CH1

Running. Feet pounding. Dirt kicked up. Wet, stuck between his toes. Dancing left and right, avoiding trees. Heart pounding. Lungs straining. A thin sheen of sweat coats his bare form. He comes to a crest and stops, his lithe silhouette now bathed in moonlight. The ethereal light makes his slick green skin glow. He looks to the near rocky wastes, attention diverted for a second and then gazes back to the forest. He sees nothing but the wind moving below. He closes his eyes, scenting his prey near but…his ears twitch. There. His eyes snap open and he's off, running faster that it should be possible for a human to run. But he's not human, not entirely, and so he runs after his prey, silent and deadly in quick slivers of the moonlight. He runs at a tree, full speed and jumps up about five feet and then uses the tree to springboard away, catching a branch and pulling himself higher up. He leaps branch to branch, still silent in the quivering forest, still drawing ever nearer to his intended victim.

Seconds after he draws to a stop above a clearing, his prey crashes in and stops, catching her breath. She's terrified, he had allowed himself to be seen, to encourage her to run, to scare her. It worked. He can hear her ragged breathing, see her sag with the effort of standing, see the fear dancing in her eyes. Even better yet, he can smell her, her scent overridden with the adrenalin and sweat, the pheromones of fear leaking out of her pores, encasing her in a cloud of something so exquisite that he closes his eyes and takes a moment to bask. He opens his eyes and sees she's ready. She's recovered enough strength for an enjoyable struggle. He grows claws on his hands and feet, his teeth elongate turning into vicious curved fangs, even his molars grow slightly sharper. He crouches, taking a silent breath, and launches at his prey. He catches her, slicing his dagger tip fingers down her flank and she cries out. He grasps her legs to stop her from running and drags her to the ground, crashing down. She tries to fight, she lashes out, screaming at him, but he is quicker and not afraid. He dodges her blow and gives her one of his own. She tries to escape, struggling, screams turning to cries for help, but he is stronger and knows they are alone. He tightens his grip and drags her closer. She tries to survive, her cries now whimpers pleading for life, but he is the predator and such things mean nothing to him. He wrestles himself to her neck and bites down. Hot salty sweet red nectar courses forth, into and around his maw burning down his gullet. He drinks deep of her life and slakes his thirst, and when he is done he tears out her throat. She has stopped moving and he releases her neck, blood pooling on the forest floor. He takes his claws and rakes them down her side, through her fur, and he begins to gorge on her flesh. Beastboy loved venison. When he had his fill that night, he returned to the tower not bothering to dress or wash the gore from himself and he slept.

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Beastboy woke feeling sated, 'god, that was a fantastic night'. He had been doing this for about four months and he loved it every time. He got up and stretched, yawning, but stopped when his skin felt tight. Confused he looked down to see why and slapped himself in the forehead, he hadn't washed the blood off. He shrugged, 'oh well, last night was almost perfect if I forget to wash up every once in a while then no big deal'. But now he had to wash his sheets, also covered in blood. So he showered and dressed, deciding to put his shirt on after he dealt with the bloody sheets, he retrieved said sheets and headed to the laundry room, just through the living room. He was whistling and on his way he ran into Cyborg, also going to the living room. They matched their paces.

"Hey BB, what's with the red white and green you got goin' on there?"

"Um….it's my sheets, they're due for a cleaning." Cy raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I can see that, what's up with the red, you spill some ketch-uh BB, sensors say that's blood. How'd you get that much on your sheets?"

"Uh," He tried to think of something to get him to drop it, he couldn't, so he tried for a horrible joke. "I tried the whole seventy-two virgins thing, not the best idea for my sheets though." There was silence as they walked.

"Um…ok, if you don't want to tell me then that's fine but just remember, I'm your best friend, when you start to go psycho werewolf killer on everyone remember and just leave me out of it."

"Deal, as long as you remember the same thing when you go Borg and try to assimilate everything. Besides, I don't think you'd taste too good."

"Hey! With the amount of barbecue I eat I'd taste fantastic and you know it grass stain, but seriously, is this something I should be worried about?" they had reached the door to the living room.

"You live in the forest?"

"Huh?"

"You eat grass?"

"What?"

"You got a tail?"

"You know I don't BB! What's goin' on man?" Beastboy looked at him and cocked his head

"Absolutely nothing you need to worry about." And with that he walked through the doors into the living room where Robin was talking to Starfire, who was cooking, and Raven was drinking her tea at the table. He heard Cyborg mutter 'kid gets weirder everyday' but he ignored it, just as he ignored the stares he got as he took his sheets to the laundry room. As he was doing his laundry he was also listening in. Robin of course began the 'concerned' talk.

"Guys, I'm concerned about Beastboy, he's been acting strange these last few months. When he comes in here I'm going to try to talk to him will you guys help me?" everyone agreed except for Raven who gave an enthusiastically deadpanned 'no'. Beastboy didn't want to deprive Robin of his chance to feel like leader so he finished up put on his shirt and walked back in, sitting down at the table.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Cyborg tried to let Robin take the lead.

"Nothin' man just gunna get some lunch was all."

