Another chapter of light story progression but stuff that I didn't really want to skip over with a 'this and this happened.' But we do get a few important tidbits in there too :P
Chapter 9
The early morning sun lit up the empty streets as two Autobots drove through the suburb. It was quiet, not many people having yet gotten out of bed. The female Autobots turned into Jack's driveway and although they arrived a little later than the time they had arranged to be there, the boy was still not ready. Parking in his driveway they waited for him to emerge.
Arcee with her human hologram called out, "Come on, Jack! We haven't got all day!"
"Hmmm, well actually we do..." mused Violetwind, since they had been given the day to learn the road rules.
"You do want him to come out before noon right?" quipped the two wheeler.
"Yeah... I suppose we do," she replied with a slight giggle.
The door of the house opened but instead of the human boy they were waiting for, out strode Jack's mother, June Darby, a mug of coffee in her hands.
"Well hello. Jack told me there was a new Autobot at the base, I guess that you must be her," the woman nodded towards the purple vehicle.
Arcee was quick to jump in and introduce them," June, this is Violetwind. Violetwind, June Darby, Jack's mum."
"Hello, Ms. Darby," she greeted politely.
"No need to be so formal, you can call me June, Violetwind," the woman smiled at her before taking a sip of her coffee. "So what did you girls have planned for today?"
"Then, you may call me Violet," the purple car responded cheerfully, "And Jack's going to take me driving and teach me the laws of your roads so that I can better blend in."
June glanced over at Arcee, "So how come you're coming along for the ride?"
"Protection," the blue femme replied. "Violet here isn't that capable in a fight yet."
"Will, Jack be safe?" the mother asked, always concerned about the safety of her son.
Arcee quickly put her fears to rest. "Of course, June. We aren't likely to see any trouble today as we're just staying around town."
"That's good." She relaxed, "You know how I worry."
The door opened for a second time this time Jack stepping through. "I still don't get why we had to start so early on a Sunday," he grumbled approaching the robots in disguise.
"It's not that early," rebutted Arcee.
"But it's a Sunday. They were made for sleeping in late," he continued to gripe.
Violetwind giggled opening her door for the teen. "Guess you're not a morning person then?"
Climbing into the seat he shook his head. "Not really." Looking back at his mother he waved, "Bye, Mum."
"Bye, Jack. Take good care of my son." June waved back.
"No worries, Ms- ah, June," the purple femme corrected herself to call the nurse by her first name.
Reversing out of the driveway the trio headed off, ready for the lesson. After driving a few blocks Jack looked more awake and started giving her instructions. "See those signs with the numbers? Those are the speed limits. You can't go over them otherwise the police will want to come after you. Speeding is a sure way to get noticed."
"Speed limits. Don't go over. Got it," Violetwind acknowledged, her internal lights flashing a little brighter as she talked. "What else?"
He pointed out the next thing. "See those coloured lights up there? Those are traffic lights. Green is for go." Their light was green so she eased herself through the intersection. The next light coming up ahead of them was orange. "So what does that one mean?"
"Orange is like a warning. It means its about to go red and you have to stop on red." He explained.
The light changed colour and she came to a stop before the line, watching as a single car went across the intersection. "How's that?"
"Good." Jack went on to talk about stop signs and other kinds of signs as they drove along. He also explained to her about who had right of way at intersections when people were turning.
By noon, they had covered just about everything one ever needed know about driving. So with a growling human stomach to feed they stopped by the local takeaway shop. The place was deserted so leaning up against the wall, Jack ate his lunch near the disguised Autobots.
"So food is like your energon? And it has many different forms?" questioned Violetwind curiously.
The boy nodded, popping another chip in his mouth. "We have to eat. Humans can't go for too long without food and not even a few days without water."
"So it's like a constant upkeep of your bodies?"
Nodding again he scrunched up his rubbish, tossing it into a bin. "Was there anything else we we're doing today?" he asked dusting off his hands on his pants.
"I think we covered most of it. Violet should be able to get around fine without drawing attention to herself," Arcee replied.
"Heh, as long as a car driving itself isn't too odd," she chuckled.
Jack grinned, "Well it isn't quiet as noticeable as a motorcycle without a rider."
The two wheeled snapped, "Hey, that's what Sadie's for."
The purple femme chuckled again. "How about we head back to base then. I'm still yours for the day Arcee, shall we get started on teaching me to fight?"
"Sure."
Hopping back into the car, Jack leaned back on the seat. "You know it's kinda nice being driven around."
"Gee, glad you like being chauffeured around," Violet teased, "Would you like any bubbly, Sir?"
Jack chuckled at her imitation of a good butler. "Have you been watching movies?"
