"There came a cry from the city, because no one had seen Aspen the Ardent for many days. "She is dead!" they cried, "Or else she is hiding from the medic again!" But it was not so, for she had merely shut herself away in her cloister to study the Saga of the Beasts as passed on to her from the Brave Child and the scribes who came before. Thus she would attempt the second chapter, or die trying."-From the Annals of Brother Apollo, Scribe of Eden in the Autumn of the Sighing Spirit.
Sorry, couldn't resist at least one more fake chronicle entry. As mentioned above, I am about to attempt the second chapter! (Drumroll please) Watch and be either amazed or horrified! I hope it's the former...(o_o)
"Miko! Isoide! I have to go to work!" Shirako hollered from downstairs. Miko was pretty sure her hotshot older "brother" did not, in fact, have a job. He did, however, have a really awesome car, and Miko suspected that some of the modifications made to the engine weren't exactly "street legal". Having snooped around Shirako's room the night before, Miko thought it was safe to assume that "work" was code for "racing." Then again, if she'd had a car like that, she'd probably be racing whenever she could. The older boy called up again, sounding impatient. "Yeah, yeah!" Miko shouted back, "Gimme a sec, okay? Can't find my cell phone!" It would be a cold day in the Sahara before she would admit to being lost in her own house. All the furniture that had once been so familiar now sat taunting her, because everything had been rearranged. Following the wall of photos took you to the bathrooms in her world. It took you to a storage closet here, which was rather unfortunate.
"Mikoooooo! Your phone is on the charger down here!" Shirako whined, "C'maaaaaan!" By some miracle (or maybe it was just Shirako's voice) Miko found the right corner and snatched the phone off the charger. It was about two-thirds of the way charged, but that was as good as it was going to get for now. She slipped into the front-passenger seat of Shirako's hot-rod and hoped that her brother wouldn't want to talk. The moment the young man opened his mouth yet again, Miko fully understood the old adage, "hope deferred makes the heart sick". Well, she thought perhaps she might substitute "heart" with "stomach". If she were to find out that she had been anywhere near as annoying as Shirako, she was fully prepared to beg forgiveness after having spent several hours with the elder Nakadai sibling.
On and on and on he prattled about cars and racing and the pretty girl at the last race that he was just sure liked him and oh-don't-you-have-a-test-soon-Miko, and oh-don't-worry-some-guy-will-ask-you-out-someday-M iko and Miko wanted to scream. "Why do you want to go to the park anyway?" Shirako complained. The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm meeting with my friends, Jack and Raf," she sighed. There, that was innocent enough. Surely he couldn't make such a simple thing awkward. "Ohhhhh! Little Sis is a dude magnet, huh? What, can't decide which one you like better?" Never mind. Shirako could make anything awkward. Miko gaped at him wordlessly for several moments, blushing furiously and lost for a response. Finally, she sputtered, "Dude! Raf is, like, twelve! Don't be creepy! And Jack's just a friend!" "Sure Little Sis," Shirako smirked, "Whateeeever you say." Miko huffed impatiently and crossed her arms. "I'm not that much younger than you," she snapped, and prayed she was right.
Shirako appeared to consider this for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess two years isn't that much of a difference," he relented. At last, the car pulled up to the local park. Finally! Miko thought, unbuckling. "Hey, I can pick you up when you're done, if you need it?" Shirako offered. "NO! ...I mean, no, you don't have to do that. You've got work, remember?" Miko smiled sweetly, then all but launched herself out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind her. Jack was waiting at the bike trail with an amused expression. Miko ignored it. "Where's Raf?" the boy asked. Miko shrugged, "I dunno. Hope he gets here soon though, I think I know what's going on around here." The sound of sneakers slapping the pavement heralded the arrival of a huffing, puffing Rafael. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late," he gasped, "Pilar and Juan wanted to come along. I pretty much had to pry them off with a crowbar." Miko patted him on the head in understanding. "Well at least I'm not the only one who got an annoying sibling." Raf shook his head. "No, they're always like that."
