Third Time's the Charm

A Fresh Start

The girl was alone, wandering the cold streets as her own solitary companion with a full moon casting a creeping light in her wake. Slade had been watching her for some time now, observing her mannerisms and routines from a distance. She was never aware of his presence or the looming shadow he cast around his hiding places. Over the few short weeks of Slade's spying, he had gathered a few things; she had little interaction with others, had no home or family, went by several different names and aliases, avoided authority figures, and had a knack of arriving in places that destruction would follow. Particularly floods and rainstorms with the occasional tsunami if the place in question allowed.

These night walks were recurring events for the girl, something she seemed to do always. Tonight would be different for her, however. Tonight Slade was going to confront the young female with a proposition. Following the failed apprenticeships of Robin and Terra and his return after Trigon's defeat, he had kept himself busy rebuilding the reputation that had fallen during his absence. That and searching for a new student to train and tutor; and he was confident that this attempt would be successful.

Third time's the charm, right?

The city she had been residing in the past few nights was a quieter one and more inland than others she had visited in the years prior. It felt good for her to get away from loud traffic and blaring lights advertising all the things she could never buy. She was poor, always had been but she didn't particularly mind. Money could never buy happiness or love anyway.

 The girl huffed as she continued down the winding road to a trail that lead off into a small valley. She turned and headed down it, kicking an occasional pebble and glancing up at the winking stars. Nature was a good crutch and comfort. She never really had friends, but that was largely due to her constant traveling and disconnection with people. So instead she would retreat to forests and mountains and deserts-anything away from the stone jungles filled with those suspicious eyes. It was hard to trust people. They were selfish. And greedy.

Finally reaching her destination, she paused and looked out at her temporary shelter. A makeshift tent was pitched next to a slim aspen tree facing out at a still pond with fireflies dancing across it. She walked over to the grassy banks and sat down, hugging her knees to her chest. It was so quiet here. She could hear her heartbeat.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

She sighed. Her right hand fingered the zipper line of her jacket, stroking the cheap metal that had begun to peel and rust. It was old but had served its purpose. She glanced down at her worn sneakers that had begun to gather holes and the jeans that were starting to be too small. She needed new clothes. She had stolen her last outfit, and the one before that. She would have to do so again. The first time had been clumsy, sloppy, and she nearly got caught running away from the thrift store. After that though, snatching food and anything else she needed became easier and she got better. She cared less and less that she was taking things from other people, considering that when she was first alone on the streets, no one cared to help her. So why would stealing matter to her anymore? It didn't.

She looked down at the water and extended a hand towards it, letting a gentle finger touch the surface, causing a ripple to grow away from it. She raised her hand a little and directed her focus at the pond. A blob of water floated up from it, right under her hand, becoming an almost perfect circle. She faced her palm upwards and the shape followed, softly wavering and shining in the moonlight. She thought about the snippet of a cartoon she had seen earlier that day, and the water began taking shape of the different characters she could remember from it. That calmed her. She wasn't sure where she got this ability from, the ability to warp water to her desire, but she generally enjoyed the privilege of having it. She had theories, of course, of where it came from, but her strongest suspicion was that it was genetic or something...not that she would ever really know since she never knew her parents or any other family that could confirm her guesses.