Ravens brother chapter4
Chapter 4
-The chronicles of
DrajoIt had been two days since the Titans had contacted Ravens alleged 'brother' Drajo and there had been no word from him since, with nothing else to do, the Titans just sat back and waited, answering alert calls when they needed to, luckily all the calls so far had only been about common crooks, not super villans like Overload or Slade, aside from that they'd all agreed to a schedule of two staying with Raven while the other two were getting some rest or just relaxing around the tower or preparing dinner for the rest of the team (well all except Starfire, when it was her turn to cook she made a Tamarainian recipe 'the pudding of mourning' after the Titans had tasted it they unanimously voted to ban Starfire from ever cooking again as they felt eating any more would put them in the same state as Raven). It was about seven o'clock at night and in the middle of a howling rainstorm that Drajo finally made his appearance. The Titans were all gathered in the infirmary when they heard a smash and the tinkling of broken glass coming from the main room. They all went into the main room to investigate. One of the windows was broken and the rain was streaming through the hole in a torrent of water, there was a rock in the middle of the floor,
"Who threw the rock?" Beast boy wondered out loud, Starfire was looking out of the window and cried
"Friends there is someone out there".
"What?" the boys ran to the window and looked out, Starfire was right, out in the pouring rain stood a hooded, hunched backed, dark figure, dressed in long dark-coloured robes, shabby though as though their owner had been travelling in them for a long time and soaked through due to the rain, they couldn't see his face as it was too dark, the figures arm was outstretched, indicating it was he who had thrown the rock. Robin stuck his head out and yelled
"Go to the door, it's unlocked, the come up here, take the elevator two floors up", the figure nodded and headed to the door, keeping his head down so they couldn't see his face.
The Titans heard the sound of squelching feet as their guest made his way up to the main room; Robin gestured to the figure to have a seat and then addressed the figure directly
"I'm guessing you're Drajo?" the figure replied,
"Yes I am, sorry about breaking your window, I did knock but you probably didn't hear me because of the storm" he raised his head a little. Robin carried on
" No problem. Anyways what did you mean when you said, 'you'll understand when you see me'?"
Drajo chuckled softly and pulled off one of his gloves and held his hand up for all to see. The Titans gasped, his hand was Dark green in colour and was covered in scales, his fingernails triangular and sharp, Beast boy took a step back
"What are you?" he asked in a trembling voice, Drajo quickly stood up and threw of his heavy garments and said
"Why I'm only a dragon". Starfire screamed, leapt back and powered up a star bolt, Cyborg switched his arm into a cannon and kept it trained on the thing in front of him, Beast boy just stood there transfixed and Robin drew his Bo staff. Drajo was both terrifying and awesome to behold.
He stood at around six foot tall, was well defined, wearing a suit of dark green Kevlar almost indistinguishable from the colour of his body (Kevlar is a type of armour made from extremely dense nylon, it's light and very strong, enough to stop a bullet) and a small silver replica of his family crest on a thin chain around his neck, covered in dark green scales from head to toe, he had wings too, about four feet across, like those of a bat slightly darker in colour than the rest of his body, they had been bunched up before under his travelling clothes, giving him a hunch backed appearance. His hands were surprisingly human, except they were covered in scales, however his feet were like those of a dinosaur ending in three, wicked looking nails. Drajos head was like that of a Velocoraptor with a narrowing snout and a pale green, saw-toothed crest on the top, his mouth was filled with blade-like teeth and two which were like snakes fangs. It was his eyes though that scared the Titans the most, narrow like a vipers, bright yellow with vertical slits for pupils, nothing about them looked even slightly human.
A horrified look appeared on Drajos face, he raised his arms and cried
"Don't shoot, I mean you no harm, I merely came here to pay my respects to my sister". Robin took out a birdarang and aimed it a Drajos head,
"Yeah about that, you've got some explaining to do Drajo and it had better be the truth, before we let you anywhere near Raven" Drajo sank back down into his seat and began his story.
"First of all I need to explain why I call Raven my sister. We're not proper siblings, that is blood relatives but spiritual siblings, what I mean is we were born at exactly the same time, down to the exact second. As a result of this a small portion of her powers were transferred into me which is why I look like this".
