Warrior Star pounded through The Mists, her cobalt blue optics wild as she followed Shadowfang. Her system was cycling air as fast as it could to try and keep her cool, each gust of air emerging with a guttural grunt from deep in the femme's chest as she charged ever faster into the unknown.
Why is he running from me? She wondered, snarling aloud as The Mists grew darker and thicker around her, making it harder for her to track her brother. She was following him now by the sound of his paws on the ground and his scent, twisting and turning in response to his movements as she blindly trailed him. The ground dropped from her feet so suddenly that she had no chance to stop.
Plunging downwards with a startled yelp, her spark spun wildly in her chest as she desperately moved her legs in an effort to stay upright…whichever way up was. The steep slope met her again with agonizing force, and she slammed down hard on her side before skidding down the cliff on her back with a strangled howl of pain. She hit the bottom hard enough that she bounced, rolling over in midair to land on her opposite side before sliding almost a hundred feet, then she came to a halt.
Alarms and damage reports blared through her processor, and Warrior Star's optics flickered before coming back online as she slowly shook her head with a soft growl. She raised her head to try and figure out where she was, then her spark froze in cold shock at what greeted her.
Shadowfang stood before her, flame red optics cold and emotionless as he stared straight into her optics. Between his forepaws, crumpled and bloody and broken, was the body of William Lennox. Her shocked gaze locked on the human for a few long moments, then her optics rose to meet her brother's stare. His lip plates lifted, showing his gleaming silver dentals, sharp and jagged…now streaked with Will's blood.
Warrior Star's spark went cold, her entire frame trembling as she struggled to process what she was seeing. Her processor was running wild, trying to come up with a reasonable answer as to why Will was…was gone, and why his blood was coating her brother's dentals.
"He was weak." Shadowfang's voice split the air between them, and Warrior Star instantly looked at the human's broken body again when the steel gray mech reached out a forepaw to prod the body nonchalantly.
Something snapped, deep in the bronze femme's spark, and slowly, her cobalt blue optics rose to her brother's flame red gaze again. His optics narrowed at what he saw in his sister's optics, and he took a half step forward as he bared his bloody dentals in a chilling snarl before he spoke again.
"The human made you weak, sister. He made you soft, made you forget about your pack, your family, your oath as a Guardian, and everything you stood for. His…pathetic influence turned one of the most powerful femmes in the history of our race into a sad example of Cybertronian weakness. You need to remember who you are, get your savagery back. It was that savagery that got you through those millennia after the Autobots abandoned you and left you to rot deep in the cold expanses of space." Warrior Star lowered her head as Shadowfang spoke, her optics flickering and going offline as her spark lit with rage.
He's wrong…this isn't Shadowfang…this isn't the brother that I helped to raise, that I led, that I taught, and that watched my back all those millennia ago… Her optics came back online, hard, cold, and filled with rage as she met his gaze again. Keeping her optics locked on his, Warrior Star slowly pushed herself to her feet, allowing the rage that was burning in her spark to fill her entire massive frame like a raging inferno. The alarms, error reports, and warnings flashing in front of her optics vanished as she bared her dentals in a snarl even more chilling than Shadowfang's, then she spoke, her voice cold as ice.
"You're wrong, brother. The human has a name…William Lennox. And he cared about me when no one else would, when the Autobots were trying to take me down. He even had the guts to stand up to the rest of the pack and to the Autobots, to defend me, when he barely even knew me. And I know, for a fact, that you are not Shadowfang. My brother cherished life, he always has. The real Shadowfang sacrificed his frame to defend the very human lying between your paws. Whoever you are, whatever you are, you should not have come here. You should not have tested my rage, because now, you die." Leaping forward with a roar, Warrior Star closed the distance between them, slamming into the mech and sinking her dentals into his muzzle as he bellowed in pain.
Twisting hard, the mech brought his claws down on her shoulder, ripping through the armor plates and tearing through the wires, cables, and energon lines beneath as the bronze femme grunted and let go, leaping back to get clear. But he followed, his claws raking across her face and nearly blinding her as she screamed in agony. The rage in her spark came back with a vengeance, and she shook the energon from her optics before striking out with a forepaw and breaking his bottom jaw. He stumbled back with a roar, but she was there, her dentals sinking into his helm before ripping it off, leaving the proto-skull exposed.
