It was a new morning at Titan Tower, the sunrise captivated glances by its diverse and normally warm colors, despite the torrential rain of the previous night, the humidity in the atmosphere was still present although it would not seem to cause a major problem.
Therefore, there should be no clear reason why the Titan leader woke up a little sick. Of course, he was good at hiding it, but muscle pain was simply not normal for him, attributing it to the battle or simply the weather should be indifferent. Sulking slightly, he greeted his team to start the day with breakfast prepared for each of them, he silently noted that he had been the last to wake up but tried to ignore it, as well as the quizzical looks from the others who eventually brushed him aside.
With the unaccustomed silence, that morning seemed quiet and hardly comfortable. Until they started with their daily activities, Cyborg and BB started with their new video game attributed by shouts of mutual competition, with arrivals of victorious cheers or loss and new rematches. On the other hand, Starfire accompanied in reading Raven, the unusually pale-skinned one with enough patience to listen to the Tameran's curious verbiage, seemed not to be the only one to notice the calmness of the day.
With all the members of his team busy at their activities until the combat alarm calls for them, Robin returned to his bedroom, unwilling to train or join the others, whether to clamor for a surprise training he would normally ask for or simply enjoy their company.
The latent pain in his head was not intolerable, but he felt it extremely annoying, so much so that the very thought engulfed him in a thick fog. He looked in the bottom drawer of his bedside table, found a small box and considering some symptoms took a pill, he would not allow himself to fall ill, especially these days, knowing that the news of a few months ago from Gotham was not yet fully digested.
He frowned at the very thought, and sighed deeply, his demeanor becoming a bit more irritating and demanding of his teammates because of the call he made to Batman about the news he got from the paper. If it wasn't for Starfire's curiosity about Gotham news that didn't make it all the way to Jump, and asking for at least one dispatch, she would have never known.
How long would it take for Batman to tell him?
He shook his head, such personal matters were not supposed to affect him. He told himself that he had no business venting to others, but that kid insulting and saying that his team was criminally inept compared to the villains in Gotham was enough to set him off, and with that, back to fighting Batman.
Although his impulsive actions, more for having been offended, from his point of view, by giving someone else the role of Robin whose name belonged to him, since it was his mother who had given it to him, was enough to call them out forgetting the reasons why Batman dismissed him from his side and then from Gotham. So fighting with his new brother, only got the older one to throw it in his face again.
He didn't notice the moment he threw the glass tumbler, previously filled with water, until he heard it shatter into pieces on the opposite wall. He looked down, enraged at not controlling his temper, clenched his fists and returned to the breathing exercises he had learned as a child, gradually calming himself down, though he certainly didn't remember that it should have taken him so long.
The throbbing pain in his head hit him again, he cursed under his breath at this less than expected increase. He moved to clean up his mess when the alarm went off and colored his room red.
Forgetting the rest, he grabbed his bo deployable staff and left his room.
It took little time until they reached the place, an abandoned industrial warehouse from a couple of years ago, Cinderblock was once again causing disaster everywhere, Robin called the titans into battle hoping the confrontation with the known villain wouldn't take long, the fresh air still present with a cold breath filled his lungs and gave a pang of pain.
Robin paused for a moment as his breathing became ragged, with a new pain in his throat and sore muscles, as if he had run a marathon without rest.
It was the second battle that day, and dusk fell on Jump City, but never before had he felt so sick and without energy to take another step, knowing that the previous confrontation should not even have made him sweat; he wanted to discard about the weather, because he knew well that his body did not get sick for such banal things, even after battles under a big storm were not enough to give him this kind of symptoms and less that left him exhausted from one day to the next.
He turned to see his team hiding behind some split concrete pipes, the others in perfect condition managed to corner the man made of concrete, he nodded slightly to himself, they had improved quite a bit since the first time they faced him.
With a fresh breath of energy he hoped to conserve, he stood up, next to that stoic image of a leader, but before he ran to accompany the other titans a movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him in his tracks. Confused by that feeling that pierced his skull and leaving him blank when he saw a small movement between the cracks in the wall they entered through.
He turned carefully, alert alarms filling his senses, barely noticing that the battle was diverted down another path away from his position, however, all his attention was captured by that feeling. Drawn, yet cautious, he approached, the shadows still shrouded its greater part, and though that thrill disappeared as quickly as it appeared, his eyes fell on a barely moonlit silhouette amidst the rubble.
With all the slowness and care she ever put into it, she gently took that good-sized, all-white feather between his gloves, so soft and lovely amidst the dirt and dust of the place. Simply radiant.
He blinked in bewilderment, suddenly coming back to his senses completely, he shook his head as if to clear that haze from which he did not see the moment he was enveloped. Turning his head back to its former position and returning to the pen he held, he covered his surprise and bewilderment that for a moment showed on his face. He examined the feather, and knew at once the bird it belonged to, though he had never seen one like it so close, he also ignored the fact that he knew it without even thinking it through.
He smacked his lips a little at the feather's lack of imperfections, as if it were made of plastic, yet it looked very well cared for.
Suddenly, he turned to the forest a few meters away from the factory, with trees capable of shadowing its interior under the natural light, he could not help the shiver that ran through his body unexpectedly.
He wanted to act immediately when Starfire's voice calling him across the room stopped him, he mindlessly kept the pen in one of the pockets of his belt, not wishing to ruin it, and looked away from the forest, with deep thoughts for what just happened changed his face and mood to face his companion, but without ceasing to think that his silhouette was followed by a look hidden under the shadows of those trees until he was lost from sight.
I already have the first chapter written, but it's in my Spanish version on my profile. I will be updating more frequently in Spanish than in English, so I recommend keeping an eye on the other version!
