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Night 2: Learning
Starfire slowly stirred in her sleep. There was source of warmth close to her body and her half awakened instincts called for her to reach out and grab it. It instructed and thus she could do nothing but follow and pull herself closer to the warmth. She could feel that the warmth was also soft so she snuggled against it. She then realized that there was a large mass beside her and her emerald eyes opened to inspect what it was. It was a little blurry but then her eyes popped wide open in surprise when she realized that the soft and warm thing she had been snuggling up against was a person! The most normal of responses would be to cry out in alarm or/and beat the crud out of the invader before the events of last night came back to her. She then relaxed and for some reason snuggled up against Shadow again. He cracked one red-on-black eye open.
"Did you sleep well, fledgling?" he questioned softly and she nodded. They were still wrapped up in his cloak, it being a blanket for the both of them.
"Yes, my sleep was quite soothing, Shadow," Starfire said, with a small smile and a faint blush. The smile was because he was there, the blush on the other hand was because he was there and close!
Shadow told her, "I suggest you do not open your curtains."
"Why?" she questioned, perplexed by his request.
"You are a fledgling now and as such are vulnerable from the light of the sun."
"What will happen?" she asked, not entirely sure if she wished to hear an answer.
"You'll burn and turn into a pile of dust," he answered bluntly, making her turn pale and gulp. She then blushed in embarrassment as her stomachs rumbled. She was famished.
"I better go to get breakfast," she said before sitting up but was pushed back down onto the bed.
"No, I will go," he told her.
"But I-"
"The living area of your Tower has windows that let light of the sun in. I cannot allow you to venture out there. This is about your safety. Granted, your alien physiology should be taken into account, but I cannot risk it. Stay here and I will bring you your food, fledgling."
Starfire smiled sheepishly at the pale young man and said, "Thank you, and please, bring me mustard as well." He then nodded before turning around and walking through the door. She blinked but then remembered that it was one of his many abilities.
Cyborg was on the stove, cooking a greasy pan of bacon and eggs. There were also pancakes and waffles on the table along with Beast Boy's soy-based breakfast foods (tofu eggs and waffles with soy milk.) Raven was in the middle of meditation as Robin read the newspaper. Beast Boy was whining over the fact that Cyborg was cooking pigs and baby chickens.
As Shadow's form passed through the door without opening it, all attention was on him. Cyborg and Beast Boy stopped arguing and Raven cracked an eye open at the vampire, who now sported a pair of sunglasses and had his hood pulled up. Robin narrowed his masked eyes at their house guest who went over to the dining table. His eyes scanned the items and his nose sniffed the air as though he were a bloodhound. Cyborg was done cooking.
"Um…" Cyborg began. "Good morning?" Shadow nodded at his greeting.
"You too," Shadow replied.
"Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "You're a vampire, so why are you up in the day? Shouldn't you be asleep or something? I mean, I thought sunlight kills vampires!"
Shadow looked at the green elf and replied almost in monotone, like Raven, "Vampires can walk in the day, although sunlight is very irritating to our eyes. We are mainly nocturnal, that is all." Beast Boy nodded in understanding. "As for sunlight, it only hurts fledglings since they haven't built up a resistance towards it yet."
"Where is Starfire?" Robin asked from behind his newspaper. Shadow quirked an eyebrow at the rudeness but ignored it for Starfire's sake.
"She is in her room, in the dark," he replied. "I told her not to come out here since she is a fledgling and I wasn't sure what would happen to her. Her alien physiology makes her a bit different from the vampires I know."
Robin bristled at the word 'vampire'. He still couldn't believe Starfire had turn into one of them. Picking up a plate, Shadow filled it up with bacon, eggs, pancakes and waffles. He also poured a glass of milk. He then went over to the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of mustard. Creating a shadow tray, he laid out the items onto them.
"Where are you going with that?" Raven asked.
"To my fledgling," he replied as he went towards the door and once again walked through them along with the items.
"I don't know if that is either the creepiest or the coolest thing I have ever seen," Beast Boy said in amazement.
Shadow reentered Starfire's room and he was pleased to see that she had heeded his warning about opening her curtains. He did notice that she was a bit depressed because she could not see the sun but then her smile brightened when she saw him along with the food.
"Breakfast in bed, fledgling," he told her, placing the tray down gently on the bed. Starfire immediately engulfed the food, devouring them like a wild animal. Then again, she was an alien but then she felt embarrassed at being watched.
"I apologize," Starfire told him. "On my planet, we feast as such."
"It is your culture, fledgling," Shadow said to her. "You need not apologize."
