Author's Note: Hiya, peoples! Been a while since you heard from me, huh? I know, I've been working three jobs (in a matter of speaking) since school started. I'm a full-time college student, a part-time sales associate at a Hallmark store, and a writer for my university's newspaper. It's pretty cool, I'm never bored, but then that means that I don't have the time to write! I really miss it, so I'm going to try and make some time to update my other stories, but until I get that time, let me know what you guys think of this one-shot. I wrote this last year after listening to the Nightwish song called Amaranth. This isn't a songfic, but the idea just sort of came to me as I listened to the song, weird, huh? So, I decided today, since I haven't posted anything up for a while, that I would put this story up. Just a little something fun from my favorite franchise! :) It doesn't tie into the live-action movies at all, but I did use the Transformers' designs from the movies. Also, Bumblebee can speak in my story, but he doesn't say much (just an f.y.i.). Alrighty then, I'm done rambling. Please read, review, and enjoy Amaranth and please tell me what you think of it.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Transformers; that glory belongs to Hasbro; nor do I own anything from G.P. Taylor's book Wormwood. I just used some scenes from his book and put them into my story, but that doesn't make them mine.
Amaranth
Bonham screamed as he watched the dogs pounding down on him. He felt like a cornered fox about to be torn apart, ripped, and eaten. "Quickly, man, let me in!"
Blake stumbled over his feet, fell one length of the stairs and crumpled on the landing of the first floor. He got up and ran again. "Bonham, look out, man, I'm here!" he shouted. He knew that he had one more flight and then the length of the hall before he got to the front door. And then panic hit him: The key, where was the key?
Outside, Bonham watched as the mastiffs pounded the mud with their paws, racing each other, their speed increasing with the prospect of a kill. He braced himself for what was to come. He squared his back against the door and drew a small flintlock pistol from his belt, knowing he would have only one shot, knowing he could not kill all three creatures. With both hands he aimed the gun at the hounds. Relentlessly they covered the ground before him. Bonham sighted the lead animal; it was larger than the others and led by a length. He aimed the gun a yard ahead and slowly squeezed the trigger. The hammer fell and powder exploded as the shot rang out, hitting the mastiff in the chest. The animal let out an ear-splitting howl but didn't even flinch. Bonham closed his eyes and waited. In thirty seconds he would be prey for the hounds…
RIIIING!
Sydney jumped in her desk as the bell indicating the end of the school day rang, startling her. Her slowly rising spirits quickly plummeted as she was forced to come back to reality.
"Hey, Sydney! Hello? Are you with us?" Todd Bishop, Sydney's best friend, waved his hand in front of her face, talking loudly into her left ear.
"Quit it, Todd!" Sydney hissed, slapping his large hand away. She noticed he playfully rubbed his hand, pretending that she had hurt him, and gave her a pouty look. Then, he gathered his books and entered the flood of students crowding out of the door into the hallway.
Letting out a deep sigh, Sydney slowly began to gather her own school books together but came to a stop as she sensed a form lingering beside her. Turning her gaze to her left, she looked up into the unhappy face of Mrs. McGonigle, her pre-cal teacher.
"I assume you had a nice time with your nose in that book?" Mrs. McGonigle said coolly, a note of irritation clearly heard in her voice.
"For a while, at least…" Sydney mumbled sadly.
"When I give you time in class to work on your homework, I expect you to take that time to get as much of it done as you can. Plus, getting it done in school means less homework for the night and more time to read your book."
Sydney could've cared less about homework that day. Giving her teacher a quick nod, she stood up, gathered her books, and headed out of the now-empty classroom.
I just wanted to get away for a while…
"I expect all of your homework to be done tomorrow, Ms. Watkins."
Mrs. McGonigle saw the wave of Sydney's hand, but was unable to see the roll of the teenager's eyes as she left the classroom and entered the sea of students flooding the hallway.
"Getting in trouble with the teacher now, are we?"
"Go away, Todd," Sydney groaned as Todd joined her in the hall. She was in no mood to listen to his usually corny, yet somehow amusing personality.
But he didn't stop… "You know that she's going to take your books away from you if you don't start paying attention."
"I have an A- in the class."
"A little snappy today…"
Todd skidded to a stop, trying not to run into Sydney as she suddenly came to an abrupt halt. She turned towards him and locked her cold eyes with his.
"Look, I have had a hell of a day, so would you just shut up and leave me alone?"
Todd fell silent. Even if he had had something to say, he wouldn't have known how to say it then as he stood in the middle of the hallway watching his best friend storm off ahead of him. She had never snapped at him like that before…
Sydney could feel hot tears pushing hard against her eyes, wanting to be unleashed. She couldn't break down, she wouldn't break down, not in front of all the other students. She urged herself to go faster, wanting to get her books, get out of the school, and go to her secret place away from reality, where she wouldn't have to think about anything except what lay in her imagination. Finally reaching her locker, Sydney grabbed a bunch of random books, probably not even books for the classes she had homework in, shoved them into her backpack, didn't acknowledge anyone who said good-bye to her, and rushed past the never-ending crowd of students towards the back of the school.
"Hey, slow down there, Speedy Gonzalez!"
