SYCMD: Just one chapter this update period. I swear, major changes in the season always seem to create the most IRL busy work... Anyhow, enjoy everyone!
Waters bubbled loudly in the crisp, mountain air, trickling down narrow paths in some places; in others, staying stagnant in naturally-forming rock pools, heated to their highest boiling point and casting a thick, gauzy veil over the snow-laden area. It caused a clashing flux of data to swarm his neural net, but Hellbat paid no mind to the flip-flopping sensation of humidity and cold, his optics glued to the lithe frame leaping between boulders and trees in mirthful abandon.
"Hey, maybe we shouldn't-," he began to call.
Too late. Leozack sprinted quickly around a pine tree, trying to chase after the minuscule primates that inhabited this mountain, only to lose his footing against the soft piling of snow and careen into the local fauna. At once, the spy was on his pedes, rushing across the hot springs.
"Leo, are you okay?!"
Blue servos penetrated into the massive pile of frozen precipitation that had buried the tomcat after his slide, the dense layer of sky-ice knocked loose from its previous resting spot on wide-sweeping branches. Gripping slender limbs, Hellbat pulled Leozack free from his mess; holding a curling, teal mass before himself, crusted with snow in every available nook and cranny like an over-frosted cake. The sight would have been downright laughable (possibly even adorable) if it wasn't for the shivers wracking up and down the youngling's frame.
The older Destron sighed. "C'mon. Let's get you into the hot springs," he said, turning to carry his charge back to one of the many, steaming pools. "The water will help drive off that chill."
Leozack -who so far had been in an agreeable mood since they woke up on the mountain's peak earlier that orn- now began to squirm and flail, thumping at the spy's long arms with frail fists when he remained trapped. "N-no!," the teal jet squeaked, the cold disrupting his vocalizer and chopping up his words, "I-i do-don't want t-to go! Le-let me pl-play! I-i-i'm fi-fine!"
Hellbat shook his helm. "Nuh-uh. Not going to happen. Even I can feel how chilled you are and did you know there's frost forming on your mane now? No, no, no, no...," he tutted, slowing to a stop at the edge of the nearest hot spring. This one had a circumference of at least eight feet, and though one couldn't see the bottom of its centre due to the frothing bubbles the underground vent caused, the edges of the bowl were clearer, allowing the rafale to see its sloping interior. He formulated that the pool was no deeper than a foot. Certainly too shallow for him; maybe shoulder-height on Leozack.
"You've been hounding the animals all morning anyhow, sucking in this chilly atmosphere. A quick dip won't hurt you," the blue Destron added, poised to dunk the youngling into the pool.
Seeing that he was held out over the middle of the bubbling liquid now, the tomcat gave a frightful shriek, twisting around wildly, trying to cling to his caretaker's arms with fingers and pedes. Alarmed by such a reaction, Hellbat was quick to pull Leozack back towards his frame; sitting on the pool's rock border as he rested the tiny Destron on his lap. "...it's the water, isn't it?," he asked after a lengthy klik, the answer coming to him after some quiet reflection.
His charge didn't speak; only curling tighter on the spy's lap, sharp digits digging into the joints where Komoribreast hung from his chestplates.
Hellbat's optics dimmed contritely. He really should have realized sooner that the presence of water would be a triggering point for the teal Destron. After all, hadn't Leozack nearly drowned himself in the very ocean only a couple cycles following his unfortunate transformation? Combine that with the memory loss and, well... Suffice to say, the rafale felt like the biggest idiot in the whole galaxy. "I'm sorry, Leo. I didn't mean to frighten you," he spoke softly, bending to be more level with the other's mane. "I promise that it's safe. The pool is very shallow and it's quite warm. Kinda like the oil baths back home. I can put a pede in first to show you, if you want."
There was the slightest upwards tilt from the teal mane at his suggestion, though the rest of Leozack's face remained hidden against the blue mech's chestplates. It was enough for Hellbat. Turning slowly in place, he faced the hot spring, awkwardly sliding a leg up and over the lip while trying not to dislodge his charge in the process. Burning water splashed upwards in success, the rafale wriggling his other pede into the bubbling pool with a drawn-out sigh. "This...," he groaned, helm tossed back in relief, "Is actually really, really fragging good..."
