Cheetor stirred, but didn't online his optics. He didn't want to get up just yet. For some reason his berth was remarkably soft this morning. He shifted and placed his helm on his, strangely fuzzy, pillow. He would've have fallen back into recharge if it wasn't for his pillow…breathing.
Cheetor's optics jolted online and his helm swung up. Waking, to find himself snuggling with another cheetah? He was very confused…until his internal memory chips started working again, and connected the dots. Everything came slowly flooding back to him; the eyes, the pod, the preds, the cat. He's ears flopped down, and glanced back at the feline he was sharing the medical berth with. She didn't look as if she was in as much pain as before. Her vents seemed to be deep slow and peaceful.
"She must be feeling better," he thought.
Suddenly, a low fuel warning popped up onto his HUD. Checking his chronometer, he discovered that it was the next morning. He had recharged next to her for the whole night. He suddenly felt very embarrassed and surprised. The medical berths were hardly ever used and certainly not in any way comfortable; everyone just usually used the CR chambers. Sleeping through the night on one was quite an accomplishment, and Cheetor had just achieved it without thinking.
He shook his helm, putting the thoughts of strange accomplishments aside, it was definitely time for some breakfast. He hopped down to the floor before, switching over to robot-mode. Stretching he hesitantly left the med-bay.
Entering the command center, he found that Optimus, Rhinox, and Rattrap, were busy refueling there. He briefly wondered where everyone else was until he remembered that Tigatron, and Airazor usually took the down patrol and Dinobot did whatever.
"Well…Look who decided to make an appearance," Optimus said.
"Morning everyone," Cheetor greeted grabbing a cube of energon for himself.
"Did you recharge well?" Optimus asked.
"Like a rock," The cat bot took a seat at the table.
"On the medical berths?" Rhinox asked.
Scrap! They saw me! "Uh…yeah."
"Impressive," Optimus murmered, through his most recent sip of energon.
A bearable silence fell over the command center. Well, bearable for most of the maximals present.
"Okay, what's wit da awkward silence?! Are ya gonna ta spill or what?" Rattrap tuned in, looking at Cheetor.
"What are you talking about?" Optimus asked.
"I just want ta know da dets on Spots' first night wit his new girlfriend."
Cheetor nearly choked, "She's not my girlfriend."
"Ya recharged wit her."
"She saved my life Rattrap! And got hurt in the process. I wanted to make sure she was going to be okay," the catbot insisted.
"Ya, sure," said Rattrap.
"While we're on the topic of our new guest," Optimus started, "Rhinox what course of action do you recommend for her recovery?"
The herbivore, rested his digits on his chin for a moment, before answering, "Hum, I took a second look at the scans I took of her, the break in her front leg is worse than I originally thought," he took a sip of energon.
"Meaning?" Optimus prodded.
"I would like to keep her here for observation. That leg needs to heal properly if she ever has a chance to hunt on her own again."
"So, we gotta us a new pet? Great…" Rattrap chimed.
Optimus shook his helm, "Well, if that's the course than we'll take it. For now, she'll stay in the med-bay until she's recovered."
Cheetor's ears flicked up, "You can't do that!" he suddenly shouted.
Everyone in the room suddenly turned to the catbot in confusion.
"What do ya mean we can't do dat? What are we supposed ta do?" Rattrap squeaked.
Cheetor cleared his throat, "Uhm…what I mean is that. You can't just keep her locked up in the med-bay, she'll go stir-crazy."
"And how do ya know dis?" Rattrap asked.
"Who's the cheetah here?" Cheetor pointed to himself.
"Yah, but you's weird. She's probably ain't gonna act like you."
"Actually Rattrap, Cheetor might be right," Rhinox chimed in, "Cheetahs, females especially, usually live on large unprotected territories, or home ranges, that they constantly roam around in. Keeping her inside might not be the best idea. At some point she'll try to escape and maybe hurt herself more in the process. She'll have to be able to go outside."
"Any ideas on how to do that?" Optimus asked.
"Outdoor pen, or tracker maybe. Either way someone will mostly likely have to watch her," Rhinox suggested.
"She'll need to run," Cheetor said.
"We figured dat spots. Dat's why me and Rhinox are working on a specialized brace for her," Rattrap said.
"So, she'll be able to run?" Cheetor asked.
"Not at her top speed. Even with the brace, I don't think would be a good idea for her to be running. We can't risk her overexerting herself, or her leg might not heal correctly," Rhinox explained.
"If she can't run then she can't feed herself," Cheetor said, worrying.
"That means she'll be dependent on us for food," Optimus said, he turned to Rhinox, "Please tell me you have a plan for this, too."