"You look like that because of Raven?" Beast boy asked. Drajo looked up and sighed, "I suppose I'll have to explain that too".
"Seven centuries ago my ancestor, a Romanian knight called Langa the elder fought and slew a dragon that he believed had kidnapped his sister ignoring the dragons protests of innocence, upon inspecting the dragons lair he found no trace of her. In horror, my ancestor realised what he had done, he had slew a innocent creature, the worst of all sins, with its dying breath the dragon told him that if he cut out his heart and ate it, a part of himself would live on within Langa. My ancestor did as he was told immediately and as a result, from that day onwards he was known as a knight of the dragon and his descendants were known to have the blood of the dragon in their veins. As his descendant I have the dragon's blood within me as well. When I was born that little part of Ravens power awakened the dragons blood within me and it turned me into the creature you see before you".
"Because of that I had a somewhat sheltered upbringing, with my parents keeping me in our castle because of the fear of what the other people in the village would do if they found about me, our village was reasonably isolated, in the Carpathian mountains and its inhabitants were deeply religious. They would think of me as a demon and most likely burn me alive or put me in a cage on display like a monster, it was difficult as I was their oldest son so was expected to be out and about around the castle all the time. Only their most trusted servants were told about me. It was very lonely for the first few years of my life, I wasn't allowed out of the castle so I had to stay inside while I watched my younger brother and sisters play outside, I grew very jealous, I was allowed outside though, mainly when no-one was around and to a few major events like the harvest festival, or the Christmas service at the village church which I had to attend. When I was six I became aware of my sister Raven. It is told that two people born at the same time will be eternally linked by their minds, that is that they will be able to communicate telepathically. I was playing a game of chess with my chief servant, Yuri. It was my move and I heard a voice inside my head". "Actually I think it would be better if I showed you myself". With that Drajo began to chant "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" softly under his breath then he looked up suddenly, his eyes glowed black and all the Titans collapsed as their minds were transported back ten years to the other side of the world.
Start of flashback.
In a room in a castle. A young boy, covered in scales and dressed in formal blue robes was sat at a table with a much older man dressed like a servant, playing chess. The old man leaned forward and said kindly
"Come now Drajo, make your move", the little boy frowned and replied,
"It's my move and I'll take as long as I please making it". The boy reached for a bishop and suddenly a girls voice in his head said
" Try knight to E7" the boy looked surprised but did as he was told.
"Look Yuri, checkmate", the old man smiled and said "see Drajo, you are good at chess", Yuri got up and left the room, Drajo leaned over and looked at his sister (who had been watching the game) and said
"Thanks Anna for telling me to move my knight, it won me the match". His sister looked surprised
"Drano I didn't tell you anything" and with that she skipped out of the room as well. The boy sat down and said openly
"Then who told me?"
"I did," said a familiar voice, the boy asked, "who are you?" The voice replied
"I'm Raven", Drajo thought for a minute then said
"I'm Drajo, want to be friends?"
"Sure Drajo, why not" the boy then stood up and left the room, happy in the fact that he had made a new friend.
End of flashback.
The titans woke up and rose to their feet and continued to listen to Drajo.
"From that day on me and Raven became very close, like brother and sister you might say, it was fun always having someone to talk to, to cheer you up when you were feeling down and she taught me how to control the powers I'd got from her, they weren't very strong but they did cause trouble. Once when I was nine I scraped my knee and cried out, which caused two priceless suits of armour to collapse, then at my sister Anna's birthday party I got so jealous that I made her cake explode, because of Raven I had six years of happiness". Beast boy looked up,
"So what happened then?" Drajo sighed sadly
"Civil war broke out in Romania, the nobility backed to old government, which lost, the new government despised the old nobility and wanted every trace of them eradicated"
"How?" Cyborg asked, Drajo looked up,
"I think I'd better show you". Beast boy leapt to his feet,
"No way dude, I'm not going through that again" but Drajo had already begun his chant.
"Too late" he told beast boy telepathically and the Titans collapsed for the second time that night.
