Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Teen Titans
Chapter 14
Beast Boy led his friends through the jungle and across the plain to the village. As they entered everyone stopped what they were doing for a moment to get a good look at the strange visitors. He led them right to his hut, which he showed off proudly. Compared to the other huts it actually looked like the size of a small house!
"Well, here it is," he said, smiling.
"You built this all by yourself?" asked Sarah.
"That's right," said Beast Boy, standing tall.
"Wow, that's amazing," said Sarah.
"No wonder it took you so long to finish it!" said Cyborg. "Why'd you make it so big? You've grown, but not that much!"
"I made it big so you're big ass would have a place to stay!" said Beast Boy, pushing Cyborg.
"Wow, Beast Boy swearing," said Raven in an almost amused tone. "He must be growing up."
"I think it was very considerate of you to make your home big enough to accommodate us," said Starfire.
"Yeah, I'm impressed, Beast Boy," said Robin. "I don't think I could make something like this in only two months."
"Garfield!" a voice called out. They all turned and saw Aiyana running towards them.
"Oh, guys, this is my friend Aiyana," said Beast Boy who then introduced them to her in her native tongue. Just as he expected the others, excluding Raven who already knew, were quite impressed. "She's glad to meet you."
"Well, it's nice to meet her, too," said Cyborg.
"Beast Boy, should I place my lips on hers so that I may know her language, too?" asked Starfire, innocently.
"Uh, no, I don't think that's necessary," said Beast Boy. "I've got no problem translating for you guys. Now, come on, I'll introduce you guys to King Tawaba."
He led them away from his hut and over to King Tawaba's just as the man was exiting. He smiled widely as soon as he saw the group heading towards him.
"Ah, I see your friends have arrived," he said.
"Yup, this is them," he said, smiling. "That's Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Sarah, and Raven."
"It is a pleasure to meet you all," said King Tawaba. "And it is nice to see you again, Raven. How long do you all plan on staying?"
"Well, we weren't planning on staying more than a day or two, but might have to," said Robin, glaring at Cyborg.
"Yeah, they sorta crashed," said Beast Boy.
"Well, you are welcome to stay as long as you want," said King Tawaba. "It is our honor to have the friends of Garfield staying with us."
"I was kinda hoping they'd be here when I finish my final trial," said Beast Boy. "Do you think the next one will take long?"
"That depends on how long it takes you to complete it," said King Tawaba.
"Well, when're you gonna tell me what it is?" asked Beast Boy.
"Not quite yet," King Tawaba, smiled. "Now, why don't you show your friends around?"
Beast Boy sighed and said, "Okay. I'll go show them the water system."
"I want to see that," said Raven.
Beast Boy turned to her and smiled. Suddenly, he forgot all about the last trial and just wanted to show her, er, the team the irrigation system. "Okay, follow me," he said and began to lead them to another part of the village. He noticed that as they walked Raven was right by his side. And that made him feel very happy.
They made it to the wells that were being fed into by the trench and Beast Boy told them how it all worked. At first they didn't seem all that impressed, but when he showed them how long it was and how far away the river was they were all very impressed.
"You sure have been busy," said Sarah.
"I know," Beast Boy chuckled. "When I decided on taking the trials I had no idea it'd be so much manual labor."
"Yeah, that's definitely something our Beast Boy wasn't known for," Cyborg laughed.
"Hey, I'm still Beast Boy," said the changeling.
"You don't seem like the Beast Boy we knew, though," said Raven, which was an odd statement coming from her.
"I am Beast Boy, I've just changed a little," he said. "You've all probably changed, too."
"If we have we haven't noticed it because we're always with each other," said Robin. "We haven't seen you in two years. So what you think is a little change is completely different to us."
"I do not care if you have changed," said Starfire. "I am still very happy to see you again."
"I'm happy to see you guys, too," said Beast Boy with a smile.
Once the team, and Sarah, had been shown around the entire village they all headed back to the ship to grab their overnight bags. Then they each got settled in Beast Boy's large hut. They each took an area and got comfortable. After their long flight, and terrible landing, it was nice to take a rest.
The day went on and grew very hot. Every day was hot, but today seemed to be exceptionally hot. And the poor visiting Titans were suffering. Now they really appreciated Beast Boy's irrigation system. They made many trips to the closest well to drench them selves in the cool water.
"How can you stand this?" Cyborg asked Beast Boy as he wiped his brow. "My circuits are overheating!"
"I guess it doesn't bother me cuz I grew up in this," Beast Boy shrugged.
"Even I am too hot," said Starfire. "Is there not a place that is cool?"
"There is, but it's a pretty long hike from here," said Beast Boy. "I think you'd all die from heat exhaustion before we got there."
"We wouldn't if you turned into an elephant and carried us all there," said Cyborg.
"I vote for that idea," said Robin, slowly lifting a hand.