"I can most likely synthesize some kind of feed for her. It might take a few tries before I make something she'll like, but it should work."
The maximal leader nodded before turning back to the youngest team member, "Anything else we should know about, Cheetor?"
"Uh…I don't think so, but if I remember something else, I'll let you know."
A suddenly growl came from the med-bay, shortly followed by a shout. Everyone suddenly charged out of the command center, and towards the med-bay. Cheetor leading the pack concerned for his fellow cats' safety. Upon arriving, he found Tigatron holding his left servo and Dinobot standing over him. He looked over to the medical berth, to see that she was missing.
"What happened?" Optimus said running in.
"How should I know? I just got here!" Dinobot shouted.
"Tigatron, what happened?" Rhinox asked coming to look over his friend's servo.
The metal plating was scratched though it wasn't severe. It was more of shock that made Tigatron scream, rather than pain.
"I was merely checking in on her. I was unaware that she had awakened," Tigatron answered.
Upon hearing this nearly everyone in the med-bay turned their attention to the far corner of the med-bay. She stood in the small corner, thankfully not putting any weight on the splinted one. Her ears perched and alert. Her tail twitched side to side. Her gaze, threating, yet fearful. A low and subtle growl rumbled from within her throat.
Optimus, slowly approached "It's okay, it's alright. We not going to hurt you."
He crept closer…
Closer…
Closer…
A heavy blood-chilling, growl erupted from her throat. Her sharp pearly fangs unsheathed, as she snarled. Body tensing, she crouched, ready to attack. Her ears flipped back.
He was too close.
Opitmus jumped back as she lunged. Sharp claws lashed through the air. A sharp short whimper of pain squeaked from her throat, as she fell back onto to her splinted leg and retreated back into the corner.
"Optimus. Don't get any closer to her. I don't know how much more movement that splint can take," Rhinox warned.
Optimus slowly nodded, backing away.
Cheetor looked to his commander. Then to his fellow catbot. Then finally, to her… hurt and frightened. He looked to her wild eyes; bright, and scared. His spark felt like shattering; he couldn't just leave her like this.
"Let me try," He spoke softly.
"What?" Opitmus looked to the youngster.
"Let me try."
Optimus' optics widened as he realized what Cheetor meant, "Absolutely not. She's volatile, dangerous…"
"And scared," Cheetor cut Optimus off, "Look, she's seen me before. I've never done anything to her. I'm not a threat. She doesn't see you like that, but maybe if she sees that someone like her can trust you, she'll calm down."
Optimus, surprised by Cheetor's quiet outburst, hesitantly nodded and backed away further allowing the younger maximal to venture forward.
Cheetor took a deep vent, and slowly crept closer to the frightened feline. Making his footsteps soft, he slowly folded down into beast mode. He heard her yelp with surprise, but continued to move forward. He saw not just shock glaze over her eyes, but curiosity. He stopped just close enough, and sat down.
He could see the gears turning in her mind as she cocked her head sideways, trying to determine if he was a threat or not. She limped closer, and churred curiously. He hoped his movements suggested that he was not trying to harm her. She chirped, and then looked at him, as if waiting for a response.
Confusion ran wild in his mind. She had chirped to him. What was he supposed to do? Did he chirp back? Would that confirm to her that he was peaceful or would it just prove that he was a threat? Could he even chirp in the first place?! Eventually he managed to squeak out some kind of sound. Not entirely sure if it could count as a chirp. He watched as she pulled back, flicked one ear down and the other up, before seemingly excepting the reply. She leaned forward, rubbed her cheek against his and sat down her hind legs, continuing to stare at him.
Cheetor nodded his head, and gently got back to his paws. Turning his back to her he walked back to his fellow maximals.
He looked to Optimus and whispered, "Pet me."
"What?" the maximal leader whispered back confused.
"We need to show her you're not a threat," Cheetor sat back down within arm's reach of his commander.
Optimus, slowly reached his servo out… a growl echoed from the wild cat's throat…he slowly and gently rubbed Cheetor's helm. Upon seeing that Cheetor wasn't being hurt, the growling ceased.
Optimus smiled seeing that the Cheetah was starting to calm down, "See, we're not so bad."
Cheetor leaped back towards her, and took a seat next to her, while subtlety motioning for Optimus to follow with his tail. Cautiously, Optimus continued forward, getting down on his knees to make him appear non threating. The cheetah leaned away from Optimus, narrowing her eyes.
Optimus reached out one servo and rubbed Cheetor's helm again and then he very slowly held out his other servo. The cheetah snarled, but he still held his servo. The cheetah very cautiously leaned forward and sniffed Optimus's servo. She suddenly pulled back, shaking her head, clearly finding his scent unusual, but she didn't snap. Slowly. Slowly she leaned towards his servo, until she shifted her head into his palm, allowing him to pet her.
