Hey yo, author here! Gonna keep this short! Had to house my cousin for a few days and I've ended up re-writting this several times, just cause there was a lot of ways I could go with it. Hope ya'll enjoy! Also, the support has actually been crazy recently, so thank ya'll so much 3.

As always, much love - Seadavid41

Ch. 5 The Boy Inside the Animal

Day was slowly turning into a gorgeous summer night as the buildings of Jump City slowly began to reflect the amber hue created by the lowering sun on the horizon. The faintest breeze rippled through the air, the warmth of the day just gone still leaving a trace in the wind, almost as if it was wishing a gentle goodbye to those that were heading home. The streets were slowly becoming quieter as more and more people finished their commute home, or returned from the beach, leaving the entirety of Jump City in an almost serene state that could seemingly only be observed in that transitionary period between day time and dusk, where it was almost like the world couldn't decide if it was time for the day to be over or not. However, despite this apparent state of calm, Raven still wished that there was less going on around her so she could focus.

The empath had found herself zipping above city streets, her powers pulling her in all sorts of different directions as she desperately tried to keep a lock on the shapeshifter, she swore she had felt only a few minutes ago. She knew time was of the essence. Raven may have detected him but that didn't mean he was any worse at hiding. It had taken the Titans two weeks for any of them to detect even a trace of him, to the point that Raven had started thinking that they may have been chasing a ghost in the wind. If she didn't take this opportunity now, who knew when any of the would catch a trace of Garfield Logan, if ever, again.

Raven banked left up one of Jump City's main streets her eyes scanning her environment, already on the lookout for any kind of green animal, despite the fact she doubted he would be out in the open. After all, he had seemingly just robbed a convenience store. Figuring out direction with her powers was doable at this stage, but proximity…that was a different matter entirely.

She made a sharp right turn as she reached out with her powers again before, after flying straight for a few more seconds, she forced herself abruptly to a halt. Her eyes followed were powers wanted her to look, and her gaze fell upon a less than appealing alleyway between a skyscraper and a red-brick apartment block. One glance was all she needed to see the numerous bins the lined the walls and the rusted fire escapes that lined the sides of either building. Raven slowly floated downwards, allowing her feet to gently touch to the ground a few feet in front of the alleyway. Taking a deep breath, Raven closed her eyes and cast her empathic senses out into the gap between the two buildings. After a few seconds, her eyes bolted open. She could only detect one entity in there…

After a few seconds, Raven hesitantly moved her hand to her belt and withdrew her communicator. Her thumb hovered over the touch screen. She knew the other Titans would want to know that she'd found the boy from the lab…Robin would think she needed back-up…that none of them where his allegiances lay just yet…but she'd talked to him before…and she'd trusted him then and he'd trusted her.

Raven put her communicator back into her belt as she walked into the alleyway.

She loved her friends, and she knew that she probably should have given them an update. But if what Cyborg had found was true, maybe a big group of people wasn't what he needed right now…maybe he just needed a single person he could seemingly trust.

Raven weaved her way through discarded bin bags and half-open dumpsters, keeping her eyes peeled for any signs of movement or recent activity. Side-stepping around a trashcan on its side, Raven was finally able to see past the clutter that blocked her view from the road outside and into somewhat of a clearing in the middle of the alleyway.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Out in the open, with its head buried in the remnants of a pre-made sandwich package, a green German shepherd stood, seemingly entirely focused on eating whatever was inside. Raven had no idea how to approach, what she knew was a human person in the form of a dog, despite their previous encounter. The last thing she wanted to do was scare him off. However, her decision was made for her when the dog abruptly removed its head from the packaging and looked upwards, his nose visibly sniffing the air. Then, without so much as a warning, the dog turned away from its food and began to trot further down the alleyway. Raven waited a few seconds before she began to trail after him, levitating just slightly off the ground to avoid making any unnecessary noise that could the shapeshifter.

The dog continued to walk ahead, weaving in and out of bins and other assorted rubbish before it padded its way around a corner in the alley. Raven, only a few seconds behind him, followed around shortly afterwards. She had been expecting the dog to still be in sight, maybe a little further ahead than before. What the empath hadn't been expecting was to turn around the corner and immediately almost bump into the very boy she was after, no longer in dog form. Raven couldn't help but jump backwards and surprisingly to her, Garfield did the exact same, the angry expression that had been on his face falling into surprise in a split second. The two seemed to be slightly frozen in time, with it being very apparent that neither of them quite knew what to do. Raven gently probed at his emotions and while the overall impression he was giving off, in both emotions and in stance was…defensive to say the least, just bubbling beneath the surface was curiosity. Raven waited for him to make a move. It finally came when Raven saw recognition dawn across his features.

