Challenge Set #2; Challenge #41: protect; Unseen Guardian
Author’s Note: Is an A/U from the current lj RP that includes Wingblade. Blackstar, Strata, and Photon are property of ravynfyre. Steadfast is property of ravenclaw-devi. All are used with permission. ravynfyre has posted a companion piece to it on her journal: Espiritus.
While the rest of the planet was panicking over the thing that had destroyed the moons then parked itself in Cybertron’s orbit, one Seeker-cadet remains firmly locked in her quarters, oblivious to everything going on outside of them. It didn’t matter to Wingblade. Not since she had heard the news that Skywarp and Thundercracker had died. Her parents… She couldn’t even work up the will to go through the Nexus portals to see her mama and sisters…
She curled up into a tighter ball. They had to have known. It all made sense now. Steadfast had used the past tense when calling Daddy her mate… And she had gotten so upset over just thinking about Fathy… No wonder Mama had yelled at her. And if she knew, then surely Strata and Photon did too. How could they not have told her? Why didn’t they tell her?
She had no idea how long she had been there. She had turned her chronometer and radio off, wanting to waste away. But, out of nowhere, she was hit by the sudden need to get out, to fly as far away as she possibly could. She didn’t know where it came from, but it had hit her so strongly that she was on her feet before she had even fully processed it. Dazedly, she left her quarters, not even bothering to stop and lock them on the way out. She walked, then jogged, then full-out sprinted towards the exit.
She only noticed the abomination in the space above Cybertron after she had hurled herself into the sky and transformed. And to her shock and horror, it was starting to transform! It was moving slowly, as if it hadn’t transformed in a very long time, but only a fool couldn’t have figured out what it was doing. The need to fly away was back, stronger than ever, and she heeded it, trying to fly as fast as she could away.
Her wings were nearly shaking from the force of the wind running over them as she flew, and her engines roared. The thing had finished its transformation and now one monstrous hand was coming down, right on top of her! Everything seemed to slow down as she could only watch the oncoming doom through her scanners. It was going to crush her!
It was then that she felt a huge push from behind and she started tumbling, hitting the surface of the planet. From behind her she heard the crashing, shrieking sounds of crumpling metal, as if Cybertron itself were crying out in pain. She risked a glance back with her scanners, and saw that the awful claw had gouged into the area not half a body length behind her. It had gone through several layers just as a full-powered laser scalpel went through foam.
Wingblade transformed and stared at it, even as the hand started to lift. Air cycled through her systems too fast to cool them and she made a choked noise. It was then that she felt another push, and though she couldn’t find the source of it, she didn’t question it. She threw herself up and transformed again, fleeing the nightmare in the sky.
It was several megacycles before she finally landed again, nearly out of fuel. She didn’t know what had happened. She didn’t know what had pushed her, what had happened to the monster, what to do. She just laid there, sprawled on the ground in robot mode, giving great, shuddering gasps that made her wings tremble.
All too soon she felt the same unseen presence nudging her. It wasn’t the large pushes from before, but was no less insistent. Slowly she pushed herself up and started moving in the direction of the touches in an awkward half-crawl. There. There, in a shabby storage container were a few cubes of energon. Wingblade pulled them out and began to drink, slow at first, but then faster, as if she couldn’t refuel herself fast enough. She grabbed the last cube and looked at it. She had already started rerouting to a spare tank half a cube ago, and it didn’t seem right to drink this one. She set the cube in front of her, an offering to her unseen help.
Wingblade pulled her knees up as close to her chest as they would go and wrapped her arms around them. What would she do know? Her parents were destroyed, the Academy was destroyed. As far as she knew, all the Decepticons in the universe were destroyed. Her frame rattled as horrible thoughts began to run through her processor. Then suddenly those thoughts fled as phantom arms wrapped around her, holding her. She did her best to choke back a sob and let herself be held. It was too much, too fast. She remained there for several cycles, unmoving except for the tremors running through her frame.
Go. Go find Steadfast. Go find Strata and Photon. They’ll take care of you. Wingblade didn’t flinch at the voice suddenly appearing in her head. Instinctively she knew it was the same person that was holding her. It was familiar, and that was a comfort. It wasn’t one of her parents, but she had heard it before all the same. Go.
