Sorry for the late update guys! I had some serious writer's block for this story and I wasn't sure how people were feeling about the last update because of the lack of feedback on it. Well I decided to update anyways! Please let me know what you think of this one! Anyways lots of stuff going on in this chapter, explanations, first stages of training, etc… Anyways… I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!
(Ierena's POV)
The first thing I was aware of when I started coming to, was that my legs were tangled up with something else, but I was too busy dozing in and out for an undetermined amount of time, to try figuring out what they were wrapped around. Something warm was pressed against my side as well, looks like Sides wanted to cuddle again…
I did some kind of lazy tangled flop to get onto my side, so that I could wrap my arms around him and snuggle him. I squirmed to get closer, purring much more deeply than I could ever remember doing before. Weird…
"You're hugging me…" A sleepy, female voice mumbled at me tiredly.
My optics… eyes popped open and my vision was instantly assaulted by bright blue… Wait blue…? Sides and Sunny were not blue! And they definitely didn't sound feminine when they were speaking… or British!
"Aurora…?" I guessed, beginning to remember all the crazy stuff which had been happening.
"Yes?" She mumbled tiredly.
"We're… stuck in a very awkward situation right now, aren't we?"
"Yes, yes we are."
"Fuck… What should we do?"
She started squirming to get out from where I had her pinned under my legs. "Get ourselves untangled before Harp comes back! Or before Aunt Liara pops in unannounced and sees this! Because she has done that quite a few times and it scares the hell out of me every time." She hissed out.
"I can't move! You're lying on top of me!" I shoved at her to try getting her off of my left legs, which she was laying on.
"You're on top of me!" She snapped back, doing a weird laying down buck to try getting my right legs off her back. It wasn't really working that well because my claws were stuck in her hide, and with her squirming I couldn't get them out of the ridges in her armor.
"I can't let go because my claws are stuck and you won't stop moving! So stop moving already!"
She let out a huff of aggravation. "Ok, I'm cheating. Brace yourself."
"Wha…?" I didn't even have time to finish the question, before she was shrinking, twisting, turning, and turning into a… polar bear?
She let off a bellow, bolting away at a speed far above what the white killers of the North Pole should move at, getting out of the way of my form as I crashed down onto my belly, sending a shockwave through the ground which flung her up into the air, where she transformed again back into her original form, landing gracefully and giving me a potentially smug look. Her own neck almost horizontal because of how little headroom she had due to the length of her legs. "See? Now we're untangled. Now then, let's get on with today."
I laid there on my belly, scowling up at her irritably. "Ya know it was cool when crazy Grand Aunt Zyriun shapeshifted into a cat, but you could've given me a warning about what you were going to do you know? It would've been kinda nice, because then I might've been able to catch myself instead of falling!"
She just shrugged. "I didn't think of it."
Using my claws to grip at the ground, I dug in and pulled myself up from the cave floor, carefully so as not to hit my head on the ceiling again. I stretched to ease the kinks in my spine and neck from laying curled up for so long, before standing and shaking to limber up a bit. "So where did Harp go?"
"She probably went out for a flight. For the last six hundred years she's been stuck on my back so she hasn't been able to have any freedom really. She's probably taking full advantage for the moment." She said, shrugging slightly, her wings fluttering in the process, her eyes drifted to them, the awe in those blue orbs evident.
"Ah… so… how long have you two known each other anyways?" I asked as we ambled out of the cave and into the still dark world outside… Ok what was up with that? "Where's the sun? It's still dark out here."
"I've known Harp since just after I turned one, she was the first thing I ever saw and interacted with after arriving in New Zealand, and the star? It died out eons ago, this planet is now surrounded by a planetary nebula, which Valunma is now the core of. So now there's no day or night here, it's just perpetually night."
"Well why are the moons glowing then?"
"Oh, they're bio-luminescent. Before the Extinction there were fire elements that could just make new stars, but as you're aware, none of them survived the extinction, so the star died out, so the moons that were once made just as a pretty commodity are the only source of light left."
"So we're stuck in perpetual night then?"
"Pretty much, but when the moons are out of view that's when it's completely dark. That's when the night creatures come out, so far you've only seen the day creatures."
"I think I'll take any creature over that lake monster."
"The Lake Guardians are territorial, just avoid the lakes with the flowers as I've said, and you should be fine." We continued walking in silence for a bit, until Harp suddenly shot down from overhead and landed on top of one of her horns gracefully. She didn't seem to give any outward reaction to her presence right away, other than the thick gray horns bristling a bit, before she acknowledged her as we drew closer to a thick forest area... where the trees had bark that looked like pink flesh, and leaves that were blood red, adding to the sinister aura of the area. "How was your flight mum? The winds were in your favor I hope."
"It was nice, the currents were pleasant, nothing of major concern happened."
"That's good."
I watched the two conversing quietly with my right eye, which I was still getting used to with the placement. When I walked I had to swing my neck back and forth to be able to see in front of me, or tilt it at an angle so that at least one eye could see what was ahead. So far I hadn't asked why they were like that, but if I did I was sure she'd explain it. She was definitely older and more versed in all this than I was, but that was a given considering my Daddy had sent me here with her. If he didn't trust her judgment, I doubt he would've put me here with her if he didn't trust her abilities to help me.
It actually raised a few questions, like how old she was, how old I was, and how we aged in general. I knew that bots aged really slow, being metal kind of… stunted the growth and made it abnormally slow. Were Titans the same way?
"Hey how old are you anyways? You act like you're in your twenties or something." I asked, not really thinking better of it.
Aurora's head whipped to the side, nearly smacking into a tree that we'd broken apart to walk around on either side, eyes wide with shock and surprise. "What?!"
Harp chuckled from her perch on the thickest of Aurora's horns. "She does act more mature than her age would dictate. Don't you Ro?"
I glanced up at her. "Yeah. That's kinda why I asked… well that and I have no idea how the Titan aging system works."
Aurora sighed. "Ok Ierena let me give you a basic rundown of the aging system ok? Titans age a lot slower than humans, but not nearly as slow as Cybertronians ok? One Titan year is the equivalent of two hundred and forty-nine human years, so a Titan who has lived for that amount of time is the same as a one-year old human baby age-wise. So for me, I'm actually almost eighteen in Titan terms, but I've actually been alive for almost four thousand, four hundred, and eighty-two years. When a Titan has been alive for thirty of our years, so seven thousand, four hundred, and seventy years, they become immortal, so they stop aging but they continue to grow. Once a Titan reaches sixty in our years, so fourteen thousand, nine hundred, and forty years, they stop growing, but at that point they're easily bigger than any planet."
"So… we're immortal at the age of thirty but we can still be killed?" Sounds interesting.
"Yes. True immortality is something that doesn't truly exist. Not even a Titan is impervious to death." She explained as we pushed through a less dense patch of trees, and into an open area with a large lake, thankfully one that didn't have the flowers. "I'll have to explain the growth rates later, as they are more complicated and can take a bit to wrap your head around."
"Should I even ask…?"
"It's something that we need to go through later, I've tried explaining it to humans countless times and they can never seem to comprehend it. I always end up banging my head through a wall because of the sheer irritation of their stupidity. They never seem to be able to get their head around the concept… or it could just be how I tried to explain it to them."
I felt my crown puff up in indignation. "Hey! The first people that raised me were humans!"
"No the first people that raised you was your Father, and the original Thirteen Primes." She responded, giving me an almost challenging look.
"I don't remember any of that! How do you know about it anyways?"
