70. Hidden Sun part 2

Starfire smiled.

The boy frowned. In a blur, he swung the robe over his massacred red hair and dashed off towards the dense oblivion of the forest.

Starfire's curved lips rounded in a gasp. "Wait!" she cried out and ran forth.

The squirrels scattered. The birds flapped away.

The boy's limbs swung like engine pendulums. A glow of green energy was barely starting to form beneath his feet.

He was about to zoom off. But Starfire was older than him. And faster. She discovered this as she caught up with him, spun, and skidded to a stop in front of his face with two hands outstretched. "P-Please!?" she panted. "You must not run off! I desire to talk to you!"

"I don't talk to anyone." The boy's voice was too old for his age. The same stone etching in softness that was his face. Something dreadfully wrong. And bitter. Bitter like a dying cat.

Starfire couldn't help but recoil. Still, she managed to keep her wincing face aimed at his as she said: "Why is it that you do not wish to converse with anyone? Why is it that you are constantly running away?"

"Leave me alone," he spat and made for the forest again.

"Please!" she reached out and desperately clasped his shoulder through the cloak.

The burning inside of her intensified. A Tamaranian beacon.

She inhaled.

The boy stopped with a jerk, and in so doing…his hood fell back and once again revealed his hectic head of razor-edged red. But beneath that red fury was once again the green eyes of youth…of softness. That face was exposed to her now as the frown momentarily drowned away and he expressed a look of confused apprehension.

Starfire realized he had felt the burning too. Maybe his first time…

"Do you at least know….," Starfire gently spoke, "…why you are running away? I do believe it is for the very same reason that I am running after you."

The boy blinked up at her…and slowly the green eyes thinned and his brow furrowed under the red as the frown returned. "You are a stranger…," he venomed. He shook her hand off his shoulder and huffed off towards the forest. Not a sprint that time. Rather, a frustrated march. "I do not trust strangers."

Starfire looked after him. She clasped her hands together and said: "Not even a bus full of strangers?"

The boy froze. The cloak seemed to droop around him like a cape as he hung his head. Starfire realized there had to have been a very tiny, frightened frame under all that bitter immensity.

"That….w-was different," he said without looking.

"Why was it different?" Starfire leaned her head to the side. "You ran away AFTER you saved those children. After you helped me save those children…"

The boy's fists clenched and he spun around. "Who are you?!" his voice was angry, yet full of a vibrating monotony as if he had posed the question many times before.

"I am….," Starfire paused, thought about it, trailed an eye, then smiled presently. "…Koriand'r. Koriand'r is my name."

"No….," the boy shook. "Who are you?! What do you want with me?!"

"I want to 'know'…," Starfire gently stepped forward and gestured. "I only want to know you!"

His jaw was tight. "Are you with them?!"

Starfire stopped. She blinked. "Wh-Who?"

"The men!! Those bad men!!" his voice rang out against the surrounding pine and up the mountain. "If you are, go back and tell them that I can go anywhere and do anything as I see fit!! You can't scare me and my Mom and Dad anymore!"

"I do not know what people you are referring to. Please believe me when I say that I am merely curious to know who you are." She swallowed and gave a pleasant smile in hope of a positive effect. "Do you not see the similarities between us? Our eyes and our hair. The manner in which we emanate a green glow? Our unique powers?"

The boy's green eyes narrowed. "Powers….??"

Starfire lifted up gracefully, her arms stretching outward and her hair and cardigan billowing.

The boy backed up, his jaw dropping.

"This…," she smiled. "Gifts. Things which helped us save those children in the bus. They are unique to me…and I feel they are unique to you as well."

"How…..h-how do you do that?" the boy stammered.

Starfire's face fell and her breath left her. She clasped a hand over her heart as a soreness permeated her being. "You….y-you do not know how to fly??" She bit her lip. Her eyelids lowered. "You poor thing….your life must be something full of sadness…"

The boy's eyes widened….and then he frowned again. "No…," he clutched his red hair and shook his head. "No…NO!!" He sneered up at her and stomped his foot into the green earth. "I'm alone! Nobody understands who am I! Or what I'm like! Especially an annoying stranger like you!" He spun like a hurricane and ran into the dense woods.

"No!! Cease! Desist!" Starfire floated after him. She blurred past bodies and bodies of trees as a green glow emanated from beyond, and then faded away. She had lost all signs of his fleeing figure. She sighed and floated to the ground.

"I…I d-did not even learn of your name….," she breathed. With moist eyes, she hugged herself and weathered a chilling breeze.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Mr. Feldman….at least tell me this….would you be so generous about the room if you did not know we were Titans?"

As the patches of sky through the pine above turned gradually more and more orange, Raven knelt in the grass besides Jared Feldman…the old innkeeper who was busily employing himself in fishing a line through a pond that had no fish.

"I believe you have it all wrong, young lady…," Feldman said. A cool mountain breeze pierced the summer air and kicked at his leftover tufts of gray follicles peaking out from under a wrinkled, red cap. "It is not because you are 'Titans' that I have extended financial grace to you. But rather that you are just about as confused and wandering as I am!"

Raven's blue eyes blinked. "E-Excuse me?"

"You know what I mean."

"Er….s-sorry, sir. But I'm afraid that I don't," Raven droned. "What are you trying to get at?"

"The same thing we're all trying to get at!" Feldman grinned. "A better understanding of ourselves! A solution to insanity! Tranquility, zen, all that good crap!"

Raven bit her lip. "Sir….are you feeling okay?"

"I'm old, if that answers your question."

"That's not what I meant…"

"That's allright, young lady. You'd might as well mean that," he winked. "Makes life simpler when you're as young and pretty as you all are."

Raven hid a slight blush---not so much out of embarrassment, but rather something queerly akin to shame. "Well, just know that we're all quite thankful for your hospitality. It's not something we really expected…"

"Funny thing about life…," Feldman said, "…when you keep trying to expect things, the only stuff that happens to you is bad. When it rains, it pours…and there're so many people so deep in their own crap in this world that all they do is put on raincoats instead of jumping into the puddles and laughing. Once you've been where I've been---in the Sun and in the rain---you realize after seeing both sides that you can't live without both. You can't truly experience life as expected shit or as unexpected glory. There's a lot to be said about dichotomy in this ever-complex age of 'post-modern' bridge-gapping. And who am I to dictate? Well, I'm one of those few fossils that are older than post-modernism itself! HA!"

