That next morning…
Fireblast carefully walked around the ship, feeling a little frightened. She had no idea how to fly a ship—or steer a ship, in this case, since this wasn't a spaceship…it was just a water ship. Not that that made it any less complicated.
One thing she did know was that she needed to find the control room. Maybe then she would be able to steer the ship across the water, away from the cave lair, and then to…well, she didn't really know where. For pretty much all of her lifecycle, she had never been too far from home. Skydive had told her about how Starscream and Spaceflower had gotten married on Cybertron, but since she had only been a sparkling then, and had spent most of the time with sparkling-sitters anyway, Fireblast could not remember.
Jumping at every noise she heard, Fireblast peeked around corners and stuck her head into doorways as she crept all around the ship. The control room had to be here somewhere, right?
"I expect we'll be back at the Elite Guard ship in a few solar cycles, Agent Blurr…"
WHAT THE…? Fireblast jumped at an unfamiliar female voice just around the corner. Her tone was somewhat colloquial, yet still had a matter-of-fact air to it. Fireblast was panicking; the footsteps were coming closer, and she didn't know who they belonged to. Who was "Agent Blurr"? And who was the femme who was talking?
Fireblast had the feeling that before this was over, she would be sorry she'd asked.
Meanwhile, there was a mech's voice talking now, very fast, so fast Fireblast couldn't understand it. She looked around and spotted a barrel of oil laying on its side on the ship's floor; thinking quickly, she lifted the barrel up and jumped right inside it.
Unfortunately, the barrel was not empty, so Fireblast found herself soaked in motor oil…but that was better than being caught by the two unknown Autobots who walked around the corner just after Fireblast hid.
As soon as they were gone, Fireblast jumped out of the oil barrel and followed the Autobots down the hallway into—finally!—the control room, the room she had been trying to find herself.
The two Autobots were still there. Fireblast figured they owned the ship—just her luck that she had to find a ship that belonged to the Autobots! And hadn't the femme said something about the Elite Guard? Fireblast had never met the Elite Guard but of course she knew who they were; she shivered just at the thought. The Elite Guard did not take kindly to Decepticons, even if they were merely sad young femmes who had run away from home.
Fireblast hadn't been able to see the Autobots before, but now she could. The femme was tall and slim, with a pink-and-white color scheme. The other, the mech, was mostly blue and still talking. How in Primus does he talk that fast? wondered Fireblast, but that wasn't the biggest of her problems.
No matter what, Fireblast thought, I can't let the Autobots know they have a stowaway.
Since the two Autobots looked like they were going to stay in the control room for now, Fireblast hid behind the corner and wondered what she should do right about now. She was in a very difficult position. If she tried to get off the ship, the Autobots definitely would notice. Even if they didn't, she would have to explain to Megatron and her parents both why she had run away once she got back to base.
Spaceflower: Where WERE you? We were worried sick!
Fireblast: I was only gone for the morning!
Megatron: You weren't trying to run away from home…were you?
Fireblast (with fake laugh): Oh, of course not! I was…um…exploring the area…and…um…I got lost.
Starscream: I don't think so. You're grounded, Fireblast.
But then again, Fireblast thought, maybe they don't care enough to notice I've gone missing…after all, why would they? They're all busy fussing over stupid Skydive and her stupid boyfriend and their stupid wedding. They don't care about little old Fireblast, a loser-bot who can't even fly…or do ANYTHING right, come to think of it. I'm just a dishonor to the family. They're probably HAPPY that I'm finally out of the cave.
"Well, it's not going down like that," Fireblast whispered angrily. The young jet looked out across the water through the ship's porthole. Across these waters there lay opportunity, adventure, freedom.
I've spent ENOUGH time in the cave, Fireblast thought to herself defiantly. I don't know where this ship is going, but it's going away from here—exactly what I need.
