Azura whimpered as she looked at her elbow as she looked at the metal burn on her skin. The burn did look similar to a scrape would on human skin. There was no energon bleeding at least, but Azura felt awful. She wanted to go home to Optimus at the moment, but she and Jack had to wait for Arcee to come back. But Azura worried that she wouldn't come back, and they didn't have any means of reaching the autobots either. Azura wished she had a com link too, but that system was non-existent or non-functional.

Jack crouches down by her and looked at the metal burn on her elbow. "So that's what a metal burn looks like. That looks like it hurts." She nodded as it really did hurt. "And I never thought I would say this, but energon stinks when partially digested." Azura smiled at him with a light sniffle. "If there was a lake, I could probably wash that off you."

"Would you even want to?" Azura asked him curiously, making him give her a surprised expression. "I mean, I can tell you want to follow Arcee."

Jack looked in the direction Arcee had sped off to and looked back at her. "I do. But you are also under my responsibility. I feel awful that you ended up being sick and…" He widened his eyes when Azura began to cough, and the cough itself sounded raspy. "Scrap…ugh, if only we could reach Optimus." Jack rubbed her back gently as she coughed. "Easy, Azura. Take your time. I can stay with you while we wait for Arcee."

Azura heard Jack, even though she was coughing a lot. She coughed hard enough that it made her gag, and she placed her hand on her throat with a grimace, rubbed her neck as she was uncomfortable. "Give me a moment, Jack. I can come with you. I don't particularly want to be sitting here, and potentially be found by whoever might be here in this forest with us."

Jack was happy to hear that. "And we can stop whenever you need a break as well, Azura. I can tell you are feeling tired again." She grimaced and ignored his comment about her being tired. "I know, you hate it when I point it out to you, but I am only saying that because I can see it. I am not going to bother asking if you truly did feel tired this morning or not, there's no point."

Azura was glad, as she didn't need to be annoyed by him. She leaned back against the tree behind her and looked up at the sky, noticing that it was turning dark. "It's getting dark already. Unless we are in a different part of the world, I really want to get home soon."

Jack felt the same. The darkness was giving the forest an eerie atmosphere. He really wanted to follow Arcee, but he wasn't about to get in trouble. He knew Arcee will, given that Azura is injured because of Arcee. "And lighting a fire may not be wise, as it will give our position away." Jack glanced around nervously, jumping as they hear the flapping of a bird flying through the trees. "This is giving me the creeps too."

Azura nodded as she looked up before she sighed and looked at Jack. "Can you help me to my feet?" He looked at her in surprise and she held out her hands. "I think we should follow her. You can grab my wrists, they're not covered in energon."

Jack smiled at her as he was not concerned about that. "That is the least of our concerns." He stood up and grabbed her hands to help her to her feet. Azura placed her hand on her head, and Jack stayed close to help her stay steady. "Easy, Azura. Hopefully Ratchet has managed to make the medicine you need to get well."

"And I have to ingest it." She frowned a little at the thought. "But it will probably taste horrible."

"It always does. I am afraid I can't deny it, but as much as it tastes bad, it is what is necessary to get help to recover from it, Azura." Jack gave her a confident smile and looked towards the gap Arcee had jumped over. "But there's no time to think about it. We need to follow Arcee. And we should hope we find her, before something else does."

Azura shivered and glared at Jack. "Please don't say things like that. It makes me feel scared. I don't need to think about watching my back either." But Azura knew that both of them would be doing just that as they were worried. "Alright, let's go. But don't expect me to jump across that ditch. It's too wide."

"I was not going to ask you to."

Jack and Azura walk over to the gap and look down to see how far they had to do. Luckily, it was not deep, but they had to climb down and climb back up on the other side. And that is what they did, and they were extremely careful about it too. And Azura was extra careful as the metal burn was still stinging. She did hope that Optimus would not be too hard on Arcee, but she probably wouldn't be able to convince him to not be too mad.

