Chapter 9: Stay Hidden
-Rumble POV-
As I touched down on the shores of the Lake, I could hear a soft violin, playing a very similar song. It was Experience but the sound wasn't artificial. It wasn't coming from my CD player, it was live. Someone was here.
I visually scanned the area, trying to locate the origin. I found myself drawn to it, the familiar sound and lovely rhythm.
A bot came into view, causing me to pause and tense a bit. It was a bipedal. A sentient.
However as I studied them I noticed a very familiar white and turquoise color scheme, and slender wings tucked behind the femme.
She sat on the edge of the beach, a violin in her hands as she carefully strung the bow of the violin on the strings. Her optics were closed and her wings protected her back.
"Phoenix…?" I questioned aloud, my voice soft as the word wasn't originally intended to be spoken.
The femme stopped her beautiful playing and looked up at me, the same wonder and excitement that I saw when I first met her popped up on her face. "Rumble!" She says, jumping up and wagging her tail.
I relaxed as I got confirmation it was her, stepping closer but continuing to examine her new form.
"You…learned the song?" I asked softly, surprised to see such interest in something so personal.
Her smile was contagious, she was like a sparkling on Christmas morning. Sweet and innocent. She nodded. "After I heard it, I did a bunch of research and learned how to play the violin!" She says, looking down at herself. "Oh, have you not seen a bipedal mode?"
"No, i-I have…" I quickly responded, worried my reaction had upset her, "Half the bots at the-... Anyway, what…is a violin?"
She held up the small item she had with her. "This is a violin. It's what makes the sound." She handed it to me, a look of pure innocence on her face.
I held out my paws for her to set the instrument, careful to avoid even attempting to grip the object for fear of damaging it.
I studied it intently, puzzled and fascinated by its design and functionality.
Phoenix chuckled at my expression and grabbed the bow, pushing it along the strings to send out a soft note.
My optics fixated on the point where the bow and strings touched, captivated by the interaction between the two, and the resulting sound.
"That's the sound…this is where it comes from?" I eagerly questioned, not looking up.
She came closer to my frame. "Yeah, you can also gently pluck the strings as well." She instructed. "Humans have made so many different instruments."
I reached out a single claw and gently plucked a string, marveling at the sound it made, "Instruments… like tools?"
With a surge of excitement, I got out my music player and set it between us, cueing up Experience.
I skipped ahead to the moment the violin began, then looked up to Phoenix and offered her the instrument back.
She smiled and took it, placing the chin piece under her faceplate and closed her optics, matching the violin section beautifully.
It was memorizing, watching her use the instrument and perfectly match the song. After a few minutes I turned the volume of my song down, her violin seamlessly taking over completely as it became more audible.
Phoenix didn't stop playing when the music disappeared. The beautiful notes played until the song naturally came to an end and she stopped.
I watched her the whole way through, I'm not even sure I blinked. I am sure, however, of the stupid grin I must have had…
It isn't often I smile at all, unless it comes to her. She just… brings it out. Gives me a reason to.
Phoenix let the last note linger in the air for a moment before she opened her optics. She was so passionate about it, she put the entirety of her spark and soul into the instrument. When she finally looked up at me again, she gave me the brightest smile I've ever seen.
"You're incredible…" I thought, panicking as I heard my words spoken out loud, "i-I uh… Your instrument… You're incredible with your instrument…"
She simply giggled at my words, seemingly not catching onto my mistake. "Thanks! So," she says, switching the topic. "What brings you out here today?"
"...thinking." I answered after careful thought of how to phrase it. How much was I willing to share with this femme? How much could I really trust her?
She tilted her helm, setting down the instrument and transforming into her hippogriff form. Her predacon form. She had both. "Want to tell me what's on your mind?"
"Why traumatize either of us any further?" I responded softly, my quiet voice not confident in my humor attempt.
She smiled sadly and came forward again, giving me a hug with her neck. Her neck touched mine, so soft, so loving. Her helm rested between my wings. "It's ok." She says. "You don't have to."
Well shit, when you put it that way… What am I supposed to say?
"Just…" I pondered how to explain it, "Work…I guess you could call it. Almost a job… if it paid. And if it was my choice."
She pulled away from me and just sat and listened, watching my movements. "That doesn't sound like fun." She says softly.
I sighed softly, reaching a decision.
Here goes.
"I… am a part of a group…a large group…more like…" I stopped, already off to a great start, "...my brother and I, we were…are…sent to live in and train in a Facility, designed to…" I hesitated again.
"Designed to experiment and test the results…" I pushed the words out, "They…inject us monthly, they run training programs and send us on dangerous missions…all to test us. To push us."
