Back again! I figured I may as well add the next chapter, just to speed things along.
I realized I forgot to explain the time thing here, so: this obviously takes place sometime after the Great War. G1 Prime has died already, the war is over, and everyone is getting or has gotten their lives back on track. G1 Prowl has adopted Animated Prowl (still a sparkling/youngling), Ratchet is now just a regualar doctor trying to get past the war.
Two
The next day, the law enforcer and his charge began their journey to a semi-remote area of Cybertron, a few mega-cycles away. Little Prowl sat quietly inside his godfather's vehicle mode and barely moved. He was giving off distress signals that Prowl could feel, so he said,
"Let's talk, little Prowl. What's wrong?"
"I don't want you to die," the youngling said instantly. Prowl Senior sighed and said,
"Little one, I'm sorry. I don't like it any more than you do, but it is going to happen one day. Even Optimus Prime had to go off-line, remember? It's natural, and supposed to happen."
"But not now!" cried the youngling, "notnownotnownotnow!" He kicked his godfather's side.
"OW! Hey, mister, that's not acceptable. Don't do it again." And of course, little Prowl slammed his foot into the side again. Prowl senior transformed and grabbed the little youngling in his hand before crushing him. Holding him up by his scruff bar and staring with an annoyed expression on his face, he said,
"What did I just say, Prowl?"
"'Don't do it again'," answered the little one meekly.
"And what did you do?"
"I did it again."
"Would you like to tell me why you kicked me twice?" Little Prowl gave his godfather the biggest, most innocent eyes he could before he answered,
"'Cause I don't want you to die." The officer dimmed his optics and shook his head.
"Listen, Prowl. I'm not going to go offline for a little while, alright? However, no one can ever really tell when it's going to happen. What we're doing for the next couple of cycles is find a place that can take care of you and help you grow up to be a good Autobot. I want you to be safe."
"But do I have to stay there now? Are you going to leave me there forever?"
"Of course not, Prowl. We'll go check it out, talk to Master Wildburner and come home, together. I promise I'll tell you everything that happens. Even the things that might seem a little too grown-up for you."
"Like paperwork," said little Prowl, "you always do boring paperwork. Only grown-ups do boring paperwork."
"Exactly," laughed Prowl Senior, "just like my boring paperwork. Now, promise me you'll be good on our journey?"
"Okay," answered the youngling, still slightly upset about the whole thing, "I promise. Can we sing on the way?"
"Yes. Not too loud though, you know how much it hurts my audios."
"Jazz played a lot of loud music for me when he was babysitting me. He said it was from Earth. What's earth?"
Prowl Senior transformed back into vehicle mode and let his little charge climb back in before answering,
"Well, back in the day, when I fought in the war with the Decepticons—"
"Plllllbb," little Prowl added, sticking his glossa out.
"—I worked with Optimus Prime, the greatest leader the Autobots have ever seen. We were being attacked by the Decepticons and we crash landed on a planet very far away from Cybertron. We were offline for about four million years, and when we woke up, we learned that Earth was only just beginning to evolve into a more technological era. They had only discovered ways to play pre-recorded music using tapes and even something very primitive called the record player. Don't ask me what that is, it's ancient history."
"Were there people on Earth, PoPo?"
"Little squishy things called humans. They were irritating, and I didn't really like them, but Jazz did, and so did Bumblebee."
"I love Bumblebee," said little Prowl excitedly, "maybe I should stay with him."
"No, little one, he already has a very big family. He would never get a chance to play with you."
"Oh," said the little one, saddened by this news. He had known all the heroes of Cybertron, and his PoPo, Jazz and Bumblebee were his favorites.
"Can I stay with Jazz?"
"Jazz is too busy, Prowl. You know that."
"I know. I just don't want to be with strangers."
"I know, my boy."
"So," said the youngling, "how long ago were you on Earth?"
"Oh, Primus, that was a few hundred mega-cycles ago. You weren't created yet. All the humans we were friends with are dead now, sadly. Humans only live for about eighty mega-cycles, or sometimes more. And sometimes, even less."
"That's sad," whimpered the little 'bot, "I'm glad we're not humans."
"Me too. Let's sing a song now, yes?"
"…No. I'm too sad to sing."
'Oh, Primus,' thought Prowl Senior, alarmed, 'he's easily depressed. He's just a youngling for crying out loud.'
"Prowl, let's just keep talking, okay? You know it worries me when you get sad."
"I know," said the youngling, "I don't like it either. Will you tell me a story?"
"Yes."
The journey continued, with Prowl Senior telling old Cybertronian stories and lullabies to his godson, who eventually fell asleep listening. When he heard the soft whirring of the child's systems going into recharge, Prowl senior stopped talking and continued to move on.
It had been so heart-breaking after Bluestreak's death. His only son, the little one he had named after the law officer, had been so small and helpless, and so very alone. Bluestreak had no significant other to care for the child, and so the responsibility had fallen to Prowl Senior, who, somewhat reluctantly, took the child in and soon became attached to him.
