Primal Hunter
by: Takashidaimao
Chapter 7: Seeds of the Future

The city spread out like a vast sea of gems, the countless lights twinkling in what seemed to be eternal darkness. The streets were bustling with activity, Maximals from all over Cybertron converging for both work and pleasure. Cybertropolis had always been an icon to the people, a shimmering symbol of progress. Of course, it was only that way for the Maximals.

"Are you envious, boy?" The Predacon child jumped to his feet at the sound of the gruff voice that had snuck up behind him, causing him to abandon his perch that overlooked the capitol. He spun around to see a very old bot sitting against the wall behind him. The boy looked him over. The man looked as though he'd been rebuilt several times, panels of mismatched metals bolted to his thin frame. A leathery hood covered most of his face, though he could see several rusted metal cords draping down over the old man's shoulders. The child reached for the small knife he kept to protect himself, unsure of this man's intentions. He didn't seem to notice the defensive stance, as he continued on with what he was saying.

"I've seen you up here quite a bit, watching them down there. I do it too, so do not be ashamed." He continued before pulling himself up to his feet, a shower of rust shaking off his form. The boy took a step back, narrowing his optics. This man didn't speak like any Predacon he'd ever met. He was being far too… pleasant. "Cybertropolis was meant to be a symbol of unity, an icon built to herald an era where Maximals and Predacons lived as one. Yet what do we see here? Maximals living in the lap of luxury, while our kind are only permitted to gaze from afar, living in slums. Does that sound fair to you, boy?" At that, the boy sheathed his blade, shaking his head in reply to the elder bot. The old man gave a small nod. "I've no grudge against the Maximals. I knew a few in my younger years. Some of them can be decent. But I cannot condone the actions of those who do not honor their promises, even if the generation that made those pacts has long since expired." He paused, looking away from the city to glance down at the young bot. A small smile could be seen spreading across the man's face from under his hood. "Perhaps it'll be your generation that finally brings the Predacons back to their former glory. What's your name, little warrior?" The boy hesitated, casting a sideways glance down at Cybertropolis once more. "It's Dinobot."

Dinobot's optics slowly blinked online as the repair chamber door lifted open. Rattrap and Cheetor were already turned in their chairs, waiting for the raptor's repairs to complete. He grabbed hold of the chamber's edge to pull himself out, a hand instinctively moving to his midsection. He froze. His body had gone back to normal. Completely normal. The stasis chamber in his abdomen was gone. "What happened?" he asked immediately. The two gave each other uneasy glances. Again, Rattrap was the one to deliver the bad news. "Well… It's like this, Choppaface… Rhinox said when ya were thrown into the side of the ship, it messed up the stasis chamber pretty bad. There was no way he could repair it, so… He had to remove it." A long silence followed. After a moment Cheetor glanced down at the rat, narrowing his optics as though to tell him that he'd left out a key detail. Dinobot didn't seem to notice. "I see… Where's Optimus? I… I expect he'd want me to report immediately once my repairs have completed." He replied, the last part added in a half-hearted attempt to maintain his 'business as usual' façade. He wouldn't allow those two a chance to think that he was running off to seek consolation from his mate, even if that was indeed what he was doing. The two were polite enough to pretend to be fooled. "Yeah, you got that right. He said he'd be in his quarters waitin' for ya." Without another word, Dinobot left down the hall. Once the warrior was out of earshot, Cheetor folded his arms across his chest plate, glaring down at the rat. "Y'know… You kinda made it sound like-" The feline's scolding was cut off by the sudden outburst of hysterical laughter from Rattrap. Cheetor shook his head. "You're an asshole…"

Dinobot found himself standing in front of Optimus' door for several minutes. How could he possibly face his mate? He'd failed to protect their child, a seemingly simple task. He couldn't help but think of everything he could have done differently to prevent such an outcome. Of course, hadn't this been what he wanted to begin with? Being rid of that embarrassment? He vented a deep sigh. He'd make sure he would be careful what he wished for from now on…

When Dinobot finally entered the commander's quarters, he found himself staring with optics wide and mouth agape. Optimus was sitting over by the large observation deck built into the room, hull still riddled with damage from the previous battle. The pale light of the full moon illuminated the ball of dull green plate-like scales that was curled up in the ape's arms, small silver hands clinging to the thick black fur lining his chest plate. Optimus looked up with a huge smile plastered across his singed face, seemingly without a care in the world.

