"No." The boy, Robin's, refusal was flat.
"Oh come on. What are you going to do? Pretend like you killed me? They'll want proof and you can't have that. Besides if we travel together, you can make sure that no one realizes who I am and that I am, in fact, still alive. Besides, my guess is you don't have any supplies or money. Like you said, you had just arrived."
Robin stomach grumbled, agreeing completely with Starfire. Smiling triumphantly, she turned and packed her bags. "Let's go. It's a long time before we get to a trading post."
Robin tried to stand firm, but he couldn't think of any other solutions. "What did I do to deserve this?" he asked himself softly.
Unfortunately, Starfire had excellent hearing. "You were a terrible assassin."
-------------------
Back at the royal palace. Starfire's parents were very upset.
"Our baby has run away!" Starfore's mother wimpered. "And she didn't take any of her new dresses with her. She'll dress like a commoner!"
She began to sob even louder. Whether it was from the loss of her youngest daughter or the scandal and embarrassment that would occur if Starfire was found in commoner's clothing could not be told.
Her father had taken it quite well. For a king that is.
"Only half of the royal army will pursue my daughter. The other half will continue to guard me." He said and sat down. "My little babykins..." he was heard to mumble.
Blackfire stayed in her room, claiming to be too sad to leave. As Tameranians were often highly emotional, no one suspected a thing.
"And I didn't even have to pay that brat of an assassin," Blackfire laughed. The only emotion she was feeling was deep happiness. She toasted herself and went back to soaking in her hot tub in the bathroom connected to her room.
--------------
Starfire and Robin continued to travel together for another few hours. The boots Gizmo had made for Starfire had long since broken down and she too was walking on the ground. Eventually they reached a clearing where a loud clamor was heard.
"Fruits, a dozen for a glorthog. Two dozen for a Gortink."
"A Bustage for a glamert."
All around there were sellers, each trying to be louder than the ones next to them. The noise was deafening. Starfire sighed. She loved to shop. Robin sighed. He hated to shop.
Starfire easily merged with the crowd and effortlessly began bickering and bargining with the nearest stall owner. By the time Robin had reached her by shoving through the relentless throng she had almost bought a light pink dress made out of the finest silk. Robin yanked her away.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanding.
"Buying the perfect dress..."Starfire sighed at the thought of herself dancing along in the dress.
"You're a commoner now. It would take years to even pay for half of that dress! And we need food and tough clothing if we're going to travel."
Starfire blushed. She hadn't even thought about her circumstance. She turned away from the beautiful dress and walked slowly to the stand across, that was selling clothing made out of tough leather like material. She found a pair of nice, normal pair of breeches and a tunic and was about to begin bargaining for it and leave when Robin added a hat to her pile.
"What's that for?" Starfire asked.
"Your hair. I'm assuming that you're going to dress as a boy since you're buying breeches and a tunic and having long hair might be a bit of a giveaway," Robin said pointedly. Starfire flushed again. She had made two embarrassing mistakes in front of this...wannabe assassin. Grabbing the clothing and the hat, she quickly walked to the stall owner and began to bargain.
Reaching a satisfactory price, she returned to Robin, still not looking him in the eye. She didn't know what it was that made her trust him originally. For all her words, she had been incredibly frightened seeing a knife at her throat. The only knives she had previously seen were smaller and more ornamental, and only used for cutting dinner, not other Tameranians. Robin was still lounging against a stall. While he looked the same as any other person, even though he wasn't Tameranian, they were plenty of other foreigners about, he stood out. It was his odd mixture of unease and confidence. While he seemed wary of the multitude of stalls, he seemed to have confidence that he could deal with whatever problems arose. He and Starfire left the dizzy array of stalls after one last quick purchase of the necessary foods.
They made their way toward the forest and once again, began traveling. They traveled in silence for a long time, then Starfire couldn't stand it any longer.
"Can we talk about something?" She demanded.
Robin looked up at her, she was two inches taller than he was, startled. He had been perfectly content just walking and thinking to himself. But if they were going to be stuck together... "What do you want to talk about?" he demanded, the words coming out sharper and harsher than he expected.
