X
By the time evening rolled around Starscream's earlier trauma had been completely forgotten, which was something Megatron couldn't help but be suspicious of. Unfortunately Impactor, who didn't seem to have anything better to do with his time, outright refused to let him go back on his promise to let the seeker watch the arena fights this evening. He had even gone so far as to volunteer to take him himself. Megatron was rightfully wary of them spending time alone together. Impactor knew far too much about his earlier life and seemed to have no qualms about blurting every embarrassing detail out to any mech who would listen.
And Starscream's memory was damnably good for a youngling.
After threatening his oldest friend with all the usual death threats, Megatron regretfully left the two of them to prepare himself for his ensuing fights. Starscream rather tactlessly shouted a not-so encouraging, "Don't get slagged!" at him as he left. Fragging sparkling. He hoped Starscream would behave as unreasonable for Impactor as he did for him.
Five breems later and Impactor was beginning to see where Megatron was coming from.
"I can't see!" Starscream complained loudly, craning his neck cables from where he was sat in the stands, his view blocked almost completely by the towering forms of the Kaonians in front of him. "You picked the worst seats!"
Next to him Impactor sighed loudly, "You wouldn't have any better a view anywhere else in the stands. This place wasn't made for spark- for mechs as small as you," he explained, catching himself before he uttered the dreaded 'S' word he had quickly discovered was banned in Starscream's presence.
The seeker thankfully didn't notice his near use of the word, though still seemed to take a lot of offence at the 'small' comment. "It's not me that's small," he muttered snottily, "it's everyone else here that's ridiculously tall."
Impactor offered him a smile anyway, "Do you wanna sit in my lap, you'd have a better... view..." he trailed off as he saw the look the seeker sent him, "Okay then!" he said cheerfully, knowing a lost cause when he saw one.
Starscream huffed angrily, crossing his arms over his cockpit as he slumped in his seat, "How much longer!?" he complained.
"Any breem now," Impactor replied, staring fixedly at the centre of the pit, willing the gladiators to hurry up and get on with it so he wouldn't have to listen to Starscream complain anymore.
Primus must have been looking down upon him for in that very moment the huge metal gates covering dark tunnel entrances at the bottom of the pit began to rise. Impactor instinctively sat forward in his seat as the dull hum of the crowd began to increase in pitch and volume to an excited cheer.
Starscream started to jump up and down on his seat in order to see what was happening as two shadowy figures moved out of the tunnels and into the centre of the arena. Impactor quickly took pity on him and lifted him up, allowing him to stand in his lap, keeping him securely upright with an arm loosely wrapped around his waist to stop him from falling off. Starscream didn't object to it, too engrossed in the two mechs below them taking their places opposite each other.
Neither of them were Megatron, but he recognised both, especially a certain someone's obnoxiously bright paint.
"Hey!" Starscream shouted over the crowd, pointing down at the gladiator in the east corner of the pit, "That's Steelstrut!"
Impactor smiled in confirmation, "He's up against Sidepunch," he added, nodding towards the mech in the west corner, "Poor fragger,"
Starscream scowled down at the large, brutish mech with an intense dislike. Poor fragger was right, Steelstrut was half the size of Sidepunch, and probably nowhere near as strong. Still, as annoying as Steelstrut was, he hoped he kicked Sidepunch's ugly, stupid aft.
There was a loud bang followed by the audio shattering roar of the crowd as Steelstrut launched himself forward with such speed that all Starscream saw was an orange blur. He lashed out at the larger gladiator as he came within reach, but Sidepunch, moving faster than someone of such size and bulk should have been capable of, easily ducked the blow and returned it with a strong sweep of his unarmed servo. Steelstrut, though quick on his pedes, seemed to possess the reflexes of a drunken mini-bot, and failed to dodge the blow, taking the full force of the back of Sidepunch's massive servo and falling flat on his aft because of it.
The match didn't last very long.
Starscream sat back against Impactor and pouted angrily, "Even I could have lasted longer than that!" he shouted obnoxiously, "That was the worst fighting I've ever seen! I thought gladiators were good at fighting."
Impactor seemed to find it funny, "He's young," he explained, nudging Starscream gently, "He'll improve, with practice and time."
Starscream's expression didn't shift from his angry pout, "I wanted him to teach Sidepunch a lesson," he muttered grumpily.
"Don't worry, I'm sure someone will," Impactor reassured him, giving him a wink.
