Author's Disclaimer: I do not own the national park in this chapter, OR Teen Titans x a million (sorry I havent done it in a while...)
Chapter 10- Breakfast Battles and Keeper's Shelf
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"So, what's for breakfast?" Robin yawned, sleepily. The Teen Titans hadn't had a good nights rest or a decent meal since they left two and a half days ago.
Raven looked over at him, with an irritated look on her face, "That depends on what you can get Beast Boy to agree on. He's just going to eat grass and trees, but he won't let us eat anything other than a mouse."
"We are nearing a national park! One thing I don't appreciate you going and eating endangered animals, and I don't think the park rangers would either!" Beast Boy countered, an equal irritated look on his face.
"If you are going to be like this the entire trip, why don't you just starve us all!" Raven bellowed back.
"Friends, please…" Starfire attempted to end the quarrel, but she just sat hopelessly with Cyborg and Terra, and now Robin.
"Dude! There is plenty of fresh food and water to find here! And wherever else we go! Cook a few mice over a fire, see if I care! But when you endanger already endangered animals, that is too far!" Beast Boy spat back. This was the first time the Titans had seen Beast Boy defend him being a vegetarian and his love for animals so fiercly.
"We can't live on mice! We are six superhero's who are going to be living off the land for who knows how long! We need more than that for a decent meal!" Raven said bitterly.
"Then do what I do! Eat the grass! Its not going to kill you, ya know." Beast Boy growled.
Just as Raven opened up her mouth to say something back, Robin broke in.
"GUYS!"
Beast Boy and Raven stopped immediately and turned to Robin, slightly dumbfounded.
"Ok, now both of you need to calm down and listen. Beast Boy, you have to understand that we are six superhero's who need more than mice to live on for the next few months." He paused, then looked at Raven, "And Raven, you too have to respect that Beast Boy feels strongly about you eating endangered animals, or most any animal for that matter."
"But how does that solve--" Beast Boy started.
"I'll tell you how it solves it. We won't go for the big game, but we will live on fish, and warthogs. It's our only choice if we choose to have the energy to fight. But that's our only variety, at least for Africa anyway. Is that ok?" Robin asked.
Beast Boy let out a small huff, but agreed.
"Good, now Raven is that ok for you?" Robin turned to Raven.
"Sure, its fine." Raven said simply.
"Well, we don't have any food now, who's goin' out huntin'? Cyborg asked.
"I'll go," Robin volunteered, "Everyone else stay here and try to get a fire going."
"Easy," Beast Boy said, and quickly morphed into a dragon. He blew a stream of red-hot fire out of his mouth and into a pit the Titans made previously.
Unfortunatly, the remaining Titans never took the liberty of moving away from the pit when it was made.
Raven gave a quick grunt as she shielded the Titans from harms way. And once Beast Boy finished, she lowered her black wall and stared at the pit full of blazing flame.
Raven glared up at him, a little bit of her old irritation coming back."You could've at least warned us."
Beast Boy got a sheepish look on his face. The most awkward thing Raven had ever seen was a dragon with an embarrassed look. "Oops, sorry." He gave a quick snort, which was followed by puffs of smoke from his large nostrils.
About an hour later, Robin arrived with two large boars on two sticks, which dug their way through the warthog's body and left the body from the rear-end.
"Dude, you look like a warrior." Beast Boy chuckled. Robin had simple snags in his suit (most likely from running through bushes), scraps on his bare skin, mud and dirt all over him, twigs stuck in his hair, and he limped slightly. Along with that, there was just the sight of him hauling two warthogs on each shoulder.
"Yeah, well it took more than a one-man warrior to get these pigs," Robin grunted in return. "Not to mention carry them."
"They aren't pigs, they are--"
"Warthogs, we know BB. They look like pigs; they are close relatives to the pig. And they probably taste like pig. Therefore, we can have bacon. Or pork. Does anyone know how to skin a pig? I'm in the mood for BACON!" Cyborg chortled, mouth watering.
"I believe I can skin them for you, Cyborg." For a moment, Raven's hands were enveloped in black magic, but faded just as soon as it came. "You might want to look away for this, Beast Boy."
Beast Boy quickly shut his eyes, and as soon as he did her heard a tearing noise, making him grimace. At the same time, he heard a squeal of despair and confusion from Starfire.
