When they had reached the other side of the vortex, it was indeed a pine forest. Azura was rather happy about it as she had been right, but she didn't see any pinecones around on the ground yet. In fact, she saw more of the trees still had their pinecones on the branches, so they haven't fallen to the ground yet it would seem. But Azura was in no hurry to find them, as she didn't know how far they would need to walk. Especially since Arcee could only follow the direction the scanner was pointing to.

Jack walked beside Azura as they follow Arcee, and he looked at the sparkling curiously. "It must feel nice to feel a little bit better after being drowsy all week." Azura nodded with a slight shrug and Jack smirked at her. "I imagine trying to fake feeling better would likely get noticed."

"Probably. Daddy is smart, Jack. We all know that, plus he and Ratchet have years of experience when it comes to sparklings. So I imagine that they know when a sparkling is trying to fake feeling better, or even faking an illness to get out of something." Arcee glanced down with a smirk as she listened to Azura speak to Jack. "Aren't I right, Arcee? Humans tend to do that, especially kids."

Arcee chuckled softly at the sparkling in amusement. "You would be right, Azura. I admit, when I was a sparkling, there were times where I faked being sick just to get out of going to school. But, as you can imagine, we have a hard time faking it. Especially since we require a medic to look us over to actually determine if we are sick, as a higher internal temperature may not be a result of an illness."

Jack chuckled softly. "I've never been able to get away with that anyway. My mum's a nurse, so she knows when I am lying to her. So I could never get away with that."

"I can believe that." Arcee looked at her scanner as she continued to walk. "But even if Azura is feeling energetic, that doesn't mean she's better yet. Anyway, as long as she doesn't take off running, it will be fine."

Azura chuckled before flinching as she heard a mosquito flying around. Jack waved his hands to try and hit it away. "Let me get it, Jack." Azura grabbed at the insect to try and catch it, but it avoided her grasp a few times before she grabbed it and squished it, making Azura chuckle. "Got it!"

She wiped the dead insect off her hand, only to hear more buzzing. Jack was a little annoyed by them. "If I had known I would have to deal with bloodsucking insects, I would have put on some bug spray. I am honestly surprised that there are so many mosquitoes here."

"They aren't just restricted to the tropical areas, Jack." Azura clapped her hands and killed another couple mosquitoes. "Ew, one of them must have just drunk from an animal." She grimaced as she looked at her hand. "Gross." She grabbed some leaves from a nearby bush to wipe her hands. "Mosquitoes can survive in a subterranean area."

"Yeah, but it would also mean there's a water source nearby they are breeding at. There's so many flying around my head right now, you would think that it is a tropical place." He chuckled a little and swats at the annoying insects.

"At least I know why they never bothered me. I used to think I had a natural pheromone that kept mosquitoes and flies away from me." Azura let out a little chuckle of amusement. "But now I know. They don't care for energon or living metal."

Jack laughed at the sparkling and shook his head at her. "Well, of course. But I guess you must have thought it was great that you didn't have to deal with it like I have to. I'm lucky that mosquitoes don't particularly like Jasper so this is something I'm not used to."

"Yeah, but when it gets a lot of rain, they seem to show up." Azura looked up at Arcee with a curious expression. "Do you think we might find a nice, large deposit? I know you have found other energon deposits, but I haven't been sure if it has been enough to give a nice supply of it."

"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you, Azura. We have been using a lot more fuel recently, and that has been eating into our energon reserves." Arcee paused as she knew that Azura will get upset, but it was better for her to know the truth. "While we have found and collected energon, we are still burning through a lot of it. If we could find a very large mine, similar to the mines the cons have been mining from, we would be fine for a long time."

"And then I have also been draining daddy's energon to feed me, right?" Arcee grimaced and glanced down at Azura with a worried expression. "Don't be like that, Arcee, it is normal. Humans use more energy when they feed their babies too, so it's a well known. And Ratchet has said it too, but with all the action, he's using a lot more than he would if I wasn't here."

Arcee did not want Azura to feel bad about it as she stopped in her tracks and knelt down. "I hope you aren't feeling bad about it, Azura. Optimus has no choice but to feed you. You are long past being able to survive on human food, and you have no other means of being fed. While the rest of us can feed you, you already know why we can't."

