Young Justice: Solstice

Twenty-Three

Just to let you guys know, Solstice is one of my many stories entered in this year's DC Comics Watty Awards. If you vote in the Category "The Forgotten," Please consider voting for me and Kiran!

S'atiroman's cave was carved out of the tallest mountain I'd ever seen. I'd been to the Himalayas before, even camped at Mount Everest, but it was a dwarf compared to this mountain.

"Come on, they'll see us out in the open." Cassie pulled me down with her, swimming along the crest of the mountains as we slowly made our way to the cave entrance.

"How do we even know that they're here?" I asked, letting her drag me through the water. We had been swimming for hours to get out here, and I was perhaps the tiniest bit tired. But apparently being Wonder Girl gave Cassie unlimited amounts of energy.

"We don't, but if they are we don't want them to see us coming."

"Could it actually be that you're getting smarter?" I teased as we stopped behind a big rock that offered a supreme view of the cave entrance.

Cassie gave me a half-hearted sock to the arm. "Tim helps me with tactics," She mumbled, blushing.

I squeezed her hand. "I'm glad you have him." I told her.

She bit her lip. "You know that just because I'm dating him doesn't mean you're not my best friend, right?"

My brows furrowed slightly, "Of course, Cass. What makes you say that?"

She gripped the ridge of the rock, looking down at the bottom of the mountain. "It...it's just strange, seeing you with the rest of the team, especially Kaldur. I guess...I guess I'm just used to it being the two of us."

"Oh Cass," I wrapped my arms around her. "You're my best friend too, nothing will change that. Who else am I gonna complain to about not being noticed by guys? Who else is gonna bear with me when I rant about weird cultures and stuff? Who else really knows what I'm going through?"

Cassie stiffened in my grip. "Kiran." She hissed.

I followed her wide-eyed cgaze to the cave opening. Now, we could see two figures there, shrouded in dark red robes that moved in time with the water, a black symbol on the chests.

"Is that what a Purist is supposed to look like?" I whispered. 

Cassie pressed another button on the chip that Superboy had given her. The hologram projected into the water around us was blue, but the robes and the design of the typical purist uniform echoed that of the figures we saw before.

We scooted back around the rock, out of sight of the Purists.

"Wonder Girl to Superboy. We've found the Purists at S'atiroman's cave. Requesting backup."

She recoiled almost immediately. "Static. Something's jamming our comms."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"Relax," She urged me. "Once they figure out that we're the only ones not responding, they'll probably figure out that we've run into trouble, if not Purists, and come to help."

I glanced back down the mountain. "We should probably scout around. If they do have the prince, it might be easier for two to get him than six heroes and six Atlantean soldiers."

"Good idea."

The stealth-tech in our uniforms blended nicely with the grayish stone of the mountain in the dark water, and I repeatedly had to tall myself that any light I generated to stave off the darkness would surely catch the Purists' attention. Atlantean eyes were very sensitive to light, since the water tended to block it all out.