"I'm going to murder that rodent!"Optimus was a bit taken aback by the outburst. It wasn't exactly the greeting he was expecting, but he supposed it was a good sign. Bickering with Rattrap meant he was feeling a lot better. The little bot squirmed around against his father's hold, two bright red optics searching the room for the source of all that shouting. The second he caught sight of Dinobot his face lit up, those tiny hands reaching out expectantly. Optimus let out a chuckle. "Well, I guess I didn't have to worry about him not recognizing you."

Dinobot approached after a short pause, staring down at the infant. When he wasn't immediately picked up, the boy fidgeted against his father's arms, mumbling wordlessly. The warrior glanced away to his mate as if unsure what he wanted to do. Optimus laughed, shaking his head. "You can take him whenever you want. He is your son, after all." He assured, holding the boy out for the raptor to take. Hesitantly, Dinobot took the child, cradling him against his chest plate. The little bot immediately clung to his creator, pale blue face nuzzling against brown leathery scales. Optimus was relieved to see a small smile spread across the warrior's face.

"I don't suppose you've given him a name yet?" he asked once the child had curled up and quickly fallen asleep in his arms. Optimus shook his head. "Not yet. I was going to wait to ask your opinion before doing something like that." He replied, folding his arms across his chest plate. Dinobot's smile shifted into a smirk, as he recognized that tone. "Oh? I take it you found my scan, then…" he replied casually, to which Optimus vented a sigh. "An Indian Gavial? I don't know how you found one in the middle of Africa, much less how you managed to get close enough to scan in without being torn to shreds, but… Don't you think it would have been wise to choose a beast form that was a little less aggressive?" the Maximal leader scolded, not too happy about his son being given the form of a predatory animal at such a young age. The raptor merely scoffed. "Honestly, does this child look as though he's waiting to rip us apart? Besides, the only difference is that I'll be hunting his food for him rather than having to forage for nuts and berries like some…" he stopped there, knowing better than to continue on with that statement. Optimus let out another sigh, slowly shaking his head. "I suppose you're right… Either way, it's not like we can change it now."

For several minutes after that the two remained silent. Dinobot took that time to look over the infant. The features his optics were continually drawn to were the thick silvery cords running back against his skull to the top of his neck, mimicking the flow of human hair. "Gorgonus." Optimus looked up at the sudden statement, furrowing his brow plates. "His name. I'd like to call him Gorgonus. As long as that's alright with you, of course." Dinobot explained, running a claw lightly down one of those cords. "That's fine with me. Someone important to you?" Optimus asked, guessing perhaps his mate was naming their son after someone. Dinobot looked away, hesitant to answer. "Just an old man who saw fit to turn a street urchin into a warrior…" The ape couldn't help but smile at that. He supposed that was the closest the raptor could come to naming the boy after one of his own parents, from the sound of it at least. "Gorgonus it is, then."

Rattrap stared intently at the monitor screen in front of him, though he may as well be staring at a brick wall. He wasn't focused at all on the task at hand, rather thinking about all that had gone on in the past few days. Optimus was walking around with a grin on his face that you couldn't have wiped off if you tried, not that the rat could complain about their fearless leader being in a seemingly permanent good mood. Gorgonus was a cute kid and all, very energetic and lovable, but the spy insisted it was all a ploy by the little 'Anti-Primus' to lure them into a false sense of security. Cheetor had been getting a little lippy with him whenever he said anything negative about the mechling, personally believing the kid to be a perfect little angel. Rhinox? Well, he still owed the rat fifty creds… As for Dinobot, he seemed to be pretty much back to his normal self, save for one small detail; he'd been completely ignoring Rattrap's heckling. He couldn't believe he was saying it, but it just wasn't any fun unless he got Choppaface mad enough to want to scrap him.

