My Fiction. My Blog. My Life:After braving the vast world of the internet with fanfictions, I've decided to expand my portfolio with short stories, blog posts, and snippets of my novel.
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Chapter 6Gar checked the communicator again. Raven still wasn’t answering. And she wasn’t in the tower. His thumb started bouncing on the device as he contemplated where he could find her. A little disheartened he realized he really wasn’t sure. Normally they mentioned they were ‘busy’ and said good bye, or ‘had to go.’ Truth be told, she knew he was going to the Zoo, but he hadn’t told her too much about it. They had grown up to each have their own interests. But now he was wondering where in fact she did spend her time. More specifically, right now. Following Robin’s sent, of course, wound him up in the evidence room. “Hey Rob, have you seen Rae?” He leaned into the room. “Ah, no. Not since training. Why is something wrong?” Robin quickly popped out from behind an old defused bomb.
“No, I don’t think so. I just wanted to talk to her.” “Oh, um, well she’s been working on something trans-dimensional. I’m sure she’s fine, just hard to reach.” Robin said and disappeared again. “She gave me something that could get her attention in case of an emergency if you need it.” He offered. “Oh no, thanks though.” Gar replied. He had to admit he was actually feeling a bit hurt Robin knew more than he did. Something in the back of his mind nagged at him for not knowing what she was up to. For not asking what her day had been filled with. Or even what her plans were when they split. They had gotten into the comfortable pattern of not prying into each other’s lives. Especially when it came to their “real” lives. Gar hadn’t a clue what Dick Grayson did on his days off, if he took them. But things seemed different now. He had always had an interest in what Raven was doing. If she offered up a story, he was more than willing to listen. But now he felt the itch to do more than just wait around for a story. Feeling pathetically restless, he decided to go for a long flight. But not before sending Raven another message telling her he would be back, and he had something to tell her. The sun was setting as he flew closer to the tower. His breath almost caught in his throat as he saw Raven on the roof, watching the ocean. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and her head was resting on her knees. Right away he knew something was wrong, and everything he had been brainstorming on the flight vanished. A wicked wind tore through the air, sending her hair flying across her face. His feet stretched back out as he glided down, momentarily being pulled back up with the air. Walking over, he folded up the, now massive, wings he had kept. He had to laugh at the fact he was approaching his demonic friend in the form of an angel, more or less. She turned her head slightly to show she knew he was there, then looked back at the ocean. Even with the wind he could hear her gulp a few time, trying to keep herself calm. Apprehensively he approached, knowing she often needed space when her emotions were in turmoil. But also wanting to be the one to comfort her. After he was within arm’s length he decided she would have shooed him away if she was going to, and he sat down beside her. Another sharp wind whipped through from her left side, almost forcing her hair to tickle the side of his face as she tried to fix it. Unfolding a wing, he wrapped it protectively around her, blocking a good deal of the wind. She glanced at it, but didn’t say anything. “Hey,” he said. “Hey,” she mumbled. “How are you?” He obviously knew something was up, but had no other way to approach it. Sadly, he could see her break a tad as she answered. “Not well. Nothing’s wrong, I’m just being emotional.” She wiped a tear from her face and actually laughed, “I’m ironically being emotional. Who knew I’d miss my masterful control of being emotionless?” She took a deep breath in. “I…I um.” She glanced at him. “It’s not like I’ve been trying to keep a secret. It’s just I wanted fewer people to know, in case I failed.” He felt a knot forming in his stomach, she was anxious about opening up. And she waited a few more seconds before continuing. “I have been going back to Azarath.” The knot turned to sorrow, she was obviously much stronger than he was. He didn’t even want to think about his old home. “I went back once to find an old memento from my childhood. And I found people there. The monks had come back. They were trying to rebuild Azarath. So I kept going back, trying to help and make up for what my father did. But I was worried it wouldn’t work out, and I didn’t want everyone else to know about it. I didn’t want the pity when it all came crashing down. It’s been going fairly well, a few demons here and there to clear out. That’s not the problem though really. “Today I was cleaning up a large section of rubble when I uncovered a pile of old bodies.” Her breath caught a bit. She took a deep breath and continued. “They were all children, Gar.” Turning to him, and he could see how much she was crying. Gently, he reached up and wiped her cheek. Her face cheered a bit and he could feel her leaning into his hand a tad. Before too long though, she pulled away. “I just feel guilty.” She finished and rested her chin back down on her knees. A few silent minutes passed by before he answered. “Rae, it wasn’t your fault. He did all that, not you.” He scooted closer to her, fighting the urge to put an arm around her. “I know, but I was there, that’s why he came.” She murmured, her chin not leaving her knees. “No, Rae look at me.” She did. “You are not responsible for anything he did. You are only responsible for what you’re doing. And you should be extremely proud of what you’re doing. I know I am. And I know for damn sure I wouldn’t be alive right now without you. Probably five times over.” She smiled and looked down at her lap as she folded down her legs. “I’m sure I owe you just as much. Where would I