By Nyassa Kaiba
Notes: This is my first Teen Titans fic. Please don't flame me.
Disclaimer: Hi, I do not own Teen Titans. I do not own most of the songs that I have used in this fic. I have made up my own poetry and lyrics in a couple of places. I own the poem "Dragonchild," as well as the character of Feralae, the concept of a Dragonmage, and the four holy artifacts, as well as the Dragon Hierarchy.
Warning: There is also yuri in this fic! Yes, you heard me! That means one of the Titan Girls ain't toeing a straight line if you know what I mean! There is also OC. If you don't like OC characters, too bad! I also have heavy references to Wicca. Now I know the yaoi/yuri fandom is pretty accepting of differences in style and culture. But if you're offended by witchcraft then don't flame me if you see something you don't like! Got that? Right then, here comes the fic.
Chapter 1
In this world there's a whole lot of trouble
In this world there's a whole lot of pain
In this world there's a whole lot of trouble
But a whole lot of ground to gain
Mary Chapin Carptenter, "Why Walk When You Can Fly?"
It was, quite literally, a dark and stormy night. The wind howled, the thunder rolled, and the rain let out a pattering noise on the window. Raven was the only one awake, or she thought she was, until she heard a thunk coming from Starfire's room. "What the Hell is that girl doing?" Raven muttered as she heard a giggle.
The wind roared, or was it really the wind? No… it sounded like an animal! Raven listened. It didn't sound like anything Beast Boy had become in the past. No, it wasn't him. Then there was a BOOM another roar, then a keen of fear and sadness. The emotion in that voice was so palpable that she could feel the creature/monster/person's agony. Raven shuddered and walked to the window.
Something big and black in the night was curled up against the side of the tower. It had wings, that much Raven saw, and they were extended to cover something. That was when her curiosity got the best of her and she stood.
Raven pulled on her cape over her pajamas and went out the door. She was about to go down the elevator when she paused in thought. This creature was big. What if it was hostile? She should bring one of the others just in case, and since Starfire was awake…
The Titan of Darkness went to the other girl's door and knocked. "Hnnn?" Starfire groaned.
"Starfire! Wake up! There's something outside!"
"Huh? A monster?" Starfire asked.
"We're going to find out. Get dressed." Raven told her.
The younger girl nodded. "Um…"
"What?"
"If you would mind giving me a little privacy?"
Raven rolled her eyes. "Sorry." She left. Two minutes later the two girls were in the elevator to the bottom of the tower. The elevator opened. "Follow me." Raven pulled up her hood against the wind and followed to the side of the tower where she had seen the creature.
Instead of a monster they found a teenage girl. She was half covered by a backpack and a guitar case. "This does not look like a monster to me Raven." Starfire commented.
"Yeah, but what's she here for?" Raven asked. She turned the girl over, removing both packs. The girl had longsilky redhair with purplestreaks in it,down to her knees and a sexy hourglass figure. She wore a sapphire blue pair of cargo pants, a sapphire blue fleece tunic, a silver pentacle necklace and a leather collar with dragonhead shaped studs. Over all of this she wore a black robe tied at the waist with a hand woven belt. The belt was in strands of green, blue, red, yellow, black and white and had shells and beads woven in in places. It tied around her waist with a smooth beach rock that had a hole in it. She had dropped a staff with intricate carvings in it. The staff even had a dragon's claw carved at the bottom and a dragon's head at the top. The dragon's head had several feathers in it. Belted at her side was a sword, the pommel of which depicted a phoenix and dragon entwined. Curled up in the girl's arms was some kind of odd creature.
"Is that a dragon?" Starfire asked. She had to raise her voice against the hurricane's wrath.
"I think so..." Raven scooped up the creature. "Take her things. I can carry her." Raven slipped the dragon in the pocket of her robes and scooped up the girl, carrying her on her back. "Let's get them inside."
The two girls paused in the entryway to catch their breaths. Then they set down their burdens. "Go get help, I'll keep an eye on her."
"Okay. But they..."
"I know how to take care of them, do you?"