Hellbat kept his optics offline, relishing the luxurious heat as it thrummed against sensors he hadn't realized were aching before now, refusing to disengage from the momentary reprieve even when he felt tiny limbs shift on his lap. It was the gentle, accompanying splash that eventually drew the jet's attention back to earth. Optics onlined to the sight of Leozack standing in the frothing waters between the older Destron's legs, shoulders raised and a scowl twisting the once-jovial face.
"I-it's fragging HOT!," the youngling screeched. Apparently the temperature being higher than he liked was enough to chain Leozack to the spot, for only his optics snapped toward the blue mech in displeasure. "This isn't nice at all!"
"Speak for yourself," Hellbat shrugged casually, letting his legs stretch out as far as the small pool allowed. "There are other liquid-like substances on the planet alone that are astronomically hotter than this."
The look of horror on the teal jet's face was so comical, Hellbat couldn't help but to laugh. Offended, Leozack splashed water up at his caretaker in poor retaliation; an action that the rafale gladly repeated back, until both Destrons were hurling servofuls of steaming liquid at each other wildly, laughing loudly in their fun. That stopped immediately when the youngling gave a weak yip of pain. Wiping the droplets of water from his face hurriedly, Hellbat reached out to the mute tomcat slowly sinking into the pool.
"Leo, let me see. Please?," he begged quietly.
Leozack didn't lift his gaze up from the bubbling water, though he did hold out his arm obediently. Grasping the tiny Destron's wrist gently, Hellbat leaned forward to assess the injury on his forearm. The laser burn looked blacker than before, almost glistening under the heavy humidity of the hot springs. The spy vented low. He should have guessed that the youngling's repair nanites might not be up to par with a full-grown 'bot, and he certainly should have factored in the effect that an organic environment would have on a Cybertronian system. It really was stupid mistake, after stupid mistake with him, wasn't it?
"Hold still, okay?," the blue Destron said to his captive audience, his free servo digging into his subspace, "We gotta get this covered so no more organic matter can get inside it."
The youngling sat quietly as Hellbat rifled through his subspace and his processor, trying to parse together a plan. With their constant losses and their Emperor's cruel withholding of supplies as punishment, going out to battle as a Destron also meant going out practically naked. Slag, if Komoribreast wasn't fused in some capacity to his neural net, the rafale was sure that Deathsaurus would take him away as well. Knowing the Destron leader, that was still a viable option... Of course, that sort of thinking wasn't helping him come up with a solution any faster. Hellbat gave his helm a firm shake at his idiocy -and paused immediately, struck with sudden inspiration. Fingers dug deeper into his subspace with renewed vigor, closing around a small bundle of wire and yanking it out. This left both of his servos full though, a problem that the spy remedied by laying Leozack's arm down on his knee joint, reaching up and unclipping his mouthguard.
Heavy, heated air rushed in on his exposed face, covering the once-hidden plating in a layer of condensation at once, but the blue Destron was too busy to mind the uncomfortable damp just then. Double-checking the inside was still clean, he first laid the curving slab of metal over the laser burn, ensuring that not even a fragment of the injury was visible anymore. Once confident that it was safely held in place, the rafale loosened the wire and began winding it around forearm and mask entirely, keeping the tension firm, not cutting. After several repetitions of this, Hellbat used both servos to pull the ends of the wire taut; cutting off the excess and twisting the remaining tips together so they would stay in place. Finished with his makeshift bandage, the older Destron retreated, tucking the leftover materials back into his subspace.
"There," he beamed, his vocalizer hissing in the undertones with a barely-heard screech, "All better. Well, all covered, really. It's not perfect but it should be enough anyway until we get back to the ship, where you can get some real medical attention. Sorry I don't have anything more suitable."
Hellbat paused, optics shuttering slowly at his charge. It was only now that he noticed that the youngling was staring up at him with wide, blazing optics on an otherwise slacken face, and it was honestly somewhat disturbing.
"U-uh... Leo? Is e-everything okay?." the spy hesitantly pressed.
At the call of his designation, the tomcat seemed to snap out of his trance. "You're not UGLY?!," he yelled loudly, springing up to his pedes in the pool.
