She looked outside the window. It was cold so her breath fogged up the glass pane. She was on a relatively full bus, but no one sat close to her, not that she could blame them. She preferred sitting alone anyway. No questions. She was certainly not like other people. She was young, in her late teens, and tall, about 5'10". Her short brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and if you looked closely enough you could see small silver highlights. Her eyes were a piercing green, and across the left eye she sported a crescent scar. She traveled lightly, but next to her she had a well-kept longbow, and a simple but intimidating scabbard. On her hands she wore simple but well-used gauntlets, and her earth-tone clothes were loose for free movement, but not loose enough that someone wouldn't be able to see the well-defined muscles in her arms and legs.

She did not want anyone to sit near her. Why is she alone? Because I chose to be. Why does she carry weapons? Because I need to survive. Why does she stare so? Because I'm trying to escape from this reality. Leave me be.

Suddenly, a loud explosion followed a sudden jerking that threw the bus onto its side. The passengers screamed, and she braced herself against the seat so she wouldn't be thrown onto the opposite wall of the bus now on the ground. Outside, she heard screams and heavy footfalls on the bus. Checking on make sure the rest of the passengers were not injured, she swung down to the ground, and walked to the emergency exit. She cautiously opened the door, her scabbard now hanging at her hip and her strung bow outside the door. Looking around, she saw chaos. Cars were overturned, and people were deserting the smoke filled square. On the ground lay five people, around her age, all unconscious. There were two girls, both with minor cuts and scratches, and a Cyborg who seemed to have damage to both his human and machine parts. There were also two others, one green boy and another, but both had more serious wounds. Suddenly, she heard another set of heavy footfalls above her. She spun around to find herself face to face with a masked man, whose sinister face was half orange machinery. He grinned slightly as she took stance and swung up her bow. Her speed surprised him, but not enough that he couldn't jump out of the arrow's way in time. She growled her annoyance. I hate it when they're fast. Setting her bow against the overturned bus, she reached down and drew out her sword. The hilt was simple and of a somewhat dulled emerald color. But the blade itself was something to behold. Its bright shining metal was slightly curved, and ancient runes were carved along its length. The masked man raised his eyebrows in admiration before grinning again as his foe jumped onto the bus to face him.

"Do you have a death wish, darling?" he cooed.

No more than you do, she replied using her mind, as she swung up her sword only to meet another blade midair. This should be interesting, she thought, as the battle ensued. Attack, block, parry, swing: the two soon became a blur of clothing and metal. Neither seemed to find an advantage, and slowly the two began to tire. Sweat began to drip into her eyes, and in a moment of hesitation the man cried in triumph as he brought his sword down across her open torso halfway through a mid-turn. The sky was suddenly pierced by her unearthly screech as the metal bit across the length of her torso. The scream woke the five teens, who confusedly watched their worst enemy stand over a girl who had fallen from the top of a bus and collapsed on the street. He turned to see them awake, and strolled over with an air of confident calm.

"A new friend of yours, titans?" He shrugged. "But it is of no concern." Robin grimaced as he held a hand to his bleeding shoulder and attempted to rise but the blood loss forced him back to his knees. The other titans, still stunned, slowly came to their feet. Slade grinned at them.

"Tired, my pets?"

Slade swung up with blade with a smirk and brought in down in a triumphant swing, only to have it met by another blade with strange carvings.

He jumped to the soft whisper in his inner mind…

You will not hurt them.

Suddenly he was flying into a building across the street, flung back by the immense power behind her attack. After shaking off the affect of the impact, he bowed slightly the girl with the hardened eyes before vanishing into the shadows. She turned slowly to meet the eyes the five shocked teens.

You cannot stay here long, he may return, she said. Stooping down, she looked at the wound on Robin's shoulder that was now bleeding sluggishly. She carefully brought Robin to his feet, bracing him against her shoulder.

You need to get them somewhere safe now, she ordered, with a nod towards Robin and Beast Boy who was still unconscious and being carried by Raven. Raven and Cyborg looked at each tentatively, but nodded. Suddenly the six of them were surrounded by Raven's black power, and the girl looked around with fury.

No! her voice echoed in their minds, but already they were within the titan's tower. Looking around the titans rushed over the help Robin lift himself off the girl who had still managed to hold him upright as Raven's power had encased them. She was lying face down, and as Cyborg carefully turned her over they gasped at the amount of blood that covered her stomach.

"Get her to the hospital wing, now!" ordered Robin. In the chaos of Slade's attack the wound that she suffered across her stomach had gone unremembered, and by the time Raven teleported them she had lost too much blood to stay conscious. And so, the girl with a crescent scar across her left eye came to enter the titan's tower.