Hey Peeps! So glad you reviewed, I'm so touched, *sob, sob* I'm so happy I'm being appreciated! 3 reviews are awesome for a first story-er! I appreciate it. Remember; ideas are welcome: and I'm very appreciative if you'd point out spelling or grammar errors! See ya at the end of the chappie!
Disclaimer: I Amora hereby state that I, (sadly), do not own the Teen Titans…just this plot!

Chapter 2: The Runaways II
Ravens POV

My eyes snapped open and my body shot forward. I felt fear and shock rush into my system as I realized I was on a raft. I reached to my side for my scythe, but found that it wasn't there. I felt panic as I looked around me before the ultimate realization dawned on me: there was another on the raft. I looked to the other side of the raft where the other person was facing the opposite direction. I looked around and saw that that demon horse was never taking its eyes off me. I felt a surge of panic and fear wash over me as I saw the scythe next to the man. I leapt to my feet, then realizing that my pack was next to me. A slight prick of relief washed over me as I saw that he had not taken all of my possessions. I jumped to my feet softly, and I slowly made my way over to him, not making a sound. But before I could grab my scythe, he grabbed the scythe and jumped up.

He grinned at my distress, and for the first time I realized he was around a full head taller than me. His grinned widened and I could only think, 'Oh gods, why couldn't he be a Shade?'

"Sorry dear," He said his grin turning to an arrogant smirk, "I'm afraid I couldn't let you hurt yourself."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "It certainly wouldn't' be me I hurt with the scythe."

He chuckled, looking down at the offending weapon before looking up at me, "I'm sorry sweetheart, but I'm afraid your imaginary friends don't exist."

I felt a surge run through me, and felt the familiar tendril of energy escape me; off to wreck havoc on some poor object nearby. "Be glad you took it when you did," I said angrily, "I would have gutted you by now."

He raised an eyebrow, and twirled the weapon around in his hand. "Pray tell, how exactly would you manage that? Looking at you now, I see that you really don't have any item to…gut me."

I glared at him, and spoke to him through clenched teeth, "I'm fairly positive that I can make it work out."

He turned to face me, looking silently surprised at my reply. He chuckled before spinning the weapon, turning it so the blade faced down before handing it out to me.

I looked at it, mildly surprised he would hand it back so willingly. I eyed him, before snatching it back. He grinned at me, before holding out a hand and saying, "My name's Richard."

I stared at him, surprised that I didn't bother to say my name; or ask his, for that matter. His hand was still extended, waiting for a reply to his statement, but I couldn't bring myself to take it. He hadn't earned my trust at all, especially after teasing me with my blade. He seemed to understand I wasn't going to take his hand, so he slowly drew it back.

Raising an eyebrow at me, he asks, "So we're going to play the silent game? After making a threat to the nice man who hands back weapons to girls with anger problems? Last I checked, people you should trust give back weapons."

I stared at him, shocked he could even make accusations, "And last I checked, nice people don't chase others, and then jump on a raft with a Shade cloak and horse!"

His eyebrow rose again, "So how can you be sure that I'm not a Shade?" He stepped closer, and I felt the immediate urge to take at least ten steps back. "I mean, I know about your…abilities."

Shock raced into my system, and the need for an escape plan was the only thought running through my head. "What abilities?" I asked, praying desperately that that sounded believable.

He chuckled again, "Don't worry princess, I was sent to find you by the 'good guys'. If you're good, you'll get to see the rest of us."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Us? Who's us?"

He grinned, "We're you're saviors, trust me. And by the looks of it, I came just in time. You were planning to leave without me, weren't you? That's not nice princess, I needed and escape too: and you still haven't said anything about me possibly being a Shade, have you? I need answers too you know, so it'd be nice if you told me your name." With every word, he leaned towards me, ending up a few inches away from my face.

I snorted, "It would have been a huge gain if I had managed to leave you behind, you can't be a Shade, and I will not tell you my name until I have a grip of what the hell is going on around here!" I took a step back from him, anger starting to push up its ugly head.