Once they were on the other side of the gap, they made sure to take note of Arcee's tracks so they could follow her. They walk briskly as they follow the track between the trees while they glanced around and listened intently for any sound or sign of something nearby. They both were nervous, and Azura stuck close to Jack as they walk through the trees quickly. They did not know what to really expect.

Azura only stopped as she saw the tracks Arcee had been looking at before and she look at them curiously. Jack stopped when he noticed she had stopped and looked at her curiously. "Azura? Do you need a moment?"

Azura crouched as she looked at the strange tracks. She could not help but think that the Cybertronian who made these tracks had multiple feet. But it kind of look like spider tracks. "I'm just trying to work out what we might be dealing with. Have you seen these tracks yet, Jack? They're a little weird."

Jack looked at the ground as he also saw the tracks. He could see why Azura would take notice, as it seemed like that this Cybertronian was different to the ones they have seen. "They are weird. Kind of like insect feet or something." He shuddered a little at the thought of that. "That sounds horrible, if I'm honest."

Azura nodded in agreement and she stood back up, glancing around nervously. "There are small bugs, so I guess there just had to be big bugs too." She groaned at the very thought and looked ahead. "We should keep moving, in case it happens to be watching."

Jack did not disagree as they resumed following Arcee's tracks. They were still nervous, as Arcee had been nervous. It did bother them that Acree did not tell them who they could be dealing with, as that seemed to be irresponsible. But she probably did not want to terrify them, but unfortunately, by not telling them and acting extremely fearful, that has made Jack and Azura even more fearful.

But despite that, they both felt that they had to find Arcee as she could get into trouble. And maybe, just maybe, they could help her if the situation allowed them to. But Jack intended for Azura to hide if they did find Arcee. Having her witness the situation would be upsetting enough. But if the situation could end with her being more injured or kidnapped, he could not allow that to happen.

They continue running before Jack stopped for a moment. "Looks like she transformed from her vehicle mode here." He points at the ground as he noticed Arcee's footprints. He glanced around nervously as he was tempted to call out her name. "But at least it does not seem like that she had been attacked."

Azura followed the footprints slowly before her optics notice something. She widened her optics as she saw a tree stump that looked like it had been burned by some kind of green acid. She walked towards it, but she did not touch it as she looked at it closely. It was like nothing she has seen before, and she most certainly noticed a strange smell that seemed toxic.

Jack walked over as he noticed the substance on the tree as well. He stared at the substance worryingly and glanced around. "This is not good. I don't think we know of any autobot or decepticon who might have this kind of poison. Hmm…" He rubbed his chin as he looked around and grabbed her arm gently. "Come on, we need to keep moving."

Azura nodded and walked with Jack quickly to follow the footprints. She was definitely feeling frightened, and she rubbed her face as it felt sore. She than noticed the new, petal shaped gaps in her face. "Huh?" She felt the holes under her optics and grimaced as they felt sore. "When did these get there?"

"Right about the time you were sick just before," Jack responded gently and she looked at him in surprise. "I didn't want to tell you as you already had enough to deal with. Try not to irritate them, they look sore."

"They are." She had no idea what they would be for, but she could feel heat coming from them. "And the feel hot too. Uggghhh! Why am I sick?!"

"It will be okay, Azura." He placed his arm around her shoulders gently and hugged her gently while she grumbled a little. He smiled at her as he knew she was feeling frustrated. "I know, being sick is not fun. But you can get through this."

Azura nodded, even though she was still not happy about her current predicament. She just hoped that when they catch up to Arcee, they could go home as quickly as possible. She glanced around and looked at the ground. Arcee at least had still been following the Cybertronian who was leaving these strange footprints in the ground. She thought about using her abilities, but that probably would be a bad idea.

She and Jack froze when they heard the sound of blaster fire in the distance. It was pretty obvious what it was, and they both run in the direction of the sound. Azura winced as she heard the sound of metal scraping against each other and something heavy being slammed into the ground. Azura was not sure what they would be running into, but they would have to see for themselves first.

