I know there are a few origin stories for Mira including an alternate reality but I am not familiar enough with any of them to utilize them.
Kaldur paused as a pair of guardsmen swam past. Tonight was going to be the ultimate test of all the skills he had gained since the Team was formed. Under normal circumstances he'd have swum openly into the Royal Conservatory. No one would challenge his right to be there. Tonight however his goal was to get in, gather the supplies he needed and get back out without anyone knowing he'd ever been here. Especially his king.
Robin had advised him to act normally. Pretend this was just a visit home. The best way to ensure people remembered his passing was to act unusual. Kaldur agreed with Robin in theory, and under any other circumstance he would have followed the younger boy's advice, without question. Robin was infinitely more capable of stealth then he was. But he could not risk his king returning early and being alerted to his presence.
With that in mind he kept to the shadows, and prayed he'd learned enough from Robin over the years to succeed.
A heady mixture of relief and terror washed over him at the sight of the Dean's door. Relief because the ancient tomes he required were somewhere in the extensive library that rested just beyond the heavy door. Terror, because he was about to break into the Queen's office and pilfer her private, restricted library.
The Wards on Mira's door were not lethal, and nowhere near what they could have been. She was a teacher as well as Queen and foolish youngsters occasionally snuck into her office in an idiotic attempt to prove their courage. He'd never partaken of that particular brand of idiocy. He and his friends had other priorities. It was part of what brought them together as friends in the first place.
The Irony was not lost on him.
Kaldur closed his eyes and brushed the mother of pearl inlay work with tentative fingers. His webbing tingled as the magic brushed his personal energies. The magic around this room lay in wait, protective spells designed to shelter the priceless scrolls, tomes and ancient tablets in times of crisis. Set to activate with a terrible force if the wards surrounding the conservatory or palace were ever breached. He shook out his hand and rubbed gently at the delicate membranes. Trying to message the feeling back into his fingers.
Mages could test for spells without having to make physical contact. It was infantry safer and required less effort, concentration and magic, but he'd never advanced past the most basic of spells and didn't have the training necessary to manage it.
He swam back slightly and examined the door frame post and lintel. The absence of the soft glow of a mage light assured him the office was unoccupied.
Feeling restored to his fingers he took a deep breath and tried the door. It was locked, because of course it was, the universe didn't like him that much. He sighed, and reached into his uniform for the lock picks Robin had given him and set about unlocking the door, praying he didn't set off a magical alarm or trap keyed to the lock. Thankfully the lock was neither booby trapped nor too complicated for his meager skillset.
He took a deep breath and pushed gently against the door, and bit back a yelp of surprise and elation when it open under his hand. Tentatively he reached out with his other senses, running his fingers along the door frame in an effort to determine if he'd set off an alarm or ward. Finding nothing, he took a deep breath of the salty oxygen rich water and slid effortlessly trough the gloomy waters and into the office. He took a moment to gather his bearings, and made straight for the shelves of restricted Academic texts.
He probed the shelves with all the gentle finesse he could muster. Finding nothing magically out of place he quickly scanned the shelves, desperately seeking anything that would help him identify his friend's species and undue, whatever spell Klarion had placed on him.
Every time he thought he knew what the boy was; he did something that proved his theory wrong. It was damned frustrating, but it was also dangerous, they needed to know what Robin's gifts were.
At this point Robin had become a truly dangerous mystery.
By Neptune, he'd never heard of a situation like the one they'd found themselves in. Two humans simply didn't give birth to a member of the Foxkin. Which meant either Robin didn't know his own past and he'd been stolen from someone – a frighteningly dangerous prospect he didn't even want to think about; or something had changed.
Kaldur sighed in relief as he found the heavy tome of restricted spells that he hoped would have what he needed to reverse Klarion's mischief. Now the hard part was over, all he had to do was collect this last tome and make his way back to the pickup point. He shifted the various scrolls, books and a few pages of hand scribbled notes into the crook of one arm and cautiously pulled the huge tome free of its spot on the shelf.
A soft click and a watery grating noise was his only warning as the window opened.