Raven couldn't help but smirk slightly. He had his wife's laugh. "And here I was thinking you were just a simple-minded old fart working as a Wal-Mart greeter."

"Well, you got one part right," he smiled and winked. "I'm an old fart!"

"And what about working for Wal-Mart?"

"Working?? Does an ox work for a plow?" He chuckled so infectiously, the stoic girl had to join him.

He cast the line again into the fish-less lake.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Thanks for joining us in grabbing up some grub, Noir."

I stared at a wall.

"Noir??"

I snapped out of my train of thought and looked over.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were in the same aisle of the general store as me. We had spent the last thirty minutes walking out of 'Little View' cottages and to the nearby store. A shack of a place with its one claim to civilization being the presence of an A/C unit. It was rather adventurous that we chose to go there for foodstuffs to begin with.

"You okay, Noir?" Cyborg smirked and nudged my shoulder. "You seem distracted, man."

I shrugged. The images of FBI tire tracks faded in my mind.

"Pfft!! Probably daydreaming of that Supergirl poster again!" Beast Boy squealed.

I frowned from under my shades and almost dropped what I forgot I was carrying. Two boxes of pop tarts.

"Careful, buddy!" Cyborg said. "That stuff's golden, I tell you!"

I blushed, nodded, and dropped it down in the basket Beast Boy was carrying.

"Dudes!" Beast Boy made a face. "I don't think this general store is all that great. The expiration date on the pop-tarts is two months old!"

I shrugged…I smirked.

"They haven't been open, B.B.," Cyborg muttered as he looked through cereals and syrup containers placed oddly together. "They're fine!"

"Just how can pop-tarts have expiration dates anyways? Do they like—explode in your stomach or something?"

"Nothing for me to worry about," Cyborg smirked. "Titanium-lining to my abdominal cavity. I could belch forth a grenade and be none the wiser."

Beast Boy squinted a green eye of suspicion. "Say….j-just how do you digest food anyways?" He glanced hesitantly at the android's smooth, seamless, metal posterior. "It's not like you have a um……have a……er…."

Cyborg placed his hands on his hips.

I chuckled breathily.

Beast Boy sweatdropped and readjusted his grip to the basket's handle. "Just how do you do it?"

"Quite simple," Cyborg shrugged. He smirked. "Perfected, actually. All solid foodstuffs I consume run down an artificial esophagus, then are sent into a synthetic enzyme application chamber, and finally run through a series of elastic cylinders that extract all of the remaining nutrients and discharges the unprocessed waste in a manner ten and a half times more efficient than a natural human."

"Uhhhh," Beast Boy blinked. "Discharged where, exactly?"

CHTUNG!

A compartment in Cyborg's forearm popped open and an aluminum tube slid out halfway.

"The Multi-Purpose Excretory Tube," the android Titan pointed in perfect nonchalance as he spoke: "Bodily wastes, fluids, battery acid, lubrication…it all comes out of here and—when available—the Waste Depository Chute that's custom built into the walls of my laboratory—"

"Ewwwww!!" Beast Boy flinched so hard, he nearly dropped the basket of goods. "Y-You mean to tell me th-that you poop through your arm?!?!"

Cyborg bit his lip and his eyes trailed. "Well…technically, it's not 'poop' per say. The synthetic enzymes employed by my systems produces a chemical product in the end which contrasts human waste by about twenty-five factors, among which include ninety-eight percent less bacteria, meticulous carbon breakdown, internally supplied dissolving acids—"

"Okay…can ya like….I dunno….put your hand away before you projectile fart or something?!"

"Hahaha!" Cyborg laughed. "I haven't passed gas in over six years, B.B. You gotta learn to be less paranoid."

"Dude!! All the times we've arm-wrestled!! That's freakin' crazy!!" The green elf quivered. "That's it, I am NOT eating these pop-tarts!! I have CLEARLY associated traumatic knowledge with their existence! Noir, put them back. Put them back, now!"

I chuckled and shook my head.

"Oh…like you're any cleaner!" Cyborg glared down at him with a smirk. "Tell me, out of all the multiple animal digestive systems you've 'had' over half of your life, name one that is anywhere near clean as my system!"

"Pigeon!!"

"HA!"

There was a dinging sound from the front of the store as Robin entered in his t-shirt and khaki slacks and walked over. "What's this about pigeon bowels?"

Beast Boy pointed. "Cyborg's showing us all his tube!! You gotta stop him, dude!"

"Oh, that thing!" Robin smirked and raised and eyebrow over his mask. "I thought I smelled something."

Cyborg frowned. "Impossible, Robin. I've been through this with you before. The chemical treatment especially singles out odor-causing strings of polycarbons and—"

"Yeah yeah," Robin nodded and looked at us three collectively. "Any of you see Star?"

"Nuh uh," Beast Boy shook his head.

I shrugged.

CHTUNG! "Didn't she go out on a walk or something?"

"Yeah…she did," Robin nodded and scratched his chin. "She hasn't come back yet."

"So she walked out on you…so what?" Beast Boy blinked. "Girls do that."

Robin glared, then said: "I'm serious. She's seemed really down and out today."

"Yeah…," Cyborg nodded. "And just what was up with the near-disaster scene earlier today? After the bus and the exploding truck and all…the two of you seemed rather………how should I put it…."

I gestured.

"Yeah…," Cyborg smirked. "'Conspiratorial'."

"It's got something to do with those 'FBI' guys, I bet," Beast Boy smirked. "You and Star worried about something?"

"Perhaps…," Robin said…his gaze lingering.

"Wanna talk about it, Robin?" Cyborg's human eye blinked.

"Nah. I'll just wait for her and stuff. While you all've been shopping around, Raven's off talking to that Feldman guy from Wal-Mart. I was stuck with nothing to do."

"Well stay here and help us out!" Cyborg grinned. "We're halfway through getting tomorrow's breakfast!"

"Nuh uh! We're starting over!" Beast Boy frowned and shoved the two boxes back into my arms. "I ain't eating no 'poop tarts' tomorrow!"

Robin chuckled and gave into the scene.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

That evening, as night fell and the mountains settled with cold air through the pines, the six of us gathered separately in the large room with the fireplace. A warm flame was flickering from within the mantle. A spark screen was partially unfolded so that an old fashioned popcorn kettle rested in the tongues of heat from the end of a long handle Cyborg gently held steady from a few feet away with pot holders.