"Because the carrier provides nutrition to the sparkling that you can't provide, I know." Azura shrugged a little with a smile. "I feel bad, even if it can't be helped. But if we did find a really big deposit, we can relax at least."

"There is always hope for it." Arcee stood back up and continued walking. "Your empathy is noble, Azura. But don't feel like you need to carry the burden of us adult autobots. You already have enough to worry about that doesn't include what we worry about."

"I guess." Azura knew she didn't have to worry about the same things they did, and she knew she didn't. And yet, she was still worried about things like the energon stockpile. She scratched the side of her chassis, feeling a slight itch and a gurgling inside her, but she didn't make any kind of fuss about it. She glanced at Jack curiously. "What made you decide to get a survival kit, anyway? Aren't those normally used for camping?"

"Well…I guess I got it as a just in case, sort of thing." Jack smiled at her, glancing down at the item he now kept on his belt. "I know it won't do me any good against a decepticon, but you never know what you might need in case there is no civilization."

Azura chuckled at him in amusement. "That is true. But you have come ill prepared if you haven't brought a water bottle or packets of non-perishable food like jerky, dried fruit and nuts. Though in this case, I highly doubt you are going to need it."

Jack nodded as he waved his hand to swat at the mosquitoes still buzzing around him. "And I definitely came ill prepared for this. I really should have brought some bug repellent with me, or sprayed some on. I'll certainly know for next time. The mosquitoes out here on this recon mission are the size of vampire bats. And they drink about as much blood."

Arcee smirked in amusement at Jack's complaint about the size of the mosquitoes. "Quite the outdoorsman, aren't you, Jack?"

Azura giggled as Jack smiled in amusement at the femme. "You wouldn't be making fun of my survival kit?"

"Maybe."

Jack's smile widened at Arcee's tease at him. "I may not have stinger proof, metal skin like you and Azura do, Arcee. But in a pinch, I can use my multifunction pocketknife and magnesium fire starter to cook up some freeze-drive mac and cheese." Azura smacked her lips at the thought of mac and cheese, as that sounded good to her.

"You have your tools, I have mine," Arcee responded with a shrug and continued to walk, following the scanner in the direction it was pointing her.

"Hmm, maybe we should have some mac and cheese at some point," Azura suggested as she walked beside Jack with a grin. "I haven't had any for a long time, and so far, I've only had sweets like ice cream and chocolate. I wouldn't mind adding a bit of savoury treats from time to time. I am sure daddy will allow it."

Jack liked her idea and he nodded. "I think that will be a great idea. I might see if Raf and Miko would also want some mac and cheese, so we can make up a big enough batch to share. I make a mean mac and cheese, if I do say so myself anyway."

Azura giggled as she was thrilled to hear that. "I know. I remember having some at your house a couple years ago when we were doing some study together. And your mac and cheese was so delicious! No wonder I haven't had it in a long time, because none of it would have been as good as yours. Even my own mac and cheese wouldn't have been that good."

Jack chuckled and wrapped his arm around Azura's shoulders playfully. "I didn't think it was that good, but it's nice to know my masterpiece was appreciated." She nodded as Jack looked around and widened his eyes. "And I spy, with my little eye, a pinecone at the base of that tree."

Azura immediately zoned in and spotted the pinecone. She ran over to it excitedly and picked it up, looking at it with a smile. "And it's all dried up too!" She turned to Arcee and showed it to her. "Is this really going to be a concern for Ratchet, Arcee? I don't think it will be."

"Perhaps not, but I am not going to tell you to bring more than two if we find another lot," Arcee responded with a shrug. "You should know that going over Optimus's head is asking for trouble. We did learn that the hard way earlier this week." Jack looked away with a guilty expression as he knew she was talking about the racing incident. "So while I personally don't think they will be a concern, it is best to wait for confirmation from Optimus before you even go ahead with that, Azura."

Azura sighed as she looked at the pinecone and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you are right. I won't make that mistake."

Arcee smiled at the sparkling before her scanner made some noise and she looked at it with a slight frown. "That's odd. Ratchet's satellite scans were accurate, but subterranean energon deposits don't cause this kind of surge."