He cried out in shock, dropping his precious cargo, as the magical snare yanked him off his feet before he had time to react, tangling around his limbs as he thrashed reflexively.
The intruder …Ok… the other intruder, shrieked in alarm and pain. Her voice cutting off as the spell silenced her.
Cursing a blue streak around his own gag he forced himself to relax, and drew upon his magic. Feeling it flare across his tattoos he extended his senses as he'd been taught and felt for the spell ensnaring him. Praying it was something he could cut through with his water bearers.
It wasn't.
Typical
He blew air out of his nose in annoyance and glanced over at the intruder who'd foiled his neatly planned …loan …of the necessary materials and tried not to glare.
The scrawny waif, looked particularly pathetic at the moment. She couldn't have been older than nine. Like him she was bound head to toe in a tight cord of magical rope and dangling, upside down several feet off the floor. Swaying slightly in the room's current.
The effect was rather nauseating.
Tears streamed down the child's face as she tried frantically to free herself. Small hands gesturing frantically where they poked out of the bindings. By her gestures he assumed she was trying to use magic, though she was admittedly young for such things.
Kaldur shifted slightly and made an inarticulate noise in an attempt to gain her attention. He would have liked to say something to calm her down, if only he could. The rope in his mouth prevented him from talking, though it didn't impede his breathing. He softened his expression and tried to let her know everything would be alright.
She seemed utterly unmoved by his – admittedly lousy - attempt at comfort.
Which was frankly typical, whenever they encountered traumatized children Robin usually handled the situation.
Not for the first time he wished this was all a warped dream brought on by too much scorpionfish pâté. The appearance of his Quean and several armed guardsmen dashed that hope entirely and he shrank back in his restraints. Absolutely humiliated by his horrific betrayal of her trust. For the first time since he'd first swum through the Royal Conservatory's doors as a new prospective mage he found himself intimidated by the mere sight of his friend and teacher. He gulped and prayed for her tolerance, despite never before being given reason to fear her. Shame washed over him and he braced himself for the fall out of this night's escapade, as her green gaze swept over him.
She arched an eyebrow at him, and he felt color fill his cheeks in response. A sharp gesture dispelled his bindings and he twisted slightly, righting himself in the water. Eyes down cast as he waited for the justly earned reprimand that was surely to come.
For a moment absolute silence filled the room, when she spoke Mera's voice was a study in controlled calm. "Kaldur'ahm" She said with a slight jerk of her head to indicate the two hard backed seats before her massive desk. "Take a seat, I will deal with you in a minute."
"Yes, My Queen." He replied in as mild a tone as he could manage, and bent to pick up his … purloined reading material. He set them on her desk with the exaggerated care normally afforded unstable explosives and settled himself gingerly upon the edge of the indicated chair.
It was going to be a long night.
SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH
Mera sighed and resisted the urge to rub her temples. The last few weeks had been a study in frustration. Entering her office every morning to find valuable manuscripts that dated back before the very founding of their great nation, strewn about like forgotten toys had been wearing her patience to a thread. The progressing symptoms of her pregnancy, Kaldur'ahm's disappearance and Orin's subsequent atypical hysterics had not improved her temper.
Having caught the two most prominent sources of her current duress, provided her with a sense of almost giddy relief. Yet at the same time it raised several fundamental questions and created a slew of new problems. She glanced down at the small child who had been invading her study at night for the last few weeks. At least her small visitor would be relatively straight forward to deal with. Being returned to one's parents by the Guard tended to result in swift changes to the amount of supervision one received.
She fixed the child with a stern glare and tried not to let her expression soften at the sheer terror on the child's face. The cold truth of the matter was that by Neptune's grace the child had chosen the one room in the Palace and conservatory where the wards were not likely to do her serious injury for her first forays into trespassing. She could not be allowed to continue on this path.
"Where are your parents?" she enquired her tone level and calm.
The child looked up at her in silence, pain and sorrow filling her silvery yellow eyes. "Dead." She whispered softly.
SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH
Mera rubbed her temples as she sank into her desk chair as the guards escorted her newest student to the room that would be hers until she either graduated or left to pursue another path. She would dispatch a swift messenger in the morning to send word to the waif's elder brother. The young man deserved to know both of his parent's death and of his sister's safe placement within the Conservatory's dorms. Idly she wondered if the child's brother had as much potential as his sister, she made a mental note to see if his talents ran parallel to his sister's if so, should the boy be amendable to the change she may be tempted to snatch the boy out from under the collective noses of the royal military academy trainers and not return him until he was old enough to sit officer's training.
A brief discussion with the guards had ensured their silence concerning the young idiot, currently cowering across the desk from her.
She waited long enough for the door to shut behind the guards before turning her gaze to her former student. Kaldur'ahm, Aqualad, her husband's protégé, the pride of Atlantis, met her gaze with a level look of his own. To the untrained eye the boy looked calm. Her eye was not untrained, and she could easily read the signs of stress in his body language. The boy's gills clamped shut and fluttered open spasmodically, as though he fought the urge to hold his breath, and his eel tattoos glowed faintly with nervous energy.
In short he looked very much like he was about to soil himself.
The bravado of young men annoyed her but this once she found it endearing rather than off putting. She cared deeply for Kaldur, like her husband she saw him as something akin to a much loved younger relative and she wanted nothing more than for him to prosper and meet his full potential. Be it as a mage or as a hero. That being said he had been well and truly caught misbehaving, something he did so rarely that his blatant over reaction to the situation was frankly amusing.
When she'd set a trap for her small visitor she had not expected to catch Kaldur of all people, in her metaphorical net. The Protection spells on her office recognized him as one of four people allowed access to her office and private library. A fact that he would have known had he bothered to ask for permission. Still such behavior could not be allowed to continue unchecked. She reached over and picked up one of the Scrolls Kaldur'ahm had intended to purloin. Kaldur stiffened as she examined the old scroll, and she raised an eyebrow at him in response. The boy shifted slightly, his back taking on a military stiffness he rarely possessed in her presence. She knew Kaldur well enough to know that something was going on. It wasn't like him to defy his king, go rogue, steal or break in to anything, unless he was under Crown or League orders. Yet in the past week and a half his entire team had absconded to parts unknown, and every attempt –magical or otherwise- to discover their whereabouts had ended in failure.
She debated her options as she investigated the boy's choice in illicit reading material.
The first scroll was a copy of the eons old treaty they had with the Nine Fox Courts. The second was a basic bestiary of sorts comprised before their people had learned the Foxkin were anything more than magical beasts. The next was an old and frankly priceless bunch of loose sheets with the hand scribbled notes of some long ago dignitary detailing what little they knew of Foxkin magic, and the last was a heavy manuscript detailing several dangerous spells and their reversal. All of which were well beyond Kaldur's current level of magical aptitude.
She sighed and held up the second scroll, "The accuracy of this, leaves much to be desired". She informed him mildly. "An explanation is required at this juncture Kaldur'aham."
He looked up at her then, his eyes flicking to the two silent guards lurking against the wall. She followed his gaze and sensing that he would not talk in their presence dismissed them to wait in that corridor with a wave of her hand. She waited until the door closed softly behind them before turning her attention back to the distressed young man.
SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH
Robin paced the confines of his hideout and tried not to fret. His friends had been gone far too long and he was not accustomed to waiting on the sidelines while others took risks in his stead. Frustrated he growled and paced, trying desperately to get some control over his current form. He was having trouble controlling his instincts, and by extension his … powers? Gifts? Curse?
He wasn't sure what to call it.
Darkness followed in his paw steps, transforming the floor into a churning inky void. He needed to get control of himself. Or no one would be able to set foot inside of his current prison. Wolf had tried to offer him comfort and sank into the floor up to his belly fur. It had taken the better part of an hour to work out how to free the enormous canine. Robin tugging vainly at his scruff in an attempt to free him from the floor while the other canine's legs swam through the ceiling above their heads.
He didn't think the great wolf would ever forgive him for the indignity.
A soft noise caught his attention and he turned towards the door, ears perked to catch subtle sounds. It took a few minutes for him to place, a phenomenon he ascribed to how damned long it had been since the last time he had allowed himself to just be. That and the minor practicality of having only heard the Bioship once while wearing this form.
