TFP: Youngling
Ch.43~ Better Each Day
"You're doing great sweetspark." I praised as she walked toward me unsteadily.
Her recovery would take time, I took time out of my days to help her work on rebuilding her strength and motor skills. She wobbled more after taking a too hurried step. I watched her correct herself and continue her unsteady steps. She was determined, she never appeared to be frustrated. I braced myself as she got closer, I smiled as she got closer.
"Carrier!" she cheered as she collapsed into me.
"I'm so proud of you." I cooed, she beamed up at me as I hugged her close.
"Again!" she cheered, I smiled.
"One more time." I hummed, "Then it's time to rest, you're still recovering."
She nodded eagerly, I smiled and rose to my pedes walking across the room I set her onto her pedes. Striding back to my original spot I sat down. She waved to me and began to walk toward me. She was learning what pace she could do, though her frame still shook and wobbled. It would be a while before she fully recovered. But she has come far this past week.
'Wow, you've gotten so good Star!' Bee chimed.
She tried to turn to his voice but moved too fast, I tried to race to her but she collapsed before I could grab her. I carefully picked her up, as I heard pedefalls approach. I peeked to see Bumblebee crouch next to me. He gently rubbed Star's helm and she smiled up at him.
'Sorry I caught you off guard.' He apologized; 'You've gotten so much stronger; you'll be racing around in no time.'
"Will you and brothers play with me when I fully recover?" she quizzed, he nodded.
'Of course, we will, just don't push yourself too hard.' He soothed, she nodded and turned to me with a big grin.
"I believe we've done enough walking for today." I hummed, she leaned back into me. "Time for finer motor skills."
"Okay, what are we going to do today?" she quizzed, I hugged her close.
"How about you help me sort through my parts and tools?"
"I'll help! I'll help!"
"Thank you, my dear."
(Stargazer's POV)
It's been almost two weeks since I began to recover, everyday Carrier took time from his work to help me recover. First, I practiced walking, now I walk across the whole training room. Then I helped Carrier with repairs, grabbing parts and tools. I barely drop anything now. But still, it was exhausting and the progress was slow.
It's frustrating.
"Hey Starry." Side greeted, I turned to smile at him.
"Done with your patrol?" I asked, he nodded.
"Yep, Sunny is going to be coming soon, he went to report something to Optimus." He replied.
Sunny, Sides and Bee have been gone more lately, were the Decepticons plotting something. I felt him pet my helm, looking up he smiled down at me.
"Hey, nothing for you to worry about." He soothed he picked me up. "Hatchet doing repairs?"
"He went to go through the supplies in the storage room," I answered, he nodded.
"How are you feeling today? Walking getting easier?" He asked, I nodded leaning into his plating.
"Yeah, just wish it would go faster…" I muttered; he kissed my helm.
"It's alright to be frustrated, I know you want to run around again…" he stated, I nodded burying my faceplate into his armour.
"I just wanna be better," I muttered, he began to run his servo up and down my backstruts.
"You're getting better every day, you're so strong now." He soothed. "I know it's frustrating but you're doing so well. Just keep working hard and you'll get better."
"Thanks, Sides." I thanked; he kissed my helm.
"Anytime Starry."
(Later)
"Star, I was able to get you access to Earth shows on your datapad!" Raf chimed, I lit up leaning my chin on the railing.
"That's what you've been doing! Oh, thank you!" I cheered, he smiled leaning over the back of the couch.
"This way you can watch shows when we aren't here, all you have to do is search the show. This is what the application looks like." He explained, he turned his laptop to me so I could see the application.
"Seems you two are having fun." Carrier joked, I turned to see him entering the room holding the part he went for.
"Raf set up my datapad so I can watch cartoons on it," I explained.
"I see, you've become rather adept at working with our technology Rafael. Good job." Carrier praised Raf blushed a bit.
"Thank you Ratchet, I want to help you guys where I can. Test it out Star, want to make sure it's working." He replied.
I grabbed my datapad and typed in Ponyo, an image of Ponyo in the bucket appeared. Clicking it I saw the movie begin to play, I can watch cartoons anytime now. So cool! Sitting down I watched stylized water as the song played. So pretty.
