Tamaranian Nights

Chapter 3: Promise

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own the Teen Titans or Sarah Brightman's Arabian Nights.

The breeze had changed direction, the sky had begun to darken—the stars seemed so close! And the air became chilled around the two sisters. Starfire shivered in the looming darkness while her sister still ignored her; her concentration seemed unbreakable. The red-haired girl did not dare impede her sister's meditation a second time. Starfire made sure to closely watch her sibling's every move. Blackfire drew her arms into a graceful arc above her head, tilting her head back slightly. Beads of sweat formed on her brow, creased in the effort to contort into a new form. She thrust her arms downward and was encompassed with a brilliant light. Starfire turned her head away and when she glanced back again, her sister had become a Hamesha—the equivalent of an Earth equestrian. An elegant dark hamesha, which in the starlight gave her jet-black coat a shimmer of deep violet. Starfire was awed. She wondered if she could do the same.

Starfire closed her eyes, mimicking her sister's act of determination. She did not see her elder sister throw a furious glance her way. Had a hamesha claws, Blackfire would have torn at her sister's impudence with a cruelly fierce compassion in swift retribution.

In a flash of light, Starfire also became a lovely hamesha, clad all in white. She thrust one of her forelegs forward and back to paw the ground before glancing back up at her sister, delighted at the interesting new sensations that teased her senses. Her sense of hearing and smell sharpened in the darkness and this body! Starfire gave a joyous little kick and toss; what a silly feeling it gave her! The little white hamesha gave a contented chortle and wanted to express her happiness to her sister—but the dark creature had already turned her back as the wind rose around her to press on in her harmony. Blackfire's voice rose attractively into the air, giving the night around them wings as the breeze swirled round and round the lovely beings.


So

Should I return to trace the shadows of my chases

My steps will echo there from sand to stone

I

Will never let my eyelids close on empty spaces

My dreams will fill the void with tales unknown

Her voice lamenting to the darkness, Starfire felt a great weight of guilt for her sister, though she hardly knew why. She took a hesitant step toward the dark hamesha, and Blackfire did naught but continue with the song.


Know the mighty infinite obscures the far horizon

The whispered road I take will never bend

Starfire was filled with a bitter loneliness at her sister's words. She bowed her head in remorse. Such sadness! Starfire could feel her heart being torn from her breast at her sibling's next words.


Alone

And will the wind return my story to its promise

Or will my story chase me to my end

The red-haired girl could feel tears forming in her now almond-shaped eyes. With head hung and eyes closed, she did not see the dark hamesha gazing out into the nothingness in blissful recognition. A path had formed before Blackfire's obsidian hooves, but she kept staring onward as the voice Starfire had heard from the bottom of the dune, wafted to her perked ears. Blackfire leaned her trembling body forward, taking her first assured step on the path of night and of stars; already the pact had been made. This winding path had been her chosen fate. Her eyes shot forward, unblinking, as she leapt gracefully onto the path, smiling triumphantly.

Starfire, at hearing the voice, tossed her head up and saw her sister enter on the dark pathway. Utterly startled, she was at a loss of what to do except retrieve her sister from stumbling into the void for the path was very narrow and it was so very dark. Was it Blackfire's dream to cross such an unmentionable?

Starfire hurried over to the pathway, wavering on the edge. Perhaps the path could crumble at any moment? What if their combined weights shattered the bridge? The love and fear for her sister pushed these terrible ideas from her mind. Starfire pressed one of her forelegs into the path. It held. She placed it down again and put her weight onto it, and still it held. She leapt shakily onto it and crept forward, it did not even budge. She threw hew gaze back up at her sister, fearing for the both of their lives; why did her sister torment her this way?

Blackfire had already begun into a slow canter, entranced by the choice that led her, by the final decision she had made. Starfire would have to run to catch up.

Blackfire, unbeknownst to her little sister, had been down this path many times before; she was guided by her instinct and memory. Poor Starfire would most assuredly be unable to follow her. A solar wind had picked up in the void and Blackfire's heart began to race with excitement. Oh the possibilities that could be because of her sister's blunder. If Starfire was, by some miracle, able to follow—this would prove to be interesting.

Suddenly, all thought of her younger sibling was lost as the familiar voice of Blackfire's dream echoed a haunting note to reverberate in her mind and she charged ever onward. Speed was key to crossing the immense fissure that lay ahead.



A/N: Whee! Random insanity anyone? This is what I envisioned when I heard the song, am I to be cursed for my stream of consciousness? I've already warned you all about the open-mindedness, so please continue along those lines!

In answer to the lengthening of chapters—I really can't. The movements of Arabian Nights are really rather short. (Do realize I'm cramming a lot of story into eight minutes and fifty seconds of song!) I want to give all the detail I can to allow everyone to see what I see, but also just enough to keep along with the fast-pace of the score. It's one of those delicate balance things...--;

There are still two more movements (chapters) left to complete and I should be able to get those posted before the end of September, but no promises; you know how school is. I hoped you all enjoyed, please review!

Blackfire 18