Chapter One

Birth

It was a time of celebration in Praxus, City of Lights and the mecca of culture of Cybertron. A total of twenty families were all expecting new life to be born this vorn, including the Emirate's, the Lord of Praxus. The leader of Praxis's own mate was carrying their first sparkling, and the noble mech couldn't be happier.

Swiftbright, Emirate's mate, looked positively radiant in the final stages of carrying. Her silver and white frame practically glowed in her happiness and anticipation to hold her first sparkling for the first time. Even given the risks posed to her for carrying could not damper her joy.

Emirate Riftguard, a mech known for being a greatly logical and stoic individual when not engaged in combat, was actually giddy with excitement. He knew nothing about the sparkling's traits, whether it would be a femme, graceful and delicate like her mother or a mech, a strong warrior like his father. He quivered in anticipation whenever the thought crossed his processor of teaching a youngling double of himself the ways of leadership and battle, he was praying fervently to Primus for such an outcome.

Both proudly expecting parents waited each day as the vorn drew on, watching each newborn sparkling brought before the Emirate until they were the last.

Swiftbright grew more and more worried as each orn passed and still she had not gone into labor. Looking to her mate, she held her hand over her distended abdomen in fear for the sparkling.

"Oh Em, I'm so worried." she said softly. "The little one has been so still these past joors."

Emirate took her into his arms gently. "These things take time my love, like the medic said."

"I would like to get a second opinion darling." Swiftbright said, her soft blue optics deepening. "Even carrying a sparkling to full frame, I do not recall any medic saying it would take this long."

Emirate relented, and the next orn he requested the premier physician called Ratchet to attend to his mate. The yellow-green prodigy medic took one glance at Swiftbright and had a prognosis.

"You're overdue." he said simply, a grave expression crossing his faceplates. "You may need to induce labor or the sparkling may have to be birthed surgically, neither option would be pleasant for you or the little one."

That wasn't what she wanted to hear, but fortunately, as Ratchet gave the femme a more thorough exam, the first pangs of labor finally hit. Under Ratchet's care, she gave birth to a fully framed little mech, and the reason for the great length of the gestation cycle became obvious.

"Congratulations lord Emirate." Ratchet said as he cleaned the sparkling off gently, mindful of limp sensory wings. "It's a mech."

Emirate stared wide opticed at his sparkling. "Wings? But how?"

Neither father or mother had sensory wings, nor did any of their own creators. Such an occurrence was extremely rare to the point of ominous. Sensory wings were an optional frame modification that most mechs that had them were shelled with, not born. The sheer amount of sensory network microfibers made wings both prized and highly impractical in some instances.

Swiftbright took her sparkling in her arms for the first time with a sob of joy, running a gentle fingertip over the tiny crimson chevron and white frame, watching him stir, but not utter a sound. "Em, he's beautiful."

Stunned as he was, the mech couldn't help but agree. Sure, he'd wanted a strong little mech that would take after him in every way, but this sparkling stole his spark in an instant, the very image of his mother in sterling white.

"What are you going to call him?" asked Ratchet, filling out the birth records, secretly giddy at what had been his first presiding birth.

Feeling rather poetic and slightly out of character, Emirate had the perfect answer.

"He crept up so silently, something tells me he will be a great hunter some orn." he said. "The ancient name of the great hunter will suit him perfectly."

Swiftbright's optics glittered. "Quiet hunter, such a noble name love, it is perfect." she cooed. "We shall call him Stalker."

-xXx

The news of the birth was met with great celebration. All the families that had newborns immediately gathered to show off their sparklings to one another and see the long awaited child of their leader. Even the Prime himself arrived to see and bless the little ones in the name of Primus.

Out of all the sparklings, tiny little Stalker was quietest. Perfectly content to ignore the world he never made a sound, until Sentinel Prime took him in his arms for the blessing.

When the infant at last opened his optics, everyone expected the sparkling to cry, but those bright blue orbs merely watched the great leader of Cybertron with vague interest, and a soft, ringing chirp sounded from the tiny being, resonating in the Prime's large frame.

A tall, long limbed mech standing by Sentinel chuckled and took Stalker from the Prime gently. The sparkling's parents objected, but a warning hand from their leader stopped them.

The mech studied the sparkling with unusually colored optics, a rich blue-green that most Cybertronians only ever saw in the boreal aura lights that shone once a vorn in the skies above Iacon. Those optics turned a deep blue as the mech lay his free hand on the sparkling's head, then returned to normal.

"I foresee a great future for this little one Sentinel." he said in a lyrical voice, laced with a strange but pleasantly lilting accent. "He will do great things, the name of the legendary hunter suits him well."

Sentinel gave his companion a look of partial disbelief. "A vision Aultis? You are certain?"

"As clear as crystal, this one will become a great mech, I see a wondrous talent and a quick mind in him. Eternity will favor this one, I know it."

Swiftbright moved to take her child from the strange mech, but paused as the sparkling reached up and grabbed the mech's outstretched finger.

The mech laughed softly. "Never fear little one, you may yet see one of my kind again. In the name of Primus, I give you blessings of his grace in hopes of the future, go in peace young Puraru."

At the sound of the strange sounding word, little Stalker squeaked a yawn and drifted into a peaceful sleep, given back to his mother's care.

"You have a beautiful sparkling Swiftbright." said the mech, turning away. "Raise him well."

Watching the stranger go the femme dared to question Sentinel. "Who was that mech?" she asked.

Sentinel gave her a smile. "That, lady Swiftbright, was Aultis Prime, leader of the Raicon and bearer of the Matrix of Eternity. To know that a seer such as him has such a fortuitous vision of your sparkling surely means the little one has the blessings of Primus."

With a newfound sense of awe Swiftbright looked at the sleeping face of her child, wondering just what he had in store for his future.

-XxX

Author's notes

Being a casual fan of the Transformer's series, I do not have the same extensive knowledge of the fandom as others, so many of my definitions are of my own devising.

Orn - Cybertronian day

Decaorn - Cybertronian week

Joor - Cybertronian month

Klik - shortest time measurement, roughly equivalent to eight seconds

Breem - Cybertronian 'minute'

Cycle - Cybertronian 'hour'

Vorn - Cybertronian 'year'

Decavorn - ten vorns (duh!)