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The marshlands sloshed about as Arcee and Megatron treaded through them. Their destination was the large willow where the supposed energy signal for the gem was. The ship wasn't far in the distance behind them having just started their walk.
"Never thought I would see us fighting side by side to go home, Megatron. I have to say though, I'm glad you're here."
Megatron had a small grin creep out at that. "It's been a while since I ever went out adventuring but yes, the feeling at the moment is indeed mutual. This will sure be a story to tell our future sparklings."
Arcee paused and gave him an unyielding stare. "Our sparklings?"
"Not our sparklings! I meant the sparklings of the next generation we, we as in the majority of the survivors of the Great War, will eventually have if not already. No offense but it would hardly work between us," Megatron said, rolling his optics.
"You need to learn how to word things. I think being the leader of the Decepticons has disassociated you with many social cues."
"That or I just never bothered with them to begin with," he muttered. "Society is overrated."
Arcee couldn't help but agree given her experience with it wasn't always truth and tiaras. "Fair enough."
As they approached the midpoint to the tree, a shadow flew just behind them without them knowing. It circled in the background but was creeping ever slowly towards them. Not even the whoosh of air being moved stirred the sound barrier.
Both bots nearly jumped in startlement suddenly.
"How's everything out there?"
"Oh, you know, same old, same old," the Autobot sighed.
"Ah, you think that now. No doubt the Allspark's furious over us destroying Titanium. I'm boosting energy to the radar following your signal to help you keep a look out for any cybernetic life nearby. However, I should warn my scanners don't work on organic and Rozarian creatures as well as some species from Kanjis, Caminus, and Chaar. Their bodies mask their signatures due to a mix of organic properties or natural cloaking, kind of like cuttlefish here on this world."
Megatron shook his helm, "We're sitting targets now."
"Just look on the bright side, Megatron. We at least have each other," the femme said.
"That doesn't bode a huge amount of confidence right now. The two of us between this island and all the creatures in it, we might die by the time we get to the tree."
"Hey, sourpuss, you're not being very helpful here. Look, it's fine. I have every shred of confidence in you."
The shadow lurking behind skimmed across Megatron only an inch into his visibility. He paused, "Did you see that?"
"See what?" Arcee said, turning around.
"Here, let me piggyback off your optic sensors, Megatron, to see what you see. It's probably just a bird or..."
A screech alerted them to late as Arcee suddenly found herself lifted off the ground. Megatron couldn't catch her in time. "No!"
Arcee struggled in the grasp of the large creature she could now identify as a bloodhawk. Unlike the previous one, this one got the jump on her easy and she never heard it coming. In closer inspection, she could see the eyes staring down at her, a shimmering icy blue while its feathers were orange than red. Supporting two sets of wings and a pterosaur tail full of feathers, it looked like something akin to a demon.
Megatron aimed his cannon and began to charge, but at the last minute he aborted the idea and powered his weapon down. "If I shoot it, I might hit her."
"Or you'll make her fall and she's a bit too high up to shrug off that much fall damage without something breaking. Primus, that's a huge bloodhawk too. Arcee, can you hear me? See if you can shoot it down when you're near something that you can catch yourself on."
"Easier said than done!" She hissed, "It has my arms locked up!"
"Then start kicking Swift, it can only tolerate so many hits before it'll let go of its meal."
"Meal?! Like hell-wait, did you just name the damn thing 'Swift?!'" Arcee asked, slightly peeved.
"Yeah, I named it. I name everything I come across. What, and you haven't?"
"That's hardly relevant to my life-!"
"You never saw a pony and gave it a little nickname despite knowing it probably isn't called that but you still do because you can't help but do it? What type of a person are you? Not giving creatures cute nicknames, unbelievable. It looks like a Swift so I'm naming it Swift. Problem?"
"Yeah! I'm about to die!"
"And I cannot help you other than tell you to kick its ass. You're the queen and Optimus' commanding officer; show me the tales are true."