"Wait…I know you…you're the girl from the plant…why are you following me?"

With the few seconds that had passed where the two of them had simply stared at each other, Raven had been able to compose herself. As she took a step forward, some of the warm light from the sunset managed to find some purchase on her person as she pulled down her hood. She folded her arms, a stoic look appearing on her face as if she'd call upon it thousands of times before.

"You're the one who apparently just robbed a store…so I'm not the one who needs to start talking…"

Whatever Garfield had been expecting, it clearly wasn't that, as his eyes widened in apparent surprise and in the stunned silence, she had left him in, Raven finally managed to get a good look at the boy known as Garfield Logan. Tfirst thing that was apparent was just how skinny the boy was…and that the staff of the chemical plant hadn't cared much for whatever clothes they gave him.

Hanging from shoulders were the remains of what looked appeared to be a black and purple jumpsuit. While the pants section seemed to be relatively intact, the mid-section was torn in places, resulting in small areas of his stomach and chest being exposed to the open air. Even with most of his torso being covered, Raven could still see how pronounced his ribs were beneath what was left of his clothes and her heart broke a slight amount for him, although she didn't let that show.

His face was gaunt, with the freckles that dotted his cheeks now dimmed by green skin that hadn't seen sunlight in a long-time. His jaw was defined and a fang out upwards on the right-hand side of his mouth. His eyes, like his skin, were a piercing green, and much to Raven's surprise, filled with what she could only describe as a steely resolve…a look that didn't match the waves of apprehension that she could now feel rolling off him.

"I didn't steal anything."

Raven raised an eyebrow at the answer, silently noting the raw and scratchy voice that Garfield was speaking with. It was a voice that sounded like it hadn't been used consistently in a long time. Only a few seconds after he spoke, Garfield broke out into a cough and Raven's face softened ever so slightly as she unfolded her arms.

"Okay then…I believe you…so what happened in the store? Take your time…"

Raven could practically see the cogs turning in his head as he tried to formulate an answer before he let out a heavy sigh.

"I didn't mean to scare him…and I had money that I'd found on the streets…but when that dude saw me, he panicked..."

Garfield indicated at himself.

"I can't even blame him…so I dropped the coins and ran…basically paid for the stuff and let him keep the change…I swear I didn't try t-"

"It's okay. I believe you."

Garfield seemed surprised for a second and Raven saw no harm in enlightening him.

"I'm an empath…which means I can read people's emotions. It's how you and I were able to have some sort of understanding when you were still stuck with that device around your ankle…and it's how I know you're not lying now."

Garfield seemed to absorb her words and Raven felt her suspicions rise ever so slightly. It wasn't often that she told someone that she was an empath or about her abilities and they…accepted it…which couldn't help but leave the thought in her head that this wasn't the first time Garfield Logan had encountered someone with powers like hers. However, she brushed the thought aside for the moment. There were more pressing matters to deal with than that.

"But if that's the case today, I helped you escape nearly two weeks go…how have you been surviving until now?"

Garfield shrugged before he shifted into a squirrel, then a songbird, then to a dog, and finally back to his human form.

"Animals are good scavengers…I've made do."

It made sense. After all, that was one of her fears when they first started looking for him after that night at the plant. Finding criminals was easy. Finding a single squirrel or bird in the entirety of Jump City…a slightly tricker task. Garfield used the gap in Raven's questioning to cut in, his eyes having narrowed ever so slightly

"Who are you? How do you know my name?...and why are you so interested in me?"

There was a slight edge to his voice that hadn't been there before, and Raven involuntarily found herself tense up slightly. However, she didn't show any outward signs of her apprehension and instead simply folded her arms again as she arched an eyebrow at him.

"My name is Raven, and we found your name when we were going through the lab after you flew off…"

"We? The others at the plant? Who are they?

"My friends…and teammates. We go by the Teen Titans."

"Teen Titans?"

Raven nodded.

