Ripjaw continued to grow as the days went into weeks, Predaking taking every day to make sure she got a walk in outside on the landing bay. Soon her wings began to flex and stretch the more she was using her entire body, and he could tell she was getting frustrated as the winds continued to defeat her small frame.
"Perhaps it is time for a flying lesson." He said, picking her up and taking her to the edge. "Now, how to go about this…"
The youngling looked up at him, wings flapping a bit as she was guessing what he wanted. She trilled a bit then suddenly leapt out of his hands despite his hold, flapping her wings as fast as she could muster. A faulty mistake on her part, for as she opened her wingspan, the harsh winds flung her away as she tumbled through the air off under the Nemesis.
"Ripjaw!" Predaking exclaimed, quickly transforming and flying after her, trying to keep up as the winds were powerful in keeping her away from him.
The king grew frantic as she actually starting hitting the sides of some spiked metal from the ship, hearing her screeches for help as she was confused and scared. He roared out as he soared faster, wings beating at the gusts that took away his sparkling. With a final blow from a spike she went flipping off to the side of the ship, causing Predakings worry to turn into rage at seeing her harmed further.
He flew between spikes and sped as she finally escaped the winds around the Nemesis and plummeted to the ground. The king closed his wings as he dove through the air to go faster, seeing her optics flicker on and off as she's delirious from all the spinning. With a growl he finally caught her, looking her over and seeing many dents and a few cuts. The predacon quickly flew back to the landing bay and took her straight to Knockout.
The medic looked up as he heard the doors, sighing as he saw it was Predaking. "What happened now?"
"Flying accident. The winds slammed her against the ship and she's badly hurt." He replied, holding her out.
Knockout looked over the small bot and took her, doing a scan and chuckling. "You over exaggerate. There's nothing more than dents, minor cuts and perhaps confusion from the situation. She'll be fine." He spoke as he gently popped out a few dents. "She's tougher than she looks."
Predaking sighed in relief, Knockout taking notice.
"You really care for this little thing, don't you?" the medic smirked.
"Of course I do, she is a predacon who needs a chance." The predacon growled back.
"She?" Knockout inquired, looking down at her. "Doesn't look like one."
The medic was quickly silenced by a dark growl from Predaking. "One does not have to be dainty to be a female."
"R-Right." The medic stuttered with a nervous laugh, welding shut any bigger cuts she has.
Predaking picked up his subject after all was done, relieved as she was resting peacefully now. He turned and left much to Knockouts relief, taking her back to the room. Laying her down on the berth, he sat next to her and stroked her spines gently, feeling foolish to have not expected her to try and make a jump.
"Perhaps I'm not cut out to be her sire." He said with a sigh, feeling he was doing a poor job at all this.
Ripjaw woke a bit at his words, crooning now as she cuddled up to him tiredly and hid her face to his leg. Predaking smiled a bit, feeling warmed that she at least favored to be with him but also feeling that perhaps her pride was what hurt most. Her body language spoke of disappointment and embarrassment.
"It is alright, Ripjaw, we'll just practice on the ground next time." He soothed, petting her back with a claw.
This seemed to perk her up a bit that there would be a next time, trilling as she looked up at him now with a tail wag. He noticed she was starting to understand his words more, causing him to grin that maybe she would be able to transform soon.
Letting a few days pass for her rest, Predaking took another chance to take her out, flying down to the ground this time and placing her on the grass gently. He backed away some then flexed his wings out to show her how to position them properly. Though her wings were different from his, with lots of spines between the thin metal, she flexed as well, puffing chest out. The king growled in approval then began flapping to take to the air, blinking when his own winds blew her back thanks to her flexed wings. Ripjaw quickly scrambled back and flexed her wings again as if to refuse to let this beat her.
Predaking nodded and flapped more until he was in the air, watching her start to flap frantically as she was far too eager to get up. The king shook his head and growled to get her attention, motioning to how his own wings were moving. Ripjaw nodded and tried again, this time giving more time between each flap and starting to rise a bit. Her spark skipped a beat as she was exhilarated from the mild air she caught, flapping harder to go higher but only causing a descent with her awkward flaps.
The large predacon chuckled some in his mind and showed her again before getting a comm link order for a mission, sighing and transforming. "We must return, Ripjaw."
Ripjaw looked up at him and obviously pouted, turning away and starting to run but getting swiped up into Predakings claws.
"We're going back whether you like it or not." He stated firmly, transforming and flying back to the Nemesis.