Whatever he might have expected from the tiny Destron, that response certainly wasn't any of them, Hellbat silently noted. "And just exactly is that supposed to mean?," he frowned at the youngling now bouncing in front of him.
"'Cause you wear a stupid mask all the time!," Leozack readily supplied, his tone somewhere between giddy and disbelieving. "Only ugly 'bots hide their faces, even when they recharge, which you do, so I was one hundred percent sure you were massively HIDEOUS under that dumb hunk of metal. Yet, you actually have a face! With a nose and a mouth! They're not disgusting at all, just plain boring!"
"Okay, that's enough out of you...," Hellbat grumbled, lightly pushing the teal mechling's forehealm and sending him toppling back into the pool. "I'll have you know many 'bots find me quite handsome. And who are you to judge, you lil' kremzeek?," he fired back, to the tomcat bobbing back up from the bubbling hot spring.
"Liar!," Leozack shouted, water sluicing down his mane as he floated in place.
"Brat," the rafale returned flatly.
The teal Destron stuck his glossa out at the older mech; a response so childish that Hellbat couldn't dredge up the will to continue this inane argument with his charge. With a roll of his optical sensors, the spy pulled his legs from the hot spring and turned in his seat, letting the biting chill smother the last of his aggravation while he checked his scanners. Wet metal pressed against his wing, a fact that the blue mech ignored studiously despite the weight.
"...wind speeds are picking up in the east, and there's been a drop in barometric pressure around the area. We need to clear the mountains before the storm hits," Hellbat mumbled, the first word spoken in a few kliks. He gave a little shake to dislodge his leech, standing to full height and facing the smaller jet.
Leozack was sunk into the water up to his chin, looking sullen through the steam. "...but you promised you'd show me stuff," he pouted, still refusing to stand and take the servo held out for him.
"I know," the rafale replied, both understanding and guilt-ridden, "But I was a massive idiot for not considering your injury before we detoured this morning. Plus, I have no more energon on me, or any way to source more out on this planet. Energon crystals are not naturally forming and the organics do not require it to fuel themselves. What you ate is all I have, so ultimately, we were going to have to go back to the ship anyhow. I promise, though, no more being trapped in that dark, damp place. We'll do lots of fun stuff, explore some quiet pockets of this planet... whatever you want, Leo."
The youngling was watching his caretaker's face intently as he spoke, his angry, furrowed expression softening and softening until he merely looked sad and lonely sitting in the hot spring. Leozack had to drop his gaze away completely at the moment of Hellbat's promise, unable to keep optic-contact with the unfurling of his mirthless smile.
"Fine," the tiny jet sniffled, slowly standing upright in the pool, "B-but I hate it."
"Understandable," Hellbat said, lifting the tomcat up and out of the water. Komoribreast detached itself as he drew the youngling towards his body; chirping while it circled their heads, until Leozack was firmly tucked up against the older jet's frame, heated by the rafale's exterior vents, leaving the silver breastanimal to flutter down and plaster itself to the back of the teal mechling's neck and mane. The spy gave the creature a disapproving look, yet Leozack did not seem aggravated by the Komoribreast's actions. Instead, the tiny jet angled his helm so as to not hurt the thing's delicate wings, fingers pinching deeper into Hellbat's plating as he squirmed closer for more heat.
"Alright, let's go," ordered Leozack.
This time, the blue Destron's stunned optics were fixed down on the tomcat. "Uhh... Leo, you're going to have to let go of me so I can transform, y'know. Do you expect me just to carry you all the way back to the Thunder Arrow by pede?," he rebutted.
"It's cold," the youngling sniffed in disdain, winding his short arms around his caretaker's neck as far as they could go. "I demand to be warm."
The spy rolled his optical sensors. "Of course it's cold; it's a mountain top and we're surrounded by snow! C'mon, Leo, it's just for a klik. You'll be snug in my cockpit in no time at all. Plus, Komori can sit with you and keep you even warmer."
"No," came the stubborn chirp.