Her expression darkened into one of sadness… oh scrap, did I cross some line? "Auntie has shown me visions of the past, specifically things that pertain to the Extinction. She's shown me little snippets about you, admittedly not as much as she probably wanted to because of the limited time she has to visit, but I have seen some. Whereas you know nothing about me, or my family, or even the extinction, besides what Praxi and Zyriun told you, which in my opinion is very little given your reactions so far."
Well that was true… they hadn't really told me anything really… Damn! Wait I had a great idea! "Let's play twenty questions!"
She slanted a wary look in my direction. "Twenty questions? Is this similar to the questionnaire where people asked me questions about my abilities so that they could better use me as a weapon?" There was an underlying growl in her voice, and the look in her eyes, it turned… murderous… for a moment there, seeming to think back on what she was talking about.
I tried to ignore it and rolled my eyes at her. "Why would I need to do that?"
"Well humans have done that to me many times before." She responded, composing herself again, straightening, wings held closer to her sides, neck craning further up and flattening the 's' of it.
The way she said that made me think that she didn't have much faith in them as a species. "You don't like humans much do you?"
"I've been hounded, and treated like an object by more than those I have had a decent conversation with, well on the surface at least. I grew up around human warlords that wanted to use my abilities to reap havoc on Earth for their own selfish gain. Luckily it's different down in the caverns and the humans there have decency and good morals, I can actually talk to them and trust them not to senselessly fight and maim each other. It was a very complicated process, but I'm glad that it turned out to be worthwhile."
"What turned out to be worthwhile?"
"The Creation of the Caverns. It started with the City of Atlantis, an island city in the Mediterranean, and then it spread out from there when other civilizations needed help in getting away from things. We took them in and took them down to the caverns, and now we have a thriving population down there. It's got a population of about sixteen million, almost seventeen million so far, and it's the most advanced place on Earth. We already have mechanical animals that act as couriers, we got the basis for the designs from Cybertronians."
We made our way down a shallow incline to the edge of the crystal clear lake, where some other creatures were milling about near the edges. I stopped at the edge and leaned down to take a few large gulps of the surprisingly crisp and clean water, while Aurora padded into the shallows of the lake. I watched her plodding around through the water for some reason, then she let off a high pitched whistle that sent a cloud of blue tinted smoke through her nostrils.
Harp seemed to understand it, because she raised her wings and jumped up off of the horn she was perched on and flew up to land on one of mine instead. No less than a second after she did that, Aurora dove under the surface of the water and disappeared from sight.
I lifted my head and licked my lips, eyeing the spot that she disappeared, but decided not to go in after her. I did not know how to swim in this form, and something told me that Harp couldn't go down there and I didn't feel comfortable leaving her perched in a tree somewhere so I could frolic and play. There were plenty of things bigger than her, and I was worried she might get eaten.
My chest rumbled reminding me that I was hungry still… but I didn't exactly know how to hunt in this form yet… so what the hell was I supposed to do now? Plod around and wait for her to come back? I sighed and turned to walk down the bank of the lake, with Harp just hitching a ride on my head.
"So… you have mates waiting for you back at home?" She asked after a few minutes of me quietly plodding along the lakes' edge.
Her question had me wondering what the twins would think when I returned and I wasn't even Cybertronian anymore… Would they still want to go through with the mating when they found out I was organic? "Intended mates… we haven't bonded yet." I mumbled apprehensively.
"Hmm… I remember when I had a mate, and we had a few clutches of hatchlings of our own… They grew up so fast, Aurora was kind of like a breath of fresh air in that regard after I took her in as my hatchling. She aged so slow compared to my other hatchlings, and I've cherished every moment I've had with her and her siblings. I just wish that her innocence could've lasted longer."
There was a distinct tone of overwhelming sorrow in her voice when she spoke. "What happened?"
"She saw something when she was younger that she was never able to recover from. I wasn't there for her at the time, I'd gone off to get her a gift for her birthday from this merchant. She'd seen something on his cart that she liked so I thought I could get it for her as a gift. At the time she was still new to Earth and I thought that having some physical objects made by the humans might help her connect better with them. But when I got back to the place I'd left her she was hiding, shaking, inconsolable, wide blue eyes glossy and fearful, she screamed... the moment I touched her, she screamed like something was trying to drag her into a monstrous void... she wept, her tears not ceasing as she continued to blame herself... I didn't leave her side for days... I couldn't do anything without scaring her further, when she finally calmed down enough to tell me, the Nile had already turned red with blood, from the slit necks of children... I never saw what happened myself... but the trauma she went through... I could not even begin to imagine..." She looked out to the lake. "And it kills me to say it... but it wasn't the only time... it was just as bad when her father's crystal was stolen from her, the link she'd had with him broken from the loss of physical contact... That was what had gotten her through the first one... his touch, even from all those trillions of miles away, he was able to help her enough... But after that... it took the creation of her siblings, to give her enough emotional support to get her through all the times afterwards... so... so many times, even before she lost it, she lost truly good human friends, to those who wanted to use her as a weapon. Ro may hide it... but she has a deeply set hatred for corrupted humans... but the good in them, is what allows her to forgive each new generation... Ancients above… it's gotten her nearly killed so many times I want to… do something! But I can't… I'm just an old bird she found, picked up, and turned into Cybertronian version."
She sounded so aged, so tired and worn out, and filled with endless sorrow. There was real, genuine, sorrow when she spoke of what Aurora had been through, just like a good mother would feel when her daughter was changed so much by the ugliness of humanity. "Humans made her like this? So... high strung?" I asked, not in disbelief because I knew how humans could be having grown up with them, but in concern for her.
"Unfortunately, if it was only her family influencing her, she'd be a far more free-spirited female, that is the way of Water elements. They flow with events, absorb any blow they take, rarely returning it, but when they do, when they snap, a tidal wave of the greatest proportion, can't even hold the tiniest flame to them. When she was young, she was free, when the humans got to her, she became tethered... and when she was crippled... she lost all she'd held close. When she flew, the humans could not dictate her, could not hold her in place with deals, tricks, all in the name of winning their conflicts... before, she could just fly away, wait until they all died of age or other consequence, and start again, hoping to teach the new generations a better way, some did, and they opted for Qylatia and its sister caverns, many were banished for changing their ways. As a family we have seen it all, and with your future immortality, so will you, no one remains the same as they were when they first hatched, it is an impossibility as great as a universe remaining for the rest of eternity."
"Humans can be twisted can't they? I only remember my life after ending up with my Aunt and Uncle, so humans were all I knew until I met the Autobots. They can be assholes, but as long as you have someone to care about and live for you can continue going on. I think that's the same for you guys, isn't it? You keep living for each other."
I couldn't see how she reacted to that, but when she spoke, there was nostalgia in her tone. "That is all we live for. Ro has many a time proven she would end an entire continent of humans if they posed a threat her family. Yes, she protects them, but the moment they become a threat to any of her siblings, my other children, she takes up the mantle of something akin to an Elephant Matriarch on the warpath, driven, determined, and possessive of her charges to the point of mass murder. A creature, able to raise the oceans and drown the entire planet. One without thought of consequence as she acts out the ultimate penalty."
That, was deeply unsettling.
"It hasn't happened since what occurred a few centuries ago, when the youngest of our family was purposefully shoved into a tar pit, she was so afraid of igniting it that she couldn't fight it. Ro, and Ignial went ballistic. The others have gone over the edge since then, but that was the most recent for Ro, at least, until more recently when she's been having a few close calls." I can imagine.
"They shoved… who in a tar pit?"
"Rya. She's the youngest and the fire element of the group, so in other words she embodies her element in its' entirety. Fiery, hotheaded, jealous, possessive, and really easy to anger. Your typical angsty teenager."
