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“Friend Robin?” Starfire said, approaching Robin on the couch. “I have something on the mind.”
“What's up, Star?” Robin answered, turning off the TV.
“You are not worried for Raven? She has been out of the tower for quite a while now. I fear she may be caught in the approaching storm of snow.”
“Raven's the strongest one out of all of us. She'll be fine.”
“But the storm of snow... it is growing worse. On my planet, such storms are very dangerous. People who go out have been found frozen solid the next day.”
“Raven can handle herself. It'd be best if you stop worrying about her, and besides, snowstorms here are probably a lot tamer than on Tamaran.”
“If you say so, friend. But I am still the worried for her.”
“It's natural. We are a team, after all.” Starfire smiled and floated out of the room. Robin turned the TV on again and leaned back on the couch. Everything would be fine, as long as they stayed inside.
Raven wasn't exactly a fan of the cold- or the snow. And unfortunately for her, both were in Jump City at the moment. The snowstorm had blown in suddenly; she'd stepped out of the bookstore, bag full of her new books in hand, to a frigid gale and snow in her face.
Even as she trudged through the snow piled on the sidewalk, she was shivering, her cloak wrapped as tightly as possible around her. “I sh-should probably t-teleport back…” Raven muttered to herself, raising her hand to open a portal. It opened like it was supposed to, then sputtered, sending sparks everywhere. She kept from stepping into it just in case it became unstable, and a second later, it fizzled and collapsed on itself.
“And of c-course my m-magic's affected b-by this s-stupid s-storm…” Raven tried levitating a few feet above the ground and let her cloak billow around her. Without the protection of her cloak, the freezing wind reached even deeper into her. She shivered instinctively and dropped back to the sidewalk, gripping her bag tighter. Levitating clearly wasn't an option now, not when the wind made her cloak fly everywhere and freeze her even further. Raven groaned as she trudged through the snow piled up on the street.
“I hate the cold… but I guess I have no choice but to walk back to the tower now…” She pulled her hood down more and started walking towards the tower; at least she knew where that was, thanks to her magic. Unfortunately, walking back to the tower wasn't the same as teleporting back, and it was a lot further than Raven thought. She curled her fingers around her bag handle and looked down at them in surprise when she couldn’t feel them.
“This can’t be good…”
“Raven? Hey, Raven?” Beast Boy called. “Yo Star, have ya seen Raven?”
“I have not seen friend Raven since she left the tower to buy books, Beast Boy,” Starfire calmly reported. Then she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “If I am to be telling the truth, it is giving me much of the worry. The storm of snow is getting worse.”
“Well yeah, Star, it’s winter. No doubt that thing’s gonna blow in soon.”
“But friend Raven… will she not be stuck outside when the storm does the blowing?”
“She can teleport, remember, Star? If Raven's in trouble, she can easily get back.”
“Even with your and Robin’s consolations, I still feel much of the worry for Raven. She is part-demon, yes, but does that not make her weaker to the cold than most Earth people?”
Beast Boy thought for a moment. “If it’s because she came from a world of fire and lava, then I guess… but ya gotta chill out, Star! Raven can make it back alive without us.” The green boy left, walking towards the living room and laughing at his unintended joke, and left Starfire in the hallway.
She floated towards Robin’s room, but stopped when she saw Raven’s door. Starfire sadly gazed at it, hoping her only female friend was alright. Then she turned away and continued levitating towards the leader’s room, tears silently falling from her eyes.
It had only gotten worse as Raven continued walking. Her shivers had gotten stronger and the numbness had crawled from her fingertips up to her forearms. There was a dull, throbbing pain in her arms, probably because she'd grabbed onto the edges of her cloak and folded her arms across her body, hoping to keep more warmth close to her body.
One of the bad things of being raised in literal hell, she supposed, was a terrible weakness to cold.
The other Titans often found her reading in a corner while wrapped in a wool blanket with a mug of hot tea as early as the beginning of autumn, and in rare moments, she curled up with either Starfire or Robin; Raven desperately wished that one of them was with her at the moment. Both of them could fill her with seemingly endless warmth, either through overenthusiastic hugs or really kind words.
Then she recalled that her communicator was clipped on her like it always was, and she fumbled for it with her free hand. She dialed her friends’ numbers and waited for them to pick up under an overhang.
“P-please let m-me g-get th-through t-to them… S-s-sweet A-azar, it’s s-so c-cold…” Raven murmured. “I n-need th-their h-help t-to get b-back…” By this time, her entire body was shaking from the wind, which had only gotten stronger and carried more snow, and her teeth were chattering uncontrollably. Then her communicator beeped and began relaying a pre-recorded message.
Due to weather conditions, your call could not be placed. Please try again at a later time. She whimpered, sliding her communicator back in its place, and started walking again, though at a slower pace than before.