Starfire bent her head forward. She hadn't realized how upset he must be. She thought to herself all that happened to him that day. 'First he fails at his job. The he is taunted ruthlessly by a royal princess. I kept at him. I didn't even think about his feelings. Now he's stuck with me because there is no other feasible solution. He's probably having the worst day of his life. This is all my fault.' "Umm...its OK. I think I see something over there. I'm going to find out what it is." Star hurried forward her face bent downward. 'It's all my fault.' She thought again, as she felt slight tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away impatiently and hurried to walk far in front of Robin.
'Oh great, now I hurt her feelings. She must be having an awful day. I mean to run away form a life where you have everything must be pretty hard. She must have really hated it. She probably misses her family and all day I have done nothing but snap at her. I even woke her up with a knife at her throat. She's probably never even seen a knife. Now she has to stay with me or she'll be forced back to where she came from. I must have screwed up all her plans. It must not have been easy escaping. All that work, gone just because I wanted some money. I would have killed her for a few coins. This is all my fault.' Robin saw Starfire turn red and run ahead. He also saw her wipe at her eyes. He was startled to see her hand was moist with tears. 'This is all my fault.' He thought again. He didn't know what to do so he just hung back.
The two teen proceeded like this until they reached a small bridge. Starfire began to walk across the bridge when she heard a rough voice. "This has tolls, this bridge does."
A burly man walked forward. He wasn't Tameranian and Starfire couldn't place where he was from.
"I do not believe any bridges in Tameran have tolls," Starfire said, slowly. She didn't understand what was going on.
"This one does," The man snapped. Everyone seemed to snap at Starfire today. She sighed and reached into her purse. She had turned in several jewels for gold already and had plenty for whatever toll there was.
"I'll be taking all your money..." The man continued. Starfire stiffened. He was a robber!
Robin saw the man approach Starfire and begin to talk to her. He quickened his pace. He got there in time to hear the man say "I'll be taking all your money," 'A robber!' Robin thought. The man continued 'After I finish with you of course.' The man grabbed at Starfire. Her eyes widened. While she was still hopelessly naïve she understood exactly what the man meant. Before she could begin to fight the man with her starbolts, the man clapped something on her wrist. It was a metal band that prevented her from using starbolts. "You're Tameranian! The slaver will pay extra for you; after I finish!" the man laughed. Starfire stared at him unable to do anything.
A blur, streamed across her vision, the next thing she knew, the man was lying on the bridge and Robin was pulling her quickly across.
"We have to hurry, he probably has friends!" The two teens began to run and didn't stop for a long time. They found a small camp area far away from the path and Robin and Starfire laid down their belongings.
Starfire began to tug at the piece of metal but it wouldn't budge.
Robin reached across and carefully grabbed her wrist. She stiffened then relaxed as he helped her pull off the piece of metal.
"It can only be removed by people who are not Tameranian. Since Tameranians do not have slaves, they are only used as slaves and thus the bracelet works to keep them from attacking their foreign owners," Robin explained.
"Owww," Starfire made a hissing noise, as Robin dragged the metal from her wrist.
"I'm sorry. It's the only way to get it off." Robin grabbed a scrap of cloth and dripped some water on it.
He carefully, wrapped the makeshift bandage around Starfire's wrist. She smiled at him drowsily. "Thanks, Robin."
As she suddenly drifted off to sleep, the Tameranians need to have short bursts of very deep sleep and when they need to sleep they need to sleep, Robin said softly. "You're welcome Star." She smiled again. It wasn't that bad as far as nicknames went.
--------
The morning was bright and clear. Sike. It was drizzling rain and small bits of fog hung over the camp area. Star sat up confused. She didn't even remember falling asleep. As she looked around the campsite she grew more and more worried. There was no sign of Robin. She looked down to see his cloak hanging from her neck.
Then she heard the muffled oath. There were several words that she dared not repeat but she did learn some new ones. Giggling, she removed the cloak and tossed it to Robin. He seemed to be struggling with a large.
"Glorthy!" Star squealed.
Robin rubbed his head. He had gotten a headache and Star's squeals were only making it worse. "Where I come from it's called fish..."
"Fish..." Star trailed.
"Yea, there's a creek over there and I decided to see if I could catch one so we don't use up our supplies. Do you even know where we're going?"
"Ummm..." Star tried to think of a dignified answer. "I just always thought I could become a farmer."
"Hands?" Robin said.
"What?" Star asked. Robin grabbed her hands, they were lily-soft. Blushing a bit he quickly dropped them. "You've never worked a day in your life."