"Leave me alone, Todd!"
As Sydney burst out of the door into the crisp fall air, Todd was right behind her, basically running to keep up with her.
"Look, no more jokes, but can you at least just tell me what's wrong? Sydney, please…" Todd hesitantly rested his hand upon her shoulder, expecting her to immediately jerk away from his grasp, but instead, she came to another stop. Now standing still, he could feel her shaking.
"Sydney?"
Sydney slowly turned to face Todd. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw unshed tears of sorrow flooding her eyes. He had never seen her cry before; she had always been too proud to show any kind of weakness, but the tears she had been forcing back could not be restrained any longer.
"My…" Sydney started weakly, swallowing hard. "My parents are getting a divorce."
"What?"
"They've been fighting a lot over stupid, little things lately…" The tears began to stream down her cheeks. "… Last night, my mother confessed to my father that she had been sleeping with one of the new guys at her work for about a month. His name is Harry, or something along the lines of that. After she told him… I've never heard my father scream so loud…"
She paused for a moment and wiped her nose with her long sleeve shirt. "And then, I got up later last night to get some water, but as I headed towards the kitchen, I heard some rustling sounds coming from my parent's room. I peeked inside through the cracked door and I saw… my mom… packing a suitcase. She told my dad… she told him that she wanted a divorce and that Harry would take better care of her than he ever had. When I woke up this morning, she was gone. My dad told me that she left early to prepare for an early conference, but… I knew she was with Harry… probably still is…"
Sydney broke down, crying harder than she had ever cried before in her life. She didn't care about the stares she received from the students exiting the building; she almost wanted them to look, wanting them to know that her life had come to a complete standstill and she had no idea how to take the next step forward. Feeling her legs giving way beneath her, she sought out the school's brick wall and collapsed next to it.
Todd crouched down next to his friend and wrapped his arms protectively around her. The sound of her breaking heart was enough to cause his own heart to ache for her. He rubbed her shoulders, not knowing what else he could do or say to her.
"Is there… anything I could've done? Anything… I could've said… to prevent this?"
"No, Sydney," Todd brought her closer to his chest, a hint of anger clearly heard in his voice. How could anyone, especially her own parents, have shattered her heart like that? It was cruel punishment inflicted on someone who didn't even deserve it! "This is not your fault. Don't you dare think for even a second that you caused this."
For the first time since he had known her, Sydney did not argue back. Instead, she allowed herself to sink into Todd's embrace, enjoying the comfort while it lasted.
After a few moments of attempting to calm down, Sydney pulled away from Todd. She smiled weakly at him, then gathered up her bag and slowly began to stand up.
Todd quickly grabbed her elbow to help her up onto her wobbly legs. "Do you need anything? Anything at all?"
Sydney shook her head. "I just want to be alone right now, please?"
"You don't have to ask permission to be alone, Sydney."
His large thumb brushed a loose tear away from her smooth cheek and then she was gone.
Like many other teenagers, Sydney had her own little secret place to do what she wanted to do without being disturbed by any unwanted company.
About three miles away from the school and about two and half miles away from her home, there was a large wooded area known to everyone who lived around it as the Endless Wonder Woods. Many people had gotten lost in those woods because of its enormous size, but what they didn't know was that about two miles into the woods there was a clearing about the size of a football field. This clearing lay peacefully next to a never-ceasing river that always had a strong current no matter what season it was.
Sydney loved to go there because no one else knew about it. Everyone was too scared to go that deep into the woods, so the teenager never was disturbed when she wanted to be alone. She also loved to go there to get away from the hell that was reality.
After walking for almost an hour, Sydney finally reached the clearing. Tired and wanting to forget about her day, she dropped her backpack at the base of her favorite tree, a large one that reached about twenty feet in height. She opened her bag and fished out Wormwood, then carefully began to climb the tall tree, maneuvering her way through the tangled branches until she reached one of the thickest, most sturdy branches it had. The branch rested towards the top, a good thirteen feet from the ground. Leaning her back against the large trunk of the tree and resting her book on top of her propped up knees, she continued to read where she had left off:
Blake got to the door, which was made of thick oak, four times bolted and twice locked. He quickly began to slide away the bolts – one, two, three, four – counting as he went. "The key, the key!" he shouted, searching frantically for its hiding place. Then, looking down, he spied the key on a small hook. He grabbed it tightly and pushed it into the top lock, turning as fast as he could, knowing he had only seconds before Bonham's demise. He fumbled in his haste and the key dropped to the floor. He grabbed it again and quickly turned the bottom lock. It was stiff and hard to turn, but opened with a reassuring clunk. He slapped the handle and the great door swung open.
Bonham fell backwards into the hall, and Blake was confronted with the sight of the three hounds bounding towards him.
The wounded mastiff summoned all of its strength as it leapt from the road up the marble steps towards him. Seeing his fate, Blake quickly slammed the door and slid the bolts. There was a loud thud as the door vibrated and shook with the impact of the hound, but it held fast. He heard the dog drop to the ground.
There was silence in the sanctuary. Isaac Bonham stared at Blake.
"Never be that late again," Bonham panted. "One more second and I would have said good-bye to this life."
