Hey everyone! Here's chapter 3! Hope you enjoy it!
The foreign language that I use in here is a google translation from English to Swahili. I apologize if the translations are not completely accurate. The English translations will be in parenthesis and in italics next to each Swahili translation. Let me know if you like that format or if you find that confusing; a few more chapters will include this language and I'm trying to figure out the best way to include the translations so that you know what is being said.
RPGPersona: I agree completely; there's so much personal choice that goes into how the fanfiction runs, and it is fun and exciting to play around with different ideas and determine what you think will work best in the story. And although the beginning of Beast Boy and Raven's relationship will be mildly discussed later on, I chose not to put too much emphasis on it. I figured, throughout the series, they got called to do and chose to do a lot of missions that probably were meant for more experienced teams (ex: Tokyo, everything with Slade, basically season 5 as a whole, etc…), so it made since to me that they could get called for a mission like this as well. Besides, despite their ages, they've definitely proved themselves more than capable over the years that they had been a team. And I agree completely on the depth of his character as well; he used to be one of my least favorite characters in the series simply because I felt as if his character was purely comic relief and that was his only aspect, but since learning more about him and his past, he is now my favorite. I enjoy the depth to his character, and how that has manifested into his personality. I listen to music for the same reasons as well, so I thought that could be a fun thing to include. I figured it's something a lot of people can relate to. I'm glad you're enjoying the story and hope you enjoy what continues to happen! :)
Please keep reading and reviewing! The story has been somewhat slow up to this point, but it's about to start picking up :)
The flight to the West African village lasted the majority of the night, but due to the time difference and the superior speed of the T-ship, they arrived in the early afternoon. They landed the T-ship in the clearing that Cyborg had talked about and got out.
"We should set up camp before heading into the village," Robin announced to his team, "Let's go ahead and get started."
They started to set up camp in the jungle clearing. With just a few, easy alterations to the T-ship courtesy of Cyborg, the team had a large, tent-like shelter. It had divided compartments for the teen's individual privacy, as well as just a general space for them. The teens put their belongings in their compartments and set up their sleeping bags and such. Although each teen had their own compartment, Robin and Starfire shared a room, and Beast Boy and Raven shared a room as well. Within less than an hour, they were completely set up and ready.
"Alright, should we head into the village now?" Cyborg asked Robin.
Raven could feel Beast Boy tensing up so she grabbed his hand and gave it a firm squeeze. He looked her way and their eyes met.
"Yes," Robin responded, "we should have a few hours of daylight left. We don't want to be travelling in the dark since we're unfamiliar with the area."
"We are a little over a mile outside of the village, so it shouldn't take too long to get there," Cyborg updated the team. Robin took this information and thought for a moment.
"Beast Boy," he said, bring the boy's attention back to him, "You know this area better than any of us. Would you be able to lead the way?" Beast Boy nodded. "Okay, team, let's head out!"
Beast Boy, still holding onto Raven's hand, started walking out of the clearing and into the surrounding jungle. The clear, blue sky that had been above them was soon mostly concealed by the towering trees that surrounded them. The jungle trees started off somewhat scattered, like a scarcely filled forest, with the majority of the plant life being ferns and bushes. The trees then became more and more densely packed, with thick, bumpy roots covering the ground.
The teens were quiet, so the sounds of the jungle were somewhat loud to them. There was an orchestra of buzzing insects surrounding them. It was combined with the caws of birds and the occasion monkey shriek.
The path that Beast Boy was leading them on was not straight. Rather, the path that he led had a lot of turns and curves. Every so often, he would stop walking, take a look at his surroundings, and turn again, leading them closer to the village. It was obvious to the team that Beast Boy was very familiar with the jungle and that he had walked this path many times.
Beast Boy and Raven were far enough ahead of the rest of the team so that they would be out of earshot when whispering. Raven leaned over to Beast Boy so that her mouth was only a few inches away from his ear.
"Are you going to be alright?" she asked him. She could feel his anxiety increasing as they got closer and closer to the village.
"Yeah, I will be," he said. He turned and met her eyes once again. He saw that she didn't quite trust what he was saying. "I'm just nervous, is all."