Start of flashback.
The castle was burning, well parts of it anyway and a mob made up of townsfolk from the village and government soldiers was battering away at it's old oak doors, trying to get in. In a room at the back of the castle a teenage boy, wearing brown travelling clothes and covered in scales stood with a few servants frantically placing things in a bag on the young boys back, placed carefully so not to catch on his wings,
"Now remember Drajo, you fly up to the wooden cabin in the mountains, just where I showed you where you'll meet up with us and your parents, brother and sisters. After that you'll all get into the car and head for the Daspern airstrip and get the hell out of this accursed country" the boy looked up at the young woman "Yes Deborah I remember everything you told me" "good child now get going". As Drajo turned to leave a voice appeared inside his head
"Wait brother don't go"
"Why sister?" he responded telepathically
"She's lying, the only people who will be at that cabin will be government militia waiting to kill you like they've murdered your parents, brother and sisters" Raven replied grimly
"How do you know this?" "I merely read her mind, why don't you see for yourself" Drajo turned and looked deep into his servants eyes, past their façade of a kind stare and into her mind
"Once this scaly little abomination is dead I will get all the family's money, just like that army man promised, who knows if the brats left anything valuable I'll have that too, my mother always told me serving these fools would pay off but I never thought it would pay off this much. Have to be careful though, the vile brats family were an easy target, even those pin-headed soldiers would've seen them leave in their fancy car, I just pointed it out first, got to remember what that army man said though, 'if even one of them escapes Deborah you'll be their replacement'. Hah that'll never happen, this freak trusts me to much".
Drajo reeled as if he'd been punched, fighting back the tears he asked Deborah in the calmest voice he could manage
"D-Deborah, c-could I run and get something from my room?" the servant frowned "do you have to",
"Yes it's important", she sighed
"very well, but be quick" and with that the young dragon-boy ran from the room, running through the corridors of the castle which only an hour before had given him happy memories, now filled him with grief, Drajo started to slow down and after a few minutes stopped, ironically he'd stopped in the doorway of the room where his youngest sister, Anna had her birthday party the year he'd blown the cake up, he sank down to one knee, his grief consuming him, his powers making large cracks appear in the walls, after thirty seconds of non-stop crying he heard Ravens voice again
"Drajo you have to get up, if you stay any longer it will be the militia here that kill you. I know this is hard for you but you need to get out of here, don't allow that vile servant to get what she wants"
"I'm trying sister but it's so hard"
"don't worry Drajo, I'll help you, I will suppress your sorrow until this is all over so you can escape".
Almost immediately Drajo felt calmer, he stood up, ran to his room and grabbed some of his most cherished possessions, pictures of his family, an old scroll containing all the information of the house of Langa (so his family wouldn't be eradicated from history), a few bottles containing a purple substance and a few more cherished possessions. He then very quickly made his way back to the kitchen just in time to hear the front door give way, the servant woman Deborah was waiting for him
"go on" she said
"you must leave now if you want to live"
"and make me rich" she thought he paused and said
"thank you for helping me and my family, I hope you get what you deserve"
"thank you child, now go" he nodded and leapt into the night sky, almost fading from sight.
"Oh I will get exactly what I deserve" she thought, rubbing her hands together, Drajo turned around in midair
"I know you will" he told her telepathically, the servant looked horrified
" you just… but that means you could…" Drajo nodded and turned around and took off, soaring into the night sky, Deborah's screams of disbelief ringing in his ears and bringing a smile to his face.
He sat three hours later in a dark forest clearing next to the fire he'd started, his sleeping bag all set out, Drajo shivered, Ravens suppression spell was beginning to wear off. He heard a rustling and saw a large dark bird appear, made entirely of Dark energy, the bird faded and there stood Raven, twelve years old, dressed in pale purple robes, her grey skin glistening with sweat, fatigued from the burden of such a big teleportation.
"I'm sorry Drajo," she said in her flat emotionless voice "dead, I still can't believe it".
