Chapter 3: Curious

Chapter 3 Dedicated to: PaintingYourEmotions

Starfire shifted on the infirmary bed. The smell of sanitizers stung her nose. As Raven had said, Star's physical pain was gone. This was of only slight relief. Starfire was far from claiming to have premonitions of any kind, but she knew that whatever power it was that she was connected to was more than just a massive energy. There was something dark in it. Starfire could feel it. The shards seemed to have there own will and were pulling her… beckoning her to release their force. Raven was simply standing and watching. Finally, she chose to speak.

"Maybe I should call Robin?" she asked blankly. Star closed her eyes and did her best to suppress the flush that itched to make its way onto her cheeks.

"Why Robin?" She asked softly. Raven arched a delicately formed brow.

"Why not?" she countered. Starfire's eyes flashed open. She locked eyes with her friend.

"Alright. Call for him if it pleases you," Star murmured, keeping her voice unattached. Raven frowned disapprovingly.

"Star, it's not any news that you two are more than just 'comrades' or something. Besides, he's the one you mentioned in your mind. He's the one you feel you need to talk to and you know it. Even if you want to just say it's because he's your leader, you still think you need to talk to him. There aren't many secrets with an empath, and right now you're just being difficult," Raven said monotonously. Starfire was a little flustered. Raven smirked. She wasn't going to let Star hide from this. Especially with the both of them causing so much emotional tension in the tower. It was starting to get in the way of Raven's meditation. Besides, this whole power source thing couldn't be too dangerous… right?

The lavender-haired darkling shrugged and left he room to fetch Robin. Starfire waited, gnawing irritably on her lower lip. She sighed and rolled from the bed, desperately wanting to take another shower. The glimmer of the shards caught her eye. She looked at them dejectedly, and slipped off the remains of her second pair of gloves. Star observed them carefully, moving her wrists so the light caught the silver marks at different angles. The symbols were still outlined with a slight redness. Just out of tentative curiosity, Star wondered if it was possible to channel solar energy into the marks.

It seemed to make sense. She'd felt a rush of energy and ended up burning Robin, and in on of the little flashes during her fall, Blackfire had made the shard glow with the power of star bolts. Starfire thought it was worth a try… just to see… and closed her eyes and concentrated on directing the flow of energy to the shards. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so curious, but it couldn't hurt… She felt the familiar heat rush through her veins, heading towards her hands in the form of star bolts. No, she shouldn't be doing this. She needed to stop… but… Star clenched her teeth and concentrated harder on the symbols instead of her hands, trying to channel the power. She was just curious. She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that this was a bad idea but the shards just seemed to call her... She saw a small flash of light flare up before her closed eye-lids and she opened them to stare in shock.

All around her various symbols now flashed and faded, weaving intricate patterns that formed long threads of glowing emerald marks. They had totally consumed her view and wreathed her in a pulsing sphere. The shards on her wrists danced with jade light as well. Starfire swallowed and blinked hard. More heat rushed through her veins and she swayed with the sudden swell of solar energy leaving her body. Starfire tried to dissolve the marks and retrieve the energy as she did when allowing her star bolts to die out. Nothing happened. She took in a deep breath and flinched as another wave of energy fell off of her and was taken into the sphere of symbols encasing her. Uh oh. It really had been a bad idea.

"Starfire!" it was a simultaneous cry from Raven and Robin. Raven had her hands pressed to her temples, her eyes becoming unusually wide. Robin looked over. "Raven, what's going on?" he yelped in confusion. Raven shook her head.

"There's too much energy… there's magic in it. I can feel it! It's dark, Robin… get her out of there!" Raven fell to her knees, senses abruptly overloaded with the high concentration of unchecked magic and pure, seething, growing energy. She doubled over as if someone had punched her in the gut.

Starfire heard her friends and looked around wildly, but the infirmary was gone. She was immersed in a world of writhing green symbols. Her eyes were aglow with emerald power and she gave a frantic cry.

"Friends, help!" she sobbed. She wasn't curious anymore. Her feet were no longer on the ground and she was swimming with dizziness. Heat crackled around her. The solar energy was flaming hot. Star felt tears spring to her eyes. She'd been so foolish, trying to mess with the shards. Why had all of this happened now? She'd carried one of the shards for years! Why now? Why had she had to have been so stupidly curious? Why her? Why now… why ever?

