Here is another chapter upload! Woo! I was musing over this story collection and Lives After the End and I realized before I can even go to the later time periods where the children are older, I have to keep updating Lives After the End. Bear with me, readers. I'll get there soon.

In this feature, we meet Cloudmist. Very beautiful femme. I have a character sketch that I will upload onto DeviantArt sometime. Her color scheme is similar to Chromia's but more white.

Anyways, this may contain a few spoilers for future chapter content in Lives After the End.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers

Warnings: Mild language at the beginning.

Cloudmist slumped into the chair, not caring for proper etiquette anymore. She hated this and wanted out. Now. The femme was pripped and primmed, and had she not slouched with legs crossed, the youngest Vosnian princess would have looked elegant. Cloudmist was decorated with jewels and metallic fabric slung across her chest and around her hips like a toga. If she had kept her wings, the femme would have jewels adorning them as well. A stunning blue-silver crown sat on her helm, rimmed with white crystals and a diamond settled in the center of the crown's front. Her family crest was imprinted in the fabric, but her slouching made it difficult to see. She was not amused in the least and would rather visit the nice mech in the museum than be presented to Vosnian nobles.

"Cloudmist, for Primus sake, child. Sit up." hissed Skyhigh, the Crowned King of Vos. The King was upset for many reasons. One being, Cloudmist went behind his back to have a medic remove her wings and reformat her into a grounder just recently. The femme frowned, giving her Sire a scrunch of her nasal ridge before promptly sitting up, huffing irritably in the process. Skyhigh glared at his youngest daughter before turning back towards the small gathering of seekers that had entered.

Cloudmist rolled her optics, muttering beneath her vents, "Waste of time…"

"Wouldn't be a waste if you'd just bond with one of them." said her eldest brother, Gamma, from behind her as he and his trine brothers took their seats.

"Just so that they can use me as a pleasurebot and give them children? No, thank you. I'll keep my seals and chamber." Cloudmist crossed her arms, giving her brother a dirty look.

Gamma rolled his optics, wings twitching in discontent. "You are irrational."

"Me, irrational?" she sat up straighter, pointing a fierce glare in his direction. "You have the pick of the flock, Gamma. Any femme would gladly spread their legs for you simply because you inherit Sire's throne. And that is sickening."

"You and your love scrap doesn't find a place in royalty. The eldest mech or femme is betrothed and crowned ruler of Vos. The rest are to bond with the highest class of nobles without question." Nucleus said. "We learn that there is no room for love when courting. Leave that sappy stuff to the ones without a monarchy."

Cloudmist jumped from her seat, pushing away from the table with anger and outrage. "Then, I don't want to be in a monarch society! I hate it! I want to choose whom I want, when I want, whenever I want! I am not some princess who will willingly open her valve to the first noble in line, used as his whore, bear his children, then ignored until they are born! I don't want to be a princess of Vos if that is what it means to be!"

Her voice echoed throughout the grand hall, all optics on the femme. Several seekers frowned in disgust, others shook their helms. Cloudmist never met her Sire's gaze, but the King was more than infuriated; his majestic wings were arched high and tense.

The femme glared into the optics of her brothers before she stormed away, retreating into the hall and hurrying to leave. Her servo pulled off the crown as she ran, allowing it to clatter onto the ground, followed by her toga. The chain links broke, tinkling on the metallic floor until the entire toga was abandoned. Cloudmist ran down the halls, pushing past servants as she arrived at the servants' quarters. She didn't look back as the servants cried out "Your Highness!" or "Princess!". Tears riveted down her cheeks like a cascade as she digits grasped at the jewels attached to her frame, depositing them onto the floor. Cloudmist found herself leaving her Sire's palace where she transformed and drove out onto the streets, dashing away. It wasn't until she made it to the interstate highways did she calm down. Her engine was overheating from the amount of power she had used to get away and it whined in relief as her speed slowed. Cloudmist knew only one place to go.

-.-

She stood almost awkwardly as Sunstreaker opened the door. Bluestreak hadn't been kidding when he said his mates were large framed mechs from Kaon. The frontliner arched a brow as she tripped over her words. "I-I, uhm, is-is B-Bluestreak home?"

"No." he tilted his helm in curiosity. "He's working."

"Oh…" she stared at a suddenly interesting crack on the porch.

The two were in silence for a few astroseconds before Sunstreaker spoke again. "Can I help you?"

Cloudmist blinked, raising her helm and feeling intimidated by the large mech. "W-When does Blue come off w-work?"

"In a few breems." Sunstreaker paused. "Why?"

"Can I come in? I don't feel comfortable being outside…"

Despite his question being ignored, Sunstreaker stepped back and watched almost amusingly how Cloudmist scurried past him. Cloudmist took a seat on the couch, rubbing her faceplate.

"I ran away from the Vosnian palace…"

Sunstreaker frowned, observing the femme until his optics widened a fraction. "You're the princess who removed her wings."

Cloudmist nodded. "More like reformatted myself into a grounder." she sniffled, staring at her servos. "They expect me to bond with a noble. They're selling me like a common servant. All of my sisters bonded off so easily, they thought I would be the same."