He slowly opened his eyes to see one of the warthogs already on a stick over the fire, while Cyborg gleamed at it with envious eyes. He also saw Robin trying to calm a frantic Starfire, while Raven and Terra just sat helping to turn the hog.
"Well, um… I'm just gonna... go get my food."Beast Boy said, motioning at the open grassland just beyond a patch of trees.
"Ok," Cyborg said, mouth agape and voice shaking with want.
"Alright, just be back before dark." Robin answered, returning with Starfire hooked onto his arm.
Beast Boy nodded and morphed into a horse, who took off into the clump of trees.
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It hadn't taken Beast Boy long to get out of the foliage, and when he did he smiled with satisfaction at the semi freedom.
He took off into a canter a ways, but stopped not two minutes afterward. He bent his muscular neck over and chomped on a patch of grass. And the minute he did, he regretted it. He spat the grass out with disgust, and then turned his head toward the patch of trees.Beast Boy shifted on his four hooves and snorted, before finally taking off into a canter again.
Robin said I have to be back before dark and the sun is hardly down yet! The grass around here is nasty, so… what's stopping me from going just a little bit further out in the savannah for better grass? The Titans gotta eat, I gotta eat. Beast Boy thought to himself.
BeastBoycontinued onward, but stopped himself about five minutes later and sniffed the grass. It was still the gold-brownish distasteful color it was. Beast Boy sneezed at the smell of it, and then he wondered how far he had traveled from their camp.
He turned around, expecting –or hoping—to see a clump of trees, but all he saw was open grassland, herds of animals here and there, and even a few trees. But no clump of trees.
Way to go, Beast Boy. Robin is going to kill me! Beast Boy paused and thought for a moment. That is… unless something kills me first. He shivered at the thought. Not only was he in uncharted territory, but he had to remember the whole reason they were here was because he was being stalked by some deranged maniac.
This isn't… so bad! I mean, I'll just fly around, and before you know it, I'll be back at camp, safe from whatever is out here. Beast Boy reassured himself, and morphed into a hawk.
Beast Boy climbed higher and higher into the quickly darkening sky, as high as his wings could take him. Once he was high above the savanna, he took off.
Though it didn't make a difference, Beast Boy flew up and down, north, south, east and west, but no clump of trees or faint glow of fire could be seen anywhere. No light or anything. It was as if he was alone on this vast continent.
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The trees shadow's loomed long now, and the orange rays of the setting sun illuminated the flat land, highlighting animals that traveled across the horizon. It was getting too dark to fly, and he decided he'll give one last attempted before setting down for the night.
Nighttime can be creepy, and daytime will let me find the Titans much easier!Beast Boythought. He flew on, but suddenly, a faint glow lit like a small firefly on the ground.
Awesome! I knew I should've kept this up! Beast Boy grinned and flattened his wings for aerodynamics as he rapidly neared the dot.
But as he neared it, it wasn't the glow of a fire, but the glow of light. Real electricity.
His hopes didn't go down though, there has got to be a reason for a lone hut to be in the middle of eastern Africa. He landed in front on the hut, and morphed back into a human. Approaching the door,Beast Boy knocked on it twice and waited.
No answer.
So, he took the liberty of walking in himself, and he opened the door quietly.
"Hey? Is anyone home?" Beast Boy questioned the hut. He looked around, and it looked like a travel hut. Brochures, pictures, clipboards and tack boards everywhere.
"Yes, I am!" Chimed a friendly voice from somewhere inside the hut. From his accent Beast Boy could tell he was native to this land.
A young African man stepped out of a side room, with a huge grin on his face.
"And might I say welcome to Kilimanjaro National Park! What are you doing here at such an hour, my friend?"
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Yay! I had SO much fun writing this chapter! And I do hope you are having as much fun reading as I am writing, heh heh. And just thought I should say: BRILLIANCE! Today in Gym Class I thougth of the PERFECT some-what "fight" scene near the end of the story, and its all copied down on my notes, ready to be edited when possible. I also did less "editing" on this chapter, I'm just proud I got it in a day later. Enjoy, my readers! And please, may the R&R be with you! ((:Bows slightly and melds into the darkness...:))