Soon after, the pit was occupied again. There were another two matches, and though both of which were longer and more entertaining than Steelstrut's earlier fail, Starscream was starting to grow impatient.
"Where's Megatron!" he complained, "what's taking so long?"
Impactor looked away from where he'd been watching maintenance drones clear away the debris left after a particularly violent finish -from which the loser was likely to have to undergo a major repair for- to glance at the seeker, "His match is always the last," he explained, "you know, grand finale and all that."
This only served to make the seeker more annoyed, "Last?!" he whined, "how many more matches are there?"
Impactor shifted Starscream on his lap, subtly trying to take the pressure off his left leg as he felt it start to go numb, "Just one, this is the last match."
Starscream's mood then improved considerably, and he started jumping up and down, doing nothing to improve the ache in Impactor's leg.
After what seemed like joors had passed, the pit was clear once again -save for the occasional energon stain- and the crowd began to grow restless in anticipation. Starscream stared intently at the west entrance Impactor had told him would be where Megatron would enter from, his wings twitching in barely contained excitement.
Finally, there was movement. He spotted the intimidating, but familiar shape of Megatron's shoulder armour in the silhouette emerging from the tunnel. But his attention was taken by what had just entered the pit through the opposite tunnel.
Starscream didn't recognise him, but he appeared to be as popular with the crowd as Megatron if the loud applaud was anything to go by.
Unconsciously Starscream reached down and gripped the arm Impactor had looped around his waist, watching Megatron's opponent warily. The other gladiator was far larger. He was a dull faded black and gray colour with white details much alike Megatron's own, his expression was ugly with a bloodthirsty kind of hatred as he leered across the pit. He had arms as thick as Megatron's waist and was at least three times as broad. He made Megatron, who Starscream had once thought was the biggest, scariest mech this side of Cybertron, look like a mini-bot.
Starscream watched with great anticipation as Megatron stepped into the middle of the pit and turned to carefully survey the crowd, which in response exploded in noise. Starscream watched enthralled as the gladiator opposite raised his servo, receiving another crowd cheer of his own.
Eventually the noise of the crowd fell silent, the suspense growing as they waited for the small explosion that signified the start of the match. Even from his position high up in the stands Starscream could see Megatron's expression, one of utmost concentration, his dark optics never leaving those of his opponents.
Starscream jumped at the sudden bang of the match starting but couldn't tear his optics away as he watched the larger gladiator charge forward with a roar loud enough to be heard over the horde of spectators. His spark nearly burst out of his chest as he watched the larger mech swing his huge sword at Megatron's helm only for it to cut through air as he ducked into a crouch and slid back.
The other gladiator started to swing his weaponry widely, almost floundering around as Megatron fluidly moved around every swing, punch, and kick of dirt at his frame. Starscream frowned, wondering why Megatron was only avoiding his opponent's blows and never going on the offensive.
Eventually the other mech seemed to tire. He stood in the centre of the pit, vents cycling air rapidly as he glared at Megatron, his weapon held loosely at his side. Starscream's gaze flickered between the two of them before he saw his gladiator glance up in his direction.
He could have sworn he smirked at him.
But as soon as he saw it, it was gone, and Megatron finally rushed towards his opponent. Their weapons met with a ringing clang as the larger mech, brought his sword up with the last of his strength, just in time to block Megatron's attack. Even Starscream, who'd never watched a fight like this before, knew he wasn't going to last much longer. Very few of the gladiators seemed to be very tactical in their approaches to fighting.
Except Megatron, of course.
With a skilful move Megatron disarmed the other gladiator, flicking his opponent's weapon out of his servo and across to the other side of the pit. The larger mech seemed to have no problem with being weaponless however, and moved forward to grab at Megatron.
Unfortunately the pede to his helm as Megatron roundhouse kicked him prevented that.
The cheering was the loudest Starscream had ever heard it as Megatron made quick work of his opponent, sinking his knee join deep into his opponent's abdominal plating as he bowed over in pain before knocking him to the pit floor with an armour crushing punch to the side of his helm.
The larger mech fell to the floor with an almighty thud.
He didn't get back up.
And the crowd were beside themselves as they watched Megatron retrieve his opponent's weapon and lift it into the air with his own.
But Starscream wasn't watching that, as Impactor quickly realised as he noticed the lack of weight on his lap.
