Ch. 201

It had been less than twenty-four hours and Starscream still couldn't find the strength to speak. His voice seemed to have spirited itself away as he gazed in terror at the two new Predacons introduced to the ship. The pair were squabbling and snapping at each other across the flight deck, almost in a playful manner, but the seeker was too frightened to see a gentle side to this. The situation, unfortunately, was setting him back again. And it hurt within his spark when he had quickly realized that the new Predacons' presence made it difficult to find comfort in the one friend he had made on this floating prison.

Predaking stayed by Starscream's side, stiffly watching Darksteel and Skylynx continue their chases and swipes at each other, their barks and hisses new to him. The smell of fear coming off his smaller companion made him hesitant to move. The scent was familiar; it was the same as when they first met. Predaking didn't like that. He wanted nothing more than to stop the suffering he knew Starscream was in. He felt obligated to do so; the seeker treated him better than the rest of the inhabitants on the Nemesis. But for all the things he had done and they had worked through together, Predaking had a feeling that whatever ailed the sad and silvery mech was a far deep memory that he was not yet privy to.

Darksteel huffed as he galloped towards Skylynx and butted his helm against his companion's. The white Predacon shrieked in response and butted back, both 'locking horns' to determine whose strength was at its best. Starscream continued to watch, flinching at the hard cracks of metal helms against another, the scrapes of claws on the deck, the shrill cries that followed after each blow. The seeker shuddered and curled in tightly to stop a heave from escaping his throat. He was doing his best to calm down and it wasn't helping. If this was another cruel tactic by Megatron to weaken his reserves, he was scared to think that it could probably be working.

Skylynx took a sudden step back before lunging forward and throwing Darksteel off his footing. The darker colored Predacon squealed in surprise and scowled while his companion fluttered his wings proudly. Darksteel snarled. He didn't like the smug air around the white Predacon. He decided to make that confidence buckle.

With a quick scuttling of claws against the metal of the flight deck's floor, Darksteel threw himself forward and tackled into Skylynx roughly. The white beast shrieked as he slammed into the floor, his optics wide with surprise. His look of shock disappeared, replaced with anger, and the Predacon roared. There were no more sounds of play fighting. The pair were fighting for real now.

Starscream hid his helm in between his arms and pressed hard to try and drown out the noise. His intakes were coming in heavy pants. His vision would blur in spots as he tried to focus on the tips of his peds, the scratches on the floors, the trembling in his frame that shook every atom of his being, anything else... The seeker couldn't take this. His mind was replaying the trauma, the tears into his body. He could feel the energon dripping from imagined wounds upon his chassis as though they had never left him. He could feel the claws, the hot breaths of fire held back by sharp fangs, it was all coming back to him.

Starscream let out a strangled sob as he continued to shake. Predaking watched from beside him, unsure of what was happening but knowing that nothing about it was right. The silver mech was beyond terrified. He smelled of it, looked of it, sounded of it. And it had all come to a head when Darksteel and Skylynx had started fighting...

Predaking growled loudly and stomped his claws heavily into the deck below him, bellowing out as greatly as he could, "NO!"

The brawling beasts ceased, both scrabbling away from each other quickly to create a safe distance to stare at the larger Predacon. Starscream had stopped shaking, his optics wide as he found enough strength to allow his gaze to fall on the back of this creature... this mech.

"I... said... 'no'," Predaking garbled the best he could manage with his maw.

The message had been received. Darksteel and Skylynx scuttled to the far end of the deck to observe from afar. They were no longer making noises or trying to outdo the other. They were now too far on edge to do anything else... but watch.

Predaking huffed. That would have to do. The Predacon turned and purred softly in surprise when he saw Starscream staring up at him, his form stiff with shock. The seeker's chassis had given up shaking in terror. This was new now. The Predaking he had once known in the time from before never had the will or strength to speak in beast form, let alone on the silver mech's behalf.

Predaking gurgled with a tone of concern and slowly tilted his helm down towards Starscream to sniff. The seeker didn't flinch away. He lifted his bound servos to the beast, resting his digits carefully upon his muzzle.

"... Things are different now... aren't they?"

Predaking didn't know what that meant. How were things different? Hadn't this just been a change from the norm? Or maybe that was just different...

Starscream managed a shaky smile and shook his helm. He didn't want to explain and help relieve the Predacon of his confused expression. He knew he wouldn't have to soon enough. This wasn't the before he knew. He kept forgetting that. This wasn't the same set of events with the same acts or bots. And if it was in any way remotely similar, that didn't mean the bots or humans involved were following the same scripts as before. Things were different now. They were. Starscream sighed, pushing himself to hold on to that fact. He had to stop forgetting that...