(Ariel's POV)
"Come on Dawn! Please?"
"Ariel," she sighed, putting her datapad down. "You saw how everyone else reacted. It's been two weeks, Orion still hates me, and the Twin don't even talk when I'm in the same room, and, well, you heard the commotion I caused with the officers. Who knows how your friends will react?" Dawn sighed.
I frowned. I just wanted her to meet some of the other younglings. Hang out, have a cube, maybe have some fun.
"Dawn," I sighed. "You're going to be Prime one day. That means, whether you like it or not, you are going to need to socialize somewhat. Come on, let's just go get a cube from the rec room, and maybe play a few round of cards?" I suggested, slightly jerking my helm towards the door, smiling as innocently as possible.
She cast her optics to the floor and sighed again. "I don't know Ariel."
"Please?" I pleaded.
She pursed her lips together and sighed. "Oh, alright. I guess an hour in the rec room won't hurt anything." She said getting up from her berth and walking with me through the door.
We struck a casual conversation about nothing in particular on our way to the rec room. I say "the rec room," but there's actually two. One for the adults and one for us. If I recall correctly, there was an incident where when Orion was in the adult rec room with our parents as a little youngling, and he some how got a hold of some high grade. After that scare, father made it a rule that if a youngling under the age of 20 was in the rec room, all high grade went up. No exceptions.
I guess the adults got pretty annoyed at that rule and complained, so father had a second rec room built for us "little one," as Ironhide so affectionately called us. After we got our own rec room, there was a few new rules and the old one was crossed out. The adults weren't allowed to have high grade in our rec room and no child under the age of twenty was allowed in the adult rec room unless with strict permission. Now that I think about it, Dawn should be allowed in the adult rec room because she is twenty.
My line of thought is cut short because I find we're in front of the rec room door.
I notice the nervousness radiating from Dawn's side of the bond. I send a pulse of reassurance to her. She noticable relaxes.
"Ready?" I ask.
"As I'll ever be." She mumbles in reply.
I press the button and it lets us in.
(Dawn's POV)
As the doors open, I can feel another pulse of support from Ariel. I take a breath in, and I let Ariel guide me inside.
There's bots of all ages ranging from younger than Nova and Noble to as old as Orion. I'm most likely the oldest here. There are a few mechs playing what I recongnize as a video game. It's obviously some sort of racing game on, by human standards, a very large TV. There are a few scattered around to the various small tables against a wall. But Ariel is corralling me towards the large center table were there are five younglings. According to Ariel, they're all about her age, sixteen. I swallow nervously and walk towards them.
One of them, a femme, looks up.
"Hey, Ariel! Thought you weren't coming. Pull up a seat!" The femme in question was all white with arctic blue highlights, a slight accent and proud doorwings that perked up as she saw Ariel.
"What took so long? We had to start with outcha!" Another femme, beside the first one, exclaimed. She was reverse colors of the femme beside her and a cheveron and a slight accent. Obviously sisters, if not twins.
"So, who's this? Friend of yours?" Another, a mech, asked.
"Sorry I'm late Tempo, I was just trying to convince her to come with me, and that you guys wouldn't freak out."
"Huh," the same mech muttered. "So this is the newbie? She's kinda short for a twenty year old, don't cha think?"
Without warning, I found myself pinning this mech to the floor, my hand holding his arm in an uncle lock behind his back. I hear everything go very quiet, and I feel pairs of optics on me. I blinked and chuckled awkwardly.
"S-Sorry." I stutter helping him up. "I'm a little sensitive about that." I confess, a little embarrassed.
"No prob," He chuckles and brushes himself off. "Primus, you're fast! I didn't even get a chance to blink! Dad always did say I should watch my mouth around femmes. Sorry if I offended ya. My name's Haven, oldest of Ironhide and Chromia." He says, offering his hand to me. I take it and shake it.
