CHAPTER 45
"…What do you want from me?"
During their way to the base, Night had carefully prepared her words. Her request, her arguments to make him accept…As soon as she had an idea in mind, it was nearly impossible to take it away. But at the instant she faced him, all her self-confidence entirely vanished in one flash. Outrigger's dry tone left her mute to the point she almost forgot about the reason why she came. Without her mother. Only Kat and Esmeral had accompanied her. Her friend thought it was a bad idea and Outrigger would never accept. She wondered how Night could carry her idea over while she regularly skipped her training with Jetstorm on Earth. Night had pouted at this but had reluctantly agreed with her. But she had to try. She had to ask.
As this time, it wasn't only about her. As for Esmeral, the green femme had accompanied them over to show them the way in that labyrinth, as Night's mother had got lost the day before. Esmeral hadn't commented on it, but she hadn't sound very convinced by her plan.
Outrigger was still dressed with his hood and his robe, hiding his yellow optics. He was still in front of his board and was still writing some Cybertronian signs over it. Night glanced back at Kat. Through her body language, the latter simply told her 'you're on your own'.
"…I…I thought that as we were in Crystal Cities, we could enjoy the opportunity to learn more about one another" She started, scratching the back of her helm, quite awkward.
It was quite poorly introduced. And she wasn't the only one thinking this. Outrigger let out a sigh. He kept writing, not even turning back.
Night bit her lip. If she kept doing this, she would be kicked out of there. Outrigger didn't sound quite friendly. Even not at all. Silence fell down. Only chalk noise could be heard in the room.
In the end, she chose to go straight to the point. She knelt down. Looking down on the floor, she spoke up again.
"…I came to meet you since…I have a request."
"Really? And what is it?" Outrigger answered, keep writing.
"…Teach me martial arts, please!"
Chalk noises stopped. Yet Outrigger kept facing the board.
He took a time before he answered.
"…Why should I accept your request?" He simply questioned her.
Her arguments…
Everything she'd prepared…all of it had vanished out of her processor. Scrap!
"I…I think you're the best teacher here!"
She just needed to improvise.
"You're only in Crystal Cities for a short period of time". He retorted. "You'll not stay here forever. You haven't found here what you've been searching for, right?"
Esmeral had obviously told him everything.
Night gulped. She kept the same position.
"…Even though I haven't found the thing I was looking for, it doesn't mean I came here for nothing. The Circle of Light was full of powerful warriors. You've got a training."
"The Circle of Light is no more"
Then he faced her. Under his hood, his optics sternly stared back at her.
Night let out a chill at this, but didn't comment anything.
"The training was made for future members. Members who would protect the Crystal Cities. You think I'll teach martial arts at the first newcomer?" He asked. "You believe I'll take someone who is temporarily around as a student? I've some work. I have something else to do rather than helping some strangers."
His tone was sharp. He was about to leave the room when Esmeral softly called him back.
"Outrigger. Maybe you shall listen to whatever she's to say."
"She has nothing to say. I don't owe her anything."
"I'm not a stranger!" Night cried out. "I know your old friends! Jetstorm and Slipstream."
She guessed that under his hood, he winced at this.
"And is it a good reason?"
"Jetstorm and Slipstream wouldn't want to see you like this" She said. "I…I can give news from you to them. Maybe I could ask them to join us here"
She remembered the picture. About all three of them, about Drift, about the other members…
He'd been close to them. She was close to them. She couldn't do nothing. He needed to remember their friendship.
"I'm not interested" Outrigger replied.
"You can't drown yourself into loneliness! It's not even a life you have!"
"Because training you up will improve things? I don't think so"
Outrigger put his chalk down before he grabbed a Pad.
He was so stubborn. Good. Night was stubborn as well.
"…Maybe if you get me trained" She kept on. "It would change your point of view"
"You're definitely quite the arrogant one. Fracture definitely gave you a poor education."