"Please, join me," she offered but he declined.
"No, thank you for the offer though, but I cannot eat food like that," he said.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Vampires strictly have a blood only diet," he replied and then Starfire stopped.
"I can only drink blood?" she asked, horrified and nearly losing her appetite.
"Not you, at least not yet. Fledglings can still eat human food but you will soon lose your sense of taste for anything but blood."
"Then I shall enjoy the taste food as long as I can!" she proclaimed as she sucked the mustard out of the bottle through a straw. Shadow blinked. This was just strange even by vampire standards.
Suddenly, the red lights flashed and alarm blared. Shadow narrowed his eyes as Starfire got off her bed. He stopped her. "But, the alarm!" she protested.
"I cannot risk you burning up out there!" he told her, raising his voice. "Stay here. I will help your friends."
Starfire frowned sadly and Shadow sympathized with her. He pulled her into a tender embrace before he vanished through the door, leaving her in the darkness of her room.
It was the HIVE Five and they were typically just causing trouble as usual. Cars were overturned, windows were broken and buildings were partly destroyed. The police fought back their hardest; using a row of cars as a barricade as the group of young super villains caused immense havoc.
"The Titans should be here by now," Jinx said impatiently, the pink haired sorceress checked her newly acquired digital Timex watch, which she had stolen.
Mammoth chuckled snidely and threw a Ferrari at the police blockade, watching it sail like a red boulder at the scattering police, "Maybe they're chicken!"
"Damn right!" See-More grinned, blasting at virtually anything he could see, "Nobody messes with The HIVE Five!"
Suddenly, a birdarang whirled pass See-More's vision and sliced off Gizmo's mechanical legs, consequently making him fall atop a group of Billy's (Billy Numerous).
"What the heck?!" Gizmo, placing his feet on the redneck's face, glared up at whoever just threw that.
Over the police blockade, there stood the Titans, already in combat stances. Robin smirked at them and said, "Find a name that fits. There's 6 of you."
The HIVE Five glared at them indignantly and Billy hollered, "So? Now there're 100 o' us!" Billy created nearly 100 copies of himself and the team of teen villains crossed their arms arrogantly, "And only 4 o' ya yellow bellies! Ya ain't got a chance!"
"Dude, do you actually speak English?" Beast Boy laughed insultingly.
"We're gonna send you back to jail," Robin said, whipping out his trademark Bo staff in an intimidating manner.
"Oh yeah? Just try it snot munchers!" Gizmo challenged, apparently, while short in stature, he had arrogance the size of Mt. Everest.
Robin looked back at his team and shouted out, "Titans Go-!
Just then, very similar to Raven's portals, a portal of darkness seemingly ripped through the fabric of reality, and a black cloaked and hooded figure rocketed out as quickly as a flash! If only the HIVE knew what they were dealing with.
The Titans knew…It was Shadow.
Mammoth couldn't see his new adversary speeding towards him. so therefore he couldn't see the gloved fist make contact with his nose, affectively crushing it in a single blow. Bone cracked and flesh disfigured; the brute's scattered senses shook around his mind, and because of his now blurry vision, he couldn't see Shadow pulling off punches and kicks that pierced through his tough skin. the bones in his arms cracked and gave way to pain, making Mammoth scream in anguish.
Suddenly, Shadow jumped away for a moment, and shortly after, he sprinted off, running at top notch at the red haired giant. With a back flip kick, Mammoth's jaw had shattered, just like that, and his body had a short flight, and crashed into wall. After the smoke cleared, Mammoth was unconscious, with his mouth and temple bleeding horribly.
The remaining HIVE members looked at their fallen comrade and stared at Shadow in utter horror, and although Billy would never tell anyone for the rest of his life… he would need to get a new clean pair of underwear later.
Jinx shook her head, mentally berating herself to be so stupefied, cried out, "HIVE Five, eat 'im alive!"
See-More had switched his lenses to fire a bubble blast at the hooded vampire, encasing him in a giant bubble, however, like a ghost, Shadow phased through, and in a flash, his fist met See-More's face. In one blow, the villain was knocked out.
Then, a pack of Billies, jumped in an attempt to dog pile him, but Shadow merely somersaulted over them with a dancer's grace and commanded dark chains from the shadows to bind them together. Ignoring their simultaneous cries of pain as their hands banged each other, Shadow grabbed hold of the chains in a vice-like grip, and using his strength, he snapped off the chains from the shadows and whirled them around, causing the Billies to lose their lunch. Suddenly, he let go of the chains and the Billies, now a single person again, crashed right into Gizmo. The boy genius was too dazed too move the redneck off him.