"That's Tempo, over there," he points to the femme with the arctic blue doorwings, "and that's, Rythym, twin daughters to Prowl and Jazz," they both wave. "The red one's Rose, oldest to Inferno and Red Alert," he points to a femme with a brilliant red and orange paint job with black hands, "that mech over there is Galen," he points to a mech with a mint green and white paint job, and a cheveron,"Youngest to Ratchet and Wheeljack, "and that right there is Xena," he finishes by pointing to the magenta and navy femme nearest to me. "Only daughter to Cliffjumper and Arcee."
/Why are they saying who their parents are?/ I ask over our sibling bond.
/It's considered polite to specify your parentage and or position to other Cybertronians if you meet someone for the first time as a specification of exactly who you are. It's also a pride thing for the parents./ She explains. /I'll explain more later. Just introduce yourself, and say your position as heir to Prime./
/Why would I mentions that?!/
/Because it's considered rude if you don't. Just do it, it'll make the announcement a lot easier./
/Fine./
"I'm Dawn," I hesitate for a moment. "Eldest daughter to Optimus Prime and Elita One and," I pause hesitantly. I glance at Ariel and she gestures for me to go on. I swallow nervously and continue. "Heir to Prime," I smile politely, silently praying for a promising reaction.
Everything goes really quiet after I introduce myself.
Haven's optics widen, and he stutters before he suddenly drops to his knees and bows his head.
"My Prime! I-I sincerely apologize for my lack of respect towards you. I apologize for insulting your shortness-! I mean, your lack of-! I mean-! I apologize for insulting, and offending you. Please forgive me!" He stutters.
My optics widen in surprise at the sudden change in atmosphere. Everyone who was sitting down is now standing at attention.
/Why are they all doing this?/
/Since the end of the war, they started teaching us Cybertronian traditions, and social manners, you know, to keep them alive. Before the war, the Prime is like royalty because the Prime maintains the peace. So we've been taught to respect our Prime. They grew up around the rest of us, and are like an extension of family. But you're a stranger. You are this generation's Prime, therefor, our Prime. They all automatically respect you because you determine their position in a decade. They have no say in the matter that you will be at the top of the food chain. The chain of command. Oh, and Orion lost his temper the other day and may have let it slip that he wasn't father's heir and if I remember correctly his exact words were, "I'm not my father's heir, Dawn is," so now they know exactly who you are./
/What?!/
/Long story short, they think of you like a princess, because they don't know how to act towards you. They're more relaxed with me because they grew up with me and The others. We'll talk later, they're waiting for your answer./
I look around and back at the mech kneeling before me.
"Uh, it's alright, really! It's fine! But, you don't have to kneel. I'm not anymore important than anyone here."
"Oh, o-okay." He said simply. "But you are important, you are the future Prime-"
"I know, but I just got here two weeks ago, and I hardly know anything about anything. So, you wanna, I don't know play some cards? Have a cube of energon?" I offered. To my great relief, all the others in the background were sitting back down and they weren't all looking at me directly, but my audios picked up on my name in several of the conversations and I saw the occasional glance my way.
I still felt the tension.
"So, uh, Dawn." Ariel said, trying to spark a conversation. "How was it like, you know, being human?"
Everyone at the table immediately looked up at me.
"No way," Tempo, if I remember her name right, laughed. "You were human?"
"Uh, yeah." I reply. "I grew up with humans, and I was technically human up until a few weeks ago."
"Sweet! I've seen humans on TV and stuff, but, I've never seen one up close, or talked to one. What was it like?" Galen asked, excitedly.
*******************
Soon after, the causal background chatter returned and the tense atmosphere finally relaxed.
Orion had come up to Ariel and muttered that he was going to find somewhere else to read and left.
I answered all of their questions and even taught them a few card games I learned at the foster home. They really seemed to enjoy "I Doubt It."
I rearranged my cards and took a glanced at the pile in the middle of the table.
"Two sevens," Ariel said slapping a few cards down. I eyed her. Her mouth twitched.
"I doubt it." I said, reaching for the cards and flipping them over. A six and a seven. I smiled smugly. "Take 'em." I said pushing the pile towards her.