"You're right. See you in five!" Starfire zipped into the elevator.
The girl's eyes fluttered open weakly. "Duel?" She asked weakly. Her eyes were a pretty pale green, like a fox's, only they were slitted, like a cats, or a dragon's? Was this girl the creature that Raven had seen outside the tower?
"Sorry." Raven shook her head. This girl seemed so familiar to her. "I'm not her."
"Okay." The girl blacked out again.
The elevator opened. Starfire led the boys out at a run. "We came as fast as we could." Robin said as he saw the girl. "Looks like somebody got lost in the rain."
"She sure did." Raven rolled her eyes.
"Cyborg can you carry her upstairs? She's too tall for any of us to carry." Robin suggested.
Raven gave him a dirty look and hefted the girl on her own. "I found her, I'll carry her."
"What's with HER attitude?" Asked Beastboy as they piled back into the elevator.
Raven didn't answer. "We'll take her to the living room for now. We'll put her on the couch." Robin started issuing orders.
Once they got upstairs Raven set the girl down on the couch. She wouldn't admit it to the others, but this girl seemed familiar somehow. Somebody she knew and forgot about maybe? With all the bustle about Slade coming back there had been little time to worry about the past, except, of course, for that damn prophecy. Starfire brought in hot chocolate and made Beastboy get a pile of pillows and blankets to keep the girl warm. Raven arranged the girl's luggage against the wall. "Man, how could she carry all of this on her own?" Cyborg asked as he eyed the luggage, including the sword, staff, and several instrument cases that had been attached to the backpack.
"I have no idea."
"Maybe she's got superpowers like we do." Beastboy suggested.
Raven put a hand to the girl's forehead. "She's got a fever I think."
"And with the hurricane outside ravaging half the city we won't be able to take her to a doctor." Robin sighed disgustedly as he looked out the window into the storm-wracked night.
"She thought I was somebody named Duel." Raven said thoughtfully as she watched Starfire tuck the girl in and slip a couple of pillows under her head. "She woke up briefly while you weren't there."
The girl groaned. Every head turned in her direction. "Duel... mom... dad... don't... don't leave me... don't... don't send me away... please... no no don't die! Momma! Daddy! Duel... Duel don't go away..."
"Fever dreams." Sighed Raven.
"Perhaps this Duel person was a relative." Starfire suggested. "She is calling for her parents."
"Perhaps. When we get her name we'll have to look her records up in the city databanks." Robin suggested. Then he yawned. "It's late. Why don't we alternate watches on her until the morning."
"I'll take first watch." Raven checked her watch. "It's late, and I couldn't sleep anyway."
"Okay, see you in the morning." Beastboy bounced off down the halls.
"I could not sleep either." Starfire said cheerfully. "I could keep you company."
"See you in the morning then." Robin said as he and Cyborg left.
Raven pulled the shivering dragon out of her robe pocket. "It's still unconscious. Come on little guy." She rubbed the dragon gently with the hem of her robes. "Come on... wake up... your master needs you..."
The dragon shuddered. Then it's eyes opened weakly. It gave a chirp. Then it fluttered it's wings slightly and yawned. Starfire's face lit up. "It's so cute!"
"It's a wyvern." Raven asked, suddenly remembering the term.
"What is a wyvern?" Starfire asked.
"It's a dragon with two wings and two legs." Replied Raven. She finished off the mug of cocoa. The warm drink was making her sleepy.
Around dawn, Raven woke, realizing that she'd fallen asleep. Somebody was singing softly.
"Drawn to each other,
Even when locked in darkness,
I can't erase the aura,
I won't step back.
Heart burning
From the transparent farewell
I wish to meet you again next time."
Raven smiled as she recognized the song, "Moon Revenge" from the Japanese Sailor Moon soundtrack. You couldn't hang around the tower as long as she did without picking up something on Cyborg and Beastboy's anime talk.
The girl coughed suddenly. She'd been singing and stroking her dragon's head, and the cough set in. "Man, I must still be out of it."
