Ch. 6: Sand Cities
Once a good enough distance away from the girls, the Changeling shifted into a small green kitten. Whenever Beast Boy happened to sense or be within Tara's presence, he shifted into an animal, usually a small puppy, kitten, or bunny. Nightwing believed it to be a sort of defensive mechanism against having to personally (humanly) deal with the sight of Tara. The only reason the young detective concluded as to why this hadn't activated when they had meet for the 1st -truly 2nd-time was due Tara not recognizing BB as himself.
Regardless of this fact, being not used to the sandy surface of the beach, kitten BB took a couple of adorable spills while finding his footing. As he stalked over to the girls, he was receiving a giggle from Tara and a small smirk from Raven. This caused him have his tiny fang to protruded from his lower lip, his tail shifting back and fro as he touted his unexpected triumph. Upon arrival, BB licked Tara's face once in greeting, earning him a loving scratch behind his ear.
After the show of affection towards and from his first love, BB mewed happily as he changed forward, readying himself to pounce into his truly beloved's lap. Used to his antics, Raven's powers caught him midair as she looked back up to her book, placing him gently into his destination. He purred in contentment as he softly grazed his head against her leg, curling himself into a ball of fur. Completely unbeknownst to Raven, her hand had somehow found his head and began stroking it gently. Tara smiled at the scene behind her, the displays of intimacy between the two very subtle compared to Bird Boy and Star. She let out an 'Aw!' when BB looked up at his Raven and let out a soft meow.
Raven, having been around BB for so long, knew for a fact that if he wanted something from her, he would use his kitten for in an attempt (his puppy form was for napping on either Raven or Star, and occasionally Robin from time to time) and that she couldn't say no to those big eyes and pleading cries.
"Gar, what do you want now?" Raven looked down at the kitten only to see him staring off in the distance. She glanced in the same direction, only to see Cyborg and the rest under a gigantic banner that read "Sand Castles of Titanic Proportions" Raven then cocked an eyebrow in bemusement, a small smile on her lips. "Are you serious?" BB's Cheshire smile was a dead giveaway.
Suddenly the kitten then jumped out of her lap and began to strut towards the contest area. He shifted halfway, high fiving Nightwing who was now striding in the opposite direction. The grin on the Changeling's face told the ex-Boy Wonder that his idea had caught Raven's interest. Now there was one more thing to take care of…
"Hey, girls, what's up?" Night called to the two teen ladies, Raven lowering her book to flash him a small smile and Tara waving to him slightly, a similar smile on her lips. Raven then placed her book on her lap. "Are you here to recruit me for your team? You know Gar's already got me on his side." The black Bird (Rae's now the blue Bird) sat in-between them a mischievous glint in his…mask? "That's exactly why I'm here! With you being on BB and Cy, and the fact that I'm pretty sure your powers alone could out do anything Star and I could make-"
Raven's right eyebrow quirked itself skyward in question at where he was going with this, but even without using their bond or her empathy her lips quivered to match his smile once she caught on. "And you need someone who could possibly equal my powers? Someone-I don't know, just throwing ideas to the wind here-who happened to be a Geomancer?" Both Birds looked to the blond girl, who had been half listening to the conversation behind her.
Tara stopped from her sand structuring that she had done simply to preoccupy herself, her ears catching the word 'Geomancer' and her over-the-shoulder glance picking up on her friends' grins. "Are you two talking about me? I already told you, I don't have any-" She was cut off by Robin's scarred hand, the phantom outline of numerous cuts gaining all of her attention. "Tara-no, Terra please stop lying." To you and to us went unsaid but was understood.
"There's no need to hide from us anymore. The longer you try to convince yourself of this lie, the more you start believing it yourself. Besides, you act exactly as you did before. How do I know? I took it upon myself to memorize all of my family members' mannerisms and behaviors when you came back before the Incident. Raven's already told me about how your emotional states and aura match, and while Star may not be as empathic as Rae, she recognized you right off the bat and her memory is almost as expansive as Cy's." Night sighed as he saw Terra's face fall.
"Cy has also already confirmed that your DNA is an exact the same as Terra's. And if that tell for you to quit denying who you are, well BB's told me that while all of our scents are programmed in his brain yours cover a large portion." Nightwing had yet to take his eyes off Tara, who was on the verge of tears as she looked up into his mask (somewhere along the line of this confrontation, he had started pacing and the other two had stood up.) Raven had started boring holes into her brother's back, but once she gave it some thought, BB's sentiment was almost sweet…and that she probably covered more than the blond could ever.
This also happened to be her cue to back him up, so she looked behind the two and smirked lightly. "And if you reject all of that evidence, then who else could make miniature Jump City to such with an exact scale?" Terra-since she clearly couldn't continue calling herself by her fake name anymore-looked over her shoulder, cursing inwardly to herself. There at her feet sat her city made of sand, what would have taken anyone else five years took her 2 unfocused minutes.
She was thinking about destroying them at that moment, her fist curled in anger at herself. As she shook her head defiantly, tears began to hit the beach surface. Then she felt someone's hands clasps on her own, being pulled into a strong and tight hug. "It's okay Terra, its fine." He whispered in her ear. After a couple of tearstained, comfort-stroking moments between the two Nightwing pulled away and smiled. "You think you're alone, but you're not."
Now Terra smiled as she looked up at him, probably because their so-called fearless leader had a look of pure terror on his face. Raven's black aura raged around her like flames, and only one red demonic eye could be seen behind the part of her hair. "Now, Richard, dear," Raven cooed gently, which caused Nightwing to shiver slightly, "Where could you have possibly heard that line from? Well?"
Nightwing kept his ground still looking at Tara, for fear of screaming like a little girl with a single glance at Raven. "I, um, wanted to see if anyone went to comfort you after the event with-" A black X covered his mouth before he could say anything more. He eyes widened-or at least his mask did-at his sudden loss of speak. Raven placed herself next to Nightwing, the difference in height clearly obvious, but the difference in power even more so.
Raven sighed impatiently, "You done your part, Bird boy, now go find your Kitten. I'll finish up here." Night gave a muffled protest, till Raven gave him her 'don't make me send you do another dimension' glare. He sulked off, clearly defeated and once he was out of ear shot, Raven turned her head back to the Geo-kinetic girl.
"Before you were Slade's apprentice Robin was under his tutelage (mind, he did to save us); weeks after your betrayal Gar became the Beast; I ended the entire world in flames and brimstone two years ago. My point is that we've all made mistakes and have our guilt and regrets. And for all our faults we've been able to forgive one another-but most importantly ourselves. Do you understand me?"
Tara wiped away the last drips out of her eyes, nodding in comprehension. "Yea, Rae, I got it. It'll take some time for to forgive myself, but I have one question for you." Raven's eyebrow rose once more, earning a sly grin from Tara. The blonde's eyes begun to glow a familiar golden color as she shouted, "Are you ready to eat my dust!"
Before the Gothic empath could respond, Terra took off, skating across the sand towards their teammates. Raven smiled inwardly, as a look of surprise covered her face and she raced after her through the air once she composed herself. Laughter rang through the air as the past lay forgotten and forgiven, for two girls who were once at each other's throats (literally) ignored their differences and embraced their similarities.