She muttered something under her breathe and added the pile to her hands.
Suddenly, I got a feeling in the pit of my tanks and in my spark. I froze. I sat idle for a few moments, optics wide, and unmoving. I didn't like this feeling. At all.
"Dawn," Haven asked, a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?"
"Something isn't right." I mutter. "Something's wrong...very wrong."
Then I hear it. The "whooshing" of a jet flying over head, and the soft whistling of something falling from a high altitude. It was almost inaudible, but everyone else seemed to hear it too and everyone in the room went silent. The cube beside me started to shake. I had a sneaking suspicion...Oh, Primus. My mind raced. I would rather be safe than sorry.
"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" I scream just as the alarms blares. I yank Ariel under the table with me and shut my optics. I feel the base shake underneath me.
I feel impact after impact. The base is shaking terribly. Suddenly, I hear a very large "BOOM." The closest wall is suddenly no more.
Terror.
That was the only word for it. Pure terror. My audios are ringing, but I can still hear screams of terror echo through the rec room, the screams are calling for carriers and sires. Terror and fear is radiating from all of my siblings. I send rapid burst of reassurance and love. Orion just rejects it and throws it in my face.
Father and Mother are frantically asking if we're alright.
I thought father had said the war was over? I thought he said that we didn't have to fight or fear for our lives?
When I open my optics, I see the lights are out, and the room is illuminated by the emergency, red flashing lights on the ceiling.
I hear a mechs voice over the intercom. "DECEPTICONS ARE ATTACKING! THE BASE HAS BEEN HIT! REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM FOR BRIEFING. I REPEAT! DECEPTICONS ARE ATTACKING THE BASE!"
I get a comm. from father.
::Dawn?! Are you alright?:: He asks, ::I can't get through to your siblings! I need you to follow the protocol. The base has been hit, you need to make sure that all the younglings, sparkling, and Neutrals to the shelter!::
I answer it immediately.
::Yes, I'm fine father. I have Ariel. But where's the shelter?::
::Sector G, corridor 123. Just at the end. Swoop is on his way to escort you. I'm sending him with a datapad with an attendance sheet. I need you to help Swoop and Bluestreak escort the younglings the shelter, and tell everyone to shut their bonds with their parents.::
::Why do we only have two escorts? There must be at least fifty neutrals!::
::I wish I could escort you all there myself, but they're right on our lines, and you need to get there and lower the blast doors now! The Decepticons are practically kicking our door down, and there are so many of them.:: He says quickly. ::We need all the autobots that are battle ready.::
I pause, to take a moment to think.
::I need you to tell whoever is on the intercom make an announcement to meet in front of the Neutral's Sector. It'll be easier to round everyone up.:;
A pause came from the other end of the comm.
::Done.:: Father said. ::I have to go Dawn.::
I nod, ::Alright, be careful out there. I-:: I hesitate. ::I love you, father.::
The other end of the comm. link is silent for a moment.
::I will, Dawn. I love you too.:: And the line is cut.
I stand up.
"EVERYONE!" I shout. "FOLLOW ME! WE ARE GOING TO GO TO THE SHELTER! THERE WE WILL BE SAFE! MEET IN FRONT OF THE NEUTRAL SECTOR! GO!"
Soon everyone is rushing out of the door, and the hole in the wall. I make sure I am the last one out, and I trail them. As I am following them, my audios pick up on something through the noise.
"Help! Please! Somebody help me!"
I recognize it. I run to the room to where it's coming from. An old boiler room. The door's been blown off, and inside there are fires all around.
"Please! Someone! Anyone! Help!" He cries.
I call into the room.
"Orion?!"
A/N: I am so, so, so sorry for the really long wait! I got really, really busy! And wow flew. This was originally supposted to be one long one, but I split it in half. Thanks for all the views! Again, sorry for the wait! The next chapter is underway and will be up on Quotev very soon, but I will try to update this site's version too!
~Saph