"A surge?" Azura frowned as she watched Arcee walk down a hill and she followed quickly with Jack curiously. "Why would there be a surge? Does that mean that someone is here? Maybe decepticons?"

"Don't know. It could be, but my scanner would pick up on decepticon signals if that were the case. Something else might have happened." Azura did not know what to think, as Arcee's tone was full of uncertainty at the moment. The femme frowned as she followed the signal.

Jack and Azura glance at each other as they were not sure of what they might find, especially if there was a surge. They knew that it could lead to something dangerous, but it may not. They did not dare to interrupt Arcee either. Azura looked at the pinecone in her hand, and considered throwing it to the ground as she wouldn't want it if something were to go wrong, and she would probably lose it anyway if something was indeed wrong.

When they walk out into an opening, they were met with a sight of a deep trench into the ground, made by something that had dragged along the ground. It was possible it was an aircraft based upon the side and depth of the trench, and Azura glanced to see where it would have landed so they would know the direction it had gone. It was definitely something even Arcee had not expected, nor did Jack as they look at it.

"What happened here?" Jack asked worryingly, glancing at the destroyed trees that were snapped from the impact of whatever happened.

"Crash landing." Arcee glanced ahead as she became suspicious. "Stay behind me you two. Low and close." Azura frowned a little, as she would have thought Arcee would send her back, but she did not question the femme as they walk along the trench to locate what had crashed here. "The minute I see or sense something more dangerous, Azura, be prepared to get bridged home."

"I understand."

Arcee was glad that the sparkling understood, and she began to walk ahead of both Jack and Azura quickly. Jack and Azura had to run to keep up with Arcee as she used the trees as cover while they followed the trench through the forest to find what had crashed. Azura was hoping that this crash landing was not decepticon, as that would make like a little better. But if it was a human aircraft, it wouldn't exactly be a nice scene either.

"It would be nice if this was a meteor, and not a ship," Azura commented as she and Jack follow Arcee. "We wouldn't need to be overly worried then. Maybe that is why Ratchet picked up the signal."

"It would be nice if it were that simple." Jack was certainly not certain about that. But it would make things a lot less stressful. "Hopefully it won't be anything that will make Arcee contact the base. We've only been here for about fifteen minutes, and I think that would only scare Optimus if that were the case."

"Sure, but an agreement was made, Jack. And I personally agree with him." Azura placed her hand back on her chassis as the gurgling within her began to feel uncomfortable, and it almost made her gag a little, with the feeling of a strange burning within her throat. That made Azura worry, and she was now starting to feel her energy drain. It made her worry that this was a bad idea, and she should have stayed home, but now was not the time to make it known she was not feeling well. "If things go south, I need to go home so that I am safe, and daddy will probably want to send the other autobots to help if needed."

"At least a meteor would not warrant the need for me to contact him," Arcee commented as she remained focused. She had her weapons ready in case she needed them as well, which was also a little concerning.

They make their way up a slope, and Arcee paused as she narrowed her optics upon reaching the top. Jack and Azura run up beside her, and Azura groaned as she saw a ship ahead of them. She could already tell it was Cybertronian by nature, and she did not like it. She could not help but grumble a little to herself as she stared at it with concern, although hopeful this could be another autobot that might be able to join the team.

"And I was so hoping this was just a rock." Azura sat down with a huff as she stared at it. "Why did it have to be a ship?"

Jack nodded slowly and looked at Arcee curiously. "Autobot or decepticon?"

"Can't tell." Arcee eyed off the vessel with scrutinizing optics, and she stood up with her weapons ready. "Both of you wait here. And don't even think about trying to pull a Miko."

"We won't." Azura turned her body to lean against a tree and began to randomly pull the pieces of the pinecone off. "Jack and I aren't like her, which you should already know."

Arcee made no comment as she walked away to investigate the surroundings while she made her way to the ship. Jack watched the femme curiously in concern, as he did worry that the ship could belong to a decepticon. And there was no way to tell who would have been piloting the ship, and that could be dangerous. Jack was tempted to follow, but it could be dangerous. And he wanted to keep an eye on Azura too, so that he wouldn't make Optimus upset for leaving her alone.

