Arcee carefully approached the figure with no weapons drawn as it seemed it was on its back, knocked unconscious. Its arms were drawn close to its body while its head was bent back, throat revealed, and a toothy scowl upon its face plates.
Judging by the hole above it and the many cracks that littered the ceiling of the chamber with light from the surface seeping through, it had fallen or was pushed off. A cliff was visible from the hole and since parts of it were missing as well as scorch marks along its side, Arcee assumed it tried to claw its way up and was attacked or it tried to attack someone else.
Suddenly, the figure opened its eyes tiredly as it gulped and moaned. It looked up at the hole above it with the scowl still present. Rocks and dirt slid off as it sat upwards, leaning on its elbows.
Arcee realized who it was: Tigressa.
The tiger-dragon felt her joints crack as she flexed them, forcing her to moan in discomfort. She rolled her wrists to unstiffen them, each popping as if they were broken. More popping arose when she finally stood up; her back cracked immediately and a wave of noises started from her abdominal spine all the way up to her neck. It didn't sound good.
Uncertainty flashed across the motorcycle's face before the look of angry concern took over. "Are you kidding me!? Tigressa, what the hell did you do now!?"
Abruptly, she marched over to the larger femme and crossed her arms in a sassy way while the other turned her head to the side in confusion. The tiger-dragon's ears switched from forward to side to back hinting that multiple feelings towards the situation were streaming through her mind.
"You are what the fuss is about? An energy signature pops up in the middle of a canyon and I'm sent to investigate it and you happen to be the cause of it? What ever happened to laying low? You know Optimus hates you causing mischief among humans and disrupting the balance of this world. What gives this time?"
Tigressa bent down to accommodate the major size difference between them and huffed, "It was a mere encounter gone wrong. Apparently, an eagle-wolf mech named Silverbolt claimed to still have a grudge against me. He shot my wings and I clung to a cliff side but he blasted the damn thing and I toppled down into an underground cavern. I didn't plan it, my dear."
Arcee sighed, "You know I have to report this to Optimus, right?"
"I'd prefer to keep this off the records that appear to already be against me," she recoiled as she regained her regular height.
Her body groaned as the techno-organic jumped up and caught the rim of the disproportionate hole she had created during her fall. We she stabilized herself on the surface, she lowered her tail back down and felt the nimble femme crawl up it until both were seated above the surface. Tigressa began walking away as she noted the motorcycle rested next to her helm.
She didn't mind the company the blue femme brought but she never understood why the smaller would bother with her. She was, after all, just a monster hiding in plain sight. All the remaining Cybertronians saw it, even her siblings saw it, but Arcee refused to do so and that made Tigressa unsure on how to take the risky action. Should she be sad, angry, happy? Was Arcee a fool in trusting her? She did not know.
When they scaled the canyon cliffs and finally exited the horrible structure that was, Arcee broke the somewhat unbearable silence. "You know, you doubt yourself too much."
That earned her a glance that would even make Predaking, the arrogant dragon that was, not say another word out of fear. Arcee ignored it. Rolling her optics, she replied, "Oh, and how so do I doubt myself?"
"You don't embrace what you are enough. I've noticed you shy away from your sensible cunning and tend to almost disown the fact that you are a being. You…how do I put this…you act as though you're afraid of what you are and embrace the beast like it's the true you. You aren't a monster; you just act like it because you're acting on what other people see you as. You've forgotten who you are therefore you believe you are an animal and an animal alone."
Tigressa's ears were positioned in opposing directions from one another. She absorbed the words given to her and closed her eyes, stopping in her path with the trees settling alongside her. Her mouth gave a small noise as she opened it, but she couldn't find the right words to say. "I am not afraid. I just…know I can't be a normal cybernetic femme like you, or a normal bot for that matter like the rest of our species. I am Tigressa, the leader of the Metal Heads and warrior of the late Kanjian people, the destroyer of Rozaria and other planets, and a monster that feeds on the souls, the lives of others to survive. What type of being does that?"
Arcee nodded, "True, you aren't merciful and you've done outstanding damage that even Megatron was impressed when he heard about it, but you're still a being and no being alive can be perfect. We all have faults, whether minor or major, but we can correct them, control them. You may not be normal but you're one hell of a femme.