"We're a team of heroes that protect this city…that man in the robotic suit in the chemical plant…we were there to stop him…it didn't go to plan."

For the briefest of moments, Raven saw the shapeshifter's eyes enlarge, like he'd just had an epiphany, but the expression was gone just as quick as it had appeared. Still Raven recognised it for what it was. She didn't know how, but Garfield had already heard of the Teen Titans.

He seemed to mull over this new insight as he absentmindedly picked at a hole in his tattered top.

"Hmmm…he didn't seem like a top guy to be fair…what was he doing there?"

Raven was about to answer when her voice caught in her throat, the nature of what Adonis had been there to steal only coming to the forefront of her mind once she'd been asked about it by the person the chemical was probably derived from. Garfield raised an eyebrow at Raven's hesitation, which didn't go under the radar of the empath. She had made a point of not twisting the truth with him so far. This was no reason to break it.

"It's his second time robbing the plant. Both times he was in search of a chemical which causes him to undergo a…transformation."

Garfield scowled, but his apparent anger wasn't directed at Raven, as he averted his eyes from her to a point on the ground.

"Yea…I know the one you're talking about…something tells me their production of that little number might drop drastically now that they've lost a certain…ahem…test subject."

Garfield continued to glare at the ground for a few seconds before he shook his head, seemingly remembering that he wasn't currently alone. He looked up at Raven with a curious gaze.

"Okay…Raven…you're a Teen Titan…now why are you so interested in me?"

Raven had always been the observant type. Internally, she thought it was down to her being an empath, which allowed her to link changes of expressions and outward emotions to how people really felt with ease. It was fascinating in her mind to see how people portrayed themselves, whether they were wearing their heart on their sleeve or keep their true emotions safely under lock and key. Yet, with Garfield Logan, the established understanding she had just didn't seem to apply. When she'd first met him as that dog in the chemical plant, his emotions had been like an open book, but she wasn't exactly up to date on how that would reflect in a dog's facial features. Now, even though she was stood opposite the boy, he was difficult to read, almost like his emotions were shielded from her.

"Interested isn't the right word. We found you trapped in a cage, forced into a form that you didn't want to be in. Then, when we had all been taken out and you could have just run away, you didn't. You stayed and I'm humble enough to admit that if you hadn't stepped in…Adonis could have killed me if he wanted to."

Raven took a breath as Garfield watched on, his expression unreadable, but silently urging her to continue. Raven's face softened.

"So yes…after everything had ended, we found ourselves asking what happened to you and where you went…we cared about your wellbeing…you helped us out and for all we knew, and what seems to now have been proven to be true, you just disappeared off to live on the streets!"

Garfield averted his gaze and muttered under his breath.

"This was only temporary…I haven't been outside in a while."

Raven took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead.

"Look…we did our own research into what happened in that plant…I'm not going to pretend that I understand what you went through, but you and me…neither of us have given any reason for us to doubt each other…the Teen Titans want to help you…I want to help you."

Garfield's eyes widened for a second before they narrowed.

"You make it sound…awful simple…you just want to help me…what…just because you can?"

Raven forehead creased at his borderline accusatory tone.

"I wasn't in the chemical plant for you, you know? I was there on a mission, and I chose to help you when I didn't even know who you were…is that not proof? Or does their always have to be an ulterior motive?"

Garfield studied Raven's face, looking for any signs of deceit or that she was trying to play him for a fool and couldn't help but let his eyes widen ever so slightly when he found none.

"…everyone's always out for themselves…or most people are anyway…"

Raven cut him off.

"But you're not…you could have left the second you were left alone in that room, but you didn't. You helped me when you didn't have too…put yourself in harm's way."

Garfield shrugged as he cast his yes to the floor, his stare locking onto the now empty sandwich box he'd left behind.

"You helped me to get free…I helped you against that dude in the armour…I'd say that puts us even…"

"It doesn't have to be about getting even though."

Garfield looked up, a curious look on his face at the change of tone from the Titan he'd come to know as Raven. For the first time in their conversation, the self-proclaimed empath looked unsure of herself as her face scrunched up. Clearly, whatever she had on her mind wasn't a topic that came to her naturally. After a moment, she shook her head, her previous conviction and confidence restored in an instant, an impassive look crossing her face.