Suddenly it seemed another opportunity arose to get under the raptor's scales. The exit lift door opened up, the tall warrior striding casually in. A smirk spread across Rattraps face as a faint squeaking sound reached his audio sensors. "Hey, you come down with a bad case of rust while you were laid up with tha kid?" he joked without ever turning to face his target. Surprisingly, he heard a familiar growl. "I most certainly have not. Not that it would be any of your business either way, rodent." Dinobot hissed in rebuttal, to which Rattrap turned around in his chair, folding arms over chest plate. "Oh yeah? Then what's all that squeakin'?" This seemed to have been just the question the Saurian was waiting for, as a wide smirk formed across his lips. He then revealed the hand he'd had behind his back, holding out a field mouse that looked about ready to have a heart attack. "Food for my young." He replied with an amused chuckle. The look of horror on the short bot's face was absolutely priceless. Rattrap could be seen balling his fists at his side, but seemed too angry to formulate a proper comeback. "Oh, you li'l-! You think that's funny, do ya?" he shouted out, to which the raptor only laughed more. "Not at all. Honestly, the idea of my child eating vermin doesn't exactly sit well with me, but with his small size and all… It'll have to do until he can handle proper prey." He retorted casually, inspecting the frightened field mouse as though it were unworthy to feed to his child. Before the rodent had time to stammer out another half-baked remark, Dinobot decided to take one last stab at him.

"Oh, don't get so uptight about it. It could be worse, after all. If it weren't for Optimus' insistence, I'd have already conditioned Gorgonus to devour his prey alive." With that, the large bot shifted one of his dual thumbs, snapping the mouse's neck with one clean movement. He then left Rattrap to stand there with his mouth hanging wide open, having kept his hungry child waiting too long to warrant teasing the rat any longer. Once the raptor was out of sight, the shorter bot immediately turned to face where Cheetor was sitting at his station. "Did you see that? He's trainin' that slaggin' brat ta eat me!"he squeaked out, earning a chuckle from the feline. "Don't you think you're overreacting a little? I mean, you did kinda deserve it, what with that 'prank' you pulled a few days ago." He replied, referring to how the rat had made the raptor believe his son had died. That was pretty damn low, even for Rattrap. In his opinion, the rat deserved every ounce of torment Dinobot was about to dish out. Rattrap merely folded his arms across his chest plate again, apparently not inclined to agree with the young scout. "Yeah, well… Two can play at that game!" "But… You're the one that started it…" "Ah, shaddap…"

Dinobot woke up late the next morning, Gorgonus having decided that the middle of the night was the perfect time to be wide awake and squirming around so much he nearly wound up on the floor several times. Since the little bot was born the raptor had taken to sleeping in his own quarters again most of the time, Optimus' bed being just a little too cramped with the three of them there. The child, obviously, slept with his creator. Of course, that didn't always mean he'd wake up with him. Often whenever Dinobot slept in he'd awake to find that Gorgonus had already been taken by his father, just as the case was today. The large lizard let out a big yawn, the tip of his tail twitching slightly as he stretched. He then glanced sleepily down at where the little crocodilian had been curled up next to him only to find an empty space. Again, since this was more or less normal by now, he wasn't inclined to freak out about it. He did have the mind to peek under the bed, checking to make sure the child hadn't somehow crawled off and was hiding somewhere. Finding nothing, he hopped down off the steel platform and made his way out the door and down the hall, transforming into his robot form as he went.

Dinobot found Optimus sitting at his desk in his quarters, though the boy didn't seem to be with him. As he walked in, the commander looked up, greeting him with a warm smile. "Good morning. I take it Gorgonus didn't let you sleep?" he asked with a small chuckle. The raptor nodded lightly, still scanning the room with his optics. "You wouldn't find it so amusing if it were you he was keeping up every night… Speaking of which, I take it you came and got him earlier?" Optimus gave a small nod. "Airazor reported in from her exploration mission and wanted to meet him. I didn't think you'd mind if he was taken off your hands for a few hours." At that, a smirk spread across the warriors lips. So, Airazor was kind enough to watch their son for a few hours? Knowing that woman she would be reluctant to give the child up even when they went to retrieve him. That meant the two of them could be alone for pretty much as long as they wanted. Dinobot leaned over the ape's desk, cradling a hand against the side of his mate's face before pulling his lips into his own. Optimus stood up from his seat, leaning into the kiss. He only broke away momentarily to nod towards the bed.

Barely a moment passed before the two were at it again, this time in a more comfortable spot. Optimus had the raptor bent back over his bed, grasping him by the hips as he bit down on his mate's neck. Dinobot let out a pleasured groan, claws grabbing ahold of the thick black fur on the ape's back plate. A smile spread across the commander's face. He had no idea how much he'd missed being with the raptor like this until they were finally able to do it again. It was almost as if the gap that had grown between the two had instantly snapped shut again. Of course, this wouldn't stop him from trying to get him to open up in other ways, but for now he would enjoy the moment.

