CHAPTER 31
"Get up !"
Drift felt the taste of energon in his throat. Laying down on the floor, face down, his fist clenched.
"I said: get up!" Wing repeated as an order.
He'd enough.
Slowly, he stood up. He grabbed his training sword. Wing was waiting for him. He wasn't even moving at all, his usual stern expression on his face.
He would just erase that strictness off his face.
Drift ran over to him, his sword up.
The sword flied away. Wing had his blades crossed around Drift's neckcables.
"You're dead" He said.
"Primus! For the last time, tell me what's going wrong!"
"I already explained to you. I already know which part of me you'll aim at. I know it solely by reading your optics' direction."
"Really? And which part was I aiming at?" The orange bot almost spat.
"My neck."
Wing stepped back, lowering his weapons.
"Your body must never betray you. Don't leave any window to your opponent."
"Where must I look at? I can't have my optics blindfolded."
The white bot spread a small smile.
"Don't ever tear your optics off your opponent. A fight isn't only about bodies. It's also about optics."
"Never tearing my optics off?" Drift repeated, letting out a sigh.
His mentor nodded.
"That's not that difficult. It's well-known. Optics are the spark's reflection."
Drift complied.
Their optics met.
It lasted for a few moments.
And Drift was found unable to keep on. He didn't understand.
They'd been training together for long hours now. He'd never ceased to attack him. And now they took a seat for an "optic fight". And Drift felt himself awkward by such a situation.
A warmth invaded his spark. He tried to convince himself that it was tiredness, that he needed some rest right now. Better. Wing's smile, the white bot having taken him in the very first day, who'd repeated him over and over to gain more self-confidence, not to let himself go, not to doubt about his own competences and skills…made him feel good.
A feeling he'd forgotten…
He didn't manage.
"Do you wish to stop?" The white bot asked him.
"Yes…"
"Very well"
Wing pulled his weapons back. Like Shadow Raker, he knelt down on the tatami for the finale salute. Drift imitated him.
But unlike Shadow Raker, Wing didn't sit down in front of Drift. He sat down by his side.
And he didn't look at the tatami. His optics were closed, his head stuck on the floor. Shadow Raker always kept his optics opened, only giving a gesture before standing up.
It took a longer time here.
In the end, Wing left the training room, followed closely by his pupil.
"I understand" The white bot declared.
"What?"
"That's not always easy to fight someone by solely using our optics. I had a lot of difficulties at the beginning…but Gasket taught me not to give up."
Always this nostalgic tone when it came to Gasket…
Sometimes, Drift wondered what kind of relationship both of them actually had together. Teacher and student, no doubt about it. But…what about more?
He didn't comment anything.
"Shadow Raker never taught me this kind of combat" Drift said. "I think he always wanted to win, no matter what"
He paused.
"I learned nothing with him. Unlike you…he was a bad teacher."
"Really?"
This smile again…Drift looked away again. His cheekplates were burning…
If robots could blush, he would. But…Why would he do that?
"So, how am I? As a teacher?" Wing asked him, a teasing tone.
"Excuse me?"
"Am I a good teacher?"
Why was he asking such a dumb question?
"Don't think too high of yourself" Drift retorted.
"Any critic is welcome" Wing chuckled, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Critics…
He could grant him such. He declared, a dry tone.
"I learn things. Good things."
"That's a bit difficult to know what's good and what's bad" Wing stated. "But…I just learn you things that I view as fair."
"It makes me feel good."
He quickly added.
"I mean…I enjoyed stealing along with Shadow Raker…I loved these treasures, keeping them for myself…these things belonged to others but I viewed them as my possessions…because I never had something that belonged to me before…but here…It's different. Learning these things…"
Honour, respect…
Such a different feeling.
Like if someone pulled a dead weight off his shoulderplates.
"…it makes me feel happy"
Wing needed to stop smiling in such a way.
"…What are you doing, Axe?" Wing asked, as they were coming in the refectory.
They found the yellow and purple bot at a table, leaning over a book. Wing came closer to read above his shoulderplate.
"Where did you find this book?" The white bot asked.
"You can read it afterward if you wish" Axe replied.
"You haven't answered my question."
Wing chuckled. Drift just took a cube, not intruding himself into the conversation. It wasn't his business, after all.
"Well…That's a…friend who gave it to me" Axe replied, scratching his helmet, a bit awkward.
"A friend? Ohh…Do I know him…or rather her?"
