Autobots, Assemble!
One-Shot: How to Train Your Predacon 2!
Predaking was peacefully recharging in his underground, concealed den when he faintly registered something tugging and pulling at his tail with stubborn determination coupled with faint grunts and growls of effort. His tactile net detected the sensation of tiny, sharp fangs digging into his armor, though it wasn't bad enough to cause a mesh breach. His internal chronometer registered as well before sunrise. He emitted a soft groan, flicking his tail away from whoever was tugging at it with finality. He was not a morning mech at all, but the persistent tugger obviously didn't care about the time and was obviously already fully awake judging from the activity and sounds of pattering pedes.
WHH-BONK!
Something whacked into his faceplates with a decent amount of force, and his yellow optics grudgingly opened to investigate the source of the impact, lifting his helm up a few feet off the ground. Standing there glaring at him through her vibrant emerald optics was Phantom's inky black dragon beast form, finned tail swishing in mild annoyance and what looked like aggravation and exasperation as well. Her luminescent white body markings were lit up and pulsing. Her wings were half-way spread out.
"You promised!" she hissed.
Predaking groaned and let his helm drop back to the ground, comically pleading: "Five more cycles?"
Phantom's crest fins pinned back: "No."
"Three more cycles?"
"Nuh-uh."
"One more cycle?"
"Da-ad! You promised you would take me flying!"
She shoved at the petulantly stubborn yet gentle dragon mech in vain. Her Guardian's thick, heavy air intakes made her rolls her optics with an aggravated sigh and stalk towards the entrance to the den with a pert flick of her tail in his direction, slinking outside into the dim pre-dawn light. He'd done this routine a couple of times before and she knew just how to get to him to wake up.
Very near the entrance to the den was a decent sized pool of glowing blue Energon. She leaned forward and lapped some of it up into her maw, careful to only swallow a little bit of it. She'd already drunken her fill a short while ago, and her fuel tanks were still processing it. Getting over-energized was not an experience she wanted to repeat. Once her maw was half-full of the precious fuel she trotted back inside the den where her Guardian slumbered away. Slinking forward with utmost care and caution, she approached within arm's reach of the oblivious dragon mech. Her emerald optics glittered in mischievous delight.
There was a sound like a hose unleashing a torrent of water as she spat almost all of the Energon held in her mouth in a concentrated spurt. In a flash Predaking jolted awake, his upper body dripping with the glowing fuel and yellow optics wide open if perhaps a little on the dazed side. She could almost hear his internal systems revving back into full gear.
"Wha...? Alright, alright! I'm up! I'm up!" he told her, shaking his helm to remove some of the glowing fuel drops clinging to his armor. His field flared in a silent demand for her to hold her fire. She didn't need to shoot him again.
Satisfied, Phantom sat back on her haunches to wait while her Guardian slowly reactivated and settled his systems back into their usual rhythm from the jump start she had performed. His amber wings flared out and flapped and he gave a cavernous yawn, stretching his sleep-weary limbs and body like a massive winged lion. Personally she was proud of herself was figuring out this surefire way of forcing him back into the waking world all her own. It worked like a charm every time without fail. It was also hilarious to watch him react in the entertaining way he did – he acted like he was getting electrocuted and not splashed in the faceplates with harmless Energon. One would think he would have figured out her pattern by now, but apparently he had yet to catch on to it, which honestly made it even funnier.
"Now, where did you want to practice again?"
Phantom bounced around him happily for a short while before replying: "Iacon! Iacon! I wanna see Optimus! An' Smokescreen! An' Bumblebee! An' Knockout! An' –"
Predaking chuckled, catching her mid-bounce and lifting her gently on his back. "Alright, settle down. I get the picture. I'm not even sure if any of them are up and about yet, but we'll see. Maybe one of them got unlucky – erm, lucky, I meant lucky – and was put on an early watch shift or whatever it is they've taken to calling it."