Wingblade nodded and slowly stood up. She then flew up into the air and searched for one of the portals to the Nexus. There was nothing left for her here, but she could join her Mama and sisters. That would have to be enough.
While the rest of the planet was panicking over the thing that had destroyed the moons then parked itself in Cybertron’s orbit, one Seeker-cadet remains firmly locked in her quarters, oblivious to everything going on outside of them. It didn’t matter to Wingblade. Not since she had heard the news that Skywarp and Thundercracker had died. Her parents… She couldn’t even work up the will to go through the Nexus portals to see her mama and sisters…
She curled up into a tighter ball. They had to have known. It all made sense now. Steadfast had used the past tense when calling Daddy her mate… And she had gotten so upset over just thinking about Fathy… No wonder Mama had yelled at her. And if she knew, then surely Strata and Photon did too. How could they not have told her? Why didn’t they tell her?
She had no idea how long she had been there. She had turned her chronometer and radio off, wanting to waste away. But, out of nowhere, she was hit by the sudden need to get out, to fly as far away as she possibly could. She didn’t know where it came from, but it had hit her so strongly that she was on her feet before she had even fully processed it. Dazedly, she left her quarters, not even bothering to stop and lock them on the way out. She walked, then jogged, then full-out sprinted towards the exit.
She only noticed the abomination in the space above Cybertron after she had hurled herself into the sky and transformed. And to her shock and horror, it was starting to transform! It was moving slowly, as if it hadn’t transformed in a very long time, but only a fool couldn’t have figured out what it was doing. The need to fly away was back, stronger than ever, and she heeded it, trying to fly as fast as she could away.
Her wings were nearly shaking from the force of the wind running over them as she flew, and her engines roared. The thing had finished its transformation and now one monstrous hand was coming down, right on top of her! Everything seemed to slow down as she could only watch the oncoming doom through her scanners. It was going to crush her!
It was then that she felt a huge push from behind and she started tumbling, hitting the surface of the planet. From behind her she heard the crashing, shrieking sounds of crumpling metal, as if Cybertron itself were crying out in pain. She risked a glance back with her scanners, and saw that the awful claw had gouged into the area not half a body length behind her. It had gone through several layers just as a full-powered laser scalpel went through foam.
Wingblade transformed and stared at it, even as the hand started to lift. Air cycled through her systems too fast to cool them and she made a choked noise. It was then that she felt another push, and though she couldn’t find the source of it, she didn’t question it. She threw herself up and transformed again, fleeing the nightmare in the sky.
It was several megacycles before she finally landed again, nearly out of fuel. She didn’t know what had happened. She didn’t know what had pushed her, what had happened to the monster, what to do. She just laid there, sprawled on the ground in robot mode, giving great, shuddering gasps that made her wings tremble.
All too soon she felt the same unseen presence nudging her. It wasn’t the large pushes from before, but was no less insistent. Slowly she pushed herself up and started moving in the direction of the touches in an awkward half-crawl. There. There, in a shabby storage container were a few cubes of energon. Wingblade pulled them out and began to drink, slow at first, but then faster, as if she couldn’t refuel herself fast enough. She grabbed the last cube and looked at it. She had already started rerouting to a spare tank half a cube ago, and it didn’t seem right to drink this one. She set the cube in front of her, an offering to her unseen help.
Wingblade pulled her knees up as close to her chest as they would go and wrapped her arms around them. What would she do know? Her parents were destroyed, the Academy was destroyed. As far as she knew, all the Decepticons in the universe were destroyed. Her frame rattled as horrible thoughts began to run through her processor. Then suddenly those thoughts fled as phantom arms wrapped around her, holding her. She did her best to choke back a sob and let herself be held. It was too much, too fast. She remained there for several cycles, unmoving except for the tremors running through her frame.
Go. Go find Steadfast. Go find Strata and Photon. They’ll take care of you. Wingblade didn’t flinch at the voice suddenly appearing in her head. Instinctively she knew it was the same person that was holding her. It was familiar, and that was a comfort. It wasn’t one of her parents, but she had heard it before all the same. Go.
Wingblade nodded and slowly stood up. She then flew up into the air and searched for one of the portals to the Nexus. There was nothing left for her here, but she could join her Mama and sisters. That would have to be enough.