"Not farming, but I did work!" Star said, staunchly defending herself.
"Doing what?" Robin asked.
"Being a musician," Star finished brightly. "I play the retwums quite well." Star reached out for his hands. Hesitating, he let her hold them. They were rough and calloused. "What did you do to make your hands become like this?" she asked curiously. "I have never felt hands like this. At the balls people usually wear gloves."
Robin blushed. "I worked."
"If this is your first job as an assassin, what did you do beforehand?" Star asked.
"I worked for a man named Slade," Robin answered.
"And what did you do for this Slade?" Star persisted.
"I stole."
---------flashback-------------
The very first time Robin had stolen it was for bread. He had nothing to eat for days and didn't care about his morals anymore. His family had been in the circus and killed in a freak accident. He would not perform without them due to respect and when he decided to continue, the circus had packed up and left. He was stuck on the streets homeless and hungry. Until Slade came along.
"You won't admit it Robin, but at some level you felt a thrill,"
The cold voice still haunted Robin. He had only taken a loaf of bread. Proof to this stranger that he could do anything and everything as well as the older boys.
"You're going to keep stealing for me, and you're going to keep feeling that thrill."
The cold voice continued. Robin stayed with Slade for a long time. It wasn't that he felt a thrill. His elevated levels were form the disgust he felt each time he stole. He could do nothing though. The pain from hunger was still to close. Still to fresh. He had jumped at the assignment to become an assassin. That could take him away from his entire past. He didn't know who had employed Slade. He didn't know and didn't care. He only wanted to get away.
-------end flashback-----------
"I am, sorry for you," Star said, when he finished.
"Why? I chose the life." Robin said sharply.
By this time, Star had realized that the words were used to cover up for himself. He spoke that way to protect himself. "You did not chose," she continued softly. "You were forced. And when it came time for you to chose, really chose, you did the right thing. I thank you for that." Star leaned over and gave him an awkward hug. Robin sat very still, unsure what to do. He gave her a small pat. Star got up carefully and after grabbing a few bags began to walk back to the path.
"I know where we can go," Robin said, having a sudden flash of insight and turning to follow Star. "I met these other kids before. They might be able to help."
"Oh come on. What are you going to do? Pretend like you killed me? They'll want proof and you can't have that. Besides if we travel together, you can make sure that no one realizes who I am and that I am, in fact, still alive. Besides, my guess is you don't have any supplies or money. Like you said, you had just arrived."
Robin stomach grumbled, agreeing completely with Starfire. Smiling triumphantly, she turned and packed her bags. "Let's go. It's a long time before we get to a trading post."
Robin tried to stand firm, but he couldn't think of any other solutions. "What did I do to deserve this?" he asked himself softly.
Unfortunately, Starfire had excellent hearing. "You were a terrible assassin."
-------------------
Back at the royal palace. Starfire's parents were very upset.
"Our baby has run away!" Starfore's mother wimpered. "And she didn't take any of her new dresses with her. She'll dress like a commoner!"
She began to sob even louder. Whether it was from the loss of her youngest daughter or the scandal and embarrassment that would occur if Starfire was found in commoner's clothing could not be told.
Her father had taken it quite well. For a king that is.
"Only half of the royal army will pursue my daughter. The other half will continue to guard me." He said and sat down. "My little babykins..." he was heard to mumble.
Blackfire stayed in her room, claiming to be too sad to leave. As Tameranians were often highly emotional, no one suspected a thing.
"And I didn't even have to pay that brat of an assassin," Blackfire laughed. The only emotion she was feeling was deep happiness. She toasted herself and went back to soaking in her hot tub in the bathroom connected to her room.
--------------
Starfire and Robin continued to travel together for another few hours. The boots Gizmo had made for Starfire had long since broken down and she too was walking on the ground. Eventually they reached a clearing where a loud clamor was heard.
"Fruits, a dozen for a glorthog. Two dozen for a Gortink."
"A Bustage for a glamert."
All around there were sellers, each trying to be louder than the ones next to them. The noise was deafening. Starfire sighed. She loved to shop. Robin sighed. He hated to shop.
Starfire easily merged with the crowd and effortlessly began bickering and bargining with the nearest stall owner. By the time Robin had reached her by shoving through the relentless throng she had almost bought a light pink dress made out of the finest silk. Robin yanked her away.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanding.