Phantom giggled at his accidental verbal slip up. She knew he had done it on purpose to make her laugh. It may have sounded somewhat like a silly insult but it wasn't intended as one. Her Guardian had a rather unusual sense of humor that she had learned to love. It made him unique. Upon reaching the entrance of the den, Predaking spread his wings and unleashed a thunderous roar as he took to the skies, his little black dragon charge gripping onto his dorsal armor with her claws, wind rushing past her. When he attained soaring altitude he banked hard to starboard and headed towards the already slowly reforming city of Iacon on the horizon.
Little did he suspect that he had company tailing him from far below. Of the friendly variety, of course.
Sounds of metallic hoof beats and wings beats wafted up towards Predaking, but these bestial noises were drowned out on the roaring wind rushing past his audials. Their scents never reached him either as the air currents' directions didn't permit it.
He soared high above the ground, Phantom shrieking in delight as they steadily drew away from the den and slowly approached the outskirts of Iacon, unheeding of his followers as the sun slowly rose over the horizon, bathing the world in soft golden light.
Far beneath Predaking and his charge ran a beige stallion in the yearling stage. Beside him a metal Griffin bounded along, seemingly having slight trouble keeping up with the other beast-former, panting as he tried to keep pace with him.
Skylynx was not really built for running. Spirit on the other hand was built for running. His long legs allowed for greater, longer strides and faster speed build up, and his streamlined shaped allowed wind to flow over him with ease. Even his metallic mane crest could flatten down for better aerodynamics.
"Spirit, slow down!" Skylynx squawked breathlessly. He was just as excited about watching Phantom learn to fly, but Primus – he was being left in the dust by a sparkling! This was insane! It was like Spirit was half cheetah or something!
Spirit merely whinnied playfully and sped up, surging towards a small canyon-like gap in the ground with the intent of jumping over it. With graceful ease he leapt over the crevice, landing in a thundering of metallic hooves and not even slowing his pace as he kept up with the dragon's faint shadow, and then promptly outpaced that selfsame shadow with a smug look upwards.
Skylynx eventually decided to take flight in order to better keep up with him, even if it didn't help by very much. Spirit was just too fast. But honestly he wasn't complaining, just taking note in a humorously annoyed fashion. Spirit was his special charge and he wouldn't change him in any way. He kept him busy and occupied in a fun-filled, constantly excited way. Ever since the little equine had shown up in his life there hadn't been a single boring day afterwards. To say he was thankful for it would be putting it mildly, because boredom was a Predacon's worst nightmare.
He drew back, letting Spirit surge ahead in a pale golden blur while he followed along at a more leisurely pace. Predaking apparently took notice of the sparkling and roared down at him. Spirit neighed back, bucking wildly – showing off to the observing Phantom.
The relationship between these two was not romantic in the least – it was closer to a tight friendship that revolved around harmless, amiable competitiveness. Their start had been a bit rocky thanks to Spirit's rowdiness, but Phantom had been quick to befriend him despite that. In fact, all of the sparklings cared for by the three Predacons had developed close bonds to one another. Their Guardians had happily nurtured such bonds, encouraging them to befriend others rather than avoid them. They had even befriended many of the sparklings cared for by the Autobots, Femmebots, and Dinobots.
Giving Grimlock and his Dinobots sparklings had been a brilliant move on Cybertron's part. It helped them soften up a bit, become less violently inclined and increase their patience threshold. They still rough housed with the sturdy younglings and with the sparkling beast-formers, but they had never once accidentally harmed one.
Skylynx squawked in alarm when something bright white shot past him and spiraled upwards into the air, unfurling elegant wings from an avian form and emitting a beautiful keen. Then it banked around, diving down to zip over the Griffin's helm, its gold talons just brushing the very top of his crest. With another spark-stirring keen it drew upwards again, flying about thirty feet above him. His alarm quickly shifted to amusement when he realized who this was – Cybertron itself, up and about and keeping a fatherly eye on his creations in the form of a luminescent white eagle. It was a bit melodramatic but it strangely fit.
