It was a beautiful night and the moon was full. Raven looked out the window and then closed the shade. She took off her clothes and went to pick up her pajamas, but just left her clothes there in a pile. She had chosen to sleep in her underwear that night but didn't want to be seen. She went to lock the door, but decided against it. She left it open a bit to let in some fresh air. She laid down on her bed and then began to think about what had happened. What would her country say? What would her city say?
What would her parents say?
That was indeed a scary thought. Her parents weren't exactly, how would you say, parent-like? They never seemed like they were in love with each other, but they didn't hate each other either. They didn't even sleep in the same bed for God's sake. A shiver came over her as she imagined her parents staring over her again, like she did the night she left the land.
If they were nicer to her and not so strict, it wouldn't have happened. But, now she was kind of glad for that, she wouldn't have met Beast Boy with that little push. But after years of suppressing the memory, it reared its ugly head once more. She tried to fight it, but it just wouldn't work. She decided to let it pass, and to see it one last time.
A small little girl sat in a room, a book levitating in front of her. The shades were drawn, but the sound of laughter sounded outside of her window. She pulled the shades aside and sighed. She wished she were outside with the other kids. They looked like they were having so much fun, playing whatever they were playing. She noticed the kids looking at her and smiling, waving for her to come down.
She yelled back, "I can't. My parents won't let me." Small little tears began to well up in her eyes. She left the window and went back to the book. It was a book way beyond her years, but she read it flawlessly. "I want to have fun," she said, the book slamming. She looked around her room for something 'fun' to do. It was bare, the walls had nothing on them, her bed small, a gray blanket rest on top of it. There was only a book shelf that was completely filled with books. They were all very large and complicated. There was nothing 'fun' in here. Just a bunch of books.
"RAVEN! COME DOWN HERE!" her mother's screech sounded.
"I'm coming!" she yelled back. She shuffled down the stairs and looked into the kitchen. Her parents were standing there with an almost pleasant look on their faces.
"Today is your birthday, you're five today. We got you a present, we hope you like it," her dad growled.
"I hope its something fun!" she said, opening it up. There it was, something that didn't please Raven the least bit. Another book.
"It's on Alchemy, dear. I hope you'll find it enjoyable," her mother said.
"Thank you, Wren. I like it a lot," she said, faking pleasure as much as she could. But her heart wasn't in it. Her whole life she had been schooled by her parents. They forced her to call them by their real names. She sat down at the table and began to read. She looked up and saw that her father had disappeared. She was fine with that, she never really liked him much. Her mother was much better, but she was still strict. At least she smiled.
"There's something wrong, Raven. What is it?" her mother asked, sitting down next to her.
"Wren, what's it like outside of the house. I've never been out there, I'd like to know, maybe even go out there and play with the other kids sometime!"
"Dear, it's not as good as it looks. And playing with the other children would bring you down. Your intelligence is six times higher then theirs is. I can't let you go out there, you must stay in here for now."
"Why? Why can't I go out there and have fun?" she protested.
"Your father won't allow it. He doesn't want to lose you, he really does love you," her mother explained.
"It doesn't seem like it," she pouted.
"When your next birthday comes, you'll get to go to school and have fun there," her mother said.
"Is that outside?" Her mother nodded. "Do I get to be with all of the other kids?"
"You're going to be in high school," she said. "You're too smart to be with the other children,"
"But I want to go with the kids my age!" she yelled, standing up from her seat. "I want to have friends!" Her eyes were turning completely black.
"Don't raise your voice to your mother, you horrible little wench!" her father roared from behind her.
"I can if I want!" she said, her eyes completely black.
"You are ungrateful!"
"You are as well! You're the worst father ever! I don't want to be stuck in here anymore! I want to be free!" she yelled, running towards the door.
"Don't you even think about it," her father said, slowly changing forms.
"I'm leaving!" she said. Then something stopped her as she set foot outside the door. A vision flashed. She saw a tall girl standing in front of her, holding out her hand.
"You must let your powers take hold. Let them take hold and fight back! I can help you, Raven," the older girl said. She looked so much like herself that she couldn't help thinking it was her, just older.
"I want to leave!" she said, grabbing the other girl's hand. The girl was gone and she was enveloped in a black shroud of mist.
"No! See what you've done?" her mother said to her transformed father, looking at their child writhing in pain above the house.
"It doesn't matter!" he bellowed, reaching his demonic hand towards her. He went to grab her, but it was a futile attempt. His hand couldn't enclose her and the tall girl appeared in front of her.