Little Prowl had also fallen in love with his godfather, never wanting to leave his side and always wanting his full attention. He was one of the cutest Cybertronians Prowl Senior had ever met, and so spent as much of his energy as he could on simply being there for and protecting his little godson.
Except now, he had to face the inevitable: he was going to die soon himself, and little Prowl needed to be given a new home before it happened. No child ever deserved to be abandoned or uncared for, and the law enforcer knew damn well he wasn't going to be responsible for any form of neglect. He loved the little one far too much to ever let anything awful happen to him.
Solar-cycles passed. The journey was almost over, just a few breems left before they reached the small Cybertronian village of Su. Prowl didn't know much of the practice, but judging by the village's name, he assumed it had originated here.
"Youngling," he called softly, "wake up. We're here." Little Prowl, who had spent much of his time recharging, opened his optics and rubbed the sleep out of them. He stood up groggily and looked out of Prowl Senior's window.
"It's really tiny," he said, "where did the city go?"
"We left the city, Prowl. This is the village of Su, where we will meet Master Wildburner."
"Oh." He yawned sleepily, then said, "Who's that?"
"Master Wildburner?" said Prowl Senior, finding himself quite surprised, "I told you, he's the mech we're going to see. Maybe he'll let you live here with all the other little Autobots."
"…What? No! I wanna stay with you!" Oh boy, not this again. Prowl decided the best course of action this time was to ignore the little one's pleas and cries and just search for this Master Wildburner. Prowl plucked the upset youngling out of his seat and transformed, holding him in his arms as the youngling screamed and cried and latched tightly to his elder's arm.
His cries drew people put of their homes, coming close to Prowl to see the tiny thing in his arms. Each Cybertronian Prowl senior glanced at was in the most amazing shape he'd ever seen; even the very old looked like they could destroy him with a single kick. Everyone here, he realized, practiced the art of Circuit-Su. He looked around uneasily and tried to shush the distressed youngling, but it only created more problems. Luckily for Prowl, however, the residents of Su seemed to have no problem with it.
"Aw!" said one of the femmes, clutching her spark-mate's arm, 'he's so precious!" An older couple smiled and said to Prowl,
"What a darling little youngling you have there, dearie. He's so cute!" Prowl Senior was shocked—he'd expected everyone to be annoyed with the screaming child, but they seemed more thrilled by him. Finally, after a few breems of people surrounding the child and his godfather, the crowd broke away and only a small handful remained. One of the mechs looked at Prowl, then said,
"Come. I suppose you are looking for Master Wildburner? We will take you to him." Prowl nodded and said,
"Thanks, fellas. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do after that."
"Oh," laughed the mech, "that. No, don't be alarmed. The residents of Su love children. The practice of Circuit-Su teaches the beauty of logic and all things natural. Normally, in the city areas, a crying child is considered a nuisance and a burden. Here, we understand that it is only natural and logical that a child would behave as such, and so, we find beauty in it. Your child is not afraid of anything."
"He's afraid of me dying," Prowl said sadly, "he's very clingy, unfortunately. He relies on others too much for support."
"We can change that. There is nothing wrong with needing someone; however, relying on oneself is crucial. If you cannot rely on yourself, then who can you rely on?" Prowl pondered this, then said,
"You're absolutely right! That's really brilliant."
"It is not brilliance, officer. It is simply logic. Too many people today fail to use their logic processors and simply rush right into things. The Decepticons were such a group. They never thought about what they were doing to hurt others, which in turn would hurt them. They saw their goal, but never saw the obstacles. They did not use logic, and that is why they failed."
"Yep," said Prowl, cradling his godchild gently, "it's the truth."
"Here, officer," the mech stopped before a very plain, metal door, "Master Wildburner is in here. Just knock and he will let you in." The mech bowed and leapt into nowhere, shocking Prowl; it was like the mech had simply disappeared! He shook his head and knocked three times, nice and loud. He was, of course, always all business, and this was business, was it not?
The door opened, but there was no one there. Peering in, Prowl called,
"Hello? Master Wildburner? My name is Officer Prowl, an Autobot from the city. I—"
"Enter," called a soft voice. It was not old, nor was it very young. Prowl obeyed and entered the room, with little Prowl gripping his arm tightly.
"PoPo?" he whispered, "I'm scared. It's dark in here." Prowl nodded and said,
"You've got that right, buddy. Hello?" The silence lingered for another moment, and then Prowl nearly jumped out of his shell: something moved on the ceiling, he swore to Primus he'd seen it! He ran for the door, only to find it slamming itself and locking. Little Prowl, now very terrified, began to cry and scream. He wanted to leave this scary place, and he wanted to leave NOW.