He turned when he heard a strange sound from her, and saw she was covering her mouth with a confused expression. "Are you okay, Azura?" She jumped and looked at him in surprise. Jack moved closer to her and he frowned a little. "You weren't really feeling energetic before, were you?"

Azura widened her optics and frowned at him. "Of course, I did! I wasn't lying about that. I just happened to notice something is a little weird, that is all. It is fine, Jack." She looked in the direction of Arcee to see the femme had not heard them. "Besides, Arcee needs to check that ship out before we can even go back to the base. And last I checked…" Azura leaned a little to look at Jack's jean pockets. "I see no phone with you. So you can't really contact base, even if you wanted to."

"And how long ago were you starting to feel funny?"

Azura did not how to answer that as she thought about it. "Um…maybe…a few minutes, I don't know. I was a bit more preoccupied over this pinecone, and now a strange ship in the middle of this forest. I bet that is what Ratchet picked up, not an energon deposit."

Jack seemed to be a little happier about that as he wasn't sure if he should be upset with her not telling sooner. "At least it seems it has only happened recently. But what exactly are you feeling? Just because I can't call Optimus, doesn't mean I can't tell Arcee when she comes back."

Azura sighed as she knew that there was no getting out of that argument. "I feel a gurgling on the right of my chassis, and it has made me feel nauseous. I know it is not my tank, so it can't be that. Ratchet did say one of my other systems might have come online or something, so it could be that. But I don't know what it would be."

"Maybe it is a result of that crystal." Jack lightly taps the crystal with his index finger, making her cover it immediately and glare at him. "I can't take it, Azura. You know that." She narrowed her optics at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Azura, just…just relax for the moment. If you have other symptoms, tell me about them. It seems that Optimus was right to be worried about letting you come along. It was a mistake."

Azura did not make a comment on that as she pulled pieces of the pinecone off it and dropped them onto the ground. She wasn't interested in making a fuss over whether or not she should be here. She had hoped it would have been a good idea, and it seemed it just had not been working out the way she had wanted as her illness was now just taking a turn that was making her feel uncomfortable. She didn't feel too bad yet, but it was likely to happen.

She did turn a little to watch and see Arcee had made it over to the ship, and the femme was now making her way inside to see if she could locate the pilot, or figure out who pilotted it. "I wonder if there are neutral Cybertronians out there."

"Neutral?" Jack raised an eyebrow at that very idea seemed to intrigue him. "Hmm…never thought of that. Maybe there is. But I imagine they would be keeping away from both autobots and decepticons, so I don't imagine we would see them. Unless, you think, that this could be owned by a Cybertronian who is neutral to the war."

"I don't know. I just happened to think about it randomly." Azura eyed off the ship curiously as they wait for Arcee to reemerge from it, and she sighed deeply. "I hope she won't take too long to get out of there. I hear no shots being fired."

"Doesn't mean she should take a quick look, Azura. She has a job to do to ensure there is no additional threat to us and the autobots." Jack understood that Azura was feeling that way, because she might be getting sicker. He was watching the ship intently as well for Arcee to come back out. "As soon as Arcee comes back out, I can inform her you need to go home. I think that would be the best thing."

Azura did not disagree. She did want to go home now that she was starting to feel unwell. And the gurgling within her was increasingly becoming uncomfortable, and she could feel the burning rising and fall in her throat. She almost swore she could even taste smoke, and her cheeks felt a little sore too. It was something that was starting to become concerning, and the itchiness around the crystal had also returned and she scratched around it to try and soothe it.

Jack had heard the scratching, and looked at her with a concerned expression. He could see the sparkling was uncomfortable. He still did not know if she had been honest about feeling energetic today, but maybe she did feel good. But that isn't how it looked. Jack hoped that Optimus would not be too angry if he believed Azura had misled him. Though given she was unwell, he doubted that Optimus would be terribly angry. He would be more worried than angry.

Jack looked back to the ship, and he spotted Arcee walking back out of the ship. But she did not look good at all. She looked like she had seen or experienced something bad, and it worried him. "Arcee!" Azura jumped as Jack shouted at the femme and the boy grabbed her hands to pull her to her feet. "Come on! Something happened!"