"Show off!" a voice teased from behind.
He glanced back to see Darksteel soaring low over the ground with Darter riding on his back in the same manner Phantom was riding atop Predaking far above.
"Mind if I join you?" Darksteel asked.
"Nah. Me and Spirit are just tailing the boss to see where he's gonna go." Skylynx replied affably, looking up at the dragon flying overhead. Predaking himself didn't appear to mind that he was being followed by his two allies and their sparklings. He acted almost like he'd been expecting them to do this. And the glowing white eagle sandwiched between the dragon and Skylynx had yet to vanish. Primus seemed just as intrigued to observe the younglings learn to fly, and no doubt he would happily render assistance should the need for it arise, or if he was asked nicely.
Thought his presence begged the question: Where the heck was Onyx?
Their answer came right away:
'Down near the core in recharge. Unfortunately his long time there connected him to me, synchronizing his energy with mine. If he stays away for too long he will start to weaken physically. His spark will also weaken in due course. He will be back out soon enough – just as soon as he regains he strength. Until then I act as his optics and audials.'
"Aw. That sucks." Darksteel sympathized rather coarsely.
'In a sense I suppose it is for the best. If nothing else he is able to assist me in my task with his Mask. And it is not like this condition will kill him. It is non-lethal – merely a somewhat negatively neutral side-effect. And if he gets bored with just my presence Micronus will come down and keep him company during his stay. Optimus will occasionally do so as well alongside Elita-One, though due to their present preoccupations their visits are less frequent.'
"Oh. Well, when you put it that way it doesn't sound so bad..." Skylynx admitted.
And honestly it really didn't. It sounded a lot like a mere annoyance to Onyx Prime, but he put up with the condition with true Predacon tenacity and resolve and stubbornness. It was just something that he had to deal with due to his long-term confinement deep down within the bowels of the planet – the result of his being near-fatally wounded during the original battle against Unicron. His life had been saved by the Creator, but it did come with a small price in the end. Luckily, Onyx didn't appear to mind it too much. He viewed it as more of an obligational nuisance or something along those lines. It was less a "problem" and more an obnoxious little thorn in his side that was permanently stuck there, but it wasn't exactly dangerous – just bothersome.
All four adults and the three sparklings continued onwards towards Iacon, Spirit still outpacing the entire group with effortlessness.
Spirit galloped into the empty city full gallop, relishing his fantastic and easily maintained speed. Well, at first it seemed empty. But as he barreled down the main, heavily battered thoroughfare that ran East-to-West through the city he nearly collided with a massive metallic Tyrannosaur plodding his way around in an early morning daze. Its red optics looked rather bleary in appearance and frankly a little ticked off.
It seemed that Predaking wasn't the only mech who hated mornings with a passion. Poor scraplet had been put on morning watch duty, and he was not likin' it one bit.
Spirit whinnied in alarm to alert Grimlock of his presence. Grimlock turned to investigate the noise in his slow and somewhat cumbersome way with an intrigued "Hnn?" Then the Tyrannosaur emitted a startled noise when he spotted the sparkling stallion racing towards him like a beige bullet.
*Move it, Grimlock!* Spirit shouted over short-band radio.
He began to do so, but thanks to Grimlock's early morning mental daze he didn't move fast enough. His massive size didn't exactly permit for fast movements, either.
Snorting in determination Spirit sped up, metallic hooves thundering in an increasingly rapid rhythm. His fiery blue optics narrowed in deep focus. Panels on his sides began to shift around, but he hardly took any notice of this. His attention was riveted ahead of him.
If the Dinobot wouldn't move aside...then he would simply go over him.
Just before he reached him he shouted once more over short band radio: *DUCK!*
Grimlock happily did so. He watched in amazement as the little equine Predacon jumped up gracefully while a pair of metallic bird wings unfurled from concealment on his sides. One strong albeit amateurish flap of the beige wings and he was sailing clear over the Dinobot's helm. Spirit hit ground once more in a loud banging of metal against metal and then just kept on running, whinnying in delight at his success, his wings folding back up and stowing away inside the panels on his sides. He hardly even slowed down.
