Chapter Text
The woods were dense and untamed, every plant fighting to survive. The only thing close to this in Gotham was Poison Ivy’s park.
There was a certain buzz in the air, it felt like magic but it wasn’t.
Damian was here investigating with two of his brothers, Richard and Todd, after reports of Gotham itself acting agitated by the forest’s presence. With the dark corners just getting darker and the wind picking up, growing bitter.
The citizens have reported that Gotham has only gotten this bad once before, when the second Robin passed.
So the three were sent to investigate. Drake was back at the cave researching all he could, he could come out due to a broken leg from a Young Justice mission.
Damian estimated that they were about halfway through the woods, based on the sky and the different trees they’re starting to pass.
But an odd thing occurred to Damian. They’ve seen abundance of flora, but no fauna. Not even the smallest of insects has appeared before them.
“Nightwing, Hood.” Damian finally spoke as they walked.
Todd gave an ‘I’m listening’ hum. He was wearing his non helmeted version of his Red Hood suit. Saying that this version was better for wilderness.
“What’s up baby Bat?” Richard said, looking over at him, tilting his head softly with an easy smile.
Damian scowls at the nickname but didn’t say anything about it. “Isn’t it odd that there’s no wildlife? We’ve seen different plants but no animals. Not even insects.”
Both froze and stopped walking, Damian did too and looked at both of them, standing in front.
“It is odd. I always thought forests were teeming with life.” Todd huffed out. He looked around, scanning the area.
“I haven’t noticed, I guess I should’ve since I’ve felt no bugs trying to come near me.” Richard spoke as well, looking around, scratching his cheek.
Damian sighs and shakes his head. If he hadn’t seen how smart these two were he would’ve thought that they were idiots.
He then picks up some rustling in a nearby bush, turning his head to look he felt a shift in the air. The light around him dims.
He immediately turns back to where his brothers would be but…
They were gone, so was the path they had cleared. Only the vastness of the forest remained.
Damian could feel panic rise in him, the primal kind. He was alone in an unknown area that seemed to have changed. He takes a breath, trying to calm himself.
He needed to be calm to get back to the other two.
First, he tried the comms. Nothing but static. He took it out of his ear and stashed it in his belt,
Next, he tried his phone. It wasn’t his personal one, the one he kept with him in the suit was a more durable and easily replaceable version. It was also encrypted so nothing but Bat level skills could get any information out of it.
It wouldn’t even turn on.
He then tried the last resort, his JLA communicator. After pressing many of the buttons, holding them even pressing rapidly. It wouldn’t turn on.
Damian just calmly put it away and took a handful more breaths. Trying to calm the now shaking of his hands.
He was the Son of the Bat, a Robin, more importantly Damian Wayne. He can handle this, he’s been through worse.
So why was he freaking out so much??? He knows logically people would try and find him.
After one final deep breath out, he calmed his nerves as much as it would be calmed.
He resolved himself in one direction.
To get himself out of this forest.
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He walked for a while, trying to use the sky as his compass. But it wasn’t working, the sky was too different from any other Damian has used before.
Even then, it was starting to get dark. He needed to find shelter soon. He had a small canteen of water and a couple snacks on him, it’ll last him a bit before he would have to scavenge around for edible plants.
Damian found a dirt path, formed from years of travel. Finally, a sign of civilization. He followed it, hood of his cloak up.
He stopped as he saw a pale woman stumbling towards him. The woman was ghostly pale, deep black hair a knotted mess. She was wearing a simple traditional Chinese dress, but it was ripped and stained with what looked like dirt.
Her face was gaunt and her eyes fully white, though it looked like she was tracking him perfectly.
Damian slowly walked forward, hand resting on his katana. “Ma’m, Are you alright?” He asked as the woman stopped walking.
As the teen stood in front of the woman he got a better view. She looked terrible, her veins looked black, her lips blue.
Damian gently takes her wrist. “I’m going to take your pulse, Miss.” He said as he placed two fingers on the woman’s wrist. He was first taken back on how cold she was, then he felt no pulse.
His eyes under his domino widened as he took his hand back and slowly backed away. This is a corpse, a walking corpse. He’s only seen these on tv and despite Gotham’s infamy, they’ve never had a reanimation problem.
Todd was a one time deal.
The woman twitched violently once he backed away. Instinctively, Damian released his sword from the scabbard. The sword itself still had cover on it, a safety precaution so civilians and even criminals won’t get deadly strikes on accident.
“Shit” Damian cursed softly in the League dialect as the woman lunged forward. He easily sidestepped the woman as she crashed to the ground.
But she was immediately back up again to attack. Damian swung his sword, it hit her legs with a crack.
He noted brittle bones. Possible weakness for these creatures.
He stood over the woman as she snarled and tried to get up again, but was struggling. He wanted to put her out of her misery, let her rest but he didn’t know how. Resurrection wasn’t in his knowledge, that’s more Justice League Dark. He doesn’t mess with the magical.
Damian lets out a breath and puts his sword back on his belt. He goes into one of his pouches and takes out meta grade zip ties since he noted the increased strength of the woman.
Maybe he could find information on how to let the woman rest? He's seen hoof and cart tracks on this road, some even only looking hours old. So this was a highly used road.
Damian closes the zip ties around the woman's wrists and pulls her up, surprised at just how light she was. Mentally noting it as another characteristic.
He takes a small amount of rope out of his belt, looping and tying it around the ties. Just to give some distance between him and the woman as he noticed her trying to bite him earlier.
He started to walk, gently tugging the woman along as he followed the tracks.
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After what Damian could only assume an hour of walking, it was dark out. Well into the night.
He keeps looking around the area as he walks, the woman behind him still groaning and growling. Thrashing against the restraints. He was getting annoyed at the walking corpse.
Soon, he comes across something new. What looks like a person and a donkey with a pack.
Based on just appearances and physique alone, Damian would assume they are a man. Wearing black and red robes with a flute tied around his hip. Long black hair tied up with a bright red ribbon. He couldn't see their eyes since the person seemed to be arguing with the donkey.
Damian didn’t try to conceal his presence. So, purposely, he broke a stick under his foot. Causing the man's head to whip around and look at him.
“Hello?” The man spoke as Damian's eyes widened a bit as he recognized the language.
This was ancient Chinese. He was in Ancient China. This was one of the few languages he wasn't fluent in.
Shit.