"Are you alright?" Raven asked, standing from where she'd been sleeping in a chair.
"I'm fine, where am I? Who are you?"
"You're at the Titan Tower. I'm Raven. You got yourself stuck on our island last night." Raven told her. Starfire had gone to sleep leaning against the couch. Raven kept her voice down.
The girl sneezed. "There were, there still are, storm dragonsfighting in the hurricane outside. I called Nidhoggr to take me to visit them. The wind picked up and we got blown off course."
"Dragons?" Raven asked. "There really is such a thing?"
"Of course, only not everybody can see them, not unless they choose to manifest themselves physically. They're astral beings, with different powers than physical ones." The girl explained. Her voice sounded hoarse. "You don't get what I'm saying do you?"
Raven shook her head. "No, I don't."
"According to the myths passed down in my clan, all the monsters and such from world mythologies really did exist, but humans hunted them down so badly they decided to move to another plane of existence. So now a human who can contact the astral plane where they live can channel their spirits and powers into their bodies or even call them from their plane of existence to help them. There were storm dragons out in that hurricane, so I asked Nidhoggr to take me to meet them."
"So where is this Nidhoggr now?" Raven asked.
"Back on the Astral plane I think. The storm winds were too strong for him." The girl replied.
"So what's your name?" Asked Raven as she crouched down next to the girl's eye level.
"My name is Feralae. Do I know you? You seem familiar." Feralae replied.
"I don't know. You seem familiar too." Raven told Feralae. Her voice was thoughtful, reflective.
Starfire slowly opened her eyes with a yawn. "Oh, you are awake." She said, standing. "The boys should be waking up any time now."
"Yeah, I'm awake." The girl yawned too. "Man I'm out of form." She coughed, trying to dislodge the phlegm in her throat.
Starfire put a hand on Feralae's forehead. "You feel hot. I shall go get a thermo-meter from the bathroom. You stay here."
"Is she foreign or something?" Feralae asked as soon as the girl was gone.
"Something like that." Said Raven with a small hint of a smile. "So tell me more about these dragons of yours."
"Well, there are six Dragon Lords, and the Dean of Guardians, and then beneath them are the Dragon Knights. Each of them are a different mythical dragon. The Dragon Lords have titles based on Element. In fact, my robe belt shows their colors. Red is for fire, and yellow for air, blue is for water, green is for earth, white is for light and black is for darkness."
"Dragon royalty?" Raven asked, blinking in surprise.
"Sure, humans have royalty, so why not dragons?" The girl asked.
"It just seems strange to me. Although considering all the weird things that have happened to me in my life I suppose this would top it all off." Raven sighed with a huff and sat down next to the girl on the end of the couch.
The tiny dragon chirped inquiringly. Then it's head whirled in the direction of the door. That was when the boys ran in ahead of Starfire. "They ran, I could not get them to slow down." She panted.
"Hiya." Beastboy said cheerfully as he, Cyborg and Robin came into view.
"Welcome to the tower." Robin said welcomingly. "I'm glad you're alright."
"She has a fever." Starfire told them. "I before you boys go and ask her a million questions I'm going to take her temperature."
"Okay fine!" Beastboy plopped down on the floor, changed into a bat, and landed on the couch next to Feralae.
Starfire put the thermometer under Feralae's tongue. The girl was feeling kind of overwhelmed at all the attention. But she was used to crowds, being a performer herself.
Raven reiterated what Feralae had told her. Finally, after five minutes, the thermometer beeped. Starfire inspected it. "One hundred and two point nine degrees. Robin, she should stay with us until the fever is gone."
"You're welcome to stay." Robin told Feralae.
"Thank you." She said with a soft smile. "I still have a bit of a headache."
"I'll get some fever reducer." Beastboy bounced up. "I know where the medicines are kept."
"Get some coughing drops too." Starfire called after him. "Hurry up!"
"I will!" And Beastboy flew out of the room.
"Wow, he can shapeshift?" Feralae demanded.
"And Bat is one of his favorite forms." Raven rolled her eyes.