The sun was beginning to set as the evening slowly began to approach. Sydney wasn't sure how much time had actually passed since she got there, probably a good two, maybe three hours.
Her tears had dried; the red splotches left from her salty tears were beginning to fade away from her cheeks. She rubbed her dry eyes; it was becoming harder and harder to read the longer her eyes remained open.
Counting three pages till the end of her chapter, Sydney settled on finishing it up and then trudging the four and a half miles home where she didn't want to even imagine the hell that she would be greeted with once she stepped through the door.
The rumble of a car's engine nearby suddenly made Sydney gaze up from the fine print of her book.
Odd, the nearest road is about two miles away from here…
The rumble seemed to be growing louder as it inched closer to where Sydney sat, but then suddenly ceased, as if someone had decided to turn off the engine. The woods fell back into peaceful silence once more.
Sydney strained her ears, trying to hear at least some sort of sound so that she could convince herself that she wasn't just hearing things. Even when her ears failed, she used her eyes to scan the grassy clearing stretching out below her. From what she could see from her reading place, she was alone; at least, that's what she thought…
Shrugging off her wild imagination and screwed up hearing, Sydney decided to turn back to her book. What she didn't expect was the sudden loud scraping sound that nearly made her fall out of the tree; a sound she had never heard before. It sounded almost like shifting; a loud, screeching, almost like metal scraping against metal…
"All right, we don't have much time. Bumblebee, can you transform?"
Sydney froze. A deep voice followed by the same scraping metal sound broke the silence yet again. Heavy footsteps soon followed, heading towards her. Whoever it was, she was no longer alone… and whatever it was, it did not sound human…
Silently closing her book, Sydney stretched herself out on her belly along the tree branch to try and catch a glimpse of her unknown company. Two shadows appeared from the woods, but as they came into the sun's fading rays, her jaw dropped. What she saw was… indescribable.
Two giant yellow robots appeared in the clearing! One of them had multiple lights stretching across its chest plate and thin red stripes outlining its shoulders. This mech was carrying a smaller mech, laying it gently onto the grass. Sydney couldn't really tell what the other one looked like, for it looked pretty beaten up, almost as if it had recently been pulled from a scrap pile.
"I have my work cut out for me, Bumblebee," the robot standing spoke somberly to the beat up one lying on the ground.
"Ratchet, report your status," a muffled voice came from an unknown source. The yellow robot, Ratchet, brought his right arm up to his vocal processors.
"I found a secure area. We're hidden… for now, at least."
"How's the kid doing?"
"I have to perform some repairs, but he obtained no serious damage around his Spark chamber, so he'll be just fine. I may need some backup in case the Decepticons find us, though."
"Send me your coordinates. Prime and I will be there once we take care of some scrap metal over here."
"All right. You two be careful, Ironhide."
"We'll be fine. Worry about the kid right now."
Ironhide's voice fell silent as Sydney assumed their communication line went dead. Ratchet wasted no time, transforming his hands into strange unearthly tools and crouching down to begin repairing his damaged comrade.
Sydney could not believe her eyes. She constantly pinched herself and blinked her eyes, believing her imagination was really messing with her mind… it wasn't. All of this was really happening…
Wait a minute, Sydney thought as she looked away from the robots, processing the conversation she had just overheard. If that mech is asking for backup, it must mean that it's not safe here. I should probably leave before something big happens… but I want to see if something big happens!
Reluctantly, Sydney chose common sense over curiosity. She had no idea what might happen and she preferred to be safe than sorry. As quietly as she could, she crept her way along the branch and carefully descended down the large tree. She caught one last glance at the giant robots, knowing she'd probably never see a sight like this again. Ratchet had finished and was now easing… Bumblebee into a sitting position on the grass, his damaged metal finely repaired.
Wow, that was… Sydney yelped as her foot suddenly slipped and she was sent falling the rest of the way down. A painful grunt escaped her as she landed, the dead fall leaves covering the ground crunching loudly beneath her.
The mechs froze, so did Sydney, as they directed their gazes to where she had fallen. She lay as still as she possibly could, not even daring to breathe.
"Decepticon?" Bumblebee asked. Even though his body was repaired, he was still weak. Sydney could tell by the pain she heard in his somewhat high mechanical voice.
"No," Ratchet replied calmly, but still on alert, "It's an organic life form. I'm picking up its heat signature."
Sydney began wishing that she was a cold-blooded reptile as Ratchet began to inch closer to where she lay.
"You can come out, little one," Ratchet called out gently, "We won't hurt you."
His voice sounded nice, almost soothing… for a machine, almost making Sydney want to come out from her hiding spot, but she couldn't seem to make herself move. Her body remained rooted to the dead ground beneath her.
Ratchet was getting closer and would find her in a matter of seconds. She had to make a choice. Allow him to find her… or run?
She soon got her answer as a barrage of what she thought might be bombs fell from the sky. Multiple explosions followed shortly after as the once peaceful clearing was suddenly filled with smoke, hiding the two yellow mechs from sight.
"It's Starscream!"
That was her cue. Sydney quickly picked herself up from the ground, ditched her school books, and ran into the ever-darkening woods. As she ran between the trees, she heard the same loud scraping sound followed by a raspy mechanical voice.