Phoenix seemed concerned, placing her paw on mine. "I'm sorry you experienced that." She says, her optics almost looked like she was crying.
Immediately I discarded all my thoughts, every part of my mind becoming fixated on her welling emotion, "Did I say something…? I-I'm sorry… Can I…help…?"
She shook her helm. "No, no. Don't apologize, please." She says. "I have a pretty rigorous training schedule but I'm not… an experiment." She says. "It's not right that you have to go through that."
I watched her, my mind folding in on itself. I was so focused on fixing whatever was upsetting her, but… what was upsetting her was my explanation…? I think…?
Why is this so hard…?
"I'm… fine?" I offered, hoping it would help disperse her concerns, "I mean… I've…adapted a long time ago… I barely notice it anymore… and I usually have my brother Ruvik with me on missions… The two of us together are invulnerable. So…I'm ok… it's ok…"
The white femme looked up at me while I explained. "At least you get to be with your brother." She offered a smile, her concerns lessening.
"Yeah," I continued, seeing the success and leaning on it, "Ruvik is a brute… nothing has stopped him yet, and the only thing that motivates him more than his own survival is mine. Same with me and his… We've only had a close call once, and… we sort of got bailed out…"
Her pretty little helm tilted, confused. "Bailed out?" She gasped, now completely enthralled. "By who? Or what?" She questioned.
"I'm not sure actually, I barely got a glimpse of them…" I explained, "They sort of wiped out the entire room then just… ditched us."
"Ooooo." She cooed softly. "It's a superhero." Her voice was smooth and filled with wonder as she was fascinated by my stories.
"Sort of…" I responded, driven by her interest, "They were expelling this like…energy. Waves and blasts of pure energy, black and twitchy, it was strange. But powerful. They demolished an entire Kill Squad with just one."
"I wonder who it is." She says, humming. "That's kinda cool though. I'm glad you were saved." Her innocent smile came back and she smiled back up at me. "You're a really good friend."
"Friend…?" I echoed, caught off guard but finding I enjoyed hearing that from her, "uh… thanks. You are an entertaining companion to spend time around."
She giggled and tackled me in a hug. For a smaller femme, she was able to at least knock me off balance for a moment. Reflexively I caught her, reminding myself to keep my grip gentle on her.
Close, but gentle.
After a moment, I broke the silence, "So… are there any other… songs that you can perform with your… instrument?"
She looked back at her instrument and smiled gently, nodding. "I found a violinist that I really like." She says, trotting over to her instrument and transforming, preparing again before putting the bow to the violin.
She plucked a few strings before starting to sing along with the song. Her voice… oh Primus above, her voice!
(Shatter Me - Lindsey Sterling)
Once again I was dazzled by her performance, closely studying how her arms moved the bow across the strings, enthralled by the beautiful sound that filled the typically quiet lake.
The words… the words she spoke…
Shatter me
She spoke the words with such passion, such demand to be heard. So many notes, such a different song than before. This one was full of determination, power, and passion.
I was awestruck at the rapid movements she made, the swirling and vibrant notes and rhythm she created, the words she spoke in such a melodic, angelic voice. I could almost see the shimmering light glowing around her, as she visited this world from one far beyond.
She seemed from a realm that defied explanation, defied imagination, she was…
Immaculate…
…
As the song drew to a close, the sounds receding, I shook myself from my daze. Something caught my attention.
I looked around, listening intently.
Phoenix took a moment to let her systems catch up with her but she looked at me when I went rigid again, tilting her helm, obviously confused.
I moved fast, curling my wings around her and pulling her close, laying flat in the sand and activating my cloaking, vanishing us from sight.
Phoenix had to cover her mouth to not squeak at the grab and movement. But the look she gave me. She looked terrified.
My instincts had kicked into overdrive, my focus was on shielding her, keeping her from harm while I worked out what I had heard.
Soon voices became audible, followed by footsteps. Small steps.
Humans.
I watched as what looked like a military squadron of at least 2 dozen humans took over the shore near us, conversing among themselves and shining flashlights all over the place.
Phoenix watched them. "What do we do?" She whispered. Her paws held onto my armor, her frame shaking gently.
The Commander was strict on rules of engagement with Humans. They weren't to know of our existence. We were instructed to avoid detection at all costs, and if that failed…
Total elimination. No witnesses.
We'd never been faced with this, but some bots gloated of their experience eliminating scores of human warriors.
Combat with them never made sense to me, never sat right. Especially now, with Phoenix here… What would she think…?
