The girl was alone, wandering the cold streets as her own solitary companion with a full moon casting a creeping light in her wake. Slade had been watching her for some time now, observing her mannerisms and routines from a distance. She was never aware of his presence or the looming shadow he cast around his hiding places. Over the few short weeks of Slade's spying, he had gathered a few things; she had little interaction with others, had no home or family, went by several different names and aliases, avoided authority figures, and had a knack of arriving in places that destruction would follow, Particularly floods and rainstorms with the occasional tsunami if the place in question allowed.

These night walks were recurring events for the girl, something she seemed to do always. Tonight would be different for her, however. Tonight Slade was going to confront the young female with a proposition. Following the failed apprenticeships of Robin and Terra and his return after Trigon's defeat, he had kept himself busy rebuilding the reputation that had fallen during his absence. That and searching for a new student to train and tutor; and he was confident that this attempt would be successful.

Third time's the charm, right?

The city the girl had been residing in the past few nights was a quieter one and more inland than others she had visited in the years prior. It felt good for her to get away from loud traffic and blaring lights advertising all the things she could never buy. She was poor, always had been but she didn't particularly mind. Money could never buy happiness or love anyway.

The girl huffed as she continued down the winding road to a trail that lead off into a small valley. She turned and headed down it, kicking an occasional pebble and glancing up at the winking stars. Nature was a good crutch and comfort. She never really had friends, but that was largely due to her constant traveling and disconnection with people. So instead she would retreat to forests and mountains and deserts-anything away from the stone jungles filled with those suspicious eyes. It was hard to trust people. They were selfish. And greedy.

Finally reaching her destination, she paused and looked out at her temporary shelter. A makeshift tent was pitched next to a slim aspen tree facing out towards a still pond with fireflies dancing across it. She walked over to the grassy banks and sat down, hugging her knees to her chest. It was so quiet here. She could hear her heartbeat.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

She sighed. Her right hand fingered the zipper line of her jacket, stroking the cheap metal that had begun to peel and rust. It was old but had served its purpose. She glanced down at her worn sneakers that had begun to gather holes and the jeans that were starting to be too small. She needed new clothes. She had stolen her last outfit, and the one before that. She would have to do so again. The first time had been clumsy, sloppy, and she nearly got caught running away from the thrift store. After that though, snatching food and anything else she needed became easier and she got better. She cared less and less that she was taking things from other people, considering that when she was first alone on the streets, no one cared to help her. So why would stealing matter to her anymore? It didn't.

She looked down at the water and extended a hand towards it, letting a gentle finger touch the surface, causing a ripple to grow away from it. She raised her hand a little and directed her focus at the pond. A blob of water floated up from it, right under her hand, becoming an almost perfect circle. She faced her palm upwards and the shape followed, softly wavering and shining in the moonlight. She thought about the snippet of a cartoon she had seen earlier that day, and the water began taking shape of the different characters she could remember from it. That calmed her. She wasn't sure where she got this ability from, the ability to warp water to her desire, but she generally enjoyed the privilege of having it. She had theories, of course, of where it came from, but her strongest suspicion was that it was genetic or something...not that she would ever really know since she never knew her parents or any other family that could confirm her guesses.

The girl reflected on her travels from the past few months. Lately, she had been bringing problems with her, ones that almost always resulted in destruction. Fierce storms and raging floods mainly. She didn't make them on purpose, not usually. Sometimes she just couldn't control herself and disaster would happen. Sometimes it would be a spoiled bully making comments on her shabby clothes, or perhaps a merchant hollering at her for looking around too long without buying anything. Often it was in self-defense. More than once a gang or thug would corner her someplace, taunting her, or demanding money. She could fight well enough, but still. Powers like hers were more fun anyway. So by the time she left those cities, her damage would be done.

She would be leaving this place soon, but not before she had searched the town. She lost a necklace there somewhere she had had for a while...come to think of it, she couldn't remember a time that she didn't have that thing. It had significant importance to her and she wasn't leaving without it if she could help it. It was a pretty thing, dark blue with golden lines twisting in it like marble. It too often was something those petty thieves wanted when she'd reveal to them that she didn't have any money.

She sighed again, and let the water fall into the pond.

-SNAP-

Her head whipped around at the sound and she immediately jumped to her feet. Whatever had made the noise was likely an animal, but she wanted to be careful. The bushes in front of her rustled and her eyes widened at the figure that emerged from them, and she took a step back.