Hellbat groaned.
xxXxXxx
He knew his arrival back to the Thunder Arrow wasn't going to be a pleasant one, though Hellbat never would have guessed he'd be greeted by a fist. There was no time to react before the rafale was crashing to the floor, both servos clutching his squealing face, energon dribbling hotly from his crushed olfactory sensor. The pain was excruciating; not since his sparkling years had he been punched in the face without his mouthguard to help deflect some of the blow. Now his protective piece of metal was strapped to another's arm, a fact that forced Hellbat to online his optics despite the blaring HDU notifications blurring his vision. He was just able to process the sight of Drillhorn dragging Leozack out of the launch deck by his tiny neck, before both Destrons disappeared around the corner, leaving the spy to rock pitifully on the floor.
He had to get up, Hellbat yelled at himself anxiously, fingers trying to staunch the flood of glowing pink liquid. Leozack was out of his sight; Leozack was injured. Drillhorn certainly wasn't the type to murder one of their own in cold blood, but he was still too gruff for the blue mech to be comfortable leaving his charge in his servos unattended. And that's not to speak of the aggravation the tomcat would impart on their eldest group member, in turn. The jet had to get up and rejoin the youngling before any misfortune could take place. With a muffled scream, Hellbat slammed harder at his broken face, denting the plating further so that it would stop gushing; scrambling onto shaky pedes and jogging recklessly out of the loading bay. He made it the medbay by sheer gift of memorization, because the visual pixels in his optics kept scattering or blacking out entirely in random patches, leaving him half-blind due to the pain and unresolved injury. Amazingly, that was the easy part. It took the rafale a dozen, sloppy slaps at the entry panel to get the heavy doors to open for him, made even more difficult by the litany of screeching curses he could hear echoing faintly through the metal.
Hellbat all but rammed his frame through the sliding door, too impatient to wait the few astroseconds for it to clear the frame. "Leo!," he cried out nasally.
Tiny, pink optics looked with the spy's from across the room; the youngling once more strapped to a medical berth, that he'd obviously been writhing against judging by the scratches starting to form in his paintjob. "Tell him to slag off!," the tiny Destron squawked angrily, bucking under his bonds again. "I didn't agree to come here!"
The blue mech clumsily faced the drill-tank, a servo raised beseechingly. "Drillhorn, he's hu-"
"I'm aware," Drillhorn growled, slamming down a tray of tools next to the immobilized youngling. He sliced a laser scalpel through the wire holding the mouthguard in place (miraculously avoiding cutting Leozack in the process) and throwing the small slab of metal across the room in anger. "Thank the fragging Primes that your actions didn't lead to Leozack's deactivation, or you'd be strapped down here instead for spare parts!"
Hellbat flinched, knowing the purple Destron spoke truth. Leozack had come so close to being offlined... and it was all his fault. The rafale had taken too long to realize the seriousness of their situation, and the vulnerability of this new being. A fact that would surely haunt him for the rest of his orns. Miserable, Hellbat took a step back in defeat, ignoring his charge's curses and demands for the older jet's attention while Drillhorn set to work -until a spark-seizing scream erupted from a tiny vocalizer. Helm shooting up, the spy saw the white-hot flame of a welder as it melted teal plating; Drillhorn holding down the tiny arm under a crushing servo while Leozack's shrieked horrifically to the ceiling above.
He moved before he even had time to process the action.
The welder flickered and cut out with a hiss, the medical slab rocking dangerously on its central strut as two frames slammed into its side. Plating squealed, grinding against each other as purple and blue writhed in chaotic tandem, before one broke free of the other's jagged grasp and lashed out with renewed force. Once more, Hellbat felt his equilibrium get tossed about violently as he was thrown to the floor; a powerful fist grabbing his throat and pinning it against the edge of the berth. There he was held, trapped by the pressure against his vocalizer and the dangerous cutting force of the slab digging into the tender space between spinal struts. Of course, the welder's still-steaming tip brushing at his left optic in a promised threat certainly helped cement his loss. From above him, Drillhorn's face twisted in rage, his dentae making a rare appearance as they gritted together loudly.
"Y-you're hurting L-"
"SHUT UP!," the drill-tank bellowed. "You're the one who brought him to me in this state! How dare you get in the way of my duty?!"
