CHAPTER ONE
Slave to the Earth

Terra ignored the trails of tears that fled from her eyes as she dashed across the dry, parched earth, a creature she had proven time and again to be both child of and slave to. Her streaming eyes were squeezed half-shut, leaving her to barely see where she was running. There was a soft sobbing in her throat, coming out in short, muffled bursts, and Terra brought her gloved wrist against her mouth to stifle the sound.

She had hoped that today would be different. Her powers had been doing so well this past week that Terra had placed a naïve, confident hope that they would not cause her trouble today either. Perhaps it was her lax awareness that had allowed it to happen. Or perhaps it was her health, which had been succumbing the past few days due to the intense desert conditions and lack of food she’d been experiencing.

Aside from that, the day had been going…fairly well, before things went terribly wrong. Terra had reached the edge of the desert that had been her home for the past week, and she saw a small city in the distance—a city she was sure she could reach by nightfall if she was consistent and followed the road that bordered a large mountain side. As she walked, Terra had spotted the five men up ahead just off the road, sitting down and opening their lunch boxes. Their work equipment was nearby, and the rest of the road beyond them had been blocked off. Terra saw them unwrapping cellophane protected sandwiches, saw thermoses undoubtedly filled with hot soup. There was the obligatory piece of fruit, an apple or pear or banana, tucked away amongst the rest of the food. One man lifted out a Tupperware bowl that held what looked to be leftover spaghetti or lasagna.

Terra hadn’t eaten a real meal in days, and seeing such a veritable feast was too much for her. Cautiously, Terra had approached them. It took all of her courage and desperation, and her face was red with shame. She didn’t know what she was going to ask—for money to buy food as good as this, or if she could please have some of theirs—but she did know that she hadn’t eaten a real meal in days. She neared them, and the road workers had regarded her politely enough, though they looked confused or guarded by her odd, disheveled appearance. Terra had barely murmured her first words when everything went wrong.

She had felt its force, its energy, though she had not summoned it. The rocky mountain face had towered above her and the men started to tremble. Boulders and slabs of rock slid and crashed down the mountain side, and the resulting screams as they plummeted to the ground, pierced her ears, and sent cold stabs through her body. Trying to stop the landslide, Terra had tried to re-harness her powers, but they easily slipped through her feeble mental restraints.

“Stop it…” she pleaded, as the world seemed to crumble around her. Heavy boulders continued to strike the ground, jarring her legs, and smaller stones and rocks beat on her head and back and outstretched arms. “Please…stop it…”

When it did stop, and when the dust cleared, the damage was visible. Two of the men had been crushed, their yellow hard hats languishing nearby absurdly unharmed. The remaining three men were alive, though one was bleeding more than the other two. Terra had felt instant relief that no more had been killed.

The relief soon faded, however, when the survivors ran for her, malice and hatred in their once welcoming eyes. All of them were easily more than twice her size and weight, and Terra turned to run, knowing from past experience that frantic explanations would not help her now.

But the workers were fast, faster than even her, and they her caught before she got far. Terra was barely aware of the blows hey delivered to her at first, but the pain soon alerted her. She begged for them to stop, but the men seemed maddened by rage…and who could blame them? Two of their friends were dead, and it was her fault.

But even though she had caused it all, Terra refused to subject herself to this. Suddenly angry at herself, reeling with pain, her eyes began to glow a demonic, warning yellow. Her blonde hair, as if fueled by some strange, invisible electricity, began to whip about her head. She held out her hand to one of the workers, and a seismic blast shot through the earth, sending him flying away from her. Terra pitched forward, spun and sent another blast toward the next man. He too was knocked away, yelling out, uncomprehending of the strange monster he was facing. Then Terra turned to the last, who threw himself at her, and she brought up her hands defensively. A slab of earth rose in front of her, and he slammed against it, undoubtedly knocking himself unconscious. Stumbling awkwardly, Terra got to her feet and began to run, tears stinging her eyes and blinding her with their wetness. Something on her hurt badly, more than a bruise would hurt, but she didn’t want to check what it was and instead tried to ignore the sharp pain, pushing it from her mind.

The guilt hurt worse than anything else, anyway; because somehow, even after all this time, her powers had never directly turned on her, at least not to the extent that they did others. Perhaps it was some subconscious desire to protect herself, but when other people around her were hurt or dead, Terra usually escaped with few injuries.

It was unfair. And what was even worse, she often felt relieved that she was alive when her outbursts ended—grateful it wasn’t her dead.

Terra finally slowed her run, staggering into a bent, hands-on-knees position. Her breath came out in shallow, short gasps, and cold sweat meandered from her blonde hairline and down the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were still wet, with droplets clinging to the lashes. She could feel tear streaks that had dried on the sides of her face. She reached up to wipe what felt like running mucus from her nose with the back of her gloved hand, and it came away stained with something dark red—blood. Astonished, Terra looked down at herself, and saw that her gray and white shirts were stained with blood, dried to a rusty color that stood out almost morbidly on the material. Reaching up to her face, she tried to wipe away the rest of the blood, but without a mirror there was no way to make sure.

