_Earth_
The Moon hung over the forest, the remaining red and orange leaves becoming brighter in it's light. The forest's inhabitants were quietly moving throughout it, the sense that winter was almost upon them driving their actions.
Alone bear stood in the cold stream running through the forest, a fish wiggling in her jaw. The bear sniffed the chilly autumn air before heading towards the pile of fish she had been collecting, adding the recent fish to it. The bear started to eat the fish, jer last meal before beginning her hibernation for approaching winter. She had bit into another fish when a bright light disturbed the once still sky, causing the bear to stop and stare at it.
Am elk emerged from the trees, dipping its head down to drink from the stream. The bear turned to stare at the elk before returning her attention to the object seemingly coming closer to them.
It wasn't until the object began blaring alarms did the bear and elk retreat from the stream, scared away by the loud and sudden sounds. The once quiet forest became alive, with squawks of fear bursting into the chilly air, and crunching leaves as elk and other animals ran from the object crashing into the forest they lived in.
The object crashed into several trees, burning away the once bright leaves adorning it, leaving fire in its wake. Cracking branches could be hear throughout the entire forest, managing to wake several bears from hibernation. The object was only stopped by the waterfall that the stream came from, the burning object reduced to a smoking pile of metal.
The alarms stopped blaring, returning a semi-balance of silence to the area. The crackle of fires was the only sound keeping the forest from it's previously quiet state. A groan broke the quiet once again, metal protesting against its movement. The hatch to the object opened with a creak, revealing a robot with amber optics. The mech grunted as struggled to get out of the pod due to his injuries.
"Tantalus, are feeling alright," asked a voice from inside the pod once the mech had managed to get out, cursing in pain when his pedes hit the ground. He grunted in response to her question, offering his hand to help the other robot out.
"I've been better," He said to her once she was on the ground. The femme rolled her optics slightly at the Mech's attempt to lessen his pain. She vented, releasing the built-up smoke in her systems.
"How's your leg," The femme asked, crouching slightly to examine it. "Is it still leaking energon?"
The mech paused, looking down at the injured leg. He frowned when a small trickle of energon rolled down the strut. "Just a little."
"That's a little more than it should," replied the femme with a frown. She looked around them, her optics searching for somewhere to stay. "He need shelter."
The mech nodded in agreement, his HUD reminding him to refuel and reach a medic for repairs. "We also need energon."
"That cave should do." She pointed to a break in the rocks near the waterfall. She turned to the mech, poking her digit into his chest plates. "Go find somewhere to sit in there, there's no way that you can keep using that leg before it needs to be completely replaced."
The mech moved to argue, but the femme's glare caused him to rethink his actions. He sighed, moving towards the cave.
The femme frowned as she watched him walk towards the cave. She turned towards the pod, searching for resources as the sun moved into the pale blue sky.
_Decepticon Ship_
The Captain laughed wickedly, watching with amusement as another neutral ship exploded, its remains falling down onto the planet they orbited. The SIC's wings twitched at the sound, shaking her head.
"Captain," The SIC asked, her voice laced with a mocking tone. "Is this senseless cruelty even necessary?" She narrowed her optics slightly when the mech turned to look at her.
"Probably not, But our leader said I could do as I please," He responded, raising an arm to point at her. "That includes ordering you around." The seeker shook her head, watching as the Captain turned dramatically back towards the viewport. She flicked her wings as she turned, moving out of the Bridge.
"Why did Hazard leave that idiotic mech in charge," The SIC thought angrily to herself, her footsteps ringing slightly as she stalked through the corridor. The door she wanted opened as she approached it, allowing her to enter the office. She sat in the chair, optics moving over the new information presented to her. She quickly went through the reports for the cycle, frowning when none seemed to help her current mood.
Suddenly, her comm. link went off, her hand moving to answer it on instinct.
"This is Fireshock, What do you need," She said, not expecting the person on the other end to be important.
"Fireshock," Came the voice of her leader, Hazard, causing her to jolt out of her chair. "I will be arriving back at the ship in about 8 joors, I want a Status update on the Neutral Situation."
"Hazard, I didn't think your trip would end so soon," She asked, her wings flicking with worry. The other line remained silent, and with a sigh, The SIC began to relay the events that had occurred during his absence.
_Earth_
Night had fallen upon the Forest when the femme walked into the cave, sighing as she scanned the cave for her companion. As she journeyed further into the cave, she frowned at the distance she was travelling into the cave, spying several places that were good for her order to sit down.
"What did ya bring me," The mech asked, his optics widening in amusement when the flier jumped in surprise. She twisted around to glare at him, stomping over to smack his helm. He grunted with the impact, a light clang echoing throughout the cave.
"I found a few cubes of energon and a medical kit inside the pod," She answered him, removing said items from her subspace onto the floor. She eyed the small amount of energon before them with sadness. "Show me your leg."
The mech looked surprised by the order, slowly putting his leg out.
The femme sighed, kneeling down to get a better look at the damaged limb. "I know I'm not a medic, but I can try to fix as much as I can," The femme said in response to the wariness, lifting a weld and two clamps from the medical kit. She worked quietly on the leg, the sound of the welder breaking into the air every now and then.
The mech sighed, moving to grab the welder from her servo when she finished work on a part of his leg. He began to weld the minor injuries on his frame while the seeker before him moved to sit next to him.
"Do you think anyone will find us here," came the femme's voice suddenly, breaking the silence that had appeared. She turned to look at mech, green optics staring into amber.
The mech nodded, "I have to believe they will." He moved to stand, grunting at the protest of his leg. "Without that hope," He began, turning to look at her. "We would lose each other." He paused, sighing at the hand that had moved subconsciously to the femme's abdominal plating.
"And everyone needs the chance to live," The femme said, worrying flashing in her optics. The mech moved to her side hugging her as snow began to fall onto the forest, returning it to its quiet state.
Author's Note - Thank you to all that reviewed! I appreciate the encouragement to continue writing this story. I hope to get a chapter out every or every other sunday from now on, as school and activities allow. Until Next time!