The burly leader of the Dinobots officially liked this kid. He was a daredevil with a speed addiction – an adrenaline junkie. The Dinobot then observed Skylynx shoot by, followed by Darksteel with Darter riding on his back, and trailing just on the Griffin's tail was a brilliant white mechanical eagle with gold optics and talons, its body covered in pulsing baby blue glyphs. Far above was the draconic form of Predaking himself. He took a random guess that the adult Predacons were undoubtedly taking their respective flight-capable charges to learn to fly for the first time, because why else would the notorious morning-hater known as Predaking be up this slagging early?
With a shake of his helm he plodded off to find a good place to crash for the next hour or so. His systems were refusing to come completely back online out of their power down states, and frankly he wasn't about to argue with them. It was too early for this scrap.
Predaking spiraled upwards around the Hall of Records. He finally reached the roof of the massive building and landed, letting his charge off but warning her to use her talons to keep a grip on the smooth metal beneath her. Phantom gladly did so, digging her tiny, needle-sharp claws into the roof of the Hall while trying her best not to completely freak out at how high up she was.
At this height the winds were incredibly strong, and a tumble from here could prove lethal to a mech or femme not able to fly. Or in this case – one who didn't know yet how to fly.
Darksteel and Darter soon joined them atop the building. Their white eagle friend landed on one of the spires that protruded from the outer rim of the roof, completely at ease amidst the strong winds. Far below, Spirit whinnied up at them encouragingly, rearing back and kicking his front hooves. Skylynx stood at his side, gazing up at them.
*Awesome! Spirit! Look how high I am! Woo-hoo!* Phantom shrieked in delight down at her friend over her comm. link. Her voice could barely be discerned over the howling winds.
Spirit laughed good-naturedly: *So jealous! My hooves could never hold onto a domed roof! I'd slide right off! These things don't exactly offer much grip, you know! That view you got up there must be amazing!*
Phantom erupted into hysterical giggling, but just so Spirit didn't feel left out she vividly described the awe-inspiring view from atop the Hall of Records. She could see for kliks on end virtually uninterrupted. Spirit himself looked like a slagging atom at this height! She could barely see him!
Darter hopped over to the very edge of the roof and peered down curiously at the minuscule beige stallion far below, keening at him. Her little talons gripped the lip of the roof firmly.
"Darter, careful." Darksteel warned her. She was a little too close to the edge for his liking, but she was being her usual cautious self, and their white metal eagle friend looked ready to act on a moment's notice if she took an accidental tumble.
"Alright." rumbled Predaking. "Let's begin."
Phantom whooped and bounded over to him eagerly, tail a-swish. Darter dutifully hopped back over to Darksteel. Far below, Spirit whinnied more encouragements to the two femmes while Skylynx squawked up at them. Of course, she didn't stay there for very long. The little dragon femme wasn't exactly patient by nature. Predaking had barely finished basic instructions when she turned tail and surged towards the edge of the roof, emerald optics alight in determination and glee. Before anyone could think to react she had reached the edge.
And just like that, she leapt off whilst giving an excited squeal of "Geronimo, glitches!"
Predaking and Darksteel both cried out: "PHANTOM!"
Predaking surged forward in a blind haste, unfurling his amber wings as panic gripped his spark. But to his stupefaction a large white wing blocked his path quite effectively. He jerked his helm up to stare at the deity in shock, confusion dancing in his yellow optics, an outraged snarl beginning to bubble in his vocalizer.
Two golden optics gazed back at him evenly with a slight hint of amused intrigue. 'Wait a moment. Let's see what she does. Sometimes the only way for a young flier to learn is through action. Words can only teach one so much. And remember – Skylynx is below. He will intervene if something goes awry.'
