Hey everyone! Happy new year! And no, I don't care if it is delayed.
So here's the next chapter! I'll be honest, I'm still playing around with a couple of options for the story line.
EvilPurpleCookiePenkeyMongui n : Glad you like it so far, and yes, coffee is awesome :3 I'm sorry for killing Annabelle, but I didn't want Will to have the perfect family reunion. I wanted to show that his family was just as affected by the war as everyone else was. So :P Sowi.
Sunstreaker's Squishy : You'll find out soon enough. And I really couldn't resist giving Ratchet a taste of his own medicine! XD And I try to keep it relatively serious and just show that in serious situations humorous things still occur :)
Sweettea1 : I could just see Optimus' face when she made that statement. Just that clear look of shock! XD Glad you still love the story! :3
As always, I don't own Transformers or the band Prime Circle. The name just stuck.
ONWARDS AND ENJOY! :3
(Ps. pwease RnR. I like those. And point out any mistakes you find. I'm not infallible)
Birds twittered happily between the moss covered trees that stood as the tall sentinels of the forest. Squirrels made their way over the leaf covered ground, searching for nuts and any other titbits to eat. A breeze danced through the leaves, scattering the bright shafts of light as they fell to the forest floor.
A blurry figure shot past.
The blurry mess ran so fast that the animals could only freeze at the disturbance before noting that there was nothing there. The blur was almost unrecognizable, but it flowed through the landscape as though it had walked its paths for years.
Arabella and Will were on a mission.
I bet that Will and I can collect more meat than your group of hunters in one hunting trip.
They were facing a group of eight men, the base's hunters.
You're on. We will have our 'competition' five days from now. Set out at dawn, return at sunset. Person with the better haul wins.
Arabella had been shocked at how badly the animals had been 'harvested', for a lack of a better word. It looked shot to pieces, there was blood dripping on the floor and what had once been a buck stared unblinkingly with glazed eyes at the surrounding people.
Turns out they had been using shot guns for hunting.
Arabella nearly had an aneurism.
She spent the next week getting herself and Will back to the normal sleeping routines. It was just like suffering from jet-lag.
She shut the memory down, forcing her concentration back to the task at hand. Arabella could see the people at the base were struggling and she knew she could not leave with a clear conscience if she did not teach them some ways of taking care of themselves. But first she needed to prove that the people actually did need her skills.
She paused, Will pausing behind her, to examine fresh tracks. She gestured with two fingers in one direction, Will nodding in understanding. They followed the tracks without making a sound.
After some time, they finally found the herd they were looking for. They had happened upon a herd of moose. The animals were larger than the deer they would normally hunt, but they had truly struck lucky with their find.
Arabella pointed at a female that had strayed a little from the main group, another female close by, and the large male moose that could have sported a large set of antlers last year.
Too bad they fall off regularly.
Here was the problem: they had three targets, but only two bows. Arabella slipped another arrow into her hand, ready to refill the bow as soon as the shot was taken. She signaled Will to wait until she had fired to go for male. He nodded.
The bow groaned a little at the tension it was put under, but the animals remained oblivious to the noise. Arabella calmed her breathing, steadied herself, and released the arrow.
It flew true and made its mark, killing the doe instantly. Will's arrow met the male almost at the exact time as the first arrow, hitting the animal in the eye, also killing it instantly, but there was when their luck changed.
Arabella shot again, but missed, and the herd scattered.
"DARN IT! I WAS THIS CLOSE!" She shouted in frustration, jumping upright, before clapping a hand over her mouth. Will was shaking with laughter. She gave him a death glare. "Keep laughing and you're carrying all the meat." Will silenced immediately. "Good." She stepped forward from behind the bushes they had been hiding in. Walking over to their respective kills, they started preparing the animals, cutting the choice pieces and taking whatever else was also of use. They left the hides and the heads.
A shot rang out. Arabella shot up, eyes frantically searching the area as another three shots rang out. She heard a soft rumble and her eyes widened in alarm.
"Will! Stampede!" She shouted as she jumped behind a tree, grabbing whatever could be trampled close to her. Will followed suit, ducking behind a large boulder that lay between some of the trees.
As the rumbling became louder, Arabella notched another arrow into her bow. Will saw what she was doing, and copied her.
She sat, trying to calm her breathing when the first deer came rushing past. Soon the rest of the herd followed, 30 strong. As they ran, Arabella aimed for the back of their heads, simply waiting. She waited until the thundering sound began so quiet down before finally shooting.