"Just a few. I have had a bit more time on my hands than the others. But I guess, I'll be a little busier now with training," disappointment clear in her voice.
"We're in a war. We don't have a lot of time for pleasures," Arcee grunted. "And training will be necessary without your knowledge of how to fight."
"Oh yes, um, I... well, I didn't mean that my training was a bad thing..." the purple vehicle replied shamefully.
They did not converse much more on the way back to the base, making it a little quiet. The two femmes headed into the room the Autobots used for a sort of gym; Jack stayed the main part of the base with the other kids. On the wall between the room and the hall was a patch job, trying to conceal what had been a hole. Violetwind was curious about it, having passed by and noticed it numerous time but never had the chance to ask about why it was like that before.
So when they were in the room preparing to start she casually glanced over at it, "So what's with the patch job on that wall over there?"
Arcee looked up, rolling her optics, a slight smile on her face. "That was from when Ratchet threw Bulk through the wall."
"He did what?!" She tried to process the thought of their medic tossing the large mech and it could hardly compute, let alone him actually going though the wall, which was made out of solid concrete.
The blue femme nodded. "He was souped-up on Synth-En at the time, giving him super strength and speed. It also made him go a bit crazy as well."
"Wow... That's some stuff then..."
"Yep, but let's get to your training," Arcee waved the femme over to stand with her in the centre of the room.
Going over, she looked down at the slightly smaller femme. "This synth-en stuff, what is it then?"
"Synthetic energon. We had hoped it was going to be a substitute for energon but, as we saw with Ratchet, it was unstable. Ratchet's really our expert on it not me. Why are you so curious anyway?"
Violetwind shrugged her shoulders, "I donno, it just sounded interesting."
"Probably your old scientific curiosity come through," the two wheeler suggested.
"Yeah, perhaps."
"Now, enough with the chatter and try to focus. Let's see your weapons," the femme instructed.
Setting her thoughts on the task at hand, she brought out her blasters. She had not used them since the day of her escape and she felt a little strange having them out. "Now what?"
"Try aiming for the target on the wall over there."
Lifting her arms she pointed them in the direction of the circle on the wall. Firing a few shots she did her best to hit the target. Not one even came within half a metre it.
"Hmm, your aim is rather off. Though all that should take is some practice. Moving targets are much harder but we'll just see if we can get you aiming straight for now. Just try to think of your shots as extensions of your hands, like you're pointing right at the object you want to hit rather than just setting them in the general direction and hoping you'll hit."
She hid a guilty grin. Pointing in the general direction and hoping she had hit was exactly how she had been approaching it. Seems she really had needed some coaching, along with a whole lot of practice.
So that's exactly what they did. The pair spent the afternoon working on Violetwind's technique, slowly improving her aim so she was shooting closer to the target as well as being more consistent with where her shots went, instead of being all over the place.
Eventually they decided to call it a day. Violetwind had grown tired, her arms becoming worn out from all the shooting and heat it had produced. She was very ready to get some recharge.
Heading back to her room where she could get some rest she ran into Optimus Prime, literally.
"Oh, I- I- I'm s- so sorry, Optimus, Sir," she stuttered stumbling backwards, "I- I didn't see you there. I wasn't paying attention." She stared at the floor, not willing to look up at him in embarrassment, door wings lowered.
His voice was calm and comforting as he replied, "Do not trouble yourself, Violetwind. There was no harm done. You seemed preoccupied. What was on your mind?"
Taking a shaky intake of air she looked up into his caring blue optics. "N-not much really... I was mostly thinking about getting some recharge. It was a long day. I have so much I need to remember and so much to improve upon." Her gaze drifted back to the ground.
"I see... I am sure you will do well. Despite you memory loss, I believe you are still very intelligent and we are lucky to have you here. Do not let thoughts that say otherwise bring you down."
His words brought her comfort, helping her to feel much more at ease and inspiring hope within her. "Thank you, Optimus," she smiled up at the leader, door wings perking with her mood.
"You are most welcome. Go rest up. Tomorrow you will likely have another long day with Bumblebee as your teacher," he replied, the hint of a smile on his face.
With a nod she continued off to her room for some recharge with a smile and feeling more enthusiastic about the future.
...
The next morning she was standing with Bumblebee in the same room as the previous day; the training room. Standing opposite the yellow mech, she shifted on her pedes a little nervously. "So we're going to battle each other?"
He nodded, 'Yeah, but it's not a real fight. We're not actually trying to hurt each other.'
"Ok... Um what should I do then? Am I supposed to use my swords?" She glanced down at her arms in uncertainty.
'No,' he whirred, shaking his head, 'For now we'll start with the basics without your weapons. To start off stand with your pedes apart, left ped forward and right ped behind. Keep your hands up and elbows in.'