Then, a combined blast of Jinx's bad luck powers and Kyd Wykkyd's rocketed its way towards the vampire, but Shadow merely jumped over it and attempted to land a kick on Raven's HIVE counterpart, but to his surprise, Kyd Wykkyd created a shadow shield to protect himself, letting it take the force of the impact.
Shadow quickly jumped off to dodge Jinx's pink waves of misfortune, and attempted many blows to Kyd Wykkyd, but only for the strange silent boy to deflect every single one of them with nicely timed and formed shields.
Admittedly, Shadow was slightly impressed, "Not bad."
Kyd Wykkyd seemed to smirk at the compliment and went on the attack. Shadow used a roundhouse but Kyd Wykkyd vanished into a portal under his feet. He then appeared behind Shadow and grabbed him by the shoulders so that Jinx could hit him with a hex. Shadow immediately created a portal and slipped out of Kyd's grip like a slippery snake as the hex came hurling at him. It hit Kyd Wykkyd instead and sent the silent villain flying and crashing into the car.
Shadow commented, "You should really watch where you are throwing those things."
Jinx was now shocked out of her mind. 5 of her teammates (plus 100 if you count Billy's clones) had just been taken out by this one new guy and he didn't seem to be exerting himself at all. Just who was this guy?
Shadow stepped forward and Jinx stepped back fearfully from him. For some reason, this man scared her. No, this wasn't a man, but a monster. She raised her hand to send a hex flying but he grabbed her by the wrist, squeezing hard that she yelped in surprise and pain. She was then staring into the darkness of his hood as her pink eyes were staring deeply into blood red ones.
"If I were you, I'd find another way to make a living. I don't hit women, but I can make an exception out of you." He threw her to the ground and said, "Go!" Jinx then made her escape, fearing for her life.
"Hey, stop!" Robin shouted but then Shadow halted him.
"She won't get far anyway. You'll catch her next time. Now, are we done here?" Shadow had said all this without a hint of emotion.
Beast Boy and Cyborg's eyes were wide open at the brutality and precision Shadow had shown whilst fighting the HIVE Five. It was…it was…it was indescribable.
Raven on the other hand had felt Shadow's aura and it had been full of killing intent not too long ago. If he had his way, he could've killed the HIVE Five easily without any mercy. What had stopped him?
Robin, seeing the damage, glared at Shadow. "This is not how we do things."
"No, this is not how you do things," Shadow replied. "I, on the other hand, have my own methods. My fledgling is waiting for me. I'll be waiting at the Tower." With those parting words, Shadow vanished into the shadows under his feet.
Suddenly, reporters came and swarmed the Titans, asking questions about what had happened, especially about their 'new member'.
Shadow returned to Starfire's room to see her sleeping on her bed. He would've smiled if he remembered how but he really didn't have much of a reason to smile since that incident. Walking over to her, he pulled the covers over her body and gave her a tender kiss on the temple. He told the sleeping girl, "Tonight, fledgling, you will learn what it means to be a creature of the night." The door swung open and Shadow stood up straight. He knew who it was without turning around.
"Shadow, we need to talk, outside, now," Robin ordered. With his red eyes narrowed, Shadow turned and obeyed, following Robin outside the room and into the hallway.
The door slid close behind them.
Shadow and Robin glared at one another as the spike haired and masked boy looked directly at their guest with a stern expression. "What was that?" Robin demanded. Shadow was by no far an idiot and knew exactly as to what Robin was referring to.
"I was doing what I promised Starfire. I was helping you," he said.
"We're a team and remember what you did to Mammoth. You broke nearly every bone in his body! He's probably in the hospital by now."
"So?" Shadow responded, as if not caring.
"So? SO!?" Robin exclaimed, "We catch criminals, we don't beat them up to an inch of their life."
"You catch criminals. I, on the other hand, take no prisoners," Shadow shot back sharply. He turned around but Robin grabbed his shoulder. "Hands off."
"No, we're not done here," Robin said firmly and angrily. Shadow turned around and grabbed Robin by the wrist and yanked his hand off.
"I don't like being touched, little bird," Shadow growled before retreating back into Starfire's room. Robin would storm in there to force Shadow out but then remembered that Starfire needed him.
Robin did not like this guy. He was just so…out of control.
Hours later, the sun had set and Shadow roused his fledgling awake. "Fledgling, fledgling, wake up."
"Hm?" Starfire mumbled in her sleep, "What?"
"Come on, I'm taking you outside," Shadow told her.
"But the sun-"
"Has already set. Now, get out of bed. We are going to begin our lessons tonight."