"She must be fun to deal with."
"Ro just douses her with water whenever she gets too testy. Rya hates that. At least her Uncle is taking most of the brunt these days."
Poor mech… "So why did they push her into a tar pit?"
"They thought that if she ignited it, it could be refined into something more useful. But they didn't take into consideration that she would sink and suffocate, she was in her dinobot form at the time so she was entirely made of metal. If it hadn't been for Ro and Ignial's intervention she would've been dead."
"Intervention… I'm guessing a slaughter happened?" I deadpanned, not feeling the least bit sorry for those people. If they were that stupid, then they deserved what they got.
"If you consider having their spines ripped out by Ro, or their bodies literally fused together by the force of the impending gravity bearing down on them, which is an agonizing way to die I will tell you… a massacre… then yes. I've seen metal, rocks, even diamonds, shattered by the forces Ignial could produce back then."
"They go pop?"
"No… more like they were fused together and they became one ball of flesh, crushed bone, and hair, all twisted together in mid-air. Then Ro finished them off by ripping their spines out from the gaps, along with the rest of their bones, and then they tossed the remains into the tar pit. Think of a shoal of fish, still partially alive, due to only the bases of their spines being ripped out by Ro, then mashed into a bloody pulp with a spiked meat tenderizer, squished into a little ball to push all the blood out from the gaps in the ball, then tossed into the tar pits."
"That sounds nasty." I shuddered.
"Oh it was. Very nasty. I was grinning the entire time… at least until the part that I had to clean all the tar and blood off of Ro, Rya, and Ignial. The idiot jumped in after her, instead of using his magnetism abilities to pull her out. I swear! He never thought things through before he did it, when he came to her! That's probably why he's no longer with us now… no that is why he's not here with us now. But if he hadn't done what he had, Rya wouldn't be here with us now… That day was fated to take one of the family from us…"
"What happened?"
She sighed, the sound echoing across the mostly quiet clearing. "That's a tale for another time… one I don't like revisiting. Too much went wrong in too little a gap of time."
Guilt made my chest feel heavy, I never liked hurting someone by bringing their past up. "How about I just not bring it up again?"
"That would probably be for the best."
Noted. The best way to prevent myself from thinking on it was to just shut the thought process down and shove it to the back of my pro… mind, and leave it there forever. I wasn't sure that I wanted to know what happened anyways, not that it was even my business.
Luckily for me a distraction came in the form of Ro bursting out of the water like a breaching whale, with a large fish clamped in her jaws. We both watched on as with a ferocious swing of her neck and upper body, she slammed the creature, easily the size of a bus, into a large boulder sticking up out of the water a little way out from the shore, the impact clearly ending the giant fish's life from the impact as it fell limp in her jaws.
"One of her siblings taught her that, when she was in one of her rare better moods." Harp chuckled as Aurora walked back onto the shore, fish held triumphantly in her maw, and that was when I noticed how she was able to hold onto such a huge fish. Her face, had somehow split into four pieces, akin to a snake, only without the flesh which would cover the split bones of the serpents. I couldn't make it all out, but I could tell there were quite a few teeth in her jaw, which one couldn't see from the main jaw alone.
"Can I do that with my face?" I asked, watching as she easily unlatched her jaw from the creature's softer underbelly, allowing it to crash to the sandy ground with a large fleshy 'thump'.
Harp chuckled. "All Titans can. Think of the two-way jaw as an extra appendage which you can use for grabbing, when it's something you're fine with being damaged of course, your teeth aren't exactly made for China plates." She declared with mirth as Aurora turned her head towards us, a triumphant smile on her face.
"Breakfast is served!"
...She wanted me to eat that fish raw?
Aurora seemed to notice my off put opinion on the matter. "Heat causes the meat of this particular species of fish to become toxic, and, eaten in too great a quantity, can cause build up on the essence, similar to a human heart attack if not dealt with." She declared, leaning down again and allowing herself the first bite, ripping away the flesh and chewing it, yellow blood oozing from between the gaps in her teeth.
Harp flew over and landed on the fish's back, digging in right along with Aurora. While I was left standing here, unsure of whether I wanted to eat raw fish that could apparently cause heart attacks if cooked. I never really cared much for fish when I was human… or a pretender… "Um… I'm not sure if I'm gonna eat that."
Aurora looked up from her meal and licked her maw with her azure blue tongue a look of honest confusion on her face. "Why not? Fish is delicious! I mean, I know I prefer Atlantic Cod and Salmon… smoked… mixed with sweet and sour source… with a drizzle of barbeque sauce on the side…" There was legitimate drool forming at the edge of her mouth.
"Aurora, you're food dreaming again." Harp chuckled, snapping Aurora back to focus.
"Right… sorry… got ahead of myself there, why don't you want to eat it?"
"I don't really like fish… especially uncooked fish. It always tasted gross when I was human… or pretending to be human…" I mumbled the last bit a little dejectedly, chest rumbling as a whiff of the putrid rotten smell of the dead fish hit my nostrils. I almost fainted from the stench. Ok, I was definitely not eating that. "It stinks."
She came over and nudged my… flank… to get me to move towards it. "It may smell bad, but I assure you the taste is much, much better than the stench. Just try it." She encouraged me. "If you don't like it we'll find something else. Titans taste things very differently than humans, or Cybertronians, I assure you. The taste receptors on our tongue are linked in such a way to our brains, that even things that are normally inedible to most creatures, can taste like the finest meal. We've evolved this way because we require so much more sustenance than other creatures, so we adapted so that we perceive almost anything as being tasty. I eat boulders, and they taste just like jaw breakers, but I can chomp them to bits without damaging myself in the process. That sustains me just fine when I have nothing else to eat."
I looked at her skeptically. "Rocks? Really? You just eat rocks when you get hungry enough?"
"Yes, they're a great source of minerals."
I sighed, eyeing the fish disdainfully. "Fine… but I won't like this…"
"Just humor me, you'll be surprised."
Que me shuddering in revulsion…
(Sides' POV)
Two months had gone by since Clare had been killed in Egypt, and the base had taken on a somber atmosphere. Jazz no longer smiled or told jokes, and Prowl didn't bother brigging anybot, or snapping at them when they acted up. They were deeply mourning her death, and the light that had sparkled in their optics whenever their adopted sparkling was around, had long since faded and left a never-ending dull and pain filled expression behind.
I couldn't blame them really, Sunny and I were no better than they were. I could hardly find anything worth leaving my room for, and Sunny never left unless he absolutely had to. Even then it was only to refuel, or run patrol when Hide came by and forced us out because we couldn't shirk our duties like we wanted to. The first few times that happened my twin snapped and went crazy, and it took Hide, Hot Rod, and one of the new arrivals Bulkhead, to get him subdued again.
I hadn't seen him like that in millennia, and now he'd even given up on fighting back. Instead he just sat in a corner of the room, in front of the easel that Clare had asked Lennox to get the materials for him to make, and he just stared at the blank canvas he had set up the morning that all this mess had started, with the intent to paint her as a mating gift, all day long. He wouldn't touch it, he didn't acknowledge anybot but me, and even then… he was so forlorn and lost that it made the aching in my spark a thousand times worse.
What could I say to him? Nothing was going to make this gaping hole in our spark any better… The absence of the one being that completed both of us so perfectly, and loved us as much as we loved her… was overwhelming. We missed her so much… and the pain just wasn't fading. If anything it grew more intense with each passing day.