"Leave her! We will battle later! Leave her to become what she wishes to be! The spirit of the future will protect her from you until she takes this form," she said pointing to herself.
"I will do as you wish, Raven. I will find and defeat you!" he said evilly.
"Little Raven," the older one said, looking down at the girl in the cold mist, "I will protect you. I'll take you out of this land."
The memory ended there. Raven knew the rest. She knew that she ended up in an orphanage, but had fun with the other children. But when she got a bit older, her emotions evoked the powers in her, and she had to leave.
Beast Boy was also in the reminiscing mood. He remembered the first time he met Raven. It was kind of funny the way it all started. He threw a ball up to his ceiling and caught it.
He threw it up again but didn't catch it this time. It rolled off towards a stoop and stopped at the feet of a girl in a blanket. Her face was hidden in her arms, her shoes were
"Oh, hi! Can I have my ball back?" he said.
She grabbed the ball and looked up at him. He was struck with an odd pain in his heart when he looked into her hollow eyes. Like shallow pools they looked up at him in longing.
"Here," she said, handing it up to him, her arm shaking. She coughed and pulled blanket closer to her and put her head down again.
"Do you need a place to stay?" he asked her, sitting next to her frail figure and putting his arm around her shoulders.
"You wouldn't mind?" she asked, smiling a bit. A nearby window shattered in a black aura. "Sorry. My powers will-"
"Wait! You have powers? Me too! I was going to take you to where I live, with Robin. We have powers and we use them to fight evil. Do you want to join?"
"Really? I'd love that. I need a place to stay," she said, getting to her feet. It was hard to walk, being so weak. "What are your powers?" she asked, looking over at him. But instead she saw a green cat walking up against her. She smiled and picked him up. He transformed into a bird and flew above her.
"Follow me," he said, coming back down to the ground. He led her around the next corner and showed her the island with the huge 'T'.
"It's amazing," she whispered.
"My name is Beast Boy," he said.
"I'm Raven," she replied.
He held out his hand to shake. "Nice to meet you." But he was instead greeted with a big hug. The street lights all shattered and a car went flying into the air.
"I can't thank you enough," she said, her pale face shining with a new color.
He threw up the ball an caught it. It was a nice memory. But now he had to worry about what the others at camp would think.
"Cyborg! Try to contact them," Robin commanded.
"My communicator won't work out here!" he said, pressing buttons in a rage.
"This is just great!" he said, kicking a tree with all of his might. "OW!" he screamed in pain.
Starfire came through the brush with the other campers and the counselors.
"You're in a lot of trouble!" Ruth said.
"Don't worry about it," Matt said reassuringly. "You'll only be scrubbing the bathrooms."
"I feel sorry for you," a guy said. "Last time that happened, they were cleaning for a long time."
"Yeah. Those bathrooms are pretty scummy," Ruth said with an evil smile.
"Ruthless Ruth," Cy and Robin muttered.
"Come on, friends! We should get back! I want to see how our friends are doing at home! We have one week to go!" Starfire said in her perfect English.
"One week?" Robin moaned. "I can't take much more of this," he said, shuffling along back to the camp.
"At least Raven and Beast Boy are having more fun," Cy said.
"Yeah. They get to have fun while we clean the scummy bathrooms,"
"I wonder what this 'scummy' means," Starfire wondered.
The two boys sighed and kept going.
"Beast Boy," Raven was saying, lying in her bed. She was practicing, for what she didn't know yet. But they were both so young, and what happened wasn't supposed to happen for years. "Beast Boy, I need to talk to you."
"About what?" he said.
"Since when have you been there?" she questioned.
"I brought you some tea!" he said with a cheerful smile. He sat at one of her tables and motioned for her to come over near him.
She made some weird noise and wrapped a blanket around herself as she came down.
"Come on! It's not like I haven't seen you in your pajamas before," he laughed.
"I really would prefer not to take the blanket off," she said, trying not to make it suspicious.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
"Yes! Yes, I'm very cold!" she lied. Actually the blanket was making her overheat and she longed to get rid of it.
"I'll be your blanket," he said, wrapping his arms around you, trying to slide the blanket off of her.
She let go off everything. In his arms she felt so secure and safe. She let the blanket slip right off and she snuggled into his arms. He was surprised by what he saw, but got over it quickly.
"You said you needed to talk to me about something," he whispered softly into her ear.
"It doesn't matter now. All that matters is that we're together, and nothing is going to get in our way," she said.
