Welcome to clarity

Chapter 1

Life is a haze to me, and all I want is a little clarity. Just a tad bit. That's all I ever ask for, a little clarity in this messed up thing called my life. Sadly, life doesn't seem to work like that, and the voice in my head seems to feel the same way.

Yep. You will hear no stutter if I ever utter the words 'voice in my head.'

"Don't alliterate, it's annoying."

Screw off, Sunshine. I'm talking here.

"Oh for Primus sake! Stop calling me that and use my actual fragging designation!"

Or what?

"You don't want to know."

I'm trembling in fear here. Seriously, you're terrifying me.

"I know sarcasm. Don't insult me."

I'm ignoring you now. Let me know when you're going to be nice.

Now, where was I?.... Ah! Yes, the annoying little voice. Well, as you have just witnessed, he is a total jerk sometimes. The bane of my existence. Makes me feel like dirt and that dirt was drenched in gasoline and burned and then stabbed repeatedly before being burned again. But that's just because he's spiteful sometimes.

Other times he's the only reason I haven't given up in life. I would be so lonely without him, I can't even imagine how I could survive without his little nudges to keep me moving.

You've probably noticed that I've been referring to him as 'he' and not 'it'. There is a perfect reason, I promise.

His name is Sunstreaker, and he's not really just a little voice. He's more like an entire consciousness crammed into my head beside mine. And also, if you're thinking 'Wait, like the yellow lambo twin from G1? The really egotistical one?' The answer is yep.

"Now that was a painfully slow intro. The anti-climatic femme here is Lyra. She's seventeen, and currently we reside in the woods of Washington state. We parted ways with our foster parent after looting his house of things we needed and running as fast as we could. That was when we were fifteen."

Jeez, could you be any more blunt?

"Shh, pay attention. You need to move." He said suddenly.

"What? Why?" I asked, snapping back to reality. I was sitting in a tree, a good thirty feet up, straddling a branch. My legs swung back and forth, the black combat boots shining slightly from the presence of water on them from the recent downpour. Black tights ran up out of them, and I wore a yellow cheongsam that was pinned closed with black clips and has short sleeves. I had a white cloak wrapped around me, trying to regain some body heat from getting soaked last night.

Suddenly, I heard what he was referring to, and I stood up.

"Move." He urged me.

I heard metal clanging and shouting. Something that can't come from the middle of the woods unless there was somebody here.

I climbed down from my branch to another branch, then another, before after about two minutes I hit the ground. Once I did, the large katana sword around my hip became unsheathed, and began advancing. The sword was long and slender, with a black and yellow hilt and traditional kanji Japanese writing on the blade. It stated that it had belonged to the Xiao family, but somehow my latest foster home occupied a weapons collectors. Before I ran off I had grabbed it, since I was actually trained to use it.

One of the few benefits of living out some of my younger years on the island of Okinawa, the first place I ever remember.

Moving quickly and stealthily I run through the trees as silent as possible. Sunstreaker was on high alert, in case he needed to jump in and help me win a fight, since he was able to control my body for short periods of time for strenuous things.

I approach a sturdy tree, and ascend it quickly, getting to a good vantage point about 20 feet above the ground. The earth shakes, and it seems as if I'm hearing grinding gears and metal clanging together. The noise shrieked and caused me to wince, but it was nothing compared to the sight.

A girl... Was being chased... By Starscream? The bona fide coward of a second in command? A hand went over my mouth, not able to speak. I was paralyzed in fear.

'That pit spawned son of a glitch...' Sunstreaker growled, confirming my question.

"We have to help, Sunny." I breathed, hearing the girl shriek as she ran.

"I know, but it's not like I'm still a giant mech like I was before." He said regretfully.
Even with my urge to want to help her, I remained frozen where I was. I'll admit, I was terrified. What could we do against giant robots?

It wasn't until I heard a rev of engines and saw a Camaro and several other vehicles zoom after did I snap out of my daze and began to descend. My body hesitated with each step, but Sunstreaker urged me forward.

There was and explosion, and another cry of pain. I ducked behind a tree, wincing as dirt and debris flew up. I looked up to see the girl rolling down the hill, a piece of shrapnel sticking out of her leg.

We quickly took off after her, gaining a burst of speed as Sunstreaker took control in case of a fight. The ground was still rumbling, and I just reached her, hitting the ground next to her. "How can we help?" I asked frantically, before suddenly I snapped my head up to a shout. Soldiers were running towards us, and I was on my feet and running off before I even knew it.

"Hey! Stop!" One of them yelled, breaking off from the other two and running after me. I ran even faster, before grabbing a low hanging branch and swung up into a tree. I kept climbing up the branches, hiding in the foliage of the tree. I didn't stop until I was at the very top, which was a good forty feet high.

I didn't move, but I watched from a distance as the girl slipped unconscious. The two other soldiers helped her, and they called their third ally that had ran after me over.
I let out a sigh of relief as they departed with the now unconscious girl, and my grip around the base of the tree relaxed.

"Now is... Now is no time to be relaxing," Sunstreaker let out a yawn.

"Just go to sleep, I can handle things from here," I replied quietly. I felt him doze off, and I hugged the base of the tree.

Things wouldn't be getting any easier for us from here on out.