Arcee slowly glared back up at Swift who was now focused on flying than the prey it held. A tree off to the side of their initial journey to the willow seemed to be the destination. What lied in the tree, she didn't want to find out. Using her pumps and abdomen strength, she lifted her lower half before kangaroo-kicking upward. Her pede landed right into Swift's throat, a loud crack emitted and the bird let go of her.
She gasped as she went tumbling through the air towards the tree and what lied on top. With a hard bounce, she hit a mixture of branches and metal woven together. At first, she was grateful that she was alive and sighed in relief, feeling her faceplates for any damages. Upon the realization of the obvious concern regarding just where she was hit her, she froze.
Peering around, the nest in front of her seemed empty. Then she looked behind her and gulped. An egg with glowing freckles sat in the middle of the nest. It was almost as big as her. She heard the faint cry of the bloodhawk who was circling above watching her.
Her comm immediately came in with static but leveled out once all her systems shook off her harsh landing. "Ar...Arcee, are you alive?"
"Just about. I'm in some sort of nest with an egg. The bloodhawk won't come down though," she said suspiciously.
"Egg?! Is it freckled?"
"Yeah?"
Bolt's voice turned panicked, "Arcee, you need to get out of there! That's a baby bloodhawk and it's going to hatch! Babies have no filter, no reasonability...not that Swift really does either, but this baby will eat you alive! All it knows as it's born is food and you're it!"
Hearing that, she sprinted to the edge of the nest as the egg slightly shook on cue. She almost made it when Swift landed on said edge and roared at her to back away. Knowing Swift would stalk her if she tried to escape or kill her, she obeyed.
A crunching noise made her turn to the egg which shook some more before a large crack appeared on the outside. Bits and pieces of the egg chipped away until the entire top of it popped off. To Arcee surprise, a fluffy feathered head was now out in the open, it's eyes still closed but it gave a small chirp in confusion. It was slightly cute...until it began sniffing the air and turned towards her.
Four wings flapped as it tipped its egg and stumbled out. It fell a few times trying to keep balance but eventually straightened out and shook off the excess birthing fluid. It acted as innocent as could be. Meanwhile, Arcee was pressed against the rim of the nest fearful.
The chick approached as it tried to open its eyes. The blue eyes, like its carrier, shined with a glossy texture and seemed a little faded for the time being. Having just been born, it would be most likely some time before it could see clearly. That wasn't any good for Arcee though. It was right in her face, sniffing her.
"H-hey, little guy," she assured it.
The chick tilted its head, contemplating her words. Suddenly, it screeched at her and lunged. Arcee barely dodged and scrambled around the nest after it pecked the wall where she once stood before chasing after her. The carrier bloodhawk watched uncertain as fluff and bits of nest were flying upward during the pursuit with the meal shouting at its baby.
Arcee grabbed a piece of shell from the egg remains and swung it at the baby. She felt a little bad as it staggered before plopping down on its rear. It gave a cry of confusion. The situation turned for the worst when the carrier spread its wings in rage.
"Uh, that's one way to anger her. Run!"
Megatron watched her drop from the bloodhawk's claws right into the nest. If there was a nest, there were sure to be babies. If he could fly, it would have been so much easier in dealing with this nonsense!
"Bolt, climbing that tree isn't an option, is it?"
"With your weight and stature? Forget it...but if a bloodhawk can make a nest up there and it's stable, that kind of says something about that tree. Um...but I would worry about yourself at the moment because...THERE'S SOMETHING BEHIND YOU!"
Megatron only had a second to peer behind him before he was forced to duck as a nightpaw yowled and leapt right at him. He landed on his front as the large cat hit the ground and slid to turn around. Quickly, he scrambled back as it bared its fangs, the sharp metal of its spine rising with spite.
He recognized the creature immediately. It was the same nightpaw that tried to attack them when they first entered Mystic Marshlands. Bolt wasn't joking about some creatures having a sole fix on killing them.
The jaguar-like cybercat lunged again and this time, Megatron was on his feet ready to tackle it. It jumped and pushed him into a roll before coming out on top and snapping its jaws near his faceplates. He held it back barely by the shoulders as it clawed him in anticipation.