Her parents were going to have to deal with it. Everybody was just going to have to deal with it.
"I have to tell you something," he said, sounding a bit nervous now.
"What is it?"
"My parents," he gulped. "They're coming tomorrow at noon!"
What would her parents say?
That was indeed a scary thought. Her parents weren't exactly, how would you say, parent-like? They never seemed like they were in love with each other, but they didn't hate each other either. They didn't even sleep in the same bed for God's sake. A shiver came over her as she imagined her parents staring over her again, like she did the night she left the land.
If they were nicer to her and not so strict, it wouldn't have happened. But, now she was kind of glad for that, she wouldn't have met Beast Boy with that little push. But after years of suppressing the memory, it reared its ugly head once more. She tried to fight it, but it just wouldn't work. She decided to let it pass, and to see it one last time.
A small little girl sat in a room, a book levitating in front of her. The shades were drawn, but the sound of laughter sounded outside of her window. She pulled the shades aside and sighed. She wished she were outside with the other kids. They looked like they were having so much fun, playing whatever they were playing. She noticed the kids looking at her and smiling, waving for her to come down.
She yelled back, "I can't. My parents won't let me." Small little tears began to well up in her eyes. She left the window and went back to the book. It was a book way beyond her years, but she read it flawlessly. "I want to have fun," she said, the book slamming. She looked around her room for something 'fun' to do. It was bare, the walls had nothing on them, her bed small, a gray blanket rest on top of it. There was only a book shelf that was completely filled with books. They were all very large and complicated. There was nothing 'fun' in here. Just a bunch of books.
"RAVEN! COME DOWN HERE!" her mother's screech sounded.
"I'm coming!" she yelled back. She shuffled down the stairs and looked into the kitchen. Her parents were standing there with an almost pleasant look on their faces.
"Today is your birthday, you're five today. We got you a present, we hope you like it," her dad growled.
"I hope its something fun!" she said, opening it up. There it was, something that didn't please Raven the least bit. Another book.
"It's on Alchemy, dear. I hope you'll find it enjoyable," her mother said.
"Thank you, Wren. I like it a lot," she said, faking pleasure as much as she could. But her heart wasn't in it. Her whole life she had been schooled by her parents. They forced her to call them by their real names. She sat down at the table and began to read. She looked up and saw that her father had disappeared. She was fine with that, she never really liked him much. Her mother was much better, but she was still strict. At least she smiled.
"There's something wrong, Raven. What is it?" her mother asked, sitting down next to her.
"Wren, what's it like outside of the house. I've never been out there, I'd like to know, maybe even go out there and play with the other kids sometime!"
"Dear, it's not as good as it looks. And playing with the other children would bring you down. Your intelligence is six times higher then theirs is. I can't let you go out there, you must stay in here for now."
"Why? Why can't I go out there and have fun?" she protested.
"Your father won't allow it. He doesn't want to lose you, he really does love you," her mother explained.
"It doesn't seem like it," she pouted.
"When your next birthday comes, you'll get to go to school and have fun there," her mother said.
"Is that outside?" Her mother nodded. "Do I get to be with all of the other kids?"
"You're going to be in high school," she said. "You're too smart to be with the other children,"
"But I want to go with the kids my age!" she yelled, standing up from her seat. "I want to have friends!" Her eyes were turning completely black.
"Don't raise your voice to your mother, you horrible little wench!" her father roared from behind her.
"I can if I want!" she said, her eyes completely black.
"You are ungrateful!"
"You are as well! You're the worst father ever! I don't want to be stuck in here anymore! I want to be free!" she yelled, running towards the door.
"Don't you even think about it," her father said, slowly changing forms.
"I'm leaving!" she said. Then something stopped her as she set foot outside the door. A vision flashed. She saw a tall girl standing in front of her, holding out her hand.
"You must let your powers take hold. Let them take hold and fight back! I can help you, Raven," the older girl said. She looked so much like herself that she couldn't help thinking it was her, just older.
"I want to leave!" she said, grabbing the other girl's hand. The girl was gone and she was enveloped in a black shroud of mist.
"No! See what you've done?" her mother said to her transformed father, looking at their child writhing in pain above the house.
"It doesn't matter!" he bellowed, reaching his demonic hand towards her. He went to grab her, but it was a futile attempt. His hand couldn't enclose her and the tall girl appeared in front of her.
"Leave her! We will battle later! Leave her to become what she wishes to be! The spirit of the future will protect her from you until she takes this form," she said pointing to herself.