Starfire obeyed and walked over to the door but a hand on her shoulder halted her.
"We are not going out through there, fledgling," he told her.
"Then how?" Starfire asked, confused. Shadow then wrapped them both up in his cloak and they vanished into the darkness.
The two vampires, mentor and fledgling, reappeared on top of a roof of a building. Starfire looked around at her new surroundings.
"Now, wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked her. Starfire shuddered.
"It felt dark…and cold," she said, holding herself. Shadow narrowed his eyes. Now was no longer the time for him to coddle her.
"Well, fledgling, you better get used to it. That is how we will travel when we conduct our lessons, alright?" Starfire nodded. "Good, now, I'm going to tell you about what being a vampire really means, and none of those myths and legends you see in books or movies, but the real thing." Shadow sat down and gestured for Starfire to do the same. He began to tell her about the history of vampires.
"We are not so different from humans, really," Shadow admitted, "We all evolved from the same ancestors and became a separate species entirely. It all involved the consumption of blood and how we lived in the dark. It was by living that way that we adapted and became separate from humanity.
"Vampires have been around for a very long time, just as long as humans have. We have survived so long because our bodies evolved to age at a different rate as humans. Also, to us, blood has a rejuvenating property that allows us to stay young. Yes, we vampires can age but only the ones who are born as vampires. For the ones who are sired, much like yourself, do not age at all." Starfire gasped at that.
"I will…never age?" Shadow nodded.
"The life of a vampire is a lonely one and we cannot have mortal friends. You must know this now that when your friends grow old and die, you will still appear so youthful and alive."
This news made her even more upset, she could feel her heart wrench with painful sorrow.
"As a vampire, your senses become sharper, you become stronger and you also become faster and…" He halted when he heard her sobbing. "Fledgling? What's wrong?"
"I will live forever while my friends die?" Starfire sobbed as tears fell from her eyes. She was not the type of person who could live like that, alone and in eternity. Shadow reached over and held her in his arms.
"Such an innocent little creature; you should not have been sired. You never asked for this. I am sorry, fledgling."
Starfire pulled away, looking at him in confusion. "Why are you sorry?"
"If I had gotten there faster, this would not have happened to you," he spoke gently. Starfire reached over and cupped his cheek.
"This is my fate now, as you said, so I must learn to adapt and accept it." Starfire smiled and then became her cheerful self again. "So, now shall we continue with the lesson?"
Shadow stood up with her and said, "I agree. Let us start with your senses. As I said before, they are sharper now…"
"Starfire?" Robin called. In his hands was a tray of food. "You missed dinner so I saved some for you." He called again, "Starfire." He then punched in the override code and the door swung open. Robin nearly dropped the tray in shock. Starfire was gone! Where was she?
Only one answer came to mind…Shadow had taken her out.
At the moment, all of Starfire's sorrowful woes had passed. Every lingering awful thought had been shook off her mind. With a giant smile plastered on her face, she joined with her mentor, running and jumping all around the city. Oh how she could feel the dark power running through her veins!
With each leap, Starfire soared through the air, looking down on the streets below, the citizens looked like small insects compared to her, and the lights it seemed, shined brighter than before!
With each leap, Starfire soared through the air, looking down on the streets below, the citizens looked like small insects compared to her, and the lights it seemed, shined brighter than before! They were like millions of sparkling diamonds.
Shadow landed on another rooftop, someplace over where there were a lot of people and turned to see Starfire had landed after him. "Very good, fledgling," he complimented, even though he didn't smile. "You were able to keep up with me."
"Tamaraneans are capable of traveling at the speed of light," Starfire told him, "Master." She then got surprised. Did she just call him 'Master'? "Did I just call you…'Master'?" she asked. He nodded.
"It's instinctive," Shadow told her, walking closer. "Deep down, you see me as a replacement for the one who sired you. Therefore, as long as I consider you my fledgling, you consider me your Master." She nodded in understanding. "Now, how much can you hear, smell and see?"
"I can hear, smell and see just fine, Master," she replied. Saying 'Master' was coming more naturally now, although, Starfire felt somewhat uncomfortable, it felt so odd.
"That is because I put an aura field around you to dampen your senses to a normal range," he informed her.
"But why, Master?" she asked.
"Because, the reason why a lot of fledglings are feral is because in the beginning their heightened senses drive them a little…mad." Starfire gasped. "Do not worry. I'll be here every step of the way, fledgling. I will be dropping the aura field. Are you ready?" She nodded. "Then, brace yourself." With a wave of his gloved hand, he dropped the aura field around Starfire and then she felt pain like no other as she grasped her head in severe pain, like someone had taken a jackhammer and smashed her head open.