"Did you trust that woman?" Raven asked, her voice showing concern,
"no but she was the daughter of one of my families most trusted and loyal servants, I guess loyalty skips a generation" he smiled bitterly, Raven reached out and rested her hand on her spiritual brother's.
"It's so unfair why them, they were good people and those villagers, my family never hurt them" Raven looked into her brother's eyes
"a cowards loyalty is easily bought" she replied. Drajo degenerated into a fit of sobs, his cries ringing throughout the forest, Raven held her brother in her arms, tears staining her own eyes as well, she had seen his family through Drajo's eyes and their deaths hurt her too.
End of flashback
The Titans looked shocked at what they had just seen, all of them had experienced loss and betrayal before, just not as great as this. Starfires eyes glistened with tears; she was fighting off crying herself, Robin and Cyborg just looked shocked and Beast boy, the only one who could even come close to knowing that kind of betrayal (ref Terra) just nodded knowingly, showing he understood. All was quiet for a few seconds the Robin looked up and said,
"go on Drajo continue", Drajo made himself more comfortable and resumed his story.
"After Raven helped me escape I fought in the civil war, travelling round the country, aiding the forces of the exiled government wherever I could, I earned the nickname guardian dragon after saving the former president from an ambush, living out in the wilds, making swift attacks on the rebel forces before disappearing into the forest. Those were rough, hard times, if it hadn't been for Raven I don't think I'd have made it. After three years of civil war the rebels were defeated and the old government was re-established. As a reward for my actions I was given a free house in my old village, as my families castle had burned to the ground, the remaining townsfolk gave me a hero's welcome as most of the collaborators had been murdered by the rebel militia for failing to stop my escape, after a few months I invited Yuri's family to move in with me as thanks for providing my family with decades of service and because I couldn't leave the house because of my appearance. Life returned to normal and I kept in contact with Raven, letting her stay with me for a few days after she was betrayed by that fiend Malchior", Beast boy jumped up
"so that's where she disappeared off to" he said
"I thought she was tougher than that" Drajo leapt to his feet, glaring at the green Titan. His mouth opened, unleashing a small orb of fire at beast boy, singing his hair, Drajo looked at him
"if you say that again, or even think it, the next one will do more than just singe your hair". Beast boy looked terrified and nodded
"I'll shut up" he said. Drajo looked at him
"you'd better" he snarled and then continued
" then a few days ago Raven stopped contacting me, I searched for her mentally but I couldn't find any trace of her, I grew very worried, then you guys contacted me and I flew here. That's about it I guess any questions?" Robin looked at him and said,
"yeah I've got one, and you mentioned earlier that you could go out sometimes, how?" Drajo leaned over and reached into his bag and pulled out a vial of the purple liquid they'd seen in their vision.
"With this, it's a potion that gives me a human appearance, when I was little my parents contacted a hermit who lived on our land and asked him to make this potion for me instead of paying rent", Cyborg looked surprised and said,
"Why don't you take the potion all the time then?" Drajo smiled bitterly and replied
" Because I can't, each dose only gives me an hour as a human boy and if I take any more than four doses in a day it'll kill me, anyways the hermit who used to make it died five years ago and some of the ingredients are rare and expensive in Romania, you try walking into a chemists shop and asking for powdered bison bone and see how far you get". Robin said
"if the hermit died half a decade ago, how do you still have some potion now?" Drajo sighed and said,
"Just after he died my father went to the hermits cabin and got a copy of the formula but as I said the ingredients were impossible to find. I telepathically sent a copy of the list to my sister and for the last five years she's been making the potion herself and transporting it to me. When my parents asked I told them I had kept a small surplus of potion aside for an emergency". Cyborg asked him
" do have any other powers, beside being able to breathe fire?" Drajo smiled
"I thought you'd never ask, as I've been travelling none stop for two days I'm too tired to give a demonstration so I'll just tell you, I have all the powers of the dragons of old. Aside from breathing fire, I can breathe ice, my breath is a knock out gas, I have heat sensing pits, so I can see body heat, like a snake and some of Ravens powers, telekinesis but not as strong as Ravens and like my sisters it's liked to my emotions, well to three of them. Pain, jealousy and anger so it's not dangerous unless I feel something really strong like a sudden sharp pain and I have the ability to read minds, oh and my blood has healing and magical properties as well, if I inject someone with a small amount of my blood, they will be healed almost instantly."