"You forgot to shield your signals, Autobots! It was almost too easy to find you!"
"Bumblebee, protect the organic life form!"
"I can't! It's running away!"
"Well, I can assure you, wherever your little 'organic' thinks it can run, it can't hide."
A chill rushed down Sydney's spine. That voice gave her all the more reason to put an even greater distance between her and the giant robots. She urged her legs to go faster, gulping in as much air as she could to keep herself going.
She hadn't even been running for a full minute when she suddenly heard a low threatening growl that seemed to bounce from tree to tree, surrounding her.
Her sprint slowed to a walk and then to a complete stop. She stood in the midst of the twilit woods, straining her ears to try and listen for the low growl again over her heavy panting. As she listened, Sydney used her eyes to scan the surrounding area. She didn't expect to find anything in the dark until her eyes suddenly fell upon a glowing red dot… a moving glowing red dot.
The growl definitely emanated from this moving spot and it sure didn't sound like a puppy. Following it, Sydney suddenly noticed the change in its course. It was no longer circling around her, but coming towards her. Her eyes widened as the remaining sunlight forcing its way through the trees reflected off the metal armor of yet another, smaller robot.
The sharp teeth, long tail, four legs, and menacing snarl reminded Sydney of a panther; a panther that had one glowing red optic for an eye and was about the size of a horse.
The metallic cat continued to growl as it slowly inched closer to her. Sydney, in turn, slowly inched backwards. She thought about running… but honestly, how far would she get? It didn't hurt to try, right?
Testing her theory, Sydney turned and began to run. She didn't make it ten steps before a blast from some sort of weaponry soared above her head and exploded in front of her. She couldn't help but unleash a terrified scream as the explosion knocked her to the ground. As she attempted to recover, she could hear the splintering of a tree being pulled to the ground by the Earth's gravity. Sydney propped herself up onto her elbow just in time to watch in horror as one of the large surrounding trees went crashing to the dead ground, a glowing furrow carved deep into the dirt at the severed trunk's base.
Scared, Sydney turned slowly around to face the robotic cat again. A rather large gun mounted upon its back was pointed straight at her. Its gaze never left her, growling as if daring her to try and run again.
"All right," Sydney said weakly, slowly standing up and lifting up her arms as if to show the robot that she came in peace. "What do you want me to do?"
Now seeming to be in a hurry, the panther walked right up to her and harshly nudged her in the stomach with its nose, causing her to fall back down to the ground again.
"Ow! Hey, easy," Sydney quickly stood up, not wanting to anger the cat anymore than he already was. "I don't understand. Do you want me to go somewhere?"
The cat nudged her harder in the same direction it had before. She stumbled, but managed to catch herself on one of the surrounding trees.
"All right, we'll go this way," Sydney turned and began walking in the direction this panther obviously wanted her to go.
The smaller mech followed closely behind her, nudging her every now and then and keeping its gun pointed at her back at all times so that if she disobeyed or tried to run again… she didn't even want to think about what might happen…
She suddenly realized that the robotic cat was leading her in the direction she had been running away from. It was leading her back to the clearing where the giant robots had decided to have a "little" get together.
"Uh… Is there any possible way of negotiating here?" Sydney pleaded, her body beginning to shake uncontrollably as they neared closer to the river.
The sharp jab she received to her back clearly answered her question and in just a few minutes, she could hear shots being fired, trees toppling over, and the same raspy mechanical voice, but this time, there was a new deeper voice along with it.
"Get up, you worthless pile of scrap!"
"M-Megatron, I can explain!"
"You only confirm your weakness when I arrive and find you cowering on the ground like a Sparkling!"
"The Autobots… They caught me off guard!"
"Bested by a medic and a scout? You really are pathetic, Starscream!"
"Just wait, Megatron. I sent Ravage out to go fetch us some 'bait'."
"Bait? What are you blabbering on about?"
As if on cue, Sydney stepped out from the safety of the woods and into the open clearing. She gasped as she approached two large silver mechs. One was lying on the ground while the other towered over it, stepping on its chest with one large foot. Both of them turned to face her, but it was the one that was standing that frightened her the most.
His sharp teeth, claw-like fingers, bulky metal form, and blood red optics sent a new meaning of fear racing through every nerve of Sydney's body, almost stopping the frantic beating of her drumming heart. She couldn't stop herself from shaking.
An amused snicker escaped from the processors of the bot who lay on the ground. "Good boy, Ravage. See, Megatron? No Autobot would dare fire at us when we have an 'innocent life form' in our hands."
"An organic?" Megatron unleashed a low growl, far more menacing than Ravage's had been, but it quickly turned into an amused snarl, "I must say, Starscream, sometimes even you surprise me…"
"Are you going to chat all day or are you going to fight, Megatron?"
Megatron turned to face the two yellow mechs Sydney had seen before. Their arms had transformed into strange looking cannons and they were aiming them straight at Megatron and his comrade, Starscream.
"You dare threaten me with your pathetic excuse for a weapon's system?" Megatron growled.
"Back up is on the way and you'll soon be outnumbered," Ratchet stated confidently, "Surrender now, if you know what's good for you."
