Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.
A/N: Hey T-Birds-AM, I appreciate the fact that you like my idea about the story within the story!
I really DON'T want to do this, Raven thought.
After an entire day of unpacking the previous day, the titans were determined to have a fun-filled morning afterward. Nonetheless, Raven declined the inviting offer.
Starfire insisted, "Friend Raven, please join us on the 'canoeing' of the river."
Glancing at the wide-mouthed boat, Raven rejected again, eyes glowing white.
She withdrew from the shore where her friends stationed and hurried back to the camp, neglecting the voices booming behind her. Someone scrambled toward her.
"RAVEN!" he called. At the voice, Raven halted to confront the person.
"Raven, why don't you come with us?" Robin queried. Although Raven had become closer to her friends, particularly Robin, she persisted at keeping her distance from them occasionally.
The mysterious girl answered, "Because I don't want to," retreating one step while Robin put one foot forward.
One of Robin's eyes widened as he inquired, "Are you sure?"
Without responding, Raven nodded and sped toward the shelter.
Watching Raven's dainty steps, Robin unleashed a heartfelt sigh. He heard Starfire, whom was waving like a desperate fan-girl, call him over. From a shrub, Raven watched, squinting her lavender eyes at the view.
Reclining beside a willow tree, Raven intertwined her pale, slender fingers through the tree's drooping branches. She rested her head on the willow's ancient bark and listened to the ripples of the water as her friends departed in the canoe. Tracing the scars of the tree's bark, Raven felt one with it.
"You must have suffered as much as I have" Raven whispered to it like a child.
She rubbed her own arms and thought about the piercing red Scath marks on her arms, scowling. Relieved of her father's evil, Raven felt pure, yet something was missing. She felt incomplete.
"Don't think about that now," she ordered herself. "Don't make yourself more distraught than you already are."
Unraveling the ageing book from her cloak, Raven admired its marble white cover with a glimmering purple dot embedded in its center.
There I am, thought Raven, eyeing the dot. I'm all alone in my own purity.
She recapped on Ruth's story and resumed it.
"Hey, Rob," Cyborg directed his masked pal, "wanna have a go at the oar?" He nudged Robin, who sprang from his trance and took the oar.
"Sure," he accepted, plunging the device into the water.
With Beast Boy manipulating the other oar, the titans glided forward while the current of the river goaded them further. The only sounds were the splashing of the water, the creaking of the wooden canoe whenever the titans shifted their position, and the sound of the breeze whistling through the leaves.
Uncomfortable with the lack of communication, Beast Boy questioned, "So, what do you guys wanna do now that there aren't any bad guys to worry about?"
"Why don't we train?" suggested Robin, pending approval.
Despite the rudeness of it, Cyborg and Beast Boy hooted in Robin's face while Robin shrank back, regretting his statement.
"Are you kidding me, man?" Cyborg choked, holding his rattling tummy.
"Yeah, Robin!" concurred Beast Boy. "Don't you ever think about anything besides training?" He managed to control his outburst.
Robin murmured, "Sometimes."
Glimpsing at the three boys, Starfire interrupted, "Friends, would you like to listen to the traditional Tamaranian folk song instead?" She eyed Robin with hopeful eyes as she sucked in a handful of air.
Alarmed, Robin's hand darted toward Starfire's face to block the dreadful song from fleeing her mouth. "No thanks, Star," he remarked, removing his gloved hand.
Liberation slapped Cyborg and Beast Boy in the face.
Silence followed, and during that time, Starfire's fingers ran through the refreshing water.
"What a wondrous substance," she commented as she licked the clear liquid from her fingers. "We do not have this liquid on Tamaran. Tell me, Robin, what do you call this compound?"
"'Water', Starfire," he informed her, grinning.
Every titan had knowledge of Starfire's obsessive crush on Robin. Although the Boy Wonder appreciated her care and felt flattered that an attractive alien held an interest in him, he could not refuse the confusion that accompanied the situation as well.
What's wrong with me? Robin demanded. I should be happy, shouldn't I? Well, I won't deny that I really care for Starfire, but I can't help but think that something's not right…The uncertainty frightened Robin, so he pushed the idea into the shadows.
Then, Starfire screamed.