The youngling huffed but complied with his grip as they landed, being taken to Shockwaves lab again and actually whining as he leaves her on the table again. She watched him go then looks to Shockwave who in return stares back a bit, freezing as he starts walking towards her. Ripjaw quickly hisses in defense as she didn't forget his pinning her down last time. As he grabbed for her she quickly jumped and scrambled away, courageously jumping from the tall table and running towards a tight spot between computers where he couldn't reach her.
Shockwave stayed silent as he stalked towards her, making sure he blocked her way before bringing out a rod and prodding her out with some mild shocks. Ripjaw shrieked and scurried quickly, trying to get between his legs but was slammed down by hand. The scientist picked her up slowly as he kept a firm grip and put her in the scan chamber much to her dismay. After locking the door, he went to his computers and began a thorough scan, ignoring her shrieks of fright from the bright lights.
Ripjaw attacked the glass walls of the chamber, scratching and biting at them and trembling all the while. She desperately wanted out immediately and sparks began emanating from her frill again. Shockwave took another scan as she was doing so to capture what bodily changes happened during this moment, seeing her entire system light up as she released a jolt in the chamber.
"Interesting." Shockwave hummed, typing in some notes to the system.
Just as he was doing so, Ripjaw shrieked louder and started to change, body plates shifting differently as if she were trying to transform. The scientist kept his eyes on another scan as she was doing so, watching her form unfold as body parts shifted and moved. Soon she was a small bi-pedal predacon, pounding her tiny clawed fists to the glass and continuing to shriek. The small predacon suddenly let out an audio piercing shriek as the glass began to break, soundwaves emanating from her tiny fanged mouth.
Shockwave covered his audios, grunting then quickly pushing a button that jolted her inside the chamber and induced stasis. Ripjaw fell to the floor as she was out, claws twitching at times. He sighed in relief then looked over to her, taking her out of the chamber after one final scan and examining her small frame.
"Interesting." He hummed again, letting her rest after he was satisfied with his findings and returning to his computer.
Predaking returned after a while, seeing her still out but thinking she was simply tired until he noticed her change. He quickly ran to see her, in awe of her transformation into a bot mode. "When did this happen?!"
"A few cycles after you left. She seemed stressed out about your departure and it must have induced a transformation." Shockwave replied.
The predacon looked a bit saddened that he caused that much stress in his sparkling, picking her up then noticing the broken chamber glass. "Did she cause that?"
"Yes. She emitted strong sound waves that caused damage." The scientist stated, continuing to look at his work. "You may leave now."
Predaking nodded, leaving and looking down at her with hidden excitement. He was ready to hear her say her first words to him, eager to hear what she sounded like. It would be a while before she finally woke, so the king had to find something to do with his time as he got to his room. He growled a bit as Starscream was sneaking around the corner and yelped as he saw Predaking.
"O-Oh! You're back already?!" The seeker stammered.
"Yes, what do you want?" Predaking growled, glaring as Starscream took a glance at the younglings' new form.
"It's already transformed?!" he shrieked, trying to calm himself. "It's evolving too quickly! I-I mean so quickly! You must so proud!"
"I am very proud of her, now leave us be." The king huffed as he went into his room and locked the door behind him.
Starscream sighed in relief but quietly growled, walking away from the room and going straight to the main control room where Megatron is.
"Lord Megatron, the small beast is already transforming! We must destroy them both at once!" The seeker shrilled.
"Quiet Starscream, I already know of the events unfolding. Shockwave has relayed everything to me." Megatron replied without looking at him. "We still need the sparkling if we are to keep control of its sire for now."
"But Master, if you allow this to continue there's no telling how much more dangerous the young one will be as it continues to grow and evolve! It could end up being bigger than Predaking for all we know!" Starscream argued.
"Enough, Starscream!" Megatron shouted as he finally looked at his second in command with a glare.
The seeker cowered back, nodding sheepishly as his wings drooped. "Y-yes, my Lord."
"We need the sparkling, Starscream. It has kept Predaking in line this entire time and even given him some grief." Megatron smirked. "He will be obedient as long as that sparkling keeps him busy between missions. Besides, if we rid him now, who will do the fetching for us? You?"
Starscream faltered a bit at his Masters laughter at the notion. "Yes well, I have some patrolling to do, my Lord." He said as he bowed and left, glaring down the corridor as he walked down it.
Everyone is going to pay. The seeker seethed in his mind.