Chapter 7
Orb Weaver
When Soundwave reported that an unknown ship crashed onto the Moon and a single escape pod had since made its way to Earth a chill had run up Megatron's spinal struts…
He'd never admit it out loud, how disturbing he really found Songbirds predication coming true within mere hours of her saying it. But putting that aside entirely, one could not merely overlook the arrival of another Cybertronian on this planet. To the warlord it meant one of two things, either a new warrior for his ranks or a new enemy should the individual turn out to be an Autobot. Since he had no doubts that the said Autobots had also picked up on the distress beacon that had been activated when the escape pod had made its way to earth, this situation did provide him with an excuse to send both of the Predacons out into battle, to either kill or retrieve this newcomer… and hopefully get them both killed at the same time… Of course while Predaking had eagerly accepted the mission and was immediately preparing to go, Songbird had initially been a bit more reluctant…
At least until she quickly depositing her two humans in Soundwave's ever capable servos…
Since the Vehicons had proven that they could easily be outsmarted by her daughters, (Something told Megatron that the gryphon was not at all surprised by this…) she opted to leaving them with someone who hopefully might be able to handle them better Soundwave seemed to be the best choice. This decision, while bizarre to many of the Nemesis's residents was nothing short of ironic to Megatron… for he knew better than anyone that his Third in Command was actually very good with sparklings. However that would have to remain a story for another time… Although neither of Songbirds human children seemed happy with the fact that they were being left with a babysitter, they both begrudgingly promised not to cause trouble while she was gone and with that Songbird took her leave and took to the skies with Predaking.
For a long time they flew in total silence, even though Predaking wanted to talk to her he was currently unable to do so in his beast form. So the only sounds that could be heard were the beat of their wings and the distant rumble of thunder echoing through the ominous cloud ridden skies. A fierce storm was brewing; threatening to start down pouring at any given moment. It was right after a particularly large bolt of lightning and a resounding boom of thunder that the dragon sighed in frustration… Something that he thought went unnoticed by his female companion, but it did not. Songbird looked at him for a few long minutes before she decided to try something. It was then she suddenly began emitting a series of loud clicks, chirps and growls that got her fellow Predacon's attention in more ways than one. For even though these sounds could easily be interpreted as nothing but animalistic vocalizations, Predaking found that he could easily understand everything that she said.
'Can you understand what I'm saying right now?' She asked him in this bizarre dialect. Predaking stared at her before he emitted his own variant of the same sound patterns. In other words he seemed to snarl and growl back to her.
'Yes. I can understand you just as if you are talking normally.' He replied, clearly a bit confused. 'All this time… I had no idea that I could communicate with others in this manner.'
Songbird nodded. 'It occurred to me; that prior to my learning how to speak I would only be able to vocalize in this way and while I might have always known what I was saying, I knew that no one else could. But earlier today Steve mentioned something to me, he told me that Seekers like that annoying little twit Starscream have their own unique language that they are born knowing how to speak. I wondered if that was the case with us… apparently it is.'
'So it would seem.' Predaking added with a quick nod. It was then that he decided now would be as good a time as any to try and improve his… erm… relationship? With Songbird. 'Listen, perhaps we got off to a bad start… your little human pointed out that perhaps I did not approach you as I should have.' Predaking grumbled as he tried very hard to find the proper words to continue. 'I apologize for both offending and attacking you… and I hope that I may yet prove to you that I mean you no ill will.'
'Clearly you have been conversing with Moonrise.' Songbird deduced with a hint of amusement present in her beastly tone. 'Still… I admit that I didn't exactly give you much of a chance. I perceived you as a threat without hearing you out and for that I am sorry. Perhaps we can begin again?'
'I would like that very much.' Predaking acknowledged, suddenly feeling as though a tremendous weight had just been lifted off of his spark. 'I am also happy to see that you seem to be adapting well to life on board the Nemesis.'