I didn't want to pull pranks anymore, or joke, or laugh, or even force a smile. I'd taken to holing myself up in the room with Sunny, laying on the berth and holding onto Clare's little stuffed bear Patches, the one that I'd won for her at the carnival, and she loved so much. Her scent was still clinging to him so strongly, that it was almost like I was holding onto her and not a little stuffed animal…
But then I'd open my optics, hoping that this was all a bad vid file, and she'd be staring up at me… and my hopes would be dashed, because lifeless, black, beady optics would be staring up at me from an inanimate face. Every time… our spark broke a little more…
I felt like… we were literally dying, slowly and painfully.
And as each day passed, our will to even attempt to fight it diminished more and more…
I think we were at the point where we'd just fade if the Well would take us. We'd just let go and join the Well if it meant we could find her again…
Right now we were both laying in our berth, lacking the desire to get up or do anything as was normal now… I had Patches held firmly in my right servo, and Sunny was laying on his side facing me, with his cheek resting against the little mountain of pillows she had piled up in the middle of the upper part of our berth.
His optics were glassy, and energon was pooling around the edges, periodically trickling down across his olfactory passage in thick rivulets. He cried silently, like he always had whenever something hurt us like this, though nothing ever had before. Not like this…
I wasn't much better… I could feel the warm sting of energon pooling in my optics, and running down my cheeks to drip onto the berth below. But I was more vocal, I always had been the one to sniffle, or sob quietly when I was sparkbroken, and Sunny was the only one around to see… Well before we'd met Clare nobot had ever seen either of us cry, but after she came into our lives she'd been there for us when we had the odd bad vid file of our time as younglings and we woke up crying because of it. She'd wipe the tears away and squeeze her tiny frame in against our throats, letting us recharge with the comfort of her being cradled against us, making sure that we knew where we were, and that the nightmares were in the past.
Now we were living in one, because she wasn't here to stop it… She never would be again…
A sudden knock at the door interrupted the quiet mourning we were doing. I glanced at the door to our quarters as they slid open and Smokescreen walked in, red, white, and blue paint barely discernable through the dimness of our room.
"Are you two gonna keep at this forever?" He asked in an even tone, obviously referring to Clare's death.
I turned away and went back to staring at the ceiling without responding, because he couldn't understand how it felt to lose a femme that you loved. One that you wanted to mate to, and maybe even have a family unit with if it ever became possible again… and you had to accept that she was dead and you couldn't do a fragging thing to stop it!
We couldn't save her!
"Get off the berth slaggers! You're coming with me and you're both gonna vent until you're feeling a little better!"
"Go away Smokey." I mumbled in a voice thick and filled with static.
Something grabbed onto my leg, tightening and yanking until the grip bordered on painful and I shot up and took a swipe at Smokey's helm to get him to let go. He dodged my halfsparked swing and shuffled back a bit. "Are you two just gonna lay there until you offline from lack of energon?"
"If we get to see Clare again then yes." Sunny mumbled dejectedly.
Smokey scoffed, putting his servos on his hips. "You're just gonna lay there like pouting sparklings? Do you think that's gonna make your femme come back? No wonder you couldn't do anything to save her if you're willing to give up this easily!"
Instant, blinding rage went surging through the bond, pulsating and growing stronger as we both tensed with the swell of overwhelming emotion. It had Sunny lunging up off the berth with an enraged snarl, servos lashing out and catching Smokescreen by the arm and twisting him with enough force to toss him into the TV stand.
It buckled from the force, shattering and sending chunks flying across the room to ricochet against the walls, the sounds of them hitting being drowned out by my twin's screaming engine. His anger was like the waves of an acid storm brewing with the intent to disintegrate everything in its' path, steam wafting up off of his frame in thick plumes that superheated the air within astroseconds. "Don't you ever talk about Clare's death like you were there! You never even knew her!" He roared with so much volume that the walls shook, and his vocalizer crackled and almost shorted out.
Smoke pulled himself up with a grunt. "You think I didn't know anything about her?"
I stood beside Sunny as he took stood there, bristling with such rage that it made what he was capable of in the pits look infinitesimal. The insinuation that we'd failed her because we were too weak to stop the events that led to her death, not motivated enough to protect her, hurt like something was shredding our spark from the inside out. "No! You never even knew her!"
"I may not have ever known her in person, but I knew her! Prowl's my younger brother! When he adopted that femme and became her Opiluck, he and Jazz were the happiest that I've ever felt them be for as long as they've been mated! She may not have ever realized it, but Blue and I felt her emotions through our link with Prowl! We saw them all bonding as a family unit, and our sparks were changed by that too! We feel the sorrow that you're all feeling, even if it's not as deeply seeded as what you're all feeling! That doesn't mean that our sparks aren't crying for her death too! But you don't see the rest of us just giving up like you are! Think of her! Would she want you to just give up and let yourselves die because she did? That won't solve anything! And it sure as pit won't do anything to avenge her death now will it?"
A thought flashed between us, from his processor into mine, and just like that something in our sparks shifted gears. "Avenge her death…?" We both whispered so softly that it was barely audible.
Avenge Clare's death…
Rip Megatron's spark out and hold the glowing orb of life up for him to see, before crushing it and watching the light fade from those sick, twisted red optics?
Feel the satisfaction that came with knowing that, by destroying the entirety of his essence he would never live again? He would find no solace or comfort in the Well of Sparks, because there would be no spark left to return to it…
(He took her from us…) He started,
(And now we'll get revenge!) I finished with a low growl.
He wouldn't be allowed to live after taking her from us! We'd hunt him down and offline him, no matter how much it took!
"I know that look in your optics, I prefer seeing anger over desolation." Smokey commented upon taking in what where probably our murderous looking optics.
"Don't even… I'm still slagged off at you right now mech!" Sunny growled at him dangerously.
He just shrugged. "Be mad at me, as long as you're not giving up I can live with you hating me. Now, I think it's time you two got out of this room and refueled properly… and we can discuss revenge plots if you want… I mean that would be normal compared to Prime's helm… head… sticking in through the hangar doors like an overgrown petro puppy."
"What…?"
"Come on, you'll see when we get there." With that he turned and waited for us to follow after him, then he led us out of our quarters and into the hall, which was filled with equipment that was being prepared for our move from Diego Garcia to a base in Washington DC. It was a sad sight… we didn't want to leave the place where we'd spent time with our intended…
(I don't want to move to a new base… at least here, I can remember the times we spent with her. I can picture her walking in through our berthroom door, and I can sit in the rec room and imagine she's going to come in and clamber up my leg to get on the table.) Sunny remarked mournfully, spark pulsating with renewed sorrow. As quickly as the determination to avenge her had come, it has simmered down to a dull hum in the center of our spark, and the familiar pain of loss had come back in full. It was only the simple fact that we had to keep going in order to avenge her death that prevented us from sulking back to our berthroom. We could get back at Megatron for taking her from us! Then maybe… afterwards we could join her in the well with the knowledge that he wouldn't get away with what he'd done to her.
I pressed myself side to side with my twin, silently offering him comfort through the physical contact, and through mustering as much as I could through the bond. He sent a weak pulse back, but it was an effort at least. I wasn't much better anyways.
At that moment we neared the hangar, and we immediately heard the annoying sound of Galloway's voice as he preached about something or other. The much deeper timber of Optimus answered back, sounding more guttural than he previously had as a Cybertronian. Then again… he wasn't exactly Cybertronian anymore… much to Ratchet's irritation since he didn't know the first thing about treating him now...