The blue mech reset his vocalizer against the crushing servo. "B-but, an-anesthesia-," he protested weakly, struggling to be heard past the ever-tightening fingers.
"The stupid brat wouldn't even be injured in the first place if you weren't such a useless rust stain! You're the worst soldier in this entire fragging regime, and a slag-bag of a being on top of it!," Drillhorn continued to yell, pressing the welder right up against his captive's optic. Hellbat squirmed wildly under the purple Destron's hold, his vocalizer glitching out to static at the too-hot touch on sensitive glass. "I'm not wasting what precious resources we have on your pit-damned mistakes! You and the megalomaniac moron don't deserve a slagging thing!"
As sudden as the fit of rage had come, so too, did it begin to taper off; the older mech stepping back and releasing the flyer. Immediately, Hellbat was prostrate on the floor, apologizing profusely and self-denigrating himself to his companion with a dozen, choice phrases. Drillhorn only looked down at the spy with disgust, spitting on the blue Destron's lowered helm as he gathered his tray of tools.
"I'm done patching the wound. Take your worthless afts out of my medbay and away from my sight," he commanded gruffly, walking around the berth and to the storage cabinets in the back. Drillhorn paused only once, glaring over his shoulder plating at the slow-rising rafale.
"Next time this happens again, Hellbat," he snarled lowly, "I won't wait for Lord Deathsaurus' command before I rip you apart, scrap by scrap."
His piece said, Drillhorn went back to ignoring the pair; Hellbat numbly undoing the restraints that kept Leozack prisoner on the berth. Once they were loose, the youngling slipped off the slab and made a quick dash for the door, forcing his caretaker to stumble hurriedly after his tail. The tomcat had no intention of slowing down or waiting for the older flyer to catch up though. He kept moving, increasing his pace to nearly a run, while Hellbat struggled to follow. Finally, he saw the teal mechling slowing down; his charge's path leading back to the lieutenant commander's quarters.
"L-leo, wait!," the blue Destron croaked out, when the tiny jet paused before the large berthroom door.
Angry, coolant-heavy optics turned to the rafale; the expression of betrayal on a face so small disarming the bigger Destron, forcing him to stagger to a halt. The several feet between the pair felt like a world-ending chasm.
Swallowing hard, Hellbat slowly raised a relaxed servo. "L-leo-"
"N-no! Shut up! Don't say my name!," the tiny tomcat barked, his brow furrowing deeper as the tears began to swell. "I-i-i don't... I d-don't get you! You're good, you're bad, you're stinky, and me-mean, b-but also c-cool a-a-and-!" Leozack cut himself off as a sob tried to escape, muffled by dentae that clamped together tightly, the youngling beginning to lose control of his emotions.
"Yo-you say y-you care b-but you di-didn't stop th-that big ol' c-cog from hurting me! Y-you just let h-him, a-and then you c-couldn't even s-stand up for yourself wh-when he was beating you up and calling you names! W-why don't you c-care how your friends treat you?! You're all D-destrons!," the teal mechling demanded wetly, the tears breaking their dam and cascading down a confused face. "Why c-can't you be better!?"
"I-it's n-not so si-simple, L-leo," Hellbat grimaced dismally, energon dribbling fresh from his crumpled face, "T-they- I-i-i-"
"I SAID SHUT UP!," Leozack screamed, cutting off any further explanation that may have come from the blue mech. Vents hissing in his emotional duress, the youngling spun and slapped the berthroom's entry pad, rushing in and punching the door to close behind himself just as quickly. The rafale moved to give chase but the teal mane poked out of the quarters before the door shut again, the tomcat's twisted face of despair glaring down the hall at the older jet. "L-LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T WANT TO SEE Y-YOUR FACE EVER AGAIN!"
Then, the youngling was ducking back inside, the heavy metal door zipping shut with a resounding clang, locking the spy out in the hall. Alone. And unwanted. Crippled by grief and the weight of failure, Hellbat stood staring blankly at the closed-off quarters for several, lengthy kliks. Yet, Leozack remained hidden away inside and Hellbat stood on the other side, with no end to their predicament in sight.
Silently, the blue mech turned and wandered off into the dark halls of the Destron ship.
SYCMD: Be kind; give me your mind~ REVIEW, please?