The peaceful canoe ride became anything but. Cyborg tossed the oars into the canoe and held onto the sides as Star crunched up next to Robin, clutching his cape. The canoe lopsided and the four titans almost fell, but Cyborg's muscle weight prevented it. Water sprayed onto their faces as they regained their composure.
"DUDE! What was that!" Beast Boy cried, dazed.
Looking over the side, Cyborg perceived a skinny creature slithering through the water. "It was a snake," he acknowledged.
Robin gazed at the reptile himself, noting its gleaming scales of bluish-purple with a line of white scales running down its back. The snake's most striking features were its pale, blue eyes. They seemed to penetrate into Robin's soul.
"Perhaps we should return to friend Raven," suggested Starfire.
When Robin looked into the river again, the snake had vanished.
I hope my father doesn't find me here, Ruth thought, encased in silence and darkness. She resisted thinking about him or the city of Htaraza. Nothing's waiting for me there.
She rocked in her new bed, grateful that a group of teenagers, like herself, took her in. I'll probably be here a while, so I should get used to it.
Frowning, Ruth's eyelids sealed shut. "Oh, Mom, why did you have to die? I need you!" she cried into the utter darkness.
Remaining in the shade of the willow, Raven closed her book again, recapping on Ruth's story thus far. "I can't believe how cruel Ruth's father was," Raven gasped. "Well, at least he's not like my father." Raven grimaced.
She pitied Ruth and understood her like a sister. They were mutual in pain, loneliness, and lack of love.
Setting the book down on the patchy grass, Raven's eyelids slumped over her eyes.
That's weird…why do I suddenly feel sleepy?
Raven did not have another chance to think before her mind escaped into a world of dreams:
"Raven?" a distant voice called her name. "Raven," it repeated. A hand shook Raven's shoulder.
Forced to awake, Raven's eyes slid open, coming face-to-face with a girl bent over her. Raven glanced from the girl's short black hair to her green eyes and t her pale blue dress before gasping.
"Hi, Raven," greeted the girl.
Raven could not answer but merely rubbed her eyes to ensure that the sight was real. It was. Her voice shaking, she managed, "Ruth?"
Ruth smiled.
Raven stuttered, "B-but how?"
"I don't need to explain," shrugged Ruth. Peering at Raven's book, she recommenced, "So I see you've been reading my story. It's pretty depressing, huh?"
"Yeah, but why are you here?" confronted Raven, still puzzled, drumming her fingers on her dark leotard.
The inky-haired girl offered, "It's a dream, isn't it?" She fiddled with a loose thread from her dress.
Raven blinked several times. "Well, I'm sorry your mother passed away," she pitied. "My mom died, too."
"Oh, really?" replied Ruth, glancing at Raven.
Raven disliked the way Ruth answered with questions.
After a moment, Ruth heaved a sigh. "I just hate being alone sometimes," she professed, seeming glum. "I can't help but think that no one understands me." Ruth's oval eyes became waterfalls.
Meanwhile, Raven caught in a loss of words; this happened whenever situations grew emotional. Staring in compassion at Ruth's puffy eyes, Raven finally comforted, "I understand you, Ruth."
The fragile girl ceased her weeping to look up at her companion.
"And as long as I'm here," added Raven, "you're not alone."
Wiping the remaining tear from her flustering cheek, Ruth dove for Raven, slapping her arms around her waist in a hug. The embrace appalled Raven, so all she could do was hang her arms above her head as she stared at the girl.
"Thanks, Raven," Ruth muttered, holding tighter onto her new ally.
Relaxing, Raven extended one arm around Ruth, enjoying the warmth.
"Raven," whispered a masculine voice.
Surveying the area around her, Raven could not locate the source of the voice.
"Raven," he repeated, and Raven's heart jolted.
Ruth faded from her grasp and Robin seeped into her dream with his arms clutching her waist. Raven felt a blush creep up her face as she opened her eyes.
Robin mumbled, "Raven…" from his seat adjacent to her.
Raven awoke, directing her attention toward the Boy Wonder. Her dull tone requested, "So…how was your canoe ride?"
"Interesting," he confessed. "And you? Anything new?"
"No, everything's been normal."