"I will admit the song playing is rather nice," Carrier stated, I looked at him in surprise.
"I thought you hated Earth music," Raf stated, I nodded.
"There are certain types of Earth music I find good; I believe they are considered the more classical varieties," Carrier answered.
"What about Sire?" I quizzed; he rubbed his chinplate.
"Optimus seems to enjoy more of Earth's music than myself, I know sometimes on patrol he will tune into Earth stations. Actually, he played some music he said was from around fifty or so years in Earth's past. I do quite enjoy that, though the sound quality on them is dismal." Carrier rambled; I want to hear the songs they like.
"Do you remember the name of any of those songs?" Raf quizzed, I nodded eagerly.
"I believe one was called Le Temps des Cerises." He stated, wait that's the song from Porco Rosso.
"I know that song! It's in one of the movies Miko showed me!" I cheered.
"I remember that movie took place before World War two, so you like music from the 1920s or so." Raf mused.
"Name another!" I pleaded; Carrier rubbed his chinplate again.
"Optimus looked into Earth poetry and showed me a song based on a poem he read; I believe it was called Lady of Shallot. That song was quite nice, I believe he told me it was based on the folklore of knights in shining armour." He explained.
"Do you think Sire would read me the poem?" I quizzed; Carrier smiled.
"Of course, he would, why don't you ask him when he returns from his patrol?"
"I will," I affirmed.
(Optimus' POV)
"Sire, can you read me the poem Lady of Shallot?" Stargazer quizzed, where did she hear about that poem?
"She was asking what music I liked earlier, I told her about the song based on the poem." Ratchet answered, seems he knew my thoughts.
"I see, of course, I will read it to you, give me a click to find it again my dear," I replied, she thrust her datapad to me.
"I put it on my datapad." She chimed, I smiled taking the datapad from her.
"Thank you." I hummed.
I gently sat down next to the boxes she was sitting on she crawled down into my lap as I brought up the poem. I wrapped a servo around her as I got the datapad into a perfect position to read from. I could hear Ratchet's keystrokes slow. Smiling softly, I cleared my vocalizer.
I read off the first part of the poem, Star seemed to be trying to follow along with the text as I read. Once I finished the part Star turned her gaze up to me.
"Sire, why does it sound like a song?" She quizzed, I smiled.
"Poetry and music are quite close, in most poetry, there is a rhythm at play. The author wants it to be read at a certain pace, or in a certain way. It is part of what makes a poem different from say a short story." I explained, she nodded.
"I've heard of Camelot before, it's the Kingdom of King Arthur, right?"
"It is, from what I understand he is believed to be the once and future king, many of the stories involving him and his knights are mystical in nature. This poem takes place in the realm of magic."
I began to read the second part of the poem. She went back to following along on the text. I should try to read to her more. She seems to be enjoying it, perhaps next I should read to her a book with illustrations. Finishing the part, she patted my plating turning her gaze up to me again.
"Woah. So, what was she doing?" Star quizzed.
"She is weaving, it's an old Earth artform, they weave threads together to make patterns or even images like The Lady of Shallot," I answered.
"Oh, so she was cursed to do that?"
"Yes, she is trapped where she can only see the world from afar, does that not sound lonely?"
"It does."
"How about we learn what happens to her?"
She nodded and turned back to the text and she shifted closer to me though seemed to be following along still. Perhaps I could read her some of the poems I remember from Cybertron. Reaching the end of the part she rubbed her chinplate much like Ratchet does.
"She fell in love with the Lancelot, right?" she asked, I nodded.
"It would seem. Now the curse has befallen her." I stated.
"Like the Beast." She mused.
She turned her attention back to the text so I began to read the next part. I watched as her expression changed, as the fate of the Lady of Shallot became clear. Finishing Stargazer remained silent, the typing stopped too. So, Ratchet had been listening as well.
"That's a rather grim ending." Ratchet mused; Star looked up at me.
"Why did she die?" she quizzed.
"I do not know, but to me, it seemed that until that moment when she left her weaving, she hadn't truly been living. Life is complex, there is loss, there is pain, but there is also joy and love. One must open themselves up to that, to not simply live life observing. That is what it means to live." I theorized, she looked up at me in confusion. "Sorry my dear, this might have been too philosophical a read. Perhaps I can find another poem or story that would be better suited for your age."
