I like the forest. The city is a claustrophobic thing. I feel out of place there. I feel like a lost, purposeless soul rooted in place while everyone else is moving so fast I can't follow, completing the errands I can't comprehend that makes up the length of their lives. I used to be one of them, but things change. Or was I always destined to be on the outside looking in?
The forest is different. I still feel alone...yet I'm supposed to, for I am. The only ties the trees have are to the earth. They have no family or friends of feelings. I can understand that. I like being surrounded by kindred spirits; by beings that don't search for love or happiness, but are content to simply exist.
I stood on a tall, brush-covered drop off behind an old oak tree. I peered around it and down the slope. There stood three figures. The one in the lead was easily recognizable in his cape: Robin. The leader of the Teen Titans. A dangerous opponent.
The young one with black eyes didn't interest me. He was still a child. Perhaps he would be a threat later.
...And then there was him. The cowboy. He should be nothing to worry over. Along with his dark friend, he was new to the Titans. A rookie still finding his own. He shouldn't interest me...but he did. I felt the spark of recognition when, while transporting Chang, Red X and Flaar, I saw him on the frigate. But even more important...He seemed to recognize me. I have tried to remember since.
Now, looking at his face, I tried again. I closed my eyes and pictured him. The tall, athletic frame. The cowboy garb. The southern swagger. The dark blue eyes that periodically peered over his shades. The half-smile/half-smirk his face showed so frequently The-
FLASH!
"No! Wait! Come back! I need your help! I need you, Zillah!"
FLASH!
My eyes widened.
I whispered in disbelief.
"...Jonny?"
Almost as if he heard me, the cowboy turned to look.
ZHHHHT!
TTTTTTTTTT
I was just about to say something to Robin when a weird feeling hit me. Kind of like when someone's watching you sleep. I slowly turned and swept my eyes over the tree line, but there was no one there. I continued to look as Robin and Noir started north.
Noir stopped and turned back to me, signing.
"No, I'm coming. It's just..."
Noir raised his eyebrow at me.
"Ahem. N-nothing. Let's mosey...I reckon."
ZZZZZZZZZZ
I was no longer surrounded by trees, but by the dark, sterile air of indoors. I was in the dank, cell-like room that served as my current lodging. Gasping, I leaned forward on the dresser.
My powers have always exhausted me. The further the distance, the more tired I am afterwards. After I caught my breath, I looked up and caught a glance at myself in the mirror. A stranger looked back at me with light blue eyes that looked out of place set in a face with exotically dark skin.
I looked away quickly. I hate looking into mirrors. I know I'm not ugly...but I hate looking into my own eyes. It's like they don't belong to me. I look and I can't tell what thoughts lie behind them.
I straightened and took a deep breath. Enough of this. I stepped out of the room and walked down a long, dank hallway. The sounds of screams led me to the lab and Booker in a small side room with a control panel. I didn't waste a breath.
"There are people coming this way?"
"Hmm," Booker said, barely looking away. "Really now?"
I watched as he did nothing.
"Aren't you going to-"
"There's no need. No one's ever gonna find this place."
"But-"
Booker swiveled and looked at me.
"Isn't it time for your treatment, child?"
I glared at him.
"I say when it's time for my treatment."
"Hm...of course. Just don't fall to pieces on us."
I turned and walked away from the fool. But he was right about one thing: I would need a treatment soon. I walked down the hallway into another room, bare except for the device that kept me whole. It was a long, coffin-like tube. I hit a few buttons on the control panel and the side slid away with a hiss. Shivering, I stepped into the machine and lay down.
I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to see the top closing over me.
SLAM!
TTTTTTTTTT
The darkness of the cave was pushed back only by the star bolt Starfire held high over her head. She and Static followed Fraust through the twisting, rocky corridors. For the longest time...years, maybe...there was no sounds except for their breathing and the occasional spoken word. But then another sound reached them. Faint at first, it grew stronger and stronger, a soothing melody in the darkness.
"What is that?" Starfire asked.
"You wi-will see. Come." Fraust waved her hand forward.
Not long later, they came to a chamber that made Starfire gasp. There was an underground fountain that fed down into a shimmering pool. Also, the rock wall was covered with a vein of quartz that, apparently, reached up to the surface because it reflected sunlight into the cave.
"Glorious..." Starfire whispered.
"We rest h-here." Fraust decided.
"Good place for it." Static dropped his backpack, stooped over the fountain and scooped up water to his mouth.
"Agreed." Starfire allowed her star bolt to dissipate, walked some distance away from the fountain and sat down.
Fraust watched intently as Static went to join her. They talked, but Fraust didn't care to listen. She watch their eyes; their awareness. Satisfied she was forgotten, she quickly reached into Static's bag, grabbed his communicator and pocked it up her sleeve.
"I-I'll be back."
She turned and disappeared down a dark passage.