Fortunately, he wasn't around right now…
"And you! You spit on your own skills!"
She stood up and made a step forward.
"How long have you been out of practice?"
"Get out" Outrigger growled.
"Are you ashamed of telling the truth? Maybe your formation is complete, but if you don't do anything, you might lose everything you learned, as well as your own skills. That's the reason why Jetstorm and Slipstream keep training every day. Drift was their Master. Just like the other members were your masters."
Even if his back faced her, she noticed that Outrigger tensed up. Kat waved at her, warning her not to keep on further.
But she made her decision. She had to do this. She'd already started.
"I'm not saying I would be the perfect student" She stated. "But I'll do my best"
"Who are you to judge me?" Outrigger shouted. "Why don't you just mind your own business?"
She'd expected such an answer.
But her explanation went much more difficult than she'd originally thought.
"…I'm just someone who made a bad choice. Just like you. Someone who lost her parents. Just like you"
Outrigger went still. Night went on.
"Yes. And unlike you, I have Fracture who adopted me. I have the chance to live with close friends who are like my family. Just like the Circle of Light had been a family to you. However, the difference is that you also lost this family, as well as your natural parents. I don't want to imagine the pain you're going through right now. And I think I wouldn't do better if such a thing happened to me"
Losing her adoptive mother as well…
She paused.
"What you're doing is not healthy for you. And deep down you know it. But by acting like this, by endangering your own health, you don't honour your family' wishes. You forget about your remaining loved ones. Esmeral. Jetstorm. Slipstream. You also forget that you're a powerful warrior as well. And that's the reason why I came to see you. Even if we barely know each other, I came to see you because…I don't want you to give up"
Outrigger remained silent. Night's gaze lingered on him. He slowly looked down.
"If you don't wish to train me up, I'll accept that. But if that so, train someone else. Take another student. Give them the happiness of learning. Just like your comrades did to you. If you don't do it for others, do it for yourself. Do it for your health"
These blue pills still laid down on the desk.
"…Why do you want to train?" He ended up by asking.
Night took a breath.
Her answer was clear. Beside Outrigger's health, there was another reason.
"I thought I was strong and I'm not. I believed I had the skills to fight people who wanted to harm me. I got my loved ones endangered out of selfishness. And I haven't protected them. I almost got them killed."
She couldn't help but look back at Kat.
"…Now I want to become stronger to protect them. At least, I wish gaining some skills."
"Jetstorm and Slipstream can train you."
"They already do…but they are my loved ones. I need some extra help. And Earth isn't Cybertron or Crystal Cities. Earth is a small cocoon near the entire universe."
That's all she'd needed to say.
Maybe they weren't valid reasons. Maybe Night was wrong. Outrigger wouldn't listen to her. He would kick her out of here and he wouldn't wish to see her again.
She didn't want to train up for herself. But she wanted to do something for others.
Outrigger, Kat…
She'd come here for a selfish goal…maybe she should find another goal that would damage the others less. Something that'd help them…
Outrigger let out a sigh.
Near him, his bird chirped.
Esmeral stepped closer and put a servo over his shoulderplate. As if she wanted to give him some presence. As if she quietly asked him to think about it.
But she apparently didn't need to get him convinced.
He turned back to Night and simply gave her a nod.
"I can't believe you got him convinced" She heard Kat whisper behind.
She'd already caught sight of human Dojos in the past. Watching some matches on TV. She'd sometimes accompanied Denny to his Judo club and she'd sometimes stayed a bit longer to observe him practice from behind a window, in her alt-mode. But the Circle of Light' Dojo was…quite specific. Absolutely vast, a Tatami getting the entire floor covered, bathed in the sunlight that was coming through stained glasses representing the different faces of Primus. Night got the feeling that she'd landed in a sanctuary.
A sacred place.