He pulled his ever-present laptop from his backpack. "On to business then?" he asked. When neither teen opposed him, he continued. "I did a little research last night, and I found out that Agent Fowler is in the Army Rangers, and he's stationed overseas right now. There haven't been any reports of unknown vehicles or driverless cars in Jasper. No sign of the Autobots anywhere." He looked up when Miko cleared her throat urgently. "I think I know why, guys. Remember when the Groundbridges crossed the streams and we got stuck with ZombieSkyquake?" Jack narrowed his eyes. "Miko, why would we forget running for our lives from a psychotic undead Decepticon?!" "Not my point. I think that we're in another one of those Shadowzone things!" Miko's guess started Rafael thinking. "You mean like, a parallel dimension?" he asked. Miko nodded. "Yeah, that would explain why I was born here...and why I have a supremely annoying older brother." "And why my mom is a vet," Jack added.
Miko's eyes lit up. "You're mom's a vet?! Green Beret or Special Forces?" She was somewhat disappointed when her friend explained that June was a veterinarian, not a veteran. Raf stiffened suddenly as a thought hit him. "The 'Bots were defending a relay station! Maybe an array was damaged and interfered with the Ground Bridge, creating some kind of spatial/temporal abnormality and warping us directly into a parallel dimension!" Jack and Miko exchanged glances. "Raf, I have no idea what you just said, but you've never steered us wrong before," Jack said with a slight grin. Having come to that decision, he took charge of the situation. "Okay, if that's how we got here, we need to focus on how to get back. If we can get back. We might be stuck here for a while." It was hardly an ideal situation. "How are we going to fit in without everyone noticing that something's off about us?" Raf worried. "We'll figure it out along the way," Jack answered evenly, "For now, we stick to Priority One: Keep a low profile." He laughed suddenly. "You could pretend it was Autobot training, if you wanted!"
Miko laughed as well. "We are Autobots, Jack! Just...small ones." She sobered for a moment. "I checked the calendar, and we've got about two weeks left of school. After that's over with, we can completely on finding our way home." "For now, Miko," Jack sighed, "This ishome."
"Jack, do you have to go to work today?" June yelled from the kitchen, where she was feeding the rabbits. The young man had been in the middle of a typhoon of study guides and worksheets preparing for his next exam when the question came. "No, why?"
"I want you to come with me on a house call," June replied. Jack tried not to sigh aloud. "Where to?" he asked. His mother laughed. "Tim asked me to check up on his horses. You remember Mr. Whitefeather, don't you? He did used to tell you stories when you were a little boy." In the kitchen, June leaned back against the counter with a twinkle in her eye as she remembered her son sitting for hours, engrossed in the tales the Paiute man told. In the living room, Jack made a face. He wasn't about to admit that he had absolutely no recollection of any "Mr. Whitefeather", and the idea of someone telling him stories seemed a little unbelievable.
"Mom! I'm not a kid anymore!" Jack settled for what he imagined was a believable response. June poked her head around the corner. "I was being nice, Jack. You're coming anyway. Come on! Mr. Whitefeather specifically asked if you were coming, so get in the car!" Jack ran his fingers through his messy black hair and let out a breath. Leaving his homework for the time being, he shuffled after his mother, muttering, "Where does he live again?" June started the engine and they backed out of the driveway. As it turned out, Tim Whitefeather lived out on the same path that led to Outpost Omega! Jack had memorized the path from the many times he'd driven over it with Arcee, or even Bulkhead or Bumblebee. Left with no convenient escapes, Jack made a solemn vow to himself that he would never take Arcee for granted again. "Honey, you seem distracted. Is everything alright?" June asked softly. She wondered if perhaps pulling him away from studying for the finals had been a bad idea.
Jack managed a weary smile. "I'm alright, Mom. Just a little tired, that's all." June frowned. "Are you sure? You know you can tell me anything, right?" Jack nodded. I'm not so sure "anything" includes, "Hey Mom, I'm not really your son, I'm from a parallel world where I help fight giant evil robots". Yeah, that'll go over well. His thoughts were interrupted by their arrival at the Whitefeather ranch. A broad-shouldered man with his long, graying hair pulled back was waiting for them. Dark, lively eyes danced in a weather-beaten face and Jack guessed that he must be Mr. Whitefeather. "You certainly got here quickly, Mrs. Darby! Ah, and you brought Jack as well1" the man's booming voice washed over the pair as Jack helped his mother remove her equipment from the car, and he couldn't help but wish that maybe he had heard some stories from this man.