'It's a bit strange, going from only having the company of my daughters to being surrounded by so many others… although it's not as unpleasant as I originally thought it would be. Still, I am looking forward to the day I find us a new home and we can leave.' She explained calmly as she cast her gaze down at the world far below the two Predacons. The region they were currently flying over was heavily forested and there were very few signs of human life or interference with nature, in fact the only noticeable thing was a single winding dirt road that weaved its way through the dense forests like a serpent. To Songbird it reminded her somewhat of her own territory, even though she was currently nowhere near it
'Why would you want to leave?' Predaking grunted his tone suddenly getting a bit colder. 'In time our mighty race will be fully restored and we will no longer be the only two Predacon's existence! Don't you have any desire to be among your own species?'
'Not really,' Songbird answered as she looked over at Predaking having chosen not to take any offense at his tone. 'Do not get me wrong, I rather like the concept of there being more creatures like us... but my family means far more to me than a species. You probably think this is strange but try to see it from my point of view; I found and raised those two human sparklings. I kept them alive and in a strange way it seemed as if they did the same for me. Do you think that I don't know what it's like to be alone? Well I do… It's bitter and colder than the Alaskan tundra, but my children gave me something that was the greatest gift could've ever received. They gave me reason. They gave me a reason to learn how to speak, they gave me a reason to hunt and provide, they gave me a reason to sing… To me it does not matter that they are not Predacon's, they are still my sparklings and I love them with all of my spark.' Even though she continued to speak in a language of beast like sounds the gentleness of her voice was undeniably evident and the dragonformer remained silent while he quietly mulled the gryphon's words over.
To be honest he had never considered Songbird's actions in this light, but after he listened to her explanation the aforementioned actions suddenly made a great deal more sense. Predaking admitted it, he was lonely but unlike Songbird he had not found anyone or anything to fill the burning void inside of his own spark. Originally he had believed the only way to fill this emptiness was for his species to be fully restored. But the femme's words suddenly made him doubt this. What if when his race was restored he still suffered from this searing loneliness? He quickly forced this thought from his processor, no it wasn't true! Restoring his race would bring him the happiness he so desperately wanted… But… What if it didn't? The thought made him sick to his tanks and just as he went to say something else he found himself interrupted by the sound of another clap of thunder and the rain finally beginning to fall. Predaking proceeded to glare angrily up at the sky. It seemed that the very weather of this planet mocked him; he didn't get a chance to dwell on it for very long though and shortly afterwards the sound of multiple blasts resounded through the air and both Predacon's could even see flashes of light within the thick forest indicating a fight was already raging down below.
'And that must be where our target is. I recommend that the put this conversation on hold until after we see just what's going on down there. Coming then P.K?'
'My name is Predaking not P.K!' He growled at Songbird. 'Don't mock my name, I am still the king of all Predacon's! How would you like it if I just start calling you Song?'
Songbird blinked once before she suddenly looked thoughtful. 'Song? Hmm… I like that. You may call me Song if you like.' Perhaps Songbirds years of living alone with only the company over two human children had made her a little bit naïve to Predaking's sarcasm… Either way she proceeded to dive down into the forest below while being closely followed by a still somewhat irritated dragon.
It was going to take him some time before he could get used to being called P.K…
To Arcee this mission had seemed straightforward enough…
…at first…
She was sent on this mission with Wheeljack and Smokescreen, Jack would have come except that he had to help his mother out with a few things since they were busy renovating part of their house. The reason for this was that June was currently six months pregnant with her second child and both Fowler and Jack had been working on building and painting the baby's bedroom. It's still made Arcee chuckle when she remembered June happily announcing that she was having a little girl…
The look on Jack and Fowler's faces had been beyond priceless…
Still, refocusing on the current task at hand Arcee made her way through the forest following the trail of destruction where the escape pod the Autobot's had detected a few hours ago. Smokescreen and Wheeljack flanked her both of them ready to fight should this newcomer turn out to be hostile. Although she would never intentionally show it, following this trail of devastation through a heavily wooded area brought back some unpleasant memories for the Autobot femme as it reminded her a little bit too much of when she and Jack at first discovered Airachnid's ship. Merely thinking of that name sent a shiver up her spinal struts; she vented deeply and silently reassured herself that Airachnid was still trapped in stasis lock... Even if she was currently in the Decepticons possession surely no one would have let her out. If there was any justice in this universe that black sparked monstrosity would never be free to live again, Arcee hoped for that more than anything else.