Kat had taken a seat on a bench to watch. Outrigger and Night went over to the Tatami, her new teacher having taken his hood off to put it on the floor. He was a brown bot, having golden optics, quite taller than Night. She noticed two katanas in their sheathes at his waist, that he didn't pull out. Outrigger glanced back at her and pointed at the end of the room.
"…You are going to run twenty laps in the Dojo."
"Wait…What?"
"I said you'll run twenty laps"
"WHAT?"
Night gulped. She'd thought she would escape it if she skipped Jetstorm's training. And at least, Jetstorm only ordered to run ten laps.
It's much worse here.
"You refuse?"
"No…"
She'd promised. Night glanced back at Kat. If her friend had been able to give her a mocking smile, she would have had.
Night took a long breath and started running.
After three laps, Night got already exhausted. But as soon as Outrigger felt she was slowing down, he ran after her to give her some taps behind her helm, forcing her to speed up. It got Night motivated enough to run faster and escaping him, but at the moment she finished her last lap, she almost collapsed due to tiredness.
"Hopefully you don't expect to rest?" Outrigger growled.
And he ordered her to do fifth push-ups. Night paled at this. It must be a joke. No. Unfortunately, he was dead serious about it. Night almost fell down and positioned herself on her servos, ready to endure the torture yet to come.
"What? Did you really believe that you'd have some fun?"
She almost caught sight of a mischievous smile on his face.
He'd expected her to give up.
Night growled. As if she was going to give up…she hastily started her push-ups, trying to suppress her tiredness that was appearing on her face.
I'm not tired, she tried to repeat to herself over and over.
And the nice thing about it? Outrigger had added other fifty push-ups to the fifty ones she'd already had to do. When Night had stood up, Outrigger had stared at her, a sneer on his face. She wondered if they'd start the combat training soon enough. In her dreams. Instead, Night had to do more stretching, more acrobatics and some other annoying warm-ups. She was completely exhausted after all of this. From far, she caught sight of Kat drinking a cube of energon as she watched the entire training.
In the end, combat started. Outrigger didn't give her any sword. He ordered her to attack with her pedes and her fists. Night nodded.
And lunged at him.
Outrigger was already behind her as soon as she tried to aim for his face and she suddenly got kicked in her side. Night landed on the Tatami, an acute pain tearing her side open.
"Pathetic" He commented. "No wonder why you always lose"
"No…"
"You know, Drift trained here during around ten years" He informed her. "And even when he left, his formation wasn't completed. You believe you can become as strong as he was in a few days?"
"No."
"You can just give up…"
Saberhorn, Outrigger…
Why did they all tell her to give up?
Night growled out of rage and stood again, counter-attacking with a kick. She didn't even touch him. Outrigger simply dodged her by stepping aside. Night tried again. Her mentor dodged her again and knocked her down with a sharp kick. Night landed on the floor again.
"I'm not sure that you'd be able to defeat your opponents with such a balance" Outrigger criticized her.
He let out a sigh and let her stand up again. Outrigger told her about the next exercise.
Working on her positions.
"…How was Drift at his beginnings?" She questioned.
It was only curiosity. However, Outrigger didn't answer. Night tried to punch him but Outrigger simply stepped back and went behind her to get her position corrected. She wasn't enough in profile and it could cost her dearly during fights.
She punched him again. She didn't manage to touch him.
This time, it'd been her supports that were bad. To make her understand, Outrigger kicked her legs again. She fell down again.
"…How were Jetstorm and Slipstream at their beginnings?"
"You talk too much. It's a proof that you don't know how to fight."
"But—"
"I asked you to punch. I didn't ask you to talk. Is she the one you want to protect, right?"
He pointed at Kat. Night painfully agreed. Outrigger sighed again and allowed her to stand up again.
"So, start it by learning."
"May I know what the scrap you're doing?" A familiar voice rose up.
They turned back. Night almost got her face covered out of shame as soon as she recognized the newcomer.
Her mother. Of course. Who else? He didn't add anything else and went up to the Tatami, without even being authorized by Outrigger. Behind, Esmeral followed him by close to catch him up.
