It was supposed to be simple, easy even, yet they just had to mess it up, didn't they? Nothing could ever go right, could it? It just had to be difficult, nothing could ever be that easy, could it?
Airachnid grimaced as she pushed through the huge crowd of bots, dragging her sister by her arm as she kept looking back nervously.
They were on the run. Why, you might ask? They had stolen energon and, like the idiots they were, had been caught during the act. By a Gang. Great. As if getting caught alone wasn't bad enough already. But what other choice did they have? Here, you had no other choice but to steal from each other to survive.
Airachnid slowed down a little and looked at her sister, who was shaking in fright, the cube of energon she once held nowhere to be seen. She must've dropped it at some point in their haste to get away.
„Airaneae?" Airachnid placed both of her hands on her sisters shoulders. „Look at me." Slowly, the younger bot looked at her with a frightened gaze, as if she expected someone to hurt her, wich really wasn't far off from the truth, if you thought about it. People here killed to survive.
„We're going to be okay, you hear me?" Her sister nodded and seemed to calm down a little at hearing her sister's voice. She still looked shaken up though and Airachnid noticed the bots who were chasing them were now closer, almost too close for comfort.
„Come on, let's go." And they were running again, wich apparently caused one of their pursuers to notice them. Airachnid cursed as she heard him immediately inform his colleagues about his discovery.
„We need to get to the buildings!" Airachnid urgently told her sister. If they managed to get to higher ground they'd be safe. Spider-bots had light frames and were excellent climbers where as grounders had heavier and bulkier frames, wich weren't really suited for climbing, at least not enough to be able to keep up with them.
Airaneae nodded, looking a little bit relieved now that she knew they'd have a chance to get out of this situation. They steered off towards the buildings, once again having to push through the huge crowds on the streets.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternety, they reached the buildings they so desperately wanted to get to. Their relief was short-lived though, as suddenly a strong hand grabbed Airaneae's upper arm and pulled her against a large bot. The young bot cried out in alarm and Airachnid's eyes went wide in shock and fear. She'd barely be able to fight off one bot, let alone a whole group, but she would try her very damn best, because no-one laid hands on her sister without consequences.
The spider-bot thrust her hand forward, shooting a web at the optics of Airaneae's captor, who yelped in shock and momentarily let go of the younger. Airaneae took her chance immediately to dart forward towards her sister, towards safety.
Both siblings wasted no time as they climbed the walls of the building, their many legs aiding them in their escape. Once they reached the top, they switched to another building to loose their pursuers.
They settled down on a roof after a few minutes, although Airachnid was still on high alert, never once feeling calm enough to not constantly check her surroundings. After all, one couldn't be too careful, lest they end up in the hands of some gang lurking in the valleys.
Once the purple femme deemed it safe enough, she directed her attention towards her sister, who had calmed down a little once she knew that they were safe, at least, as safe as living on streets could be. Richer bots had no problem with that, they all lived in their fine apartments with their fine high-grade energon and lived a happy life, unlike them. They didn't need to work, that was a job for lesser bots after all, for their own personal slaves.
It's so unfair, Airachnid thought, they have everything and we live in the dirt.
Even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Who would listen to someone who lived on the streets? They'd probably laugh and send her on her way, then soon forget about her and continue their happy lifes.
Dismissing her thoughts briefly, she placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, who looked up at her with a small smile.
„Are you okay?" Airachnid asked softly, checking for any visisble wounds on her sister's thin frame, but luckily found none other than a few small scuffs here and there. While there may have been no fatal wounds, Airachnid noticed something else entirely. Her sister was dirty, her small green and golden frame covered in dust and grime, not too much unlike her own. That's what living on the streets was like. Oh, how desperately she wished she could change it.
Her sister shouldn't live like this, she thought grimly, nobody should, yet she couldn't change anything about it. Her sister was so young, not even fully a youngling and yet they both had to live on the streets.
„I'm fine… i think." Airaneae finally said, although she looked a little bit unsure, scared even. It had been a close call, after all.
„I'm sorry i lost the energon." she added, wringing her hands guiltily.
„It's fine, i still got some." Airachnid said, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders comfortingly.
Airachnid scolded herself mentally, she should've been more careful. She should have taken better care of her sister, make sure she didn't get captured in the first place. What if the other gang members had caught up to them? What would they have done to her sister, had she not managed to free her in time?
Airachnid shuddered at the images that filled her head and unconsciously tightened her hand on her sister's shoulder. Airaneae looked up at her sister with a confused, yet worried gaze.
„Are… are you okay?" She asked in a small, quiet voice, almost as if she were afraid that if she spoke too loudly, her sister might run.
„I'm fine, don't worry." Airachnid assured the smaller bot with a smile, and was glad when her sister looked more at ease. They shouldn't have to worry when they managed to get their next energon. They also shouldn't have to worry if they made it another day, yet they did.
„Hey, Airachnid…?" the smaller spider-bot asked, looking at her hopefully. „Can we maybe visit Striker again?" she continued.
Airachnid smiled. „Tomorrow, okay? It's already getting dark." She said, watching the twin suns of Cybertron slowly dissappear beyond the horizon.
„Okay." She grinned and leaned against her sister's side, her optics already beginning to fall shut as it got darker. Airachnid continued to watch as both suns vanished completely from view and the first twinkling stars lit up the sky. Slowly and carefully, she lowered her sister onto the ground and settled down next to her, enveloping her sister into her arms as she, too, went to sleep.
End of chapter 1
A/N: Yay, my first chapter and i can't stop shaking from excitement and nervousness. Please let me know what you guys think. :D
Btw, if you wanna know where i got the name Airaneae for my oc, i googled „spider types" and one type was ‚Araneae'. I added the ‚i' because of ‚Air' and i wanted her to transform into a helicopter (wich happens much, much later in the story), so yeah, that's why her name is Airaneae. :D