4: Something She Will Regret

Blackarachnia looked at the wolf scout with curiosity. It was thin and brown. Not at all like Silverbolt had been. But still, this canine reminded her of him. Its honest golden eyes resembled Silverbolt's. This made her upset and irate. She was still a naughty girl, she thought, raising her blaster and aiming for the wolf.

***

Darkstar, his fur glossy and bright in the morning sun, loped alongside Knight. Knight's coat was in nowhere close to the good shape companion's was in, but he didn't notice. Running along like this, open-mouthed like a dog running after a fetch-stick, Knight was happy. Almost happy—the ache deep in his chest remained.

Darkstar halted abruptly and sniffed the air. "You smell that?"

Knight stopped and thrust his noble silver snout into the air. "It smells strange… metallic, almost. And…" Knight hesitated to continue, because what he was about to say sounded so strange. "It smells familiar."

Darkstar whirled around and faced Knight with icy blue eyes. "No it doesn't!" he snapped. "You're imagining things."

"I suppose you could be right—"

"You're pretty straight I'm right! Now wherever this new smell is coming from, our missing wolf scout is heading right toward it. Come."

Darkstar and Knight pressed onward until they saw a clearing ahead. The two wolves crouched in the bushes, not too close to the clearing, but where they could see into it. There, a few yards ahead of Knight and to the left, was the thin brown wolf, the missing scout. Within the clearing, holding a strange device, was the weirdest creature Knight had ever seen. She was metallic, brightly-colored with red and blue, and she stood on two legs.

"Ah—what a strange creature!" Knight exclaimed.

"Slag 'er," hissed Darkstar.

Knight did not know what that expression meant, but he was not listening anyway. "And yet…" he said, "…she is beautiful in her own way. Don't you think?"

"I think she's a murderer," Darkstar snarled.

Suddenly there was a fiery blast from the creature's odd device, and the thin brown wolf yelped and jumped a yard backwards. Howling in pain, it dropped to the ground. Its legs and head jerked convulsively.

Knight stared in horror. What had the strange creature done? It was several seconds before the silver wolf snapped out of his stunned state and felt Darkstar nudging him.

"What are you waiting for, let's beat it!" Darkstar growled. "Do want that to happen to you?"

The pair of wolves retreated into the forest. Knight had not run ten yards before he sighed and turned around. This shocked Darkstar. Knight knew it would make the black wolf angry, but he felt this was something he had to do. It concerned honor, and honor was not something a knight could ignore. The dirty silver wolf ran back to the clearing.

***

Blackarachnia sat down on the ground again after getting rid of the wolf. Then suddenly, she heard leaves rustling; something was running her way. A dirty, beat-up wolf ran almost right up to her. She stared in shock. Wolves don't just run up to Cybertronian bots like that, right? She stood where she was and looked hatefully down at the vicious monster.

***

Knight stood his ground and glared up at the murderous creature. "Ma'am," he said, in wolf language, "you had no cause to deprive our scout of life. He was innocent, and I will not stand for the murdering of innocent creatures! Stop looking at me like that and start talking. Do you have nothing to say for your vicious conduct? You killed him! Why? What had he ever done to you?!"

***

"Down, doggy," Blackarachnia kept muttering. She was sure now that the wolf was crazy. He just stood there on all fours and barked, snarled, and roared as if he were giving a lecture. Blackarachnia loaded her blaster-gun again.

***

At the clicking sound of the creature's strange device, which she had used to kill the other wolf, Knight knew it was time to run. So he did. He met up with Darkstar in the forest, and they wordlessly retreated. Darkstar was angry, and silent; he didn't even ask what Knight had been doing.

The twosome of canines found Brent and the pack just where they had left them. Darkstar reported the news to the alpha wolf, but he failed to mention Knight's heroic stand for justice.

"Darkstar, you idiot!" Brent snarled. "If you smell anything metallic, you RUN. Don't go right towards it. You're lessening our numbers. Esca was a great scout, thin and swift, and brown to match with the tree-trunks. It's your fault he died!"

"Please accept my humble apologies," Darkstar answered, with surprising earnestness.

"Now," Brent said. "Knight, I want more meat for the pack before we set off on the yearly circle of our territory. See if you can smell or spy any ungulates. If you find something, report back here and I'll set up a hunting party. Don't try and be a hero."