"Fracture! I don't think it's—"
"Care to explain, Night?" He growled.
She noticed some dark rings under his optics. She wondered if he'd jumped out of the berth to come here.
She let out a sigh. Primus…
"He teaches me to fight"
"You already have Jetstorm for this. On Earth"
"But it's different here!"
Here…She really wanted to do her best. She really wanted to keep training. She didn't want to give up. Because he was someone she didn't know. He wasn't a friend. He wasn't a loved one.
He motivated her to go on. To help others.
"Are you aware that we'll not stay in Crystal Cities?" He reminded her, an acid tone. "We haven't come here for this, remember? What is the use of starting here?"
Outrigger rolled his optics and stepped back.
No. He'll not do this.
"Can't I learn to defend myself?" Night retorted, a dry tone.
"I can teach you to fight myself!" Fracture stated. "What are you learning, by the way?"
"Martial arts…"
"Really"
That statement made him smile a bit. It didn't mean anything good.
"Just like Drift, right? Are you the one who taught him to fight with honour?"
"No. I wasn't his teacher" Outrigger replied. "But you're right. Honour is a main aspect of martial arts."
"Really…You even talk like him."
"Mama!"
"So…if not with honour, I wonder how you fight." Outrigger questioned him, a sarcastic tone. "I'm quite curious about it"
"Very easy"
He pressed a button to make his blades appear on his wrists.
"With treachery, of course" He replied, a proud tone.
"Why doesn't it surprise me?"
"Everyone just spits on it." The purple bot sighed. '"It's only out of pragmatism. If she faces a devious opponent, honour wouldn't save her"
"That's the exact reason why I said your daughter had received a poor education"
Fracture's optics widened at this. Outrigger seemed proud of his remark. As she felt that tension was arising up between them, Night stood between the two bots, as Esmeral did the same.
"So…Mama. Can you leave us alone, please?"
"Excuse me?" The purple bot answered.
"You heard me"
"I'm sure in a fight, I would definitely get the upper hand with treachery"
"If that so, start by running twenty laps in the Dojo."
"I'll not run twenty laps in the Dojo!"
"Really? At least, your daughter obeyed. You shall do the same as well"
And immediately afterward, Outrigger left the Tatami and started running, a bored expression on his face. Fracture's gaze lingered on him as he went and came back, never showing any hint of tiredness.
Night frowned, wondering how her mother would react to this.
In the end, Fracture left the Tatami as well and started running, following Outrigger by close. However, as he passed him and was about to touch the wall and coming back to Night, Outrigger slapped him at behind his helm.
"OUCH!"
Fracture didn't have any time to reply. Outrigger was already far.
Tired.
Exhausted.
Dead.
As he returned to the residence, Fracture let himself fall in the sofa, sweating. He was no longer used to run out of pleasure. Was he an old bot now?
He hadn't even engaged combat with that brat…Because that guy was a brat near him! What a shame! After four laps, he'd been already fed up of it! Windblade was in a sofa, drinking a cube of high-grade energon.
"Do you want some?" She offered.
"Thanks"
Fracture received it and took a sip before he started coughing. That child was sick!
"That child will be the death of me!" He burst out.
"Esmeral said she did it to make him focus on something else. To focus on his job"
"And what about it?"
"You shall be proud of her. It's from a good intention."
"I don't want to stay in Crystal Cities where everything is so expensive"
Except in this beautiful and sumptuous residence…
"We can remain there for a few days" Windblade offered. "If she is happy here…"
"Hm"
Fracture didn't add anything and grabbed his Pad again. He had some updates to do. As many programs started on, he went for Cybertronian social networks one more time.
That's right at this point where he received a message.
Your name has been mentioned.
Fracture frowned.
How so? His name had been mentioned? Where? On which website? What for?
He clicked on the link that'd appeared in the message.
And his spark almost stopped as soon as he read its content.