They run to the top of a hill, and Azura stopped as they spot Arcee down below, and they enemy who she was fighting. It was another femme, but this one was very different to any bot they have seen. She had spider legs, and a spider-like abdomen, and she looked extremely terrifying to look at. Neither one seemed to notice Jack and Azura, and they was good.

Jack turned to Azura and pushed her behind a tree. "Okay, I'm going to see if I can do something to help."

"And what do you expect to even do against a bot like that?!" Azura whispered back with a frown. "You're a human, Jack! I think you should stay with me and keep a close eye on Arcee that way. It's too dangerous to even do anything."

Jack softened his expression and looked down with worry. "You are right, but I honestly don't think that it is fair that Arcee has to face this bot alone. I still think that she should have taken us somewhere for Ratchet to bridge you home, but it's too late for that now." He took a deep breath and looked at her kindly. "Stay here. That other bot shouldn't see you if you stay hidden."

"But she could kill you!" Azura snapped with a frown. "You know that! That spider thing down there is not showing mercy to Arcee. They both also seemed to know each other, and that might make you an easy target! So you should stay with me." She grabbed his wrist gently to keep him from going down the hill. "It is for your safety."

Jack placed his hand on her hands gently with a smile. "Everything will be alright, Azura. I am Arcee's partner, and it is my duty to help her, even if it is only a little bit. Just stay here…" He gasped as Azura leaned and suddenly lost balance, making her almost fall onto the tree. He caught her and helped her sit against it. "You're not able to come down with me, so just stay. It will be okay, Azura."

Azura's optics fill with tears and she guessed that there was no way of convincing him to stop. "Fine…just be careful, Jack." She sniffled and glanced around the side of the tree, watching Arcee leaping into the trees to avoid the blaster fire from the bot. "I'll stay here. At least the strange bot hasn't seen me."

Jack nodded and he moved away from Azura to begin making his way down the hill. Azura was very worried as she had no clue of what this new enemy was like. She watched Arcee continue to avoid the blaster fires and she launched herself with her foot out, before landing hard on the bot's face and pushing her to the ground. It looked like that Arcee actually had the upper hand in this from where Azura was, but she got distracted.

Jack was sliding down the hill, and he was causing rocks to run down the hill and make Arcee notice him. It seemed to be enough of a distraction from the spider bot to back hand Arcee off her body and used her spiny legs to get herself back onto her feet. And it seemed that this bot was enjoying herself too based upon her body language. It was hard to tell, but Azura was a little annoyed. This was another reason why Jack should have stayed with her.

She widened her optics when she saw the bot shoot out webbing at Arcee, causing the webbing to wrap around Arcee and force her back against the boulder behind her. The webbing was encased around her, and across Arcee's body, keeping her stuck against the rock. Arcee tried to pull herself out of the webbing, but it was very strong. Whatever the webbing was made from, it clearly was very strong, and any bot would have a hard time getting out of it.

"Arcee!" Jack shouted as he ran towards Arcee with a determined expression on his face. He was completely ignoring the other bot who was watching him with a smirk on her face.

Arcee saw that the bot had noticed Jack, and she managed to unlock her sidearm blades to cut through the webbing and transform her arm into a blaster to shoot at the spider bot. Azura watched the blast hit the bot in the back and send her hurdling into the side of hill, which seemed to make the bot lay back for a moment. Azura knew the bot was still alive, but she hoped that it would give Arcee and Jack enough time to get out of there so they could go.

"I told you to wait for me!" Arcee snapped at Jack as the boy ran over to him. She glanced around and realized Azura was not with him and she spoke in a lower voice. "And where is…"

"She's hiding, don't worry." Jack glanced back at the bot and reached up to try and pull the webbing off. "And partners don't ditch partners, Arcee."

Arcee seemed to be either annoyed or alarmed by Jack's thoughts as she narrowed her optics at him. "Get this through your head, you're not my partner! You're a liability!"