When we walked into the hangar, Prime's large head was sticking in through the doors up to the two sets of horns that he couldn't squeeze in, that being all he could actually fit in without tearing the hangar apart. The rest of him was strewn out in some haphazard way so that his tail wasn't lying across the air strip. From what we'd gathered, Prime wasn't exactly in the best of moods as of late, due to his inability to be on our level to talk and the like, and his hunger had led to the scrapyard a mile or so from base being completely empty. Well, aside from a few scraps of metal which had fallen out while he was tearing through the decommissioned vehicles there.
He'd even gnawed on one of the unused hangar corners when he was bored! That hangar was no longer standing because he'd grown hungry after tearing it apart, then he proceeded to eat the remains! Maybe that was why Primus took this power away from the Thirteen? Trying to deal with Prime's hunger was hard enough, thirteen must have been a nightmare. There was also the factor to take into consideration that his wounds had barely healed in the slightest, the scrapes, scratches, and discoloration peering through from under the thick plated scales around his chest were only making Prime's mood worse.
We stopped near Ironhide and Ratchet, who were watching the exchange between Prime and Galloway with matching scowls on their faces. "What's he going on about now? Like we don't have enough to deal with right now, an enraged meat sack is the last thing I wanna have anything to do with." Sunny asked in a biting tone that he didn't even try to keep below audio range of any humans present.
"He's slagged off about the situation in Egypt." Hide muttered irritably. "Something about destroying priceless relics of human history… He's holding Optimus responsible, as if he actually did it, or that he'd do it on purpose! Fragging pest…"
"How do you guys deal with this afthole?"
"We try not to Smokey." I grumbled. Galloway was the last thing any of us wanted to deal with right now. Not after…
"YOU DESTROYED THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA! THOSE PYRAMIDS WERE IMPORTANT MONUMENTS TO THE EGYPTIAN CULTURE! THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT IS BREATHING DOWN MY NECK RIGHT NOW! THEY WANT SOMEONE TO HOLD ACCOUNTABLE!" Galloway all but screamed at the top of his lungs up at Prime.
Optimus just huffed, shifting his head ever so slightly so that he could look the tiny human clearly in one eye, which itself was larger than the man it bared down on, the mix of blues seeming to turn cold. Prime was definitely in a bad mood… "Mr. Galloway, understand that what occurred in Egypt, was not something we were prepared for. This... alteration to my anatomy... was not something any of us planned, and I was being influenced by an outside force during the course of the battle. Those actions were not my own."
"YOU EXPECT ME TO SWAY THE COUNCIL WITH AN EXPLANATION LIKE THAT?! DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY'RE GOING TO BELIEVE THAT YOU WERE INFLUENCED BY AN OUTSIDE FORCE WHEN YOU DESTROYED THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA?!"
Optimus chuffed, blowing a thick cloud of smoke into Galloway's face and the rest of his body which made the human break out in a coughing fit as soot covered his previously well-kept attire, what with it completely engulfing the man. "You have already told this to me seven times, you repeatedly trying to get under my... scales... is only making me irritated." Now that I was looking close, small flashes where beginning to pepper Prime's head, mostly around his horns... Oh frag, he might just fry our liason if the irritating human didn't get the message soon…
Prowl and Jazz chose to enter the hangar at the same moment that Galloway started screaming about Optimus lacking respect. "What is he going on about?" Prowl asked, though it honestly seemed as if he really didn't care. He had that same dejected look in his icy blue optics that he'd had since Clare had… died…
I swallowed the lump in my throat down, my shared spark feeling like it was having the life squeezed out of it, and nothing we could think of would ever make that pain go away…
Why did she have to die…?
Ratchet took it upon himself to answer, since Sunny and I were too wrapped up in the pain to even give a frag about what was going on. "Galloway, cease this display. Prime is clearly not in the mood to deal with you, and dealing with a... dragon... in your current manner, who is bigger than one of your aircraft carriers, is only going to end badly for you."
Galloway spun on Ratchet with an absolutely livid expression, once pale skin now burning red with ire where it could be seen through the soot at least. "Enough of your back talking you useless pile of scrap! Honestly! I'd thought it would be easier dealing with you machines when that prissy bitch got herself killed! Her metal would have been far more useful to us than she was! But no! You've all just taken her useless place!"
Those words echoed through the hangar, continuously playing through my audios like a sonic boom going off less than a micron from me. That fragging useless little… how dare he say that?!
Sunny was the first to lunge, blades already extended with intent to kill the piece of scrap. Before I could move Jazz lunged next, the smaller mech just as enraged as the rest, as Prime actually roared, head thrashing for a moment as his horns and upper head decimated the part of the hanger where the top of the door was, once there was a big enough gap, his head practically vaulted forward, the spines along his neck ripping through the hangar ceiling and sending debris flying around him, as I too made a move to attack, even Prowl joining the rush to him right after. Ironhide, Smokescreen and Ratchet intervened, trying to hold us all back to no avail, despite the look in their optics showing they wanted to do the same.
The human meat sack was somehow able to bolt, running straight towards the emergency human fire exit. Only he never reached it, instead, he crashed face first into a black smog, the massive cloud having formed and taken up a good quarter of the hanger without any of us being aware of it until now. The human meat sack bounced right off whatever was in there with a solid thud, falling backwards and crashing to the ground, but our own attacks were forgotten at the sight of the murderous, black and white glowing eyes staring at the human, with such a desire to kill... it made mine and Sunny's expressions almost tame.
A dark blue glow pulsated from within the dark mist, illuminating edges of things otherwise hidden, but not enough for any of us to see what it was, the only thing we could tell was, it was big. "I should have your tongue ripped out for saying such a thing!" The voice... oh Primus above... we all recoiled, Galloway pushing himself back with a scream as the demonic, psychotic, feminine and distorted like a broken record, roared at him. A flash revealed rows of serrated and conical teeth, and a deep blue glow was forming behind them, the teeth snapping shut not a hairs breath from the human's pale and horrified face, the smog dissipating just enough to reveal pitch black scales and the front teeth bared in a snarl, the sound similar to a cluster of knifes being struck against one another on their sharp edges.
Whatever she was, her presence was the kind of overwhelming that it made it feel as if gravity was bearing down on you relentlessly, buckling under a weight which made me feel like I just had to kneel down, either out of some fearful respect, or to keep myself from being forced to the ground by the sheer weight on all of us. For that reason, I couldn't move, it felt like I was frozen, and a quick glance around the hangar informed me that that it was the same for everybot else. Every single one of us was staring at her, whatever she was, in an awed kind of fear and respect.
The thick billowing cloud obscuring her from view expanded outwards suddenly, and the sound of something spreading wide filled the air, the smog creeping along the floor spread up as if on command, rushing up the walls and along the ceiling in steadily pulsating waves that arched up and swirled into the air like raging vortexes, filling more than half the now badly damaged hangar, with such force that it whipped up a powerful gust of wind within the hangar. It was strong enough to send Galloway flying into the far wall, the smog began moving, gliding over the hangar towards the human again, the steps of a quadruped sending noticeable shockwaves through the ground, causing our plating to actually rattle as the smog lifted up higher, looking like a neck rearing into the air. "Speak about my granddaughter like that again, and I will be more than happy to drag you down into the underworld with a noose made out of your own skinned hide! You piece of rotten flesh unworthy of even existence itself!" She roared again once she was close enough to the human for the smog to lap at his legs, causing him to scream again as it seemed to start ripping at the clothes he wore, slash marks appearing and leaving red lines on the revealed flesh.
We didn't try to stop her, too frozen by what she had said, her she aura and the little voice in the back of our helms telling us that no matter what we did, there was no way of stopping this thing.
Sunny tensed beside me, wariness being overtaken by confusion and a slow, simmering anger. (Granddaughter?! Who the frag is that?!)