"That's it. You're okay," Opitmus murmured as he heard a gentle purr coming for her throat, her turned towards the young maximal, "Good job, Cheetor."
The cat bot smiled. He was just happy that he'd had calmed her down, and getting pet in the process wasn't too bad either.
"Optimus?" Rhinox asked.
"It's okay. She's okay now, Rhinox," Optimus answered, looking back at the others.
The rhino then started to walk towards them, "I'll need to check that splint again, and make sure that the energon she ingested is…"
Another untrusting growl erupted from her throat. Rhinox optics widened and he took a step back.
Rhinox turned to Cheetor, "Uhm… Cheetor?"
Cheetor smiled internally, something told the young maximal that he would be getting pet a lot more today.
"She can't stay on dis ship," Rattrap, spoke his mind to the other Maximals.
Rhinox managed to get close to her long enough to do a full exam. Thankfully, in her first moments of consciousness on board the Axalon she hadn't worsened her injuries. Though now that little detail was mostly overlooked by the others as a meeting to discuss the matter further had been called.
"Why do you say that vermin?" Dinobot chimed.
"Oh, I think her fur pattern just clashes wit da rest of da ship, and…THE FACT THAT SHE FRAGGIN' ATTACKED STRIPES! How much longer til she comes af'er one of us?"
"Don't you think you're overreacting?" Rhinox said.
"No offense, big guy, but you's don't have ta worry about her tryin to bite your head off!"
"Shut up Rattrap!" Cheetor interjected, suddenly very tired of his teammates moaning. If it was his choice, he would have been still with her, but the kittycat felt he should be here to stop the others from doing anything that might harm her, "She was just scared!"
"Scared or bloodthirsty?" Rattrap said, leaning his helm against his servo, that was propped up on the table.
"Okay that's enough you two," Optimus said trying to break them up, "Listen this is a different situation and we all want an answer on what to do next. So, can we quit arguing long enough to figure out what the next step is?" the room went silent waiting for Optimus to continue, "Good. Now, Rattrap what specifically is you're problem on our guest?"
"Well, Boss Monkey ta start wit, she's a wild animal, I's too dangerous to keep her in da ship; I's broken enough as it is. Wit her sharp claws and teeth she's a danger ta all our sensitive equipment." the rodent explained.
"We can't just kick her out," Cheetor said.
"I have to agree with Cheetor. She'll need to be under observation, at least until her brace is completed, if she ever has a chance to return to the wild," Rhinox chimed in.
"And why should we worry about dat? She's just wild beast, ther's thousands of them on dis planet."
"Because Maximals respect all forms of life, Rattrap," Optimus spoke up, "She may have been shot by a predacon, but she wouldn't have been injured in the first place if our fight with the predacons was happening. Her injuries are just as much our fault as it is the predacons."
That shut the rat bot up.
Optimus continued, "Now, I won't over look her violent action completely. Tigatron, you were the one that was bitten, how do you feel about her standing here?"
"She was merely a creature trying to defend herself, I shouldn't have intruded in the first place, I bear her no ill will," Tigatron said.
"Well, then it's decided," Optimus said.
Rattrap frowned, while cheetor smiled internally.
The next few days on the Axalon, were unusual to say the least. The Maximals, were learning slowly on how to live with their new…guest (Cheetor and Tigatron didn't let anyone get away with calling her a pet).
Rattrap still didn't trust her, and he still wouldn't be in the same room at her. He preferred to work on the brace for her injury, so, as he put it, 'dat wild overgrown killer tabby cat 'an go eat some o'her rat'. He just worked on possible prototypes and let Rhinox actually interact with her.
Speaking of Rhinox, while the engineer and the cheetah did have a somewhat rocky start, he did eventually earn her trust. Though, just because she wasn't growling at him didn't mean it was all sunshine and rainbows. Getting her to stay still while he tried to examine her was a difficult challenge. He honestly didn't want to sedate her, but he was starting to get desperate until he realizes that if he gave her something else to focus on, she'd stay still long enough. This something else was usually a type of toy that Tigaton built of knitted twigs, or a bowl of kibble that he had managed to make for her. Though, he realized that the toy was the better choice, as he had discovered that cheetahs weren't just fast runners, but fast eaters as well.
For the rest of the crew, the reactions were mixed. Dinobot, didn't really interact with her, he was too worried about the possibility of a new predacon, though he did respect her warrior's instincts. Airazor was welcoming, as a creature of speed herself, she could respect the splotchy kitty, and in turn Airazor grew on the new arrival, as she found the birdbot's feathers, fascinating. Tigaton tried to be friendly, but kitty wasn't very trusting of him; hissing was common a reaction. Optimus, would visit every now and again, but that was where the interactions ended.
