Scath Roth (Jinx x Raven)

Chapter 7: Bronze, Brains, and Beauty

Wednesday, February 24, 1999
Gotham City 22:13

*Raven POV*

After spending most of the other day with Barbara, driving around on her motorcycle, we went back to the manor. I then helped her upgrade and fix up her bikes and she taught me a lot about them, she even spent an hour teaching me to drive one on my own. Of course I'm not as good as her, but I could ride it professionally and safely; and also (semi)legally as she made me a license with the proper qualifications and my civilian identification.

Now though, I'm back in the city on my own in order to memorize the streets. At least that's what I've been telling myself and my bat family. I never could quite get the feeling from two days ago to completely leave my head.

I continue to walk around and lift my head up to see what street I'm on, only to notice how dark the sky is. Pulling out the new phone that I got yesterday, a little prepaid flip phone; I check the time only to see that it's already 22:13, and decide I should go back to the manor.

Looking around for what street I'm on and which one I need to take, I also come to the realization that I have spent the last hour or so walking, seemingly, aimlessly and do not recognize the street I'm on. I start to internally panic for a second before remembering that I can just teleport to Wayne Manor. 'Well don't I feel stupid,' I think to myself, shaking my head.

I'm about to open a portal when I feel that same aura I felt two days ago and instinctively start to track it down. Surrounded in my soulself I stick to shadows as I start to approach the building the aura is coming from. Looking up I see that it's a, rather out of place with how expensive it looks, jewelry store.

The lights are off and, after stretching my soulself towards the security system around the door, I find it has been carefully broken to appear as though it simply malfunctioned. Flying towards the building still surrounded by my soulself, I stick in the top part of the ceiling so I won't be seen.

Inside I discover three figures, two of which are heading into a back room, and the third is carefully and expertly taking jewelry out of display cases without tripping a separate alarm system set up specifically for each display case.

All three figures are carefully dressed in clothes meant to conceal their identities, but from being this close to their auras and from the amount of time I've spent around them, I instantly recognize all three of them. My heart starts speeding up and my hands become slightly sweaty as I realize the one still in the room with me is the one with the aura I've been trying to find.

She's unmistakable: cat-like eyes as pink and pointed as dahlias, movements so graceful yet relaxed that she had to of been a professional ballet dancer in a past life, and, though it's hidden by her hood, I know there's hair as pink and soft looking as cotton candy. 'I wish I could feel if her hair is as soft as it looks. If I ran my hands through it, would she purr, like her eyes suggest?' I think to myself.

Shaking my head to dispel those thoughts, I watch as she puts the last of the jewelry in a thick, black, drawstring bag. She carefully secures the bag on her back, going as far as to triple check that it's completely secure; she must have had a bad experience with it before. Then, she heads to the back room, me following behind carefully by floating right below the ceiling and still wrapped in my soulself.

She walks into the room, while I stay off to the side of the door still near the ceiling. I'm close enough to hear what they're discussing, but far enough that there's zero chance of them knowing I'm here. However, I send a part of my soulself in as my eyes, keeping it in the corner of the room closest to myself.

"I've finished up in there. Are you two almost done here?" I hear the melodic voice I feel like I haven't heard in years. I can see the smaller boy attaching a bag, similar to the girl's, but much larger, to the large boy's back. Looking behind them I see an open safe, that's been emptied out, and a disassembled security system next to it.