An Author's note: Now I shall be referencing to several Teen Titans episodes through more memory transfer flashbacks, mainly because it is not fair that Malachi gets all the attention, and because I feel like it. I don't own any of these episodes. I'm sure you will be able to figure out which ones they are.

None of the episodes I choose are meant to be in a specific order, they are just moments in show that involved Raven that I like. So don't look for some deep meaning in my choices!

Oh, and the movies that will be mentioned in the chapter…I don't own the right to them either. I'm going to be quoting Poe again as well. I can't help it! I love Poe!

Oops! I just realized that I didn't name the last chapter! Oh, well, it's too late now.

On with the show.

Chapter Nineteen

Dragon Memories

"So," Malachi said after a while "want to try that memory thing again?"

Raven gave Malachi a weird look. "Why?"

"First, off I think it is a good way to get to know each other. Two, I know you don't trust me, and maybe this will help. And third, I'm bored."

"Has anyone ever told you that you are insane?"

"More people than you know."

Raven stared at the dragon. She still did not trust Malachi, but…for some reason she really wanted to try this thing again. Besides, this might help her figure out if Malachi was connected to Malchior.

"Alright." Raven finally said, and extended a claw towards Malachi. The green dragon mimicked her movement and the two touched.

This is what Raven saw:

FLASH

"Okay, its time for the Christmas lineup!" Helen, Malachi's mother, was saying with enthusiasm. "First we will start with How the Grinch stole Christmas. Not the live action one! The real one where Cindy-"

"Lou Who is two." Malachi grumbled. "You say that every year, Mom. Please drop it. We know you hate the darned live action thing. If you recall we never bought the thing, so I don't see why you have to keep saying it."

"Next," Helen went on, completely ignoring her daughter "We will watch Year without a Santa Claus, The Santa Claus: one and two and…what do you have Malachi?"

She held up a DVD "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer."

"Ruth?"

Beside Malachi a little girl with black hair and brown eyes held up her own DVD "Nightmare Before Christmas?" she said, even though it was mostly a question.

"Does that really qualify as a Christmas movie?" Malachi said.

"It does!" Ruth shouted defensively, as only a girl of ten can.

"It's okay, we can watch it. It's a good movie and it involves Santa, so it passes."

A loud beeping was soon heard.

"Malachi, the Chez Mix!" Helen commanded.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." She got up to retrieve the Mix from the oven. She moved awfully fast for someone with a crippled leg. "Mom! Don't forget the wassail!" She said as she entered the kitchen.

Malachi grinned "God I love Christmas."

FLASH

"Maybe you should stop doing that, Malachi." Ruth said.

"Why? I'm not hurting anyone. Well, okay, the deer probably is not pleased. But come on, at least I give 'em a fair chance!"

"Sis, people…they think you are really weird. And if they knew about this then they might think worse than that, they may think you are a nut job!"

"Since when have I cared about what people think?"

"You hunt deer, with axes, and you use your teeth! Malachi, that is not normal!"

"Ruth," Malachi sighed "Ever since I became…well part dragon I have a really overwhelming urge to hunt things, and these deer are the closest things I can. Besides, you know what Dad was! Maybe this is natural for a Beastlord. Would you rather I go around stealing people's cows? Besides, no one knows that I do this, so why should I care?"

"It's not hunting season! What if someone find out? Can you get in trouble for that?"

"I…I don't know Ruth. But really, I'm not doing anything wrong! People hunt deer all the time in Texas! I just don't use a rifle."

"I hope you are right, sis. Sometimes I really worry about you."

FLASH

"Do you know why you are here?"

"Isn't there supposed to be a lawyer present?" Malachi glared at the cop. Probably not a good idea, but she was mad. It was a good thing she had her illusion stone. Malachi did not know how this guy would react if he saw that she had wings, claws, green scales and a tail. Especially since said tail was currently lashing back and forth in irritation. Good thing it was a big room.

"You know people have been killed. And there are some pretty disturbing stories about you."

"So now the police arrest people on schoolyard rumors?" She really should shut up now, she knew that, but she was getting really angry. As long as she did not start smoking through her nostrils she would be fine. She did not want to have to explain smoking nostrils.

"Your being questioned, you're not under arrest. Just tell us-"

"How about you find me a lawyer, like you are supposed to? I don't know all of that…thing it is you are supposed to say when you arrest someone, but I do remember the 'right to remain silent' part."