"STARFIRE!" Robin yelled her name, trying to call her attention. Starfire's stare flashed down. She'd risen high, her head almost touching the ceiling. Robin was below her and she could barely make out his form through the swirling mass of symbols. "Star, talk to me!" He said, shielding his eyes and locking onto her silhouette in the center of the brilliantly glowing swarm of marks. The air seemed to wriggle around the sphere, dancing with radiating heat.

"Robin, I cannot stop it…" she choked out, her thoughts reeling as another unimaginably large burst of energy was released from her. Starfire only had so much solar energy. She could absorb more from being in the sunlight, but it was night fall and she had no way to regenerate what she was loosing. That paired with the fact her power was draining so rapidly was not a good situation. Robin ground his teeth.

"Star, you have to," he hissed, doing his best to keep his voice even. Beast Boy and Cyborg came blundering in, finally attracted by the noise. They came in and stood paralyzed with surprise, sweat instantly beading on their brows from the heat the solar energy was radiating off. Beast Boy saw Raven huddled on the floor and darted over. The ball of symbols was still growing and nearly had the entire upper portion of the room consumed. Raven felt sick from all of the forces tugging at her incredibly tuned senses, and most of them did not hold good promise.

The changeling struggled and finally scooped Raven up, and she was too blinded by the overwhelming sensations to protest him carrying her from the room. Cyborg looked at Robin. "What's happening?" he demanded. Robin shook his head, eyes still glued on Starfire.

"Starfire, you have to stop this! Star, you'll loose all of your energy in minutes expelling it at this rate," he tried to reason. Starfire gave an irritated cry.

"Do you think I wish to be doing this!" she sobbed. "I cannot stop it, Robin… I cannot!" she shuddered as her rapidly dwindling solar power was sapped even further. This was beyond her control. Robin clenched his fists.

"Starfire, you have to. You have to," he repeated stubbornly. Starfire tried again to dissolve the energy. His voice kept ringing in her ears, pounding in her mind. "You have to," he said it again and again. Starfire gave a desperate last attempt and even as she began she was sure she could not accomplish it.

"I CANNOT!" she yelled. And then the energy seemed to freeze. The symbols stopped racing their paths, the sphere did not grow. Robin and Cyborg held their breaths. Beast Boy skidded back into the infirmary and stopped dead. Star looked as if she had been trapped in time. Slowly, the marks lost their glow and faded to a low, shimmering silver-green. The heat dissipated. They began to drop like fragments of glass, pooling into a puddle of radiant green on the floor. Starfire became fully visible again and her eyes were closed and her head thrown back, her hands stretched to either side of her. All of the symbols had melded into the glowing puddle. The puddle began to collect and then mounded into a column that stretched up and began to rush back into Star's body. She jerked once, as if she'd been shocked, and then remained deathly still in her hover until all of the energy had flowed back into her.

Then she dropped. Robin's arms shot out and he caught her swiftly. Starfire's eyes darted opened the moment his arms enclosed around her. "Did I… stop it?" she asked warily, her voice barely audible. Robin felt a relieved grin spread onto his face and he nodded.

"Yes. You did," he murmured, relaxing now that he knew she was okay. For the most part. Robin set her lightly down and she stared at him. He tilted his head to the side curiously. Star sucked in a breath and impulsively threw her arms around him in a powerful hug. He coughed and sputtered as the air was squeezed out of him. "Good to see you're feeling a little better," he wheezed. Star squeaked and released him, realizing she was harming him.

"Sorry!" she peeped in earnest. He waved her off. Cyborg took a few cautious steps forward.

"So that whole thing was…?" he prompted warily. Starfire looked over at her robotic friend. Robin now felt his concern and curiosity returning, the need to know what Starfire's secret was again taking his attention. So she wasn't floating in a massive sphere of solar energy anymore… that wasn't saying much about the rest of today's events.