With a bellow, Megatron threw the cat over his helm and immediately bared his own fangs as he got up. The nightpaw slid on its back before whipping upright with a snarl in retaliation. It began circling him but he didn't back down. He watched its tail twitch and he knew it was a sign it was about to pounce.
It did. Megatron dodged to the side, making sure his claws were primed and ready for action as the nightpaw swiped at him. He lunged back avoiding each swipe until he had a window where the nightpaw flung itself too hard into an attempted attack and stumbled a little.
Grabbing it by the scruff of the neck, Megatron roared directly in its face, watching it realize it may have made a mistake. But like all predators, the nightpaw refused to flee like a coward and grimaced before swiping again. The warlord winced and dropped the cat. He hardly acknowledged the claws making contact but he could feel Energon running down his face. He was too focused on the nightpaw to care.
When the cat got too close, Megatron blindly swiped his own claws at it. He heard a whimper then a snarl. He got it among its upper chest but it was still as mobile as ever. The nightpaw slammed into him, bouncing off before striking back, teeth digging into his arm. He tried to point his cannon at it but it twisted and turned rapidly to prevent a clear shot as well as put his own limb in the crossfire.
Having no choice, he swung his arm and the nightpaw attached directly into the ground. He ignored some of the Energon spraying from the hit and did it again. The cat slowed its movements until it let go on the fifth bout. Megatron could see he injured it enough to cause processor damage but not enough to kill it.
The nightpaw staggered and shook off the pain. Its jaw looked oddly misaligned and there was pink Energon leaking from its ears. It cracked its jaw back into place and stared down Megatron with hatred perfectly clear in its optics.
"Damn, never heard of anyone breaking a nightpaw's jaw before. Great job. Hey, before you kill it...can I name it?"
"Make it quick," the Decepticon said in annoyance.
"How abo-o-out Ferra? You know, Ferra...feral. Heh, heh, heh...now kill it."
Megatron had the urge to roll his optics but then the titular "Ferra" yowled, running straight at him. This time, he pulled out one of his swords and struck a battle-ready pose. Nothing seemed to deter the animal from increasing its speed. Whether it could reason anymore the danger it was in, he had no clue. It leapt at him, broken jaw wide and tainted bloodthirsty optics staring directly into his soul. All he could recollect in that moment was him moving the blade at the same time.
They both went tumbling. Both were silent, too silent.
"Megatron, do you read me? Megatron!"
The nightpaw growled, clicking its teeth together and hovering over the mech. Its bright optics burned like a dying star before fading. Its body slowly lost the pressure needed to hold itself up and the pumps in the limbs deflated. Collapsing, the remainder of the blade settled through its mid-spine coated in its blood.
Megatron grunted as he pushed off the dead cat and pulled out his sword. "Would you believe this isn't the first battle I've dealt with to end like this?"
"Oh, thank Primus you're alright!"
"It takes so much more to kill me, as you should know."
"You were the leader for a reason. I've been checking in with Arcee, she's dealing with Swift but..."
Megatron didn't like the sound of that pause. "But?"
Arcee could see nearly down the bloodhawk's throat with how close it was screeching at her. Tiny razors along the beak as teeth still made it scary enough not to want to screw with.
The chick got back up and yipped, waddling over to her still with a hunger. She couldn't say she blamed the baby but she was not going to be a meal today. It leapt at her and she maneuvered past it. Her forward path was blocked by the angered bloodhawk and the chick was going to trap her soon if she didn't keep moving.
Activating her weapons, she fired on the bloodhawk above while keeping her distance from the chick. Swift roared as one of the blasts left a deep hole on its thigh. It flapped its wings to hover to evade the oncoming fire, dancing around the edge of the nest. It became irritated and snapped at her while its baby kept walking hungrily.
"Easy, Mama, don't make me hurt your baby."
The bloodhawk fluttered and hissed as if recognizing the intent to harm. The baby suddenly ran at her and she had no choice but to leap over it and run towards Swift. With the chick in pursuit again, she could only glance between the option of being eaten alive or being snapped in half. Then the bloodhawk began walking on the nest itself and she got an idea as it lowered itself nearly to eye level with her.