He yipped happily, tail doing ... something… of its own accord and trotted over to the door. Banishing the void at his feet as he did so. He made it to the large room they were using as a hanger just as the ship touched down. Prancing in place with barley suppressed pleasure as his team's familiar scents washed over him. He waited for them to disembark, Wolf, weary after his unintended swim through the floor, stood a few feet away. Ready to bolt should he unintentionally warp reality again.
Robin couldn't blame him, though it hurt his heart to see the great canine eyeing him like that.
He paused eyes snapping back to the Bioship, ears cocking forward, hackles rising along his neck in a shower of light blue false sparks.
Something was wrong.
He couldn't quite place what, but it set his skin ablaze with barely suppressed energy. He sniffed the air trying to find the subtle wrong. False sparks danced across his rough and down his back to the tip of his tail. Apprehension – literally - sparking across his fur. Shadows shifted, slithering forward to collect at his heels like an army of eager hounds. He knew every scent on that ship, even the newer scent with the overtones of brimstone. Nostrils flared he drew in breath trying to pinpoint the problem. There was no blood, no pain in the air. Though Kaldur's scent was clogged with emotions too complex for him to decipher. He cocked his head and tried anyway.
Embarrassment, worry, frustration, relief and a hint of shame mingled with something he simply could not pinpoint. Now that he was trying he noticed the worry commingling with his friends' scents. The air was thick with it. Blue fire flared to life as his ruff and the tip of his brush ignited. His breath felt hot in his own mouth, warming his nostrils as he breathed. Jaws parted he yawned in a mostly futile attempt to calm himself.
Then Mira stepped lightly out of the bioship.
Pain, anger and betrayal flowed over him and he stepped back locking gazes with Kaldur as the other boy followed at the Atlantean Queen's heal, like a well-trained dog.
His ears twisted back and slightly out reflexively, a high-pitched whine emanating from his throat at the sight. He tilted his head, tail curling up and around to his left so that it tucked itself around him in an instinctive gesture of fear. The fire bathing his fur dimmed, whiskers pinning he arched his back. Silently pleading for this not to be what it looked like.
"Calm yourself Robin," Mira soothed "I mean you no harm."
He heard nothing beyond his name leaving her lips. His eyes lighted on Auqualad and his stance shifted slightly; ears pinning themselves flat to his skull, whiskers bristling he kept his back arched and his tail tucked to his side. Jaws parted he barred his teeth in silent fury, pain and fear. The shadows surged forward enveloping him and he allowed himself to simply sink into their cold embrace.
His life was officially over.
Mira knew
She would tell Orin
Who would tell Bruce.
He shuddered, and curled tightly into himself. Tucking himself closer to the beams of the rafters he'd suddenly appeared in. Bruce's stance on Meta-humans in his Territory was legendary he wouldn't let any member of the league with powers set foot in his city. A high-pitched whimpering filled the room as he thought about the hell his life had been in the space between his parent's death and Bruce taking him in. He could not go back. That child welfare bitch would just throw him straight back into his cell at the Gotham Youth Correctional Facility. He couldn't do it again. He'd rather die than live through that again. He'd have to run.
The streets would be better, even in Gotham.
Heart breaking, he curled tightly into himself and whished he was the size of a normal fox then at least he could make a decent life for himself in the woods somewhere. Though the thought of eating rodents did not appeal to him even slightly. A strange "ar ar ar ar ar" sound interspersed with his high pitched whines like the sobbing of a small broken child drew his attention and it took him a moment to realize they were coming from his own throat. So deep was his sorrow he couldn't bring himself to care that he was going to give away his position. He simply curled as tightly into himself as possible and tried to ignore the people gathering underneath his perch.
Ssnhssnhssnh
Mira resisted the urge to swear as the fox kit disappeared. Her eyes adapted to water, not air, burned in response to the painful flash of cerulean light the kit emitted before he dissolved into the void. The experience left her dazed and disorientated. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision; and raised an eyebrow at the sound of Kaldur muttering obscenities beside her. She turned her head and took in the sight of her former student knuckling his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision. The boy had the grace to blush, though he kept up his incoherent muttering.
