Chapter 7

"Hey Raven, check it out. Guess what I am?"

Rolling her eyes, Raven looked over at the green boy she had stupidly agreed to accompany in the search for firewood. He currently had two thin sticks placed on either side of his mouth, held in place by his upper lip.

"An idiot?" she suggested dryly.

"Haha, very funny," Garfield replied, spitting the sticks out of his mouth. "You were supposed to say a walrus."

"I didn't want to offend any walruses," she told him, bending over to pick up a stick.

"Oh, you're a riot," Gar said, frowning. "What did I ever do to you? We started over with a clean slate, remember?"

"Yes," Raven admitted. "Fine. I'll try not to take any more unnecessary shots at you."

"That's all I ask," Gar grinned.

"Although, you do make it pretty easy."

"Gee, thanks."

Falling into silence, they continued to scour the forest floor for firewood.

Picking up a stick, Garfield sighed.

"We've been out here for like an hour. Don't we have enough firewood yet?"

"We've only been looking for about ten minutes," Raven replied. "And maybe we would have enough by now if you had actually been putting in an effort."

"Hey," Gar protested. "I've totally been putting in an effort. What makes you think I haven't."

"You have a total of four sticks."

"Yeah? Well, you- maybe… just-" Gar spluttered, ignoring the smirk Raven wore on her face as she turned around to look at him. "Shut up."

"Ooh, good one," Raven replied sarcastically, watching in slight amusement as the boy plopped down on a nearby rotting log, pouting immaturely.

Sighing, the boy rested his arms on his bent knees and stared at the ground. Raven watched him for a couple minutes before finally giving in.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting next to him gingerly.

"Do you really think Terra's all right?" he asked, looking up at her with his shockingly green eyes.

"Yes, I do." Raven replied truthfully. "Malchior's an evil magician, and I wouldn't put it past him to kill a princess or two for his own gain, but in this case, it wouldn't do him any good."

"How do you know that?" Gar asked uncertainly. "What does he want in exchange, anyway?"

Despite herself, Raven's breath got caught in her throat, and she had to take a minute to regain enough breath to answer him.

"He wants me."

"What? Why?" Gar asked. Raven had to give him credit; he looked genuinely concerned. But all that meant was that he was a good thespian.

She studied his face for a while, wondering if she should tell him her story. She rarely told her secrets to anyone, let alone obnoxious green boys, yet somehow, she felt that it needed to be said.

"A long time ago-"

"How long ago?"

"Four years ago," Raven answered.

"That's not very long ago," Gar pointed out.

"Well, it seems like it's been a long time," Raven replied, rolling her eyes. "Now if you'd stop interrupting me, maybe I could continue."

"Sorry," Gar smiled sheepishly. "Go on."

Nodding, Raven took a breath and continued. "Four years ago, when I was thirteen, I met Malchior. I was having trouble controlling my powers at the time, and was completely shunned everywhere I went because of it. He offered to help.

"He took me here, to his castle, and taught me about magic. Over that time we grew closer, until one day he told me that he loved me, and I confessed that I felt the same."

She paused, going over memories that she had tried to forget.

"And then what?" Gar prompted gently. "You realized he was evil and he didn't really love you?"

Raven frowned. "No. For a while, things were perfectly fine. He was kind, and always told me how special I was to him. For the first time in my life I felt like I was where I belonged. But then… I started noticing a change in him. He started going over his magic books more and more, and began to learn how many different ways his magic could be used.

"I watched, unsure of what to do, as slowly his newfound power began to corrupt him. One day he told me that he knew of a way to gain immortality, and that all it required was a few standard ingredients, a special procedure to follow, and… a human sacrifice.

"That's when I ran away and hid out in Tamborinia. He knew where I was, and he always tries to talk to me, but I refuse to talk to him, whether it be face-to-face, or through other methods."

She looked over at the green boy sitting next to her and frowned nervously at his shocked expression.

"…Whoa." Gar breathed, eyes still wide.

"Yeah," Raven agreed, idly picking a piece of dead bark off her dress.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Gar slowly got over his shock, and Raven realized that she suddenly felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"So," Raven spoke slowly, wondering how to phrase the question that had been forming in the back of her head for about half and hour. "Are you and Princess Terrianna engaged?"

"What? No!" Gar replied, blushing. "Me and Terra aren't getting married. Why would you think that?"

"Well, for one thing, you keep calling her Terra, instead of by her full name like most people," Raven pointed out. "And you're obviously extremely concerned about her well-being. More so than the rest of us."

