Disclaimer: 7Knight-Wolf claims no rights over Beast wars, its plot, or its characters.
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"You don't know what he meant to me! You'll never know!"
Optimus got Blackarachnia's door slammed right in his face. He withdrew with a sigh, and turned to Rattrap with a look that said, "Don't say a word."
Rattrap and Optimus stood in silence for a moment until they heard a quiet, miserable sound coming from Blackarachnia's quarters. "I don't believe it," Rattrap ventured. "Is she actually crying?"
Cheetor, tall and slim in his Transmetal 2 form, joined them from farther down the hallway. "Get real, rat-face," he growled; "Blackarachnia doesn't cry. She never ever cries."
Optimus sighed again. "Well this time it's different. The two of them had so much hope…."
Cheetor's face fell suddenly in grief. "Yeah…she's not used to the world yet. I learned about the world as soon as Tigatron and Air-razor were captured by the aliens." His voice went slightly off balance as he mentioned his old friends' names. "I learned that in the world, evil strikes the good the hardest. They disappear…the ones you love most. It's not fair."
Optimus glanced at Cheetor in surprise. The cat-bot often uttered "Tigatron" and "Air-razor" in sleep, but it had been long since he mentioned their names in waking life. A sad opinion like the one the Transmetal Cheetah had just voiced required constant heartache and grief. Optimus felt the guilt was his. If he had not let Cheetor board the Axalon with him in the first place, maybe the kid would not have had such bad experiences.
"Well, uh—is she gonna come out or not?" Rattrap asked. "I mean, can't we just get this processor-racking ceremony thing over with?"
"Shut up!" Cheetor snapped suddenly. "If you had any respect for either of them you'd value this ceremony!"
"Hey, don't go say'n I don't care!" Rattrap retorted just as ferociously. "I 'value' both of them. But this stink'n ceremony thing is another story. Ya can't just say 'we'll all respect him, and now we'll forget 'im and move on.' It don't work that way, for all the energon in Cybertron! So stop try'n to make us get over it!"
Optimus was again surprised. He had no idea that this would affect Rattrap, of all the maximals. Optimus turned and knocked on Blackarachnia's door. "Blackarachnia?" his voice came, surprisingly soft. "We're starting in a minute. Would you please come out?"
"Yeah; it wouldn't be the same without you," Cheetor implored.
***
The warrior lay on the ground. It was dark, it was cold, and it was empty. Or at least, he thought it was. Was it the sky that seemed empty, or was it the warrior's mind? He sat up. The myriads of stars twinkled around him. The warrior closed his eyes again. The only thing he felt was pain, and a great feeling of loss that he could not explain. Pain. Where was it coming from?
The warrior reopened his eyes, and found that he was a wolf. He had no tail and was dirty, but beneath that dirt his fur was sleek and silvery. There was a stinging pain on the warrior's shoulders, and there seemed to be scars there too. Pain pulsated also from the warrior's front feet—they felt odd and clumsy as if cut short. But there was a third ache, not so much a throbbing pain, but a heavy, oppressive soreness in the warrior's chest.
Suddenly the warrior realized he was surrounded by eight or nine brawny wolves. He froze. A Black Wolf was there, fighting savagely. It was fighting against a second canine which was huge and muscular. This gigantic wolf was the leader of the pack, the alpha wolf. The Black Wolf was struggling to gain the upper paw in the battle.
The Black Wolf darted between the alpha wolf's front legs and sank his teeth into his opponent's chest. Jerking violently, the Black Wolf managed to flip the huge alpha wolf onto his side, where he snarled in pain. Making a come-back, the alpha wolf thrust out his back paws and tripped the Black Wolf. He then stood up and put both his claw-loaded front paws on top of the fallen Black Wolf. The black wolf clamped his jaws onto the alpha wolf's paw, while kicking with his back paws to push his heavy enemy off him.
This plan worked, and the big alpha wolf fell to the ground again. The Black Wolf stood over his adversary, and waited to see what he would do. Obviously the phrase "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" was in the right, for the alpha wolf snarled his defeat. The Black Wolf was victorious.