"I hate it when he does the Ninja thing!" Kid Flash yelped.
"Could be worse." Superboy deadpanned.
Kaldur'ahm glanced over at his friend. "How so?" he enquired after a moment's hesitation.
"The shadows haven't attacked." One of the girls commented floating cross-legged above the ground.
Kaldur's expression clearly summed up what he thought of the day's events.
Mira sighed finding the boy was going to be difficult. This kit might not know how to use his gifts but by their very nature Foxkin were good at remaining unseen, blending into their surroundings and throwing up illusions. The fact that this one had been trained in stealth by Batman …
Well it was not going to help the situation.
Surprisingly it only took a few minutes to find Robin. The boy was crying, his distress audible to anyone who cared to listen. She considered the problems at hand and tried to decide which issue needed her immediate attention. She turned her head away from the enormous fox and addressed her former student. "You are sure that is Robin?" she enquired.
"Positive my queen." Kaldur responded promptly.
Mira sighed, and looked up at the boy in the rafters. She needed to get the child down so she could examine him. More critically, she needed him to stop making that noise, before a horde of angry Fox Spirits descended on them. She knew Foxkits could call out to the adults for help and be heard regardless of where, or even when, they were. She didn't know if the distressed noises Robin was making would call an adult. She didn't even know if Fox Kin would answer the call of a strange kit, but she really didn't want to find out.
Foxkin could warp time and reality.
Having one simply appear in answer to this kit's distress was beyond dangerous.
Desperate to gain control of the situation before they had to face an overprotective force of nature, she reached out with her magic. The boy's cries cut off immediately as she doused him with an icy blast of water. The silver and gray creature sneezed sharply and turned broken blue eyes upon her. He shifted slightly and lept to the ground, muscles rippling beneath his sodden coat.
At 90 pounds he was the smallest Fox Spirit she had ever laid eyes on. Understandable given her lack of familiarity with adolescents of the species. Blue light pulsed across his drenched form and his fur fluffed. Lightning sparked across his fur as blue fire collected in his jaws, ringed his neck and flared to life at the end of his black tipped brush. All around them inky shadows detached themselves from their rightful places to slither and pool at his feet.
She shuddered, as the very air took on a harsh heavy quality.
The temperature dropped significantly around them, the heat bleeding away as frost collected on the glass and their breath fogged the air.
"Robin," She snapped trying to get the boy's attention. "I need you to calm down, so we can get you out of that form."
Robin cocked his head to the side and looked at her, ears flattening sideways as his tail tucked up against his flank in a clear sign of distress.
"Robin, you have to trust us. We wouldn't let anyone hurt you." Miss Martian's imploring tone seemed to cut through the boy's defenses. He turned his head and met her gaze before stalking forward and settling himself at her feet.
Kaldur went to him then, kneeling down to caress the boy's ears. Like a child attempting to comfort a scared family pet. "Apologies my friend, I was not up to the task."
Robin inclined his head and Kaldur looked surprised for a moment before laughing aloud. "That we will my friend. That we will." Robin flicked the tip of his tail and arch of blue light filtering up behind him.
"My Queen, can you identify him?" Kaldur implored in Atlantean. "If we know what he is we can work on controlling these suppressed abilities."
Mira sighed Kaldur had explained the boy's desire to keep his true nature secrete from his friends and loved ones. She disagreed, but had consented to allowing the child his privacy at least in this. Though she believed the boy was not giving his guardian enough credit. But Kaldur feared for his friends continued safety and freedom and the child would be an adult in a few short years. So against her better judgment - she had agreed to Kaldur's terms. Better to face Batman's wrath, then take the risk this boy represented if they could not restore his ability to shift to and maintain his human form. "I will speak with the two of you alone." She replied before switching to English. "It will take a few hours to undo Klarian's spell. Is there somewhere where Robin, Kaldur, Zatanna and I can have some privacy?"
"This way my Queen." Kaldur's reply was prompt and mild.
SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH
Robin sat silently upon the floor, silently observing the Atlantean Queen's every move as she examined him. He felt like a bug under glass and hardly suppressed the annoyed growl he longed to make.