"Okay. Just remember, we're all here for you if you need us, especially me," Raven reminded him.
"I know, Rae, thank you," he responded with a grin covering his face.
They continued to walk in silence until Beast Boy saw the village up ahead. They still had adequate daylight, but the sun was in the beginning stages of setting, lighting the sky up in a picturesque mixture of light blue and pale peachy yellow.
"We're here," Beast Boy said, turning back to his team, "it's just up ahead, just beyond this small river." Before them was a small, shallow river. They saw that this smaller body of water was connected to a considerably larger body of water upstream. Like Beast Boy had said, the village was just beyond the water; they could see brown, wooden huts peeking through the trees.
The teens started walking forward towards the village. They soon stopped though, noticing that Beast Boy wasn't leading them at the moment. He was staring at the village, his eyes scanning the huts.
"Hey, Robin," Beast Boy said, his eyes not leaving the village before him, "would you mind taking the lead from this point on?"
Robin could hear in the teen's voice how nervous he was. He remembered what he had told the team as Garfield, about how he was kicked out of the village and how he was not welcomed here anymore. He knew it must be horribly stressful for him to be back here, especially considering that past.
"Yeah, no problem," Robin responded, "Let's go, Titans." The teens started heading towards the village once again, with Robin taking lead and Beast Boy and Raven trailing in the back.
They soon reached the village. The village was in a clearing similar to the one that the teens had set up in. The village was relatively large, with dozens of huts and larger shelters constructed. The huts appeared to be made out of some sort of straw with large pointed leaves intertwined. There were people outside of their huts, and they were dressed in bright fabrics with bold patterns. Some of the women were outside in groups, talking with one another while children chased each other and played. There were also groups of men conversing as they skinned a recently deceased animal.
As soon as the teens entered the village, they caused a stir among the people. The children stopped chasing and playing as they stared at them. The women who were talking somewhat loudly began whispering to one another and pointing. The men took notice of this quickly and stopped skinning the animal. They approached the teens slowly. The Titans stopped moving forward as they were approached.
One of the men started talking to the teens in a language that they did not understand.
"Kwanini uko hapa?" he said to the teens, "Wewe ni nani?" (Why are you here?...Who are you?)
"Uhh…" Robin stuttered, trying to figure out how to break the language barrier. Before he could get any words out, one of the tribesmen, who was holding the bloodied skinning knife, reacted. His eyes widened and anger quickly took over. He lunged towards Beast Boy, tackling him to the ground. He held the knife to his neck and shouted maliciously.
"Ni wewe!" He shouted. (It's you!)
Beast Boy transformed into a snake and slithered from out under the man before transforming back into his human form. His left cheek was scraped and bleeding from the impact on the ground.
The tribesman stood back up and started shouting at Beast Boy, but did not lunge at him with the knife.
"Kwa nini wewe kuja nyuma?" he shouted at Beast Boy, "Wewe si kuwakaribisha hapa!" (Why did you come back?...You're not welcomed here!)
"Samahani, lakini tafadhali jaribu kutulia!" Beast Boy yelled back, shocking the team. They had no idea he was bilingual. (I'm sorry, but please try to calm down!)
The team was on high alert and ready to attack should they be attacked again. Beast Boy was breathing heavily, just as shocked as his team at the sudden assault.
"Wewe ni aibu! Lazima kuondoka mara moja!" the tribesman yelled. (You are a disgrace! You must leave immediately!)
"Tafadhali kutulia! Nimekuja kukusaidia! Ninaahidi!" Beasts Boy shouted back. (Please calm down! I've come to help you! I promise!)
This altercation, of course, caught the attention of the rest of the tribe. People starting peeking through their windows and exiting their huts to see what was going on. Some of the women ushered their children back inside and away from the chaos. Soon, a man who was dressed in a bright purple robe with teal rectangles covering it stepped out from one of the larger huts and approached the teens.
"Kukomesha hali hii sasa!" he yelled quickly and strongly at the tribesman and Beast Boy, who stopped their yelling immediately. He turned his attention specifically to the tribesman. "Kwenda nyuma ya familia yako na kuacha kelele hii!" (Stop this now!...Go back to your family and stop this noise!)