"And you want me to follow?" Azura frowned at him and Jack nodded while she looked over and saw that Arcee was alone. "Alright, fine! But this will be on you."

Jack said nothing as he ran towards the ship. Azura followed him, and looked towards Arcee. When she saw that Arcee was bracing herself against the side of the ship, that did make Azura worry about her. Something happened, and it caused Arcee to be this way. She didn't seem to be hurt, so that was good. But Arcee was acting fearful or weakened at the moment, so there was no way of knowing what had happened to her just yet.

Arcee looked up as she noticed Jack and Azura running over to her, but she did not seem to be anger by the fact they left their hiding spot. Jack looked up at the femme with concern on his face. "Arcee, what's wrong?"

"You look like you saw a ghost or something," Azura added as she and Jack stop in front of the femme. "Was there someone in there?"

Arcee did not respond to her straight away as her mind seemed to be elsewhere for a moment. Arcee clenched her optics shut for a moment. "I know whose ship this belongs to." The way Arcee spoke made Azura shiver as Arcee sounded scared as her voice was shaky. She reopened her optics and hardened her expression into a glare and opened her com link. "Arcee, to base, I need a ground bridge ASAP."

Jack and Azura glance at each other worryingly before he spoke to Arcee. "W-Wait, wait, why? Whose ship is this?"

Arcee completely ignored Jack's question and walked away from him and the sparkling. "Base, do you read?" Azura swallowed nervously and cautiously followed Arcee, glancing around as though she expected something to jump out at them. "Scrap!" Azura jumped and stepped back to Jack as the frustrated curse from Arcee startled her. "Com link's dead." Arcee turned and walked away while she thought of what to do. "The ship's got to be transmitting a high frequency scrambler pulse."

"A-Arcee…" Jack jumped as he felt Azura grab his arm as they follow the femme and looked at her to see the fear in her optics. He looked back at the femme worryingly. "Okay, you're kind of freaking the both of us out here."

Arcee did not respond to Jack again as she walked towards the forest, eyeing it suspiciously for anything that might move. She came to a stop for a moment. "Wait here." With that, she walked into the forest, leaving the sparkling and human alone for the moment.

Azura stared at Arcee's back nervously before looking back at the ship worryingly. "Um…d-d-do you think she should have left us here right by a ship that has made Arcee so scared?"

Jack sighed deeply and turned to look at the ship as well. "I…I don't know." He glanced around nevously as he knew that they could be in some serious trouble. "Arcee should have taken us somewhere to reach the base first, honestly. But…" He looked back in the direction Arcee had walked to. "I am worried that her fear is clouding her judgement." He frowned and looked at Azura. "Come, I know she said to wait here, but I am uncomfortable staying here by the ship too."

Azura nodded and walked with Jack towards the trees. "All of a sudden, it feels like the trees have become scary…I don't like it." She glanced around nervously as they walk quickly to catch up with Arcee. "I don't see anything…but…imagine if there's a Cybertronian version of Slenderman or something out here."

"That would be absolutely terrifying." Jack did not laugh at that, as he was nervous, because Arcee was nervous. "But I don't know. Whoever this is, is clearly scaring Arcee."

"Which makes me scared." Azura dropped what was left of the pinecone as she glanced around nervously. "Hopefully, we can go home before something happens."

Jack nodded in agreement as he was hoping for that now too. Even though he knew that Azura wasn't feeling well right now, and that she most definitely needed to go home, he felt that he should go to the base too. This made him feel very unsafe being here right now, and he hoped that Arcee could get them out of here. They could see Arcee was checkng tracks on the ground, but Azura noticed these were tracks she could not recognize. She did not know who these footprints belonged too.

They watch Arcee crouch and seemingly freeze after taking a closer look at the footprints. It seemed that she was having a flashback, and they couldn't quite put their finger on what it might be from. Arcee did not even hear them approaching due to this. Azura jumped as she heard some birds flying away, and she almost held Jack's arm tighter out of nervousness, but she would hurt him if she did, so she simply tried to not think about it.

Upon reaching Arcee, Jack gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Arcee?"