A terrific clap of thunder echoed throughout the area and the long looming storm finally began to hit. The rain immediately swept through the area, closely accompanied by strong winds; although inconvenient the storm was far from being a deterrent. In fact mere moments after the rain started the trio Autobots finally happened across the very thing they had set out to find, the escape pod.
"Looks like we found it." Smokescreen observed pushing past Arcee in order to get a better look. "Do you think whoever used it is-" And right on cue a loud clanging and sobbing sound could be heard coming from within the pod and the apparently jammed door slowly starting to distend outward. So to answer Smokescreen's question, yes, whoever owned it was still inside… and was apparently in the midst of either a panic attack or an emotional breakdown. But before anyone could go forward to help the individual, a final kick to the damaged door caused it to finally swing open and the unknown occupant abruptly came tumbling out. At first no one could make out what the stranger actually looked like, but it was just as Arcee leaned down in order to help the stranger up that another bolt of lightning fully illuminated the crumpled heap of the newcomer.
And what she saw stopped dead in her tracks…
For the form that lay crumpled at her pedes was a familiar one. The structure was very similar… of course there were some noticeable differences but the overall familiarity was too great to ignore. Right down to the shining tear stained pink optics that looked up and no sooner had they landed on Arcee did they immediately fill with fear and horror. Smokescreen and Wheeljack couldn't fully understand what was just starting to play out and before either of them could react they could literally see the uncontrollable rage bloom behind Arcee optics like some sort of diseased flower and before they could stop her she opened fire…
Predaking and Songbird landed quietly amongst the trees just as the sound of the fighting seemed to stop…
…and everything had gone eerily silent…
Song could tell that something unpleasant had taken place; she moved quickly and stealthily through the trees in the forest and much to Predaking's surprise her movements hardly made any sound. In spite of her large, intimidating and heavy frame Songbird had long since mastered silent movement as it was necessary in order for creature her size to be able to sneak up on whatever she was hunting. It was this skill that she was displaying now something that contradicted Predaking's loud and somewhat lumbering movements. Reaching the escape pod both Predacon's were greeted with the sight and scent of freshly spilt energon; it was splattered all over the ground and on the side of the pod…
'The Autobots have beaten us here!' Predaking snarled loudly, successfully earning him a cold glare from Songbird who had been inspecting both the energon and the damaged pod.
"You need to stay quiet!" She snapped at him in her normal voice but it was deliberately hushed and quiet. "We don't want to alert anyone that we're here!"
'Why not?!' Predaking responded coldly although he did tone down his voice as the gryphonformer instructed. 'When I come across the Autobot's I will blow them back to the Rust Age!' Song just sighed and shook her head.
"When you're hunting the last thing you want to do is alert the prey to your presence." She explained although there was a tick in her voice hinting at irritation. "Right now our primary concern is finding whoever arrived in this contraption, they were obviously injured by these Autobots. We need to do this quietly… please P.K, trust me." In spite of disagreeing with her, Predaking reluctantly nodded although he inwardly thought he would still tear the Autobots apart should the right opportunity present itself.
"Now move quietly and follow me." The femme said before turning and striding deeper into the forest carefully following the energon trail from the darkness and shadows. Even though Predaking followed her, he quickly discovered that he had a bit more trouble with keeping quiet since anyone who looked at him could immediately tell he was definitely not built for stealth. Songbird was light on her feet while he was not… Still he did manage to keep up with her and from a distance both Predacon's eventually spotted the trio of Autobots and it was obvious from their yelling that the two mechs were engaged in a heated argument with the smaller blue femme. True to his earlier intentions Predaking immediately went to go and charge at them only to find his path blocked by Songbird. "Not now…" She hissed wickedly at him and made a quick motion with her head indicating for him to follow. He growled at her, angry that she would attempt to order him around but Songbird's eyes flashed briefly as an idea quickly came to mind. "You don't want to fail Megatron do you? Let's find the one we came here for and then you can rip them to shreds." It was a long shot but fortunately for Songbird her words did seem to convince him to go along with her plan… at least for the moment anyway. So silently they managed to bypass the Autobot's without not drawing any attention to themselves, something that could've only been accomplished due to the excessive arguing that was going on between the three.