"And how do you know Bluestreak?" asked Sunstreaker, skeptical.

"He let me in at the museum to hide from my brothers, but that is the first place they know where to look for me." she replied, wiping the coolant from her cheeks. "And Blue, he gave me his address for when I needed it, said he could shelter me. It's been a while, maybe a groon or two, since I last saw him. Sire confined me to my quarters. It isn't a doubt he'll keep in there again. Locked for good until he bribes a noble to bond with me."

Sunstreaker frowned. "That is cruel."

"It seems like in a kingdom, there isn't a place for love. It's bond, be happy along the way, be done with it. I hate it so much. The only love I have seen is adoration my Sire has with his sons. They're perfect. Three sons. What more could he have? My three sisters bonded without any problem and all of them are either carrying or walking around with seekerlings with their-"

The front door opened and a call followed after, "Sunny! I'm home!"

Sunstreaker's attention went to his mate and the frontliner went to meet him, gathering the Praxian into his arms and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "Hey, Baby Blue."

Bluestreak smiled, pecking a second kiss to Sunstreaker's cheek as the frontliner's servo rubbed his midsection. The smaller mech giggled softly before he saw Cloudmist out of the corner of his optic. He turned his helm in her direction, asking in surprise. "Misty, what brings you here?"

Cloudmist raised her helm after she had ducked it, feeling as though she was viewing something intimate. "Courting…"

Bluestreak sighed with a frown.

"I don't think my Sire will want to see me for a while. Especially after my episode. I might as well as have disgraced the Crown of Vos." the femme said as she hung her helm, rubbing a servo down her faceplate in distress. Bluestreak pulled away from his golden mate, sitting by the femme's side.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked, careful if she was going to outburst. The femme normally did, especially if the fight she had with her family was serious.

Surprisingly, the femme shook her helm. "No. I would rather not and I spewed a little to your mate, there."

"She did." Sunstreaker confirmed.

Bluestreak offered his mate a soft smile before he gave the femme a gentle hug. "Feel free to stay a while."

Cloudmist smiled. "Thank you, Blue. So much."

"No need to thank me, Misty."

She gave a soft giggle before his midsection captured her attention. "Oh, look at you though! You've gotten bigger since I've last seen you."

Bluestreak glanced down at his midsection that had grown enough for the Praxian to cradle his middle. He smiled, running his servos over the surface. "Yeah. Ratchet said it's triplets, but we don't know if they'll be mechs or femmes. Or both."

"I can only imagine how surprised your mates were."

Sunstreaker chuckled, running a gentle hand across his mate's wings. "You have no idea."

Bluestreak raised his helm towards his mate. "You almost crashed."

"Not true."

"M-hm, sure."

The femme giggled. "Have you told your brother, yet?"

Bluestreak's wings twitched and the energon rose to his cheeks. "No… not yet."

"We tell him that he should tell Prowl sooner rather than later." added Sunstreaker.

"Yeah, I know. But… I'm scared what he'll do."

"The most he can do is glitch. If he dares try lay a servo on you, you have Sides and I to protect you. Besides, Jazz supports us." the golden twin stated as he sat by his mate. "And we are taking you to see him tomorrow."

The Praxian squeaked, "What?!"

"You start leave tomorrow, Sides managed to get off work, and I don't have anywhere to be."

Bluestreak looked nervous in an instant, wings quivering. Sunstreaker held a wing in his servo, rubbing in gentle circles with the other. "You and Sides planned this, didn't you?"

"Better sooner than later, Blue." supplied Cloudmist. She smiled with a twinkle in her optics. "And you can set me up with that blind date we talked about."

Bluestreak lit up, smiling with gusto. "Yes! Smokey isn't home either and comes back in the morning. I can convince him while you can get freshed up with Iacon's delights. It'll be great!"

"A blind date with Smokescreen?" Sunstreaker gave his mate a curious look. "Her and Smokey?"

Bluestreak looked at his mate and nodded. "Of course! They've got quite a bit in common and once Smokey finds out her favorite pastime, they will enjoy being together"

Cloudmist smiled at Sunstreaker's questioning gaze. "I gamble."

The golden twin burst into a full blown smile. "The youngest of the Vosnian royalty is a gambler. Well, now I've heard everything. Smokey will certainly love you."

The femme flushed.

"It's official," Bluestreak announced. "You've got a date with Smokey."

"What now?" asked Sideswipe as he walked into their home. "Smokey on a date and I didn't know about this?"

Bluestreak stood up, smiling bemusedly as he approached his red twin. "Yep."

Sideswipe pecked a chaste kiss onto Bluestreak's lips. "Baby Blue plotting against his brother and he doesn't bother involve his prankster mates? I'm hurt, babe."

The Praxian rolled his optics with a grin. "Because the blind date is to get my friend away from the courting gatherings."

Sideswipe looked confused and he raised his helm, seeing the femme sitting on the couch with a small smile. The red twin's jaw fell off its hinge. "Smokey is going on a blind date with the youngest of the Vosnian royalty?"