Beast Boy huddled behind him. The room was dark, save for the flickering fury of the fireplace that gently warmed us. Outside, the night was pitch black. Dead as the mountains.

"Dude….I'm telling you….those kernels are as old and as expired as everything else that store had!!" Beast Boy hissed. Everyone was in the mood to whisper…including the enthusiastic elf. "No way in a million years are they gonna pop!"

"One of the rules of trading your flesh in for a pile of moving, pivoting junk….," Cyborg whispered, tonguing his lips as he delicately hovered the body of the kettle over the flame. "….is that you learn to respect old and seemingly dysfunctional things. Just because what I'm doing here isn't sate of the art….or just because the corn wasn't exactly born yesterday….it doesn't mean it won't work, man! You gotta learn patience! Before patience learns you…you get it?"

"No."

"Pfft! Why do I even bother!"

"I know! Pop your tube open and aim it towards the flame! That'll make it hotter!! Hehehehehe!!"

Cyborg whispered: "Better yet, how about you turn into sheep and we toss the whole thing in!!"

"Dude! Is that a threat?"

"No! It's a recipe!!"

Beast Boy stuck his tongue out. "You know…sometimes, I swear, you're like a cruel big brother!"

"Got the 'big' part right," Cyborg smirked.

I smiled from where I sat. Across the way. Barely inside the warm halo of the fire's glow. I had Myrkblade standing between my legs, its bladed tip twirling in the floor. I was gently sharpening and polishing it. Something which—on any other occasion—would have been a dull chore. But that evening…there was something tranquil about it. Something reminiscent. Relaxing. I went about the task quietly…slowly letting my shaded eyes drift about the room.

Naturally, the first thing I saw was Raven. Sitting towards the far end. She was curled up---quite girlishly---into the crook of an easy chair that seemed almost to swallow her. She had a book in her grasp—her ninth, I gathered—and seemed quite pleased. I could read it off her stoic face…like an invisible grin trying not to break out and yet trying to the entire time. Gone was her lotus position…her meditative position of trademark. She was simply…..relaxing.

I had to admit, Raven seemed to have been changing on us. As much as the vacation was concerned. I reminded myself that it was likely only a temporary thing. There was no imminent evil for her to deal with…for her to balance her powers in preparation for. She didn't immediately need to especially select which personality govern which gift or which emotion could most easily slip through or whatever. She was suspended in a limbo of inaction…and all she could do was read and read and read and read.

And be at peace.

But there was one thing about her changes that I knew would not change. And that was the simple fact that—as a result of the curse placed upon her during conception—she simply could not get too close to any of her Titan friends. And as fate would have it, that meant something to me. And she made a point of stating it when we were alone at the boardwalk. And I hadn't realized before how much my respect for her character and my admiration for her maturity made me want to….to know her more. And perhaps….perhaps even to….

I bit my lip.

I shook my head, sighed, and continued with Myrkblade.

Raven was…………..happy. At least, the happiest I've ever seen the dark Titan. Who was I to affect that tranquil balance?

I glanced to my right—more forlornly than I anticipated I would—and looked upon Robin and Starfire. Sitting side by side. Alone on a couch.

I could almost make out their conversation….

"Where was the last place that you saw him?"

"In a clearing of the woods, not far from here….," Starfire mumbled. The two of them were whispering. "He seemed so at peace when I looked upon him. And at the same time…so fearful. So helpless. Much like the creatures he was feeding by hand."

Robin asked: "And when you stepped out to greet him?"

She sighed. "He reverted back to his angry self."

"You keep calling him 'angry'. Is that important? I mean…h-he hasn't been threatening your or anything has he—"

"Oh no, Robin!" she said a little too loudly…then hushed herself. She cleared her throat and continued back on a whispering level: "No. Nothing of the sort has transpired. All I mean to say is….he has a fury that is most striking for his age. And if he is what I think he is, then it is most striking of his type too."

"Not all kids are happy-go-lucky during their preteen years," Robin shrugged. A beat. "You got a really good look at him this time?"

"Yes, Robin."

"And you got close to him?"

"Yes, Robin."

"So…..is he Tamaranian?"

Starfire nodded. Her hand lingered around her heart. "I have no qualms whatsoever about such a suspicion. Only…."

"Only what, Star?"

"I….we….! We, Robin! We must find out where he is hiding! We must track him down! I can sense that he is alone. So very alone. And he is also frightened and sad…though he is not willing to admit. He uses that anger of his as a form of strength. Can you believe me when I tell you that he does not even know how to fly?"

Robin blinked at her from beneath his eyemask. "That's a big shocker with your people, isn't it, Star? The whole 'no-flying' thing?"

"Absolutely!" the Tamaranian girl nodded. "It is an atrocity in and of itself! We must find a way to help him!"

Robin smiled. "Looks like not even you can take a vacation, Star."

She pouted. "Robin…I am most adamant about this boy's safety."

"How do we know that he's in trouble?!" the Boy Wonder whispered loudly with a shrug. "Maybe he's on a fact-finding tour from outer space just like you and doesn't want any intrusions?!"

"Shhhh!" Raven hissed from across the way. She turned back to her book and re-cuddled herself into the crook of the chair.

Starfire leaned in and whispered into Robin's ear. "According to Tamaranian culture…a boy his age has not even entered into the Luukarg dru Thagabork yet."

"The whatsit?"

"Liken unto an earthling's 'Age of Accountability'."

"Oh."

"Unless the laws of my people have changed since I came to earth, there is no possible way he could be visiting this planet on his own."

"Then the only other option—howbeit improbable—is to assume he's either here with someone else…."

"Or forced to be here against his will….," Starfire bit her lip.

Robin glanced down at their legs. Their feet dangling off the couch's edge. Starfire's were closer to the floor. Robin's were trying to catch up….or catch down. Their ankles looked identical otherwise—courtesy of Wal-Mart bought socks.

"I tell you what, Star…," Robin looked up and smiled. "Tomorrow morning…take me to where you last saw him. We'll search for him together. We'll track him down, I promise."

Starfire gasped with joy and clasped her hands together. "Robin! Will you truly assist me in such an endeavor?"

"Of course, Star! Anything for my best friend."