"I should let Rattrap watch Gorgonus more often…" He commented before moving up to lock lips with his mate again. He was stopped when Dinobot grabbed him by his shoulder plates, holding him away. "You what? You said Airazor had him!" he growled out suddenly. Optimus hesitated to answer, if only because the reaction he got to such a simple comment was so unexpected. "Ummm… He is. I mean… He should be. Rattrap came in about an hour ago and offered to take him out to her."

Moments later Optimus found himself following Dinobot down the hall towards the bridge, the same look of disappointment on his face that one would find on a child who was told to drop their favorite video game and go visit their grandparents. He didn't see what the big deal was. It's not like he left the kid with Megatron or something. The raptor was fully aware that his mate failed to understand the gravity of the situation. He and the rat had a very unique relationship. It was a constant game of payback between the two, and nothing was off-limits. Absolutely nothing.

When the two made their way onto the bridge, at first it looked as though Dinobot had been worrying for nothing. Cheetor was on patrol, Rhinox holed up in his lab, Rattrap at his monitor station, and Airazor sitting in an adjacent seat with Gorgonus in her lap. Optimus folded his arms over his chest plate impatiently, optics narrowed as if to say 'you stopped me for this?' Dinobot let out a low growl, not able to believe that the rodent hadn't done anything. He marched forward to Airazor's side, at which point she looked up with a huge grin. Gorgonus looked up as well, holding his arms out excitedly when he saw his creator near. The raptor's brow plate twitched. It seemed the hawk had just gotten done weaving a collection of light blue mountain flowers around the silver cords that draped down the boy's head. "Doesn't she look cute?" Airazor commented with a giggle, at which point Rattrap could be heard stifling a laugh. The warrior growled again, mostly towards the rat. "He's a boy!" he hissed as he picked the child up from his spot on the hawk's lap. Airazor cringed slightly. "But Rattrap said… I'm sorry! I didn't realize!" she apologized furiously as the raptor began gently plucking the flowers out of the boy's cords. As he tossed one to the side, Gorgonus managed to grab it out of the air. He then placed it haphazardly back on top of his head before letting out a delighted giggle. "Oh for the love of…" Dinobot snarled, slapping his free hand over his optics and shaking his head. Rattrap couldn't contain his laughter at this point, practically falling out of his chair in hysterics. Optimus could also be heard letting out an amused chuckle.

"C'mon, Dinobot… He seems to like it. Why don't you just let him keep the flowers?" the commander interjected with a smile, picking up one of the flowers from the floor and handing it to the small bot, at which point it was immediately stuck back where he thought it should go. Dinobot groaned in defeat as the child placed his little hands on top of the remaining flowers on his head in an attempt to prevent his creator from removing them again. Optimus laid a hand briefly on his mate's shoulder, essentially telling him he'd be in his quarters whenever the raptor wanted to see him. Airazor snuck off at about the same time the ape left, aiming to get as far away from the surely angry raptor as possible. Soon, it was down to just Rattrap, Dinobot, and Gorgonus on the bridge. The raptor narrowed his optics at the rat.

"So? What else did you do?" Dinobot questioned, giving the rodent a suspicious look. Rattrap gave an exaggerated look of surprise. "Why, whatever do ya mean, Choppaface?" The raptor immediately retorted with a growl. "You know exactly what I mean! That can't possibly be all you've done!" he snarled out, to which Rattrap let out a chuckle. "What makes you think you comin' all tha way out here wasn't part of it? I saw that look on tha Boss Monkey's face. You two were gettin' ready ta bump uglies, right? Then you hear I got yer kid an' ya rush out here like Sentinel's on full alert. Now, not only did ya ruin tha only chance ta be alone with 'Lover Boy' that yer gonna have in a good long time, but whenever ya finally do yer gonna be paranoid that I'm up ta sumthin'. And that, my dear Lizard Lips, is 'mission accomplished' in my book. Tha li'l gator likin' tha flowers in his 'hair' is just a bonus." He explained with a satisfied chuckle. Dinobot glared at the smug vermin, the full scope of his plan finally sinking in. "You're going to regret this…" "Oh, I know. Trust me… I know…"