"Do you own axes?"

Malachi said nothing.

"Have you ever hurt anyone with an ax?"

Still nothing.

The cop sighed. "Fine." He grumbled and left the room.

"So much for the right to bear arms." Malachi grumbled to herself.

This is what Malachi saw:

FLASH

Raven approached Cyborg and Beast Boy, her three emotions fading behind her. She was angry, which was not helping the situation with Rage at all.

"The mirror you found is for meditation. It's a portal into my MIND! NOT A TOY!" She aimed the last portion of this statement at Beast Boy, the annoying little pest.

He chuckled nervously. "My bad." He said. Several of the mirror ravens began to shriek and flap around, and Raven decided that this might be a little more important than killing Beast Boy.

"You have to go now." Raven said urgently.

"Hold up. What's going on here?" Cyborg asked.

"Last night something…got lose." She replied. "Something bad."

Beast Boy had enough. "Oh no you don't!" he shouted while he waved his arms like a bird "I've had it with this mystery-girl routine. I want to know exactly what we're talking about here."

They heard a horrible roaring, and the mind ravens started to fly and swirl around in a vortex. From this vortex emerged a huge red furred demon with white hair and doubled yellow eyes.

"Hatred shall rule!" Rage bellowed.

"Let's just say I have issues with my father." Raven said as she and others backed away.

FLASH

She was looking at herself, and there were no mirrors in sight.

It was strange.

"Oh, Raven! This is awful! Terribly, horribly awful!" Starfire said as she looked over her…um, Raven's body. She was looking a bit on the panicked side.

"Tell me about it." Raven grumbled as she started walking down the street. In the wrong body.

"Very well." Starfire did not realize that the question was rhetorical. She also did not realize that while she was busy panicking nearby objects where being destroyed in black energy. Raven could tell that this was going to be a long night. "Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy have been trapped inside tiny wooden bodies, while a nasty creature called the Puppet King has taken control of their real bodies, which he is using to hunt us down, and you and I are in the wrong bodies and-"

Raven had to shut her up before she killed someone. Raven grabbed her...um Starfire's shoulder and tried to make the hysterical alien understand.

"Starfire! You have to calm down. My powers are driven by emotion. The more you feel the more energy you unleash."

This did not calm Starfire down at all "But what if they find us? What if our friends are doomed? What if I am stuck looking like this forever?"

"We'll fix it. I don't know how, but we will rescue the boys and we will get our bodies back." Raven paused as she remembered the last part of Starfire's sentence "What's wrong with the way I look?"

Even Starfire could tell that this was not the time to be honest. "Nothing." She said quickly.

I wonder if red is the alien equivalent of blonde? Raven thought as a crossing light signal exploded.

FLASH

She was putting him in a box, never to be opened again. He did not say a word. That was probably for the best. She never wanted to hear his voice again.

There was a knock on the door. Raven looked up in surprise. After Malchior had shown his true colors, not to mention species, the others had basically left her alone, knowing that she needed time to deal with this…heartbreak.

"Raven?" Of course, it was Beast Boy. Why did he always have to pry? "It's me. Look. I'm sorry."

HE was sorry? But he had done nothing! What would he have to be sorry about? Might as well ask him. She could not hurt anymore than she already did.

"For what?" she asked from the other side of the door "You're not the one who…"

"No" he replied "I'm sorry that…he broke your heart."

"I knew it was all a lie, but he was the only person who made me feel like I wasn't…creepy. And don't even tell me I'm not."

"Okay. Fine. You're way creepy. But that doesn't mean you have to stay locked in your room. You think you're alone, Raven, but you're not."

She opened the door, and before even she realized what was happing, she was hugging him. For a while Beast Boy seemed dumbstruck then he gently pulled away from her and gave her a puzzled look.

Before either of them could continue this little moment Beast Boy was hit in the face by a flying Stankball. A certain metallic teenager then bellowed "WOOHO! STANKBALL!!!"

Raven picked up the horrible mess of what might have been clothing at one point. She seemed to consider it for a moment then she encompassed it in black energy and gave Cyborg an evil grin.

Malachi and Raven separated, both of them giving each other a wary look. Raven couldn't help but be concerned. If those memories were genuine…did that mean that Malachi was a killer? Was she connecting with a monster?

