DISCLAIMER
Yeah, I've been given time-off AT LAST! Lol, so I'm back to making more chapters! Though, of course, I'm making about ten at a time, so please be patient. (sweatdrops) Oh, and I'm still accepting profiles, even if I AM being a little slow with this story right now. So just send them in if you wanna!

Chapter 9: Connection

Walking down the hallway after some weeks of residing in the big T Tower building, Rose gets the feeling that she's being watched. Again. She lightly shakes her head before lowering it below her shoulders to show that she's irritated, walking faster to her given room.

"Think she knows she's bein' watched?" Lara asks as she looks at Anna, Tess and BB.

"Just a bit," said Beast Boy with a grin. "Look, we've been watching her for days already, and she isn't gonna turn into her human form, guys, if she does have one! Why don't ya give up?"

"Hey, she reminds me of something, and I need to know why..." Tess said with a slight growl.

"And because of her lack of information of herself, she's just really suspicious," Anna said as she crosses her arms.

"Alright, alright, sheesh..." BB sighs. "So what do you suppose we do now? She's in her room once more, not to come out for anything."

"Hm..." Anna suddenly brightens up with an idea. "BB, can ya turn into a bug or something to fit under the doors??"

"Um, there isn't much room beneath those doors. But..." He now looks thoughtful. "Maybe if we plan it right, I can get to be inside her room with her not knowing."

"Yeah!"

"Let's get away from here and plan this out then," Lara intercepts, all of them nodding as they scuttle off to some unknown corner of the building.

Meanwhile, with everyone else in the living room...

"Man, Blake certainly keeps staring at Raven, doesn't he?"

"I think it's more at the jewel she has on her forehead," Robin replies to Cyborg as he makes a sandwich for himself. Indeed, the conser in human form is staring intently at Raven's forehead as she tries so hard to concentrate on meditating.

"...Do you mind?" she finally said as she opens an eye to look at the very interested Blake, who's wide-eyed as though he's admiring something.

"You have a shiny on your forehead, I can't help it!"

"Greeeeaaaat... Someone who could very well be a kleptomaniac when it comes to jewels..." Raven grumbles as she pulls the hood of her cloak over her head to hide the jewel. She doesn't particularly want the conser continue to stare at her or try to attempt to take it off. It just isn't going to happen.

"I'm just drawn to shiny stuff, sue me," Blake said as he shrugs, now looking bored.

"I bet you steal them, too," inputs Jesse, who laughs. She probably shouldn't have laughed while drinking her soda, for she ends up choking on the thing for a minute.

"Sometimes," he replies while whistling innocently.

"And those two just isn't gonna leave now, are they?" Cyborg sighs, motioning to Jessie and Mira, who are happily playing a video game.

"It's not like we can let them go anytime soon. Jessie still needs to spill who's she was working for," Robin said with a shrug. "And she doesn't look like she's going to bust out of here anytime soon, so it's all good right now. Don't know about her friend though..."

"I'm warning you, if you don't die soon, I'll kill you!" she cries as she pushes at buttons rapidly, trying to beat Jessie's character down.

"Ha ha, you wish!"

"Admittingly, though, they do have a great time fighting each other. At least they put up a fight on the game," said Cyborg thoughtfully.

"Anything to keep them occupied, really. Jessie can't really go and rummage through our stuff for these supposed plans..."

"Too true. And we can't just let her go off, anyhow."

"Heeeeellooooo everyone!" Anna said as she and Tess walk into the room. She's as cheerful as ever, and Tess is silent. As ever.

"Well, someone looks like they're gonna get a early Christmas present," comments Robin. "What's up?"

"Weeeeell, we're gonna find out the cheetah's name, and maybe even her human form!" said Anna with a great big grin.

"Why the heck are you so interested in that cat?" Cyborg questions. "I mean, it's not like once you seen her human form (IF any), she'll answer to your demands."

"But we dun even know her name! And I wanna know who helped me out!"

"Then you're goin' about it the wrong way," Blake sighs. "You do know that spying on her for her name and human-like form would only have her shut herself from you even more, right?"

"From the guy that picked a fight with a complete stranger," replies Tess with a small smirk.

"Eh… I just know how spying would go bad when you're tryin' to get to know a person…"

"Meh, I still gonna find out one way or another," said Anna. She is giving Blake's words a lot of thought, but if the cat really is who she thinks it is, then she has nothing to worry about. "Besides, she's never gonna tell us, so I can just make sure she knows that it's her fault as well!"

