The only noises that surrounded her were those of the gently lapping waves and her own meditative humming. Until...caaaw. An earsplitting shriek shattered her carefully maintained tranquility. Raven looked up, breaking from her trance. Above her she saw only sky.
Weird, she thought, I could have sworn I heard a- "What in Azar!"
She had returned to her previous position only to find two beady black eyes staring at her. Recognizing the birds pale plumage, she took a few deep breaths to steady herself.
"What a turn of events," she chuckled quietly to the bird, "A Raven scared by a seagull. Who'd've thought?"
As she laughed, she noticed an odd tightness in her skin. She stiffly raised a hand, muscles stiff from not moving for so long, to see if something had perhaps fallen on her while she meditated, only to find it was bright red.
"Figures," she grumbled, "They strand me here, block my powers, give me some food and water and go 'she'll be right'. Would it have killed them to give me some sunscreen or some shade?"
Through this, the bird just looked at her, before deciding that if she wasn't going to feed it, there was no point in staying. Raven watched the bird fly away, remembering how it had felt to fly. Soon, she promised herself. Soon I'll be out of here, and I'll be able to fly again.
The memory of wind in her wings followed her as she drifted into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
}STILL 5 WEEKS EARLIER{
Raven dropped out of the portal into the park, the emotional strain from the last 24 hours proving too great for her to be able to travel great distances. Fuuuuu- this is fine, this is fine, she thought, despite the fact it was not fine at all. She had hoped to get far farther than this. She needed to be out of Jump City before the other Titans found her note. No, she chastised herself, just the Titans. You're not a Titan anymore. You quit. The words clanged through her, jarringly harsh. She had not yet had time to properly think about the decision she had made, too focused on hopping from portal to portal.
Which reminded her... I need to change. I am far too recognisable in these clothes, I'll be spotted in an instant. A quick glance around told Raven that the nearest public toilet was about 300m away, right through a thick gaggle of school children. Mustering her energy, she managed to summon just enough magic to get her there. Quickly, anxious of being seen, she stepped through, disappearing into a puff of shadow-ridden air.
}o{
"Raven? I know you wanted to be left alone, but uh, Cyborg made waffles, and we haven't seen you eat anything in the last 24 hours so, uh, yeah."
Robin stood before the door to Raven's room, still unaware that she was no longer there, a plate of fresh waffles in his hand. "Uh, Raven?" That's weird, he thought, usually there would be some kind of response, even just a 'piss off'. She must really be upset.
"Look, Raven, I know that something's happened between you and Beast Boy. He's being pretty tight-lipped about it, so I don't know exactly what happened. It's clearly shaken you up pretty badly, so I know it was big. But I also know that we're a team. We fight with each other as one, and sometimes that means we fight against each other as well. But I know that if you come out, we can fix this. I'm not gonna force you to talk until you're ready, but, we're here for you."
He waited a moment, letting her process what he had just said. It had been a damn good speech, for an on-the-spot thing, if he did say so himself.
But when more than a minute passed, he began to feel as if something was off.
"Raven? I need some kind of response." He waited a beat, listening closely.
"Raven, I need to know if you're okay." His voice grew more urgent now, a sickening feeling growing in his gut.
"Raven, if I don't hear anything in the next 30 seconds I'm going to come in to make sure you're okay." He counted silently, ears straining.
Nothing.
"Raven, if you're in there I am now breaking your locks." If. The sickening feeling grew worse. It was as if he'd eaten an entire kitchen full of lukewarm chicken soup and followed it with a supermarket freezers worth of mint bubblegum ice cream. If. He'd used the word if. No, he rationed with himself, I'm jumping to conclusions. She might just have hit her head or passed out or something mundane like that. Well, as mundane as Raven can be, he chuckled to ease himself.
Click. The last lock slid free.
"Raven, I'm opening your door now, it's just me." Robin walked in slowly, not wanting to startle her if she was in a fragile state. But when he'd entered the room properly, he still could not see her. "Raven?" He called, the feeling in his gut now churning. No answer.
Then he saw the note.
}o{
The sound of a plate breaking nearby snatched Starfire from a particularly pleasant dream she'd been having about Tamaran. She tried to recall what she had been doing before falling asleep. Right. She'd come back to her room after breakfast so she could write a letter to Raven. She hoped that later today she could slip it under the shadowy Titan's door in an attempt to get her to talk. She must have drifted off as soon as she sat down though, likely because she'd had trouble sleeping, too worried about Raven and Beast Boy to get more than an hours sleep. But none of that explained why she'd heard a plate smash.
Shaking off the last dregs of drowsiness, she stumbled down the hallway in the direction of the noise. She came to a shocked stop when she reached Raven's door, more than a little surprised to see it opened. Her shock only grew when she peeked in and saw Robin sitting dejectedly atop Raven's black and purple covers, a broken plate of waffles on the floor at his feet. She cautiously floated over to him, sensing something was off. "Dick?" she asked, "What is the matter? Where is Raven?"
Wordlessly, he handed her a note, written in a technically perfect cursive script she knew to be Raven's. Fearing the worst, Star began to read.
Dear Titans,
It has become clear of late that I am no longer wanted, either as a teammate, or as a friend.
As one of you so kindly pointed out, I am simply a demon pretending otherwise. Don't worry,
I will no longer be around to aggravate you. With this note is my official resignation from the
Teen Titans.
Robin: Thank you for giving me a place to call home, and a person to call a brother. I am sorry
that I became too much of a burden for you to carry any longer.
Cyborg: While you often infuriated me, you also brought some much needed joy into my life.
For that, and your companionship that never failed until the end, thank you.
Starfire: You were always more than just a friend to me, you were my sister in all but blood.
You were the only one that cared enough to check on me, and I was beastly to you. I'm sorry.
But I have to leave. The others have tired of me, even grown to detest me. I love you.
Beast Boy: You were right. I should have died that day. I never deserved to be a Titan and you
were right about that too. I'm sorry for wasting your time.
It's been pointed out to me that this is the best and only course of action. I wish you all good
luck and good lives. Don't worry about me, I'm sure I'll get what I deserve.
Love,
Rachel