Thus encouraged (though not exactly calmed by any means) the dragon mech observed her plummet towards the ground below, her black wings tucked against her sides as she dove straight down at ninety degrees – a perfect nosedive. At about three hundred feet from the ground her wings flared out with a leathery sounding snap, halting her decent in a flash, and soon she began to glide.
'See? You worry too much.'
Predaking gusted a sigh of relief out of his maw and his neck vents. Then he flapped his own massive wings and dove down to join her. He could sense her excitement and mild fright through the bond he shared with her, and was quick to reassure her and join in her emotional revelry. He had known how to fly as soon as he had emerged from Shockwave's cloning vat, but that didn't mean he was incapable of being thrilled.
"This is amazing!" she shrieked in delight. However, she gave a little yelp when a strong westerly wind made her wobble dangerously.
"Focus, Phantom." Predaking growled, tone lightly commanding. "Keep your forelegs up; it will reduce drag and prevent buffeting from sudden gusts. Unfold your tail fins, as well – to help with steering, unless you want to crash helmfirst into a building, that is."
His charge obeyed in an instant, tucking her forelegs up close against her belly and releasing her delicate tail fin spanners. He nodded approval. Phantom was an incredibly fast learner, if a bit on the impatient side. But he honestly couldn't blame her for her impatience – it was a trait she shared with him.
Something shot past both of them in a purplish-blur streak, making Phantom emit a shriek of alarm and Predaking grunt in reproval at whoever had nearly cannoned into the both of them. However, she quickly unleashed a happy little roar on seeing who it was. Predaking himself gave a low growl of greeting to the purple and blue drone plane. He was surprised that the Communications Chief was up this early, but doubtless he had intercepted someone's communication regarding their arrival into the city limits and had decided to drop in to check on things.
*Soundwave! Look at me! Look at me! I'm flying!*
In reply, Soundwave played a little trumpet fanfare at her to congratulate her success. This altered and evolved into an orchestral piece that neither recognized, but it was adventurous and fun and lively, fitting with the entertaining flight lesson perfectly. Both Predacons found themselves slightly bobbing to the lively tune. This mech decidedly knew how to choose a song to fit the moment. Quite a talent.
"Now, follow what I do." Predaking growled lightly.
With those words, he tucked his wings in closer to his frame and gracefully dove downwards. Phantom's faceplates scrunched in determination as she endeavored to mimic his movements precisely, emerald optics narrowed to slits in deep concentration. The wind rushed past her body faster and faster as she dove downwards in pursuit of her Guardian. It felt sort of like free-falling, and slag was the sensation exhilarating. Fright and excitement burned through her spark, but a pulse from her Guardian helped dispel that fear. Soon the two dragon-formers were gliding together, Predaking soaring beneath his charge and growling instructions and critiques up to her every so often. Most of the time, however, he simply nodded in silent approval.
There was a high-pitched avian keen and then the eagle form of Darter flew past them overhead, Darksteel at her side and clicking his beak encouragingly at her. She seemed far more nervous than the boisterous Phantom, but she also appeared far more focused and eager to listen to instructions and also strangely calmer. How it was possible to be nervous yet calm confused Predaking. It was a bit of a paradox, but he endeavored to push the paradoxical situation into the back of his mind.
Below the four fliers, Spirit and Skylynx chased after them in avid interest, the sparkling equine once again outpacing his Guardian with skillful ease. Their white eagle friend had seemingly vanished, obviously deciding his presence wasn't required any longer. He had simply been there to observe and encourage, and now he had gone off to do whatever it was he did to help keep Cybertron's heart pumping and life and precious energy flowing to the emerging and returning inhabitants. Undoubtedly he was also going to inspect the slumbering Onyx as well, to see if he had re-synced to the planet's core and was strong enough to roam free in the skies once more.
Soundwave then bade them all farewell with a finishing note before banking around and flying off towards the Nemesis, perpetually docked at the edge of Well.