"A really experienced Dragon Mage can shapeshift into the forms of the creatures that she channels, but I haven't learned how it's done yet." Feralae said mournfully.
"So what is a dragon mage?" Robin asked.
"And what are the names of these Dragon Lords that you told Raven about?" Cyborg added.
"A dragon mage is a person who can channel the spirits of dragons and other astral beings in order to use their powers or call them from another realm. It's kind of like Native American Animal Medicine." Feralae explained. She coughed again.
"I don't know all the Dragon Lords' names. But the Dragon Lord of Earth is Grael. The Dragon Lord of Fire is Fafnir. The Dragon Lord of Air is Sairys and the Dragon Lord of Water is Naelyon. Last but not least, the Dragon Lord of Darkness is Nidhoggr. I don't know the name of the Dragon Lord of Light though. I also haven't met the Dean of Guardians. He's in charge of the Guardian dragons and Dragon hatchlings.
"Then there are the Dragon Knights. The Knights represent all the habitats that Dragons live in. They represent, Hurricanes, Cyclones, Jetstreams, Forest Fires, Volcanoes, Forests, Mountains, Deserts, Lakes, Rivers, Oceans, Chaos and Destruction." Feralae concluded. "Plus there are planetary dragons and dragons for the Zodiac."
"Wow! And you have to remember all of those?" Cyborg asked.
The dragon let out a chirp and leapt into the air. It started circling all around Cyborg's head, singing happily in a high, clear voice. "Oh dear. You guys, I'd like to introduce you to my Guardian Dragon, Nidon, son of Nidhoggr, a Guardian Dragon of the Chaos Order." Feralae giggled. "He likes Ginger, sweet things, head scratches, and anything shiny."
"Is THAT why he's circling around my head?" Asked Cyborg as the dragon landed on hiss shoulder with a content chirp.
"Nidon if you don't leave him alone RIGHT NOW, I'll… I'll…"
Nidon let out a chirp and then a chip and a series of trilling noises before sticking out his tongue at Feralae.
"I won't give you any ginger for a WEEK! You hear me?"
Nidon meekly fluttered back to the couch. Beastboy laughed. "Um… what was that about?" Cyborg asked.
"Dragons tend to have a genetic attraction to shiny things and young dragons especially like ginger." Feralae explained. "He kept calling you Shiny One."
"CHIRP CHEEP!" Nidon said happily.
"That… could be a problem." Robin watched as the dragon never took his eyes from the 'Shiny One.'
"Robin, with that fever she should be in BED." Starfire reminded him. "Terra's old room should work for now."
"NO WAY!" Beastboy protested. "There's a spare room next to Raven's, but she's NOT getting Terra's old room."
"Chill Beastboy." Robin told him. "Starfire, I don't think it would be wise, considering that Beastboy still hasn't gotten over losing Terra."
"Alright, then we clean out the spare room next to Raven's and she may stay there. But we would have to work for a couple of hours. And since Beastboy was so adamant about not using Terra's room then he will help." Starfire said, miffed.
"I could help carry things." Cyborg offered.
"In the meantime I have to do my uh… call home in Gotham." Robin told them. "I'll come help you once I'm finished."
"What call?" Feralae asked.
"Well, when I went out on my own Batman wanted me to keep in touch. So I send him records of our adventures." Robin explained.
"You never told us that!" Said Beastboy, exited. "The Dark Knight himself is interested in how WE do fighting crime?"
"He's interested in how I'm doing on my own." Robin corrected him. "I'll tell him you said hi."
"Oh could you?" Beastboy said hopefully.
"Sure, and when I'm done if you haven't finished I'll come to help." Robin said as he left the room. Starfire herded Cyborg and Beastboy ahead of her out the door. This left Raven alone with Feralae. The two of them were finally alone to talk. But Feralae wasn't sure what to say.
"So Feralae, you seem very familiar. Are you sure that we haven't met."
"I'm not sure at all." Feralae replied. "There was a period of time, a long time ago, that I don't remember at all."
To Raven, this was not especially reassuring.