"Kaldur says you were the size of a normal fox before you had your run in with Raven." She commented.
Robin inclined his head aware that it was not a question.
Mira continued scrutinizing him, in a manner that made him feel like a horse at a sale. His tail flicked of its own accord and he wrapped it around his paws, aware of the fact that the act made him look like a disgruntled feline.
"Is this your natural coloring?" She enquired still looking at him in a manner that raised the hair at his ruff and left him feeling like she was looking for stains on his soul.
"Yes" he replied after a second, taking almost perverse pleasure when she jumped in surprise.
She circled him, occasionally requesting he lift a foot or move in a particular way so she could get a better look at him, though she refrained from touching. After a few minutes of this she nodded and enquired, "You shifted into this form of your own accord?"
Robin cocked his head, ears swiveling of their own accord as he contemplated her question. "After a fashion." He replied slowly. "I was … smaller… and purple, before."
Mira inclined her head, "can you shift back to you other form on your own?"
His ears twitched the closest he could come to a flush in his current form and shook his head, "I've tried." He responded softly.
"That's alright," Mira soothed. The Atlantean queen gazed at him in silence for a few more minutes before sighing. "What we have here are three unrelated, overlaid and entangled spells. Before we can undo Zatanna's incorrectly cast transmutation spell and what I guess is a color changing spell, we have to get Robin back into the form he wore before this one."
"So I get to be purple again?" Robin inquired, head tilted and ears perked. Despite himself he was mildly amused by the prospect.
Mira snorted softly, "What do you know of Fox magic child?"
Robin shifted his weight and slid to the floor, in an effort to restrain the… urge to pace. "Not much," he finally replied. "I can create fire, but I can't touch fire I didn't create without getting burned. If I'm not careful shadows fallow me… like puppies. I can be a fox, I can be a human or I can be something in between."
SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH
Mira sat back on her heels with a groan, it had taken the better part of four hours to unravel the tangled web of spells surrounding Robin. The boy sat before her in a classic meditative pose his tail curled around him so that the tip rested in his lap, in a pose that looked habitual. Closing her eyes she wondered again at the training the Bat gave his sons. The boy had been sitting like that without moving since she'd managed to get him back into this form almost two hours ago. Only the slight rise and fall of his chest gave away the fact that he yet lived.
Breaking Zatanna's spells, returning him to his natural coloring and his semi human form had taken approximately 30 minutes. The rest of the time had been taken up with helping Robin find his way back into the form of an amusingly colored fox kit. It was a testament to the power held by the Foxkin that it had taken her almost as long to reverse Robin's accidental changes as it had to reverse Klarion's spell.
"Alright," she said softly, ignoring the shiver that ran down her spine when the boy opened vertical slit eyes and met her gaze. "Try to shift back now."
Blue eyes slid closed, the boy took one breath, and held it, letting it out after a few heartbeats. Then, between one breath and the next his body blurred like softened clay and a small boy sat before her. Completely human, until he opened intense blue eyes that glowed softly in the gloom. She doubted anyone but another fully trained Atlantean sorcerer would have noticed. Provided that sorcerer was used to dealing with the Foxkin. As Queen she'd had multiple dealings with these notoriously prickly people and her eyes were adapted to a different light then surface dwellers. It made the soft glow visible where it wouldn't otherwise be.
"Thank you." He said after a moment the eerie glow fading away the longer he spent in his human form.
"A moment Foxchild," she said when it seemed the boy would get up. "We should ensure you are not merely trapped in another form."
The boy sighed "I wouldn't mind being trapped in this form." He lamented, but obliged her by shifting rapidly into a small silver and black fox, before shifting back into the colossal creature she'd first encountered and finally into the in between form she was by now the most familiar with. A pulse of soft hardly visible, cerulean light and the oppressive pull of the gathering shadows the only indication he was about to shift.
"The self-depreciation in that statement alarms me, my friend." Kaldur commented as Robin slid easily back into his human form. "Do not lament being who and what you are. By doing so you sell yourself short."