Such hands-on flight lessons continued on with no less eagerness and excitement on the sparklings parts as the golden light of Cybertron's host star steadily climbed its way into the pale, pre-dawn sky. Returning to the general vicinity of the Hall of Records revealed about half a dozen recently arrived refugees milling about on the steps and entryway of the massive building, two with vehicle-forming charges of their own. On spotting the posse of beasts approaching from ground and air, one of the sparklings let out a startled sound and ducked behind his Guardian.
The three adult Predacons were fairly knowledgeable about the refugees and could identify that these were obviously newcomers, most likely arriving some time late last night with a small group of Nova Corps ships. None of the six Cybertronians awoke any chords of recognition. Two were Seekers – one a mech, the other a femme. The other four were land-based vehicle-formers of varying coloration and builds. These remaining four appeared to be sharing Guardianship of a young Seekerlet – odd in itself since none of the four were capable of flying. Instinct said this little Seeker might be a somewhat recent War orphan being cared for by friends, and friends of those friends.
News of the disbanding of the Decepticon faction still had yet to spread to certain quadrants of the galaxy, so there was still certain degrees of animosity and fighting between Autobots and Decepticons on the outskirts and fringes. However, due to her stage of development, she didn't seem to fit into this category. In all probability she had been orphaned before the end of the War, when it had still been raging.
Skylynx opened a short band radio channel to the newcomers as they approached, offering an affable if slightly coarse greeting in an effort to help calm the two uneasy sparklings and their Guardians. Spirit, Phantom, and Darter all called out to them in a trio of squeaking roars, avian keens, and delighted whinnies, further serving to ease the group. They understood now that the Predacons were friendly and merely curious about them.
*Um, how exactly do we hover?* Darter wondered over short band to the group of beasts. The little eagle-former's silver optics showed confusion mingled with anxiety as they circled above the group of vehicle-formers below them.
*Better question: How the scrap do we land?* Phantom corrected her. He signature confidence wavered a bit, uncertainty beginning to cloud to her normally vibrant emerald optics.
They both had seen Predaking and his two brothers land many, many times, but they made it look so slagging easy! And Phantom herself had no desire to humiliate herself in front of a bunch of newcomers or their sparklings, having a certain pride in her abilities and heritage similar to her Guardian's own. She wanted to befriend the two vehicle-former sparklings badly, but she didn't want to make herself look like a bumbling idiot in front of them.
"Observe what I do first, then try to copy." Predaking growled aloud in his native language. "Firstly, this is how you hover."
He slowed his speed until he was effectively motionless mid air, pumping his wings in a certain figure-eight like pattern that both pushed against the winds downwards and the wind coming from around him. His long tail acted as a steadying mechanism, ensuring he didn't wobble too greatly. While he still wobbled a bit since he wasn't a natural hoverer like certain Earth avians were, it wasn't all that noticeable. Darksteel soon mimicked the maneuvers, and his wobbling was even less so.
"Use your wings to push against the wind. Do not try to push against a wind current that is not there – only push against viable, present currents. Otherwise you will have nothing to counteract your motions and keep you steady." explained Predaking to the two younglings.
"Basically he's sayin' if you got no current it's gonna be scrapping hard to hover!" Skylynx squawked up to them. "No current means you gotta work harder to stay in one place up there!"
Darter and Phantom both bobbed their helm in understanding. Not for the first time were they thankful for Skylynx's simplified terms of speech. Predaking had a surprisingly large and sometimes fancy vocabulary for someone as mentally young as he technically was. He wasn't quite a sparkling himself, as he was fully grown in size, but he was still incredibly young in terms of his mind. There were some points, such as now, that that was hardly noticeable. He spoke very much like an adult would.
Phantom tried first, slowing her flight speed and determining which way the wind was blowing via the manner sensors built into her wings and body. Upon confirming it was coming from the southwest, she compensated for it and began to pump her wings in the same manner the two adults were doing. While a bit unsure and unsteady at first, soon her wing movements became a little more fluid and graceful. Darter went next with almost identical results. She had a slightly harder time due to her tail being much shorter and more fan-like compared to Phantom's own long, finned tail, but she still managed to copy their movements with almost pinpoint precision. She gave a happy keen at her success, and Darksteel merrily laughed his congratulations to her.