"Me too," chorused the girls.
"Oh, fine, but just this once," Beast Boy sighed. "You guys know I don't like giving you guys rides."
"Just this once, we promise," said Sarah, fanning herself with a large leaf.
"Alright, get your bathing suits on," said Beast Boy. "There's a really deep natural pool that the river runs into a few miles away."
"A few miles away?" said Raven. "It'll take hours to get there if we go by elephant, no offense Beast Boy."
"Well, do you have any better suggestions?" asked Cyborg.
"Of course I do," said Raven, matter-of-factly. "Beast Boy can turn into a bird and then I'll capture you all in my soul self and then follow Beast Boy in the form of a dark energy Raven. That should only take us a few minutes rather than hours."
"I definitely like that idea better," said Beast Boy.
"Fine, let's just get there already," said Cyborg.
The group changed and went outside for Beast Boy to show Raven the way. Before he did, though, he had to warn them.
"Uh, just so you guys know, when I change into a bird my clothes aren't gonna change with me," he said. "So make sure you grab them for me or when we get there and I change back I'll be stuck all… naked."
"I'll make sure you get them, Beast Boy," said Robin. "Just change and lead the way before Cyborg short circuits."
Beast Boy nodded and changed into a green swallow. His shorts and underwear, the only clothes he was wearing, dropped to the ground and he took off into the air. Robin grabbed Beast Boy's clothes and Raven wrapped him and the others in her soul self and followed after him. They flew above the jungle for quite some time and Raven knew that if they'd gone on elephant back the trip would've taken at least three hours.
Eventually he began to descend and Raven followed. They set down right next to a large pool of water and Raven released her friends. They tumbled out of her dark energy and could feel the cool of the air near the water immediately.
"Wow, that was the weirdest trip I've ever taken," said a slightly dizzy Sarah.
"You get used to it," said Cyborg.
"Uh, could someone bring me my clothes?" asked Beast Boy, who was hiding.
"I've got them, Beast Boy," said Robin, going towards his voice.
"Oh, this looks very refreshing," said Starfire. She stripped her clothes off, revealing a purple bikini, and dove right into the water.
"How is it?" asked Raven.
"Wonderful!" said Starfire. "You must all join me!"
"You don't have to ask me twice," said Sarah who stripped down to a floral bikini and dove in as well.
"Cannonball!" Cyborg shouted and jumped in, splashing the others.
"You're going to pay for that!" said Robin, who took his shirt off and jumped in.
Beast Boy emerged and was dressed once more. He saw all his friends already in the water, cooling themselves off. All but Raven, that is. She sat near the pool, letting her feet soak in the cool water. He chose to take a seat next to her.
"So, you going in?" he asked.
"I don't think so," she shrugged. "I'm not a big swimmer."
"I think you should," he said. "You look like you need to cool off."
"I am," she said, wiggling her toes.
"That's not gonna do it," he said. "Now get in there. You're wearing a bathing suit, right?"
"I only like to swim alone," said Raven. "And there are far too many people in the water right now."
"You're ridiculous," Beast Boy laughed. "Well, I'm going in. If you change your mind come on in." And with that he climbed right into the water.
Raven leaned back on her hands and watched as her friends fooled around and played in the cool water. She thought that over the years Robin had grown a lot, but that was nothing compared to the green man before her now. Cyborg was right; he wasn't a scrawny little kid anymore. She watched him roughhouse and play with the other guys, as if the past two years had never happened. The only difference was that they were a little rougher now, not to mention larger and could cause more damage to themselves and anything around them. Poor Starfire and Sarah did their best to keep their distance, but the pool was only so big.
"Oh, you wanna start something, huh?" said Cyborg, grabbing Beast Boy, who was on his back.
"You think you can take me on?" Beast Boy laughed and easily broke out of his grasp.
"Easily!" said Cyborg, tackling him and sending the two into the water.
Beast Boy wriggled out from under Cyborg and swam towards Robin. He came up and laughed. "Ha! Not so easy now, is it?"
"Why you little grass stain!" Cyborg shouted and went after him. As he was about to grab him, Beast Boy pushed Robin into him instead and made a swim for it.
"Get outa my way!" Cyborg yelled at Robin and pushed him into the water.
"Hey, don't push me!" said Robin, grabbing Cyborg and taking him down into the water.
"Oh, so you wanna take me on, too, huh?" said Cyborg, lunging at Robin. The two began to wrestle while Beast Boy stood nearby.
"Hey? What about me?!" he said and jumped into the brawling Titan men.
Starfire and Sarah, drenched, climbed out of the pool and sat next to Raven. Both looked displeased at having to exit the refreshing water, but they weren't about to stay in when there was a chance they could be caught in the crossfire of the men's horseplay.
"Boys," the two said together and began to ring out their hair.