A deer collapsed immediately and its brother behind it nimbly jumped over the body before disappearing into the forest. Arabella stood up shakily, adrenalin still running through her system. She looked around. The leftover carcasses had been decimated, but they luckily had already gotten everything they could from the bodies. The deer that Arabella had snagged was the only addition to the field.
"I guess you missed, then." She called out, Will giving her a sour look as he came out from behind the rock.
"That was a very good shot." He conceded, walking over to the deer. Arabella walked closer, the bloody hunting knife already in her hand. She mock curtsied.
"Why thank you, sir." She straightened before starting the messy work. "And we have those idiot hunters to blame. They could have gotten us killed!" She fumed. Will huffed.
"You got that right. I'm amazed that they actually bring some meat home with them. I've been digging out pellets out of my stew since I got here!" Arabella nodded in acknowledgement.
"Same here. Now shut up and help me out here. We will have to split the meat between us. I can't carry both animals."
It was just past noon when they had finished cleaning the carcasses. Loading the meat into their bags, they set off back to the base. They were carrying quite heavily, but were making good time. They made idle chit chat as they walked.
After an hour of walking, Arabella stopped.
"What is it?" Will whispered. Arabella shushed him, looking up into the trees. Will followed her eyes and noticed a loud buzzing sound. His eyes sparkled as he saw the source of the buzzing.
A particularly large beehive was hanging from one of the lower branches of one of the moss covered trees.
"Hey Will." She mused. He hmm'd in response. "The bet was to bring back the better haul, right?" She was smiling slyly. Will caught on, smiling also. "Do you think honey counts?"
"Well," he rubbed a hand against his chin "a 'haul' does not necessarily mean one type of item. It could be a variety of things that can be gathered. So I would say it is fair to say that honey could count part of a 'haul'." Will mused slyly. Arabella's grin widened.
"So what do you say? You want to go for it and whip their asses?" His smiled had a very bright mischievous smirk to it.
"Absolutely."
xxxxxPCxxxxx
After a lot of smoke, a lot of coughing, and a lot of mess, they finally had the majority of the honey comb. They had decided not to take all of it as the bees do actually need something to eat. Sucking on small pieces, they made their way back, jogging where they could.
They were the first group back at the base, taking everything back to the kitchen to be put into containers and weighed. Will and Arabella were exhausted, plodding down on the closest chairs they could find.
Could you believe they had happened across some wild turkeys as well? Well, don't, because they didn't. They heard them, though. They passed out on the chairs the moment they sat down.
A couple of hours later they woke up. It was just before sunset. Arabella yawned as she stretched, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She heard snoring coming from Will. She looked at him with a look of disdain and kicked him. Nothing happened. She tilted her head a little, examining the chair he was sleeping on. She smirked and started tipping the chair. There was a loud crash as the chair tipped too far when Will jolted awake.
Arabella was rolling on the floor laughing.
Will was not amused.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! You could have just woken me like a normal person, you know!" He glared daggers at Arabella.
"But where's the fun in that?" Arabella asked as she sat up. "And you should know by now that I'm not a normal person." She brushed herself off as she stood up. Will opened his mouth to retaliate, but stopped himself, and shrugged as he realized what she said was true. "Come on, I want to see if the others are back yet." She waltzed out of the kitchen, Will following her closely.
They heard shouts of joy coming from the main entrance. They jogged a little faster to get there. Sure enough, the hunters had just arrived, walking proudly at what they had found.
Arabella snorted.
"Ok, it isn't even funny by how much you guys have lost." Arabella stated with crossed arms, resting her weight onto her right leg, a cocky smile gracing her face.
"Oh yeah?" A stocky man wearing thick combat boots, camo pants and a wife beater called out. His black hair had been buzz cut close to his scalp, the rough stubble of his beard covering his face. He had piercing blue eyes and a confident stance. "Wha' makes ya' think tha'?" He had been stalking closer, trying to act intimidating, nearly spitting in her face.
Arabella was not fazed in the slightest.
"Why don't you take it through to the kitchen and see for yourself?" The sweetness of her reply sent shudders down Will's spine. The man's face split with a sly, cocky smile.
"Ya' know, Ah think Ah'm gonna do jus' tha'." He started stalking past her, his posse of hunters close behind. "An' Ah'm pwetty sure tha' we blew you' haul outta wata', eh?" Those around him chuckled. Arabella could not place his strong accent and chose to ignore it.