"What did you see?" Malachi asked. She had noticed the odd look Raven was giving her, and was a bit concerned as well. The dragon was very sure that the things she had just seen were very personal, and now she was regretting this idea.

"Malachi…tell me the truth. Have you ever murdered anyone?" Raven asked.

"…depends on your definition of murder."

Raven backed away. She could feel the dragon body she was in tensing as if ready to fly away. Or breathe fire.

"Raven…when I was seventeen I was actually drawn into a magic based world called Dermiania. There were…people and things who did not care one wit about modern day morals. They had no problem killing others…or doing other things with them. I watched another girl literally be torn apart. To make a long story sort: yes I did end up killing people, but if I had not then they would have killed me and my little sister. I had to defend her, do you understand?" Raven was just staring at Malachi. The dragon went on. "I admit I kind of like fighting. You know, like martial arts sparring? I like fighting, but I don't like killing. But if someone threatens my family or my friends and there is no other choice, then yes, I will kill if I have to. Could you stand by and watch one of your friend be murdered?"

"No, I couldn't." Raven admitted. "So…was that why the cops took you in?"

"Cops-Oh that." To Raven's surprise Malachi started laughing. "Believe it or not I was innocent on that. I have this tendency to hunt deer at night. One time this prying little snot with a telescope saw me walking through the forest with a bloody bag full of dead deer. Apparently he was a kid with an overactive imagination and he had just watched one of those gory horror movies and he jumped to conclusions. He kind of started the whole ax murderer rumor."

Raven considered this for a long moment. She was not very sure how to react. She was certainly not comfortable knowing that this dragon had killed people, but on the other hand if she was telling the truth…did that change anything? She supposed if it was self defense than yes it did change things.

However before they could continue the conversation the castle started to fade away once again. Raven sighed. One of them was waking up, and for some reason she was sad about this.

To past the time, and because he was interested, Beast Boy insisted on hearing the poem that the crow had mentioned. Turned out it was called "The Raven" and it was by a guy called Edgar Allan Poe. The crow had seemed pleased by Beast Boy's request, and decided to just recite the thing while they traveled.

The bird was reciting the last stanza "And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore! "

"Is that it?" Beast Boy asked. The crow nodded. Beast Boy seemed to consider for a moment, then came to a conclusion. "It's cool. I didn't really understand all of it…but it was cool!"

"I'm not surprised you didn't understand it." Jinx said. "Have you ever read anything that did not come in comic book form?"

Beast Boy glared at her. Just because he wasn't a poetry nut did not mean that he was dumb! Well, okay, so maybe he wasn't exactly a scholar, but that did not mean that he was an idiot! So what if he didn't know anything about English Literature? He knew how to get to the secret bonus level of Mega Monkeys 3! Didn't that count for anything?

"Okay, O Brilliant Pink One!" Beast Boy challenged "What do you know about this Poe guy! Come on and enlighten me!"

"That would take centuries." Jinx retorted. "I don't think either of us can live through it!"

Beast Boy grumbled at Jinx for a bit until the sky started to darken. It was time to stop for the night. The two Titans found a nice spot to build a campfire and sleep for the night. Beast Boy, who knew that now was not the time for a tofu vs. meat argument, caught some fish in a nearby stream in the form of a bear. These were for Jinx; he didn't really mind her eating them, as long as he did not have to partake. He refused to eat them, even now, and instead dug up some edible roots for himself.

"So, Jinx." Beast Boy said, desperate for conversation. "You know any more of those poems? He had never really been a poetry person, but for some reason he liked these. Maybe because they kind of reminded him of Raven. He wondered if she ever read them. It was very likely she had.

For a moment he was afraid that Jinx was just going to laugh at him. She leaned back against a tree and seemed to think for a second. Then she started reciting all of the Poe poems she knew, and she knew a lot of them.

Neither one of them noticed that their guide had disappeared.

Robin did not like the way the guards were looking at him. They looked like the type who would beat up the prisoners just for fun. His fears where confirmed when one of them approached him with a lit torch. He had no idea what in the world this guy would do with that, but he really did not want to know.

The guard waved the torch around, and Robin mentally prepared himself for some pain, when a strange clawed hand grabbed the torch from the guard and yanked it out of his hand.

