Author's Note: I do not own Wolf's Rain or Teen Titans in any way, shape or form.
Hey, everyone. I know it has been awhile but I hope everyone enjoys this story. There is one note I would like to make. All the main Titans are OC at the beginning of the story but I hope I get them more in character later. There is slight bashing of all of the main Titans except Beast Boy but they do redeem themselves later and their behavior is not a representation of my opinions of the characters.
Wolf's Path
Beast Boy woke desperately searching for the fangs headed to his throat in his dream. He didn't find them but it seemed strange for him to dream of a wolf given what had been happening recently. Beast Boy was different. He was various shades of dark green all over his body with fangs in addition to his human teeth. He had a unique skill. He could change into any animal he wanted including alien ones. He was a member of the Teen Titans, a superhero group, including Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Raven. Robin had come from Gotham after splitting from his mentor, Batman. Starfire was a red-haired alien princess who could fly, shoot green beams out of her hands or eyes as well as having super strength. Cyborg had been in an accident when he was younger and half his body was replaced with cybernetic replacements. Raven was half-alien and half-demon, with magical powers over shadows but they grew out of control if she lost control of her emotions. His relationship with his teammates was strained lately. His ability to change into different animals had helped his team greatly and sometimes they even seem to appreciate him and his abilities but that had changed.
The animal Beast Boy had never turned into was a wolf. He had changed into various species of dog but never a wolf. He had avoided that form instinctively. Lately, his body had a different instinct. Every time he changed, his body wanted to change into only that form. The instinct was so strong changing forms was a struggle and he was slower than he was before. It hadn't really affected their ability to fight crime as a team but Robin was getting tired of Beast Boy's 'slacking off.' He kept insisting Beast Boy needed to work harder or he would be moved to Titan's East under Bumblebee until he took his responsibilities more seriously. None of his teammates were defending him.
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A few days later, Beast Boy wandered Jump City aimlessly. His dreams of wolves still haunted him and Robin's patience was just about at an end. It happened suddenly; he'd looked at the other side of the street debating whether to cross it when he saw a tall gray-haired man wearing tight black pants and a black jean jacket. His skin was dark and his hair held in a ponytail but what stopped the green teen was the image of a gray wolf exactly like the one in his dream reaching to tear out his throat overlaying the man for an instant.
Almost as if he sensed the scrutiny the man started to look at Beast Boy's side of the road. The teen superhero freaked and ducked quickly into a dark alley where he transformed into a sparrow and flew back to Titan's Tower.
Over the next few weeks, the Titans noticed a change in their resident prankster. He was distracted and the lag in his shape changing time increased even more. He didn't travel to Jump City, barely staying long enough to fight the criminals they took down. Everyone even Robin was getting very worried about their usually fun-loving teammate. Robin's worry finally turned to anger during one of their fights against Dr. Light when the light maniac managed to hit Starfire. Luckily, the alien teen was okay and they still got the criminal but Beast Boy had still messed up in his mind. They were at the docks at the edge of Jump City. The plan was Beast Boy would turn into an octopus and spray ink in the villain's eyes. Beast Boy took longer than usual which meant he was late spraying the villain leaving Starfire who had been prepared to attack Dr. Light with green star bolts to be caught by surprise. Beast Boy felt guilty but there nothing he could do. Robin was furious. He made arrangements to send Beast Boy to Titans East that night.
Beast Boy made himself comfortable at the Titans East Tower. He was not actually going to be fighting with the other Titans. His main focus was to concentrate on training. It was hard for Beast Boy to stay on the sidelines and despite the East team's efforts he felt like an outsider.
Two months passed with no word from any of the original Titans and Beast Boy was making little progress in his training. Between his friends' abandonment and the new dreams darkening his sleep, the green teen's temper was higher than ever. It got to the point where the East group was growing very worried. Aqualad, having the closest connection to Beast Boy, finally went to talk to his friend.
"Hey, wanna head out and get some pizza? Just us?" Aqualad questioned as he entered the training room Beast Boy was using. Their training room had the same dull metal walls and ceiling as the original Titan's Tower in Jump City but the equipment was quite different. Most of the Titans East group specialized in long range attacks and were more focused on speed not strength. Due to this, the right half of the room held an obstacle course with a timer built into the wall next to it. A smaller obstacle course built specifically for training their leader, Bumblebee's shrunken form and her flying skills was next to it. The left back quarter of the room held a pool of water connected directly to the sea but with closable metal doors at the exit, just in case they needed to seal off the tower to prevent intruders. Aqualad tended to keep them closed unless he needed them open. The last part of the room was an archery/projectile range. Mostly used by Bumblebee and their sharpshooter teammate, Speedy. Aqualad had sometimes used it to practice water throwing.
Beast Boy was in the middle, trying to shift into a tabby cat, but it wasn't working. Aqualad's interruption disturbed him just as he managed to force his body to shift into a cat form but with his concentration ruined, his instincts took over and he changed into a wolf instead.
"Sorry." Aqualad apologized sheepishly. "I've never seen you in wolf form."
"I've never used one until three months ago. Now, for some reason, it seems to be the only form my body wants to be in. Every instinct in me is screaming to take that form and stay in it every day." Beast Boy explained after shifting back to human form with colossal effort.