"As you say… Good luck, then."

Night falls at last for the day, and Anna, Lara and BB are still planning their strategy on finding out the cheetah's real identity. But for the said being, she's out on the rooftop, finally in her human form. But it's a different look than it would be thought of. Her hair is brown and long, reaching her waist as it somehow manages to avoid the wings' feathers. The hair and feathers normally would be tangled together, but she somehow manages to keep it not tangled. Her eyes are deep brown, the black cheetah stripes under her eyes showing off the whites of the said eyes. But what seems to attract more attention is the big scar in the middle of her face, the center of the gash just above her nose, and the ends reaching the eyebrows, and the side of her stripes. It couldn't be seen before, since the fur actually covered the scar. She still has the glove on her right hand, so nothing more could be seen of what's under it.

"Huh. So this is what you look like?" she hears behind her, and she turns her head slightly to look at Blake. "Whoa, some scar. Makes you look tough."

"….I suppose…." she said while looking back at the forest. She somehow doesn't mind Blake knowing about her more human form. "...What brought you up to the roof, anyway...?

"Jus' felt like it," Blake replies while sitting down a few feet away. "So... You're really over a hundred years old?"

"...Over four thousand years of age..."

"Wow. Almost as old as I am."

"Really...?" She almost didn't sound impressed. Blake laughs at how she keeps her face straight and her voice bleak. Of course making her raise an eyebrow at what's so funny for him. "Something amusing?"

"You're a strange one." Rose finally has a look of confusion on her face as though saying, "I'm the strange one?" "It's like you have nothing to be cheerful about for your life. It makes you more interesting than someone that's happy with their life."

"Oh really? How you mean by when you say interesting...?"

"It means that there's an air of mystery around you, being that you always want to hide out in the shadows as a feline. I don't even know your name, nor does anyone else around here, which means you are cautious. You're even wearing only one glove like you're hiding something. It'd be interesting to find out what made you this way, but of course, I wouldn't try and pry into your life or anything."

Rose looks shocked beyond her normal standards of being shocked. She's that predictable, that easy to read?

"...It is almost like you have been giving this a lot of thought."

"Nah, I just notice right on the spot. Why ponder over something?" He laughs again. "So, who're the ones that you didn't want to see you like this, anyways?"

"Huh. I thought you just said you do not ponder over anything?"

"Good comeback, but seriously, I'm curious."

"Hm..." With a thoughtful expression, she looks like she's weighing the balance of why and why not tell inside her mind. "...It is Anna and Lara..."

"Those two? Ah, so you know them. Are they that bad to be around?" he lightly jokes. She merely gives a cool look.

"Not a word to them about my appearance..." Not even a warning or a threat, but there's a strong hint of a tone in there.

"So you can express emotions! Alright alright, not a word from me," he adds when her look didn't change a bit. "And I can already guess you ain't going to say anything of why. So I'm not even going to press for info."

'Very laid-back kind of guy, for someone who picked a fight with a random fighter,' she thought while she only shrugs at him.

"...You know," he speaks up after awhile, "because you used plants to fight in our battle, that has to be that you're very close to the planets in general, right?"

"Yes." She looks down at the forest. "I feel a very strong connection with what planet I am on, and it would aid me in battle when I ask. I am happy that this planet still has the connection with me, even when I was frozen for a century in that rock substance."

"How'd you attained the connection? It's pretty rare for anyone to be able to feel one with the planet nowadays, since when does the humans and other species care about what they live on."

"I know how that is... But I do not know how I did feel these connections, I cannot really remember." Her expression said something else, but if he noticed, he didn't say anything. "But it is something that I rather stay in contact with."

"Wha, people not good enough to hang around?"

Her eyes narrow, but even if she didn't turn her head, Blake could still feel the holes burning into his soul.

"Let us just say that I had lost too much faith in other people," she said while shifting to her cheetah form. "Good-night, I am retiring..." With that, she disappears off to her room.

'Think I struck a nerve?' he thought idly, now bored again. He doubts he'll understand her anytime soon, but at least it's a challenge to figure out rather than with the other fighters. 'Hm, lost faith in others...'

Well, I did promise I'd update more often, and here it is! Hope it was to everyone's liking, and I hope I did everyone's characters well! Night until next time!