Robin looked behind the guard and saw…someone who he assumed was another Halfblood. Robin's rescuer looked basically human, except for the fact that he also looked about one quarter rat. He had grey hair and black eyes, a skinny hairless rat tail and claws. He did not have a rat's buck teeth; in fact his teeth were almost perfectly human. He had only one eye; the other had apparently been removed judging from the eye patch.

"Now," the rat man growled at the now terrified guard." Did anyone give you an order to torture anybody in this cell?"

"No, sir, but-"

"Get out." Snarled the rat man.

"Sir-"

"GET OUT!"

The guard scurried out. Really there was no other way to put it. The rat man gave the guard's back a dirty look, and then turned his glare on Robin.

"If I were you I would not make much commotion." He said. "If you are lucky than Sanath will forget that you even exist. I suggest you learn how to be invisible." With that the rat man left, leaving Robin a bit on the puzzled side.

"Who was that?" Robin asked Winterwing as soon as he was sure they were alone.

"I do not know his true name, but he is called Glare. He is Sanath's oldest packmate. He is a strange sort. He is loyal to Sanath, but sometimes he acts as though he is not."

"What do you mean?"

"He makes every attempt to make this…conquest as painless as possible for the conquered people. Many times I have heard him ask Sanath to be lenient and not kill every Fullblood who angers him. Glare is part of the reason that this land is not yet completely devoid of its former Deaf Ones."

"Think he could be an ally?" Robin asked.

"Truly I doubt it. He is very loyal to his packmates. He will try to convince his mad leader to show mercy, but he will follow his master's orders when it comes down to it." Winterwing huffed.

"Winterwing, what do you mean when you use the term 'Deaf One?'" This had been bothering Robin for some time and since it did look like he was going anywhere anytime soon…

"Huff," Winterwing huffed again "Can you listen to the trees, Prey-Bird? Can you listen to the sound of the wind and hear its words? Can you hear the voices of the Kin and what they are saying? Do not answer, Prey-Bird, because you can not. Only a few of the Two-Legged people can. The elves, the Nazlar and a few others can understand the Kin when they do not use what you call words. You who call yourselves 'civilized' can not hear what going on around you in the Wild. You have shut yourselves off from it, and you cannot hear. That is why I, and all others of my Kin, call you Deaf."

"I don't think I understand." Robin said.

"Of course you do not, and that is part of it." Winterwing replied.

After a long silence, Robin spoke up again "Want to go over the plan again?"

"Why not?" the wolf said.

The two of them were planning long into the night.

It was now about midnight, and Raven knew that it was probably not a good idea to be up this late. But she could not go back to sleep. She was going through a dresser, not to find clothing, but to find the present that her and her old friend Arcktos had left in here long ago.

It had been a long time ago when she was eight, but she could remember how she and Arcktos had sneaked into his parent's room. They knew that this particular dresser belonged to the queen. Since it was nearly the queen's birthday they had decided to surprise her, and what better way than with a secret treasure buried in a dresser? At least that was how Arcktos thought, and Raven had gone along with him. After all, he was basically her only friend, and he was fun. However, it had not turned out that way. That day was the day that the queen died, and it was also the day that Raven's powers broke through the block that had been placed over them. She had never allowed herself to have that kind of fun again.

However, there might be a chance that the present was still there. If it was…

Raven's hand brushed against something long and metallic. A hopeful grin flashed on her face for a brief second as she wrapped her fingers around the object. It was a long, ornately carved golden candlestick, a real work of art. Arcktos had bought it; since he was a prince he had a huge allowance. It was actually very thick and heavy looking, although Raven thought it might not be very sturdy. It might, however, do for a weapon. She hated the thought of using this present as a bludgeon.

But if that was what she had to do, then that was what she had to do. She would get away from Sanath, even if she had to pound his face in.

Cyborg, Starfire and Illeria had been walking for a while now when a little falcon seemed to appear from nowhere and landed on Illeria's shoulder. Its back and wings where a bluish grey color, and its underside was light orange. It glared at Cyborg with its golden eyes and shrieked, and Cyborg jumped back. He just was not used to strange animals perching on people's shoulders and looking at you as if you where the interloper. Okay, so Beast Boy occasionally did stuff like that, but he was Beast Boy! This was a normal bird. Well, Cyborg hoped that it was normal.

"Cyborg, Starfire, this is Zapolio, one of my mother's familiars. He's a merlin."

