Shadowfang was at peace for the first time in…he didn't know how long. His spark spun quietly in his chest, filling his frame with joy and love as he looked at his recharging sister, unable to take his optics off of her.

She's still the same…but at the same time, she's changed, he thought as he stared at her faceplates. Her bronze armor was still thick and it still gleamed brightly, despite the scars marring every single plate. She still stood tall and held herself proudly, despite the fact that no one was watching. He had seen her fluid movements and stunning grace as she had fought the 'Cons, and he knew that she was still as quick and elegant as she had always been. Yet…

Her optics have changed… On the surface, they were the same color, a deep, stunning cobalt blue, and they still held that age-old wisdom and quiet understanding that Shadowfang remembered from his earliest sparkling days. But there was something deeper, something he had seen when she was fighting, and it brought him pause.

The day she killed Andante scarred her…it scarred us all.

Shadowfang remembered that terrible day. It had started calmly enough…him and his brothers had woken from recharge early and gone for a long run, stretching their legs and just taking some time to get away from the city for a bit. They had just turned and were heading back when the reports started to reach them.

Alert after alert had flashed in front of Shadowfang's optics, speaking of an attack and several injured mechs, and the brothers pushed themselves to the limit to get back. They didn't know that Warrior Star was the femme that was responsible until they reached the scene of the final fight.

Their sister's processor was still firmly under the control of Shockwave's virus when they came racing up, and at first, they didn't understand what was happening. Shadowfang remembered turning to attack a mech that shot her in the back, and it was then that they realized that Warrior Star was the one attacking everyone.

He turned back to his sister in time to see her go for Jazz's son, a well-loved mech called Andante. He was so much like his mech creator that it was almost ridiculous, small, a saboteur, but with black armor.

Warrior Star's brothers watching in horror as she landed on Andante, proceeding to rip into him with her massive dentals and claws, then they all charged. Swiftpaw got to her first, snapping his dentals near her face to catch her attention. She left Andante, turning to her youngest brother when Keystone and Shadowfang struck. They cannoned into her side, knocking her flying as Swiftpaw gently set his dentals into Andante and dragging the badly injured mech away as the other two faced off with Warrior Star.

Shadowfang remembered how much it hurt him to have to attack his sister. He hated it. But when she turned and snarled at him and Keystone, they got a good look at her optics, and he felt Keystone's spark go numb through their bond, just as his did. No longer were her optics calm and loving, nor were they cobalt blue. They were red, blood red, blazing with wrath and insanity as she bared her dentals and leaped for Keystone.

Shadowfang remembered screaming her name, trying to stop her from attacking Keystone, from attacking them both. The black mech slapped her with a massive paw and sent her rolling, and Shadowfang felt the pain from Keystone at having to strike their sister. She was back on her paws in a moment, and was preparing to leap again when Shadowfang yanked on her spark, his fear and desperation pouring through their bond as she saw herself through his optics.

Immediately the femme halted, and he sensed a wave of confusion coming from her as she blinked at him, staring at him for a long moment before recognition flashed through her optics, and slowly, the rage left her gaze. Her optics faded to white for a few seconds, then changed back to their usual hue. Slowly, her gaze wandered, and she looked at the destruction around them, then the mechs and femmes surrounding them with weapons drawn and primed. She looked back at Shadowfang, and it was then that he saw the spark-shattering agony in her optics. It was then that he knew that she realized what she had done.

"Andante?" It was the only question Warrior Star asked, and Shadowfang turned to look at Swiftpaw, still standing guard over the mech even though his spark had gone out and his frame was growing cold.

The sadness in her second brother's gaze was all the femme needed to see, and she lowered her head, grief filling his bond with her before she threw her head back and howled. It was a howl filled with grief and sorrow and rage, and it echoed across Cybertron before Shadowfang added his voice, followed by Keystone and Swiftpaw. He remembered the whispers that had run through the crowd around them, but he hadn't cared.

It was later said that their howls echoed across the entire planet, and it was also said that their voices would echo for an eternity. No mech or femme present that day would ever forget what had happened. Warrior Star's exile hammered that point home.

Andante would never be forgotten, either. Keystone, Swiftpaw, and Shadowfang saw to that. They were the ones that buried the mech, and they were the ones that carved the epitaph into his gravestone. No…he would never be forgotten.

Shadowfang twitched an ear, coming out of his memories as he looked at Warrior Star for a moment, with her head on his back as she recharged quietly.

That day changed us all…her exile broke my spark. Swiftpaw was just…not his goofy self anymore, and Keystone…I thought he would dig Cybertron to pieces after she had to leave. We were all broken, each in our own way. Then our creators were killed…that severed our last ties to Cybertron. We were gone before their bodies were cold. We had no choice…they would have killed us too. And all this because Shockwave needed a 'test subject'…I'll tear that mech apart the next time I see him.

Twitching an ear again, Shadowfang slowly lowered his head, curling just a little tighter so his nose touched Warrior Star's armor. He slowly fell into recharge, quietly at peace as Swiftpaw and Keystone patrolled slowly outside.

Rest, brother. You need it. Keystone's voice was quiet through the bond, and Shadowfang smiled slightly as his optics dimmed then flickered offline, knowing that he was safe to recharge deeply with Keystone and Swiftpaw a paw's reach away.

I will be here when you wake, sister…I will be here when you wake.

A/N: And here is the story of the day that led to Warrior Star's exile. A little vague, given it's from Shadowfang's perspective. I'm sure I'll dig into it later in the story, from Warrior Star's viewpoint.

Thank you as always to my reviewers, favoriters, and followers! Ya'll make my day! Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving...I did. Think I gained five pounds but oh well. That's what a treadmill is for. ;)

As always, love if you will, hate if you must. I will take anything you care to dispense.

Until we meet again...

Kani