He stared at me for a second before finally getting what I was saying. Then he looked up at the sun, which was beginning its descent to the ground. Then he looked back at me and sighed, "Listen, we're getting close to the half-way point of our destination. There's a lot to tell you so I'll summarize everything as quickly as I can, then Cy can explain the rest to you." I opened my mouth to ask who Cy was but he was already beginning to talk again. "Okay, so you know how our country has those fucked up rules about killing people with…deformities as they put it?" He looked at me for a confirmation, which I nodded to. "All of us, there's four of us, we managed to run from the Shades like you. Our hideout is where we're headed now. Long story short, if you want to live, you'll stay on this raft with me until we get there, want to attempt to live on your own, go ahead and jump off this raft right now."

Well, that was an easy decision. I walked over to where my pack was, and dropped to the ground. I started to put my scythe in my bag, but changed my mind and put it next to me. I heard Richard walk over next to me, than sit down next to me. I turned to him, "When will we get to the others, assuming you're telling the truth."

He turned to face me something like surprise flickering through his eyes. "We should get there in mid afternoon, if we don't run into any disturbances-" He paused, "-You must have one hell of ability; you had five fucking Shades after you! Five of them!"

I winced, "I didn't mean to do it…" I murmured, "I didn't want to…"

He looked at me more intently, "What did you do exactly?"

I felt a slash of pain and anger shoot through me. 'Calm down Raven, don't get too worked up.' I looked away, "You don't need to know…" I muttered angrily.

Richard held up his hands. "Sorry, sorry. I was just curious."

I grimaced as I sensed a small sliver of hurt pass through him; I turned to face him, "Curiosity killed the cat." I grinned.

He smirked. "It's a good thing I'm not a cat then."

A moment of silence settled as the sun completed its journey, and the night's cool air settled on my skin. I considered my works carefully before addressing him, "I blew up my whole town." I said quietly. I could feel his surprised eyes on me. "I got upset over something said to me, and I blew up the town. I managed to not get anybody killed, but as of then; everybody that was currently residing in my town was…is homeless. The Shades found out, so I ran away aannd here I am. Pretty simple, right?" I turned to look at Richard who had a fair amount of shock on his face. I grinned inwardly. 'Ha-ha.' I thought.

Richard let out a breath of air. "Oookay, I'm not gonna piss you off again." He turned to look behind us. "We better get some rest. We're gonna have to make a break for it when we get to shore." He avoided my questioning glance. "The Shades probaly have some close tabs on you, it's definitely gonna be harder to get to the safe zone." He got up and retreated to the other side of the raft. He threw a package of dried fruit at me, and put down some food for the horse. "Night dear." He said before turning away.

I laid down, questions running marathons in my head. "Richard?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" He responded tiredly.

I paused a moment before answering. "My name is Raven." And without turning to face him, I could tell he smiled.
_

Sooo…how was that? I didn't really have much happen in this chapter, I wanted to introduce the characters better, have some back-story explained, and tell ya guys what the hecks going on a little bit. I am very touched for those of you who reviewed, *sob,* you have no idea how good it felt to know that some people are actually reading this little story! I thank you for pointing some things out, I'm very sorry, when I look at the first chapter, I do see resemblance to a certain movie, and I am going to revise this because for some reason GUILT IS EATING ME ALIVE! I wrote it down in a dreamlike state… so ideas and tips and well as pointing out grammar and spelling errors are very welcome. I finally found the spell-check on my new computer! Woohoo! Everything will start to come together, and I'm getting really excited to write the next chapter, so as soon as I get 4 reviews, I will update. Now I have some options here:

The stories focus shifts to another one of the runaways; they then met Raven and Richard at the safe zone, where a flashback of Raven and Richards's journey is put on.

The story's focus stays on Raven and Richard, who meet all of the other runaways who are all at the safe zone currently.

Put down C. If you want Terra as a part of this story. I will add her, but she will betray the runaways in a while.

So after the polls, I do have a few new messages: as put in by one of the reviewers, they do not want Shades as OC. Don't worry, the Shades will make some appearances, and they do play a semi-important role, as they are hunting down these runaways to kill them, they are supposed to kill people with 'deformities' one or two Shades will be named, but they will not be added endlessly upon. They are like assassins, or guards, that follow out the tyrants rule. So, I thank all of you who reviewed, and I will thank all those who review for the rest of this story. Now remember, THIS IS MY FIRST FANFICTION. So thank you, and get back to me!

Bye Friends!

EbonyCrimson = ^.^ =