A Robin's Song

...Of sorrow.

...Of lonliness.

...Of desperation.

...Of love.

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Chapter 1

The skies of blue seemed endless. A bird flew past the busy streets of the old kingdom catching the joyful praises of the young ones. It flapped its wings a few times, beating against the wind, and yet, the bird also used this same wind as leverage to gain more altitude. It flew into the high, noon sun and then disappeared from their sight.

Of course, nobody was paying attention to this bird save a few children and for one that gazed upon it through one of the high windows of the castle. The thick bricks that served as an efficient wall also dimmed the inside making it almost a perpetual darkness and a nice cover from the people outside.

It was fine for this gentleman that had focused his eyes on the bird of flight. He had crossed his arms and leaned against the wall when upon cross-examining one of God's many creatures. A breeze found its way in through the window and gently played upon his shoulder-length, black hair that he had tied up with one of the ribbons his fiancée had the delight of presenting to him.

Ah, yes. His fiancée. His young, giddy, and most distressing fiancée. She had laughed and danced and giggled and fussed into his mind, but not his heart. Well, she wasn't that bad of a looker with her deliciously revealing clothes and her bouncy, round...attitude.

She was a Tamaranian. They were known far and wide for their beauty. And the fact that she was also a princess, no less, was impressive. How did he come across her? It was fate, he supposed. Yes, she was quite the catch that any prince would die for. He warily fancied that maybe he did die the day he met her...A silent sigh unknowingly escaped from his lips.

"It's a robin."

"Huh?" The contemplative face gone, the aforesaid gentleman turned to look at the stranger who disturbed his thoughts.

Another young man stepped from the shadows of the castle. "That's what they are, right?" He smiled and crossed his arms. "I am the expert of animals around here. I should know." He walked up to the window and stared outside. "It's always an awesome sight to see them in flight." He chuckled at his little rhyme and stepped away from the window to pay his homage to the prince. He bowed and held his right arm over his heart with the folds of his jade-colored clothes waving in the breeze. Before he looked down, he wasn't at all surprised to see the stoic face of the prince after he cracked his little joke. But that was royalty for you. In all due respect, he thought, they had a seriously long stick up their butts.

"Your mistress summons for you, Your Highness."

The prince gave him a glare with his hazel-brown eyes. "You know to give her more respect than that, Logan ." He lowered his arms and the breeze gently lifted the sleeves of his silky, blue-green apparel like the rising and falling of calm waves.

"My humblest apologies, sire. Your darling princess requests for your presence." Logan bowed again as his Royal Highness passed by. Logan furrowed his eyebrows, turned, and looked at him. "Richard," he began. He looked at him square in the eye, his olive-green ones narrowing. "Robins are happiest when they're released from their cage of despair."

Richard gazed at him, his eyes discreetly showing that he was contemplating this sudden outburst. But then it was thrown aside when he closed his eyes in frustration and turned on his heels and walked down the echoing halls to meet his princess. Logan followed behind and stayed a good few feet away from his sudden mood swing.

"How long have you been standing back there?" Richard asked after a few minutes of silent walking.

"Long enough...to be bored," Logan replied. He scratched his short, dark, auburn hair at his question, but he shrugged it off.

They finally arrived at his fiancée's chambers. Richard knocked on the dark-brown door with its magnificently carved intricacies. On the other side, a high-pitched laugh and some clapping drowned him out, so he practically banged on the door before someone finally noticed and opened it.

There was no need for introductions. Everyone was sprawled all over the floors, the couches, and the steps that led up to the princess's curtain-drawn bed. As for the one who had opened the door, it seemed only by accident he had lost his footing and pulled on the door's handle for support. Richard had knocked the poor soul down and onto his friend's lap when he swung it open. The room was a royal...mess. But Richard was afraid to think these thoughts about his fiancée. Instead, he dismissed them and simply went blind to the current state of her room.

Another thing the Tamaranians were known for far and wide was their large sense of celebration, thought Logan . But he wasn't one to dampen a good carousal once in a while, either. He surveyed the room with a raised eyebrow. They weren't barbarians of the celebrating sort, but they believed to make many friends as soon as possible. Hence, the condition of the room, the amount of people—it was forgivable. She simply didn't embrace their culture, yet. In fact, this would have been thought of as indecent to their people. But she was an innocent girl deep down, hidden in those piquant gowns and mature body of hers.

Logan stayed behind while Richard ventured further. He made his careful way around the princess's guests, sometimes stepping over them. One man had stopped drinking to squint at the prince, but gave up at the idea whether or not he was being delusional or he really did see the prince walk by. A few steps before he reached the pink veil around his fiancée's bed, a behemoth woman stopped him and twirled him around. He held onto his invisible mask void of emotions and actually gave her the time of day to listen.