"The Titans…the only reason we ended up coming together in the first place was because we were all…different. Azar, trust me when I say this…I know what it's like to be taken advantage of because of who you are…probably better than anyone in this entire city."

Raven unconsciously took a step forward and despite his immediate better judgement, Garfield Logan didn't move, momentarily taken back by Raven's change in tactic.

"You're right. We are even if that's how you want to view it. But quite frankly, based on what you've told me, you could really use a friend right now…and if not that, then at least someone you can trust. I'm not asking anything from you…and neither are the rest of the Titans. We just want to help."

Raven took another step forward and still Garfield didn't move, so with bated breath and a certain amount of tentativeness, Raven slowly extended a hand towards the green teenager that stood before her, who looked like he'd been caught like a deer in headlights. After a second, he glanced down at her hand outstretched, and Raven could practically see the gears turning in his head.

It had been a rough few weeks. He'd dreamed of freedom for so long that now that he had it, he realised he'd never thought any further than that. He had no money, barely any clothes, and no way of contacting anyone he knew…but then again, if they had cared, surely, they would have come looking for him before now…

Raven hadn't given him any reason to not trust her yet. She'd freed him without prompting. She'd listened to his side of the story about his mishap in the store earlier and now was seemingly offering him help…no strings attached…

But there were never strings attached at first…

We could change the world…

Garfield took a step backwards, almost stumbling away from Raven's hand, who retracted her limb hastily at his sudden movement. For a moment, he almost wanted to apologise before he caught himself, his face turning a steely neutral.

"I'm sorry…but I've done my time trusting others…and if there's one thing, I've learnt…it's to put your faith in no one…but yourself."

Raven couldn't help but empathize with the boy before her. After all, she'd thought the same way as him for so long. However, just as she was about to try and argue against his logic, the tell-tale beeping of her communicator echoed from her belt, before Cyborg's tinny voice start emanating out of it.

"Raven? Come in Raven? Robin found some info on Garfield that could help you bring the kid in if you fi-"

Raven's hand bolted down to her belt, hitting the silence button in an instant before she looked up at Garfield, who's face had suddenly begun to morph into a much darker expression, his ears twitching indicating he had ever word from the metal Titan he had never met.

"….bring me in."

Raven almost froze at the sheer iciness of Garfield's voice as she looked him up and down slowly. The changeling had taken a few steps back and his shoulders were tense against his neck. His fingers were fully extended, almost beginning to look like claws and his knees were slightly bent as his entire body seemed to hunch forward. His eyes were wild, and Raven could see his pupils darting around the alleyway and over her shoulder.

He looked like an animal that had been backed into a corner.

"Everyone's the same…everyone's out for themselves…"

"Garfield ple-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

Raven jumped backwards and instinctively summoned her powers to her fists at the changeling's sudden outburst, which had been accompanied by a step forward. Garfield looked at her in confusion before he looked down at his own hands, his eyes locking onto the claws that were now protruding out of the tops of his fingers. His blood ran cold. Maybe the people in the lab had it right the whole time…

Maybe he was just an animal.

He suddenly began to back away from Raven, an almost scared look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry…I…I…can't…"

Raven slowly lowered her hands, recognizing the panic that was written across his face in an instant, before, almost in the blink of an eye, the green teenager in front of her shifted into an eagle and launched himself upwards. It took Raven a few seconds to get over her shock.

"GARF-…WAIT!"

In an instant, Raven summoned a disc of her powers and set off after the bird into the Jump City night sky. As she soared upwards, her eyes locked onto the green outline only a short distance in front of her. She was about to reach out with her powers but quickly stopped herself. She couldn't restrain him or take him down. What little understanding they had to begin with seemed to have shattered in the alleyway below and the last thing she wanted to do was to give him another reason to not trust her or the Titans.

Raven sped through the sky and slowly began catching up to the green eagle in front of her, but just as she was almost within twenty feet of the bird, she could only watch in shock as its form seemed to completely vanish. Raven thrust her hands out if the disc of her powers was able to make any noise, she was positive it would have skidded as she came to a halt in midair.

"Garfield!?"

She frantically turned in a circle, looking for any signs of the changeling. Azar, he had just been right in front of her. He couldn't have just disappeared…

But there were plenty of tiny animals…

Raven cast out her powers, trying to sense his emotions like she had from before, hoping that she could gain some kind of insight into where the changeling had gone, but this time, all that came back to her was radio silence.