There was just so much noise! It was coming everywhere; left, right, above, below. The smells that invaded her nostrils were also too many, some pleasant, others horrid, intermingling inside her nose, it was horrible! Finally, her eyes, they shifted her vision so she could see things as normal and sometimes she could see heat signatures to the point that she could see warm humans through the very walls, very much like infrared vision. She was screaming out a string of curses in her own native tongue and barely heard her Master's voice calling to her,
"Fledgling!" Shadow cried, but Starfire was still screaming. "FLEDGLING!" Starfire grabbed onto him.
"MASTER! IT HURTS!" she screamed. Shadow placed his hands on her head, forcing her to look at him.
"Focus, fledgling! Focus on me and only me! Focus!" Shadow commanded. "FOCUS!"
Starfire looked up at him, tears in her eyes, but then they became determined as she focused all her will to control her senses. They were her senses, she controlled them, not the other was around! She forced them to obey, to focus on her Master's voice, the sound of her Master's breathing and the smell of her Master…he smelled really nice, like a blend of fragrances from roses. She then calmed down and he let escape a breath of relief.
"You did it," he told her and she cried ecstatically before jumping up and sending both of them tumbling as she engulfed him in a hug.
"I did it! I did it! Thank you, Master!" Starfire cried happily. Shadow just gave her a tender look with his eyes and hugged her back. She deserved it. She had done something that would've taken a fledgling a good few hours to control. She had not mastered it though. She would need to practice focusing her senses so she wouldn't get a huge splitting headache.
"Now, fledgling… we will focus on your next lesson, one of the most important any young vampire must face in order to survive in this world." Shadow gently took her hand, and with a wave of his hand, they were both engulfed in darkness… it was only when the uneasy coldness had left did the alien princess realize that Shadow had used a shadow portal.
They were suddenly… in a bedroom? It was dark and quiet, and Starfire could tell that just by the interior she wasn't in Titans Tower. She suddenly heard steady breathing behind her, and she turned around slowly too see a young woman, maybe in her 20's, sleeping there in bed, her long, curly blonde hair tumbled around her cute face.
In a low whisper, so low only those inhuman could have heard, Shadow said, "Now, for the most important lesson of all… feeding."
The words entered her ears and went into her brain, but Starfire could only shake her head and refused to process this dark information.
"I can't! This is wrong!" she said in a terrified whisper.
"You must, or you will starve, become feral, and either die or go on a killing spree… most likely starting with your friends," Shadow said without a single hint of emotion in his voice, each word cutting into Starfire's heart and innocence like a knife.
She looked back on the unsuspecting woman, and could feel the tears in her eyes How could she do this? It wasn't like her!
"Bite her…" the words, it seemed, were carried by the wind, and it was as if Starfire felt them.
Her lips quivered, as the part of her that was still the loveable, innocent alien princess shouted not to do this, in fear that what would be her remarkable innocence would then be lost forever in this heinous act!
Unfortunately… Starfire knew it had to be done. She was like this, for better or for worse, for the rest of eternity. She bent down, pulling away the young woman's covers, and received a peculiar strange jolt of ecstasy as her hands gently and ghostly touched the skin of the woman's arms (she was only wearing a short, revealing nightie). At first, she felt repulsed… but it felt so good, and miraculously, the woman was still asleep!
She continued to bend down, her body touching the woman's in a bizarre intimacy, as she crept up towards her neck. Shortly, she laid her left hand around the woman's neck and held it up slightly as she opened her mouth, revealing her elongated, sharp and glimmering fangs.
The fangs were only inches away from the neck, and as she grew closer, closing the gap between the victim and herself, she could feel her bloodlust raging with joy, giving her an excitement she could never have dreamed of! It was darkly wondrous! Conscience slipped away as her animalistic dark side took over as she breathed in the woman's lovely scent!
Shadow watched with interest, also making sure his fledgling wouldn't give in completely to her bloodlust, and at the same time, he was very worried. After all, it wasn't every night you find a new vampire species now do you? This could very well fall into a series of unforeseeable events that could pretty much lead to disaster.
… Like now.
"STOP!"
Way to go, Boy Wonder…
Pretty intense, huh? Well, anyway, expect more in the next chapter! And please, read and review! More reviews mean that it'll keep us motivated enough to work more on this story.
And please, read the other fics written by ZK Chromedragozoid (go to Nintama Rataru and look up the favorite stories since ZK's profile is down) and Phantom Soldier's fics.