"I don't think so. Well…She lent me this book. As well as a few others."
Drift observed his mentor. He didn't wait for any order. He grabbed another cube of energon and gave it to him. Wing's optics widened.
"Thanks" He said, grateful.
"…You're welcome"
Wing focused back on Axe.
"Hopefully I'll get to know her soon"
Axe laughed. He changed topics then opened his chassis. Some other books were put on the table.
"You can read these."
"What are they about?"
"Oh…there are many things. Crime novels, adventure, history…"
"The many Cybertronian religions"
"Don't show it to Star Saber." Axe said, a dark look on his face. "I already went into an argument with him about that matter"
Wing gave him a nod. Drift didn't try to know more. He was about to leave the room to join back Jetstorm and Slipstream when his mentor called him back.
"Don't you want to take one of them?"
"Of what?"
"A book"
Drift frowned.
He hated that topic…
Shadow Raker had never known…but Wing…
"…I can't read. I don't know how."
Yet that's way easier to confess than he expected. He didn't pay attention to the others' point of view but Wing was his mentor.
Would he judge him?
His teacher slowly walked ahead.
"…Do you wish to learn?"
"No, that's useless. I don't wish to…waste my time."
Wasting your time, he thought.
"That's not a problem. You are here to learn after all" Wing pointed.
"…I have other things to do"
He was ashamed.
"I think you could get something good from it" The white bot insisted. "Reading some other ways of thinking, discovering stories, exploring other horizons…then…"
That warming smile again.
"Then…you could learn it to Jetstorm and Slipstream…unless they already know how."
"…No."
He frowned. That's a bad idea.
"You can teach them to, if you wish"
"They need you" He reminded him.
Why should he?
The others would treat them better, way better than Drift.
"Listen" Wing added. "I'm not forcing you. But if you wish learning…Join me back in my apartments. It will be calm."
"You should witness Wing read!" Axe pointed, laughing. "That's quite funny. He switches voices according to characters…he's really into it!"
"Well you'll join me back so!" Wing told him, amused.
Drift remained speechless. It made him hesitate.
Should he accept? If he accepted, he would discover a new thing. Jetstorm and Slipstream would discover a new thing…
"That's difficult…"
"No. Once you know…it's just a natural thing"
Yet these pages…these cybertronian signs…
So complex…
"Don't be afraid"
Don't be afraid…
Why should he be afraid? It probably wasn't as horrible as being ejected through a wall by Wing during a training session…
He could learn the same thing to Jetstorm and Slipstream…
Reading…would do them good.
He left the room, not answering anything.
"…I watched you"
He should have caught sight of him right before being called out.
Dai Atlas could be seen from very far, thanks to his size.
But Drift was lost in his thoughts…he walked past him without paying attention.
His deep voice made him stop.
"I watched your training session" Dai Atlas stated.
Drift didn't reply anything.
"…That's pathetic"
Great. He just talked to him in order to insult him.
"You don't even follow Wing's advices. You can't even follow your old teacher's advices."
The mention of Shadow Raker pushed him off the edge.
"Shadow Raker was a fool who didn't teach me anything! He just taught me to commit evil!" The orange bot retorted.
"Oh. Do you care about evil now?"
His interlocutor had his arms crossed.
Good, evil…
Drift had never thought of it.
Stealing was bad. Killing was bad…
"I admire your stubbornness" Dai Atlas declared. His tone didn't change. "…You don't give up."
Was it genuine or not?
He didn't know him enough to guess.
"I must admit I like it. People like you are needed here."
"I only want-"
"Useless" Dai Atlas cut him in. "You want to become one of us. You want to be accepted. Keep on. Don't give any chance. Keep trying until you succeed. Else you leave."
Yes. He already told him.
But not under the form of a praise. He was about to leave when Dai Atlas's voice rose up again.
"…Wing is someone who gives a lot." The giant said.
Yes…He wasn't wrong about it.
"But he is also a naïve person. I wouldn't tolerate anyone hurting him or others. Especially since you are a Decepticon."
He'd already had his opinion of him.
Truth to be told, Drift couldn't resent him but…it still annoyed him.
"So, make him feel proud. Don't disappoint him."
That's all.
Dai Atlas vanished before Drift could even convince him that he wouldn't hurt him, that he wouldn't disappoint him.
Because he couldn't afford himself to disappoint Wing.
He realized it now.
Tonight, Drift knocked at Wing's apartment door.