Swan Song
By Snare-chan
Pairings: None
Ratings: K+
Category(ies): General
Warning(s): None
Status: One-shot, complete
Summary: (Beast Wars Verse) While on a patrol mission, Dinobot runs into an ally.
Notes: I made a lot of holiday gifts for people, a few on request and others as a surprise, and this one was asked for by ouronlyhunter over on livejournal. It's my first Beast Wars fic that I've written Dinobot exclusively in mind (actually, to be honest, I'm pretty sure it's my first Dinobot fic ever) so congrats on the honor? XD If you want to call it that.
Disclaimer: I don't own Beast Wars; wish I did like everybody else. They should put BW in stock, then I'd buy it all!
Up north, at the far reaches of the Maximal territory, there were snow covered mountains. At their grand base was an evergreen forest of immense size, various species of pines clustered together tightly to form a near impenetrable wall of foliage that reached past that of the most advanced optical sensors of any Maximal…or ex-Predacon, for that matter.
Dinobot wasn't irked by the distance of his assignment – scouting and keeping vigilance over this area – nor was he too bothered by its density, despite how often a branch would crash into his face; his hide was firm enough to handle the treatment. Neither of those things outweighed any other annoyance in his life and he dealt with them accordingly as he did all else.
The near sub-zero temperatures were another matter.
It was at that degree where it was too dry to form snow, the air devoid of wind to deliver any moisture from the places that carried it, but too cold to be considered anything save the harsh conditions of forever-winter. The ground he stomped on was frozen solid and unrelenting, looking somewhat smooth and undisturbed because of it.
While he could easily survive these conditions, this did not mean he enjoyed them in any fashion. His machine half had been engineered to tolerate all measures of weather conditions and atmospheres, built to endure and survive. His alternate beast mode was not. There was neither extra insulation nor natural, external protection to keep out heat or cold, such as fur, which forced his inner circuitry to work twice as hard to keep up and adapt to his surroundings.
He hated many things, and having to waste more of his energy was one of them. The fact that he had to do so for such a prolonged time made the situation aggravating, too. His utter distaste for Megatron and his remaining crew was what drove him on in this place, the incoming feeds of their increased activity in this region having everyone back on base on increased alert. All who could be spared were sent to inspect the region and try to see if they were actually up to something, and since they most likely were, to find out exactly what that was.
Personally, this was the last place he would suspect anyone to go. The sheer congestion made it impossible for someone of his size to maneuver properly, meaning the Predacons would have equal discomfort traversing it.
Not to mention, any equipment would have problems functioning here. They would have to clear a big enough area to house it all, power source along with it, plus make enough room for themselves, and adding onto that that, to accomplish all this, a lot of noise would be made due to the deconstruction of the forest. That was assuming there wasn't too much interference.
No, he didn't logically believe that this spot was hiding their enemy, but Megatron had done many risky, foolish things to accomplish his goals, and so it never hurt to be cautious. Pity it came at such a cost.
His hide rippled in what resembled a shiver, the synthetic skin along his back and legs the biggest culprits. Dinobot could pick up on his diagnostics that his joints in particular were threatening to grow stiff, a fact that utterly disgusted him. Anything that reduced his reaction speed was never something he approved of, feeling half tempted to scrap this for the day and return when his conditions returned to maximum efficiency. Already he had surpassed his fellows and traveled the most out of all of them, coming up short for his efforts.
For a cycle, he did contemplate it seriously, and concluded that he would continue a bit longer if only to hold it over the rodent's head upon his return. Knowing that he was superior to him was one thing – having physical, solid proof of it to rub it in his snout the next time the walking garbage disposal whined about his share was another. This improved his attitude about what he was doing for a moment, until a little feathered creature decided to dampen it.
A bird – a species he recognized only from sight and not by name – was perched on one of the lower branches and gave a joyous, high-pitched twitter. One of the Maximals may have enjoyed its song, perhaps lingered to catalogue or record it to be studied, but it wasn't in his nature to react that way. The noise was so sudden he snapped out at it instead, easily consuming the creature in his jaws without having to spare much thought to the act. A feather was all that remained of it when he was finished.
"Remind me never to sing for you," a voice spoke up suddenly, the amused tone unregistered as he snapped in its direction, poised to strike out again.
Thankfully, he didn't, because it was only Airazor. She'd settled herself amongst the needles of a sturdy, ancient tree that shielded her from view at first glance. Her head was cocked at that impossible angle, the gesture giving off the impression that she was smiling despite her beast mode prohibiting the deepening of such an expression.
While he had come to understand that the majority of the Maximals were not prone to excess mockery or teasing, he was not used to interacting with the scout personally. Too often she was off base in a separate sector from him, their limited interaction making him wary and unable to properly gauge her reactions and their meanings. Airazor appeared playful and docile, but as one hunter to another, he was always aware that she was more than capable of taking care of herself and proving to be a threat. That said, there wasn't enough animosity between them to justify any sort of ill will on his end, aside from faction protocols that didn't know how to die peacefully, and so old habits died hard.
"We are on a high alert. It could have been any one of Megatron's bumbling buffoons he calls subordinates. I was merely assuring that it wasn't a hazard," he justified gruffly, straightening his posture instinctively.
She chuckled good-naturedly, hobbling down to perch on a nearby branch. It dipped heavily at her added weight but refrained from breaking, bobbing narrowly in front of his face. He balked unconsciously at the increased proximity as she reached out to pluck the lone remains of his meal from his maw, the single feather looking delicate between her sharp talons.
"With brutal force if necessary, I see."
Her tone held no negative inflections, but he still didn't know enough about her to feel comfortable. He never handled being the butt of anyone's joke well. Thus, he changed the subject.
"Do you or Tigatron have anything to report?"
The body language that he received to his inquiry wasn't what he would have expected to witness, her wing joints falling minimally before she rapidly tried to replace it with a shrug.
"I haven't noticed Predacon activity in the mountains. It's been quiet up there all day."
"And has Tigatron noticed anything unusual?"
Airazor paused, considering. At last, she ruffled her feathers, saying, "Can't discern for sure. He's private, but not at the risk of endangering anyone should there be something amiss. I've not been contacted, which is a good sign."
The tentativeness of her response had him eying her suspiciously, but when she wasn't forthcoming with more information, he simply responded with, "I see."
She wasn't without some good news, or at least a suitable suggestion, however, frame perking back up.
"I haven't patrolled the western border yet. I'll gladly be air support if you're willing to head in that direction."
"I don't need air support," he stated matter-of-factly, lip curling back at what he perceived as an insult at his talents, and moved to continue with his previous endeavors prior to their encounter: namely, surveillance.
Despite his demeanor…it wasn't a refusal.
Time passed in which she came to this very conclusion.
"Never occurred to me for a moment, Chompers."
Had he wanted to snap back with a retort, it wouldn't have done much good because Airazor hunkered down, dipping the branch further towards the ground, and then sprang up through the trees to disappear from view. He could see a dappled view of the gray sky above, though it was the cry of a bird of prey that alerted him to the scout's true whereabouts. Dinobot picked it up again, this round a little bit ahead of his location.
It would appear that he was going to be getting a song after all.
-Fin-