He caught a flash of red and white just before the seeker disappeared into the shifting horde of mechs still cheering as they watched several workers lift the unconscious losing gladiator up and out of the pit through the west tunnel, likely for a trip to the med bay.
"Starscream! Wait!" Impactor bellowed as he forced his way through several rather over-energised mechs; already knowing that it was a lost cause as his own voice was lost among the buzz of the crowd.
Further ahead Starscream was stuck behind a wall of mechs. He looked behind him, realising he'd left Impactor behind in his haste to get to Megatron. But he couldn't wait. He had to see him now! "Megatron!" he shrieked, jumping up and down as he attempted to see through and over the other mechs blocking his view of the main arena, "Megatron!"
He cursed under his breath, wondering if he'd be able to go around another way, when the crowd before him surged forward suddenly, before parting to reveal the very mech he'd been shouting for.
Megatron wasn't smiling, but then, he never did. There was a light spray of mech fluid and dirt across his chest and a few scratches covered his frame here and there, but other than that, the larger mech hadn't laid a single decent hit on him.
Megatron had spotted him, and his frown deepened as he glanced around the surrounding area, obviously looking for Impactor. Starscream turned to look in the direction that had caught Megatron's attention, only to see a rather annoyed looking Impactor glaring back at him. Oops.
Nevertheless Megatron extended a large servo towards him, gesturing for him to come.
Starscream darted forward, narrowly avoiding getting stepped on by another mech and, though Megatron's dignity would be bruised by it, he couldn't help but throw himself at the gladiator, uncaring of what he was covered in. A warm servo was laid against the back of helm as he pressed his face into Megatron's abdomen. He stank of oil, energon and dirt, but Starscream drank it in, clinging that much tighter, as if he could become a part of Megatron if he was close enough to him.
He wanted to be like Megatron. He wanted to be able to knock down mechs three times his size. He wanted to have hundreds of fans cheering for him, only for him.
The mechs surrounding them started to clear away and move back as Impactor finally reached them; but still Starscream would not let go. His tiny fingers had slipped into the gaps between Megatron's armour plating, and if they tried to remove the seeker the gladiator would likely lose half his armour in the process as well.
Starscream muttered something against the armour at his waist and Megatron lowered his helm down, struggling to hear him over the remaining crowd.
Instead of starting a shouting match, Megatron gestured to Impactor and started to manoeuvre himself and his nearly acquired limpet out of the stands and away from what remained of the spectators, back down into the tunnels leading away from the pit. There, Impactor clapped him on the shoulder and offered him a gruff compliment, "Good match,"
It was only then that Starscream finally pulled himself free and smirked up at him, "When will I fight?" was the first thing he chirped.
Megatron felt something heavy hit the bottom of his tank as the words sank in, "Fight?"
Starscream nodded, "You will teach me. You're the best!" he said, jumping excitedly as he said the last part.
Megatron glanced at Impactor only to see the other mech just as lost for words. Regardless of Starscream's age, a seeker? In the pits? It was unheard of.
He stiffened his resolve and frowned down at the seeker, "You are too young to fight," he began, only for Starscream to pull his 'spoilt brat' face at him.
"You say I'm too young to do anything!" he argued back, "I'll be considered an adult when I'm-"
"Yes, yes, I know!" Megatron snapped, his high from winning the match quickly receding in light of having to deal with Starscream, "but now, you are a youngling. Now you shouldn't have even seen that fight, let alone start training to participate in one like it. In fact now..." he murmured, considering his chronometer, "you should be in recharge."
Impactor winced before he even saw Starscream's expression, knowing what kind of outburst was to come.
"You're telling me to go to recharge!" the seeker snapped, going on the defensive, "You're not my creator! You're not-"
"No," Megatron cut across him, rubbing the bridge of his olfactory sensor as he felt yet another seeker induced helm ache coming on, "I am merely trying to get rid of you so that I can have a moments peace. And you are clearly tired," he added as an afterthought.
Megatron was about to tell Impactor to remove Starscream from his vicinity, and Starscream was about to tell Megatron where he could stick that sword of his, when they were interrupted by someone who had clearly overheard them.
"Aw!" a deep voice mocked in an awful imitation of a baby voice, "is the widdle seeker tired?"
Megatron's optics flashed and Starscream whirled around to see Sidepunch leaned casually against the wall behind him. Starscream, after seeing Megatron completely humiliate another mech far larger than him not five breems ago, refused to shrink back in fear from him.