“W-well, th-there g-g-goes a-any ch-chance I h-had at r-rescue…” Raven kept walking until she stopped, exhausted, both mentally and physically. It took all her willpower to keep walking, but finally she slid into the snow, which was slowly piling up around her, and sat down to catch her breath.
“S-so tired… I… I think I'll j-just take a n-nap… th-the others won't m-mind if I c-come b-back just a l-little later…” She didn't notice when her eyes slid shut, and Raven slowly descended into blissful sleep.
“Please, Robin! We must go and search for friend Raven,” Starfire pleaded, clinging to Robin's arm. “She could be injured and waiting for us to rescue her, or her magic might've malfunctioned and she cannot do the teleporting back! We must save her!”
“Star, there's probably a reason Raven hasn't returned yet,” Robin sighed, brushing the alien girl off him. “Maybe she's just waiting out the storm before she comes back.”
“B-but friend Raven… she is alone out there. You know how much she likes the snuggling with us when it is cold- and when she feels particularly happy.” Starfire gazed at Robin forlornly, her green eyes wide.
Robin slumped upon seeing her puppy-dog eyes. “Fine. We'll go look for her after this, okay? Beast Boy and Cyborg invited me to play cards with them. You should join too, take your mind off your worries for a bit.”
“Yes, Robin. I will try to stop worrying about Raven now.” He smiled and went into the living room, waving at the two others on the couch. Starfire followed them, but instead turned to the huge window where the empath often meditated. The whole landscape was a whirl of white, and somewhere out there was Raven.
Waking to a vision full of white tended to disorient someone, and when Raven woke up, she panicked. Her movements shook the snow off her head, and when she saw the road, the empath realized that she'd fallen asleep in the snow.
“I h-have t-to g-get back, w-with or without the others,” Raven muttered, standing on shaky legs and brushing snow off her. Thankfully, her books were still unharmed, safe in the plastic bag on her arm. She reassured herself of this a few times as she walked as quickly as she could. The empath didn't know if it was the cold or her exhaustion, but her entire body felt as if she hadn't moved in years, her muscles unwieldy.
Still able to put one foot in front of the other, Raven heard the sound of a motorcycle and she looked around excitedly, hoping it was Robin. It flashed by in front of her, but it didn't carry anyone familiar- if anything, it only sprayed snow on her face, making her colder and wetter than before. The motorcycle did, however, bring an idea. Clearing the snow off her face with a quivering hand, the empath called on her mental bond with Robin.
Robin! A-are you at the t-t-tower? I n-need s-some h-help g-getting b-back. S-something's wrong w-with m-my m-magic and I c-can't f-fly either. It's s-s-so c-cold t-too… c-can you help?
Raven? Is that you? Where are you?
N-no, b-because S-s-starfire's b-bonded w-with th-the two o-of us a-as w-well. O-of c-c-course i-it's m-me! A-and I d-d-don't kn-know wh-where I a-am, th-this s-s-storm m-makes it a-almost i-impossible t-t-to s-see…
Jump City’s huge, Raven! I can't drive around the entire city and check every street in less than a day!
I… I c-can s-s-see s-something! I g-got it! I'm n-next t-to th-the t-t-tallest s-skyscraper i-in th-the c-city!
Right, I'm coming after you! Just stay there and try not to freeze! Raven sighed with relief and rubbed her arms, watching as her breath turned into steam. She sneezed and forced herself to start shivering again. Before long, the empath heard the sound of another motorcycle and she looked around expectantly, waiting for the familiar flash of red and green to appear. It did, zooming by in front of her, before it wheeled around and came to a stop.
“Raven! There you are,” Robin exclaimed, spreading his arms. Raven darted into him, hugging the leader and burying her face in his shoulder. His fluffy coat radiated warmth as he hugged her back; while it burned her, the empath couldn't help but cling onto him.
“What happened to you? You're freezing! Come on, let's get you home and out of this weather. I trust you got all the books you wanted?”
“It was only the storm, Robin… I wasn't exactly equipped for it.” She stepped out of his embrace and let her cloak billow around her, showing her lack of appropriate winter clothing before hugging him again. “And does this answer your question?” Robin caught sight of a bag on her arm, all of Raven's new books safely inside.
“Yeah, yeah, you'd protect your books with your life. Hop on.” The leader gestured towards his motorcycle; when she wouldn't leave his arms, he let her climb on his back and carried her. With the empath latched onto his back, Robin sat on his motorcycle and revved it, pulling out his red and green helmet from a compartment. Raven's own dark blue, purple, and black helmet, complete with her namesake on the back, materialized out of thin air.
Robin had forced her to get one after she'd fallen off during a joyride with him and broken her arm- not that it had stayed broken for very long, but the leader was still paranoid about anything happening to her. She hugged him as tight as she could, and Robin looked back at her with a smile before he took his foot off the ground.
“Come on, Raven. Let's go home.”