"But where would we start to look?"

"We'll think of it as the situation goes along…," Robin said. "I am the tutor of the Western Hemisphere's greatest detective after all…" He must have winked under his mask.

Starfire's eyes were moist as she literally dove across the couch and hugged the Boy Wonder. "Oh Robin…I am most grateful for your support! My hopes have been lifted now by a marvelous degree! Thank you very much!"

He patted her shoulder. "Don't mention." He coughed. "And do spare me my lungs…I'll need them for snoring tonight."

She blushed and released her loving death-grip. "'My badness'," she chirped. "I will….s-save the hugging for morningtime, I think."

"Works for me."

I smiled at the two of them. I slowly stood up, twirled a good-as-new Myrkblade, and slung it over my shoulder. I gestured with one hand a sentence fragment to Cyborg as I walked over him and Beast Boy.

"Again???" the android remarked. "At this hour??"

I shrugged.

"You're always going on walks, man. I swear," he shook his head. "Oh well. Just don't make too much noise when you come back. Handling the T-Car all day has gotten me pooped…I'm sorry to admit. I'll be hitting the sack soon after the popcorn."

"You mean…the T-Car after a full day has gotten you 'tubed'," Beast Boy corrected.

"Man…you don't know what you're talkin' about!"

"Sure I do! You taught it all to me today! Showed it, even! You're like the Mr. Wizard of fecal matter!"

"Hardy har har."

I rolled my black eyes and headed for the door. Halfway there, I glanced at the chair.

Raven was asleep. The book was spread out against the gentle rise and fall of her petite tummy. Her mouth was slightly open and her bangs dropped around the gem of her chakra that reflected the dancing orange of the warm fireplace.

Even minutes later when I was outside the cabin in the cool mountain air of the dark night…that image stayed with me for the next two hours at least.

I sighed.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Well into two hours later that night…

A black body rolled up the asphalt path of the 'Little View' Cottages. It had a low rumbling roar. A truck with its headlights off. Four doors. One driver and one passenger.

The vehicle went up the hill…and ambled to a stop just outside a cabin where a silver and blue convertible was parked.

Cut engine.

Silence.

The two men stared out at the house. Their eyes squinted in the darkness. The nearby mountains blotted out a great deal of starlight.

One lifted a radio: "Found 'em," he whispered while he pressed a button down on the receiver. "Fifth cabin up. The Titans all right. Likely retired for the evening. Over."

He released the button.

A beat.

"Any sign the alien girl is with them?" A voice on the radio. Booker's voice.

"Can't tell," the one replied. "At least we know where to monitor the whole of them. By tomorrow morning, we should have a fix on where she is or where she goes. Over."

A beat.

"What do you want us to do, sir?"

"Bug the place."

"Roger that. We'll return."

"Be quick about it."

The truck hummed to life.

"Well….more babysitting," the driver mused.

The one in the passenger seat smirked.

As the truck stealthily looped around the asphalt, the two men inside were oblivious to a shadow in the line of pine trees to the side. A figure as black as smoke itself. With two black eyes naked and observant. And ears pricked. The entire time.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"I flew directly over this area of the woods…," Starfire said. The next morning, she and Robin were setting out through the pine forest from the rear of Little View. She walked, climbed, and jumped her way through the foliage. She slowed down every now and then—keeping to her feet—so that the Boy Wonder could stay with her. "It was not long into my midair trek that I stumbled across him," she said. A gentle breeze kicked at her hair and long-sleeved shirt. "I find it rather fascinating that—after such a split in our paths previous—we met each other not too far away from our different destinations."

"Maybe it's that 'Tamaranian Energy' thingy," Robin said, negotiating a log and hopping over to join the redhead's side. "Perhaps it was some sort of force that brought you two together?"

"That is a fantastical assumption," Starfire nodded. Her green eyes trailed. "Howbeit…nothing more than a theory at this point."

Robin looked at her. "Do you….'sense' him now?"

She shook her head. "Here…," she gestured and took Robin by the hand as she hurried forward. "I will show you where we met!"

"Okay…," he nodded.

She led him through the forest. Trailing around trees. Weaving through high grass. Birds and other mysterious living things parted in the air above them. The scene had the making of magic. The hidden capillaries of North Carolina and emerald blood. They were too focused to admit to themselves the electricity in the air.

"Here….," Starfire softly said, releasing hold of Robin's hand and walking gently into the center of the sunlit clearing. "This is where he was…," she spoke, her hands clasped together. "For an instant, he seemed so gentle. He was feeding those bushy-tailed tree rats…"

"You mean squirrels?"

"Yes…those fuzzies."

Robin knelt in front of a pine tree and squinted through his eyemask. "What sort of stuff was he feeding them?"

Starfire thought aloud, her eyes trailing the bright sky above. "It was a fine sort of feed. Almost like seeds. Most ample for birds to consume…."

"Like this?" Robin held a handful of bright yellow kernels.

Starfire gasped and cupped his hand with hers. "Yes! That is exactly the material he was offering them! And it was at this tree too…."

Robin glanced at the forest floor. "There's…..a trail. Not obvious, but a slight trail nonetheless. It seems to tell which way he was headed. Let me guess," he looked up at Starfire and pointed northward. "That direction?"

She nodded. "Though…I-I lost him when he finally sprinted into the forest."

Robin crouched down even lower. He parted blades of grass with his hands and looked at the soil.

"Did you catch the type of shoes he was wearing? Or was he wearing any shoes?"

"Yes….but….," Starfire bit her lip. "I am uncertain as to what type…"

A beat.

Robin uttered: "Hiking boots?"

Starfire blinked. She smiled. "Why….yes! I remember now!" She spun around. "How did you gue---" she froze.

Robin smiled. He pointed at a print he had just found in the soil. "The game's afoot."

"So I have taken notice of…," she blinked.

"Lemme guess," he stood up…dusting his hands off and looking at a scattered trail of boot prints leading into the woods. "You were floating a good deal of the time you talked with him?"

She nodded.

"So…I'm gonna assume they're not your tracks. And if they lead in the same direction as the animal feed….we might be on track with something here."

"Oh Robin, I do hope so…," Starfire sighed.

"Come on," he smirked and walked ahead while gesturing for her to follow. "We've got a prey to quarry!"

She gasped. "Robin! We are not going to skewer and eat any innocent young boys!"