It was the first time Fireblast had ever been on a water ship. She had ridden on spaceships before—not often, but she had. However…she had never been on a water ship before. And now the ship was starting to move—quicker through the water with every second. It gave Fireblast the strangest feeling in her oil tubes. Why oh why did I drink that Autobot motor oil? she thought miserably.
Fireblast had found a little corner in the control room where the Autobots wouldn't notice her (at least, she hoped they wouldn't). She was pretty sure the femme was named Arcee, and that the mech was named Blurr. They were, apparently, sailing the ship back to somewhere called…Fireblast couldn't quite recall the name, although one of them did say something about a "motor city". Whatever that means!
…
Fireblast didn't know how long the trip lasted, but she guessed it couldn't have been more than a solar cycle or two. The feeling she got in her oil tubes whenever the boat moved reminded her of how she felt every time she tried flying—but at least she wasn't the one steering this time.
Finally, around mid-afternoon, the boat pulled up to shore. Fireblast felt her mouth drop open in shock. She had never seen such tall buildings. These buildings, most likely, were small compared to the buildings on Cybertron, her home planet, but she had never seen those buildings. The cave lair was where she had resided almost all of her lifecycle, so seeing downtown Detroit was a whole new experience for her.
Fireblast managed to nimbly climb out of a porthole window, although it took some (very painful) effort to get her wings out. That proved it! Those wings were nothing but a nuisance—she never used them, anyway.
Wondering what was to come, Fireblast hid behind the big ship until finally, the Autobots walked off. She debated whether or not to follow them. On one hand, they were going to the Elite Guard, and if the Elite Guard caught her, she would be sent to the stockades for who knows how long.
On the other hand…Fireblast was completely unfamiliar with this city. Heck, she was hardly familiar with this planet. If she followed the Autobots, maybe she could pretend to be an Autobot herself. Sure, she couldn't hide her blatant Seeker-in-training look—jet vehicle mode; black and dark green paint job; wings sticking out of her back with the Decepticon insignia stamped permanently on both of them; but maybe that could be the "reason" why she ran away—she wanted to join the Autobots. Who knew? Maybe Ultra Magnus would buy it and let her join, at least until she found her feet in this strange new city.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT BASE…
"Fireblast's gone!" cried Skydive, dashing out of her bedroom.
Starscream and Spaceflower both were having their breakfast like any other morning—Starscream was casually sipping energon; Spaceflower was practically forcing Autobot-brand motor oil down her son's throat as he screamed and fought her back. Swordslash was there, too, reading the Decepticon Tribune.
"Gone?" asked Spaceflower, dropping the oil canister. "Gone where?"
"I don't know!" Skydive told her. "I woke up this morning and her bed was empty—I've been looking all over for her—she's nowhere! She must have run away during the middle of the night!"
Swordslash set the newspaper down on the table and stood up. "Run away? Why—why would she…?"
"It's…it's all my fault!" Skydive suddenly burst into tears and collapsed into Swordslash's arms.
Swordslash rubbed her back. "How is it your fault?"
"We h-had this huge f-fight," sobbed Skydive. "I-I called her a j-jealous wench and n-now she p-probably thinks I h-hate her. That's why she r-ran away."
"That's ridiculous, my love," soothed Swordslash. "That can't be the reason."
"Either way, we've got to find her," said Starscream, after taking another sip of energon. "She could be in danger."
"So we'll organize a search party," Skydive declared. "We can't stop until we find her."
"I'll go let Megatron know that one of his subordinates has gone missing," Starscream offered, and stood up. "And that we will be searching for her, of course."
"Oh…how could I have said that to my own sister?" Skydive asked no one in particular, sounding miserable. "I never meant it in my spark."
…
TO BE CONTINUED—TUNE IN SOON FOR CHAPTER 5!
P.S. I don't know if this is canon to the show or not, but for the sake of the story, the cave lair where Fireblast used to live is on one side of Lake Michigan, with Detroit (where she is right now) right on the other side. The boat trip was the crossing of Lake Michigan.