A/N: To anyone reading this, welcome back! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was definitely a chapter had in mind for a while. Can't wait to see where this leads! As always... Fav/follow/share and please drop a review and let me know what you think! Thanks again!
Starfire was being escorted down the hall to her cell. Two Gordanian soldiers in front and two behind her. Each one was armed with spear capable of firing powerful projectiles that could incapacitate even Starfire. She had a mixture of emotions in her heart. Everything she just learned about her sister, her brother, her planet and her people. It was unbearable. But what pained her the most was knowing her sister betrayed her in the worst way possible.
However, she had hope... As she was just about to be escorted away she overheard the Gordanians informing their leader that intruders had been spotted. She knew exactly who is it. It was her Richard. The man she gave her heart to. Starfire's heart was pounding with adrenaline. She wanted to break away from her captures. She wanted to go to him. To fight along side him and get off this disgraceful planet... but at the moment... she was powerless. Her hands were bound with a device that limited her powers. She was surrounded by enemies with dangerous weapons. Not to mention, she had no idea where she was or where Richard was. She didn't know what to do...
"Get in," a coarse voice hissed at her holding an extremely study door open. It looked almost like a vault door.
One of the guards had woke her from her thoughts as they reached her cell. A display case of some kind. As if she were some kind of pet you would put in a glass box for decoration. She looked inside to see it was dark and she could feel a cold breeze leaving the room. It had the feeling of something incredibly unpleasant.
"Move!" Another guard demanded behind her. This one took his spear and jabbed at her lower back right above her belt line to force her to move into the cage.
Starfire winced in pain and stepped into the dark cold of the room infront of her. The door then closed behind her with a loud crash in a deep low tone that echoed through her new home. She looked around to see it was still dark but what little light managed to enter the room gave her an idea of what this room looked like.
To her surprise the bindings on her wrists then beeped and disengaged from her forearms and fell to the floor. She turned around to see on the other side of the impenetrable thick glass was the guard that held the door open for her. He had a remote in his had that seemed to be a control for her cuffs. He then put the remote away and walked back to his post with the other 3 guards.
Starfire rubbed her wrists to get the discomfort off her. After a moment, her eyes lit up green as her rage consumed her. She threw a fist containing a starbolt at the door with all the strength she had letting out a fierce yell, lighting the room with a flash of green light for a split second while her scream echoed through her cell.
As she expected, the door was completely untouched. Not even a scratch. Her glowing eyes fade. She didn't feel much better about the situation she found herself in but at least she had her hands again. After rubbing the hand she just used to strike the door, she closed her eyes and sighed... The painful moments of recent events combined with the dark cool cell she was in caused her to lose her hope once again. But then something startled her as she realized she wasn't alone in this room.
A faint moan of pain float through the air and echoed softly around her as her head whipped towards the source of the sound. She lifted a hand into the air and lit the dark room around her in a shade of green with a Starbolt resting in her hand.
She slowly scanned the room looking for any signs of life. What was this thing in the room with her? A monster? Was she actually meant to be food for another creature? Maybe it was another person she was meant to fight against for sport? Her mind raced with ideas as her breath could be seen in the glow of her hand while she tried to keep calm. And then she saw it... or rather... she saw him.
A small and unhealthy form of a person curled up in the corner of the cell trying to stay warm. He moaned again as if his stomach was in pain begging for food. Starfire watched carefully as she worked up the courage to speak with this unknown person she could barely see.
"Um... Hello there," she said as calmly and as friendly as she could, "my name is Starfire... What might your name be?"
"Star... fire...?" The voice was weak and frail. but it sounded like he recognized that name.
"Yes!" Starfire said perking up getting some kind of acknowlement from this person.
"No... You're lying," The voice recoiled as he curled into himself even tighter as if trying to retreat into himself like a turtle hiding in its shell.
Starfire stopped in her tracks. She wasn't expecting that and it peaked her curiosity. However, his reaction made her approach more cautiously.
"I do not lie," Starfire said trying to reassure him, "truly, my name is St-"
"SHUT UP!!!" The voice screamed, "I know you're trying to trick me again! Please! No more! I beg you! Mercy!" He began shaking with fear as he used all his energy to beg for mercy.
Starfire could see this person had been broken long ago. His mind. His body. His spirit. What was left of him was a weak and tortured soul who couldn't take it anymore. It broke her heart. She then walked over to him with her starbolt still lighting the room around them. She knelt down on both knees, sitting on her heels, no more than a foot away from him.
"I promise you I am real," Starfire said in the most soothing tone she had, "I will not hurt you. I am a friend," she placed her free hand over her heart as if trying to give her emotions to him in a physical copy, "I only wish to help you."
He only further turned into the corner refusing to believe what he heard as if he heard it hundreds of times before. But something about her voice seemed to have calmed his as his body stopped shaking. It seemed like he was too scared to turn around to face her at this point because he knew it to be another trick no matter how much he wanted it to be real.
Starfire could see the worry in his actions and decided to reach hand from her heart out to him so he could feel her. So he could know for a fact this was real...
"Please..." She said softly, "take my hand. I will show you I am here. I will show you I am your friend."
He turned his head slightly. That seemed to be something he hadn't heard before. However, he was still skeptical. If this was just another trick to mentally torture him he wouldn't be able to handle it. From the corner of this eye he could see her hand. It really was there... He stared at it for a long moment waiting for it to be withdrawn but to his surprise, it remained. This gave him the impression that maybe he wasn't going through another torture session...
He slowly began to turn his body and he reached his hand out to Starfire's hand. He hesitated for a moment then continued while keeping his body turned from her trying to stay guarded. He was so weak that his hand started shake as he extended his fingers closer to Starfire's hand. As his fingertips grazed the soft skin of the beautiful woman beside him, the warmth of her touch was reassuring. He then gripped her hand with all his strength and her soft and warm skin invited him to show his face to her...
"That's it," Starfire said as if speaking to tame a wild animal. She almost flinched from the touch of this person. His hands were like ice. Both brittle and rough like he had been worked to the bone every day for his entire life. But she did her best to keep her composure and continue encouraging him to trust her, "you have nothing to fear anymore..." Her smile was so trustworthy and uplifting. It could almost warm the entire room by itself... But her face went from warm and inviting to sheer horror and disbelief as he turned towards her...
As he rotated his body and his face came into the light, she could see he had red hair. His eyes had a tint of green emerald like her own and his skin had a shade of orange. But that's not what sent her face into a horrific stare... It was the fact she knew this person. She knew him very well...
"Ry..." She hesitated unsure what to think, "Ryand'r?" Her voice was so quiet even Starfire could barely hear it..
"You... You're... real. Right?" Ryand'r said still acting cautiously, "you promise you won't hurt me?" After he saw her face dawn the look of terror he knew... She wasn't sent to harm him. She was genuinely concerned for him.
Starfire's eyes welled up with tears. She couldn't believe he was alive. Her joy was so short lived as she further observed his health. He was extremely malnourished. She could see his ribs through the tattered and torn clothing that barely resembled her home planet's attire. His eyes showed a lack of sleep and a harrowing tale as if they had witnessed certain things that even the worst of nightmares wouldn't contain.
"Kori?" Ryand'r said softly as he saw her eyes tearing up growing more confident in her presence, "is it really you?"