Robin sat up and looked at Drajo
"well thanks for telling us about yourself, as you might have guessed we are the teen titans, I'm Robin" he extended his hand, which Drajo shook, he pointed to Cyborg,
"this is Cyborg" who also shook hands "pleased to meet you man" "likewise" he gestured at Beast boy
"this is our walking petting zoo, going by the name of Beast boy", Drajo smiled
"ah so this is the little green idiot of whom my sister spoke" Beast boy frowned, mumbling something under his breath, Drajo opened his mouth slightly, showing the green shape shifter his very sharp teeth
"remember what I said" he told Beast boy telepathically, Beast boy gulped and fell silent. Finally Robin placed his hand on Starfire's shoulder
"and this is Starfire, princess of Tamaran", Drajo reached out and kissed Starfires hand,
"the pleasure is mine", who in response gave him a bone crushing hug
"and I am most pleased to see you, brother of Raven", Drajo turned his head to look at Robin and asked telepathically
"is she always this friendly?" Robin smiled and replied "all the time".
" I guess you're hungry after your journey" said Cyborg, "ravenous" Drajo replied,
"Want something to eat?" Drajo licked his lips with his long forked tongue
"sure, do you have any steak?" A big grin appeared on Cyborgs face
"Drajo you're my kinda dragon" he yelled and ran to the fridge and yanked out two raw 10oz steaks, Starfire flew over to the cupboard and took out the left over 'pudding of mourning' and began to eat, the other Titans thought it's creation should be a crime against humanity, black in colour, it looked and smelled very similar to the sludge that came out of the t-cars exhaust when Starfire put BBQ sauce in its gas tank instead of gasoline, Beast boy and robin both decided to have sandwiches, tofu salad for Beast boy and ham and cheese for Robin. Cyborg was about to put the steaks in the frying pan when Drajo grabbed his arm and told him
"sit down Cyborg I'll cook these". "Do you know how to use the oven?" Drajo grinned, grabbed two barbecue skewers from the side rack, rammed the steaks onto them and opened his mouth, bathing the steaks in his fiery breath, after thirty seconds he removed them from the skewers and placed them on two plates,
"who said anything about an oven, hope you like yours flame grilled" Cyborg roared with laughter, grabbed a knife and fork and dug in. An hour later the Titans and Drajo sat in the main room resting off their various meals. Drajo asked Robin
"could I go and see my sister now?" Robin yawned and replied
"it's really late now Drajo, you'd better wait till morning" Drajo nodded and asked the boy wonder
" I don't mean to be a pain but I need somewhere to sleep". Robin smiled
"no problem Drajo, you can sleep on the couch"
"does it fold out?"
"No",
"I'm sorry Robin but I need a flat space to sleep on, if I don't then I could break a wing if I sleep awkwardly". Robin thought about it for a minute and he said
"why don't you sleep in Ravens room, it doesn't look like she'll be needing it tonight"
" sure Robin, thank you"
"no problem, take the elevator to the top and it's the second door on your right"
Drajo said goodnight to the other Titans and got into the elevator, rode it to the top and went into Ravens room. His spiritual sisters room was just as she'd told him with dark walls, carpet, ceiling, the bust of comedy and sorrow, her wall to wall bookcase filled with all her books and the ones containing the dark spells Malchior had taught her and a large feather bed against the far wall. Drajo sat on the bed, reflecting on the day he'd just had, meeting all his sisters friends, what a nice place she had for a home, after the hellish childhood she'd had on Azarath. He felt jealous of his sister, of these last few happy years she had enjoyed while he had been fighting in the civil war. His feelings of jealousy turned to sadness and self-anger, he had no right to be jealous, sitting here in her room while she fought for her life a few floors down, I might never talk to her again he thought sadly, tears welling up inside him. And with that Drajo Langa laid back on his comatose sisters bed, in her bedroom, tears running freely from his bright yellow eyes.