Robin sighed, "When I was little I used to play in my other forms." He said softly. "I spent as much time as a fox or with a tail as I did in my human skin. Dya encouraged me to do so, and the rest of our… family never made me feel there was anything amiss with the gift. I didn't learn how much of a freak I was until after the death of my immediate family. After the government tore me away from the only home, and people I'd ever known because none of those who remained were blood related."
A growl tore itself free of the boy's throat and he slipped into another language. "They threw me in a cell!" he ranted, coming abruptly back to English, before losing his grip on the language entirely so that "that racist bint" ,"Bruce", "Alfie" "Jaybird" and "Cost me everything I hold dear?" were all that could be understood of his rant. At the end Robin trailed off his mouth opening so he emitted an ear-piercing cry that vibrated through her soul.
Mira reacted without thinking, clamping a hand over the kit's mouth, and pinching his nose briefly. The boy jerked and sputtered, pushing her away, but fell silent. Mira waited a long moment as silence fell around them, awaiting the inevitable.
When no furious Foxkin responded to the kit's cry of distress she relaxed. Tsunami the Foxkin envoy to Atlantis had once told her there was nothing on, above or below this earth more protective and possessive of their young then the Foxkin and that they were truly dangerous when roused to their protection.
Kaldur gave her an odd look before clasping his hand on the younger boy's shoulder in a gesture of comfort and solidarity. "You are not alone, my friend," the young warrior told his friend gently. "We will work through this, together"
"Kaldur," Robin replied, voice thick with sorrow, pain and confusion. "I don't even know what I am." The boy paused closing his eyes briefly at the confession. "I'll never know what I am, and I have made peace with that. I can't find my mother's Grandfather, he's probably dead by now, I can't even find my Grandma or aunts. I'm okay with that. I've found my own way, found a family. All I want now is to protect my new family. Continue the legacy of my new family, be Robin, be a hero, protect people, so no one ever has to go through what I went through again."
Mira, closed her eyes briefly at the raw emotion the boy attempted to hide behind brave words. She didn't know what he was, not exactly. Foxkin were diverse and varied even within a single court.
"I am not an expert on the Foxkin" Mira said gently, "However, if I had to guess, I'd suppose you were a hybrid of some sort." She paused and considered her next move, and exactly how much to tell the boy. "What little I know of your kind, I learned over the course of my decades long friendship with the Foxkin envoy to Atlantis, Tsunami. That information is yours, should you wish it."
The boy's ear twitched, flicking briefly in her direction. "I – I would appreciate that." the boy replied, settling himself back on his heals with a boneless grace that would have been the envy of any dancer.
"Like the Fae," she began gently. "The Foxkin are an extremely long lived race, living upwards of a thousand years."
"Great," the boy muttered. "I'm doomed to outlive everyone."
Mira suppressed the urge to sigh at the interruption, but the boy was looking at her with such earnest interest that she couldn't find it in herself to be annoyed. "I admit, I'm unfamiliar with how Foxkin age, or even if all nine courts age the same way. I do know that at one point long, long ago, the Foxkin tried interbreeding with humans in a desperate attempt to increase their numbers. To my knowledge, they had about as much success with this as the Fae."
"Do, do you… I mean, do you… have any idea what I am?" Robin enquired softly.
"I cannot say for certain. Had I to go only upon what you looked like when I first arrived. I'd have said you closely resembled a Tulikettu, with your general size, thick pelt and glowing tail. Despite your coloring being all wrong for the species. However, the ability to manipulate shadows is unique to the Kitsune and Nagetsune. I'm sorry I can tell you no more child."
((({ })))
"Tsunami," Mira stated with as much dignity as she could muster. Keeping a close eye on the Envoy's aid Devilsleaf. The old OnChu had never much cared for her presence, or well anyone really, though he got along well enough with Tsunami, and had a mind like a steal trap and a phenomenal attention to detail. Or Tsunami had once told her. "My old friend, might I have a word with you in private?"
Her old friend lounged in a lose coil on the bench a waterproof scroll clasped lightly in one stubby talon hand. A sea shell writing implement in the other. "A moment if you please." He replied, in a deceptively mild tone over the edge of his scroll.
For all he had been named after a destructive force of nature, Tsunami was always mild. Right up until the moment he tore your throat out with an expression of mild distaste.