be without your cat like reflexes?” The wind whipped through again and momentarily his wing brushed her side. One of the feathers wiggled a bit before finally coming lose. It fluttered to her lap as the force died down. Things like this had become trivial for him, but he felt a little bad for shedding on her. Before he could remove it from her lap though, she picked it up. He mused over her ‘cat like reflexes’ comment, but found he was glad he had been too slow. The tears had stopped coming, and gradually her breath returned to normal as she ran her fingers over the feather. She twisted it in her hand, broke apart the tiny pieces and watched them reform if she ran her fingers over again. “But thank you, I try to offset his destruction the best I can.” She added as she still examined the feather. Then, her eyes started roaming the wing beside her and she reached out to touch it. “Is this just a larger version of a raven’s wing?” She asked, changing the subject. “What?” His heart rate jumped. She rolled her eyes as she looked over at him. “I saw you flying in. I might not know as much about animals, but I do know what my namesake looks like.” “Heh, oh, right. Sorry, I am not always aware of what I am. Yeah, it is sort of like a giant raven wing.” She was back to examining the wing. “What do you mean?” “I just wanted to go for a flight, and so I turned into a bird. Sometimes, I just think about what I want, like speed, and I turn into a falcon without having to concentrate on it. It’s become a lot of second nature.” “So, what do you want with a raven?” She asked. He thought he caught a bit of dreaminess in her voice, but took it elsewhere. “Well they’re actually quite smart.” He said nudging her side jokingly. “Sometimes I just like to know what it’s like to feel intelligent.” She shook her head, but laughed. “Actually…” he took a deep breath, “I generally turn into a raven when I think about you.” The first time it had happened he didn’t even realize he was a raven, till he was shifting back to a human. He could feel the tiniest shift in her temperature as she blushed. “About what?” She asked, still not looking. “Oh,” He had almost forgotten, “it’s the night for the turtles to hatch.” Glancing at the sky, “We have a little bit of time.” He looked back at her, and lost his breath. Though her eyes were still puffy from crying, they conveyed all the joy he had ever seen. “Really? Can we go?” He grinned, “Of course.” ~ They sat watching the babies crawl out of the sand. The wind had died down and he had retracted his wings back into his body. Well, she was watching the turtles. Gar, on the other hand, kept glancing at Raven the whole night. She was so excited about every new life that popped out. Never would he have guessed she had such a soft spot for baby animals. Almost having to force herself not to reach out and snatch one of them up. And every time a noise occurred behind them she would throw up a force field trying to protect the tiny babies. As she would in battle for any innocent bystanders. Seeing her so open with her emotions was rare, and gave him such pleasure every time he got to see it. She turned to him, starting to speak, but then thought better of it and turned back to watch the hatchlings. “Hm?” He asked, leaning closer. “I don’t want to touch them. What…” He stuck out his hand before she could finish. Pausing, she looked at him, and then down at the hand he had placed palm up her knee. It only took a few seconds to click, and lightly she began to run her fingers over his palm. He smiled as she applied a bit more pressure, really feeling the hide on his hand. It warmed him to see her so mesmerized by something like his changing skin. “How is this different than something like a fish?” He shifted his palm and felt her touch it again. “Hm, that’s different than what I had thought it would be.” “Yeah, it’s odd to be a fish out of water.” He laughed slightly at himself. In the low light he could see her roll her eyes. She let out an exaggerated groan, but laughed anyway. “Did I tell you I started working at the zoo?” He leaned in closer so he could keep his voice casual and low. And for fun shifted his palm again as she ran over it once more. Looking up, she furrowed her brows but didn’t ask about it. “You have a little.” She said, now moving back over the palm as she resumed watching the babies. “I’ve been working with a polar bear recently. He’s a gentle, sweetheart of a boy, despite all he’s been through.” Her eyes flicked from the nest and she held his gaze for a second, a slightly bemused smile on her face. Like he had said something and didn’t register what it was. Gar paused but moved on as she looked back out without saying anything. “I would like to take you there. I’m not sure how close you could get, that’s pretty much up to him. But he’s fun to even just watch. He has a gimpy leg, so he falls a lot, but he has a good attitude about it.” Gar laughed at the memory of watching him slide down hills, mostly he just let gravity take him and enjoy the ride down. “Do you work with anything else right now?” She asked. “Yeah...this vulture came in after getting hit on the road. But he’s a real son of a bitch.” He said with a good bit of distain. Raven let out a loud laugh, and threw her hand up to her mouth. Flushing as she continued to giggle, she shook her head. “Guess I take it back.” She said, placing her fingertips back to his palm. “What?” “Earlier I said I missing being emotionless and in total ‘control’.” Her voice had become softer as she watched her finger trace his palm. Again he shifted it, and saw her smile brighten. “But this is worth it. Thank you for bringing me out here. I appreciate it.” “I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else.” He said, knowing it would pick up her heart rate. And it did. Biting her lip, she tried to hide how much she was smiling.
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AuthorI am split between a world of fantasies and science. {Blog}
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