How? His emotions were so loud…

Raven's eyes continued to scan the sky, in search of any clues at all…just the slightest trace of green…but much like her efforts with her powers…it seemed to be very much in vain.

Unbeknownst to Raven, on a roof very near to where she was currently floating, a green housefly had just landed on a ledge and was looking back at her as she scanned the sky. Finding out that she was an empath was useful knowledge to have. Now that he knew what he was dealing with, a few techniques he'd learned from his old team leader would be enough to ensure that she wouldn't be able to find him again.

Still, he couldn't help but feel a part of himself wondering why he was so reluctant to accept help that he was realistic enough to know he needed. Much like how she had been in the chemical plant, her intentions seemed genuine. However, a larger part of him couldn't ignore the voice that whispered to him in the back of his mind…

Nobody wants you for you…they want you for what you can offer them…like a puppet on a string…

With one last glance, the housefly turned away from the blue-hooded Titan in the sky and began to fly haphazardly across the rooftop so he could put some distance between himself and the empath and shift into something more…durable. Even still…he couldn't help but stop a few times and look back at the girl he'd come to know as Raven and wonder if he was doing the right thing, before flying onwards anyway.

Beast Boy…he'd always looked for a team…for others…but Garfield Logan…he didn't need anyone…and deep down…he knew it was for the best that he was on his own.

Raven floated above her bed, her form gently bobbing up and done as she muttered her mantra underneath her breath, the repetition of her voice just loud enough to break the deafening silence her room would have offered otherwise. When she'd finally got back to the tower after almost an hour of searching for any sign of Garfield Logan at all, she'd come back tired and in mood for debriefs. She'd run into Robin while she had been attempting to sneak into the kitchen and make a quick cup of tea and knew that she at least had to explain what had happened in some way, so she had kept it brief.

It was a good lead. She'd found him. They talked. He didn't trust her. Cyborg's call hadn't helped. She lost him.

Robin, ever being the detective and overall curious type had tried to press for more details, but Raven hadn't even needed to say a word. She'd simply cut him off midway through a question, by slapping a hand down on the countertop and locking eyes with him. The message was incredibly clear

Yes. I understand we will need to go through this. Not tonight.

While he was the leader of the Teen Titans, that didn't mean Robin didn't know when to not push his luck and with a half-smile and a nod of understanding, he'd left Raven to her own devices as she'd clutched her tea to her chest and made her to her room. She'd really hoped meditation would be enough, but even as she gently touched down to the soft blankets that covered her bed, she couldn't help but sigh in frustration before flopping backwards, her head sinking into her pillows and she stared up at her ceiling, her thoughts already going at a hundred miles an hour ago as she thought over her encounter with Garfield for what felt like the fiftieth time since she'd met him.

She'd been so close to convincing him to trust her…trust the Titans, but to be completely fair to Cyborg, his poorly timed call was just the nail in the coffin. She had already felt and seen his change in demeanour. Raven was fully convinced that behind whatever nightmares the plant had put him through…what conditions he had endured…buried beneath all those scars, was the person who had decided to step in and save her life when she'd gone down…a person who deserved more than what he'd been given and the more she thought about him, both in terms of how he had fought and about the kind of person she thought he was…

She swore she could imagine the kind of hero he could be if given the chance.

As long as I haven't blown our one chance at getting him to trust us…maybe a trip to Nevermore could help me so-

Raven was torn from her musings by a gentle knocking sound from her door causing her to lift her head up and stare across the room in confusion. Each of her teammates has such distinct methods of calling for her. Robin was the quintessential "three sharp knocks". No time for delay. Highly efficient. The patrician's choice of knocking. Raven had never really paid attention to Starfire's knock, as usually her sing-song voice would weave its way into her room, almost as if the melody it carried was sneaking underneath the gap between the door and the floor. Lastly, Cyborg was loud and his patterns inconsistent, but with his hands, the sound of his metal knuckles meeting her metal door was a dead giveaway.

So, she knew immediately that it was Cyborg at her door, but he seemed…reserved? His knock had been cautious…almost sounding hesitant. Raven usually tried to avoid reading the emotions of her teammates, as she thought it was an invasion of privacy to be doing that all the time, but on this occasion, her curiosity won out and she cast her powers outwards.

