath Metrione Zinthoes!" Rowan cried, sending Kestrel into a tree. Kestrel smiled. She scanned the group for Raven, whom she found standing in front of her little sister. She drew her powers for a strike on the dark girl, but was interrupted as Cyborg chucked a snowball at her. Rowan giggled at the look on the fire demon's face. She looked surprised, angry, and maybe slightly amused at the same time. Rowan was, once again, being protected behind a titan. This time it was Starfire, who turned her emerald eyes to Kestrel in rage.
"You will not harm my friend," she snapped.
"What are you going to do about it, little girl," Starfire summoned her starbolts.
"Bring it on Bitch!" She said, blasting Kestrel with her starbeams. Rowan giggled.
"Don't repeat that," Raven said. Rowan nodded and Starfire blushed.
"Yes, sorry little friend. I would not wish to encourage the cursing." Rowan rolled her eyes. Suddenly a harsh wind hit the Titans, shivering their spines. Starfire shook snow out of her fire red tresses. Rowan shivered and Raven lifted her up off the ground, wrapping her in her cloak.
"The temperature's dropping fast. We need to get to shelter or they'll be thawing us out later." Cyborg said. Rowan shivered uncontrollably as the gooseflesh on her arm rose.
"I don't see Kestrel!" Terra shouted as she snuggled close to Beast Boy, who had shifted into a polar bear, for warmth. The snow was whipping around them so quickly that no one could see anything. "Where did this storm come from?"
"It's the Alaskan's slogan. If you don't like the whether, wait five minutes," Cyborg replied.
"We should seek shelter," Starfire hollered over the wind, shivering with cold.
"Stay together!" Robin shouted. Wind whipped around their bodies as they headed for the village. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a foot connected with Raven's shoulder and she and Rowan tumbled to the ground. Kestrel jerked Rowan out of the arms of her unconscious sister, and she held her close to her own chest, her body emitting more then usual heat. She smiled maliciously as she leaped backward and out of sight. Robin tried to follow, but the wind was so thick, he couldn't even see his friends, who were three feet behind him. Terra was examining Raven's broken shoulder blade. "We have to get out of here!" Robin said, Starfire's starbolts guiding him back.
"We can't leave Rowan," Terra protested.
"Kestrel won't harm her. She needs her alive. We won't survive out here much longer." Starfire lifted Raven over her shoulders and carried her back down the snowdrift. Oh Rowan, she thought desperately. Please be safe.