"Umm…" she trailed off and tapped two fingers together nervously. "I do not know?" she offered. Becoming very alert, very quickly. Raven stalked back into the room and cleared her throat, having recovered. Starfire cringed. "It was… well, I am not exactly able to explain… I hardly know much about it myself. But it had something to do with these," she breathed, thrusting her wrists out for the others to see. Robin's eyes flew over the symbols and realization hit him. This was what had been grieving Starfire. This was what she was hiding. But… what was "this"? He looked up from his studying of the marks and waited for her to explain. He'd thought they were just… weird Tamaranian tattoos or something when he'd seen them in the car.

"These… marks… are shards. Or at least, they are what you can see of two shards imbedded into my skin. They are two halves to a key of some sort. Up until this evening… I carried only one. Somehow, I have been bestowed with the other as well," she decided not to explain her theories on Blackfire's fate. Right now, she would simply explain the shards and no more. Perhaps she could evade delving into the experiments that had been performed on her as well.

"The key can unlock a greatly destructive power. Or at least, that is what I have been told. They obviously have some power considering what has just happened. I do not know where the power is held, but I do know that the shards were meant to be kept separate. Now they have been united and I do not know what is to come. It is not good though. I can feel it. There is something more than energy in this power…" she looked over at Raven. Raven nodded.

"Magic. It was overwhelming… when you were in that… that… orb of energy there was a lot of really dark magic in it too," the Goth muttered. Starfire took a wavering breath. So there really was bad magic in this power…

"I see. Well, that is not the most comforting thing to be hearing… I-I understand if you feel I should leave, considering the potential danger that I am coming to realize these shards pose," Star murmured with a sorrowed sigh. Her usual insecurities had swollen tenfold. Robin snorted.

"Starfire, do you remember what I told you when you went through your transformation?" he asked quietly. Starfire nodded, but kept her gaze averted. "Same thing applies here. No matter what you look like or what strange things may happen to you, you're still Starfire. You're still our friend and you're still a titan," he assured her. Starfire bit her lip. She could hear unease in his voice. She knew what he must be thinking. Raven was a portal for a demon bent on destroying the world, and now Starfire was wielder of a key to unlock a great, deathly power. His team's shadowed pasts were catching up with them all. Who knew what might come next?

"This is a little different from a transformation. This power that I now… potentially wield… it is not for good. There are also others involved. I do not know who, but there are others. There must be," Starfire spoke slowly, as if educating a toddler. Robin narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms; the look on his face telling her he was going to be very stubborn about this whole thing.

"Doesn't matter. You stay with us, we stay with you," he said. Raven nodded and Cyborg and Beast Boy were quick to follow suit. A very tiny smile made its way onto her face. Her friends were so loyal. Starfire's jade eyes traveled to each of the titans in turn and then dropped down to her wrists.

"I do not know what happened just now. I fear it may happen again. Perhaps without my knowing it is coming. It may be harmful to you all," she murmured. Robin shrugged.

"What comes, comes." He touched her shoulder lightly.

"Robin?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he watched her as she seemed to ponder something. The others waited to hear what she would say as well.

"I am sorry about this afternoon. I truly did not mean to hurt you in any way," she apologized again.

"I know. It's fine, Star. From what I gather, you couldn't help what happened. Besides, Raven healed it and I'm completely fine now," Robin assured her gently. Raven shifted her weight.

"I don't mean to burst this little warm-fuzzy moment or anything, but Starfire… you might want to go take another shower," she motioned to the mud caking Star's torn up uniform. Star blushed, embarrassed, and nodded furiously. Robin's eyes followed her as she scooted out the door.

Starfire floated back into the bathroom again and showered quickly, retreating to her room and getting into clean clothing. She noticed Raven had healed the cuts Blade had caused earlier. Star smiled softly and pulled on yet another pair of gloves. She walked over to her dresser and gazed affectionately at the framed photo of the team. Her slender finger traced the faces of each of her friends and she sighed.

"Please forgive me if I hurt you," she whispered solemnly. She would not hurt them, though. She refused. She would kill herself before she brought any harm on her friends. Then again, she had already mildly hurt Robin and Raven had nearly gotten ill when the power had been released. Starfire's frame slouched and she flopped onto her bed. Perhaps they would forgive her if she did not come to eat dinner.

She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, her thoughts drifting from thought to thought, but never far away from the key. Starfire blinked, her ears picking up the sound of soft footsteps moving towards her door. A soft knock came moments later.

"Who is it?" she peeped.

