Lantern's Light (Roy Harper - Red Arrow) [Young Justice]

Prologue

6 Years Ago

A young girl was quickly stuffing whatever essentials that she could into a small green backpack. Right as she went to the window there was a pounding at her door. "Aurora! Whet the hell did we say about keeping doors open!" The head mistress of the Orphanage screamed at the young girl. "Just a minute, I'm naked!" Aurora quickly opened the window and jumped out, making her way into the night, away from the dreaded orphanage she had to call home since the day she was born.

;+;+;+;+;+;+;+

It didn't take long for Aurora to get a hold of living on the streets of Coast City. Sure, there were its downfalls, like trying to find a place to sleep and food. But it was definitely better than the hell hole that she lived in before. She believed that she had it good. She found a nice alley way, found a hot dog vendor who gave her any left overs from the day before, and no more beatings when those in the orphanage decided that she screwed up. In their eyes she was a screw up. Many people came looking for a child at the home. Many people considered her, but none were meant to be. The longer she stayed in the Orphanage, the worse things got for her. So she just left, hoping to gain a better life.

5 Years Ago

Over the course of a year, Aurora had grown tougher and less naive. One night, after coming back from the vendor who feeds her she happened to look up at the night sky. It looked like a meteor was falling to the Earth's atmosphere When it crashed Aurora went back to her alley. About half-an-hour later, a lime green bubble quickly made its way towards her, picked her up, and flew her to the sight of the crash site. Aurora was shocked to see that it was not a meteor at all, it was an alien space ship. Aurora rushed over only to find a fish like man. "Holy shit!" Aurora gasped when she saw him.

The man-fish looked at her. "What is your name." He mumbled. "Aurora. But most people call me Rory. Look I'm gonna get you help." She pushed her hands on the bleeding wound over the mans side. "Your hands." Aurora looked at the thing confused when it grabbed her hands and slid a green ring on her right middle finger. "You were chosen my child." The man told her. "Place the ring in the lantern, speak the oath." He told her as they both looked over. "What?" Aurora was confused. All she knew was that this man-fish was dying. "Great honor, Aurora, great responsi..." The man trailed off as he took one final breath and died in Aurora's arms.

When the man died his body seemed to evaporate. "Oh my God." Aurora's hands flew to her mouth in shock. She just watched someone die, and just evaporate. She looked over to the lantern that was sitting in the ship and grabbed it and ran as fast as she could towards the alley that she called home. She sat the lantern down and looked at the ring on her hand then back at the lantern. Cautiously she moved her right hand towards the lantern and touched the ring to it. A bright light flashed and words started to appear in her mind. "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light." She spoke the words fluently, as if she has known them for years. "What. The. Hell?!" She exclaimed. She had no idea what was happening to her.

Hoping that it was all just some lucid dream, Aurora crawled into her little makeshift bed in the alley that was inside a small battered tent that she scavenged from the garbage during her first month on her own.

About an hour later, Aurora woke up to something dripping on her. Unfortunately and fortunately for her it started to rain, and some was getting in through a small hole in the top. She sighed and moved out of her tent, carrying a few water jugs. As she sat outside in the dark and the rain she couldn't help but wish for an umbrella. All of a sudden a flash came out of the ring and she had a glowing green umbrella over top of her. Her eyes widened in shock. She had no idea what had happened, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Over the coarse of a month, Aurora slowly started to master the power that the ring gave her. If she wanted a bed, she got one, if she wanted a light, she got one. The ring gave her almost anything that she needed until she no longer needed it. A day never passed though that she did not think about the man who died in her arms though.

About a month and a half after Aurora got the ring, a man showed up. He was shocked to see the newest lantern was just a kid, no older than ten years old. Nevertheless he still approached her, as he promised his friend he would when he died and passed on the ring. It took him over a month to find the new lantern, but he did. He followed her the entire day, trying to figure out how to deal with the situation on hand. A kid. The newest lantern was a kid. He still couldn't get that through his thick skull. As he watched her John came up behind him. "You know Hal, this isn't stalkerie at all." Hal looked over at his partner. "I'm not stalking, I'm observing. She's just a kid John." After a hour, John left Hal to his own devices.

Eventually it started to rain, again. Hal quickly made an umbrella construct, and was shocked when he saw the girl make one to. He would have never expected for her to have figured out how to make things with her will. As the day came to a close, the girl made her way to an old looking alley. All day Hal was wondering where her parents were, and now he had an answer. She had none. As the girl walked into the alley Hal jumped into action. He suited up and went to her. "Hey kid." The girl froze and slowly turned around. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers when she saw that she was face to face with a Green Lantern. She didn't think she did anything to illegal while on the streets. Just enough to survive. A bottle of water here, a couple of dollars there, maybe an article of clothing every once in a while.

Hal saw her distress and quickly assured her that everything was fine. He then went on to explain that she to was now a Green Lantern. Her eyes grew even wider, if that was even possible at this point. There was no way that she could be one of them. When she voiced her opinion Hal was quick to tell her that it was in fact true. Well that was the icing on the cake. She just stood there frozen. Hal eventually broke the silence. "Kid whats your name." He asked her and bent down to he level. "Aurora." She quietly answered. She wasn't used to anyone other than the hot dog vendor being this nice to her. "Well Rory, do you have anywhere to go?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer. She shook her head no. "Well, if you wanted you could stay with me while you train. Maybe even be my sidekick." He nudged her side playfully and smiled when her face lit up.

Hal took her back to his apartment and set up the guest room with her. He didn't tell her this, but he was going to adopt her. No child should be on their own, especially one with this much power. He made a promise to Tomar-Re's little brother that he would help the new lantern, and he thought that this was one of the best ways to help. After a long six months, Rory was officially Aurora Jordan, Hal Jordan's adopted daughter, and Emerald Lantern, Green Lantern's sidekick. Life for Rory couldn't have gotten any better at this point.