"You've also toned your bloodlust down quite a bit so that's an improvement most beings would struggle to do. It'd take them years to do such a thing. In fact, I'd say you're more of a normal person than most."
"Okay, 'most' would be an overstatement. I probably have better morals than some but everyone else, at least, doesn't kill people in the way I do," Tigressa smirked. The blue femme giggled which made the smirk grow tenfold.
She continued on, maneuvering through the maze of entwined trees with the two-wheeler relaxing in between her shoulder and neck. Thankfully, there were no predators big enough to pose a threat and distasteful Cybertronians who only came near to kill her couldn't track her in an environment she knew how to navigate more so than any bot on the water planet.
Arcee smiled as the tiger-dragon finally reached an open field. The grassland was beautiful at night; both of them had to admit that. She hopped off the latter and noted how the techno-organic merely laid down upon the green plants as if waiting for her to contact her Autobot brethren. Arcee noticed the similarities between the field and the jungle-surrounded grassland she had first met Tigressa truly without the larger femme attempting to kill her. She remembered it as clear as the night sky.
Watching the tiger-dragon simply lie upon the ground peacefully was shocking to say the least. Literally, she just laid there without a care in the world, moving her tail slightly every few minutes. She could care less if the world fell apart and collapsed on itself; she'd probably just float away in space still not acknowledging the event.
Air fumed from the larger femme's nostrils. Teeth clicked together as she breathed to relax. Nothing wrong with that.
Arcee tripped on the dirt upon the forest floor, Energon trailing down her leg as she straightened her posture. A run-in with Megatron and his crew of demons had a crucial role in this horrid predicament. Steadily, she tried to walk, earning her pain and creaking noises coming from her joints. She tried her comm. link for help. Only static rippled her audio receptors.
Suddenly, her footing was lost and she could only close her optics as she tumbled down the hill she was formerly blind to. She continued to roll until she hit something in which she felt herself rebound a little. More pain coursed through her afterwards but she immediately forgot about it when spinal spikes grew erect next to her, scratching the blue of her paintjob. A roar then followed.
The shadow of the animal she had hit towered over the femme instantly and several rows of jagged, sharp canines blocked her view of the moon. Both servos of the monstrous beast hit the ground with fury. A pissed off tiger-dragon was staring her down.
"Tigressa! I-I…I-I…can explain!" Arcee gulped.
Nothing but rage and hatred brightly shined from her red-yellow eyes.
The motorcycle covered herself to block the oncoming strike but what she got wasn't what she had expected. Carefully, the techno-organic nudged her injured leg, sniffing at it out of curiosity. The larger femme's optics widened before narrowing suspiciously.
"Poor Autobot got caught in a terrible crossfire of factions. I smell Decepticon on you."
"Wait, why aren't you attacking me? I'm your enemy, remember? You hate all bots, even Decepticons."
Tigressa chuckled, "I don't kill those whom are not interfering with my plans of conquest. I am not conquering therefor I have no reason to harm you. Besides, the only exception to this rule is if you attack me first. What is your name, Autobot?"
The motorcycle still stared with mixed emotions, "Arcee. My name is…Arcee."
"Arcee, huh? Nice name; sort of has a ring to it. Perfect for a two-wheeler. Tell me, Arcee, why are you still out here, all alone in a random, Metal Head-infested jungle without your fellow mechs? Don't they know you're here?"
"No, my signal was and still is scrambled to them. I'm practically considered deceased!"
"Oh well, guess returning's going to be a huge problem," Tigressa moved backwards, giving the motorcycle enough space to take in the fact she was not going to be an appetizer.
Both stood in silence as the world around them sprung to life with colorful sounds and the beauty of the night. However, Tigressa bent down so her snout skimmed across the wound on the femme's leg before licking the blood off and continuing the same movement three more times. She eventually backed off but Arcee felt her wound's pain grow faint and before her optics, the laceration faded into the metal. It was a scar now and could most likely be covered by a buffer and a coat of paint.
Arcee was shocked. The cruel being that was, who didn't want to harm another unless she was harmed firs, actually helped her! Tigressa had actual morals, though throughout their escapades against her, she rarely used them to get what she desired. It wasn't exactly greed but it also wasn't anything more than just being arrogant in the best possible way. Surprisingly, it worked…mostly. Did Tigressa care? Nope, the only thing that she revealed was that she hated everybody in general, making her arrogance seem like a bad revenge gone wrong.