He hissed, wings hitching up aggressively.
Sidepunch looked like he wanted to laugh before Megatron came forward, stepping in front of the bristling seeker, hiding him from view, "Leave the youngling alone," he warned sternly.
Sidepunch did laugh this time, "Why do you still have that thing Megatron?"
Starscream tried to jump out from behind Megatron only for the larger mech to move again, effectively blocking his every attempt to show Sidepunch just how intimidating he could be.
Sidepunch pushed himself off the wall and moved closer, and before he knew it Starscream had been swept off his pedes by Impactor.
"Take him back to my quarters, I will be there shortly," Megatron ordered the other mech darkly. He didn't turn around or look away from Sidepunch.
Starscream opened his mouth to argue, but he was already being carted off up the hallway. They very quickly lost sight of Megatron and Sidepunch, and Starscream huffed irritably. He was about to inform Impactor that he was fully capable of walking and was going to order him to release him, when a rather loud clang echoed through the hallway from where they'd just come, it was followed quickly by a loud and pained voice shouting, "Agh! Frag!"
Starscream smirked to himself.
It definitely wasn't Megatron's voice.
X
Something was nudging him out of recharge; which was odd, because it was normally him waking Megatron up, not the other way around.
Tiredly he lifted his helm off the berth and rubbed at his optics. There was a blurry gray outline in front of him, "Megatron?" he muttered sleepily, "Wha's happening?"
"We're going out," was the gladiator's only reply before turning away from him.
Starscream sat up on his berth and checked his internal chronometer. It was the middle of the recharge cycle, a time in the morning he didn't think he'd ever been awake for before. "What?" he whispered confused.
Megatron glanced at him from where he'd been looking at a data pad, "Out," he repeated speaking abnormally quietly. He moved to his desk to retrieve a cube, "Hurry up, drink this. You'll need it."
Starscream took the cube and glanced at it, "Is something happening?" he asked warily.
Megatron shook his helm, "I'll tell, you when we get there. Now hurry up. Impactor is waiting."
Starscream blinked at him once before doing as he was told; the possibilities racing through his processor. Why were they sneaking out in the middle to the night? Was Megatron actually going to train him?!
With that thought in mind Starscream began to guzzle the cube, nearly choking. Megatron scowled at him.
"Pace yourself," he growled as he moved to the door, kicking the control panel -that had yet to be fixed and was glitching even more than usual- to get it to open. On the other side was Impactor, looking as tired as Starscream felt, but oddly pleased.
"I knew you'd come around-," he began but Megatron cut him off with a sour look.
"This had better work," he growled.
Impactor didn't look the least bit phased by his menacing tone. He glanced at Starscream, "You told him?"
Megatron shook his helm, "It can wait until we get there," he paused for a second, "...If we get there."
Starscream lowered his cube slowly, "What's happening?" he repeated warily.
Impactor shook his helm, "Oh ignore him!" he said cheerfully, "He's just a pessimist." He glanced between the two of them before clapping his servos together, "So, are we ready to go?"
Megatron's expression darkened but he moved towards the door regardless, gesturing for Starscream to follow. "We don't have a lot of time," he explained as he ushered him out through the door.
The streets outside were as dark and empty as Starscream remembered them from his first night here. He shivered involuntarily as he trailed behind the two larger mechs, watching the shadows warily for whatever could possibly have had Megatron act so apprehensive. This in turn, only made the gladiator more anxious, "Starscream!" he snapped, voice sharp but quiet as he whispered at him from the other side of the street, "Stay where I can see you."
Starscream didn't bother with a smart reply as he rushed to catch them up. This time Megatron nudged him to walk in front of him, where he could see him better.
They walked for what seemed like jours, into parts of Kaon Starscream hadn't yet seen before, where the buildings were further apart and more spacious, and not as decadently hideous as most of the centre of Kaon seemed to be.
It was a while before Starscream realised they were moving into the outskirts of the city.
"Where are we going?" he whispered to Impactor, who was walking in front of him, stopping them every now and then to look ahead before they carried on. "There's nothing out there!" he said, pointing ahead of them to the dead empty space between Kaon and its neighbouring city state, it's lights barely visible in the distance.
Impactor chuckled, "Exactly."
Starscream's face scrunched up in confusion.