I eyed the billowing mass warily, but I understood why Sunny was getting riled up. Here comes this femme, whatever she is, who claimed to be Clare's grandcarrier, yet had never once showed herself before now. She wasn't there for Clare, not through her life, or when she needed her. It was easier for Sunny to deal with pain when he had somebot to blame it on, and he'd pinned the blame on this femme, maybe irrationally, but our spark was overcome with sorrow as it was. There was no room for second thoughts, or even guilt over anything else. (Her grandcarrier.) I answered, even though I knew he knew that, though we were both questioning whether it was a true statement or not.
Galloway was frozen in place, too terrified to move, she seemed alright with this, turning to face us… I think, those two glowing orbs where now locked on us, so I assume so.
"You… You're Clare's grandmother?" She nodded, How… Why…?
"Then why were you never there for her?!" Sunny roared, I barely had the sense to stop him from charging, what this thing radiated… it was death incarnate.
She seemed to sigh. "To protect her."
"That's no fragging excuse!"
"Being here, would have done more harm than good."
"HOW?!"
"Because, she was not ready. She wasn't ready in any way, shape, or form."
"SHE'S DEAD!"
"I am fully aware of that."
"Then why didn't you stop it!"
"There was no need, and… there was nothing I could have done… Praxi did all I was unable to. Death, limits you in a lot of things." She turned to Prime. "But… he is a forgetful thing, allow me to aid you there young Prime." Wait… she… she was offline?! But she sounded younger than fragging Ratchet!
Wait… Young? Since when was Prime young?!
He tensed slightly as she drew nearer, but just before she reached him, she groaned, seeming to collapse slightly, the smog compressing closer to the ground. "Curse it… I'm running out of time." Before any of us could react, part of the smog rushed forward, and hit the scales hidden behind Primes horns.
He let of a startled grunt, before something weird happened.
His entire frame rippled, and began… shrinking, we watched in stunned silence once again as his body shifted and took on a form similar to his Cybertronian one, only this time he had his sword tipped tail sticking out of his aft, and wings sitting on his shoulders, along with his two sets of three horns sitting atop his helm. She only pulled away when he crumbled to the floor, now no bigger than a large yacht. He looked like his old self… only if it had somehow fused with that dragon form he'd taken after the Matrix was put into him.
She stepped back, the black smog following. "Our kind have the ability to manipulate our own bodies however they please, an ability Praxi gave you Cybertronians when he created you, to a limited degree that is. Young Prime, do not worry, there will come a time when you will be one with your body and mind once again, patience, and the good natures of those around you, will help. And now, I must leave."
She turned to the rest of us. "All will be explained in due time. But for now, I, am Liara. Until all are one, and all are reunited." Before anyone could react, horrifying screams and moans came from her as she receded into a void which had appeared in the ground, ghostly arms of all sorts of different creatures, one even looking like a Cybertronian protoform, reached out of it, but she seemed to drag them back down with her. "No my wards, your suffering shall never be complete." She cooed at them, like a carrier to her sparkling, but the words made it more like a dark and foreboding promise, purred out of a Cyber cat about to pounce on helpless prey.
Then, the void closed, the sound stopped instantly, and we were left standing there staring.
"Clare's… Grandmother… is Satan?" A human, who had clearly walked in on this and been royally scared out of their mind muttered, before outright fainting.
Prime groaned, pushing off the ground, now able to fit just into the hangar, the two horn rows on his helm clanging against the hangars upper support beams. It looked like he'd gained quite a bit of height too… like… stopping to fit through the corridors big. "Another experience I never wish to repeat. Although that one was nowhere near as painful." Prime grumbled, rubbing the spot on his neck cables which she'd pressed, before taking in his new appearance. "… Praxi… Liara… I fear this is not the end of whatever plans they have for myself… and the rest of us."
This… this was getting way too weird.
Wait… where did that meat sack go?!
Looking around I spotted him, somehow now hanging from one of the torn pieces of metal that Prime had caused in his earlier thrashing, held up by the elastic of his undergarment.
Looks like whoever that femme was, she at least had a semblance of a sense of humor.
Despite being possibly sadistic.
(Ierena's POV)
I swallowed my last bite of… fish… and shuddered as its' yellow blood dripped down my chin. The taste of it wasn't bad actually, kinda like pork, but the texture was disgusting. I was trying not to throw it back up, and so far I was succeeding. If I got a parasite…
Aurora stopped licking the blood off of her paws and cocked her head at me. "You are not going to get any adverse effects from eating raw fish Ierena. I've told you that we don't have any internal organs, outside of our reproductive ones, and our brain. Even if there was a parasite that could get into our bodies, it would be pulled down into our furnaces, which as I've told you, are nothing but compressed balls of fire, and then they would be obliterated by the heat. Our essences are gems, that are surrounded by compressed stars, that's the equivalent, a mere parasite cannot survive that."
"At least I don't have to worry about heart worms…"
"No you don't. Anything you eat would be sliced up by the blades lining your throat, then eviscerated by the heat of your furnace. However, you do need to be careful that you don't get struck in the chest, because the things you eat orbit around within your orbital rings before they enter the furnace entirely and get eviscerated, and they can be knocked loose if you're struck hard enough, and you can effectively, be killed by something you ate as an after-thought months prior, due to you thinking you'd be able to have just that one more bite before you left."
"So we can literally eat ourselves to death?" I asked incredulously.
"Effectively yes. It is something you need to keep an eye on. You could starve yourself before a fight to avoid the problem, but then you wouldn't have anything to sustain you before and during said fight. So eat small meals before conflict."
"What about surprise attacks?"
"Pray that you don't get hit hard enough to have something knocked loose." She responded, placing her elbow joint on the ground so she could rest the middle of her neck on her claws, the rest of her neck leaning closer to examine me again, she was doing that a lot, seeming to want to map out every little purple speckle on my body.
"Wow… really reassuring…" I grumbled sarcastically, really? We can't die from aging, are pretty much indestructible, yet can be killed by a single blow to the chest, because of a slice of pizza we had six months ago?!
"Don't worry, you need to be hit with something… oh, think of being the size of an ant, and getting shot by an armor piercing round from a tank. That kind of force… although I've never been in a conflict which I haven't gotten under control in time… or killed the opposition, so I'm not quite sure exactly how great the force is needed to be to knock something loose."
"You're just trying to make me feel better aren't you? Because that's a really bad comparison… and it's probably not even accurate." I deadpanned, well she kinda said she had no personal idea...
"Mmmm… it wasn't my best attempt." She admitted sheepishly, rubbing the side of her neck with her other paw.
"Clearly." I muttered, as I got up due to my own curiosity, and ambled towards the clear lake so that I could get a good look at myself. The clear surface of the lake was like a mirror, clear enough that I could see my reflection.
My head was like Aurora's, but my snout was more pointed, not shaped like half an axe as hers was. I had horns that looked almost the exact same, but mine were longer and thinner, but they still twisted the same way and were the same color, minus the blue stripes, and the tuft of feathers sticking out from under them were longer and thicker, made up of icy blue and plum purple. I was all black, with little purple speckles which ran along my body in lines, the main seeming to follow the ice blue ridges which ran down my neck, back, and tails growing gradually darker as they went down the length of my body, the underside of my neck, underbelly and tails was the same ice blue, and seemed to glow a pale luminescence due to how the moons were reflecting off the clear water. I had a dusting of purple lining the underside of it on either side, and my eyes were a plum purple, with a black slit in the center, and a light midnight blue lining the outer edges, and a dusting of white flecks, like stars was prominent was prominent all other. Aurora's eyes were a mix of different blues, swirling around a darker blue slit in the center like a whirlpool converging on something. Neither of us seemed to have irises.