"PoPo," he sobbed, "PoPo…." Prowl Senior was getting angry. Finally, he yelled,
"SLAG IT, SHOW YOURSELF! CAN'T YOU SEE YOU'RE SCARING A HELPLESS KID?!" There was a scuffling sound somewhere above him and then, light. Prowl sighed, and little Prowl's sobs ceased almost immediately. The officer shook his head, then turned around to look for any sign of this so-called Master, and screamed as he came face-to-face with the upside down head of an Autobot only slightly younger than himself. The scream re-triggered little Prowl, who instantly began to cry and scream in his godfather's arms again.
The upside-down Autobot laughed and dropped gracefully and soundlessly to the floor, where he stretched out his arms and said,
"Welcome to Su, Officer. I am Master Wildburner."
"Really," growled Prowl angrily, "and here I thought you were just some crazy old coot. Why were trying to scare us like that?"
"Oh, no," laughed the ninja, "no, no, my friend, I do not scare. I simply enjoy having fun. Although I do apologize for frightening the little one, I didn't mean to scare him so."
"Right," said Prowl, not all together convinced. "Listen, I'm here to discuss the little one. I need help." Master Wildburner nodded and said,
"Sit. You may let the child roam in here; this room is safe. No weapons to play with. Would you like some energon?"
"After a scare like that? Yeah," answered Prowl gruffly. Master Wildburner nodded and retrieved some of his energon, with a piece of energon candy for little Prowl. He knelt down before the two and handed the officer the drink, then offered the child the candy. Little Prowl rejected it, hiding himself as best he could in his godfather's arms and whimpering softly.
"So," said the Master, placing the candy near little Prowl and getting comfortable, "tell me what brings you to Su. You said it had to do with the child—may I ask for your names?"
"We're both named Prowl. He calls me 'PoPo'. I'm his godfather. My friend Bluestreak left the child to me after his death, and we've been together for a while. However, I'm afraid I'm getting on in years, and soon, I won't be around to care for him anymore."
"I see. And what brought you to Su, and not to one of the various youngling shelters?"
"Autobot Medical Officer Ratchet told me about you," said Prowl, taking a sip of his energon.
"Ah," smiled the Master, "yes. Ratchet has been most helpful here. He has taken care of many broken parts. He can fix anything! Is he a friend, or just your doctor?"
"We both fought the Decepticons alongside with Optimus Prime."
"Oh my! You two were part of Prime's team? Exciting! Unfortunate that Prime had to die…very sad, very sad….I'm sorry…you were saying?"
"Oh. Well, Ratchet told me about this place, and I decided to check it out with the kid. I won't enroll him until he's at least an orn older, but it's important that he sees the place before I have to leave him. Do you…you do take younglings, don't you?"
"Oh, yes," said Master Wildburner, "yes, I do. We have a program for younglings who choose to be here, however. They are sent to us from the youngling homes, and only if they choose to come here. That's why you didn't see many children out there."
"Oh," said Prowl, his spark sinking, "I see. Well, then…"
"Now, now, officer, hold on," said Master Wildburner, lifting a hand up, "I will take him. Your situation is odd, and I'm assuming you drove a long way to reach us. However, if you do leave him with us, I suggest you discuss it with him, and even leave some video chips of yourself, explaining yourself to him. As he grows older, he may become angry that you 'left him'. My own creator did this for me when he left me, and it made things much easier for me, even in my adolescent 'bot years."
"That's a good idea," said Prowl, nodding in agreement, "I'll do that."
"Very well," said Master Wildburner, "it's settled. We—oof!"
BOOM.
Prowl jumped to his feet and said to the master,
"Wildburner, are you all right?!" The master looked up at Prowl and said,
"Decepticons!"
"We banished them, Wildburner. They aren't—WHOA!"
Another loud blast outside told Prowl the opposite was true. He handed little Prowl, who was screaming and crying again. to Master Wildburner, and tried to protest, but the officer wouldn't hear of it.
"No," he said, "If it's a Decepticon, I want to kill it." And he ran out of the small house into a crowd of prepared Circuit-Su ninjas. They were all completely still, not one of them moved. Prowl shifted his optic ridge as he stared at what he considered 'weirdness', but had no time to dwell on it. Another blast somewhere behind him brought his attention to what he recognized as a Decepticon.
"HALT!" he yelled, throwing up a hand and thrusting up a weapon, "YOU ARE UNDER ARREST, DECEPTICON!" The Decepticon turned its attention to the officer, then laughed harshly.
"Autobot Prowl. I hoped I would someday take you out myself. The name's Steelwind, not that it matters. Prepare to die, Autobots!" Prowl leapt upon Steelwind and smashed his fist into the evil mech's jaw. Steelwind simply laughed and hissed,
"Too bad for you I'm a suicide bomber, Autobot." Prowl's optics widened.
"What?" The officer suddenly gasped in disbelief as Steelwind laughed harshly, then….
BOOM.
Hoo, boy... REVIEW!!! I like to know if people like it or not, and if it needs help.