He chuckled. "Not on my quarry, we're not. Just a figure of speech, Star."

And the two scampered off on the trail.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I whistled to myself.

I stood on a tree stump on the side of the hill sloping down from our cabin.

I was fiddling around with an antenna set from the old, broken down t.v. that Beast Boy and I had found inside of an abandoned closet inside the place we were staying. I was using pieces of wire to skewer the gadgetry inside. A mysterious project that—seemingly—only I had an inclination of a meaning to.

"If I didn't know better…," uttered Cyborg's voice from behind me, "…I'd say you were up to something."

I looked up at him, still whistling. I smiled and winked a black eye beneath my shades and continued with my handiwork.

Cyborg smirked and placed a hand on his hip. "Some vacation this has been for you. Ever since we left the Tower, you've been going on walks…meditating on your own…and now you're playing Radar with pieces of tinfoil. What's up with you?"

I shrugged, whistled, and continued my work.

"I never thought you were the type, Noir…," the android folded his arms. "Workaholic. Can't relax unless you're not relaxing!"

I placed my project down on my lap momentarily and hand-signed.

"Robin and Star?" Cyborg rubbed the human part of his head. "Your guess is as good as mine! They just went off walking into the forest together. Like nothing else in the world mattered."

A beat.

He smirked devilishly and looked at me. "Say….you don't think that those two—"

I made a mock look of shock on my face and shook my head emphatically.

Cyborg rolled his human eye.

I chuckled and returned to my rewiring.

"Man…even Raven's gotten the nomadic spirit. She went walking as soon as she got up. There're too many loners in our team. I swear. But…oh well. Guess as long as we're all having fun or relaxing, then this trip has been well worth it. Makes me wonder if my Uncle's working his ass off at Phaser Labs. Heh…he must be hating me by now."

Silence.

I whistled…working.

Cyborg glanced at me. He blinked. He cleared his throat and uttered: "Uh….Noir. I've been thinking. Things have been changing lately…or so I've noticed. And I don't want to appear like I'm ignorant or something. But……about y-you and Raven…"

Snnkkt!!

I pulled a copper wire tightly with a jerk so sudden it even made Cyborg jump.

I took a long deep breath, tilted my head up, and stared at him with a plastic grin.

He sweatdropped…cleared his throat…and stepped back. "N-Nevermind…"

I nodded. My grin left. I stood up briskly, pocketed half of the antenna-thing, and picked up Myrkblade from the earth. Whistling as innocently as I had when Cyborg approached me, I wandered northward…through the woods…along a beaten path.

The android sighed. "Dammit…when will you wake up, Beast Boy?" he mumbled and marched back to the cabin.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

As Raven walked by the pond, a breeze had struck. A few strands of moss and leaves fluttered down and landed on the clear, gray waters. It was like fall three months early.

The girl hugged herself. It was mere minutes after her meditation…and things still operated on a tranquil 'high' in her mind. The universe always looked crystal clear directly following meditation. She never bragged about it to her friends. Because sometimes it was as much of a curse as it was a blessing.

That morning, it was a mix. She was looking for something to break a mold. And that something turned out to be a person.

And that person wasn't there.

The edge of the pond was blank. Empty.

Raven sighed.

"Looking for someone??" an amused voice said from the side.

Raven pivoted around. Her stone, blue eyes noticed a cabin straight across from the part of the asphalt facing the pond. It was a pure white cabin. Whitewashed on the outside. As if Tom Sawyer had operated a convention against the shingles. On the porch a few feet off, two figures sat and lazily swung on a seat. Susan and Jared Feldman.

The two of them waved, elderly grins reflecting the rising daylight.

Raven took a breath. She drifted over…her jacketed hands swinging and her pantlegs swishing as she came to a stop by the railing of the porch and graced the two innkeepers.

"Hi…"

"That all you have to say, child?" Susan smirked, her double-chin scrunching. "I dare say…you're quite the depressing type."

Raven blinked. "You wouldn't be surprised at how many people say that."

"Had breakfast yet, young one?"

She nodded. "We went to the general store near the entrance. The boys found some…..edible things. It was a nice morning. Thanks again for the place to stay."

"My…she covers all bases, doesn't she?" Susan looked at Jared.

The man swung on the seat with her wife. He grinned and squinted his eyes. "That's her job I think, honey. Isn't it, Miss Raven?"

"I do what I must to protect my teammates," Raven said. "It's my primary concern."

"Among saving innocent citizens, no doubt."

Raven nodded. "No doubt."

Silence.

A phone rang from inside.

"Ah!" Susan jumped up onto the porch's patio floor. "Better get it! Could be a reservation. Never know!"

"We haven't had a telephone registration in years…honey….," Jared rolled his eyes.

Raven smirked slightly.

"Well, then maybe it's a beauty consultant!" Susan waddled into the open door of the house.

Jared mumbled something incoherent, snapped out of it, then smirked pleasantly as he motioned for Raven to make herself at home.

She slowly stepped up onto the porch and sat on a wooden stool across from the swinging seat.

"Got something on your mind?" he leaned back and swung…

"My mind….," Raven blinked. "That is something far too complex to explain to my own friends. Much less an average citizen."

"Oh….," Feldman chuckled. "My, how big of you!"

"It's not much to be proud of…," Raven droned. "I would….r-rather not get into it."

"That is fine," he nodded…gazing at her through the corner of clamshell eyes. "Your type is always mysterious, so I'd leave it be."

But she managed to utter: "Basically….I must live with the constant threat of what my powers could do to my friends if I were not to keep my 'big mind' under surveillance."

"How fascinating…," he scratched his rubbery, gray chin. "And am I one to guess that….you've been innocent of this threat so far?"

Raven was silent.

"Or am I wrong?"

"Neither…," Raven exhaled. She rubbed her elbows through her jacket and looked off at the patio floor. "My friends….th-they have come close to seeing the true dangers of my powers. Thankfully, though, nobody has been dreadfully hurt. And yet….."

"And yet…."

She looked up at the man. "Why am I even telling this to you?"

He smirked and shrugged. "Could I bite the dust tomorrow? Maybe. Go on with your life story. I'm interested, if that means anything."

She squinted.

He smiled.

She shook her head, sighed, and said: "At this point…I feel so relaxed…and yet so tense."

"Vacations do that to you. At least in America they do."