"Big talk for such a small mech. But do you really want to fire at me…" Megatron reached down. Sydney let out a startled yelp as large claws wrapped around her frail form and suddenly lifted her up until she was dangling twenty feet off the ground, "… when I have her?"
"Bumblebee, lower your weapons!"
Gazing over at Ratchet and Bumblebee, Sydney could see the confidence visibly drift away as their optics locked onto her. They slowly lowered their weapons down to their sides, not happy with how the situation was turning out.
They had the perfect chance. Megatron had no weapons out to fire at them, yet they didn't fire, because of her…
"Wise choice, Autobots," Megatron sneered, his grip suddenly tightening around Sydney; a yelp of pain escaping from the teenager.
"Coward," Ratchet growled.
Sydney wanted to say something, but no words would come. What could she tell them? Blast Megatron even if they shot her as well? She wasn't ready to die… but their faces…
"Just shoot him!"
Ratchet, Bumblebee, Megatron, and Starscream were all surprised by the sudden outburst from the small human.
"I have no idea what the hell's going on, but this seems to be your perfect chance! If you really want to shoot him, don't allow me to get in your way!"
"Silence, you insolent parasite!" Megatron's grip tightened ever more, this time, cutting off Sydney's air intake.
"Megatron, stop!"
"It's the day of reckoning, Megatron! No need for final words, I'll just put you out of your misery right now!"
"Wait, Ironhide!"
"Let me go, Ratchet!"
"You can't fire! Megatron is holding a human hostage!"
New voices were heard as Sydney struggled to see who had just arrived through her every-darkening vision. Two new bots had joined Ratchet and Bumblebee. Ratchet was clinging onto the cannons of a much larger black mech, she assumed that one was Ironhide. The second mech was even larger than the other three, having a red and blue metallic form and almost reaching as tall as Megatron.
"Only you would stoop so low, Megatron," the blue and red mech spoke in a deep voice, "putting an innocent life form in danger just to ensure your own safety."
"Well, unlike you, Optimus Prime, my Spark is nothing but a black hole. I have no affection for these useless fleshlings…"
Fire…
"… and I have no intention of showing them the mercy that makes you so weak."
With one last squeeze, a snap was heard followed by Sydney's agonizing scream as she felt the bones in her right arm break simultaneously. Her arm suddenly went limp, bringing nothing but excruciating pain with it.
"Stop it, Megatron!" Optimus shouted. "You'll kill her!"
"Heh, her life is of no importance to me," Megatron sneered, beckoning Starscream to stand up. Dumping Sydney's limp body into his second-in-command's awaiting grasp, the jet lifted off the ground and flew into the air until he hovered over the river. He stretched out the arm which held the small human and dangled her dangerously over the rushing water.
"She has nothing to do with this!"
"Release her now!"
"No!"
"With pleasure…" Starscream unfurled his clenched fist. Sydney was released, but not on the ground. She screamed as she plummeted towards the raging water below.
The impact was more painful than she would have expected. Hitting the water's surface felt as if a large hand had just slapped the entire left side of her body as she plunged in sideways.
After being slapped and dragged under, the current then began to spin her around. Sydney was unsure as to which way was up as she somersaulted through the water. Even if she had an idea, how could she have reached her much-needed air supply with a broken arm?
Sydney physically shook her head as her body finally came to a standstill. Now was not the time to be thinking about what she couldn't do. She had to forget about everything that had and was happening above her and focus on trying to save herself.
Using her still-working left arm and kicking her legs as hard as she could, the teenager began to swim with the current at an angle, using its power to her advantage as she slowly felt herself rising.
Cool air hit her as her head broke the surface. She coughed and sputtered, trying to get the water out of her lungs and as much air into them before she went back under again. Even if her arm wasn't broken, the current was too strong and easily swallowed her back up.
As she struggled under the water, she could see bright flashes from explosions reflecting off of the surface above her. The robots must have been fighting, now that she was out of the way.
Sydney caught the current just right once again and as she surfaced, she caught some snippets of what the robots were saying.
"… reat! Retreat!"
"You coward, Starscream! A warrior would not flee from battle!"
"With the chances we have, we won't survive this battle, 'O' mighty leader'!"
"Fine! We'll retreat… for now. But mark my words, Prime, we're not finished!"
"We're never finished with you, Decepti-creeps!"
Two damaged silver jets taking off into the sky followed by more explosions came into view as Sydney began to go under again. She had to keep herself up or she wouldn't have any chance at survival. Using the power in her legs to keep her somewhat afloat, she reached her left arm out, hoping that it might hit something she could use to keep her above the unforgiving current.
Her prayers were answered as her hand brushed against the jagged edges of a large rock. Taking as firm a hold as the rock would allow, Sydney struggled to pull herself as close to it as she possibly could. Even as close to the rock as she was, it was hard to hold on with one arm as the current pulled harshly at her tired body, but what other choice did she have?
"Where is she?"
"She could've been carried all the way downstream by now with the power of that current."
"Autobots, spread out and search for the human. If she is still alive, she needs our help."