Jack ignored that, even though it was clear that her words did happen to sting. "I don't believe you." He pulled on some of the webbing, stepping back as he was managed to peel off some of the webbing. "I can see it in your eyes. You're afraid, Arcee." Arcee's expression had softened slightly, but it was still full of fear as she listened to him. "And you're never afraid."

Arcee looked away from Jack as she thought back to a time back on Cybertron. The way she seemed to be thinking back showed that she must have been traumatized by something, and that was why she reacted the way she did when she realized whose ship that had crash landed on this planet. And if that was what happened back on Cybertron, it was easy to understand why Arcee was acting this way. Especially since Arcee had to protect Jack and Azura, although Jack was the one who did go down to Arcee.

Arcee shook her head for a moment and glared at Jack worryingly. "You're right, Jack, I am afraid! Of losing you!" She snapped at him, making the boy stop in what he was doing when trying to help her and looked up at Arcee with a worried expression.

Azura glanced to the spider bot and saw she had got back up and was walking towards Arcee and Jack. She had a devious grin on her face, as it was obvious she was loving every minute of this. "You sure have trouble hanging onto your partners, don't you?" The bot mocked Arcee as she approached slowly. "We both know what happened to Tailgate." Azura frowned a little as she had known of Tailgate, but she did not know who had been responsible. "But I recently picked up some decepticon radio chatter regarding the passing of Cliffjumper." Azura grimaced at the mention of his name, and she wanted shout something, but kept her mouth shut. Arcee was also alarmed that this bot seemed to know about that. "At some point you really have to ask yourself, Arcee. Is it them, or is it me?" That made Azura shiver, and the bot chuckled as she glanced at Jack. "And now there is a much smaller partner who is about to be added onto that list."

Arcee looked at Jack with a fearful glare. "Do you get it now, Jack?!" Jack glanced at Arcee fearfully, and looked back at the spider bot briefly. "She's not interested in me. She hunts indigenous species, and she's on Earth. That means humans! You!" Jack widened his eyes as the realization sank in, and Azura was alarmed as well. "RUN!"

Azura watched as Jack ran just as the spider shot out another load of webbing to trap Arcee's arm again. He was able to run far enough to not get hit by the webbing, and he was making sure that he was running away so that the bot would not find Azura either. He was still conscious about her being found, and he did not want that to happen. But as he now knew that the bot was after him, Azura might be safe from her.

The bot laughed coldly as she walked up to Arcee with a devious grin. "And that's why I now prefer to work alone." She leaned in, taking great delight in watching Arcee squirm in the web. She slammed onto her pointy feel into the stone above Arcee, making the femme flinch. "It's so sad when bad things happen to those close to you." She chuckled as she held her index finger on Arcee's chin to keep her looking at the bot. "But don't get me wrong, I fully intend to snuff out your spark…" Azura shivered as she watched the bot turn her body around, so she was upside down while staring directly into Arcee's optics. "And believe me, I will make it hurt. But that won't compare to the pain you'll feel knowing I'm adding your human to my collection." The spider bot smirked as she watched Jack climb the hill to get away before she turned her head, making Azura jump and duck as the bot looked in her direction. "And somehow I get the feeling he's not the only one you brought with you."

Arcee widened her optics for a moment and shook her head. "If you think that, Airachnid, I think you hit your head when you crash landed. So I think you need to get that checked."

Airachnid? Ugh…of course she has that name.

Airachnid just chuckled at Arcee and turned to look at her. "Why, thank you for your concern, Arcee. But I am afraid I did not hit my head that hard." She turned back around and began to walk away. "My senses are a lot different to yours, my dear. I don't miss a thing."

Azura covered her mouth as she almost let out a whimper. She listened to the sound of Airachnid's feet getting closer to her, and she tried to keep herself quiet. But she suddenly had another wave of nausea, and she was forced to slump forward and purge again. She was surprised she had more energon in her tank, but that didn't matter. She felt heat rising within her chassis as well, and the gurgling seemed to grow stronger as well, making her gag for a moment.