I must look terrible, Terra thought despairingly, suddenly feeling even more pathetic and small than usual. She could imagine her hair wind-tossed, her eyes puffy, her clothing covered in dust and bloodstains and her arms and legs scratched and bruised. I must look like a total loser.

That just brought on another wave of guilt—how could she worry about herself when she had just ruined five lives in under an hour?

Terra sniffled and stood up, wiping at her face one final time. She cast one look at the small city in the valley beyond and turned away from it. She wasn’t going to spend the night there now.

The surrounding area was no longer the desert she had been running through for the past few days, but it was definitely desert-esque, just a few degrees cooler— and a lot more bearable for a small, starving fourteen-year-old who didn’t have the luxury of a roof over her head.

Feeling the warmth of the sun on the back of her neck, Terra followed the face of the mountain side she had defiled an hour’s walk back. Still, it was a strong mountain, and the rest of it looked no different than it had before she had come. She sat down and rested there, too tired and trembling to move anymore. She woke up from a dozing state an un-estimated amount of time later, and forced herself to stand and continue her journey.

After a few more hours of walking, where she grew progressively more tired, the land beside the road disappeared, dropping off a hundred or so feet below. Terra left the side of the mountain and crossed the road, walking to the drop-off. Below her, she could see sun-baked land, and the desert she had come from. Beyond that, somewhere out of sight, was Jump City, a coastal city that was protected by five superhero teenagers not much older than her.

A tight frown etched over Terra’s dusty face as she remembered the Titans. A little over a week ago, she had been living with the kind superheroes—they had even offered to make her a part of their team. But Beast Boy had told Robin about her…problem, and, feeling betrayed, Terra had run. Looking back, that had been a stupid move. Terra already missed the Titans’ hospitality, and she missed the short but enjoyable company Beast Boy had provided.

She also missed their tower, hot water, food, and large, cozy sofa.

The sun began to set, painting the sky orange and gold and purple. Trying hard to forget the deaths she had created this afternoon, Terra summoned up a rock from the ground far below, levitating it just beyond the protective rail of the road. She climbed onto the rail, held her balance, and jumped the short distance onto the waiting rock perch, feeling it shudder slightly as she landed on it in an unsteady crouch. After accustoming herself to it, Terra conducted the rock to take her down, leaving the cliff behind her.

In the desert, the evening was a time for the oppressive heat to dissipate and the frigid night air to set in. The same phenomenon that allowed the environment to retain such heat also meant that when the sun went down, the cold struck with just as much vehemence. Soon the cool breeze would be a biting wind.

She would have to find some food tomorrow. Terra had gotten used to going hungry during her never-ending travels, but it was a shameful, unhappy experience all the same, and the past few days had been unusually hard, with almost no food at all entering her mouth. She tried to ignore the weak sensations in her body, which had only worsened after unwillingly using her powers and being subjected to a near-brutal beating by the men who had survived them, but it was hard to keep going when everything felt ready to just shut down.

After an hour of flying she set the rock transport down and clumsily slid off, stirring up a small cloud of dust as her booted feet hit the ground. It was dark by now, and Terra looked for a relatively safe place to spend the night. Gripping herself against the cold night, she walked toward a small plateau, hoping for some sort of enclave or cleft in its structure. After circling the large rock she was disappointed to find none. Sighing thinly, Terra got down on her knees and held out her hands to the base of the plateau. She concentrated, and her powers swelled within her, creating a small cave that would allow her to curl up inside it and sleep. She may not be comfortable, but she would be out of prying eyes. Terra crawled inside and curled up into a sad ball, making herself as small as possible to fit in the cave and preserve body warmth.

I wish I could go back with the Titans, Terra thought, as she lay curled up like a mouse in a wall crevice. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore her empty stomach, her pale, shivering flesh, and the silent cry in the back of her head, trying to remind her that she was a murderer. I want to be warm and full and safe.

She didn’t want to hurt others, to always be running from the people that eventually turned on her. She wanted friends; she wanted to be loved.

The Titans had offered her all of those things. But like an emotional fool, Terra had run out on their offer. What were the chances that they would give her another shot at being a hero? Why would they trust someone who ran away at the drop of a hat? Any chance she’d had to prove herself worthy of their attentions was gone now.

But…Terra hesitated at the thought running through her mind…there’s still…him.

Just the mere though of the man made Terra shudder. She dreaded the memory of the armored, faceless criminal that the Teen Titans had referred to as simply “Slade.” Terra had never heard of him before coming to their home, but from the way they had talked about him, and the things they had told her on the way to intercept his plan to attack the diamond mine, he’d sounded frighteningly dangerous.

