Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or Dave & Busters.

Note: I realize that no Titans (except Terra) are portrayed in this chapter. This is 2 years before the Titans. The Titans will come in later chapters.

As Branches Fall

Chapter One

The November sun rose on the city. I woke up, changed into a black shirt and blue jeans, and got on my skateboard. I rode around the city, stopping at the pizza place and ordered a small Hawaiian pizza. I looked over and noticed Slade sit down at another table. The waiter (who was a friend of mine) put the pizza down.
"Oh, Travis, before I go, happy birthday," he said jokingly.
I shook my head. It wasn't my birthday. Oh well, I thought. I took a slice and bit into it.

Later, after I finished my pizza, I went over to talk to Slade. We decided to go to Dave & Busters, in which we did. We played some games for the day and met up with Slade's girlfriend, Thyme, with a few of her friends, Tara and Rosemary. They were having a good time, and Slade wanted to walk Thyme home, but he also wanted to talk to me on the way. We inevitablly decided that we should all go. Of course, I couldn't leave my skateboard, so I hopped on and we went off.

We passed an alley known for the amount of people attacked in it. Well, we figured, we're together, so we're less likely to be attacked. And if we are, we got the neighborhood black-belt, Slade, with us. We were never any more wrong. 25 people surrounded us, brandishing chains and knives, except the leader, who had a gun. They had us in a corner. They pinned down Slade, who was putting up a good fight (even though he only won because someone saved him,) cornered Tara, Rosemary, and Thyme, and were moving in on me. I wished I was somewhere else, or at least that I was invisible to them. What happened was I slipped under them. Two of the dumber ones kept staring, the smartest of the 5 attacking me ran away in fear, and the other two spun around, looking for me. I grabbed a garbage can lid and hit one of the dumb ones in the head with it, kicking one who was looking for me. The other two's eyes widened and followed the smarter one. I looked over to Slade. What happened next makes me queasy to this day. One of them stabbed at Slade, but he dodged. Even though he survived, he lost his eye. I saw it rolling at me.
"DIE!"
I reached into one of the garbage cans, hoping it contained an old discarded steak knife, which it did. I threw it at one of them, getting him in the hand, knocking out his chain. I took off my jacket (which made me glad it was cold out) and whapped at the chain, missing. I tried again and got it, but the guys who were attacking Slade whirled on me. I grabbed the chain and attacked one of them.
"Fred, Bill, help!"
Two fat guys laid off the girls and came over to me. I (still having the lid and having grabbed the the knife) reached in my pocket. I was glad I found a string, because I flipped up a bat and tied the knife to it. Fred and Bill looked at each other, then Fred stabbed at me. I anticipated the attack and hefted up my lid, blocking the stab, and backed up a bit. I used the knife to cut off Fred's finger, and he screamed in pain. I threw the lid at Bill and knocked him over. One of the other guys punched my mouth, and instantly regretted it. He chipped my tooth, reeled back for another punch, but I bit his fist when it reached me. He gazed at his now bleeding hand and looked at the others.
"Let's bail!"
However, only Fred, Bill, and the Slade attackers ran off. Slade was the one who lost his eye. He looked at me, and I nodded, removing the knife. I tossed him the bat, and he knocked out one of the attackers. The other two looked at us.
"Hm, five against two, let's see how well it goes."
Well, those two were probably the dumb ones in the bunch, because they punched at us. Suddenly, they stopped. We wondered what they stopped for, and suddenly saw a fireball aim for one of them and a rock for the other. They were knocked out, and the girls stepped forward. "Why'd they stop?"
Thyme looked up.
"I saw a light. I think that stunned them."
"I didn't," said Rosemary, "But I let loose the fireball."
"And I let loose the rock, which I didn't pick up," added Tara.
"But, you, Travis, shocked even me. When you slipped under them, you weren't a person. You became a shadow."
"Whoa."
I didn't show it, but I was freaked out. It's not everyday someone turned into a shadow.
"Well, we'd better get home."
"Slade, how are you going to explain your eye loss?"
"Someone gouged out my eye! How else?"
"I don't know. Well, let's get home."

When we got home, I was tired. I ate, watched a bit of T.V., and went to bed. I didn't bother to change because I was so tired by that time.

"Shadow...Shadow...Shadow."
I woke up to a voice calling "Shadow."
"Who's Shadow?"
"You are. Shadow, remember, objects have minds. Use this well."
"What are you talking about?"
"Focus on...BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!"

I woke up with a start. I looked over.
"Stupid clock."
I hit the clock and went about my usual morning business. I left the house and went to the movies. Slade and Thyme were standing there.
"Hey, Slade, Thyme?"
"10:00 am."
"Very funny. What's up?"
"I had a weird dream."
"So did I. You first."
"I woke up in the alley, and there was a man next to me. He told me 'Follow Shadow.'"
"Follow Shadow." I didn't see it yet. I looked over at Thyme.
"Your turn."
"I also woke up in the alley, and there was a man next to me. He called me Sola and told me 'Follow Shadow' and to focus my sight on something."
"What's that something?"
"He didn't say. I woke up before he could."
"Oh."
Rosemary and Tara approached us.
"Hi, Rosemary, Tara."
"Hey. I had a weird dream."
"So did I."
"Rosemary? What was your dream?"
"I woke up in the alley and saw a man. He called me Starus and told me 'Follow Shadow' and to focus my sight on something."
"He didn't say what?"
"I woke up at that point."
"What about you, Tara?"
"Same here, except he told me to focus on stones and called me Terra. Then I woke up."
"My dream was differant. I, too, woke up in the alley to a man, however, he called me Shadow and told me to focus on something. I didn't here the next part because my alarm clock went off."
Slade looked at me.
"Hey, Shadow, you mind telling me what's going on?"
"I have no idea."
"Well, then, Shadow, looks like we're with you to the end."
"Stop calling me Shadow!"
We decided to see a movie. We got our tickets and sat down, but Slade and Thyme got in a popcorn fight. I looked at the popcorn and focused. I didn't know if the dream-man was telling the truth, but the popcorn instantly stopped. I broke my concentration to look at Slade. The popcorn fell into my lap.
"Okay, remind me to start going by Shadow."

Review please, oh, and don't worry, I'll add Robin, Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beastboy later (in case you haven't read.)

Also, in this story, Tara will be pronounced [TAH-ruh].