It was never wise to become so preoccupied with an argument that you are unable to notice a massive dragon and gryphon slipping past…
Following the trail of energon was pretty straightforward and to a seasoned hunter and tracker like Songbird it was also the very definition of being too easy. Clearly whoever the injured individual was they did not have a lot of skill with running from others, of course it could very well be that the severity their injuries coupled with panic had severely impaired their judgment. Either way when the two Predacon's came to the site of a colossal tree that had been partially uprooted in a previous storm, it created a very small hollow just underneath… And judging by the steady dripping of energon mixing with the pounding rain indicated that this was where the stranger had apparently chosen to hide. Another poor move in Songbird's opinion, the individual had backed themselves into a corner and was now trapped. If the Autobot's had gotten here before them it surely would've been a death sentence for this injured mech or femme.
Predaking brought his head down and peered into the opening, his large Golden optics quickly spotting a pair of much smaller pink optics that instantly went wide and a loud sort of squeak was heard right before a small rock flew out and hit him in the face. Naturally this didn't hurt him in the slightest but it did annoy him so he reared up and began trying to rip apart the hidey-hole, prompting another round of squeak's mixed with sobs from the unknown individual. And it was this sound that prompted Songbird to react…
"Stop!" She snapped at Predaking. "She's injured and you're scaring her! Stop it!" This made the dragon pause as Songbird lowered herself to get a better look inside. "We are not going to hurt you, you can come out." Her voice had become as soothing as she could possibly make it. For a moment there was a pause before a mix between a sarcastic laugh and a sob came from within the hollow.
"Yeah right I believe that!" The voice sounded strained but it was also now noticeably female, and it sounded young. Not young with like a child young but it was definitely not the voice of a full-grown adult. "It seems that everywhere I go everything wants to kill me! I survived my ship crashing only to look straight into the eyes of a fragging demon before somehow getting away and ending up face-to-face with the one femme who shoots first and asks questions later! And now I'm hallucinating about seeing two living Predacon's!" There was a pause for a hoarse whisper of "I hate my life…"
"You're not hallucinating." Songbird continued, her voice still gentle and soothing. "And I meant it, we're not going to hurt you. Please come out and I promise everything will be all right, you have my word sweetspark." Again another pause and slowly Songbird extended one of her claws…
And after a moment and a slight shifting sound a small arm extended out and took her claw…
When the femme came out the first thing that was immediately noticeable was that she was young, probably in the Cybertronian equivalent of her early teens, fourteen to fifteen at maximum which would make her several Vorns old. Since Cybertronians aged differently than humans did; sparklinghood was brief, the youngling state lasted longer but adolescence took a long time to grow out of. Smokescreen and Bumblebee were only just reaching the end stage of their adolescence. Her youth aside what was the next glaringly obvious thing was that she was also a techno-organic who strongly resembled Arachnid. However her coloring was clearly wrong as her primary color was a vibrant shade of gold with splashes of black thrown in on her forearms and her sides. Her highly ornamented horned crest also contained a few streaks of purple… It was also noticeable that her injuries were extensive, she had taken multiple rounds to her left shoulder and three of her spiderlike legs had been blown off, two on her left side and one on her right. Thus explaining why she was bleeding so profusely. She also had a pair of light purple and black goggles around her neck and she was also currently clutching the Predacon fang on her necklace like her very life depended on it.
"What is your designation? Are you an Autobot or a Decepticon?" Predaking asked after he quickly transformed and started looking over the young femme. She gulped a little bit as she looked up at the towering mech with the glowing golden optics.
"It's Orb… Orb Weaver. And I'm not… a member of either faction." She replied meekly. Before she cautiously looked him up and down and did the same to Songbird. "I can't believe I'm looking at living Predacon's I thought your species died out in the Great Cataclysm!"
"It's impressive that you would even know of such a thing." The dragonformer commented trying to determine what he should now do with Orb Weaver. He could always kill her with a single breath or swipe of his servos. But he should still present her to Megatron and let him determine what her fate should be. Perhaps he may yet find use for her.