"It's something along those lines," Raven blinked. "And yet something different. Something that's been growing over time."

"A sense of responsibility?"

"Or retribution," Raven nodded. "Everyone these days are telling me to relax. To become friendlier. To get closer to my friends. And yet….to do that, I must keep considerable distance so as not to threaten them with my powers."

The man swung on the chair. "So you've chosen a middle way?"

"Sort of." Her eyes closed.

A beat.

"And are you happy with it?"

Another pause.

Her eyes opened and focused on the old man. "I don't do happy."

He smiled. "Of course you don't."

"…….," she stared at him. A beat. She stared back at the floor.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"He has parents?"

"Or so it sounded like that was affirmative," Starfire nodded.

The two Titans wandered alone along a forested path of obscure boot prints and drops of animal feed. Robin was taking point, observing the clues and taking them both on a winding trail north.

"He specifically spoke of 'Mom' and 'Dad'," Starfire said. "He assumed that I was intending to threaten them. As if I was representing evil people in his life."

"Like…."

"'Bad men' was all that he said," she remarked.

"…….," Robin glanced back. "Was he any more specific?"

"I am afraid not, Robin," she held her fingers together and looked sad. "But whoever it is that he is afraid of, he feels constantly threatened by them. Not just him, but his parents as well. It makes me most concerned."

"Well….you're not alone, Star."

"You too, Robin?"

He smiled. "If there's one thing I've learned from you…it's that when you have a concern, it's legitimate for the rest of us to be concerned about too."

"I see," she smiled. A beat. She blushed, "Is there a second thing y-you have learned from me?"

"Shh!" Robin suddenly hissed. He stretched his hand back and motioned her down.

She silently gasped and crouched down low. "Wh-What is it?"

"A house….," he whispered. A beat. "A cabin…"

She crept up and huddled behind the Boy Wonder. She gently placed her hands on his shoulders and peered over from behind his black head of hair.

Down through a rise in earth and trees, a small house rested and nestled between tall pines. The back yard was covered with a thick carpet of leaves. Gray, craggy rocks from the beginning mountain side jagged up from the ground and made the grass a very sparse thing. The house itself was a brown cabin of aesthetic quality. Next to it rested a shack of a run-down shed. But it was a large shed, and at one time it may have served as a carport for the days when private vehicles were as big and as heavy as tanks.

Squatting in the front of the house—tending to an ornate garden—were two people. A couple in their late thirties to mid forties. They murmured about something in the middle of their hobby's labor. Dark faces exchanged…smiling…chuckling about something or another. It was a pleasant occasion. A bonding moment.

Robin suddenly felt like he and Starfire were spying. Starfire—the emotional alien that she was—was enamored in the romantic scene.

"They….s-seem so happy…," she uttered. "Heeeeee."

"Um….I-I think we should go back and retrace our steps, Star. Star?? Star, you're leaning on me too much—Star! STAR!!"

"ACKIES!!"

"AAAUGH!!"

The two Titans tumbled loudly over the rise in earth, slid down the hill of dirt, and crashed loudly across the front lawn of leaves and pebbles.

"OOF!!"

"Owwwwiee…"

The couple jumped up immediately. The woman gasped and stumbled back. The man stood up, frowned, and marched over. He was still holding a small garden spade in his hand as he approached the grounded Titans and demanded: "What do you think you're doing?! Didn't you see the sign?! No trespassing!!"

Robin disentangled himself from Starfire, jumped up, and brushed himself off. "I-I'm dreadfully sorry, sir. If y-you would allow me to explain, you see….we—"

But the man's startled face cut the Boy Wonder off. He was staring pointedly at the Titan's eyemask with supreme suspicion.

"Listen….who are you?? What do you think you're doing here?!"

The woman walked over and gently gripped the man's arm. "Kevin…p-please…"

"Just stay back, Ruth…," he shrugged her back, angrily pointing his gardening tool at Robin. "Listen…you just go back to wherever you were sent from and tell Booker to stay the Hell off our backs! Leave us and the poor boy alone—"

His voice was cut short as Starfire stood up and slowly….slowly…sauntered forward into the light. An innocent expression on her green eyes as she blinked and looked up at the tall, dark man.

Kevin's eyes were wide. Rich and brown with surprise.

Behind him, Ruth covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my lord…."

Robin looked at Starfire….then back at the couple. His eyebrows lifted.

Kevin swallowed. He reached out blindly and hooked his arm's with his wife's as he managed a new voice to say: "You're…..You're that girl….aren't you?"

"I am?" Starfire blinked.

"The alien girl. The Titan. From the City!"

Slowly…the Tamaranian nodded.

"Um…..," Robin sweatdropped. "I'm Robin. With the Teen Titans. And this…..this is Starfire. S-Sorry for the nasty entrance. Again, I would love to try and explain—"

The couple walked past the baffled Boy Wonder and approached the redhead.

"Is it….really you?"

Starfire blushed….uncertain. Her green eye watched as Ruth's hand reached out and traced her green eyes and specks of eyebrows without touching them. Just as soon, the woman brought her hand to her lips again and tears formed in her eyes.

"Thank God…someone finally came…"

"I….I-I do not understand…," Starfire stammered. A beat. She gasped. "The boy! You know the boy!"

Kevin smiled a deep, rich smile. "Yes, young lady. We know the boy…"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Starfire sat on a richly decorated couch, a cup of tea in her grasp. She stared with parted lips at a series of photos lining the mantle to a fireplace. Images of a black couple with an amber-skinned boy of varying age and red hair joined with them. Some of the photos were simple posing photos. Photos in which the boy looked so stoical….so mature….so stale. But there was one photo…and Starfire judged it was from when the boy was barely seven…and he was smiling gleefully in a full-on tackle with the man named Kevin over an outrageously small football.

Sanderson. Kevin Sanderson. Kevin and Ruth Sanderson.

And this was their summer home….

"From the very beginning when we saw headlines showing the five Titans in action…," Ruth spoke from a piano bench across the living room, "…we knew for once that he wasn't the only of his kind. The great and heroic 'Starfire' was like a beacon of hope for us. A sign that we could find a future for our little pride and joy. Something that might bring a smile to his face…and ease to our hearts."

"You…..You've known that he's not human?" Robin asked. "That he's not of this earth?"

Ruth nodded. She looked up at Kevin.

