Unsuspected Heroes

An alternate look at the Prophecies Universe
"Hoo, hoo!" exclaimed Sarah rather quietly. "Someone's looking at Mr. Atypical awfully hard."

"Someone's got a crush on him?" asked Raven somewhat bewilderedly, looking to her flaxen-haired guide for a moment before letting her eyes return to the boy with the Japanese accent. Her eyes looked about, but caught no covert looks directed at him…though it did seem that his companion had drawn a few.

"No Rache, you don't have any competition," replied Sarah slyly, and not without a little delight. She chuckled as 'Rachel' whirled on her, flute grasped almost as a striking implement. There was no flaring in Raven's eyes, nor did any invisible or ebon force lash out, but the comment had certainly provoked a reaction. "I was just kidding, girl, calm down."

Raven realized that she had nearly slid out of character…and that to stay in consistent, believable character would mean pretending that she did indeed have a crush on the quirky boy. Sweet Azar curse it! "Lay off of that, would you?"

"Sure, sure. Especially as we don't want to give them any blackmail material." Sarah nodded towards a group of flute players. Raven didn't even need her empathic sense to tell that they were, to put it nicely, conniving bitches. It was easy to read in their expressions, the way they held themselves.

"Ugh," commented Raven. Her section didn't look pleasant for the most part…there was maybe one girl in it who didn't seem to be a bitch, and she seemed shy and withdrawn. There was also a guy, but he seemed rather stoned. All in all, it didn't seem like a good day to be among the flutes.

Sarah nudged her with an elbow. "Hey, here comes the Walrus."

Walrus? mouthed Raven as she turned to the newest visitor. Her eyes widened as she saw the band director, a man who did look remarkably like a human-walrus hybrid. It was the moustache that cinched the deal, really. "Hello, Mr. Fields."

"So you're our newest flutie, eh? Ms. Rachel Roth?" Raven nodded. "Well, Rachel, I'm sorry but you won't be marching with the flutes. We don't have any holes in the drill there." Raven breathed a mental sigh of relief. "Fact is, the only hole we have is in the trumpet section…one of our players skipped out on us about two weeks into the season." The Azarathian cursed her planet's namesake. "I know that the sound is radically different, but you're going to be marching with the horns. Ker and Faris will get you up to speed on your marching…and we won't push you too hard on your music."

I'm a dead girl, thought Raven with mounting dread.

"Well trumpets, if you'd be so kind, welcome our newest addition," said Faris, the guy that Raven had observed Ker talking to about what looked like a sword routine. He was of Middle Eastern stock and wore his hair somewhat long like many of the members of the band. That being said, he did not wear it tousled like Ker and many others. His hair was immaculately straight, a jet black waterfall. It was fairly obvious that he took some pride in his appearance, and not undeservedly.

"A flutie?" asked one of the trumpets.

"A cutie flutie, to use the Walrus's terms," commented Ker.

"And your terms?" asked a freshman who was often trying to cause Ker trouble.

"I'm gonna have to take the fifth on that one," replied Ker smoothly with an apologetic grin at Raven. "Anyway, Rachel here is going to be marching with us for the rest of the season, so get used to it." The trumpets greeted her. "So Rachel, I was told you've never marched before. Faris, you want to run the section through some drills while I try and get her close to the basic skills?"

"Sure," replied Faris, turning to the trumpets, who formed up into a line and started marching backwards at his command.

"So, shall we begin?" asked Ker of 'Rachel'.

"Alright," replied the undercover Titan. How hard could it be?

"So," asked Cyborg, hiding under the one remaining holo-ring, wearing the features of a man who could be Raven's alter-ego's father, "How was your first day of school?"

Rachel winced as she entered the like-disguised T-car then moaned as she peeled off the fake skin that covered her chakra stone once the mirrored windows were closed. "Overly eventful. The kids there are weirder than you guys."

Cyborg got an interested look on his face. "Doesn't sound like high school's changed much. So…gonna tell me about some of these events?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yep."

Raven sighed as she pushed her hair back to where it normally was, then again as it fell back to her 'Rachel' hairstyle. "Well, I've got a chemistry teacher with a penchant for puns, four guys hit on me, and apparently 'Rachel' has a crush on a guy with a Japanese accent but white-guy features. Oh…and he's my section leader in band."

"Awwww! Does Raven have a boyfriend?"

Raven growled low in her throat. "No…she does not."

"Sounds like a bit of a girly-boy, playing the flute and all that. So, got any suspects?"

"He plays the trumpet, actually. I'm marching with the horns. But…he's the suspect. Seems like he practices swords."

Cyborg laughed the rest of the way to the Tower.

"Ker-kun…there's something you ought to know," said Sarah as they walked along a path in the woods that led to where the kid with the Japanese accent lived.

"Naniyo? Does Rachel-san have a crush on me or something? Bad taste on her part if she does," replied the boy, in Japanese as well.

Sarah paused for a second, wondering if Ker had heard her comments or noticed Rachel's actions. He did have keen senses. But no…the way he was speaking was classic Ker. She had known him long enough to read that he wasn't really suspicious. "No…it's not that," she replied with an internal grimace for her lie to her friend. "Just…there's a prophecy about you that just popped up on the Fields."

Ker spun to her. "Nanda? Sooth-kun…Are you certain?"

She nodded. "It directly references the Kaze Rei Bushi…just like that one during the Terra incident." She looked over to see the boy's eyes closed and a grimace on his face, as if he was in pain. "Are you alright, Ker-kun?"

"Fine, fine." He waved her concern away as he opened his eyes, a concerned look of his own on his face as they walked. "There's more, isn't there?"

She nodded. "Un…it also makes reference to the birth of a new bloodline of youkai. Onshu," she quoted. "One of these shall awaken the Ken no Chi."

"Chikushou," swore Ker quietly as they reached a courtyard of a Japanese-style compound. "I suppose I had better start training." He grabbed a bokutou which flashed up and caught a descending practice weapon. "Gomen, Sooth-kun."

Robin knocked on Raven's door. "Raven? Are you alright?" He was surprised to see the door open and the sorceress sitting slumped over a desk that seemed to have homework strewn all over it, her hand up as if she had just triggered the door with TK.

She lifted her head and looked up at him, hair still black and in the new style. Her hand dropped to the desk. "I'll manage."

Robin walked in and sat down on her bed. "You sure? We can figure out some other way if you can't hack it."

She shook her head. "That might alert the person we're looking for if I leave so soon." She turned back to the homework. "I'll be fine…I just wish I had more time for meditation and I feel a bit worried about how 'Rachel' is turning out."

"Yeah, Cyborg told me that you were having to fake a crush on the target. Will…"

She cut him off. "I'll deal with it. But if you could get the others to help with my homework so I could get more meditation time?"

Robin nodded. "Sure, I'll figure out a way that it won't be obvious that you're not doing it." He stood and walked out the door. "Keep it up Raven, it'll get easier."

She closed the door with a flicker of ebon energy. "I hope so."

A/N: Here's a second chapter, and yes, I know it's been a long time, but school, original projects, a bit of RPing, and my recent purchasing of Guild Wars have dug heavily into my time. I hope you like it, even if I raise far more questions in this chapter than I answer...hey, it's still early in the story. Please review...feedback only helps me improve, whether what you think is good or bad.