I turned so that my entire body was visible, taking in the sight of my two sets of wings, and the two tails that I'd already seen before in the cave. This time I was more focused on what my body looked like as a whole, it actually looked a lot like Saphira from the movie Eragon. Muscled, streamlined, and built for speed just like hers was. I had more of a curve near my abdomen though, and my legs were definitely longer comparatively than hers were.
My tails and wings twitched, moving of their own accord, almost like I didn't even need to think for them to be animate. But when I thought of raising my tails, they immediately responded by curling upwards so that the tips were pointing up at the sky.
I blinked, then tried moving my wings, and they straightened and fluttered when I thought of them doing that. It was like… when I was human, and Cybertronian, and I wanted to move my arms or legs. All I had to do was want to do it, and my extra appendages responded just as easily as my legs did… I just had more appendages to think about moving at any one time now… Huh… Well now that I finally got a good look at myself, I needed a drink to get the slimy texture out of my mouth!
I leaned down and opened my mouth to allow water to gush in, then I suctioned it back and swallowed, and repeated this process a few more times, until I felt like I had enough. I was acutely aware of Harp landing on my head, my horns being sensitive enough to feel the light pressure of her landing and the ticklish sensation of having her talons gripping the boney appendages. Wait… why was she on me?
I didn't get the chance to ask her, because just below the surface of the water, as in inches from my face, the sight of sharp, serrated teeth appeared… I jerked back as the form of a Lake Guardian lunged up from under the surface of the water, teeth spinning like the blades of a blender.
"OH FUCK NO! NOT ONE OF THESE ASSHOLES AGAIN!" I screamed, as a fight or flight reflex was triggered within me, but I knew it was too close for me to get away from. Something pulsated in the center of my chest, like a chilling energy radiating out from it, but it wasn't cold, it was more like something intangible moving through my body. I reared back from the start that both this energy caused, and because of the Lake Guardian closing in on me, rising up onto my hind legs and swinging at it with my right paw. Something unexpected happened when I did this, the energy inside me building up and surging into my paw, and then it literally exploded outward in a torrent of black energy that struck the Lake Guardian in the face and sent it reeling away from us.
And just like that I turned tail and ran as fast as fast as my legs could carry me in the opposite direction, as two loud booms went off behind me. I didn't turn to look at what it was, or even pay any attention to anything around me besides the trees that were rushing passed. I could still clearly see every leaf on them, every divot in the pink, fleshy bark on them. But I kept running, without giving a damn about anything other than not getting eaten.
At least until Harp started yelling from atop my head. "IERENA STOP! STOP!"
"NO WAY! WE'LL GET EATEN IF WE GO BACK!" Oh shit… we left Aurora back there! SHIT!
I screeched to a halt by digging my claws into the ground, but I went skidding forward, tearing up dirt and rock for a few hundred meters, before I finally came to a complete standstill. Only once I was sure I wouldn't knock myself off balance, I turned to go back the way we'd come, but Harp flew down in front of my face before I could take a step.
"Calm down Ierena!"
"Aurora's gonna get eaten by the Lake Guardian! I've gotta go back-!"
"Ro was that Lake Guardian! She was testing you to see what element you were. Evidently the double back up of your father and his mother have proven powerful. You are a shadow element young one, and by the distance you sent your cousin flying with that punch, a powerful one at that."
"Double back up?" I mumbled, before I realized what exactly Harp said about me punching Aurora. That got me back on track, and I lowered my head down so that the aged bird could perch herself up in my horns again, then I took off back in the direction we came.
When we arrived back at the clearing the trees on the other side of the lake were all smashed and overturned, and the force with which Aurora's body had hit the ground with had caused it to rip up dirt and rock as it slid across it, leaving a long trail up to where she was laying on her back a good ways away. She was laying in a lump, with her legs curled up against her belly, and she was twitching periodically.
After a moment she raised her head and groaned. "That… was… not my best… idea…"
I winced and rushed to help her, while mumbling a nervous apology. "Sorry!"
It took me a moment to help her get back on her feet, and once she was steady I stepped back, while she shook her head and raised a paw to rub at her face. "Ow… you hit me harder than Razor or Uri, and Razor hit me with a mountain when I did that to him…"
"Who hit you with a mountain…?"
"My brother Razor. He's an Earth element, and he's thrown mountains at me a few times actually, smaller than the original though."
"Do you mean that he picked a mountain up and threw it at you?"
"Yes."
I blinked at her. "Really?"
"He's a strength class, they kind of… well they're the strongest of the Titan classes in terms of physical strength. Lifting huge masses, such as mountains, is kind of their thing."
"Strength class?"
She cocked her head at me. "Yes. I guess I should explain the classes and social structure to you shouldn't I?"
I felt confused, so I just nodded and we sat down near the edge of the lake, and Harp flitted back over and nestled herself down on Aurora's horns.
"Ok, first I should explain the physical classes, which put much more simply, is just the different body types. Certain Titans are bred for certain things, strengths are bred to have denser muscle mass, thus they are much stronger physically than other classes. Back when Valunma was inhabited by our kind, they were actually the main force of the military because of how thick their armor is, and how strong they are. If you were born a strength class, you were enlisted as soon as you were of age. Chargers are next, and they are pretty strong, but they are also bred for a lesser degree of speed. They were mostly used in the mines, as they could break ore by charging it and bashing it with their thick skulls, then they could transport it as needed. Aerials are physically one of the weaker groups outside of the Rider classes, but they are very maneuverable in the air. They were widely used as air couriers back before the extinction. Next are the speed classes, that's what I am. We were bred for speed as our class name suggests, we possess a light honeycomb bone structure that absorbs impacts very well, and that allows us to remain lightweight so as not to weigh us down, yet prevents us from damaging ourselves at our top speeds were we to fall or crash into something. Speeds were used as transports before the extinction. Next are the stealth class, and as their name suggests they were used as spies and assassins mostly, espionage, and were part of the military in that regard. They're bred for stealth and speed, and they can move without making a single sound when needed. Then there are the Rider class, or better known as support class, these Titans were much smaller than the other classes, easily being able to ride on another Titan's back in battle. They were created by the Nature elements when one of the previous Light Kings, or Queens, requested it, and have insectoid like features. Think of them like… dragons… with butterfly-like features. As their name suggests, they were used to support other Titans in battle from atop their backs. Unlike most Titans, they walked solely on their hind legs, making their forelegs more akin to human arms, use wise. Stealth's had this as well, but were mainly on all fours anyway. Oh can't forget the Aquila's, Uri would have my head if she found out I almost forgot that. Aquila's are… water locked Titans, their hind legs replaced with long powerful tails, they were used for colonizing primarily liquid based planets and harvesting resources unobtainable to the rest of the classes."
Something about the way she spoke of the classes, what they were bred for, what they were used for… didn't seem right. It was almost like… they had to do these things, and weren't given a choice… Like as soon as they were born they were fated to these tasks. "You talk like… being born as one class meant that you had to perform these tasks. Did they even have a choice in the matter?"
Her eyes darkened, and she looked down at the surface of the lake sadly. "No they didn't. If you were born as one class, you were destined to be put into a line of work based on that. The only way out of it was if your element was high enough in the ranking system."
"They really condemned others based on what their element was?" I asked incredulously. The thought downright pissed me off!