Cyborg was…sad?

Raven rolled of her bed in an instant and despite her not wanting to talk to anyone for the rest of the night, she didn't hesitate in striding over to her door and hitting the button on the wall to let it slide open. She'd learnt a while ago that being there for friends…even when it's not necessarily what you want…it's sometimes too important to simply ignore and if they were always there for her…she'd always be there for them. It had only taken the end of the world, a disaster that she had brought, to teach her that.

The metal door to her room slid open, revealing a forlorn looking Cyborg, who jolted upwards at the sound of sliding metal and Raven's sudden appearance.

"Hey Ra-"

"What's wrong?"

Raven cut Cyborg off instantly, shutting the metal titan up in an instant, his mouth promptly shutting itself as Raven titled her head to the side.

"Empath. You know this. Now spill."

Cyborg eyebrows shot up to near the top of his head before he gave a heavy sigh.

"Have I ever told you how annoying your powers are sometimes…"

"No…and you won't be starting anytime soon…and stop changing the subject."

Cyborg gave a wry smile before his face fell again.

"I just…Robin told me that you found the kid and that when I ra-"

"It's not your fault."

"But I sho-"

"You couldn't have known."

"But I could have waited till you we-"

"I would have done the same thing in your position."

"But we don't know where Ga-"

"We have proof he's still in the city. It's still good news."

"Bu-"

Cyborg's voice disappeared in an instant as a thin strip of dark magic suddenly appeared over his mouth, silencing him as he shot Raven an angry look. The empath stared right back at him, unswathed and unimpressed.

"Look. I could have called for a back-up, and I didn't. I didn't think confronting him as a group would have been a good idea. Maybe if I had called you guys in, things could have gone differently. You did what any of us what have done and through a stroke of bad luck, the timing was wrong. It's no one's fault. We pick ourselves up. We look at it fresh tomorrow. Okay?"

Cyborg rolled his eyes and indicated at his sealed mouth.

"You didn't need a voice to nod."

Raven couldn't help but smirk as Cyborg gave her a look that would have made most people quiver, before he slowly and condescendingly nodded up and down. Raven, seemingly appeased by his agreement, allowed her magic to dissipate with the wave of her hand. Cyborg opened his mouth a few times, testing his renewed freedom.

"…your powers are annoying sometimes."

Raven raised an eyebrow and raised a hand, allowing some magic to crackle at her fingertips.

"Years of practice."

Raven couldn't help but give Cyborg a small smile. He may not have been showing it very outwardly, but she could feel the shift in his mood. A part of her couldn't help but feel warm inside knowing that she'd helped to make that happen.

"So…if we're on the topic…I never actually found out what info you found out?"

Cyborg's face went from still slightly annoyed to all business in an instant.

"Do you have a few minutes? Because Robin's contacts did some serious digging, and it turns out our green friend isn't a stranger to the hero business."

Raven's interest was piqued immediately, her tiredness momentarily being forgotten as she involuntarily leaned forward. Cyborg noticed immediately and took that as a cue to continue.

"You familiar with Doom Patrol?"

Outside of Titans Tower, the day had morphed into a warm, but windy Summer's night. From the shore of the island, the faint shimmering dots that were cars driving in the city were still visible as late drivers cruised the streets. Not a single cloud dotted the sky, leaving the moon to shine unopposed, causing Jump City Bay to sparkle beneath it, the only noise that could be heard for miles around being the gentle lapping of the water on the beaches and rocks that sat along the edges of Titan Island.

High above Titans Tower, outlined in the sky by the light of the moon, a seagull flew on its lonesome over the Bay in an almost meandering pattern. It didn't seem to have any course as it paraded across the skyline, until it saw the yellow lights of Titans Tower. In an instant, it corrected its course and streaked across the sky, seemingly to get a closer view of its acquired target. However, once it was almost directly overhead, it stopped, choosing to almost hover in midair instead. It could so easily have flown down and made land on the roof if it wanted too. Yet, it chose to only watch, it's eyes unmoving away from the lone building in the bay.

After a few minutes, the seagull turned away, and with a certain degree of urgency that wasn't present in its demeanour before, almost like it now felt like it had made a mistake by being where it was, it made a beeline back towards the city, during which, for a split second only, the bird's green feathers were captured by the almost ghostly glow of the moon.