"Oh, well…" Gar gave her a small half smile and looked down at his shoes. "Maybe, for a while, Terra and I had a sort of… fling going on."

"A fling?" Raven repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah," Gar blushed. "I mean, we never really said we were anything more than friends, but we flirted a lot, and we kissed a few times."

"Oh," Following Gar's example, Raven looked down and studied her shoes. Strange feelings bubbled inside her, but they weren't strong enough for her to identify, so she ignored them.

"Yeah," Gar chuckled lightly. "But it didn't last. It was fun while it lasted, but eventually, I guess we both just realized it wasn't going anywhere and the feelings just disappeared."

"Apparently not completely," Raven mumbled, low enough that Gar couldn't quite make it out.

"What?"

"Nothing," Raven insisted, standing up. "Come on. We should finish looking for firewood or they'll start to worry."

Gar watched her for a second in confusion, but soon complied and followed her on the hunt for sticks.

-

"It's about time, where have you two been?" Robin asked sternly as Raven and Gar walked into the small clearing where they had made their camp, arms laden with dry wood.

"We got side-tracked," Raven replied truthfully. "But we're back now."

"Yeah, Robby," Gar teased. "Don't get your tights in a twist."

"You're just in time," Victor informed them. "Soup's on."

Nodding, Raven grabbed five bowls out of one of the saddlebags and passed them out.

Victor quickly dished out large portions of stew to everyone before sitting down and quickly gobbling down his own dinner. He sighed contentedly once he had finished before helping himself to more.

"Cow killer," Garfield muttered a couple times, but Victor just smirked and continued eating his beef filled soup.

"So tell me," Starfire began, "How did you all meet?"

"Well, I met Victor a long time ago," Robin explained. "When I was first crowned ruler of Tamborinia I felt that it was my duty to know all of the royal guard. There were only a couple of them at the time; the rest were on the regular guard, fighting in the war against Caldweilla.

"He was the youngest member of the royal guard, and closer to my age than anyone in the palace (other than servants), so we became good friends."

Robin paused, taking a sip of his stew. Starfire waited eagerly, but patiently for the story to be continued. Gar also wore an expression of curiosity, and Raven realized he did not know much about it either.

"Then one day I went to visit my family outside of the city," Victor said, picking up from where Robin left off. "I met Raven and became her apprentice for a year after she helped my mother and baby sister out. After that I just stayed."

Having finished the last of his soup, Robin continued. "A couple months after he had quit the royal guard and started living with Raven, Victor invited me to her house. I met Raven and liked her right away, and from that day on we all made sure that we spent at least one day a month together."

"And then I came along," Gar spoke up, recognizing his place in the story.

"Yeah," Robin agreed. "I got word from King Caldwell that Princess Terrianna had been stolen, Victor and Raven joined me soon after, and then we joined forces with Gar."

"Your newest friend," Starfire concluded. "That is a most wonderful story.

"Well, actually he's not really our newest friend," Robin replied. Starfire frowned in confusion, and Gar started in surprise, a hurt expression flashing across his face.

"He is not your friend?" Starfire asked.

"That's not what I meant," Robin quickly assured them both. "What I meant is, since we met him, we've made another friend. So he's no longer the newest."

"You have made another friend?" Starfire asked innocently. "Who?"

"You," Robin replied, smiling gently. The girl returned the smile, looking into his dark blue eyes fondly.

"Whoa," Victor joked. "Am I the only one who feels like we're suddenly chaperoning?"

"Nope," Gar laughed, quickly turning away to give the two new acquaintances some privacy.

Raven rolled her eyes.

"Very mature," she stated sarcastically. She stood up, placing her empty bowl next to the others. "I'm going to bed."

"That sounds like a good idea," Gar agreed, standing up with a yawn. "I think I'll join you."

"No!" Raven quickly exclaimed, causing everyone to turn their attention to her. "Uh… I mean, whatever. That's your decision."

Trying to appear casual, Raven pulled out her blanket and pillow and passed Gar his things. The green knight quickly chose a spot next to the fire and spread his things out. Once he had finished, Raven quickly walked over to the opposite side of the fire pit from him and made her own bed.

The others soon followed, pulling out their own things. Starfire refused the blanket Robin offered her, insisting that she was quite comfortable and accustomed to sleeping on the forest floor without blankets. Raven suspected that part of the reason she had declined the blanket was that she had, correctly, guessed that Robin was offering his own and they had no extras. She lay down next to Raven, and Robin and Victor set up their bedding on either side of Beast Boy.