"Robin," came the reply.

"Come in," she offered cordially. A moment later, her door slid open with a hiss and Robin stepped through. He closed the door behind him and she heard him place the lock. So he wanted to be Richard now? Sure enough, when he'd come to sit on the edge of her bed, his mask was tucked in the edge of his utility belt and his stormy blue eyes were exposed.

"Hello, Richard," she said sweetly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. Starfire sighed.

"No," she murmured. Robin nodded. He didn't really want to talk about it either. He wouldn't have admitted it, but he was a little hurt she hadn't talked to him about this before.

"Ok. I take it you're not up for dinner," he said. Star shook her head, but seemed to think of something.

"Well… what is it we are having?" she inquired. Perhaps she would eat after all… depending on what the proposed meal was.

"I don't know, really. Whatever you feel like having," he shrugged.

"The others…"

"They're all in their rooms. They already raided the fridge and took stuff with them. I think everybody is a little… confused at the least," he offered.

"So it is just you and I?"

"Pretty much. Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Perhaps I could eat."

"Great. So, where do you want to go?"

"Go?"

"Like I said, they already raided the fridge…"

"Oh, yes, of course. Perhaps the Chinese food?"

"Sure."

"Richard?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. All of you are being so wonderful about… this. I know you realize this power is larger than you are acting like it is," Starfire said quietly. Robin was quiet, and then he nodded.

"Like I said, what comes, comes," he muttered. "I just wish you had trusted me enough to tell me before. I wish you would see that I could… the team could… never abandon you, despite what you may be connected to," he touched her arm lightly. "You want to go?" Robin asked. Starfire nodded and rolled off of the bed. As Robin came to stand near her, Star wrapped her arms around him. It was a gentle hug. She buried her head into his shoulder.

"Richard…" she didn't have to say much more, her appreciation flowing over the singular word. Her held her against him for a while, gently stroking the back of her head. He hated even the slightest thought of her leaving them, and yet she'd tried to today. Robin wished she would stop running and just let him take care of her.

"Kori, you're priceless. Remember that," he said as he let her go. Starfire flushed slightly at the comment but nodded. Robin took her hand and lead her out of her room and down the hall towards the garage. Neither noticed the shards flare through Star's gloves and die out again. Neither noticed the strange shadow sink back into the wall as they passed.

When they got to the garage, Robin handed her a helmet and she jammed it down onto her head. It was her own helmet, one that had been given to her last Christmas by Cyborg. He had decided that Robin had been taking her out on the R-cycle too much to not have her own helmet. It was painted a sparkly lilac and the little visor was edged in green. At the time, Robin had been a bit disturbed by Cyborg's accusations. Although Starfire was the only one he let on the R-cycle, it didn't mean he was taking her on dates. None the less, the helmet had proven helpful.

Robin helped her on the bike and then they were off, zipping down the drive and off of Titans Island. Starfire hugged her arms tightly around Robin's middle and she placed her head against the back of his shoulder, closing her eyes as the wind billowed through her hair and whipped her skirts about her. It was soothing, the roar of the engine, the wind rushing around her, Robin's cape corners fluttering up and teasing her arms, and the feeling of the bike rumbling to stops and shooting off again.

Robin enjoyed the ride as well, but it was no surprise. Speeding down Jump City's streets was always a thrill, and having Star with him made it all that much more pleasant. He let the shards slip from his mind for the moment, fairly positive that Starfire had done the same.

Robin scanned the neon signs that flashed by as they reached the downtown area, eyes searching for a Chinese restaurant. After a few minutes of searching, he pulled up in front of a brightly painted building with a few cherry trees planted in the tiny courtyard that separated it from the rest of the stores. The trees were bare, a few browning blossoms lay scattered on the ground, not yet carried away by the breezes.

A sign blinked over the door and oriental music drifted from the open door. It was pretty nice for a Chinese restaurant, but that was good. He helped Starfire off of the bike and she hovered next to him as he put their helmets on the seat. They weren't too worried about anybody taking the helmets, seeing as it was obvious who they belonged to and they were in the nicer part of downtown.