"Uh-huh, so I guess Robin didn't just recruit you and Star to give me a talk with him?" He was met with a surprised face.

"Uhhhh…Starfire?"

"Please friend, how did you know of the 'talking to' that Robin has just spoken to us of? Did Raven gift you psychic powers?" Raven responded without even looking up.

"No. I can't just give out powers Starfire, and even if I could I would never give them to Beastboy."

"Then how did friend Beastboy know of 'the talk'?"

"Star's got a point Beastboy," said Robin "how did you know."

"You guys weren't talking that quietly."

"But you were in the other room, over fifty feet away, and we were whispering!"

"Let's just say my already phenomenal hearing has improved recently."

"How much?" funny how Robin could make a simple question sound like a deadly threat

"Let's also just say that if you're in the same room with me I'm just acting like I can't hear you, for your sake and for mine, Robin."

"What's that supposed to mean Beastboy?"

"Oh nothing, however on a completely unrelated side note, Star how are you holding up? I mean, I heard you telling Robin all about how sore you were from your special Tamaranian exercise, 'Glepkas' was it?" He could see the couple's faces redden. "Dude Robin, you gotta be more gentle, focus on the technique, not brute power." Cy was confused

"Yo man what's he talking about?" Robin fought to control his blush

"Nothing Cyborg." Beastboy would have none of that.

"I heard once," He began, ignoring the electric death glare he was getting "that it's not the size of the wave, it's the motion of the ocean. And while I know Star likes the wave just fine," At this the Tamaranian started steaming, her blush was so hot "it would go smoother and be more enjoyable for her if the ocean had a better the motion on your part." Robin's blush was back.

"Yo dude, what are you talking about? What's 'Glepkas'?" Raven, not so clueless just ignored them all.

"It's a tantric exercise dude" Cyborg blushed

"Do you even know what that means?" Raven asked, still not looking up.

"Yeah, it's really physical and flexy and….like yoga but for two people. That's what Glepkas is."

"Oh, ok," Cy turned to Starfire "you think maybe you could teach me? My joints have been real stiff lately and I really need to stretch them." Robin held his tongue, knowing he couldn't say anything while Starfire blushed madly, trying to think of an excuse to say no. Beastboy just burst out laughing and nothing Robin did could get him to stop.

"Oh, um, well friend, that….would not be advisable, because….Glepkas requires….someone….with a.…similar body type….and advanced flexibility! Yes! Very advanced, and it is only for masters of the physical arts and is very hard to learn. I can show you a different exercise if you wish."

"Well alright then." He said, happy to fix his problem. "Yo BB, what's so funny?" He forced himself down to a small chuckles every now and then and a huge grin on his face.

"You reaaaally want to know?" he asked "Weeeell," at this point Star was very nervous and gripped her knife too hard, breaking the blade off and sending it flying at Beastboy was turned sideways "I don't think I ca-AAAAHHHH! DUDE! WHAT THE HELL?" Everyone stared at him in shock for a second before rushing in to see if he was ok, even Raven got up calmly and waited her turn. Starfire was of course guilty about the seven inch slice in his forearm. The knife was embedded there.

"Oh friend, I apologize most sincerely, I should not have gripped my slicing instrument so tightly!" Beastboy growled, his claws extended, his fangs grew, and he grunted as he removed the knife, making his wound bleed harder. "Please, let friend Raven heal you!"

"It's fine Star, just a scratch, I wouldn't be a Titan if I couldn't handle this much." Raven didn't agree.

"Oh stop the tough guy act, you just got stabbed by flying cutlery. You should let me heal you." She grabbed his arm. The second she did she was accosted by a roar from Beastboy as he tore himself away and pinned her to the table in less than a second. He had his claws on her neck, the tips pricking blood from her on either side. Everyone was in a fighting pose at his roar except for Raven who was just shocked.

"Easy BB," Cyborg said "she's just tryin' to help." The strain could be seen in all of his muscles and a low growl could be heard coming from him.

"Guys." He was speaking tersely through gritted teeth. "Back off."

"Can't do that BB. You need to get off of her and we'll back off, but you need to get up right now." His muscles became even tighter.

"I…I can't. I'm trying but…my…my instincts won't let me. If…if you just back away…slowly, so I can still see you, I'll feel less threatened, especially if I know you're not trying to kill me." He could see them back away slowly then someone spoke, Robin maybe.

"We're not trying to kill you Beastboy, we're trying to stop you from hurting Raven." That seemed like a slap in the face to him. He released her and staggered back, Raven opened a portal under her and slipped through, reappearing behind the other three titans, accepting Starfire's hand up.

"I need everyone to stay still. Don't move until I say it's okay. I…I need to calm down."

"We'll stay here Beastboy, we're on your side." Beastboy straightened and started chanting quietly, giving them all a death glare. They were all surprised that he had a mantra to calm down and even more so at what it was, but none more surprised than Raven, because he was chanting her mantra. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Minutes later he was calm enough to close his eyes. When he did his claws grew smaller as did his fangs. Then he opened his eyes and spoke

"I'm going to my room." And he left, never taking his eyes from the group.