Kevin stood at the edge of the mantle, leaning against its varnished body. He took a deep breath and said: "From a very young age…he could do things which normal children couldn't. When was the last time a first-grader could lift up half of a Volkswagen? Or outrun a biplane in the forest even? At first, we didn't know what to think. But…it's not like we had any basis to explain his….his 'talents' by…"

Starfire blinked. She finally snapped her gaze free of the pictures on the mantel and looked up at the couple. "How did he get here? How did he become a part of your family?"

Kevin couldn't help but smirk. "He fell from the sky."

Starfire gulped. "Did he truly….?"

Ruth nodded. "We were in our year-round home in Ohio. While driving on a country road…we saw something glowing in a nearby ditch. Kevin went to investigate. And….we found a vehicle of some sort. At first, we thought it was a fuselage of some crashed plane. But there was something inside. Much rather….someone. Thankfully, we had a truck. We could carry the person to safety. And that person turned out to be a young child…"

Robin couldn't help but smirk. "Sounds like another story I've once heard…"

Starfire glanced at him funny.

He sipped from his tea.

"Anyways….we could have told the authorities about it….but…the truth is, they beat us to the punch. We had FBI crawling all over our premises. Asking questions. Searching every nook and cranny…."

"It didn't smell right," Kevin frowned. "When we found the child, he was still and cold as a dead infant. We didn't want some black-suited punks from the government dissecting his little body apart. So…I took the liberty of hiding him in the old bomb shelter belonging to the family of the house before us. When the investigators left, Ruth and I went down into the cellar to take care of the body with a decent Christian burial—"

"Turns out…the child was alive," Ruth smiled brightly. "He was in…a sleep of sorts. Probably induced by the device he was in. We easily nursed him back to health…and in the matter of days we had a bouncing baby boy to take care of."

At the end of that part of the story, there was a solemn pause.

Robin and Starfire leaned forward.

"We….were not forgotten by the government's men…," Kevin said. "Or so it would seem. There's this one officer…a real mean type. He wouldn't get off our backs. He pressured us to reveal the boy…but we wouldn't give in. We knew if we so much as showed the boy's face to the general populace…they'd react and the FBI would find him. And that man would be leading the pack."

"What was his name, do you know?" Robin asked.

"Booker….," Kevin spat. "A sergeant, no less."

Starfire gasped and looked at Robin.

The Boy Wonder was silent. A poker face. "Please continue…," he said….sipping more tea.

"We home schooled the boy…," Ruth said, smiling. "Taught him everything we wanted to teach a child of our very own. And….well….he is a hard child to raise. I have admitted that before, and I will admit it again. We moved here to our summer home permanently because of how remote it is. But in doing so…we've had to hide him even more. He doesn't get to go out much. And beyond us…his social life is practically none."

"But we had no choice," Kevin said, gesturing. "Who could we ask for help? If the government was after him…"

"Does not leave you many options," Robin nodded.

"But so many things have happened in the last few years," Ruth spoke. "With alien awareness….the advent of heroes and extra-terrestrial citizens among us. Superman. Supergirl. Martian Manhunter…"

"And myself….," Starfire nodded.

Ruth went on, "…it seemed pointless to hide him still."

"Then why still do it?" Robin asked.

Ruth looked down.

Kevin walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. He gently looked over at the two Titans. "Booker….he never let up."

"Even when we considered making a trip to the Titans Tower…," Ruth spoke, "…we knew his men would catch us. With or without the boy….our son would still be at risk of being taken in….again."

Robin lifted an eyebrow. "Again?"

"You must help us…," Kevin insisted. "The boy is growing older. He is nearly thirteen. Soon, these woods and mountains won't be enough to hide him…for he will desire to break free. And Ruth and I cannot blame him. We've done all we could over the last decade to ensure his safety. But his future is not entirely ours to decide. Already we can sense the rugged independence growing inside of him. He longs for getting out. He goes on walks and treks through the forest no matter how many times we warn him not to. No matter how much he risks getting caught by Booker again. Now that you are here—" and Kevin looked more at Starfire than at Robin as he spoke this "—it's saved us the treacherous journey across the eyes of Booker and his men. Maybe we can hand our boy over so that you can take him to the Tower. To sanctuary. Anyplace that will ensure his recognition…and his safety."

Starfire took a deep breath. "His name…"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your son's name….," Starfire spoke. "What is it?"

"Novuhm…," Ruth smiled. "Or at least…that is how the discs pronounced it."

Starfire's green eyes narrowed. "Did you say….'discs'?"

Ruth and Kevin shared glances.

The mother stood up. "We'll show you…"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The dusty door to the shed creaked open.

Spiders scurried into cracks in the ceiling.

Light filtered in through a rain of falling needles and leaves as the doorway opened wide by Kevin's hands. The man walked into the shadows as the sun caught up with his feet.

Robin and Starfire slowly stepped in…followed by Ruth in the rear.

Kevin stood by a black tarp of sorts. He glanced at the Titans….paused (as if waiting for their approval)…and swiftly pulled the tarp off.

Robin's eyemask widened. "It….I-It's just like the pod in the cellar of the Tower." A beat. He looked over. "Like the thing you landed in, Star…"

The alien girl walked forward. "It is definitely Tamaranian in design." She ran her hand across the spherical, alien metal. "But….this style. This class of vessel. It is most antique. Something the likes of which my people have not crafted in a long, long time."

"How long?" Robin asked.

She didn't respond right away. She continued running her hand across the brazened metal. There were colorful designs of an impractical nature across the hull. It made her raise her red eyebrow specks. She looked at Kevin.

"Where are the disks located?" she asked.

"Over here…," he gestured to a stack of hay.

Starfire slowly sauntered over. There was a stack of obsidian disks atop the straw. Spherical writings with minute etches around the circumference lined the disks from edge to center and back again.

She picked one up and looked it over. Studying the unmistakable touch of Tamaranian writing. But…

"This is very ancient…," she muttered. "A language I was barely educated upon during my youth at home…"

A pause.

She looked up at Kevin again. "Was there a basin? A black basin of concave nature?"

"You mean the stuff that made the disks 'talk'?" Kevin asked.

Starfire nodded fervently.

Kevin walked over to another tarp and quickly hoisted the canvass off of what looked like a large, black bowl.

Robin and Ruth walked over and peered from behind the hull of the small space pod.