Predaking nodded approval. "Good. Now, all you need to do to land is lower down to the ground. That's all there is to it."
Both younglings chirped acceptance at him and began to slowly lower themselves to the ground while the three adult beast-formers observed in interest. The group of eight refugees watched as well, the two Seekers ready to pounce should one make an error and require a rescue. The little mechling who had previously been nervous now had his pale orange optics locked onto the two budding fliers, while the Seekerlet appeared fascinated to see the beasts flying without the aid of an engine, relying solely on body strength.
Each youngling beast touched ground a bit unsteadily, but otherwise successfully, Spirit bounding over to them and bucking wildly while whinnying his congratulations to the two femmes. And just like that they switched out of beast form and bounded over with him to introduce themselves to the other two sparklings while the adults began a conversation amongst themselves on other matters, such as where they had come from and how their respective charges and they were faring since the end of the War.
"Hiya! I'm Phantom, that's Darter, and that's Spirit. Who're you guys?"
The burnt orange and amber mechling with the marigold optics shied back a little ways, but eventually his nervousness was drowned out by his growing curiosity. He introduced himself rather uncertainly in a soft voice:
"I'm Sunflare. Hi."
His pale violet and indigo Seekerlet friend was less reserved and more outgoing in character, grinning broadly and waving at them, her rich eminence purple optics alight with glee and friendliness: "Heya! I'm Duskwind! I've never gotten to see Predacons before. You guys look cool! Nice to meet you! Great hovering and landing by the way! You guys were awesome!"
Phantom and Spirit took immediate liking to this femme Seekerlet, as she was just as boisterous and lively and outgoing as they were. They struck up energetic conversation with her in a flash, talking of flying and games, commenting on their differing flight styles in a young child manner that was filled with immense joy and excitement. Darter on the other hand took a personal liking to the shyer, more reserved mechling Sunflare for a corresponding reason. Their conversation was more toned down but no less enjoyed by the two, Sunflare himself being fascinated by her avian mode and flight in general, Darter herself very explanatory and patient.
The adults took notice of this willing, eager friendship between the youths and smiled. It was wonderful to see the two different types of Cybertronians getting along so well with one another. The innocent acceptance of the young – it was spark lifting. If only the adults involved in the War had that sort of acceptance, perhaps this terrible conflict could have ended much sooner with less spilled Energon and loss of life. Sparklings trusted and loved by nature. Why couldn't adults be the same? Was it just because they knew thanks to experience that such blind trust was naïve? Or was it because they knew they could never trust in the same the way the young did?
"Hey! You guys met Optimus and the others yet?" wondered Spirit.
Duskwind and Sunflare both nodded their helms in reply, saying they had met the Prime when they had first arrived. They had really liked him – he was so nice and sweet and amazing, not to mention great with sparklings. They had also met the funny red mech Knockout so he could give them a diagnostic check-up. He had told them two or three fantastical stories of what he called superheroes while he had looked them over, launching into vivid details of some of the funniest moments he'd had with some of them. One of them, named Hawkeye, had even had the brass bearings to cover him in graffiti one time! Oh the horror!
Darter giggled. She remembered when Knockout had regaled that particular story to them a while ago. All three of them had nearly blown a hose from laughing so much. Hawkeye was definitely someone Phantom and Spirit would love to meet, and they'd said so on multiple occasions. But with him being a busy member of the famous Avengers, calls between the team and their alien allies weren't exactly day-to-day. Most calls were simply to update the Prime about two old friends of his who were off-world at the moment.
"So you haven't met anyone else yet, huh?" Phantom determined. "Well then what're we waiting for? Let's go see if they're up! C'mon guys! You two so gotta meet Smoke and 'Bee. They're hilarious! And awesome!"