She'd be horrified, seeing that side of me. The killer… the soldier…
"...Stay quiet, stay still. They'll move on." I answered softly, ensuring my tone sounded confident even though I wasn't, not entirely.
The humans roamed the lakeside, occasionally I'd pick up parts of the conversation as they used radio devices to communicate.
One of them moved towards us, facing parallel to our position. He shone his light along the shore, the beam passing over us briefly.
"Lennox, you sure about this?" a voice came from the human's shoulder-mounted radio.
"I know I heard something, we all did," he responded, turning to face the water and standing directly next to us, facing away, "Just sweep the area, we need to find out what's happening here."
"Copy," the voice responded.
The human sighed, lowering his flashlight and wiping sweat from his forehead with his wrist.
Phoenix looked at me again. "Rumble… my violin." She whispered to me.
My gaze was locked on the human, his proximity sending my protective urges into wild overdrive. I was still as a statue carved from stone, but ready to launch into several acts, depending on how everything unfolded.
The human, Lennox it seemed he was called, appeared to notice something in the sand. He nudged with his foot, dusting away a bit of sand.
It was the violin, half buried by my sudden maneuver.
How could I have forgotten it?
The human knelt down, confused by the object, and reached out to dust more sand away, "What the…?" he murmured.
Phoenix watched her instrument, starting to bite her lip. Her audials flicked a bit nervously.
Lennox cupped the throat of the violin, lifting it from the sand. It had to be unusual to a human to see a tool as large as he was. Right?
I readied for any possibility, the window for quietly neutralizing him and avoiding discovery was closing fast.
"What are we doing?" The femme under me asked in a hushed tone.
Suddenly the voice on Lennox's radio spoke up again, "Cap, the boss says we're moving out. Now."
"Gimme a minute here, I just found something-" Lennox started, getting cut off.
"Now. He used his mean voice," the radio responded.
Lennox sighed, looking at the instrument for a moment then dropping it back to the sand and standing up to leave. Though after a few steps, he stopped and turned, his flashlight beam trailing right over us.
Reflex took over and a blade extended from my wrist.
Phoenix jumped at the blade, staring at it, then meeting my optics and then watching the human again. She put her servo on mine and shook her helm.
I didn't even look at her, frozen in place with the blade drawn, ready. The human moved back towards us, the light shining on us.
Reaching a few paces of our location, he stopped.
He looked around a bit, shook his head, then picked up her violin in both hands and carried it away.
I remained locked in place, watching as the humans slowly left one by one, even when the lake fell quiet again I remained, watching, listening, blade at the ready.
Instinct. Protect her.
When I looked back down, she had tears in her optics again. Her audials were pinned. Her optics were on her violin.
I watched Lennox, the last of the humans to leave the area, holding her violin as he vanished. My guard was still up, I didn't move an inch.
Phoenix though, she wanted out from under me. She started to wiggle a bit to get out from under me, her audials trained on the humans.
Her moving snapped me out of my instinct, immediately I retracted the blade and moved away from her, letting her up.
"...Phoenix…I…" I stuttered, ashamed of myself.
She sniffled, her audials flicking, seeming to try and find the humans. A few tears dropped into the sand as her hope dwindled of getting her instrument back.
I watched her for a moment, finding myself completely at a loss. What should I say? What could I say?
All I could think to do was comfort her, reaching out and gently touching her shoulder.
"...that instrument…meant a lot to you…" I spoke softly, "I'm…sorry. I…"
She looked at the ground, letting out a shaky breath. "I can make another one… but… that one I made from some of my Mother's armor." She says. "My father kept the armor after she died. I think he'd notice if I took more." She transformed and curled up in the sand.
My pre-set clock alarm sounded, but I ignored it and sat beside her. My mind raced with potential solutions, there had to be something I could do to make her sadness just… go away.
She looked at her reflection in the water and she wiped her tears from her faceplate. "Can the humans hurt us?" She asked.
"...the Commander told us… one human is an insect, many humans are a force. A toxin that could end us," I explained, "...if one of them knows of us, soon they all will. And then the whole planet will be hunting us. War. Battles. Everyone loses."
She didn't look at me for a moment, taking in the information. "Losing sucks." She sighed softly before she paused her movement and her optics looked off to the side. "Yes Father." She spoke softly, getting up and shaking off the sand.
"You too?" I questioned, understanding what must be happening.
She offered me a soft smile and nodded. "Yeah. They're calling me home. It was good to see you again Rumble. Thank you for protecting me." She says, spreading her wings, pushing down hard to take off with ease.
I watched her fly away, overcome with strange feelings. I hated leaving her in such a state, but what could be done?
I sighed softly, turning and taking off, pacing myself as I flew back towards my home.