In The Past

Raven was just eight years old when they came for her.
She ran through the cold dank stairs into the next wall. The dim hall shook, she dodged a chunk of rubble dislodged from above. Her breathing was loud and clear. A door swung open and, running through it, she was blinded by the light. Everything was heavier now, the sound, the rain, the cries of her caretakers being beaten in the fight to save her life. Empty as they usually were, Raven sprinted down the streets of Azarath to the hiding place the monks had told her. She looked back to the prominent monastery, illuminated by lightning and the amber glow of fire. That sacred place would be burned to the ground. Because of her. She let a few tears fall before she remembered she was being chased. She tugged her hood up around her face and tore on. The cobbled streets threatened to trip her at every turn, the rain slicing at her face. Her heart throbbed in her ears and through the small spots dotting her vision, the forest seemed ever far away.
A white caped woman dashed from the woods, though, and snatched Raven in her arms.
"N-no! Let go of me!" she screamed and punched at the arms.
"Raven! Raven, it's me, control yourself! We have to get away. Hold on!"
The little girl looked up at the face, streaked with mud and bleeding scratches.
"Mother?"
They began to drift and then zoomed above the trees, over the river and lochs, Raven clinging to her mother who confused her as to why she left her--


Raven sat up in her bed. She put a hand on her chest. It hurt with every heartbeat. The patter of rain, almost omnipresent from the San Francisco sky, dribbled down her window. She had just installed it after the attack, as all the other titans did, save for Robin. Then again...perhaps he had, just no one knew for sure. A tiny leak slithered onto her floor. She got out of the sheets and used her magic to plug and clean it up.
"Bulletproof..." she hissed. "Try waterproof."
A muffled voice told her to go back to meditating.
So she climbed back in to where her recurring visions haunted her, and, hardening her mind, released to the dark shadowy arms that pulled her close and wouldn't let her go.