Cheetor was most involved with the new guest. As the only bot who beast mode was of the same species, she felt most comfortable around him. Cheetor felt similar, he could just hang around her in beast mode and talk to her to his sparks content. She didn't seem to mind listening, she mostly just slept, due to the pain medication, and didn't really have any other way to entertain herself; she didn't mind a chatty cheetah like him.
The first couple days went smoothly, but it was the middle of the second week that problems started. She'd start getting twitchy, and unpredictable. Hissing quickly went to snapping, and she started to refuse food. Even Cheetor couldn't get close to her at sometimes, but thankfully he recognized what was going on. He knew what stir-crazy cheetah looked like.
After being informed of the situation, Optimus, asked that Rattrap and Rhinox complete the final version of the brace as soon as possible. Thankfully, the final version was ready within two days' time. Cheetor, distracted her while Rhinox struggled to gently slip it on.
The brace was made of specialized light weight metal, coated in softer material as to not injure her. It wrapped around her leg, just snug enough to allow it to keep the bone in place, but not make it difficult to walk. There were small studs and the lower end, that went far enough to allow her to put her weight on the brace rather than on the leg itself, but not make the limps feel that different in length. A harness was strapped, across her neck and shoulders, as to not weigh the brace on her leg. A small specialized motorized hinge near her leg joint allowed her leg to bend. The result was a happy cheetah could finally walk without wobbling; much to Rattrap's terror.
Next was luring her towards the exit of the Axalon. Cheetor excellently handled this, by using his newfound ability of chirping. After being taking off guard by the new cheetah's attempts to communicate, Cheetor decided to do a little more research into the beast that was his alt mode. Apparently, chirping and other sounds did have certain meanings attached to them. Chirping was usually used to express excitement, call or conceal cubs, or as a greeting between adults. In this case Cheetor was hoping to express his excitement and get her to follow him. Thankfully, the message seemed to get through.
Cheetor watched as her expression changed from one of curiosity to suspicion and then excitement once she could finally see the outside world. She leaped down the moment the elevator hit the ground and quickly started to roam around. The rough familiar ground must have brought confidence back into her step as her movements were much more graceful and sure. Though her face seemed to remained stoic, Cheetor could tell she was smiling.
"Wou'd ya look at dat," Rattrap marked at how calm she suddenly became.
"I told you," Cheetor said, turning toward his friend.
"You's was right spots. I can't believe it."
"Well, you better learn how too. We'll need to make a schedule of let out times to reduce her amount of stress, and for someone to watch her." Rhinox spoke drawing the other two's gazes.
"You's better not be thinking of putting me on that schez," said Rattrap.
"Depending on our conflict with the predacons, you might," Rhinox said.
"Oh, no way! If you's dare-!"
"Why are you so scared of her in the first place?" Cheetor interjected.
"I's ain't scared!"
"Your optics widened whenever you're in the same room as her. It's pretty obvious," Rhinox said, dryly.
"Well, uh…okay ya got me, but I 'ave a good reason. Do ya know what cats like her do ta rats like me?"
"They eat them?" Cheetor asked.
"DEY FRAGGIN' CRUSH DARE THROATS AND RIP OUT DARE GUTTS!" Rattrap screeched, "I's ain't lettin' dat happen ta me!"
"Do you really think she'll try to eat you?" Rhinox asked, raising an optic ridge.
"Yes! Animals like dat follow instinct not reason, and I look delicious!" Rattrap said.
Cheetor flicked his ears back deciding to block out the argument. He turned his attention back to…an empty cliffside. Where did she go? He hopped down form the platform, he paws treading carefully on the rough dirt. His optics glancing left and right; not seeing her anywhere. His tail twitched worryingly.
"Hey Rattrap!" he called back.
"Ya, spots!"
"Did you put a tracker in the brace?!"
"Uh…So dat's t'what I was forgetting! No why?!"
Oh, scrap!
Deep within the haul of the predacon base, three arachnids were struck with utter disappointment.
"It's a blank," the spider bot Tarentulas said, flatly.
"Thanks for stating the obvious," Blackarachnia spoke.
"Megatron will be disappointed, the thought of a new predacon would have brought him great joy," Sorponok spoke, clacking his claws.
"At least if anyone needs a new body we'll be prepared. Because this thing isn't becoming a maximal or predacon without a spark. So, unless Megatron has an extra cybertronian spark laying around, he can just throw that idea out the airlock," Blackarachnia said.
Tarantulas' dits chattered, and his processor suddenly whirled, "Who said it had to be a cybertronian spark?"