"My friend, are you... (she hiccupped) are you...my friend?"

It seems that this dull-witted cur was converted by the Tamaranian princess. He slowly picked off her hand that firmly held onto his arm. "Well, yes, I suppose so." He decided that he should entertain the wretch for awhile. This may seem amusing.

"Then...(hiccup)...we shall kiss as friends."

Well, that's enough entertainment. He tried turning around but she still insisted that they lock lips. It was high time he put an end to this.

"I'm sorry, but if you do, I'll be sure to hang you for this. ...Friend." Richard narrowed his eyes. His patience was wearing thin, but he kept it in check...in his own way. After all, first Logan's comment, then this little festival/hullabaloo/orgy of insanity—however you look at it—and then this sudden touching of royalty—he could only take so much, and he was about to explode.

His threat did its work on the woman and soon she bounded off to where Logan was standing and asked him the same question to which he nervously tried to squirm his way out of. Richard inhaled deeply and exhaled loudly. He marched towards his fiancée's bed, but stopped at the sight.

He saw two shadows in there—one belonging to his princess, and another one with the shape of a big muscular man. Obviously, he had shown her something that made her thoughtfully squeal in delight and clap her hands. This offense Richard could not ignore. He stomped up the steps and pulled apart the curtains.

He revealed Koriand'r, the Tamaranian princess, in one of her outlandish gowns and a male bodyguard that was, he saw in disgust, fully naked. The smell was overwhelming that he could almost vomit. She sat on the right side of the bed and he sat on the other side with an expression of consternation.

But Koriand'r, the innocent and naïve girl that she was, simply stood up and wrapped her arms around Richard's neck. "Oh, Richard, darling, I'm very much certain I am glad that you are here to join us." Her bright-green eyes sparkled in joy as she gazed upon his face.

The prince on the other hand, had a murderous look in his eyes as he glared daggers at the bodyguard. "Koriand'r, dear, would you kindly step outside, for a minute, please?" The princess showed a confused look upon her face, but obeyed her fiancée's stern command and gracefully walked outside the door, her purple gown seemingly floating in the air, trailing behind her.

As soon as she stepped outside, a vein popped in Richard's temples. "Okay, listen to me, you worthless maggots!" he yelled. Logan quickly closed the door from the princess's range of hearing. Everyone else snapped out of their daze from their rude awakening. They blinked a couple of times and finally realized in horror that their pretty and nice hostess was gone to be replaced by the uptight prince. "That's right, wake up, you revolting sacks soaked in self-pity! Now, if you cherish your lives, you all had better not show your repulsive faces in my presence, ever again! And you—," he said, suddenly turning his head and scowled at the brute on the bed. "Your manhood will be chopped off for your atrocious behavior against royalty."

The face the guard had given him was priceless. He was pale and his whole body shook at the thought. He had only done what the princess had asked of him, and this was the penalty of even showing her. How could he ever appear before his wife, again? He bowed his head in shame.

"Now that we've reached an understanding, get out of here, now!" And with that last order, everyone stumbled about, some picking up their discarded clothes and some dropping their golden chalices, or keeping them. Whatever. As long as they were out of his sight in three seconds, he didn't care.

Logan stepped out of the way and watched their fear-struck faces go by. 'They really are fools,' he stated bluntly. They should have known better than to act like this in front of the most uptight prince in the land.

Koriand'r turned to face the door slamming on the walls when it was suddenly opened for all of her beloved guests to run out of. They rushed out of her room like stampeding, wild beasts in search of safety.

Something happened within her chambers. She could see it plainly on their faces. But, what—she could only guess. She ran inside after the naked bodyguard stumbled out.

"Richard! What happened?" she asked with sadness gracing her features. "My dear friends—why did they run away?" She ran up to his arms and stared deeply in his eyes. "Why did you drive them away?" She was on the brink of tears. "You are such a horrible person!" She turned around and wept in her hands.

Richard couldn't help but be like melted butter in her hands. He never liked seeing beautiful women cry, so, he did his best to stop her tears. "Koriand'r...please, don't cry."

"I cannot. For I see how it is going to be in the future with my future husband. He shall take away all of my friends and force me to live in the darkness that he houses himself in. I shall become a pitiful woman, bent with sorrow and sadness." She cried more tears.

He hugged her waist and laid his head on top of hers. He smelled her sweet scent and made a promise. "You know I'll never do anything to hurt you. I would do anything for you." He reveled in her beauty once more. But that was interrupted by a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Koriand'r turned and smiled sweetly. "That is good to know," she replied and pulled Richard into a kiss. She pressed on and finally parted his lips and played shortly with his tongue. She slowly worked her breasts up and down against his chest to finally get a reaction from him. His strong arms moved down her back and onto her perfectly round and soft butt.