Bumblebee demonstrated to her how to stand. Copying his stance as best she could, the femme held her hands up near her face.
'Elbows in,' he repeated, looking at them until she brought them in closer to her body. 'Good, now bend your knees. You'll want to keep your knees slightly bent at all times. It's important for giving your punches more power.'
"Ok," she nodded her understanding. Bending her knees a little and her hands up ready for a fight she was already feeling a little more confident about her lesson.
'So now we'll go on to the punching part. With your left hand you'll be jabbing at your opponent like so.' He demonstrated the move, using his left fist to punch the air.
Repeating his movements, Violetwind jabbed at her air with her own fist.
'Now try a few in quick succession.'
With a glance at him she, turned her optics back to her imaginary opponent. With a few quick strikes she aimed for where she thought its head might be in front of her. "How was that?"
The mech chirped, 'Not bad. Ok now we'll use your other fist. This one will have more power behind it. You see because its your far side you can step forward and use that momentum as you twist your body to put more force behind the hit.'
Slowly he demonstrated this for her so that she might see just how he moved. 'Alright now try it with me.'
Violetwind mimicked his slow movements learning how her servos were to respond. He had her do this a few times to get used to it before she was to actually try a proper punch to the air.
After a while she became more used to the motions and he decided they could try to do a light sparring session.
'Obviously all your enemies are not going to stay still and they certainly won't let you do all the attacking. They're going to be doing their best to take you down too. So to get you used to that your going to fight me. I'm going to go easy on you but don't expect it to be too simple.'
She nodded taking up a fighting stance in front of him. "Ok, I'm ready... I think..."
With a trill of acknowledgement, Bumblebee declared the fight to begin.
At first they just circled one another sizing each other up, waiting to see who would back the first move. Half a minute went by like this before Violetwind was the first to attempt a strike. Jabbing her left fist forward she aimed for his head. Bumblebee easily dodged the sloppy hit though, throwing his own left fist forward to hit her helm, before the femme had even returned her fist to its starting position.
She was slightly dazed by the attack but quickly recovered. "Thought you were going easy on me?"
'This is going easy on you. Just, giving you some real life lessons too,' she could hear the tease in his beeps.
With a small grin she turned her attention back to their battle.
Fake a jab then punch him, instructed her voice.
Circling around a little more she thought on the advice. Her voice sounded far more knowledgeable than her right then so decided to give it a try. Faking a left jab, the mech dodged but she knew he would do that so sent a hard punch at where his helm was going with her right. There as a sharp clang of metal hitting metal as she delivered the blow. Jumping away her optics went wide as Bumblebee stumbled from the attack.
"Oh my gosh, Bumblebee are you alright?!" she asked worriedly.
Recovering he beeped, 'Yeah. Sure wasn't expecting that though. Where did you get that from?' Briefly shaking his helm he returned to his fighting stance.
"Um, I guess you could say it 'came to me,'" she muttered in repy, taking a fighting stance once again.
They continued the spar, Violetwind's voice often coaching her on useful tactics. Some of these she pulled off successfully, others did not fair so well with her inexperience. By the end of it though she had learnt so much. Bumblebee had even been impressed a few times as well.
'Perhaps your memories of fighting are returning more easily than some of the others,' the yellow mech commented as they walked down the hallway.
"Maybe, I'm not really sure..."
'Just trust your instincts. They should serve you well,' he beeped encouragement.
"Trust my voice, really. She... It...?" she wasn't sure how to describe the voice in her head. "Anyway, that voice was really my guiding force. It just knew exactly what to do when I didn't," she confessed.
Her companion let out a whir. 'Well it could be part of your old self. It certainly seems to be trying to help you. Best thing to do might just be to listen.'
The purple femme smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks"
Trilling happily he replied, 'You're welcome there, Violet. We'll have to do some more sparring again. I expect you and that voice to get a lot better. Maybe even beat me if you get lucky!'
She chuckled, "Might need heaps more practice before that happens."
Lifting his hand in a wave he beeped goodbye as they parted ways. Reciprocating in kind she waved, calling out her own goodbye as he disappeared around a corner.
Something the mech said stuck with her. 'You and that voice.' Like they were two distinct things. It made her wonder just how separate they were.
"If you are me why can't you just move and stuff? Why did you have to actually tell me what to do instead of just react...?" But the halls and her head were just as quiet as before she spoke, leaving her questions unanswered...
And so we have another chapter for this week with some lovely little stuff at the end there. ;)
Had to actually look up stuff for the fight so I knew a little bit and how to instruct her. So thank you wikihow XD
Also Bee, you've proven to have quite the incite there. We shall have to see how this pans out...^^