"Okay, but I did like that poem, it was sad but beautiful." She replied, I smiled.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, my dear," I stated, she rose from my lap and turned to me with a big grin.
"Please read to me again soon." She chimed, I smiled.
"I have more time, if you'd like we can read something else?" I offered, she nodded eagerly practically falling back into my lap. "How about I read you one of my favourite Earth stories?"
"Yay!" she cheered.
I am glad to see her so full of life again.
I will not fail you again.
(Ratchet's POV)
I turned from my work to see Stargazer laying down on a crate her datapad playing some cartoon. Checking my internal chronometer, I saw it was past her bedtime. I really lose myself to my work, perhaps I should set an internal alarm.
Abandoning my work, I strode across the room and knelt next to her. I smiled fondly as I saw she had fallen into recharge at some point. I'll let her sleep in a bit tomorrow. I turned off the datapad before gently scooping her up. She murmured something in her recharge but settled again.
I began to quite walk toward our room, it was too quiet, I hate to admit it but I am beginning to like the hustle and bustle. I paused as I heard the sound of twin engines entering the base. Seems the twins have returned. I haven't seen them all cycle, the others have been patrolling more lately.
"Scrap!" Sideswipe shouted, I heard someone hushing him.
"Ratchet actually went to recharge at a reasonable time, don't go waking him up," Sunstreaker replied.
"Sorry, that hurt more than I thought," Sideswipe replied, I sighed, best to fix it before he makes it worse.
"Just sit down, I'll patch it up." Sunstreaker insisted, I scoffed and began to march back to the main room.
"Eyepyep, there will be none of that." I lectured, I paused as I saw them, both looked like they had been in a large battle. "What in the name of Primus happened to you two?"
"It's nothing we're fine." Sunstreaker huffed, I set Stargazer back down on her crate.
"There is nothing fine about the state you two are in. Now explain yourselves." I demanded walking over to glare at them.
"Sides was being an idiot," Sunstreaker stated, but his tone didn't sound like he was annoyed.
"Is that so," I stated, Sides turned his gaze away, lying. "I see, so you were doing something you don't want me to know about. How bad was it? Do I need to get Optimus involved?"
"We're fine, Sides is exaggerating, you can take Star and go to recharge." Sunstreaker insisted, I scoffed.
"Like I am going to go to recharge when you both are in need of repairs. Now get your afts to the medberth." I ordered pointing to the medberth.
They both looked at each other before Sunstreaker let out a sigh. Slowly he began to lead Sideswipe to the medberth, Sideswipe limping favouring the right leg. Sunstreaker also seemed to be favouring his left shoulderplate. I sighed as walking to grab my tools as they settled onto the medberth.
Pulling my tools over I knelt down to examine Sideswipes' left leg, dislocated ankle joint and crack along his kneeplating. No wonder he was in pain, sighing I got up and moved on to Sunstreaker's right shoulderplate. His plating was bent limiting his movements. Besides this, both of their frames were littered with scratches and dents.
"So, you two were fighting a big group," I stated, Sideswipe side glanced at Sunstreaker. "I see, and clearly you had some goal in mind, most could not catch you two if you had wanted to escape."
"Sunny," Sideswipe said in a pleading tone, but Sunstreaker glared at his twin.
"Sunstreaker care to enlighten me as to what was so important that you targeted a group of Decepticons?" I quizzed, he growled, a habit he's had since he was a sparkling. "You know I will find out what you two were doing eventually, right?"
"We made our choice." He huffed, I sighed grabbing tools to fix Sideswipe's ankle and knee.
"Is that so, you may be grown mechs now but you're still young. I doubt your creators would want to meet you on the other side so soon." I lectured, I peeked to see Sunstreaker had turned his helm away.
"We know." He asserted but I could see he was struggling to hide his feelings. "But this is something we have to do."
"It is? What is that important?" I quizzed returning to my repair work.
"You'll know soon enough." He stated.
"I suppose I will, but I would prefer to know now," I stated.
I will ask Orion when I see him next if he knows what these two are up to. These two are too reckless for their own good. Hopefully, he can shed some light on this.