It was not a sight she ever wished to revisit.
The Nguruvile shifted slightly, set his writing utensils aside and rose up from his coil. Twenty-eight feet of decidedly serpentine fox slithering out of his chair to swim by her side. She knew from experience that the creature only came up to her mid-thigh when he stood upon all fours and towered above her when he chose to rest upon two. His scales, a deep emerald green with blotchy black markings faded into the natural lighting outside better they ever could under the mage lamps of the palace itself. She'd seen soldiers scream when the ambassador suddenly chose to make his presence known. Gliding in out of the shadows to bask in the full light of the throne room. When he chose he could appear as one of them. He seldom chose to do so when inside his own quarters.
"Come, child" he beckoned, "let us enjoy the terrace. The squid are out tonight. The bioluminescent displays are marvelous this time of year."
Despite herself, she laughed. He'd been fascinated by the many bioluminescent creatures that roamed the sea when he'd first come to the court when she was a child.
They stood for a while beneath the multi colored mating display taking place miles above their fair city. Her leaning against the ornamental terrace, while he coiled his sinuous form about the rail in a manner reminiscent of the tree boa she'd once seen on a trip to the surface. Long association had taught her this conversation would go at his pace and no other.
"You had need of my services?" he enquired when the silence had grown comfortable between them.
"Tell me about the children born when the Foxkin tried to interbreed with the other races." She blurted.
The look he leveled upon her was vaguely offended and she worried she'd overstepped herself. She'd been friends with Tsunami for years and all she knew of his race was bits and pieces gleaned over decades. Through him she'd learned more about his people then any person in Atlantis had ever known. With his permission she'd passed most of that knowledge on to the children in the form of various scrolls. Now she was reminded of just how insular the Foxkin could be.
Tsunami snarled soundlessly, lips pulling back along his thin pointed muzzle to reveal hundreds of thin backwards curved teeth. "That is not a topic we speak of lightly." He replied after a moment. "Pray tell, why do you wish to pursue this line of questioning?"
Mira held her tongue, considering her answer carefully. "IF your people interbreed with humans and I'm assuming the Fae, could there be any Foxkin kits out there?"
Tsunami rubbed the top of his muzzle with one stubby claw, a gesture he'd picked up from his time amid her people. "No." he replied with finality. "Our magic is too different from the Fae. Our attempts at interbreeding bore fruit. Poisonous fruit. By treaty, such unions are forbidden. Participants prosecuted and offspring eliminated for the safety of the Skulk. There are no Fae who bare Foxkin blood, nor Foxkin who bare the taint of Fae blood. They are too dangerous."
Mira winced, wondering what could be so horrible that these proud people, people she knew cherished and protected their offspring above all else would put them down. "And Humans?" she enquired after a moment.
Tsunami flinched. "All of our offspring with humans were powerless or short lived, frequently both, some were … malformed. Among the lesser courts most lived a mortal fox's lifespan. A few like the Kitsune produced beautiful, human children, with a human's short life and narrow views. There may be a few humans in the world with Foxkin blood running through their veins, but they are few and far between. Few Foxkin bother to lay with humans preferring to stick to our own courts, even fewer keep track of any unintended …offspring. Generally, it is considered too painful to outlive your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and even great great grandchildren."
I know of a kit," Mira replied when silence had stretched between them for too long. "Born to Human parents."
"What?!" Tsunami yelped, falling from his perch to land in a coiled heap upon the floor. He shot to his hind feet, towering above her. "You are sure?"
"A fox's tail and ears, the ability to be human or a fox. And the ability to control fire, shadows and possibly snow." She replied, blinking in surprise when her friend shot off the terrace and streaked towards open water in a sinuous serpentine motion. His patterned scales vanishing into the gloom before he'd measured twice his length. Light flared before her eyes at the very edge of her vision. Flaring and dyeing in the space of a breath as Tsunami left their realm behind.
Mira winced, and hoped Kaldur would forgive her, but she could not risk war for his friend. Batman, she was sure would fight for his kit. If he failed to do so then the kit was better off in the hands of those who would value him.