Robin lead Starfire into Bamboo Garden Chinese Restaurant at an ambling pace, taking note of the cliché restaurant name with a lift of one brow which appeared more like a lift of half of his replaced mask. As they entered, a squat Asian woman came bouncing over to them, a huge smile on her face so that her slim eyes appeared nearly shut. "Two? Two for a the Titans?" she garbled. Starfire seemed perplexed by the use of grammar that was even stranger than her own, but Robin got the picture and nodded.

As the elderly lady led them to their table she began to babble about their specials and such but neither of the teens got more than half of what she was saying. Starfire bit her lip and reached out a hand, lightly touching the lady on the shoulder. For a brief moment her fingertips glowed green and then the light faded and she pulled her hand back. The woman looked at Star oddly, but Starfire simply smiled and then began to rattle off something in Chinese.

Robin simply watched. This was only the second time he'd ever seen her acquire language before, and off hand his first memory of her doing it was a bit foggy… seeing as at the time all he could register had been that a gorgeous alien girl had bounded out of crashed space pod and slammed her lips over his. It was a memory neither had forgotten but both left untouched for the sake of keeping things from becoming awkward. Admittedly, it had been an innocent mistake on Starfire's part but still…

Now Starfire and the waitress were chattering back and forth enthusiastically, but Starfire's face was rapidly growing flushed. Robin poked her in the ribs. "What's she saying?" he asked. Star ignored him for a second and continued attempting an explanation to the woman. Finally she exhaled sharply and turned to him.

"She is trying to say we are a 'couple' and I am trying to explain this is just… a… friendly… outing…" Starfire's cheeks were officially scarlet and Robin felt heat rushing to his face as well. Grreeaaat…

Author's Note: Ok. Here's chapter 3. Sorry if it's a bit confusing at the moment... but believe me, you'll get it soon. Cookies for the first person that can figure out the whole deal with the shards... Sora, this excludes you... you already know so it wouldn't be fair. Anyhow. About the whole Comand'r vs. Komand'r thing. I've honestly seen it both ways and I have a preference towards the Comand'r spelling. Purely because I see it this way. Koriand'r is a play on the name of a spice... so Comand'r is a play on the word commander. It kind of suits their personalities in my eyes... but, if you all would prefer me to start using the Komand'r spelling, just let me know and I will. No problem.

I've gotten a couple reviews inquiring of how to post ect. and I would ask that you do not put those questions in a review, but rather send me a personal e-mail seperately if you have that sort of question. Comments/criticism and questions to be answered in Titans News as well as info requests or suggestions for Titans News are the sort of thing I feel the reviews should be used for. That and if you just feel like babbling insanely about Rob/Star fluffiness or your anger at R/R shippers and what not... all of that can be in the reviews too. Just not... techincal questions, please. Those can be sent to Alright... well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please excuse the somewhat abrupt change in mood with the whole dinner thing, but it IS part of the plan. Promise. Sorry about the brief Titans News... not much at the moment... Reviews are well appreciated!

Love, Princess Starfire of Tamaran

Titans News: You asked for it... so here it is. Well, most of you all know about the Titans Movie so here's just a few basic things for the few of you who might still be lagging behind on Titans updates. The movie is called TEEN TITANS:TOKYO and production begins in the spring. It is 99.9 positive this will be an ANIMATED film, not live-action. It is supposedly to be dealing with the Titans taking a well-deserved vacation of sorts... or at least, that's what rumor is. Believe what you like on that. It is direct to video and will not, unfortunately, be in theatres. There is also a VERY high posibility there will be a kiss. The possibilities are even higher that it will be Rob/Star. This can be gathered from the facts that there deffinately WILL be a kiss (You'll remember I put that in Life's Canvas) and it does not involve Raven but it does involve 2 titans. Ok, there's all your movie news.

As far as the next season... it is rumored to contain a Starfire story arc (YAY!) but it deffinitely will not be airing until fall... so "they" say. I'm hopingfor some more genious work by MelodyFox... if she brought us Stranded... who knows what else she'll give us! The season isto be 13episodes long and may possibly be the last for the Titans (UntilI take over DC Comics and Cartoon Network and force them to make my stories real episodes and drown you all in fluffiness).It'll be bittersweet if this coming season is the last, so savor it and cling to the fact that fanfiction will still go on. Heh, at least we've got reruns, right?But that's all distant future,so whatever.

That's all for now, folks!