"You mean like that wizard guy in those King Author stories?" Cyborg asked.

"No," Illeria rolled her eyes "That is Merlin. Okay, so they are spelled the same, but they are not in any way related."

"Oh." Cyborg studied the bird, who gave him a haughty look. Cyborg had to admit that he was very pretty. Cyborg liked birds of prey, mainly because they just looked cool. It was the beaks, he was sure of that. This guy was pretty small, but had the attitude of a much bigger bird.

"He is a wonderful avian!" Starfire said in awe. She was impressed by the bird as well. She had approached the bird and had managed to stroke the thing. Zapolio did not look happy about this, but he did not try to peck or fly away.

Illeria looked at the bird intently. Zapolio turned to face her and ruffled his feathers a bit and started making a strange little trilling sound. Illeria just looked and then nodded.

"He says that we are close to the capital, but we need to keep a low profile. He thinks that something is wrong, but he cannot figure out what."

"Errrr, he said?" Cyborg looked at Illeria.

"I'm a Feloid, remember? I can talk with animals."

"Oh." Cyborg said, deciding to just let this drop. He was starting to figure out that the best way to deal with magic was to ignore the odd bits.

Soon they where in sight of the Caninoid capital city, which to Cyborg looked small, but he was used to metropolises and places with large skyscrapers. The place had an early European feel to it, the houses looked like they had been ported straight from Berlin circa 1600 or so. It was kind of cool looking, like stepping into the past.

However, the bird had been right in telling them to keep a low profile. The people here seemed…downtrodden. Most of the people looked like humanoid dogs of varying breeds. Cyborg saw German Shepard, Rottweiler, Dalmatian, Greyhounds, and just about every other type of breed of dog, all with humanoid bodies. Cyborg could not help but feel…odd. He liked dogs; he had owned a wonderful pair of labs when he was a kid. But these where not dogs, they were a race of people that looked like dogs. He had to keep that in mind. Despite this, Cyborg could tell that these people where being oppressed. Part of it was the fact that they kind of looked like his dogs had looked when they were sad or upset. Cyborg had a bad feeling about this.

This feeling grew when he notice a group of armed people looking at them. These guards were not Caninoids but seemed to be a varied group of people. They did not look happy at all. In fact they kind of reminded Cyborg of the jerks who had aimed the nasty comments at Raven at the Temple. Only these people looked like they wanted to do more than comment.

Illeria tensed and hissed under her breath. She had noticed the looks as well, and it was clear that she did not like it.

"Quick, over here." She growled in a low tone as she darted into an ally. Cyborg and Starfire obeyed, both knowing that there was something wrong here. They heard footsteps as the guards came closer, and for some reason Cyborg felt the inexplicable urge to run.

"Illeria? Is that you?" A voice came from behind them. Cyborg turned around. At first he saw no one, but then he looked down and saw a the pointed head of a Caninoid Doberman Pinscher coming out of what looked like a sewer pipe. He assumed that the head was attached to a body.

"Arcktos!" Illeria looked at the Doberman in surprise. "What are you doing down there?"

"No time." The Doberman growled "Get down here now!" He ducked back into his sewer.

"Who is-"Cyborg started, but Illeria shushed him.

"Just follow me and don't worry about it. I'll explain later." She then leaped down the hole to follow Arcktos. Starfire, who by now trusted Illeria rather well, followed without hesitation.

Cyborg had two choices: he could stay here and talk to the "authorities, who did not seem that nice, or go down a smelly hole after his one remaining friend and a cat woman who claimed to be the foster sister of…well his foster sister.

Cyborg chose the hole.

When the Halfblood conquerors turned the corner their prey had vanished. They had hoped to bring the visitors in for "questioning" but they could not find them anywhere. Eventually they decided to forget about it and go on there way.

They never even bothered to check the sewer.

An Author's note: I just had to make Arcktos a Doberman. I used to own a wonderful Doberman named Apache when I was little. He was such a nice, friendly dog! It is not true that Doberman's are vicious killers, they are not! They can be great dogs if they are trained right. Apache never hurt me even once, even when I pulled his tail (I was a little kid, I didn't know any better! Got in big trouble for that with Mom, if I remember correctly).

Never, however, dock a Doberman's tail or crop their ears! It is cruel and painful and it should not be done!