Slade gazed down at the girl before him. Until now, he had never been able to get a good look at her up close. He took in the youthful face, the blue-green eyes, the long wavy golden-blonde hair, her mouth open in fear. She was small in stature, smaller than he had initially thought, probably not much older than thirteen. She took another step back towards the pond.

"Careful there, young one. You might fall in." Slade said as the girl raised her fists up to chest level. "Who are you?" She asked, her mouth drawn into a frown.

"My name is Slade. Might I ask you yours?" He took a step toward her with his hands folded behind his back. Her lips tightened. "Jenny." She responded, a trace of defensiveness in her voice.

"Oh really?" He leaned in. "It's not...Suzie? Or Tiffany? Or Anne? Or perhaps Caroline?" The girl's eyes widened even further and she began to shake, her breathing quickened. Those were all names she had been using lately, all of which were paired with different personalities to ward off attention from the police or anyone else she encountered while hopping from city to city.

"W-what-how-?" She stuttered, her face contorted in shock. "I know all about you, little girl. I've been watching. You aren't hard to follow, you know. You leave obvious clues to your identity wherever you go, destruction in your wake." He smiled under his mask. "Tonight I wanted to meet you in person. Your unusual abilities intrigue me." Her eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah?" She retorted. "Are you with government or something? Are there more of you here?" She demanded, glancing around at the thick forest around them. At that, Slade chuckled. "Do you think someone working for government wear something like this?" He asked, gesturing at his mask. The girl lowered her head a little. "No, I guess not." She let her arms fall a little. "So what are you here for, then?"

"I thought I made that clear. You, my dear." Immediately, her breath quickened again. This man wasn't just an intruder, he was a threat. "You're what I've been looking for." The girl tried to keep her voice steady, but she could hear the fear in it and was sure this stranger could too. "What are you looking for then?" Slade kept his gaze on her. "An apprentice. Someone I can teach, someone to follow in my footsteps." His singular eye narrowed slightly. "Someone to fight by my side." The girl took that in. She still didn't completely understand what it was that he was trying to tell her, but at that moment she decided she was done waiting.

Slade had been anticipating what happened next, he was ready for it. He had seen it time and time again with people that threatened her in the past and he had prepared for this sort of attack. The girl raised her arms by her side, her eyes taking a florescent blue as she directed water from the pond at Slade. She guided it around his head, surrounding his mask, waiting for him to drown. Instead, he pulled out a device that he attached onto his face where his mouth would have been. She saw bubbles floating away from it and realized it was letting him breathe. This set panic into her. That was all she had ever needed to do to protect herself, and she never anticipated someone being prepared enough to save themselves. Not like this. She didn't know what to do. The water fell away from him and splashed into the grass.

While he lifted his hand to remove his attachment, the girl ran at him with a fist raised to strike. Her punch was easily caught, Slade's other hand swallowing her own. She was thrown to the ground with a groan. She clutched her arm, eyes shut in pain. Slade bent down next to her, his face leaning in uncomfortably close to hers. He grabbed her chin and she opened her eyes. "I've seen what you have done. I know what you can do. You are powerful now, but you can do more. you have so much potential, you just need a mentor. Someone to guide you. I can give that to you." She paused, looking up at Slade, surprise and confusion written on her face. "W-What would you want from me?" Slade stood up and she followed. "It's like I said. I want you to be my apprentice. To obey me, to fight by my side, to belong to me." He extended a closed hand and opened it to reveal the beloved necklace she had lost. She took it with awe and stroked the jewel it carried. "It is, of course, up to you. Know that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Such things will not be offered to you in the future by anyone else." She looked up at him. "So...what do you say? Will you be mine?" The girl looked back down at the hand carrying the jewelry, then back up at Slade.

...

"I will."

Slade smiled behind his mask and gestured for her to follow him. "Very good. I'll ask you again though...what is your name?" She bit her lip. "I-I never had one. Never really had anyone to use it if I did." Slade hummed. "You know...Mira is a name in Sanskrit meaning 'ocean' or 'sea'. I think it would suit you quite well." He looked down at her. She smiled. "Yeah...I like that." Slade straightened back up. "Well then, Mira. Let's hurry out, shall we? Our future awaits."

Author's note: This work is also available on platforms such as Wattpad, DeviantArt, Quotev, and Archive of Our Own.