Yes, she was a remarkably provocative woman. Yes, she always pressed the right buttons...but there was something that always lingered in his mind—a question that would not go away, but only grew stronger over time: Why did he do it?

It was a simple question. He also had a simple answer. It was because he loved her. But why did he always question himself? Of course, he loved her. Because he loved her, he would always give in to her kisses and sensual touch. A million times he repeated that phrase, "He loved her." What they were doing now felt right because he loved her.

Why did he have to keep reminding himself of his love for her?

He pulled away and smiled. "Later, my sweet Starfire." She nodded in reply and happily skipped away, returning to her own little world.

Richard felt like collapsing on her bead, but restrained himself because one, his friend and mentor was still there and he didn't want to show any weakness, and two, the earlier events that took place on that bed forced him to firmly stand his ground.

He turned to face his friend a few seconds after he fiancée left the room, but only received a glance and then Logan turned his head elsewhere.

"You think I'm weak...don't you?"

The young man in green kept his silence. The young prince walked up to his friend. "Admit it. Your thoughts dwell on the fact that I can be manipulated by the princess. Well, you're wrong."

Logan swiftly turned his head. "I just think that you're suffocating in your own cage that she built around you." His sudden outburst was fueled by the prince's pushing. He couldn't take anymore of this. The royal prince was facing a slow death. As his friend, he needed to point out his mistakes and his errors before it was too late.

But their conversation was cut short when a woman covered in a midnight-blue cloak sailed through the window and broke through the wooden pillars of Koriand'r's bed before hitting the wall. When the dust cleared, Richard and Logan put their bickering aside and rushed to help the unconscious woman.

"Don't touch her."

The prince turned around and saw a tall figure cloaked in white standing on the window sill. His silver hair whipped about in the violent wind from the storm that was brewing outside. His cape was held in place around his shoulders by the symbol of Azarath etched within the shining red jewel chaining the folds together.

"She is mine to kill."

'Kill?' Richard repeated in his mind. What was he to do? Let this madman claim his victim? Although he knew he could act vainglorious most of the time, he still had a sense of justice that always gripped his soul. But what about the woman? Maybe she was dangerous, as well. She wasn't awake for him to question, so, he knew there was only one thing to do.

"This is my kingdom. You and your people are forbidden to trespass into these lands. Get out."

The stranger narrowed his eyes, but nodded in understanding. "I will once I have her."

He thought for a moment. "She is under the protection of this kingdom. Now, leave." What was he doing? More importantly, what was he getting into?

"I will not. Not until her heart is in my hands."

"Then," he said pulling out his sword that lay sheathed beside his left thigh, "I'll have to force you out." The blade glimmered in the dim light that was produced by the candles that were left lit in the room. He gripped the leather-bound handle tightly with his right hand.

This was the most demented thing he had ever decided upon. He was about to fight off an intruder for the safety of a woman that might be as crazy as the man from Azarath. But...

All he felt right now was that he needed to protect her. In the inside, he felt something dormant was about to awaken.

"I'll make you regret you ever placed your vulgar feet in this kingdom."

[To be continued]

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A/N

Oh look. Another Robin/Raven fic. And it's posted the day after I wrote "Flight of the Dark Angel." And it's even cheesier than the last.

Sorry, I have this habit of not finishing fics to start a new one. It's not like I don't have this sick and twisted fantasy of making all my readers suffer...oh wait. It is.

Juuust kidding. I just had this urge to make an "old-kingdom/medieval/fairytale." So, sorry to those who wanted a chapter 2 of FOTDA. I'm workin on it. Don't worry.

Let me lay it out for you.

It's obvious that everyone's in Medieval mode. Robin—or rather, his real name, Richard—is the prince of Thrush. Now, if you're not lazy to look up robins on encarta, you'd understand why I named it that. And for those of you who are lazy like me, I'll just spill the details.

Robin, name first given to a small European bird of the thrush family, familiar in England ...

Now that was taken directly from Encarta. I don't feel like typing any more upon that. It's 3:00 AM in the morning.

Richard is engaged to Koriand'r aka Starfire. She belongs to the Tamaran Kingdom . That should be a "duh."

Beast Boy is Logan . I couldn't find his real name. I found a site that said his name was...Garfield Logan??? Okay, so I stuck with Logan . There. That's Beast Boy.

Raven...is Raven. No other aliases.

About the guy in the window sill? You'll find out later. Unless you figured it out now. Ah, well.

Richard is 29, Logan and later on, Cyborg are 27, Raven and Koriand'r are 25.

Apologies for any mistakes. I reiterate that it's 3 AM.

Discuss.