"Darkstar," the alpha wolf roared at the Black Wolf. "You won your battle, but I hope this doesn't mean you're fighting for my position in the pack!"
The warrior's mouth dropped. He had been watching these wolves for a few minutes now, but he just realized that he could understand what they were saying! He could speak wolf! Somehow, this surprised him.
"I'm not after your position," The Black Wolf snarled. "You know what I want."
"Yes, but I can still hardly believe it." The alpha wolf looked at the warrior for the first time, and it was a look of disgust. Then he turned again to the Black Wolf and asked, "Do you actually want to keep that thing alive?"
The Black Wolf smiled. "Would I have beaten you up like that if I didn't?" He then walked gracefully over to the warrior and studied him. "You're afraid," said the Black Wolf, in wolf communication.
"Don't I have a right to be afraid?" the warrior asked.
The Black Wolf smiled, showing his keen teeth which he had effectively used in the battle with the alpha wolf. They were still blood-stained. "Hmm, I really don't know. What do you think?"
The warrior felt uncomfortable. "I think you should take a few steps back," he said. "And yes, I admit to trepidation. How can I feel otherwise, when I am thus surrounded by unfamiliar faces?"
"Mm. So who are you?" the Black Wolf demanded.
"I don't know," replied the warrior. "I am unaware of who I am or where I'm from. All I have been able to certify is that I am a wolf, like you, and I am a warrior."
"Oh, a warrior, are you?" asked the Black Wolf. "I'm Darkstar. You know, you're in a pretty bad position for a warrior, lying on the ground like that. Say, I realize grand fighters like you don't like to implore. But you may have to beg for mercy before the end. Oh, don't get us wrong—we're as fine a pack of wolves as any. We're sociable carnivores who don't mean the world any harm, and we try to avoid bloodshed." The wolf's face hardened. "Except when things like you come our way. We don't like intruders of your kind."
The Black Wolf looked at the leader of the wolves. He said, "This is the alpha wolf, Brent. He is, you see, putting a big glob on our spotless resume, by being so unfriendly and staring such…tst, tst, tst, bloody battles within the pack. What shameful conduct!" Darkstar, the black wolf, smiled condescendingly at the alpha wolf, Brent.
"I've had enough of this!" Brent snarled. "Tell me what is going on! Are you mistaken, Darkstar? If this is one of those filthy intruders, he sure doesn't look like one! And how come he can speak wolf? Why is it he remembers nothing?"
"I've made some adjustments," replied the Black Wolf coolly.
"ADJUSTMENTS?!" repeated the pack leader, still angry. "He can join the pack, but he's your responsibility, Darkstar. If there's any trouble I'm holding you accountable."
Then the wolves all sat in a semi-circle, and made the warrior wolf join them. Brent, the pack's leader, came and sniffed the warrior. He then nodded approvingly.
"You're in," Brent stated. "First, you need a name."
The warrior wolf figured that this was a ceremony of welcome, but he wasn't feeling very relaxed. Brent hated him. He could sense it. And when Brent was not violent, he was patronizing.
"Well," the lead wolf went on, "we could call you Scar-Back. Or Cut-Toes. Then there's always Filthy Coat or Tail-less One." Brent smiled teasingly. "But since you in all your grandness are such a mighty warrior, we might call you Knight."
Though the warrior knew Brent was making fun of him, he liked the sound of that name. "Knight," said the warrior. "That will do."
"Then Knight it is!" Brent exclaimed with sarcastic happiness. "Welcome to the pack." He threw up his head and howled a deep and resounding howl that came from the depths of his chest. All the other wolves took up the chorus.
Knight howled as best he could. He was weak and still in pain, and he felt strangely uncomfortable under the watchful eyes of Darkstar the black wolf. But there was no need to feel unhappy, right? Knight was part of a pack now. That almost made up for having no memory and for the ache that plagued his heart.
No it didn't, though. That ache and feeling of loss was almost unbearable.