"Buying the perfect dress..."Starfire sighed at the thought of herself dancing along in the dress.
"You're a commoner now. It would take years to even pay for half of that dress! And we need food and tough clothing if we're going to travel."
Starfire blushed. She hadn't even thought about her circumstance. She turned away from the beautiful dress and walked slowly to the stand across, that was selling clothing made out of tough leather like material. She found a pair of nice, normal pair of breeches and a tunic and was about to begin bargaining for it and leave when Robin added a hat to her pile.
"What's that for?" Starfire asked.
"Your hair. I'm assuming that you're going to dress as a boy since you're buying breeches and a tunic and having long hair might be a bit of a giveaway," Robin said pointedly. Starfire flushed again. She had made two embarrassing mistakes in front of this...wannabe assassin. Grabbing the clothing and the hat, she quickly walked to the stall owner and began to bargain.
Reaching a satisfactory price, she returned to Robin, still not looking him in the eye. She didn't know what it was that made her trust him originally. For all her words, she had been incredibly frightened seeing a knife at her throat. The only knives she had previously seen were smaller and more ornamental, and only used for cutting dinner, not other Tameranians. Robin was still lounging against a stall. While he looked the same as any other person, even though he wasn't Tameranian, they were plenty of other foreigners about, he stood out. It was his odd mixture of unease and confidence. While he seemed wary of the multitude of stalls, he seemed to have confidence that he could deal with whatever problems arose. He and Starfire left the dizzy array of stalls after one last quick purchase of the necessary foods.
They made their way toward the forest and once again, began traveling. They traveled in silence for a long time, then Starfire couldn't stand it any longer.
"Can we talk about something?" She demanded.
Robin looked up at her, she was two inches taller than he was, startled. He had been perfectly content just walking and thinking to himself. But if they were going to be stuck together... "What do you want to talk about?" he demanded, the words coming out sharper and harsher than he expected.
Starfire bent her head forward. She hadn't realized how upset he must be. She thought to herself all that happened to him that day. 'First he fails at his job. The he is taunted ruthlessly by a royal princess. I kept at him. I didn't even think about his feelings. Now he's stuck with me because there is no other feasible solution. He's probably having the worst day of his life. This is all my fault.' "Umm...its OK. I think I see something over there. I'm going to find out what it is." Star hurried forward her face bent downward. 'It's all my fault.' She thought again, as she felt slight tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away impatiently and hurried to walk far in front of Robin.
'Oh great, now I hurt her feelings. She must be having an awful day. I mean to run away form a life where you have everything must be pretty hard. She must have really hated it. She probably misses her family and all day I have done nothing but snap at her. I even woke her up with a knife at her throat. She's probably never even seen a knife. Now she has to stay with me or she'll be forced back to where she came from. I must have screwed up all her plans. It must not have been easy escaping. All that work, gone just because I wanted some money. I would have killed her for a few coins. This is all my fault.' Robin saw Starfire turn red and run ahead. He also saw her wipe at her eyes. He was startled to see her hand was moist with tears. 'This is all my fault.' He thought again. He didn't know what to do so he just hung back.
The two teen proceeded like this until they reached a small bridge. Starfire began to walk across the bridge when she heard a rough voice. "This has tolls, this bridge does."
A burly man walked forward. He wasn't Tameranian and Starfire couldn't place where he was from.
"I do not believe any bridges in Tameran have tolls," Starfire said, slowly. She didn't understand what was going on.
"This one does," The man snapped. Everyone seemed to snap at Starfire today. She sighed and reached into her purse. She had turned in several jewels for gold already and had plenty for whatever toll there was.
"I'll be taking all your money..." The man continued. Starfire stiffened. He was a robber!
Robin saw the man approach Starfire and begin to talk to her. He quickened his pace. He got there in time to hear the man say "I'll be taking all your money," 'A robber!' Robin thought. The man continued 'After I finish with you of course.' The man grabbed at Starfire. Her eyes widened. While she was still hopelessly naïve she understood exactly what the man meant. Before she could begin to fight the man with her starbolts, the man clapped something on her wrist. It was a metal band that prevented her from using starbolts. "You're Tameranian! The slaver will pay extra for you; after I finish!" the man laughed. Starfire stared at him unable to do anything.