"Shouldn't that be your human form?" Aqualad questioned.
"It used to be but then I started dreaming of wolves and I changed from unconsciously avoiding a wolf form to struggling not to take that form whenever I shift."
"Is that why Robin sent you here for training?"
"Kind of. He doesn't know about the instinct part but he did notice my longer shifting time. He thinks I'm just being lazy, slacking off."
"Why didn't you tell him?"
"He's not interested in talking to me. You know he hasn't called me since he sent me here. None of the others have. Besides, it wouldn't matter. Robin hasn't really trusted me since the Beast incident. He wouldn't care. Apparently, none of them do." Beast Boy answered dejectedly.
"I didn't even realize."
"I know. None of the other Titans outside of the original do either. We manage to keep up appearances in public. Still offering pizza?" Beast Boy asked smiling apologetically. He hadn't meant to burden the Atlantian.
"Sure. I know this cool place, it's even better than the one you're used to." Aqualad answered with a smirk.
"Not likely. Vincent's is the best." Beast Boy argued with a chuckle as the two headed out of the room. Beast Boy didn't notice the rest of the East team hiding around a corner near the entrance to the training room. Nor did he see them smile at his chuckle.
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After Beast Boy's revelation which Aqualad had not shared with the others, Aqualad was torn. He wanted to tell Robin what was wrong with Beast Boy but he wasn't sure what would happen if he did. The Robin Beast Boy described sounded nothing like the team leader Aqualad knew. He wandered what he really knew about the Titans he had met and admired.
A week later, Robin called for a progress report on Beast Boy's training. It was a monthly communication since Beast Boy was transferred but Aqualad had never really though much of the fact that Beast Boy never showed up and Robin never asked to speak to him.
"Hi, Robin." Bumblebee greeted the red and yellow clothed teenager.
"Bumblebee, is Beast Boy any better?" Robin answered cutting to the chase.
"No. He's training every day almost every minute but he isn't any faster." Bumblebee answered sadly.
"If he doesn't improve I'll have to talk to Mento about him returning to the Doom Patrol. We can't afford his lackluster performance." Robin said, shocking everyone present even his teammates if the gasps coming from the screen were any indication.
"Because he's not changing as fast as he used to?" Aqualad spluttered.
"If Starfire hadn't moved fast enough she could have been hurt more by Dr. Light's attack." Robin argued.
"Even if something's wrong with him? Did you even think something could be wrong before deciding he was slacking off or being lazy? Is he right, do you really not care about him?" Aqualad shouted, unable to stop himself.
"Something's wrong with Friend Beast Boy?!" Starfire demanded, pushing Robin out of the screen. Robin enlarged the viewing screen grumbling.
"You didn't know? He's been practically killing himself training. We all knew something was wrong or he would have improved." Speedy asked incredulously.
"What's wrong with him?" Robin finally asked, ignoring Speedy's question though still giving them all the information to answer it on their own.
"His body has changed. It keeps trying to change into a wolf. He has to fight his body's instinct to change into something else and it's getting worse." Aqualad answered.
"What could happen to him?" Bumblebee asked.
"He'll either fight too hard and seriously hurt if not kill himself or he'll be stuck in the form of a wolf forever." Aqualad answered. It was the theory he and Beast Boy had come up with over pizza.
"Muerta? (Loosely translated it means dead in Spanish)" Mas and Menos asked fearfully.
"Are you sure?" Robin asked.
"No. It's our best theory through. In all honesty even Beast Boy is not sure what's going to happen."
"Where's BB?" Cyborg asked.
"Training." The Titans East chorused.
"Call him up here." Robin ordered.
"Beast Boy, Robin wants to talk to you." Bumblebee commed Beast Boy.
"Not funny, Bumblebee. Robin hasn't wanted to talk to me for two months. I'll head up after I've finished training." Beast Boy answered back.
"Beast Boy, I need to talk to you now." Robin ordered as Bumblebee held her communicator up to the screen.
"Yes, sir." Beast Boy agreed angrily. Only Bumblebee heard his whispered, "Sorry Bee" before she closed her communicator.
Robin became impatient as they waited. His mouth opened the minute Beast Boy walked in.
"Beast Boy, sorry. I told him." Aqualad interrupted hoping to avoid what was likely to be a rash or angry statement from Robin.
"It's fine. I didn't insist it had to be a secret. The only reason I never told them is they wouldn't listen." Beast Boy answered with a shrug.
Robin's mouth closed again, this time in shock.
"BB, do you really think that?" Cyborg asked on the screen.
"It took Aqualad to tell you." Beast Boy answered.
"Actually, it took all of us." Speedy clarified.
"This is ridiculous. You're a part of the team." Raven spoke up.
"So the next time you're having emotional problems causing your powers to go haywire Robin will send you over here for training?" Beast Boy asked innocently.
"Beast Boy, I - "Robin started.
"It doesn't matter. What do you want me to do now, Robin? Am I staying here?" Beast Boy interrupted.
"No, you'll return to Jump City so Cyborg can run some tests to figure out what's wrong." Robin answered.
"I'd like to come with him." Aqualad requested to both Robin and Bumblebee.
"If it's okay with Bumblebee and Beast Boy." Robin agreed.
Both nodded. Beast Boy looked very relieved.