They didn't walk on for much longer, when Impactor finally turned back and looked at the outskirts of Kaon just behind them with an air of satisfaction. "This will do," was all he said on the matter.
Starscream looked at Megatron, trying to communicate with just his expression that he thought Impactor had lost his processor and that he should probably do something about it.
But Megatron merely grunted and looked down at Starscream expectantly.
Starscream stared back.
"...Well?!" Megatron burst out eventually.
Starscream blinked, "What?!" he squawked.
Megatron had the nerve to roll his optics at him; "Fly," was all he said.
Starscream looked confused, he glanced at Impactor, "I thought- you said it was illegal in Kaon," he said awkwardly.
Impactor stepped forward smirking, "That's why we're out here."
"Against my better judgement," Megatron added foully.
Impactor ignored him, "We're too far out of the city for anyone to come across us, especially at this time in the cycle," he explained, "we're still inside the borders of Kaon, but, it's safe to fly here; as long as you don't stay too far away."
Starscream stared at him, "So, so I can fly?" he reaffirmed, his spirits already lifting. "I- but it's still against the law? Isn't it?" he said, glancing at Megatron again.
Impactor gave him a look, "I think breaking the no-fly laws are the least of Megatron's concern at the moment." He didn't elaborate but Megatron's expression wasn't a happy one.
"Well!" the gladiator suddenly snapped at Starscream, "I'm not going to stand out here all night! Get on with it."
Starscream looked between the two of them one last time before shooting off into the night sky with an excited whoop of exhilaration.
Megatron stared after him, momentarily panicked as he thought he'd lost sight of him, only to see a flash of light from one of the far away buildings reflect off Starscream's armour. The sound of Impactor clearing his throat brought his attention back to the ground. He scowled at him.
"It'll be worth it," Impactor reassured him. "You know seeker's, they're different. They need things like this."
Megatron glanced into the sky again, "They're unnecessarily complicated," was all he said, narrowing his optics to get another glimpse of Starscream, whose thrusters were too small and too weak to make much of a noise at his age.
"He'll be more complicated and difficult if he doesn't let off steam like this," Impactor informed him, "it's either this, or let the authorities-"
"No," Megatron cut across him, "he's not getting tagged or monitored, and no way in the pit am I letting them take him."
Impactor was silent.
"You said it yourself," Megatron continued, "He was abused. He has obviously come here to escape whatever it was that was hurting him in Vos."
Impactor looked away, "We don't know that for sure. We have no proof that-"
"No he told me," Megatron growled, looking down, "his sire..."
Impactor exhaled heavily, "...So you're... You're keeping him?"
Megatron met his gaze awkwardly, "It looks that way."
To his surprise, Impactor actually grinned at him, "I always knew you were a soft spark deep down."
Megatron rolled his optics in disgust and moved to put space between them.
Impactor followed him, "I always knew there was more to you," he continued anyway.
Megatron grimaced, "More to me in what way?" he growled.
There was silence for a while as they both watched a faint shadow that was clearly Starscream move through the sky.
"It doesn't always have to be this way you know."
Megatron glanced at his friend sideways, "What do you mean?"
Impactor looked around as if he thought someone was going to appear out of the shadows and attack him for what he was about to say. Megatron leant in closer, "There are mechs out there that are fighting for change-"
Megatron leant back again, snorting, "What change? You've been saying that for vorns and yet nothing has happened-"
"Because they don't yet have the means," Impactor replied, looking at him sternly, "Don't you want to change this?" he said, gesturing a servo towards the seeker in the sky and then towards the city behind them, "This place is rotting and things get worse every day."
Megatron looked away from him.
Impactor walked around into his view again, "You have more power than you seem to realise-"
Megatron growled and moved away from him, "You're deluded," he snapped, "I'm a miner turned pit fighter. My kind of power isn't something one can influence 'Change' with."
Impactor shook his helm, "You're wrong. Mechs come from city states across the planet to see you-'
"To see me rip apart other mechs!" Megatron snapped, "They come for violence! Not words! Not to see me blunder around a pointless political campaign."
Impactor looked away and they fell silent again, there was a sharp squeak from above them as Starscream flipped in mid air which reminded Megatron of his presence; and how long they'd been out there.
But just before Megatron was about to call the seeker down, Impactor un-subspaced a data-pad and pushed into his servo.
