Orphan: The Five Robins
Inspired by "The Seven Swans" I apologize to anyone that loves Bruce, he's the worst husband to Clark and a shitty dad to the Batlings in this.
Once upon a time, in the midst of his seasonal hunting trip, King Bruce Wayne of Gotham found himself horribly injured. Luckily for the king, a wise man by the name of Ra's al Ghul found him and was able to heal him, but only at the promise that the king marry his eldest daughter, Talia, and crown her his queen.
At first the king hesitated, until Ra's brought the gorgeous lady out. Desperate to be healed and enchanted by her beauty, Bruce agreed.
And so the king returned with a new bride in tow. The only issue was that King Bruce was already married with several children with his first godly partner, Lord Clark Kent.
Not willing to go back on his promise to a wise man, Bruce sent Clark away with their princely sons Richard, Jason, Timothy, Duke, and Jon alongside his sole daughter, Cassandra to a distant manor. The group lived in peace for many years receiving 12 yearly visits from their noble father, even after Clark had died of a broken heart.
Meanwhile at the grand Gotham castle, the Queen Talia had grown both in size, and in her doubts. The new queen was suspicious of the king's secret trips out of their home, fearing that her husband had a secret lover or found a way to cancel his deal with her father.
One month as he set out for his typical trip, the wise woman mounted her own steed to follow.
After following her husband or hours, she discovered his hoard of heirs in hiding. Seeing all of them as threats to her incoming child, Talia laid in waiting for Bruce to leave so that she may rid these hurdles herself. Once his silhouette disappeared from view, the witchy woman rushed out of the shadows to exact her plan.
The lady, under the disguise of Bruce forgetting a book, knocked on the gate and was rushed into the castle. Where she then poured a venomous green liquid that turned all five princes into frail Robins that she began to chase around, hoping to crush their far easier forms.
Little did she know, the princess was hidden away in her own chambers, watching as the whole scene played out. Cunning Cassandra was able to sneakily open a window so that the flock may escape, leading to Talia having to retreat back home.
Still bothered by her brother's new predicament, she rode into town in hopes of finding a way to return them back to their original bodies. While there, she met a knowledgeable lady named Barbara, who led her to where two wise women by the names of Pamala and Harleen lived.
After hearing of the young royal's plight, the two offered to help.
Harley would grant the five princes their human forms, but only when the sun was fully down, meaning that they would once again become birds at the sun's light.
As for the princess' side, Pamala gave her a task that would test her patience and endurance. Cassandra would need to spin and knit 5 matching sweaters of poisonous ivy for her brothers, however she was not permitted to speak a single word until all 5 were completed or else the magic would break.
Additionally, the wise duo would protect the princess from her stepmother, laying a spell that would shield her from any of Talia's underlings. As for the Robin princes, Richard took the lead in befriending a local flock of ordinary robins, and integrated his brothers so that they would not standout.
And so she got to work, collecting ivy vines and spinning them until her hands were covered with deep cuts and callouses. Still the question of how she shall knit the sweaters with no needles remained.
One day, as Cassandra was spinning the final yard she thought she needed, another young princess happened upon her. Overtaken by her beauty, the noble lady hurried to introduce herself as Stephanie Brown.
Not willing to forget her brother's curse, the now mute princess slowly wrote out her name in the dirt beside her, before pointing at herself.
The two ladies communicated like so for several hours until the sun began to set. As the day's light left their clearing, Stephanie begged Cassandra to come with her to her castle so that they may continue to meet, and the mute girl did follow as did a flock of five robins.
Just like their first meeting, the princess refused to say even a word and continued on with her duty, now able to knit the sweaters with a pair of needles that Stephanie was happy to gift to her. Unbeknownst to her, her hostess had begun to fall for the other woman and even went as far as to ask her trusted advisor Alfred to marry the two ladies.
Alfred strongly denied his lady's request believing the other girl to be a witch due to her strange flock of followers and insistence to knit sweaters made of poison Ivy. The older man secretly asked the royal guards to watch their new lady guest as she remained in the castle.
Cassandra quietly continued her work, only to find that she lack enough material to knit a final sweater, luckily just outside in the corners of a graveyard, laid a patch of ivy.
In the middle of the night, Stephanie was awoken by Alfred and her guards at the news that her new lover was found scavenging a cemetery. The whole castle took this strange sight as a sight that Cassandra must be a witch, meaning that she must be sent to the dungeons to be burnt at the stake.
Yet, even as she was on route to her deathbed, the girl was determined to continue her knitting within the wagon, forcing all threats and cries from a angered Stephanie out of her mind. Even so, the princess still found herself short one sleeve for the final sweater.
As she was dragged to the wooden beam, a flock of robins began to descend down, fanning away the flames of the torches all around. Cassandra threw the five sweaters unto her bird brothers, watching as they were all finally able to stand in the sun with their true forms.
All except their eldest brother, Richard, who now stood with a left wing instead of a left arm.
The battle of endurance now but to rest, Cassandra fainted beside the stake, surrounding the area with an abundance of spring blossoms despite the winter air. At the sight, Stephanie began to weep at the thought of losing her true love before even earning a beginning.
Richard, pitying the girl, wiped her tears with his left wing. At the touch of such deep emotions, the crowd watched as his wing slowly morph to match his other arm, regaining his last bit of humanity.
Now sensing all was right once more, Cassandra awoke to see her family now freed and spoke her first words in over 5 years, "Hello Stephanie, I'm sorry for worrying you."
And they lived happily ever after.
