I originally had chapters 15 and 16 finished as well, but unfortunately my computer died and I lost EVERYTHING :( so I'm pretty much having to write it all over again from scratch (Lesson learned: always have a backup saved!) But anyway, I'm gonna try and change things up a bit, make things better than i intended it to be. It may be a while before my next update, but I just want to thank you guys for understanding.

Chapter 14: Running Away

A leather bag filled with food, water, clothes, and hygienic items. A pair of pink fuzzy gloves, and a small woolen blanket. I guess that's what somebody would pack if they were planning on running away from home. Starfire planned to leave that night while everyone else was asleep.

She packed a few final things and double checked to make sure that she had everything she needed. I watched her pull off her tracking device and place it on top of the nightstand. One time, she flew at least 50 million miles away from earth (when she was going through the transformation to get her eye beams). But in the end they were still able to find her, because of that tracking device. This time, she wanted to ensure that nobody will ever find her.

While she was getting dressed, I made my own decision. If she was planning on running away, I refused to let her go alone. I snuck inside her bag and kept quiet when she zipped me up. Unfortunately, she noticed me instantly and I poked my little head out of innocence. "Silkie!" She shouted "How did you get in there?"

I gave her a sad look and tucked my body back inside the bag. Even though I can't talk, I still hope that she recognized my body language. I wanted to let her know that I still wanted to be there for her "I guess it doesn't hurt that I have a little company." She said. I felt my heart explode with a little enthusiasm, because trust me; Starfire needs me a lot more than she thinks. I took one last look of our bedroom before she zipped the bag up. After all, I'm not sure if I'll ever see it again. She wrote no note, left no clue to where she was headed. This girl was ready to move on with life. The titans would be nothing more but a distant memory, which is weird because I can't picture my life without them.

Even though I couldn't see from inside the bag, the moment I felt the cold air was when I knew we were out of the tower. I begin to wish for that sweater I loathed so much, because it was just freezing out here! I remained crouched in the bag, and tried to make myself as comfortable as possible.

I begin to mess with the stuff that she packed in her bag, one being a digital alarm clock. The digital letters read 4:25 a.m. I couldn't believe that I had been in here so long. By now, I'm pretty sure that we were really far away from home. The more time passed, the more I realized we may never see those guys again.

Eventually Star stopped flying and landed on the ground. She unzipped the bag and I poked my little head out once more. The scenery indicated that we were somewhere in the middle of a forest. "This should be a safe spot to rest for a little while" She said.

I crawled out of the bag and stretched my stubby legs; it felt so good to finally use these legs again! Starfire pulled the blanket out and draped it over the both of us. I begin to observe the area. It was an open field surrounded by many trees. There was a fire pit, and wooden stumps scattered across the middle of the field. Starfire blasted a star bolt against the twigs, and started a nice small fire. She went over and sat on one of the tree stumps, hugging herself and warming her hands,

"Don't worry Silkie" She said to me "They won't be able to find us out here."

Starfire doesn't realize that running away from her problems doesn't solve anything. The titans are going to know right away that she's missing, and I know that they'll be devastated the moment they find out. I can picture them tomorrow morning going to her bedroom and realizing she's not there. I sure hope she realizes that there will be consequences for this.

"Then again...I guess we have nothing to worry about." she said "Robin said he doesn't need me, so why would he come looking for me?"

The Alien princess fiddled around with her bag and pulled out the snacks and the bottle of water she packed "Are you hungry boy?" She asked me, dumping some of the crackers on the ground. I had tried to refrain from eating those during the entire trip, but of course I couldn't say no to food, so I quickly inhaled them like a vacuum cleaner. As I ate, I felt her thin fingers stroking my back "I feel like you're the only one who really cares about me..." She said.

Her words touched my heart, and I quietly cooed in response. But that wasn't true at all; the other titans care more about her than anything. When the fire started to die down, she curled up in her blanket and she silently cried herself to sleep. It's weird because this morning, I didn't think that we would be spending the night in the woods, miles and miles away from home. As a matter of fact, I already miss the warm and cozy pink bed inside the bedroom that smelt like fruit.

Dawn is just breaking as Starfire retrieved her things and embarked once again. A snow storm hit us while we were sleeping, so we were both cold as ice when we first woke up. We pretty much traveled from city to city, but most of our journey took place in the wilderness. Since Starfire was a teen titan, many people would recognize her instantly, so she preferred to stay hidden, just to be on the safe side. A few more days pass, and by now, I was pretty sure that we have traveled thousands of miles away from the titans. We traveled from campsite to hotel, and kept a low profile while encountering people. So far, I don't think that anybody recognized us, but if they did, we would surely flee before they had time to react.

As each day passed, I noticed that Starfire looked weaker and weaker. I was real worried because I hoped that she wasn't getting sick again. I examine the alien girl's face, which was bright red from the cold air. A huge pair of dark circles began to appear below her eyes, and the little food we had, she always gave to me. One night, she stopped by a mini-market to pick up a bag of my favorite treat with the remaining money she had. She opened the bag of bacon bits and dumped it all on the ground for me. I eyed the food and then gurgled in guilt.

"Don't worry my little bumgorf just eat up." She said "I have nine stomachs, still stored with lots of food."

Starfire always bragged about how tamaraneans can survive a long time without food because of their nine stomachs. But I examined Starfire's body and her rib cage was visible. I ate the treats quickly and we immediately moved on. Days turn into weeks and we were left fighting harsh snowstorms, thunderstorms, and any storm you could think off.

My ears cringed at her wet cough and my heart melted at the sight of her face. I could tell that she was now running a fever, probably one that was even worse than the one she had about 2 months ago. Throughout the night she woke up screaming and crying, and then she would begin to hallucinate for long periods of time.

We both knew for a fact that it was way too dangerous for her to continue this journey. By now I couldn't believe that this entire thing has gone on this long. Somehow I expected her to just turn around and make her way back home. I whimpered at Starfire and rubbed my body against her fragile skin.

"I know you want to go home Silkie," She said "But we can't ever go back...We just can't"

Her words broke my heart. I begin to think of the other titans. I still don't know what my life is going to be like without them. But Starfire was still determined to stay away from them as much as possible.

"I want to go back home to Tamaran..." She whispered "But I don't know if I could leave earth behind..."

Wait a minute Star. If you were planning on going to tamaran all this time, then what was the point of trudging across the country, living like a pair of hobos? I guess this indicates that she didn't want to leave the titans after all, but the journey through space will be even more difficult because who knows how long that trip would take? Starfire had no energy left in her body; she completely used it all up from all this walking and flying. I wish she would stop and go back home to the titans already. She took this whole mishap with Robin to a level where it shouldn't be.

She swung her bag over her shoulder and we start to descend towards the sky. But what happens next is so fast, so senseless; we didn't even have time to react.

A black mini-van suddenly pulls up near us, and two figures leap out of the vehicle. One of them jumped and grabbed a hold of Starfire's waist. It was so dark outside I couldn't even tell who these people were. They pushed her to the ground, while the other one put duct tape over her mouth. Starfire fought, but even her alien strength couldn't save us from their grip. She started screaming through her muffled mouth as they pinned her down against the car. They pulled out a stun gun and blasted her weak body with it. I tried to attack them, but they got a hold of me too. They lifted us up, and tossed us in the back seat of the van. I looked up and noticed that these people looked really familiar.

That is because they're two of Slade's robotic minions.