Arcee flinched and turned her head to look at both Jack and Azura in surprise. She seemed to process something for a moment before she transformed and revved her engine. "Climb on!"

Azura gulped as she had not done this yet. She waited for Jack to climb on before she did, and wrapped her arms around his waist as he put his helmet on. However, once she was seated, Arcee took off at a very high speed, making both Azura and Jack scream in surprise and fear, as Arcee was speeding between the trees at such a high speed, that the two of them were holding on for life, basically. Especially as it seemed that Arcee had zero intentions of slowing down.

Azura wanted to shut her optics as Arcee sped between the trees, but she didn't as she wanted to see what was happening. "Arcee!" Jack shrieked fearfully as he kept a tight grip on the handles. "You're going too fast! Azura's going to have a hard time hanging on!"

Arcee made no response, and Azura felt her tank churning now, making her whimper nervously. She did not want to purge over Jack and Arcee at the moment, but she might not have a choice. She gasped loudly as she soon spotted a large gap ahead, and she tried to keep a tight grip as Arcee jumped over it while she and Jack scream fearfully. When Arcee landed roughly, Azura screamed as she was thrown off by the force of the landing and skids across the ground.

"Azura!" Arcee gasped in shock as she came to a brief stop and transformed before Jack could get off. She lunged forward to grab the sparkling to stop her from sliding along the ground. She caught her in her palm and knelt to stop herself from sliding while she picked up the sparkling. "I am so sorry…uh oh…"

Azura began to sniffle as she gripped her right elbow. There was a clear metal burn on her right arm from the impact and grind on the dirt, and there was no way of hiding it. She had a bit of metal burn on her left arm and back, but not as bad. "W-Why did y-y-you go so fast?"

"Yeah, was that really necessary?!" Jack snapped angrily with a frown while Arcee placed him on the ground so she could check Azura over. "And now, you've gone and injured Azura!"

Arcee knew she was going to be in the scrap because of this. "I am sorry." She cradled Azura for a moment as she opened the com link again. "Arcee to base." Again, no response. "Scrap! That frequency must…" Arcee jumped as she paused when Azura suddenly began to purge, making the femme hold her out as Azura got partially digested low-grade energon over herself and Arcee's chassis. "Ohh…scrap…"

Jack widened his eyes as he also noticed a shift in Azura's face. Specifically, just under her optics. They almost looked like nostrils that had not been there before. The gaps were petal shaped, and seemed to also have some slight redness to them. "And you what else? Azura told me she was feeling funny before. I was about to tell you, but you can't reach the base…"

Arcee widened her optics and sighed as she waited for Azura to finish purging. "I guess that means you were already feeling bad when you came…but that doesn't matter anymore." She groaned with a shake of her head. "I guess if Optimus doesn't kill me, at least I know someone else will." She glanced around for a moment with worry and looked back at Azura. "I am terribly sorry…" She lowered the sparkling by a tree, and Azura whimpered, trying to keep a hold of Arcee's wrists to remain held. "No, Azura. Stay here with Jack."

"Look, I've seen danger before, what…"

"Wait here!" Arcee ordered before she turned around and transformed. "I mean it this time."

Jack stared at the bike in irritation. "So, first you shut me out, and now you're ditching me? Come on, Arcee! I know you were speeding a little too fast before, but you need to get us as far as possible to get Azura home. Aren't we partners, here?"

Arcee transformed again and glared at Jack as she listened to his words. "No, Jack, you're a kid. You and Azura are only here because this was supposed to be no risk. Got it?" Jack seemed hurt by her words as he stared back at her. Arcee glanced back at Azura before softening her expression. "Make sure to keep an eye on her until I get back."

Arcee turned away to transform and speed back the way they had just some. Jack stared after the femme with a mix of hurt and determination in his expression. But as he wanted to follow Arcee, he couldn't just leave Azura. He looked at her with worry. She was resting against the tree while she was crying softly. She was trying to wipe the energon from her body, and Jack was surprised that there was an off smell to the purged energon too. But he did wonder what her new modifications were for. He might point them out, but he would wait. He wanted to wait for her to rest before considering if they should follow Arcee or not.