Warrior Star whipped around, kicking out with her rear paws and slamming them into his side to knock him rolling, her claws tearing off several plates of armor as he tumbled across the ground. But he recovered fast, turning to meet her next charge with his jaws spread wide, despite the fracture in his bottom jaw. She coughed in shock as his maw closed on her throat and severed several cables and lines, the force from the sudden stop whipping her feet from beneath her as he slammed her down onto her back.
Onlining her optics, she saw the insanity in his gaze, and she knew that he was going to offline her. And then…she was there. The roar of fury seemed to shake the very air around them, and the mech only had enough time to look up before War Beast's jaws closed on his skull, destroying both his optics and forcing him to let Warrior Star go as he stumbled back with a scream of pain.
Yet the other femme followed, locking her jaws even tighter before she braced her paws, shaking her head as hard as she could. The mech's paws left the ground as War Beast shook him like a rag, and Warrior Star could hear various parts in the mech's frame creaking under the strain. Still snarling with fury, War Beast twisted, raising herself onto her hind paws before slamming back down onto all fours, smashing the mech into the ground with enough force to snap his spine. His cry of pain split the air like a crack of thunder, then War Beast slammed a huge forepaw onto the mech's chest, his armor collapsing under the force as he gasped in shock. Yet she still didn't let go.
For just a moment, her blood red optics flickered to Warrior Star's, and the two femmes stared at each other. Warrior Star already knew what her dark sister was asking, even without the other femme saying a word.
End him. Warrior Star said softly through their link, and she saw the understanding that flickered through War Beast's optics, then her gaze hardened once more. With one final rumbling snarl, War Beast concentrated all the power at her disposal, and she closed her jaws. The mech's skull groaned under the pressure, then collapsed, the femme's powerful jaws tearing it into pieces, and his processor with it. His frame went tense with a sharp whine, then the sound died away, and the mech's spark died with it.
Warrior Star's head hit the ground with a metallic thunk as her dark sister stepped off of the dead mech, and her cobalt blue optics flickered offline. War Beast hurried to her, and she could sense the other femme's distress.
What now? She asked, nudging Warrior Star with her nose uneasily. The femme stayed silent, processor turning quietly as she thought about everything that had happened, every little thing that led up to where she lay now, covered in her own energon, too weak to carry on.
Find Shadowfang, the real Shadowfang, and make sure he gets back across that slagging bridge. I came here, WE came here, to find him and bring him home. See to it, dark sister. Even though she couldn't see her, Warrior Star could sense what her dark sister was thinking.
What about you? The femme asked, nudging Warrior Star again. A rather sad smirk crossed her mouth plates, and she onlined her optics again just long enough to meet her dark sister's gaze.
Leave me here. I will only slow you down. The shock and anger that flashed through War Beast's optics didn't surprise Warrior Star in the least, nor did her dark sister's words.
No! I'll take you back to the bridge first, then I'll continue the search for the gray one. Fighting with everything she had, Warrior Star rolled onto her stomach, then managed to rise to her feet, shaky but standing, as she met War Beast's gaze again.
Do NOT concern yourself with me! I will find my own way. As it stands, Shadowfang is still in more danger of becoming a permanent resident here than we are. He's been here longer. Find him, dark sister. He needs you more than I do. The two femmes stared at each other, cobalt blue to blood red. Finally, War Beast deflated, lowering her head as she cycled air through her frame in a heavy sigh.
Fine, light sister. I will do as you ask. But I WILL return for you. I swear it. They stared at each other for a moment longer, then War Beast turned, slowly walking away as The Mists grew thicker and closed around Warrior Star once more.
The damage reports and alarms came back with a vengeance, and Warrior Star trembled before slowly sitting down, feeling her hot energon rolling slowly down her armor as the world grew dim and fuzzy around her.
At least…one of us…will make it back… The bronze femme thought, then her optics went dark and she fell into the blackness of stasis.
A/N: I promised a fight...somewhere...I think...anyway! At least I finally managed to get this one written in a way I liked. Been thinking about this confrontation for awhile now, trying to figure out how to make it work, even down to who would be involved in the fight. I know I set Shadowfang-not-Shadowfang in there, since he ran in the last chapter. I was trying to figure out if I should involve anyone else, but decided to stop at him.
To my reviewers, favoriters, followers, and readers, thank you as always for your readership!
As always, love if you will, hate if you must. I will take anything that you care to dispense.
Until we meet again...
Kani