Raven let out a silent sigh of relief. She was much more comfortable than the previous night, when she had been sleeping in much closer quarters with three teenage boys. True, they were still less than five feet away, but the fire separating them comforted Raven. This time no embarrassing mishaps would happen the next morning.

She closed her eyes, allowing her mind to drift into dreams.

Sometime later she was roused from her slumber. She looked around, wondering what had woken her, and her eyes quickly fell on the green boy quietly making his way into the woods.

She frowned, wondering where he was going. A tight grove of trees, surrounded by bushes a few feet away from their campsite had already been designated as the area for bladder relief, but Gar was walking in the opposite direction. Curiosity getting the best of her, Raven stood up and followed him, floating a couple inches above the ground so he wouldn't hear her footsteps.

The dying fire that lit up their campsite had disappeared behind trees when Gar stopped. Without turning around, Gar spoke.

"You can come out now Raven."

"How did you know?" asked Raven, stepping out of the shadows she had been hiding in. A quick look around told her that they were at the log they had been sitting on earlier while they were gathering firewood.

"Just instincts, I guess," Gar grinned, sitting on the log. Following his lead, Raven sat down as well. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Raven broke the silence.

"So, why did you come out here?"

"Just needed to think," Gar replied, looking up thoughtfully at one of the moons peeking through a canopy of leaves.

"Oh," Raven flushed. "I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's okay," he replied. "I think I've got it all straightened out. Well, sort of."

"Sort of?" the sorceress repeated.

"Matters of the heart aren't always things that you can explain fully," Gar explained.

"Wow," Raven breathed. "You just said something that was actually deep…"

Gar laughed and looked at Raven with a strange expression on his face. Raising an eyebrow, she returned his gaze.

"Do you still love him?"

She didn't need to ask to know whom he meant. "No. I don't love him anymore. But… he was my first love, and I don't think I'll ever forget how I did feel. Which seems kind of close."

Silence fell over them. They remained still for a couple more minutes before Raven stood up.

"I'm going back to the camp," she told the knight. "Try not to stay out too late."

As she was turning to leave, he quickly stood up. Grabbing her hand he spun her around and pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. It surprised her, but not in an unpleasant way. It was over in a second.

"What-?"

Gar shrugged. "It just felt… right, at the moment. Somehow."

Unsure of what to do, Raven nodded and said goodnight.

"Goodnight," he replied, as calmly as if he hadn't just kissed her. Mimicking his nonchalant attitude, she walked back to camp and fell asleep quickly.

-

The next morning, Terra woke up to find sunlight streaming onto her pillow, and the sounds of birds chirping slowly drove away any lingering sleepiness.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes; they were crusty from the salty tears she had shed the night before.

Standing up from her bed, she quickly put on her golden robe and made her way over to the window that hadn't been there when she had gone to sleep.

The latch was easy to open, and she quickly threw open her windows. A warm breeze blew in, carrying the melodious sound of birds singing. Far off in the distance, over miles and miles of forest, the sun was beginning to rise.

Stepping back from the window, Terra forced herself to wipe away the smile that had formed on her face. Why had he done it? Was he trying to ask her to forgive him? An attempt to make himself look caring and generous?

Sighing, Terra walked over to her wardrobe. She knew she couldn't stay angry with him for too long. It was like he had cast a spell on her- and for all she knew he had- but she just couldn't help seeing all the wonderful traits he had. He was courteous and well mannered, charming and flirtatious, handsome and mysterious.

Far from her former idea of the perfect man.

She could remember how mere days ago she had been convinced that she would only be happy with someone who was laid-back and would make her laugh all the time. Someone who would treat her like a good friend, instead of a princess.

Malchior though, didn't treat her like a good friend, or even a princess. He treated her like a woman… and it was surprisingly nice.

-

Perching herself on the edge of the nearby log, Raven lifted the lid off of the small pot she had hung over the fire. The water inside had started to boil, so she carefully picked the pot up by it's handles and removed it from the heat. Using a ladle, she spooned some of the hot water into a mug and dropped in some dried herbs.

Sitting back, she lifted the cup to her lips and blew to cool it down. As she did that, she looked around the camp. Everyone was still asleep. Apart from Victor's rumbling snores, and Garfield mumbling in his sleep, the only sounds that could be heard were those of the forest.

The steam from her tea swirled above her cup, cutting through the early morning sun and chasing away the cold left over from night. All seemed peaceful. So far their expedition had gone smoothly, and it was starting to unnerve the sorceress.

A bit longer than the last chapter. I hope you liked it.

-Tammy