"I will do as you wish, Raven. I will find and defeat you!" he said evilly.
"Little Raven," the older one said, looking down at the girl in the cold mist, "I will protect you. I'll take you out of this land."
The memory ended there. Raven knew the rest. She knew that she ended up in an orphanage, but had fun with the other children. But when she got a bit older, her emotions evoked the powers in her, and she had to leave.
Beast Boy was also in the reminiscing mood. He remembered the first time he met Raven. It was kind of funny the way it all started. He threw a ball up to his ceiling and caught it.
He threw it up again but didn't catch it this time. It rolled off towards a stoop and stopped at the feet of a girl in a blanket. Her face was hidden in her arms, her shoes were
"Oh, hi! Can I have my ball back?" he said.
She grabbed the ball and looked up at him. He was struck with an odd pain in his heart when he looked into her hollow eyes. Like shallow pools they looked up at him in longing.
"Here," she said, handing it up to him, her arm shaking. She coughed and pulled blanket closer to her and put her head down again.
"Do you need a place to stay?" he asked her, sitting next to her frail figure and putting his arm around her shoulders.
"You wouldn't mind?" she asked, smiling a bit. A nearby window shattered in a black aura. "Sorry. My powers will-"
"Wait! You have powers? Me too! I was going to take you to where I live, with Robin. We have powers and we use them to fight evil. Do you want to join?"
"Really? I'd love that. I need a place to stay," she said, getting to her feet. It was hard to walk, being so weak. "What are your powers?" she asked, looking over at him. But instead she saw a green cat walking up against her. She smiled and picked him up. He transformed into a bird and flew above her.
"Follow me," he said, coming back down to the ground. He led her around the next corner and showed her the island with the huge 'T'.
"It's amazing," she whispered.
"My name is Beast Boy," he said.
"I'm Raven," she replied.
He held out his hand to shake. "Nice to meet you." But he was instead greeted with a big hug. The street lights all shattered and a car went flying into the air.
"I can't thank you enough," she said, her pale face shining with a new color.
He threw up the ball an caught it. It was a nice memory. But now he had to worry about what the others at camp would think.
"Cyborg! Try to contact them," Robin commanded.
"My communicator won't work out here!" he said, pressing buttons in a rage.
"This is just great!" he said, kicking a tree with all of his might. "OW!" he screamed in pain.
Starfire came through the brush with the other campers and the counselors.
"You're in a lot of trouble!" Ruth said.
"Don't worry about it," Matt said reassuringly. "You'll only be scrubbing the bathrooms."
"I feel sorry for you," a guy said. "Last time that happened, they were cleaning for a long time."
"Yeah. Those bathrooms are pretty scummy," Ruth said with an evil smile.
"Ruthless Ruth," Cy and Robin muttered.
"Come on, friends! We should get back! I want to see how our friends are doing at home! We have one week to go!" Starfire said in her perfect English.
"One week?" Robin moaned. "I can't take much more of this," he said, shuffling along back to the camp.
"At least Raven and Beast Boy are having more fun," Cy said.
"Yeah. They get to have fun while we clean the scummy bathrooms,"
"I wonder what this 'scummy' means," Starfire wondered.
The two boys sighed and kept going.
"Beast Boy," Raven was saying, lying in her bed. She was practicing, for what she didn't know yet. But they were both so young, and what happened wasn't supposed to happen for years. "Beast Boy, I need to talk to you."
"About what?" he said.
"Since when have you been there?" she questioned.
"I brought you some tea!" he said with a cheerful smile. He sat at one of her tables and motioned for her to come over near him.
She made some weird noise and wrapped a blanket around herself as she came down.
"Come on! It's not like I haven't seen you in your pajamas before," he laughed.
"I really would prefer not to take the blanket off," she said, trying not to make it suspicious.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
"Yes! Yes, I'm very cold!" she lied. Actually the blanket was making her overheat and she longed to get rid of it.
"I'll be your blanket," he said, wrapping his arms around you, trying to slide the blanket off of her.
She let go off everything. In his arms she felt so secure and safe. She let the blanket slip right off and she snuggled into his arms. He was surprised by what he saw, but got over it quickly.
"You said you needed to talk to me about something," he whispered softly into her ear.
"It doesn't matter now. All that matters is that we're together, and nothing is going to get in our way," she said.
Her parents were going to have to deal with it. Everybody was just going to have to deal with it.
"I have to tell you something," he said, sounding a bit nervous now.
"What is it?"
"My parents," he gulped. "They're coming tomorrow at noon!"