Quote the Raven

Words of Wisdom

It was silent after Raven knocked, but still apparent that she was there, waiting patiently as usual. Beast Boy could sense it. She filled his nose with sincerity, concern, and understanding, things he picked up on quite often, but could never read on her facial expressions. Her feelings were wafting off her so freely that there was no doubt she was worried sick... Was she allowing them to play onto her expression as well?

He had an itching need to see if she looked as concerned as she was, but couldn't bring himself to open the door, simply asking, "What do you want?" His words bounced along the silent room, unanswered, until finally, she spoke up in a voice tinged with sadness. "What everybody wants.", She began carefully. "To get you back to your wisecracking self." At this, he frowned and furrowed his brow. That's exactly what he expected.

"Good luck with that.", He spat out with an animalistic sneer, his enhanced k9's jutting out fearsomely. "I hope you came ready for disappointment." Surely she would leave in a destructive huff, shattering a light bulb blanketed in black as she stomped down the hall, but that didn't happen to be the case. He heard her release a sigh before gently calling, "Beast Boy." in an urgent tone. At this, his previously laid back ears shot up in surprise. She hadn't gone yet?

"I know it feels hopeless,", She continued sympathetically. "But you can't just give in. You almost did back at Terra's cave, I could sense it." He flinched at the mention of Terra's name, glad she was unable to see the pitiful face he currently wore. Voice cracking in distress, Beast Boy finally shared his opinion. "It hurts..." He managed to choke out. "Worse than anything I've ever felt. I just...I just can't can't take it anymore!" By the end of his sentence, he had resorted to griping his hair and curling up in a ball as a source of comfort.

"I know.", Raven replied in an understanding voice that was hardly above a whisper. "It doses hurt. There's no way you can make it out of this." He lowered his head in agreement until she continued. "At least not alone. Just as we, the Teen Titans, work as a team, you need a group of individuals you trust to help ease this crippling pain. It's too dangerous by yourself." She paused for a moment, leaving him stunned.

Then, her parting words reached his ears, sending him to a thick layer of shock. "As a wise man once told me...you think you're alone, Beast Boy...but you're not." With that, footsteps once again echoed down the corridor, leaving Garfield alone in the dark. After the phrase left her lips, Beast Boy found himself starting to believe what she was saying given her apparent seriousness. How could she possibly remember? That was ages ago! She had called him wise, and a man as well, two things she had only ever spouted out in a sarcastic grumble before... Was festering in his room really the right thing to do? It had even been three days since his last shower...

At a loss for what to do, Beast Boy un-clutched his tightly coiled fingers from his matted hair, and instead drummed them against the side of his head in thought. "I'm not alone...", He said absentmindedly, as if to contradict the uncomfortable silence. Was that true? Or did she just say that to make him feel better? The second option was the most likely, but at one point, he had used that same, very real, sentence on her...

Giving up, he decided to commence in what he had planned to do in the first place. Once again, he was attempting to catch some much needed shuteye. It had been ages since his last decent night of sleep, so his brain had begun to turn to mush, in which he intended to reverse right now. Sleep was the universal cure for everything, wasn't it? Well, there was only one way to find out.

Wrapping himself up in the perspiration soaked bedding, Beast Boy gave a large sigh dipped in confusion. What was he supposed to do? The allure of sleep pulled at his senses with each passing moment until he could no longer bear to stay awake, sending him into a much needed rest...Not that he would be able to consider this resting.

---------------------------------------------------

The sun shone brightly down on the roof of Jump City, provoking a fanged smile from none other than the green changeling of the hour. It wasn't every day he was able to sit here with the most beautiful girl in the world, let alone that she actually loved him back. Who were to thought that, he, of all people, would be blessed with such luck! Still grinning ear to ear, Beast Boy rested his emerald eyes on his beloved Terra, who was currently opening a wicker basket full of picnic items, showcasing her usual grace.

The wind blew at every strand lengthy hair, irises of blue gazing into the almost perfectly matching sky. Gleefully, she returned to fiddling with the packed goods, laughing in a carefree manner. So beautiful... A lovesick sigh escaped him before parting his lips to speak these overflowing affections. "Terra, I need to tell you some-", Suddenly, the scenery took a turn for the worst. His pupils shrank considerably as he stopped mid sentence, unwilling to fathom what was going on. No, no, no, this could not be happening!

Garfield's breaths became labored as he found himself in, a somehow reconstructed, and much too familiar cave. The girl who was previously beaming brighter than the sun now had a look of pure horror on her face as the cave rattled underneath their feet. "Beast Boy!", She wailed in terror as her delicate hands began to fade into a lifeless grey at the fingertips. "H-help! It's happening again! Please don't abandon me this time!"

Trembling, he remained glued to the spot he stood. Speaking, moving, thinking... they were simply put on halt. All he could do was stare wide-eyed at the former Titan's fruitless cries as her hardening appendages crackled, already partially stone. "Beast Boy!", She pleaded in the form of an ear busting scream, reaching her hand desperately towards his own. "Why won't you save me! Why let me suffer!"

A tremendous guilt washed over him as Terra continued to squirm in pain and denial. "Terra...", Beast Boy whispered lowly, clearly announcing his defeat. This nightmare was far from foreign to him, and as he had discovered many times before, there was just no possible way to save her. He had hoped, he had dreamed, he had fought with all his might each and every time... nothing worked.

Fictional tears ran down his paler than a (green) bed sheet cheeks as a cry of defeat resounded throughout the dilapidated cave once more. "Goodnight, sleep tight...", He mumbled incoherently, unable to keep his now jello legs from shaking as the world caved in around him. The only thing he had wished for, to never see this sight again, had been shattered into unsalvageable fragments. It was becoming too much, he couldn't take it...

Purpose now cast out the window, he decided to finally finish his regretful sentence; "Don't let the bedbugs bite..." echoed freely around the emptiness, bringing with it great tides of sorrow. He was done. He was alone. He was afraid... He was broken. Silently, the fractured soul sunk to his knees, unable to stand for the second time in a short while, trembling with dream induced sobs. "Goodnight..."

End of chapter 3