It was attempting to block her off but it seemed to not consider Arcee could jump and that's exactly what she did. As the chick tried to bite at her, she jumped straight towards the unsuspecting bloodhawk and grabbed the beak of it, quickly wrapping her arms around its mouth. The bloodhawk panicked and began to fly upward only to slam down to try and dislodge her.
Arcee smirked, "It's going to take more than that, chicken wing."
Swift desperately flung its head from side to side, high and low to produce something in its favor but the harder it struggled, the tighter Arcee held on. It was getting to the point where it was leaping everywhere around the nest, shaking said nest.
The Autobot laughed at its inability to fight her...until she noticed the chick below was being tossed about by the shaking. It couldn't keep itself up with all the commotion. She frowned even more when one hard thump of the bloodhawk carrier made the chick bounce up and land just on the lip of the nest. Upon realizing the chick was going to fall if this continued, she let go of Swift's beak.
The large bird opened its beak wide with a screech as Arcee hit the nest on her aft. Getting back up, she noticed the carrier was too enraged to keep calm and was still producing jerky movements that were sending too much commotion through the threaded ground. While the bloodhawk was distracted, she tried to run to the baby that was having trouble keeping grip of the edge, waving its fluffy wings around to try and keep balance.
An angry roar made Arcee turn just in time for the bloodhawk to jump and land over her ready to rip her apart. The rumble of its landing shook the nest once more. Both her and the bloodhawk paused, however, as they heard the chick cry out.
That last shake made the baby waddle backwards and it tripped over a lingering branch over the edge. It cried as it disappeared from sight, sending the bloodhawk into a maternal panic and ignoring Arcee. Knowing it was her only chance to get back to the island surface, she grabbed its leg as Swift immediately hobbled to find its baby.
In less than a second, they were airborne. The bloodhawk screeched again, this time with what sounded like a worrying tone as it curved in the air to circle the tree. Arcee noticed it turned its head to the side, focusing through one of its eyes more so than both.
She never actually thought about it, how creatures like a bloodhawk, as dangerous and scary as it may be to her, was just as maternal and protective as any other species. They made errors too; technically, she was the one who made the bird go crazy and hop around. This carrier, mother, and caretaker was as capable as she was to do what was needed to be done, not out of malice like the Monogoliath. All the bloodhawk wanted was food for its young.
Suddenly, they were in a dive, flying past the nest and down the trunk to ground floor. It made Arcee a little nauseous seeing ground floor coming fast. She wasn't one for heights. In the last few seconds before hitting said ground, the bloodhawk quickly pulled up before giving an elegant twirl and turning itself mid twist. Flapping several times, it landed. It didn't notice Arcee at all as it looked at the unfortunate scene.
Arcee let go and thought about sprinting away into the marshlands, but she was drawn to looking at the accident. The baby chick, born less than an hour before, lied on the ground lifeless. Its body positioned in a spread winged pose like it had tried to fly like its carrier. Fluff didn't fly.
Swift gently nudged the baby with its beak and again when it wasn't satisfied with the lack of response. It gave a sad trill, eyeing the corpse and looking for a different sign that the chick was still alive. Nothing. Heartbreak could be the most accurate description on its limited facial features which nonetheless made Arcee regret a bit what she had done. That feeling changed on a dime, however, when the bloodhawk's face changed to pure hatred.
This wasn't an expression like it had before. No, this was unadulterated, vengeful hatred. Swift didn't want to eat her, didn't want to just kill her anymore. It wanted to destroy her.
"Bolt, I made things worse."
"How can you top hitting a chick and make it worse? Wait, are you back on the ground?"
She gulped, not losing eye contact with the furious bloodhawk. "I, uh, heh, I accidently made it rage and she knocked her chick out of the nest to its death...and now, it blames...me."
"...Arcee...that's way worse! Alright, uh, I guess don't die? I need to check in with Megatron. Uh, kick its ass, girl! I believe in you!"