Whether or not Tigressa understood more emotions, like love, the emotions alone could potentially change her for the better. A selfless, heroic tiger-dragon? Despite the good that may come from such a thing, it didn't match what she was, the traits she would always have in both reality and the shattered version of a parallel Universe; she'd still be Tigressa with a minor twist.
Now looking at things in a different, foreign view, what made a monster? Tigressa was one but, at times, she didn't act as the term "monster" described. A long, lost monster with a spark of darkness, but neither the darkness nor the monster destroyed. The mind controls the monster and the monster controls the darkness of Earth, Cybertron, and Kanjis. If she was who all see her as then a proud monster she was.
Another laugh sounded, waking Arcee from her trance, "It means your Decepticon pursuers are nearby, searching for little, innocent Arcee, the last femme of Cybertron. I can fix that quite easily…if you take my word and trust me. Don't worry, my dear, I don't bite nor do I really bark much anymore. I have no quarrel with you at the moment so you have nothing to fear from me. I promise."
When Tigressa lowered her wing to allow the femme to climb on, Arcee felt the urge to bolt the other way, but that would lead back to Decepticon territory as well as untamed, bloodthirsty Metal Heads probably stalking the Cons right now hungrily. She hesitated but after deep thinking, she accepted the tiger-dragon's offer.
Air surged past them suddenly with a jolt that made Arcee squeeze a cluster of wiring painfully, much to the tiger-dragon's dislike. Nevertheless, they were above the clouds within two minutes of exhausting flapping and altitude change. Arcee gawked at the moon that was lifting itself up to greet the groups of stars. A streak of purple and two rows of thick collections of stars that outlined the dense color was visible carelessly gliding across the sky. The Milky Way Galaxy…or at least its arm.
The wind was calm and just and moved around them like water twists around a rock. The blue femme observed how steadily the wings of Tigressa shifted to accommodate the wind's own movements, keeping balance in her flight. The tail did the same sending her spikes rippling to adjust other minor actions.
"Tigressa, where are you going?"
"Jasper, Nevada. I know where the base is, thank the underground Metal-pedes for that, but I will drop you off nearby since I'm well aware how trigger-happy your friends can be when they see an unwanted guest. Hopefully, you'll keep today's previous event more of an ambush alone and not a good-hearted rescue?"
Arcee gave a small laugh, "I promise."
"I like you, femme," Tigressa smirked back, "Surprisingly, I think we have the beginning of an unusual relationship. For once, I admire such a thing."
The tiger-dragon still lay upon the field, probably asleep by now. Ever since that line of events, both bots had grown quite fond of each other; it was a clever but dangerous sisterly relationship, more complex than anything either had ever done.
Tigressa protected Arcee from the Predacons and the other large Transformers that had made their way to Earth while Arcee covered Tigressa from the disapproving Autobots and naysaying Decepticons that now had a few grudges against the techno-organic linage in general. Occasionally, Optimus partnered Arcee with the larger femme to ensure victory.
The motorcycle hated that, not because she was with Tigressa, but the fact that the Prime believed she wasn't capable on her own anymore and was using the tiger-dragon just for his own side's satisfaction. She held several arguments against Optimus about that. Whoever controlled the mighty, took over the war's favor. Both sides had a monster of their own though both beasts were neutral mainly.
Tigressa and Predaking were the mighty but what would happen if one side won? Predaking would become Megatron's pet and Tigressa? The way things were heading, the colossal femme would probably be disregarded as just a broken tool in a factory. Optimus didn't seem to care for her well-being at all.
Shoving those thoughts aside, Arcee wandered up to the tiger-dragon before climbing up her belly onto her side. She laid back, gazing up at the sky in wonder.
If who we are defines us truly, then who is to say what we are in the first place? Size, race, alliance; none of those made us the people we are now. What we are willing to do, what we have done, forms us in a unique way. Sure there are bad and good in the world, one can't be possible without the other, but not everything is at it seems. A monster, a warrior, a Prime, a God, a person; we are not what we appear to be. Who we are is our choice, we can't see otherwise.
AN: A friend of mine on Tumblr noted how sisterly Tigressa is with my RP partner, autobotarcee (who is also the friend). She described my character with the song "Who We Are" by Imagine Dragons. That inspired this fic.