"Oh, I wouldn't count on it." Arabella called sweetly over her shoulder. She waited for a few moments before turning and following at a leisurely pace, Will in step beside her. They entered the kitchen moments after the hunters had, and were looking at their frozen stances.
"Oh, and did I forget to mention," Arabella started as she leaned against the door frame, crossing her arms and legs whilst a leisure smile planted itself on her face, "that our haul is 100% lead free? And does not consist of," she paused momentarily inspecting their meats "two rats, three badgers, what I assume was once a baby deer and a bowl of Hemlock." She sneered slightly at the poisonous berries.
"And judging by how the berries have been squashed, I think it's safe to assume that the juices have gotten into the meat. So, unless you were planning on killing us all, I would say it's safe to say that you lost." She happily turned and walked out before she saw the looks on their faces.
xxxxxPCxxxxx
"So you are asking to take four of our men into your care to train them in the proper ways of hunting?"
Arabella stood stoically on the walkway, legs slightly apart with her hands behind her back with a blank look on her face. It looked like a typical soldier stance, one filled with respect. She had made a request to meet with Optimus Prime and the leaders of the base. It meant that Simon would also be there, but she had treated him with such a cool business-like manner that it made everyone around her behave themselves.
The leaders had been slightly shocked when she had made her request.
"And why should we give you some of our precious resources, Miss Micheals?" Simon spat coldly. Arabella did not even flinch at the tone.
"Your hunters are absolutely appalling. Their use of guns, shotguns, no less, not only give away the fact that there are people in the forests but they also nearly destroy half the animal in the process. Not only that, but the cooks can't pick out every single little piece of buckshot out of the meat. It's a miracle you aren't suffering from lead poisoning yet!" The human leaders squirmed a little.
"Also, the last batch of meat the hunters brought in got bathed in Hemlock juice. If the cooks had prepared that, every single human being on this base would have been dead by now."
The squirming got a little worse.
"I ask to personally train some of your men because I can see this base is in need of skills, skills that I have and can share. I will not only be training them in the proper hunting methods, but I will be teaching them how to make their own bows and arrows, how to stalk in the dark, what plants can be used for medicine, food or weaponry. I will teach them how to make their own soap and candles, how to make leather and clothes from the animals they hunt.
"When I'm done with them you will have an elite squad of hunters that you could even use as spies in the Decepticon bases. And when I return with these men, I will teach your women how to make their own blankets, clothes, scented soaps and candles as well."
"AND WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO YOU?!" Simon roared, jumping to his feet. "For all we know, this is some trap! She could kill those men, or teach them to poison the others! What if she decided to turn them over to the Decepticons? I think we should imprison her!"
"Hey DAD!" Arabella shouted, gathering herself into a warrior stance, interrupting everyone who was about to speak. "You got personal problems with me? I say we sort it out right here, right now." She raised her fists in the typical boxer stance.
"Enough!" The Prime's voice rolled over them, strong in authority. "There shall be no fighting. We are to have peace in the ranks if we are to get anything done." Optimus sounded tired, a though this has been a topic that had been sung to tedium already. "Miss Micheals," he turned back to Arabella who had regained her previous stance "pardon my ignorance, but why teach the women?"
Arabella looked up at the large robotic being.
"It will give them a purpose in life other than sitting around, twiddling their thumbs while worrying about their husbands or family who are risking their lives to keep them safe." She paused, turning to the leaders again. "It will give them a chance to feel like women again, to have pretty things to adorn the drab rooms with, to smell nice again, to have pretty things to wrap their new-born babies in. The soap I brought won't last forever, and neither will the blankets or the toys. The women will be able to make something that suits them for a change. It is also a wonderful way to bring the women together again." She got a little more animated.
"Don't you want to come home to a wife that is happy, a family that's smiling? Don't you want food that you don't have to sift through every night?" Her voice turned dark. "Don't you want an elite crew that will be able to make weapons from anything, survive the harshest situations and leave no trace? A group that can train the other soldiers, making the ultimate army that can find out where the enemy's weak points are and hit them where it hurts the most?"
Arabella knew she was not the best with words, but she knew she was getting through to them. The small team of leaders turned in on themselves. She stood a little restless as she awaited their decision.
But she had a feeling they would not refuse.
IMPORTANT NOTE!
I will not be updating on Friday next week. I will be away on camp, and I don't trust my brother on my lappy. So I might either update on Wednesday (which I doubt) or sometime early next week. Sowi.