"In case you change your mind, he can help you," he muttered, nodding towards his old friend and glancing up at Starscream, "I'll see you around. Tell the little guy I said bye."
Megatron glanced down at the data pad he'd given him and nodded back as Impactor began to turn around.
Starscream must have noticed his leaving as he flew down to the ground once again, "Hey, where's he going?"
Megatron didn't answer, watching his friends retreating back, "Come," he said distantly, subspacing the data-pad, "You've flown enough for tonight. We're going home."
"Will I see him again?" Starscream asked, still looking towards Impactor but already doing as Megatron said -for once- and walking ahead of him.
Megatron smirked to himself, "Pf course, he can never stay away for long."
Starscream smiled back, "Good." he said, "I like him."
Megatron exhaled, watching at Starscream happily skipped ahead of him as he thought over Impactor's words. Yes, things needed to change, but he was a far cry from the kind of mech that needed to bring it about.
Either way, he would keep this Soundwave's comm. number safe, just in case.
X
Vos; seven Cybertronian vorns ago.
The library was by far the most peaceful, quiet area of the palace. Even more so considering the Sovereign didn't venture down here, a fact lieutenant Starscream often found himself teasing her for. Not that she was uneducated just... busy.
Which was why it was him sat in one of the dark corners with his vorn old sparkling.
"As the future reigning Sovereign," he spoke with businesslike formality to the tiny sparkling as he settled him in his lap and switched a data-pad on, "You, Prince Starscream... the second," he added with a slight smirk, "need to be educated."
'Prince' Starscream squeaked disinterestedly in his lap, tiny blue fingers reached out and tried to grab the data-pad. His sire pulled it out of his reach, "Now now your majesty," he murmured, settling him more firmly in his lap, "This data-pad is for learning astronomy, not for chewing."
His sparkling made a whining noise that said he didn't agree.
His sire sighed, "like your carrier,' he grumbled. Starscream shrieked happily and stuck his servo in his mouth, drooling all over it.
"Now," his sire said, refocusing on the data-pad he held, Starscream's wide sparkling optics turned curiously to where his sire was pointing, "today, daddy's going to teach you about stars."
Starscream squeaked in recognition.
"No," his sire corrected him, "I mean real stars, burning balls of gas. Not stars that scream."
"daah-heam!" Starscream tried and failed to pronounce his own name.
His sire smiled broadly nonetheless. He lowered a servo and stroked it across his sparkling's helm. "Yes, you." Starscream grinned broadly around the servo he had already stuck back into his mouth. "Do you think you'll ever try to say another word other than your own name?" his sire asked him.
Starscream, who had vague understanding of what his sire had asked him, shook his helm, and laughed.
His sire sighed, and then glanced up hurriedly. Starscream followed his gaze and saw another royal guard approaching them. He grinned even wider and reached out towards him.
"Lieutenant," Spitfire said roughly as he drew closer, "shouldn't you be on guard outside the courtrooms."
The sparkling looked towards his sire and saw his optics widen. He stood straight up, and Starscream squeaked as he was taken along with him. His sire saluted. "Yes Captain," he said obediently, he then looked down at his son. "I'll head right down there; I'll just drop his royal highness off with his caretakers-"
"No need," he uncle said, stepping forward, arms extended, "I'll take him. You're already late".
His sire seemed caught between looking confused and looking apologetic. Starscream himself was confused as well. He had difficulty telling the guards apart, he sometimes even had difficulty telling his sire apart from his comrades as well, they were all so friendly. He often spent breems garbling to them thinking they were his sire when they weren't, and only realising when his REAL sire appeared. But he couldn't remember ever being alone with this one.
His sire seemed to hesitate, "You don't mind? I know you're not keen on Sparklings-"
Spitfire shook his helm, "Not at all. It's about time I got to know my grandnephew after all."
And with that Starscream found himself being passed between servos, he gripped his sire's finger for an instant before he pulled away again, squeaking sadly before being settled against this strangers chest.
Strangely enough his spark signature was strikingly his sires. It seemed to be on the same frequency as his as well! He felt a bond sing between them. Was this mech his sire as well? Did he have TWO sires?
He was rearranged in his 'new sires' arms carefully, and waved sadly as his other sire started to leave the room, "We'll finish Astronomy this evening your majesty!" his sire called over his wing to him. "I'll see you then!"
He was already too far away to hear his uncles darkly muttered, "No you won't," as he strode purposely through the library doors.