When Slade had trapped her in a section of the mine, and forced her to fight him, their words were confirmed with interest. Despite Terra’s tremendous power, Slade had evaded almost everything she had thrown at him. Terra had struck him no more than once. When she broke his weapon—she didn’t know what it was called, knowing only that it was a long metallic stick that looked like it hurt a lot—it hadn’t fazed him in the least. Instead, Slade had taunted her about getting the stick instead of him with a slight thread of amusement in his voice.

But Slade hadn’t lured Terra into a trap merely to exchange blows. After the fighting had stopped, when Terra was trapped against a wall, the masked villain had spilled his agenda, claiming that he wanted to help her control her powers. Matter-of-factly, he informed her that the Titans could not give her the kind of assistance she needed, but he could teach her to shine like a jewel.

Could he, though? Terra thought bitterly, her cheek scraping against the harsh stone of her makeshift cave. Could he teach me control? Her powers had dominated her since she was a child—how could some man just walk in and teach her to become their master instead of the other way around? What could Slade, a man without earth-moving abilities, possibly teach her that no one else could?

B-but if he could survive everything I threw at him— Terra thought —if he could crush rock with his bare hands—maybe he does know what he’s talking about.

But he’s still the bad guy! another part of her brain argued. He sent his robots to steal from the mine. He trapped you inside and attacked you.

I know! I know, Terra answered herself. But just because he’s a bad guy doesn’t mean he can’t help me. I don’t have to become a criminal like him—all he wants to do is teach me control.

Are you sure that’s all he wants? the other side of her asked dubiously.

It was too confusing to think about. Terra buried her face in her arms, and tried to ignore the splintered viewpoints of her mind.

It doesn’t matter, Terra told herself a second later. He told me that he would be waiting for me, but I don’t know where he lives or where he goes. For all I know, he might have just decided to forget about me.

There was no point in worrying about Slade now; she didn’t even know where he was.

(TT TT TT)

It had become almost habit, his constant watch over the girl. Now that she was safely from beneath the Titans’ wing, and slowly maneuvering towards the shadow of his own, Slade knew it was only a matter of time before she was his.

At first, after she left the Titans, he had kept tabs on her movements by sending out his microscopic, versatile cameras, which were so deft at recording the things he wanted to see. But for the past two days, Slade had been watching her with his own hawk-like eye, following after her on foot. If nothing else, it provided him with good exercise—as he tracked his target there were rock formations to climb and mountains to slowly travel, and heat and cold to withstand through it all. Following her in person also gave Slade the opportunity to scrutinize the physical prowess of his young prey, to note the levels of her strength and endurance and store it away in his brain for later use. And so far, he was more and more pleased with what he saw from her. Little Terra might be short and thin and wiry, might be somewhat clumsy and awkward on her feet, but she could easily be transformed into a strong and capable warrior. He’d seen this hinted in her before, and he was not disappointed now.

On the second day, something extraordinary happened, when Slade had been looking down upon her from a flattened-out space in a mountain. Below him, the child had approached five construction workers getting ready to eat their midday meal. Terra’s hands had been clasped in front of her, and her eyes had been averted to the ground. Her smudged, tousled appearance and her timorous expression had reminded Slade of a stray puppy. Apparently, the child was reduced to begging for even the most meager scraps of food. It would have been morbidly interesting to watch, Slade thought, crossing his arms and leaning against a boulder, but before anything could happen, the mountain had begun to shudder.

Slade hadn’t been able to keep his balance, but fortunately for him there were a lot of hand- and footholds to keep himself from tumbling over the side of the mountain like the rocks around him. Below his hiding place, however, things weren’t so fortunate. As soon as the shaking had subsided, Slade—getting up from his hands and knees, covered with rock dust—had leaned forward to re-examine the view below him. He saw two men dead, one wounded, and a very scared girl trying to get away before her surviving victims could take their revenge. She had eventually escaped, but not without some punishment.

Bleeding, sobbing like the lost fourteen-year-old she was, Terra found a new strength fueled by guilt and fear, and she had run to the point of exhaustion. Faster and stronger than she was, Slade had easily kept up with her, though when she leapt onto a levitated rock and returned to the outskirts of the desert there was distance lost between them. When he had completed scaling down the side of the cliff, she was crawling into a small hole in the side of a nearby plateau for the night.

You have so little hope now, he thought, staring with his remaining eye at her hiding place. Now that Terra knew someone had extended his hand to her, the cold and hunger and loneliness she had experienced all her life must sting doubly worse. Soon she would put up no struggle when he took her—she would be begging him to do it.

Slade stood casually in the pale blue moonlight, watching the plateau in the distance. Don’t worry, Terra, he told the girl silently, as if his thoughts could reach her in her restless dreams. You will be in my care soon.

(To be continued)