Knight nodded solemnly.

"And please don't get into trouble," Darkstar added, though it seemed more of a threat than a concerned request.

Knight took off again. It seemed this was all he had been doing since he joined the wolves: going on scout missions, running, hunting, running again—always active. The life of a wolf, he thought.

Soon he stopped in a pleasant glade. It was so tempting to just lie down in the soft moss, basking in the strange green light which came through the leaves and painted abstract patterns on the forest floor. Every detail of the forest—the leaves, the moss, the unusual shapes of the branches—was wonderful.

A breeze came whizzing through the treetops, then Knight caught a whiff of something. Metal. He heard the leaves rustling on the forest floor. It was that strange creature again, the murderer who killed the wolf scout. Knight turned and ran. To his horror, the footsteps behind him went at a faster pace as well—the creature was following him.

***

Blackarachnia wished again she were killed alongside Silverbolt. If she were not here, then she would not have been angry and selfish enough to kill that poor wolf. She regretted it now, more for Silverbolt's sake than for her own. But the fact was that she had to make it up to these wolves, to show them that she was sorry. Somehow. Now she was again running through the jungley area, exerting herself and trying to keep up with that mad, dirty wolf. Blackarachnia transformed into beast mode to acquire extra speed.

***

Knight ran back to Brent with his eyes wide in fear. "She's following me!" he howled in terror.

"Who?" Brent demanded.

"That creature! The one who killed our scout," Knight replied breathlessly.

"What?!" Darkstar materialized at Knight's side again. "Those creatures don't run to us. They don't like us. Some are even afraid of us. There's no reason she'd come after you."

"Unless she wanted to kill us all," Brent snarled. He glared menacingly at Knight. "Excellent job, insipid fool! You've led that thing right to us!"

Knight bowed his head in shame. "What can I do?" he asked humbly.

Brent gasped and jumped a yard backward in shock. All the wolves gathered around him, whining and whimpering like puppies. A huge, brightly-colored, metal spider had just run into sight.

"What do we do? What do we do?" the wolves all asked. Knight was anxious too. He needed orders before he could act, so he looked up at the brawny Brent. No help from there, Knight thought, seeing the alpha wolf in a dumb, stunned standstill.

It was his turn to act. Knight jumped forward, growling, with a fierce snarl on his face. This caused the big spider to stop. The dirty scarred wolf took advantage of this. "Wolves, to my side!" he ordered. "Darkstar, and you two strong-looking ones, come on! We've got to defend the pack!"

Darkstar and the two other wolves leapt forward to Knight's side. A rallied militia of fierce beasts, snarling and strong they were. One of the four wolves howled and made a jump at the big spider.

The spider had sharp, metal leg-tips like knives. As the wolf came on, she slashed viciously with this tentacle and knocked the wolf to the ground. Darkstar went next, leaping up and sailing towards the deadly arachnid. The metal spider caught him between two of her plentiful legs and threw him into the air. He fell behind a boulder with a whimper.

At this the other wolf whined and turned tail, leaving Knight alone. The last defense, he thought. It's up to me. He hated having to fight this strange creature because of his respect for all living things—and the fact that he thought the spider was strikingly beautiful. Knight roared, showing keen canine teeth. He circled the spider warily, and then jumped.

Knight caught one of her deadly tentacles in his mouth, and shook his head back and forth violently. Now he had her in his power, swinging her around by her leg.

Click, boom, Whoosh! A fiery missile came from somewhere and hit the spider square on the head. Knight dropped the arachnid's limp leg out of his mouth, like a dog dropping a chew toy. What was that sound? he wondered.

Darkstar, walking slightly off-balance from his unpleasant fall, came over to Knight. "What was that blast?" he asked. "Oh, never mind. Tell me later. Now we've got unfinished business."

Knight, still panting from the fight, began to feel dizzy. He tried hard to focus on Darkstar, or to spot Brent and the pack. But he could not concentrate on anything. It was that horrible ache in his chest again. Pain pulsated through his body and drained his energy.

Darkstar looked concernedly at his companion. "Knight, you hurt? Answer me!"

Knight reeled over and fell on the ground, unconscious.