She nodded, casting her gaze out to the water we sat beside, not looking at me… "That's how it was for a very long time, even before Titans started recording their history. Lights were at the top of the ranking system, followed by the Mind elements, and Lightning, due to their usefulness at keeping the 'peace'. If you were one of these three elements, you were exempt from being given a station based on your physical classification. These elements were considered noble from the time they obtained their elements, and they could live their lives with comfort and ease if they so choose to. Metal, and Ice are next on the element chain, but they were still bound by their physical class, though they were still highly sought after as mates. Magnetism is next, and is considered the mid-way point, sought after but not as much as those above it, but due to their nature, you'd often find them being used as… used as… for pleasure…" A shiver went down her back, rattling her wings and the feathers behind her horns, Harp mentioned one of her siblings had been a Magnetism… Oh frag! If they'd been there… then... oh scrap I didn't want to think about it! "Water and Nature are just below that, and are considered common elements, but they are still sought after because of their abilities to manipulate the body, or in Nature's case, heal others and alter the inner workings of living things to better suit their needs. Fire is next, and is considered a common element as well, then that is followed by Air, and Earth. The majority of Titans are either Fire, Air, Water, Nature, or Earth. Those are the most common elements, and they were all subjected to life as slaves basically." She trailed off as if thinking of something that bothered her, but whatever it was, she shook her head to dispel the thought and turned to look back at me with eyes that were still dark, but this time in anger…? "And at the very bottom are the Shadows… like you. They are as rare as the Lights, but because of some ancient feud they were tossed to the bottom of the social structure by the Light Monarchy. A shadow was considered the lowest of the low, and was subjected to the most demeaning forms of servitude… or outright killed on the spot if they showed too much resistance to the system. Those laid by higher ranking members, were banished most of the time, like Auntie was."
I tensed as what she was insinuating registered…
I was a shadow… Granny was a shadow… dad was a shadow… if what Harp had said was true…
If… I'd lived during the time before the extinction… who knows what might've happened to me…
I'd have been a slave of the lowest caste…
Anyone like me… would've been forced to endure the same fate… like the rest of my family…
Who the hell did those Lights think they were?!
I growled angrily, the sound unlike anything I'd heard before with how deep and guttural it was, both of my tails thumping against the ground behind me in agitation. "Those fucking assholes…! Who the hell gave them the right to decide how everyone else had to live their lives?!"
She seemed sad, and angry as well, but she didn't lose her composure as I had. "That's how it always was, though it doesn't make it right Ierena. Titans were raised with those beliefs, and going against the Light Ruler would've resulted in the death of whoever was foolish enough to try it, that was the belief and only the bravest fought against it. They ruled with an iron fist, no one opposed them overtly, and if someone did they were publicly executed for it. If someone so much as spoke of sympathizing with a Shadow, they would be killed for it. That's how the system was."
"Well that way of thinking was fucked up! I'd rather die and be proud of who I am, then live my life as a damn slave! At least by speaking out, someone can prove that no matter what someone else does to them, they won't be bound or subjugated completely. Giving up and accepting it is the same as admitting that such a way of thinking is acceptable. It's not and it never will be!"
"I'm fully aware of that Ierena, that is what Hariun did, along with her twin, Zyirun, who you met, they freed Liara, your grandmother, in an act of kindness. Years later, when she came back with an army, Hariun left the royal courts, and Zyirun stayed behind to act as a spy. Hariun was dubbed a Shadow sympathizer, and was hunted almost as mercilessly as Liara was. Yet… somehow, they were able to conceive a hatchling, and raise your father, far better than my own father was able to raise my older siblings."
I tilted my helm at her, caught by the sadness again. "Who was your father?"
She looked to the sky this time. "Kiol."
That name rang a bell… he… Zyirun and daddy had spoken of him highly, a supporter of them… mate to the light queen…
My head slowly rose back up to stare at her… she… she was the daughter of that crazy bitch?! Well… I'd realized it a few days ago… but only now did reality finally decide to hit me in the face with the force of one of those disgusting giant fish… Holy fuck… Aurora was…
She seemed to realize I'd made the connection, she got up… and walked away.
Her head lowered from its' usual spot raised high above the rest of her, right eye gazing upon me as blank and hollow as a glass eye would. "I understand if you hate me now… I'll give you your space to come to terms with the fact that my side of the family… are… unstable… murdering… psychopathic maniacs." I saw Harp trying to speak with her, but she was obviously not getting anywhere.
I couldn't believe it… She thought I'd actually judge her because of her crazy mother!? If anything, it made me want to hug her!
So, I quickly rose to my own feet, and sprinted after her, leaping up into the air, my four wings spreading out on their own ovation, letting me glide onto her back and send her crashing to the ground as I did my best to wrap my limbs around her in a hug, all ten of them.
She stumbled and fell flat on her face with a loud, "OOMPH!"
"I don't hate you for what your… bitch of a mother did! You didn't have anything to do with what she did, and I know that your Dad didn't agree with her actions either. Daddy told me he was loyal to Grandma, so he must've been a good person, and I think you inherited that from him. If you were like your mom… I don't think you'd be wasting your time with me right now." I mumbled into the soft crown of light and dark blue feathers that I currently had my face buried in.
She felt like her mother's actions reflected negatively on her, as if she herself were just as responsible. That wasn't how I saw anything, it wasn't how I perceived where the blame for someone's actions should go. As far as I was concerned; Gia's actions only reflected on herself, and Unicron, who was corrupted by her beliefs and became the power hungry tyrant that was well known in Cybertronian legends. Aurora was not guilty, or responsible, or even one to be held liable for anything that happened, she'd only been an egg… just like me… It surprised me actually how similar we were in that regard… we both had doubts, fears and all that scrap which were irrational… ones we refused to just drop…
"If Daddy or Grandaunt Zyriun thought you were like her, I know they wouldn't have entrusted me to you if they didn't think you were a good person. That shows that they have faith in you right?"
She shifted, and I had to lean back so that she could twist her neck in order to look at me with surprised, yet equally guarded eyes. "You don't think… badly of me because of who my mother is?"
I shook my head and clambered off of her back, albeit clumsily. "No. It's not really my nature to be judgmental of someone just because they're related to someone that might've done some… bad things. You can't be held accountable for what your parents did. If I judged you because of that, I'd be no different than your mom or any of the other Lights. That's not who I am."
Her head fell in dejection. "Maybe not… but you'll learn to hate the majority of our species when you see what they've done. I know that I do, with the exception of my family… excluding my mother and my brother."
I plopped down and nudged her side. "They don't sound very nice…" I admitted, experimentally flicking my wings and tails to get more used to moving them. "but that doesn't reflect on you. We're only responsible for the things we've willingly done, and everyone makes mistakes and does things they're not proud of. At least you're not going along with everything she strived for. That's what counts now."
"True, but I'm no saint. Nor will you be now that you've regained your body and the abilities that are inherent in shadows… You'll see everything our kind has ever done, every dirty little secret, every death… there's no escaping it for you."
What the heck was that supposed to mean? "Huh? What's that mean?"
She sighed and shook her head back and forth as if to dispel some less than pleasant thought. "Never mind… I'll explain more later."
Once again I felt clueless, out of place, out of depth and my element… I mean, I never was the most confident or adept person, and now I was even more aware of my shortcomings… Maybe it was best to change the topic? I did need to learn more about myself, and what I was. "So… am I a speed class like you then? We look a lot alike…"
Piercing blue eyes suddenly locked on me with startling intensity. "You are not a speed class…"
"Then what am I?"
"You're a striker class."
Striker?
R&R! Cliffhanger! You'll have to wait to learn about Strikers later! Please let me know how you guys are liking these changes!