Starfire bent over the bowl, grasped the disk with two hands, and held it over. She took a deep breath. She let loose the disk with a spin. It clanked down onto the bowl and twirled like a thick black tornado. Both the bowl and the blurred etches in the spinning disk glowed a dim green that intensified as a humming vibration uttered forth spoken words in dripping, mechanical monotony:

"Jeruna da luku bladablock. Hehidana nu Tam'ran si blorkablag da X'hal. Kenkludabarg blork-sah reminardaye nu Tam'ran hremu Cit'del kormerant da vuun."

Starfire's green eyes narrowed and her ears pricked as she concentrated…trying to make sense out of the archaic babble drifting out. Robin watched her fixedly, his lips slightly parted.

The disk kept spinning…

"Larka sud. Byranna colderak-blarg nemerodakook si ferevuut nu Tam'ran da vuun ne-da X'hal. El-saman krackisblarg. Nermi di. Haverutuun Nova'm bar nud da Vieveret'm---"

Starfire exploded into a gasp. Two hands covered an exhaling mouth while her green eyes glowed bright and round in something akin to mix terror and shock.

"Star!!" Robin exclaimed. He'd never seen that look on her face before and it frightened him. He dashed over and grasped her shoulders. "Are you all-right?! What's wrong?! What did it say?!"

But she backed out of his grasp. Pale. Shaking. Glowing hot eyes of green brimming with tears.

"X'hal vree….," she murmured in her native language. "X'hal vree…..X'hal vree nu Tam'ran…."

Kevin and Ruth were speechless.

Robin swallowed. His throat was dry. "Star? Sp-Speak to me, Star. Please…."

"Th-This is sacred ground…," the Tamaranian girl was almost sobbing. She took a swift, deep breath and quickly positioned herself sitting up straight and crossing her arms across her chest in a fashion Robin immediately picked up as being religious or ritualistic in nature. The Tamaranian did something akin to a bow and a curtsy rolled into one, murmuring an ancient chant and hiding back the green tears collecting at her eyes.

"What is it about our boy?" Ruth asked as she and Kevin held each other apprehensively. "What does the disk say about Novuhm?"

"Nova'm…," Starfire pronounced. "Nova'm, the fourth child and first-born son of king Vieveret'm. A prince of valor and beautiful destiny. He was the last male born in the line of the Por'm Dynasty, the reigning monarchy of the Virgin Age of Tamaran. Right before the Citadelians invaded with the first wave of Gordanian mercenaries during the Hundred Year Holocaust of Vega." She looked up with moist eyes of honor and sorrow mixed into a bitter sweet passion. "Tamaranian Legend…spoken down to the youngest of children in the amber household…tells of an intergalactic ark that carried Prince Nova'm as an infant safely out of the Vegan star system in time to avoid the bloody holocaust that ended the Virgin Age that so many of my people look upon with romantic fervor and religious admiration under the exaltation of the goddess X'hal for our deliverance from the Galactic Holocaust."

Robin blinked under his mask. He glanced over at the pod. "You mean to say…th-that this thing here….and their son carried inside of it…..i-is one hundred years old?"

Starfire gulped. "In earth terms…the accurate measurement would be closer to three hundred and seventy five years old."

"Frozen stasis…," Robin murmured. "It had to be the only way that Nova'm….," A beat. He looked at Starfire, "I can say 'Nova'm', right? It's not too sacred or anything?"

She was touched by his caution and respect. She smiled for the first time since she entered the mysterious shed and it warmed her up. "It is a beautiful name for a beautiful prince….," she blinked away a few forming tears and looked over at the Sandersons with clasped hands. "…and a beautiful son."

They were speechless. They held each other.

Starfire took a shuddering breath. "This boy….is a relic. He is an icon of my people. And it pains me…it pains me so much to think…," she closed her wet eyes and drew a hand over her chest. "….t-to think that he is blind to the glory that reigns inside of him."

"We had no idea….," Ruth murmured. "He's just our little Novuhm…"

"You gave him the best thing you could have," Robin said. "A home….and a loving family."

"Indeed," Starfire smiled. A beat. "Where is Nova'm now?"

At the last second, the Tamaranian realized she had spoken too soon. The burning in her body increased. She felt it the hottest from behind her. She was already turning around as bounding feet sounded off against the soft grown and a nubile figure scampered in through the open doorway of the shed.

"Mom! D-Dad! I-I think somebody's here! It looks like two people fell near the s-side of the house----" Nova'm froze.

Starfire was staring straight at him. Her face wet. Her lips parted.

Robin was silent…nervously twitching his fingers.

Nova'm blinked. Bright green eyes. A youthful face. A youthful body. Innocent and strong at the same time. A furious prince and a scared angel. His frown was missing once again as he looked confusedly at Starfire…at his parents…and at Starfire again.

The girl knew of only one thing to do.

She bowed low…low….to the ground.

And Nova'm's face contorted.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Outside of the Sanderson's yard…a good twenty feet down the dirt road that led through their chickenwire gate stretching across the forest, the black pickup truck sat. A white satellite/radaresque dish was being aimed out the window by the main in the driver's seat. He had headphones on…and by means of a device being tweaked on by the fellow in the passenger's seat, the conversation of the shed had been clearly picked up.

"Did you get all that?" the headphoned man muttered.

"Yup…recorded down to the whisper."

"Good. Let's get the Hell out of here and report it to Booker so he can get off our asses."

"I swear…he doesn't pay us enough to do this nowadays."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Dunkin Donuts?"

"Nah, man. IHOP."

"Deal."

VROOOOM!

The truck rolled away. And as it did, the sun glinted off a makeshift device that had been stealthily planted in a strategic spot behind the passenger compartment of the vehicle. It was what looked like a half-disected t.v. antenna with copper wires funneling out of it.

Off in the distance, hidden behind trees, I knelt in the undergrowth with ghetto headphones planted securely over my ears. Late morning sunlight glinted off my glasses as I stared at the retreating truck.

I blinked.

It had been easy pirating Slade's signals back in the day…

But FBI agents?

I took the headphones off, stood up, and straightened the scabbard of Myrkblade hanging over my chest.

These men were sloppy. Disorganized. And everything they—and their main man Booker—did was against the rules.

I sighed, turned around, and disappeared through smoke into the air. Invisible.

These men were no government agents….

Not at all…