With that the black dragon femme transformed and bounded up the steps into the Hall of Records, her two new friends and her two old ones dashing behind her. The adults watched them leave with fond, indulgent smiles. Ah, youth.
The interior of the Hall of Records was utterly gargantuan in scale, and its walls and ceilings gleamed differing shades of bronzes and coppers and silvers. More artistically or poetically minded Cybertronians would appreciate the Golden Age grandeur of the massive archival building, but the five energetic sparklings heeded it not. They were more focused on finding two other members of "Team Prime" as they had been called and introducing Duskwind and Sunflare to them – Smokescreen and Bumblebee to be exact, but if they ran into anyone else along the way they would meet and greet them as well.
Phantom bounded ahead of the group, relying on her keen sense of smell to track the familiar scents of the two young mechs. Finding them wasn't difficult at all for her. She found them on one of the upper levels of the Hall, one sorting through surviving documents almost as a reversion to old habit while the other stood leaning against the artistically sculpted railings, optics scanning the floors above and below. She, Spirit, and Darter let out little sounds of greeting as they surged towards them. From the looks of happiness on the mechs' faceplates and from the glyphs for joy and life dancing through their fields it was plain they were glad to see them.
"Ha! What're you bunch of trouble-makers doing up so early? And who're your friends here?" Bumblebee grinned, eyeing first the three beast-formers and then their new friends.
Smokescreen grinned as well, realizing something: "Hey! You two must be those new arrivals! The one's Soundwave told us about last night! Remember 'Bee? He said there were two kids with that group! He didn't even bother to mention names to us!" He raised one hand to his left audial, pretending to open a comm. link to the faceless mech. "Soundy, you're getting lazy buddy! What kinda Communications Chief are you if don't give us names? That's not very polite!"
Duskwind erupted into hysterical giggling while Sunflare merely smiled. Phantom hadn't been kidding. These two really were funny.
They introduced themselves, feeling more than a little awe-struck to be in the presences of heroes of the War. Friendly and laid-back they definitely acted, they were effectively famous alongside the other members of their old squadron. It was thanks to their combined efforts that the War had finally been brought to an end. It was thanks to them that both sparklings had a revived homeworld to return to after all this time.
"So? What are you guys doing up so early?" Bumblebee repeated inquisitively.
Phantom happily bounced around him before leaping onto his back and clinging there determinedly, announcing: "Me and Darter went flying!"
"Get out! You did?!" Smokescreen gasped. "How'd you do? Was it scary?"
"Nuh-uh! It was super fun!"
All three beast-formers launched into wild accounts of their First Flight, Duskwind and Sunflare providing coinciding if rather different-toned backing testimony, the former's being loud and jubilant while the latter's was calm and educational sounding. The Seekerlet even provided an account of her own recent First Flight on the colony world of Neutrals she had been staying on. She had apparently learned to fly almost just before leaving the colony world.
"Well, then congrats to you too, Duskwind!" Bumblebee applauded. The Seekerlet in turn smiled broadly at him, looking quite proud of herself – an expression that mimicked the confident Phantom's own. Even the quiet Darter looked pleased with herself, while Spirit gazed proudly on his two femme friends just like an older brother would look on his sisters.
Unseen far above on a higher level, a great red and blue form observed the gathering of younglings interact and converse with a fond, fatherly smile. "Hope for the future" sparklings were poetically deemed by the Prime, as that was truly what they were. He continued to watch them from above, silent as a bodiless guardian spark, his smile only growing and warming further as the minutes ticked by. All of the youths acted as though they had known each other for their whole lives, laughing and giggling and teasing one another in the same manner of siblings.
Hope for the future indeed.
Author's Note: Tah-dah! Part Two of HTTYP! And it's longer than the first! :D As a side note, I will be a teensy bit behind in uploads thanks to having my wisdom teeth pulled recently and now recovering. The painkillers they gave me make me really drowsy, so hopefully this one-shot keeps you bunch busy for a bit until I can get another true chapter out!