Prowl dropped through the hole in the ceiling of the Autobots' "secret base" and headed directly for his room, racing ahead of the other 'Bots as they returned home from an extended goodwill tour arranged by the mayor of Detroit. He'd spent the entire tour wishing he could be back in his quiet room away from the noisy crowds of Humans who swarmed to see them.
With a poorly concealed sigh of relief, he carefully opened the fragile doors to his quarters and entered. He froze in horror at the sight that greeted his optics. His tree had turned yellow. The shining green leaves that provided protection for many wild creatures and a hiding place for him had turned yellow and a large number of them littered the mats that covered his floor. A light breeze blew through the missing roof and wall and a swirl of leaves flew past him to join the leaves already on the ground.
"No," he whispered and rushed to the tree, placing his hands on the trunk. Was his tree dying? When had it started? Why hadn't he noticed?
He heard voices as the rest of the Autobots arrived. "Ratchet!" he shouted.
The voices stopped and then he heard the sound of Ratchet's feet pounding down the corridor. He didn't even turn around to make sure Ratchet was actually in the room before blurting out, "Something is wrong with the tree."
He turned worried optics to Ratchet. "Can you help it?"
Ratchet paused in the doorway and stared at the tree. "Calm down, Prowl. Let me check it out." He approached the tree and ran a quick scan. He compared it to previous scans he'd made of the tree. Scans he'd made out of curiosity. The results were puzzling and a bit worrying.
"Your tree is no longer growing. It seems to have shut off. I hate to say this but it could be dying."
Prowl looked stricken. "It can't be. It's been here for so long."
"Maybe it's just reached the end of its existence. I'm sure trees don't live forever."
"But I've barely had a chance to get to know it," Prowl said quietly and sadly. He put his hand on the tree's trunk and gazed up into the rapidly emptying branches. "So many creatures made their home up there."
By this time, the rest of the Autobots and Sari had arrived. They all seemed to realize that something was wrong with the tree except Sari. She squeezed through Bumblebee's motionless legs and entered the room looking up at the sad faces.
"What's going on?"
"There's something wrong with Prowl's tree," Bumblebee said, his voice actually showing some respect for the moment.
Sari looked back at the tree and then at the Autobots. She didn't know whether to laugh or go along with the somber mood. She decided to giggle. "There's nothing wrong with your tree, Prowl."
Prowl turned and frowned at the girl. "There isn't? Then why is it shedding leaves?"
"It does that every year. Most of the trees around here do that. Well, not pine trees, they're evergreens, but your tree…it's a maple, by the way, loses its leaves in the Fall and grows new ones in the Spring. It's…resting, in recharge, for the winter when it's cold and less daylight. It's completely normal." She kicked some of the leaves on the floor. "You'll want to get rid of these though. Remember the mess you had to clear out when you found this room? This is how it started."
Prowl nodded. "I definitely remember." The others nodded in agreement. It had been a mess, a thick layer of rotting vegetation they had to clean up. It had been so bad that each one of them, except Prowl, had wondered at some point if it was even worth the effort.
She stared at him curiously. "Didn't you notice the other trees losing their leaves? Or at least changing color?"
He shook his head, obviously a little embarrassed. "I noticed the color change but we've been so busy I didn't see the leaves falling. I suppose I need more stillness. My powers of observation seem to be suffering from too much activity. So, Sari, what else do we have to look forward too?"
Sari rubbed the tree bark. "You know, I don't think I've told you all about snow," she said and grinned with anticipation.