A blur, streamed across her vision, the next thing she knew, the man was lying on the bridge and Robin was pulling her quickly across.
"We have to hurry, he probably has friends!" The two teens began to run and didn't stop for a long time. They found a small camp area far away from the path and Robin and Starfire laid down their belongings.
Starfire began to tug at the piece of metal but it wouldn't budge.
Robin reached across and carefully grabbed her wrist. She stiffened then relaxed as he helped her pull off the piece of metal.
"It can only be removed by people who are not Tameranian. Since Tameranians do not have slaves, they are only used as slaves and thus the bracelet works to keep them from attacking their foreign owners," Robin explained.
"Owww," Starfire made a hissing noise, as Robin dragged the metal from her wrist.
"I'm sorry. It's the only way to get it off." Robin grabbed a scrap of cloth and dripped some water on it.
He carefully, wrapped the makeshift bandage around Starfire's wrist. She smiled at him drowsily. "Thanks, Robin."
As she suddenly drifted off to sleep, the Tameranians need to have short bursts of very deep sleep and when they need to sleep they need to sleep, Robin said softly. "You're welcome Star." She smiled again. It wasn't that bad as far as nicknames went.
--------
The morning was bright and clear. Sike. It was drizzling rain and small bits of fog hung over the camp area. Star sat up confused. She didn't even remember falling asleep. As she looked around the campsite she grew more and more worried. There was no sign of Robin. She looked down to see his cloak hanging from her neck.
Then she heard the muffled oath. There were several words that she dared not repeat but she did learn some new ones. Giggling, she removed the cloak and tossed it to Robin. He seemed to be struggling with a large.
"Glorthy!" Star squealed.
Robin rubbed his head. He had gotten a headache and Star's squeals were only making it worse. "Where I come from it's called fish..."
"Fish..." Star trailed.
"Yea, there's a creek over there and I decided to see if I could catch one so we don't use up our supplies. Do you even know where we're going?"
"Ummm..." Star tried to think of a dignified answer. "I just always thought I could become a farmer."
"Hands?" Robin said.
"What?" Star asked. Robin grabbed her hands, they were lily-soft. Blushing a bit he quickly dropped them. "You've never worked a day in your life."
"Not farming, but I did work!" Star said, staunchly defending herself.
"Doing what?" Robin asked.
"Being a musician," Star finished brightly. "I play the retwums quite well." Star reached out for his hands. Hesitating, he let her hold them. They were rough and calloused. "What did you do to make your hands become like this?" she asked curiously. "I have never felt hands like this. At the balls people usually wear gloves."
Robin blushed. "I worked."
"If this is your first job as an assassin, what did you do beforehand?" Star asked.
"I worked for a man named Slade," Robin answered.
"And what did you do for this Slade?" Star persisted.
"I stole."
---------flashback-------------
The very first time Robin had stolen it was for bread. He had nothing to eat for days and didn't care about his morals anymore. His family had been in the circus and killed in a freak accident. He would not perform without them due to respect and when he decided to continue, the circus had packed up and left. He was stuck on the streets homeless and hungry. Until Slade came along.
"You won't admit it Robin, but at some level you felt a thrill,"
The cold voice still haunted Robin. He had only taken a loaf of bread. Proof to this stranger that he could do anything and everything as well as the older boys.
"You're going to keep stealing for me, and you're going to keep feeling that thrill."
The cold voice continued. Robin stayed with Slade for a long time. It wasn't that he felt a thrill. His elevated levels were form the disgust he felt each time he stole. He could do nothing though. The pain from hunger was still to close. Still to fresh. He had jumped at the assignment to become an assassin. That could take him away from his entire past. He didn't know who had employed Slade. He didn't know and didn't care. He only wanted to get away.
-------end flashback-----------
"I am, sorry for you," Star said, when he finished.
"Why? I chose the life." Robin said sharply.
By this time, Star had realized that the words were used to cover up for himself. He spoke that way to protect himself. "You did not chose," she continued softly. "You were forced. And when it came time for you to chose, really chose, you did the right thing. I thank you for that." Star leaned over and gave him an awkward hug. Robin sat very still, unsure what to do. He gave her a small pat. Star got up carefully and after grabbing a few bags began to walk back to the path.
"I know where we can go," Robin said, having a sudden flash of insight and turning to follow Star. "I met these other kids before. They might be able to help."