June chuckled. "Tim, how many times must I ask you to call me June?" Tim's smile stretched to match hers. "At least once more, Mrs. Darby, as always." Jack shuffled awkwardly and wished he could disappear. At least it couldn't possibly be worse than the one time when his mom had made that comment about Optimus...No brain! Stop! No more nightmares please and thank you! He shook his head to clear it and followed his mother and the rancher to the stables. Mr. Whitefeather motioned to the stalls, which held four horses, a cow and calf, and one sick buffalo. "Here they are, Mrs. Darby—ah, I mean June." The black bay mare shook her mane irritably and pawed the ground. "Easy now," Tim scolded gently, "Don't get snippy with her, that's your doctor! She's just going to look you over, okay girl?" Jack had never seen a horse make a suspicious face before, but he was fairly certain that if it was even possible, it would resemble the look the mare was sending his mother.
"Now then, Jack, why don't we leave these two ladies to their business?" Tim winked and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I've got something to show you, if you don't mind." Jack sighed, but dutifully followed the older man to the wooden porch. The man took a large brown and white feather from the porch railing and handed it to Jack. "There, proof," he said, as if no explanation was needed. "It's...a hawk feather? There are lots of these around here," Jack said, confused. The Paiute man raised his eyes to the heavens and sighed. "He's forgotten everything I taught him!" he playfully complained to some unseen witness. "You of all people should know a falcon feather when you see it, son!" he gently corrected the boy, "See how narrow it is, compared to the length? And you know there are no falcons this size or color in these parts. It's proof that the legends are true!" Jack held the feather up and inspected it. It was beautiful, surely, and very very large, but that's not what stuck in his mind. "Legends?" he repeated, hoping that Mr. Whitefeather wasn't crazy. He seemed pretty nice, after all.
"The Spirits!" Tim whispered, "This feather came from the Great Falcon! He guards the skies while the White Lion watches over the land!" This seemed like proof to Jack that the kindly rancher had perhaps been out in the sun too long. "There aren't any lions in America, Mr. Whitefeather," he argued, trying to sound persuasive. Tim sat down across from him and looked at him sadly. "You really have forgotten, haven't you?" he asked. Jack looked away, unable to face the disappointment in the naturally friendly eyes. "Don't you remember everything I taught you? How the Spirits came when a star fell from the heavens, long ago? When the star split on impact, the Spirits were released, and took the forms of natural animals, but much much bigger. You used to believe that story, Jack. Wasn't until last time you were here you asked for proof, and there it is:" he pointed to the feather again. "The Spirits respect all life, son. When it is threatened, they will appear. I don't know what made them come back now, but something is going on out here and I wanted you to know about it."
Jack felt guilty for disappointing Mr. Whitefeather, but the story just seemed too incredible to be taken without a grain of salt. Still, it couldn't hurt to take Miko and Raf out to the mesas later, just to be sure.
Surprisingly, Miko was the last to arrive. Then again, she had walked the entire way. "Why didn't you just ask your big brother for a lift?" Raf asked innocently. "Because I would rather buff Knockout's finish than sit in the car with Shirako. I would rather face a legion of spiders than sit in the car with Shirako. I would rather be confined to the base for twenty years with Ratchet than spend one minute stuck in the car with Shirako!" Miko looked deadly serious. Jack rolled his eyes. "That bad, huh?" Miko gave him the Death Face, and he thought better of teasing her. "Let's go," he sighed, and the three children set off into the pitch black of a desert night. The stars didn't provide near as much light as they had thought they would, but their path was mostly clear of obstacles. The distant yelps of a rout of coyotes sent Raf huddling closer to the older two. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea at night," he gulped.
There was no argument forthcoming from Miko and Jack, especially as the sounds of the feral canines began to get louder and closer. Suddenly, they grew distant again with a series of frantic yips. Trembling, Raf grabbed hold of Jack and Miko's hands. They squeezed back, equally nervous. A dark cat-like shape against the sky caught Miko's attention, and she silently nudged the boys to alert them. Subtly, Jack positioned himself in front of his friends protectively. His eyes widened as the shape softly padded towards them. "No way!" he breathed. The moon slipped from behind a cloud, illuminating the massive form of a white lion with a golden mane. Its fearsome yellow eyes mellowed into something more familiar for a moment, and the trio nearly fainted with shock when it opened its mouth.
"You have wandered far from your realm, little humans," the rumbling voice said, surprisingly gently, "You are all very lucky that Galvatron did not find you before we did."