"I have a lot of free time. So I study things… I'm a self-taught scholar without any merits. You name it, I've probably studied or dissected it..." This comment clearly didn't go over so well judging by the look that appeared on Predaking's face. "I always put them back together! Usually in the right way… I mean the last time I put something back in wrong the cyber-bunny exploded… hehe, stop talking Weaver you're only digging yourself a deeper grave…" Weaver seemed unaware that she had just narrated that last part out loud… To Songbird this was a sure sign that Orb Weaver had probably not had anyone else to talk to for a very long time. Not that either Predacon dwelled on Weavers odd little speech for long because the Autobot's had finally caught up to them and this made Orb Weaver completely freak out and take off running like Unicron himself was after her!
In less than a second Songbird's wings had flared out and she bolted after and quickly scooped up the fleeing techno-organic femme just as Predaking had transformed and loosed a hellish blast of fire at his opponents. "What are you doing?!" Weaver screeched as she instinctively clung to the gryphonformer as soon as she found herself being lifted off the ground. "They're going to kill me! Especially the blue one!"
"Oh no they aren't!" Songbird growled lethally finding herself becoming completely enraged at the fact that these Autobot's would attack Orb Weaver for no reason whatsoever. Quickly she flew high above the trees in order to get an aerial view of the fight now beginning down below. She then deliberately dove straight down into the fray landing directly in front of Predaking; in a single none too graceful movement she threw Orb Weaver right into his face… (Not deliberately ,but she wasn't exactly focusing at the moment…) she then turned her attention back to the Autobot's and suddenly angled her wings straight up pointing them towards the heavens and the lightning that danced above. That was when the lightning struck…
Bolt after bolt began to strike Songbird's wings but it did not seem to injure her in any way, in fact it would appear that she was deliberately using her wings as a lightning rod! With each lightning strike the blue of her biolights seemed to shine brighter and brighter and her optics came alive with raw power as she then reared up onto her hind legs revealing that her blue Predacon emblem was also beginning to glow and the light began to travel up her long neck. Wheeljack had seen this multiple times before with the other Predacon and he knew exactly what was coming; he barely had time to shout the warning before Songbird loosed a blast much stronger than her usual lightning strikes! It tore through the surrounding area and leveled virtually everything in its path. Devastating well over a mile of forest...
When she was done all was still and silent…
"Mental note… never ever piss her off!" Weaver commented from her position in Predaking's sharp servos. With no trace of the Autobot's amidst the destruction Songbird visibly relaxed before turning around and once again taking to the air. Quite frankly she could've cared less if her opponents were still alive, they weren't going to be able to follow them now. Predaking also transformed and followed after her quickly catching up.
'How were you able to do that?!' He questioned.
"How? The answer is simple my dear P.K," She said with a Cheshire cat like smile. "I am the Lady of the Storms!" Judging by the way she declared this it was a title that she clearly was very proud of.
"Um, excuse me Miss Lady of the Storms I have a question." Weaver injected as she now found herself flying away in an unknown direction. "Where are you taking me?" It was a basic question that any normal individual would ask should they find themselves in this situation. Of course most normal people wouldn't find themselves in the situation but that was beside the point…
"Were bringing you to my employer, he ordered us to retrieve you." Song explained calmly. "Do you know of someone named Megatron?" Apparently she must have judging by the way her optics filled with utter terror.
"I'm going to die! You mean to tell me that I barely avoid the demon on the moon and now I have to go talk to Lord Buckethead of the Decepticons?!" She shrieked only to get a glare from the dragon that was holding her.
Funny how with those words Songbird couldn't help but think that Orb Weaver and her Freefall were going to get along just fine…
Back on the moon however…
The remnants of orb weavers ship set eerily still upon the moon's surface. Everything was silent and still before suddenly the ships wreckage began to shift on its own and within moments the debris actually began to sink into the moon itself. Slow at first but gradually the process sped up, it was as though everything was being enveloped in quicksand! And in under an hour there was not a single trace that there had ever been crashed ship there.
And a towering shadowed figure with large purple eyes grinned a contented sharp-toothed grin…
Yes the holidays are over which means I can get back to updating more regularly. Just to explain a little bit, I based Orb Weaver's name off of the Golden Orb Weaver spider, their silk is particularly beautiful and has a golden color to it. She's going to be a fun character I promise and that's it for now everyone, please remember to Read and Review! After all reviews tend to make me update quicker! And thank you again to everyone who has reviewed the story so far! ^_^