"Well, well…" Azura gasped and looked up with wide optics, seeing Airachnid in front of her. "A little sparkling. This is definitely a day full of surprises." She chuckled softly as Azura pressed herself against the tree, and the bot could see how tired the sparkling was. "Oh, you poor dear. I just adore sparklings…" She reached down and picked Azura up, making her whimper and squirm in the bot's grasp. "But you don't look like Arcee's sparkling."

"Azura!" Arcee shouts as she realized Airachnid had found her. "Let her go, Airachnid! She has zero part in this!" She widened her optics as Airachnid jumped back down to her, making Azura shriek in surprise and fear. "She might not be my sparkling, but she is innocent and defenceless. Please don't hurt her."

"Did you not hear what I just said?" Airachnid suddenly cradled Azura against her, feeling the sparkling tremble against her. "I adore sparklings. It has been so long since we have had any. And now…" She lifts the sparkling back up as she looked at her curiously. "I want to know who your sire and carrier is. The last time I know of that sparklings had been created as through a habloid spark pulse that Megatron had authorized to use." Azura grimaced a little when she mentioned that as Airachnid looked over the sparkling curiously. "You have hair like humans…" Azura clenched her optics shut when she felt an index finger running through her golden hair. "But is metal. Your face looks familiar…so does your build…"

"Just let her go!" Arcee barked angrily at the bot. "She's sick! She needs medicine."

"I noticed. The poor thing was purging by the tree she was hiding behind. If you were her carrier, you would be doing a terrible job as her parent." Airachnid's smile widened as she watched the girl squirm in her hands. "I bet I know who your carrier is. Megatron is your sire, based on your shoulders…" Airachnid tapped Azura's shoulder gently. "And it seems you're also growing a set of horns, if I am not mistaken, on the side of your helm…" Azura did not know that as she hadn't looked closely. "But you have Optimus's face, optics and leg shape. And, apparently, the Matrix. That must be the energy I am sensing. Especially from this crystal…"

Azura gasped as Airachnid was about to touch the crystal, and she suddenly felt a surge of heat rushing up her throat and she suddenly sneezed. Airachnid yelped in surprise and dropped Azura to the ground as a large burst of fire rushed out of her mouth and new nostrils on her face. Azura whined as falling to the ground hurt as she landed on her backside, and she coughed while rubbing her throat, watching smoke puff from her mouth as she coughed.

Airachnid was immediately intrigued by the sudden development as she watched the sparkling struggle. "This is definitely a day of good surprises." She chuckled as Azura looked at the spider bot fearfully before Airachnid shot web at Azura, forcing the sparkling against the ground. "You wait here, my dear, sparkling. I've got to go deal with this human first. You keep an eye on Arcee for now." She chuckled as she glanced at Arcee and turned to follow Jack. "He's had enough of a head start now."

Azura watched as Airachnid walked away quickly and jumped right up to the top of the hill that Jack had climbed, and she grimaced as she felt like she was going to sneeze again. "Ow…everything hurts…"

Arcee grunts as she tried to get out of the webbing. "Everything will okay, Azura…" She looked at the direction Airachnid had gone with worry and looked down at her. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have allowed you to come with us…" She gasped as Azura sneezed again, and saw she had burned through some of the webbing around. Arcee heard the sparkling whine and cry from the pain she felt. "I'm going to try and get out as quickly as possible, Azura. You'll get home soon."

Azura did not say anything to Arcee as she was crying softly. She was really in a lot of pain right now. And she realized that the part of her system she had been feeling was the part that allowed her to breath fire. It must have been developing this whole time, and now it was ready. But she had no control of it. However, she noticed that she had burned through some of the webbing that encased her body. She hummed for a moment and began to focus, and create a small fire at the tip of her fingers to try and burn through the webbing to get out. It might be the only way that they had at the moment, so that Arcee could stop Airachnid from killing Jack.