Listening to the giant robots' conversation some distance away from where she held on for dear life, Sydney finally realized that these… Autobots… wanted to help her. But why? They didn't even know her. Not having the time to ask herself random questions, she focused more on trying to get their attention. She had to scream or something, for she knew that if the Autobots couldn't save her, she was as good as gone.
Spitting out a mouthful of water, Sydney screamed as loud as she could, hoping it would carry over the roaring river.
"Help!"
A wave suddenly crashed over her. She felt her hand slip, sweeping her away from her life support as she went back under.
I'm not going to die… Sydney fought. Even though her body protested against her efforts, her mind was unwilling to allow her to give up. Not like this…
The air was becoming harder to breathe in, for Sydney's lungs were filling up with water that kept forcing its way down her throat. She tried to cough it up, but nothing seemed to be working anymore…
"There she is!"
"Optimus, we found her!"
Through her blurred vision, Sydney could see the four Autobots that had refused to fire in fear of harming her running alongside the river. She tried to yell for help again, but she felt herself sinking.
"Try to keep your head above water!" The large blue and red Autobot, Optimus Prime, was ahead of the others. His deep voice carried over the loud rapids with ease. "We're coming to get you!"
Easier said than done as the current seemed to be increasing in speed, dragging her further and further away from the Autobots. She took in as much air as she could, feeling as if she might not be able to bring herself up another time.
"Keep your hea…"
Her body was done. Her left arm wouldn't work and her legs were dead weights weighing her down. Too tired to carry on, Sydney allowed the current to carry her downstream. Her body was dead, yet her mind told her to keep fighting. She couldn't move another muscle, let along lift a single finger, yet her mind told her not to quit. How could she save herself if her mind said fight, but her body said no?
A sudden muffled splash could be heard. Something must have fallen into the river, but Sydney couldn't tell what it was, for her visibility was fading with the setting sun and her dying will to stay conscious.
Just as she thought she was going to drown, a sudden force began to quickly lift her towards the surface. Air suddenly surrounded her as more than just her head made it out of the water.
"You're going to be alright, little one!"
The same deep voice of Optimus Prime filled her clogged ears. She realized that he had lifted her completely out of the water with his large hand and was not staring at her with his bright blue optics. The water reached up to his chest plate, the river was deeper than Sydney thought, but the current was even too strong for the ten ton robot as it pushed him even further downstream.
"Hang on to me!" He brought her over to his left shoulder. Taking his gesture as a sign to grab on, Sydney clambered out of his hand and carefully made her way onto a metal platform that would serve as the Autobot's shoulder blade, taking care not to fall into the water again. She took hold of a single short pole that jutted out of his shoulder, wrapping her left arm and legs firmly around the wet, slippery metal.
Optimus dug his feet into the floor of the river, using rocks to grab onto as he tried to make it back to the shore.
"Optimus, grab on!"
Ratchet was running as fast as he could, followed by Bumblebee and Ironhide, towards their drifting comrade. The medic's arm had transformed into what appeared to be a grappling hook, aiming it straight towards Optimus.
A loud thunderous roar could be heard coming closer and closer. Sydney slowly turned, her eyes widening with horror at what she saw.
"O-Optimus, behind you!" Sydney shouted over the roaring, tapping his metal armor in case he hadn't heard her.
He had heard her, all right. Optimus turned away from Ratchet and saw the same thing Sydney was looking at now. A large waterfall that dropped a good sixty, maybe seventy feet was inching closer and closer by the second.
"Optimus!"
"We're gonna die!"
"Hang on!"
Ratchet shot the line towards Optimus, but it flew clear across to the other side of the river as the Autobot leader and the frightened teenager fell off the edge of the cliff and down the waterfall, disappearing into the mist below.
"Optimus!"
"Come on!"
The Autobots descended as fast as they could down the side of the steep cliff. As soon as they reached the ground below, they rushed to the edge of the lake that lay at the waterfall's base where their leader had fallen.
"Optimus!" Ratchet scanned the lake, hoping he might be able to pick up Optimus' signal. He felt responsible for what had happened and would do whatever he had to to make things right. "Can you hear me, Optimus?"
"We can't just sit here!" Ironhide said, already wading into the crystal lake. "We've got to find them!"
Splashing could be heard coming from the center of the lake. Relief washed over them as the Autobots lifted their heads just in time to see their leader emerge from the water.
"Optimus, are you all right?" Ironhide called out.
"I'm fine," Optimus called back, gazing over at his left shoulder. The girl was soaking wet, but she was still with him, she was still alive. "Give us a hand, would you?"
"Here, grab on!" Ratchet cast his line out once more and this time, it reached its target. Optimus reached out to receive the cord, then wrapped it around his arm as the Autobot medic slowly began to reel him in.
"You're not hurt, are you?" Optimus asked, worried about the silence that came from the young human.
Sydney couldn't even explain how she felt, still trying to figure out what all had just happened. She kept asking herself if everything had actually happened and if all of this was a dream, or if she was dead…
"Are you all right?" Optimus persisted.
She wanted to say she was; a little sore and her arm had gone numb, but other than that, physically in one piece. But mentally, she wasn't. Knowing that her nightmare was finally over, she broke down, allowing her unshed tears to fall as she shook her head.