"Naye atamleta laana juu ya kijiji yetu," he spat out before turning and leaving. (He shall bring a curse on our village.)
At this point, Beast Boy and his teammates had rejoined with each other.
"Beast Boy, are you okay?" Robin asked, and Beast Boy nodded.
The man turned his attention to the team, specifically Beast Boy, and started speaking in English.
"How dare you come back here," he said hatefully, a dreadful grimace covering his face, "If you have any respect for this village and its people, you will leave immediately and never step foot here again."
Robin took a step towards the man. "We have a mission to take care of here. Beast Boy is on this team and he will remain here as long as we are needed." The tribesman silently stared at Robin hatefully. "We were called here due to your outbreak of Sakutia. We're here to stop the man behind the outbreak and to help your village."
"I am Abioye, the leader of this tribe. I know what is best for my village and my people. We do not need any help from someone who associates themselves with that disgraceful creature. He is a shame to this village," the tribesman responded, scowling at Robin. Abioye refused to look at Beast Boy.
Cyborg glanced down towards his green friend. He was tense, with his jaw tight and his fists clenched. The blood that was on his cheek had dried, with the surrounding area starting to bruise.
"He's a part of this team and he's staying. We are just trying to help you and your village. A large number of your villagers have already died, and many more are infected. This is just going to continue until Dr. Register is stopped. So unless you want to watch your entire tribe die, you will let us do our job, Beast Boy included," Robin returned sternly.
The man clenched his jaw tightly, weighing on Robin's words.
"As soon as your job is complete, you will leave immediately," he said towards Robin before turning his attention to Beast Boy, "As for you, you must never return to this village after the completion of this mission. If you do, you will be executed upon sight," He turned and walked away from the teens, leaving them standing in the middle of the village.
Robin exhaled slowly in an attempt to release his frustrations before turning to his team.
"Let's go ahead and head back to our camp. We can start in the morning. Beast Boy, can you show us the way back?" he asked. Beast Boy nodded and started walking out of the village. He walked ahead of all the teens, including Raven, choosing to walk alone.
As they walked through the village to leave, the women and men spat out hateful remarks towards Beast Boy and the team. Beast Boy kept his head up and stared in front of him as he walked out, trying to ignore their comments. They were soon out of the village and in the jungle.
The sun was starting to set, with crimson and orange streaking the sky. The animal sounds of the jungle progressively got louder as the team neared their camp.
When they got back, Beast Boy immediately went into his tent compartment, closing the barrier that separated his room from the others. The rest of the team remained outside of the compartment for a few minutes, knowing that he was going to need a bit of alone time after what had taken place in the village.
"Are we even going to be able to complete this mission?" Cyborg asked Robin, "It's not like we're being received well."
"We have to. There are too many lives at stake," Robin responded.
"But what about friend Beast Boy? They were very hateful towards him," Starfire commented, concerned about her friends well-being.
"Beast Boy is strong. He'll get through it. We just need to make sure he's okay throughout this mission," Raven said, to which the teens nodded.
The sun was no longer in the sky, which was now a deep blue color. Stars were starting to litter the nighttime sky.
"It's going to be an early morning. Let's go ahead and get ready for the night. We begin at dawn," Robin announced. Each team member went to their compartment to get ready for bed.
There was a muffled sound at the door of Raven's compartment. Being half asleep, she did not take too much notice to it until she felt a figure lay down next to her. She opened her eyes and saw Beast Boy laying down next to her.
"Hey," she said, her voice quiet and groggy.
"Hey," he said back, "Sorry to bother you or wake you. I just wanted to…needed to, be here."
Raven put her arm around Beast Boy's shoulders, enclosing him in an embrace and bringing him closer to her.
"It's fine, don't worry. I'm glad you're here," she said, smiling at him.
Beast Boy gave her a small peck on her forehead and wrapped her in the embrace as well.
"Me too," he said quietly, starting to fall asleep. They were silent after that, falling asleep to the sound of each other's breathing and heart beats, enjoying the warmth and company of each other as they embraced into slumber.