Arcee did the only thing she could do at the moment. She prepped her blasters as the bloodhawk stalked towards her with a hiss, its feathers raised and shivering.
"Alright, you leave me no choice," she scowled.
However, before she fired at it, she noticed behind it was the tree it had called home long enough to lay eggs in. The tree's base was actually not stable to her surprise. Normally, tree roots embedded in the ground to make them sturdy but its roots were mostly above ground. Clinging onto boulders and other trees. It had grown crooked. If she shot the roots keeping it steady, it would topple.
An idea came to mind and she smiled, "I would so hate to be you right now."
Another hiss as the bloodhawk came closer and she changed the directory of her guns. Firing, she aimed for the roots attached to the other trees and rocks. Wood splintered and the tree began to creak. Swift seemed curious, looking back but when the tree stopped making noise did the bloodhawk seem to give a cruel grin back at her failed plan.
Just then, the cracking noise returned. Strands of undergrowth and weak roots were slowly pulled up by the tree starting to lean towards them. Arcee calculated that she needed to move to avoid getting crushed but if she fled too soon, the bloodhawk would too.
Swift tried snapping its jaws at her, one attempt she deflected with a timed swipe. It spread its wings to intimidate her and all she could do was wave good-bye as the shadow of the tree dwarfed both of them. It caught the bloodhawk off-guard that when she dived out of the way, the only thing it could do is look at the inevitable force coming straight down on it in shock.
Arcee managed to see the moment of devastation as the bloodhawk was crushed beneath the large tree in a matter of seconds. As much as she felt bad for killing the chick, she definitely wouldn't miss the bloodhawk itself. Even when she saw slivers of feathers just barely covered by the many branches of the tree, she didn't feel much pity for it.
One less danger in the Mystic Marshlands was one way to look at it. She brushed off some specks of dirt brought up by the tree slamming down and opened her channel to Bolt. "Swift is gone. How's Megatron?"
"What? No, 'how are you, Bolt? You're doing the best you can to keep me alive, Bolt?' I see how it is."
"Hey now," she smirked. "Technically, telling me to 'kick ass' is not helpful advice."
"I'm only joking and Megatron's fine, if you must know. He fought Ferra and won. You know, that nightpaw tracking you guys? Came back to finish the job. Glad to hear you're okay. Megatron should be on his way to you."
"Thanks, Bolt."
"See? Now, was that so hard?"
She shook her head and kneeled next to the visible remains of the bloodhawk. Using a few vials she took under Bolt's demand to bring him back anything that could be valuable, she gathered a few ounces of blood and plucked a few feathers off for keeping before storing them in her subspace.
A crack of a branch from behind made her whip her weapons around. Megatron put up his servos and said in an amused tone, "Careful, killer, I'm the friendliest thing on this island."
"Took you long enough," she mocked. Then it changed to concern, "Oh Primus, what happened to your face? You know you have two gashes going from your eyebrow to your nose, right? It's bleeding!"
"Had a cat wanting to play. It's fine. I'll clean it later. I would've been here sooner but I assume you had everything under control?"
Arcee bit her lip, "I accidentally killed it's baby so that only escalated the problem."
Megatron looked a bit taken aback by that and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Yeah, that would just about do it."
"But enough about what we've done, time to get a move on, shall we?"
Megatron patted her on the shoulder and took lead as Arcee did a few quick stretches before clapping her servos happily and jogging back to meet his pace.
As they walked together, she could tell there was a hidden sense of pride in Megatron at her victory. Making Megatron proud of anything was virtually unheard of, even Bolt could probably attest as he was once a Vehicon under Megatron's command for a millennium or more. Still, his pride swelled hers. Now there wasn't as much doubt as before that they could succeed and take on whatever dangers lurked on the island.
Then again...they were only through one little section of it.
AN: This was quite fun to write when I first had the idea. Circle of life though. Accidents happen every day and when something is trying to kill you, well, anything can happen. I also made a sparkling joke because I wanted one stupid moment in the series to shine. That was what I chose.
Featured monsters:
Swift the Bloodhawk (Rozaria)
Ferra the Nightpaw (Caminus)