"…No…" Sydney cried, biting her lip to try and regain control of herself.
"It's over now. You're safe," Optimus said gently. He spoke as a father would to a young child who had just received their first cut. With his deep, soothing voice, Sydney already began to feel better, at least a little.
"I'm so sorry, Optimus," Ratchet apologized immediately as Optimus reached the shore. "I tried to get to you in time, but…"
"No need for apologies, my friend," Optimus said as he reached his hand up to his left shoulder and held it open. Sydney carefully climbed on and was slowly lowered to the awaiting grass beneath her.
"Next time, fill us in on the plan, okay?" It was Ironhide's turn to speak.
"Sorry. It was a last minute decision."
"Falling off a waterfall is not a very wise decision, Optimus! You could've been severely damaged!"
"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Optimus chuckled. "She would've surly died if she had fallen without me."
Sydney took in a quick breath as four pairs of optics suddenly rested on her. She wasn't all that scared of them anymore, but she did feel somewhat strange, almost out of place amongst these giant metallic beings.
"Don't be afraid of us," Optimus crouched down, coming closer to Sydney's level. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. This is Ironhide, Ratchet, and Bumblebee," he gestured towards each one of the surrounding Autobots as their name was said. "We come from a faraway planet known as Cybertron. What is your name, little one?"
She was speechless. Sydney felt so stupid, gawking at what seemed as if she had been dropped into a sci fi movie. Even though she was unable to say anything at the moment, she managed to croak out her name.
"S-Sydney…"
"Well then, Sydney, let me have a look at your arm." Sydney hadn't realized that she was cradling her broken arm close to her body until Ratchet had mentioned it. The Autobot medic crouched down next to Optimus, reached down, and delicately took her arm in between two giant fingers.
To Sydney's surprise, the Autobot's touch was gentler than any human doctor she had ever gone to see in her life. But even with his gentle hold, she couldn't help but wince in pain as he lifted her arm closer to his optics. After a few seconds of inspecting, Ratchet decided what he wanted to do as his free hand transformed into a long, thin needle.
"It's all right," he said calmly as he suddenly felt Sydney trying to jerk away from him. "This contains a special medicine I created shortly after we arrived on your planet. It won't heal your arm, but it contains strong chemicals that should take away the pain for quite some time, at least until you can get to your human doctors. They will have to take it from there."
Not waiting for any protests, Ratchet slid the needle into Sydney's delicate skin. She bit her lip, keeping back new tears as more pain shot through her arm. But the pain suddenly vanished. As soon as the medicine was injected into her veins, it immediately coursed through her body, the pain subsiding just as quickly as it had come. Still speechless, Sydney could only nod to Ratchet; very surprised, but also very grateful.
"Should we tell her more about us?" Bumblebee asked Optimus. "She looks a little confused…"
"… and overwhelmed."
"A little?"
"We will explain as we take her home. Her parents must be worried sick about her."
Parents… Just thinking about her parent's divorce sent Sydney's heart in a downward spiral. It was nice the Autobots were offering to take her home, but that would mean going home to her father… only her father. This new reality brought fresh tears to her eyes, but she managed to hold them in.
"All right, let's roll out. Autobots, transform!"
The loud scraping and screeching of metal against metal filled Sydney's head once again, only this time, she was able to witness what was actually happening that made that sound and even though she saw it… she couldn't believe it.
It was amazing! The Autobots were… TRANSFORMING!
Before, four robots had towered over her. Now, after a few seconds of shifting gears and moving metal plates, a Chevy yellow Camaro, a yellow search and rescue Hummer H2, a black GMC TopKick C4500 truck, and a blue and red Peterbilt Truck with flames licking the sides surrounded her, roaring their engines to life, headlights reflecting off of her eyes.
The door to the Peterbilt swung open.
"Well?" Optimus' voice emanated from the large truck. "Are you coming?"
Nodding slowly, Sydney walked over to the truck, still in shock and awe as she climbed in. There was no driver, for the driver was the truck. She decided to sit in the passenger's seat, worried that it might be distracting to Optimus if she sat behind the rather large steering wheel.
"Don't worry, we'll get you home. Just tell me where to go, okay?"
"Okay…" Sydney said softly as she buckled herself in.
She had never ridden in a truck before. The rumble of the powerful engine vibrated through the seats as Optimus slowly began to drive through the trees of the surrounding woods. Gazing out at the side mirror, Sydney could see three sets of headlights behind them, although she couldn't tell which set belonged to which Autobot.
After about half an hour of nothing but trees, Optimus' tires hit pavement. He began to accelerate as he was now out of the woods and back on the road. Sensing that the young human was now shivering, he turned up the heat to dry and warm up Sydney's cold, wet form.
"You drifted quite a ways," Optimus said, trying to make Sydney feel more comfortable by talking to her. "It's about seven miles to the nearest town. That is where you live, right?"
"Y-Yes…" Sydney replied, beginning to warm up from the heat that Optimus was gratefully giving to her. "Thank you…"
Optimus knew that Sydney wasn't just thanking him for the ride.
"I'm glad I could help you. But I am sorry you had to go through what you did."
"It's… It's all right now. I'm starting to feel… a little better."
"Good. Well, since we have a long trip, let me tell you about the Transformers. It all started about ten million years ago…"
Mr. Watkins sat on the living room couch reading the newspaper after a hard day's work at the publishing office. More updates on Obama's health care plan and more complaints about people who protested against it. Wasn't there anything new in the paper anymore?
The clock struck seven, the sky was dark, and Sydney still wasn't home. He hadn't worried too much about her though. As a teenager, she deserved to have the freedom to roam around, as long as she didn't do anything illegal. She was probably just out goofing off with her weird friends again.
The front door was suddenly heard screeching open, followed by his daughter's tired voice.
"I'm home…"
"Hey, sweetheart," Mr. Watkins called, not looking away from the small print before him, thinking she would give him maybe a sentence summary of her day and then disappear into her room. "You're home late. How was your day?"
There was a long pause, almost making him believe his daughter had already vanished into her abyss, but then got a weak: "… other than nearly dying, it was fine…"
"What?" Removing his reading glasses from his nose and lowering his newspaper onto the surface of the nearby coffee table, he was met with the sight of his daughter standing before him. Her clothes were muddy, her body was shaking and wet, her right arm crippled and limp at her side, and her face tear-stained.
"Oh, my god! Sydney, what happened?" He immediately stood up and rushed over to his daughter.
"I'll explain later," Sydney said quietly, emotionless. "Could you take me to the hospital?"
The break in her arm wasn't as bad as she had thought as the doctors had inspected her deformed x-ray carefully. A sturdy cast and some strong steroids were all Sydney needed and she found herself home in her bed the following night.
Dealing with the returning pain in her arm wasn't as hard to deal with anymore, although she did sometimes wish for Ratchet's medicine again. The hard part now was trying to think of a story to explain to the doctors and her father what had happened to her. She decided to just tell them the truth…
"I was taking a walk along the river, spacing out as always, when I suddenly tripped over a small pile of rocks. I hit my arm against the river bank as I tried to reach for something to stop me from falling into the water. I thought I was going to drown and I blacked out, but next thing I knew, I was lying in the grass next to the river. I couldn't believe it. No one was around, but I'm pretty sure someone did save my life, but unfortunately, I don't know who."
…or at least part of the truth. No one would have believed her if she had told them the entire truth.
Not questioning her story, the doctor's simply told her to be more careful, then sent her home with her father. The ride home was long and rather annoying as her father continuously asked if she was alright. As soon as they returned home, Sydney quickly told him that she was tired and disappeared into her room before he could ask her anything else.
The clock read 11:30 p.m. and Sydney still lay awake in her bed, her left arm resting gently upon her belly. The more she thought about the story she had told to the doctors, the more she began to believe it herself. But how could that have happened when what had actually happened seemed so real?
I could be dead… Right now, just sinking down into the depths of that lake, and no one would've known that I was gone. But he saved me… and he didn't have to…
Sleep was unable to overpower the thoughts that enveloped Sydney's mind. On top of the Autobots and their history with the Decepticons taking control of her thoughts, she also thought about her parent's divorce.
She wanted to tell her dad that she knew what they were planning to do. She wanted to tell him how she felt about all this. The only problem was, she didn't know how to tell him.
She had to get out of the house. She had to somehow try and clear her mind of any and every thought. Rising from her bed, Sydney carefully draped her corduroy jacket around her shoulders, slipped on her tennis shoes, tiptoed past her pare… her father's room, and silently crept out the front door for a late night stroll.
Even at night, her secret place was a great place to get away from reality, but it was also a quiet place to think about it as well. She kept her distance from the coursing river, not even wanting to look at what could've been her demise as she began to walk aimlessly alongside the trees. She wanted to empty her mind, but the farther she walked, the harder it was to succeed.
A sudden large shadow loomed before the small teenager. Sydney took in a quick breath and almost turned to run, thinking it might have been Megatron or Starscream again. But the tension left her shoulders as she saw that the shadow was the Autobot leader. He leaned against her favorite reading tree, gazing up at an endless sea of stars surrounding a bright crescent moon.
Taking a deep breath, Sydney decided to approach him.
"Optimus?"
As the Autobot leader turned towards the human girl, he immediately saw the white cast that was wrapped around her broken arm. He did a quick scan, detecting that everything was in proper working condition and felt relieved, sensing that her mind was a bit calmer than it had been earlier. All in all, he felt better, knowing that she was being taken good care of.
Bouncing from one foot to the other, Sydney felt embarrassed and she didn't know why. Hesitantly, she asked: "Can I talk to you?"
Silently, Optimus lowered his outstretched palm towards her. A weak smile danced across Sydney's face as she climbed aboard and he lifted her up to rest on his knee.
Sydney had no idea where to begin, so she just decided to start with the beginning of her life as Optimus had started with his. And as she poured her heart out, Optimus simply listened.
Author's P.S.: Hey, again! Thank you for reading my story. Just a quick note, if you liked this story and want to read more, could you guys let me know in your reviews (if you want to leave one)? Because I wrote a sequel to this story and am actually in the process of making a third one, so if you want to read the second one, let me know. Again, thank you for reading!