The Hunted

Chapter 14

I knew I was lost, and that thought I think scared me the most. I hadn't even flitted in and out of consciousness while being brought here. I had no fragging clue!
I found a dark corner and crouched down, taking in shaky breaths.
I heard ped-steps and immediately wrapped my wings around myself, trying to turn invisible.
But the foggy signal that told me I was no longer visible never came.
I glanced down at my servos to see that chains were still locked around my wrists. Trying to get them off now would only attract unwanted attention. I would have to ambush whoever was coming.
I quietly slid my claws out and crouched, ready to pounce.
The unwary victim was muttering to himself in Decepticon. I didn't quite understand much of their language, but I knew enough to know he was definitely swearing.
(Hound, is not the best teacher)
As the Vehicon passed in front of the corner where I was hiding, I leaped out behind him and wrapped my arms tightly around his neck-cables and dragged him into the shadows of the corner.
"How do I get off this ship?" I hissed into his audio.
The Vehicon flailed around, but could not hit me.
I tightened my grip and pressed a couple of my digits to his vital neck-cable and slowly slid my claws out against the delicate wiring.
"How. Do. I. Get. Off. This. Ship?" I hissed again, accenting each word heavily.
The Vehicon babbled somrthing in Decepticon that sounded like a plead for mercy.
I was getting frustrated.
"Tell me how do get off this ship, Vehicon, or I will end your miserable life here and now."
The Vehicon babbled something unintelligible.
My patience had worn out. I twitched my digits and my sharp claws cut through the cable easily.
The Vehicon gave a strangled gasp, then his optics went dark and he slumped to the ground. Dead.
I stood up and brushed the energon off my servos. I made sure to conceal the body before continuing in some...random direction.
As I walked, I found myself sorely missing Optimus. His kind words, his gentle touches. The way he kissed the top of my helm and held me close.
I shook my helm,'Snap out of it, femme. You'll find Optimus soon enough. Just stop lamenting and use your helm.'
I looked around but nothing seemed familiar.
A sudden warm body slid around my neck-cables and I smiled.
"You know exactly when I need you, Larkspur," I whispered, removing the dragon from my neck-cables and nuzzling him.
Larkspur purred and rubbed his tiny helm vigorously on my chin and flapped his small wings.
"Larkspur," I whispered,"Where are the others?"
Larkspur chirped and flew on ahead of me.
I smiled and followed him, making sure to be stealthy.
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I'm not sure how long I followed Larkspur for, but I do know that he suddenly disappeared.
"Larkspur?" I quietly called,"Larkspur?"
I turned around, expecting the cyber-dragon to be doing loop-de-loops behind me misheviously.
What I did not expect, was for a large servo to snatch me by the arm and drag me into a doorway.
I instinctively shouted, but another servo clapped over my mouth, cutting it off abruptly.
"Orchid. Orchid, it's us," someone whispered. Actually a lot of someones.
When I calmed down, I recognized my friends...and a...porcupine behind Aura?
"You guys scared me," I laughed in relief.
Blue Moon wrapped her arms around me for a quick hug and I instantly felt a whole lot better.
"Aura," I asked,"Where'd you get the porcupine?"
A very irate Crosshairs sat up. He had tiny knives sticking out of his chest-plate.
"Who're you callin' a porcupine?" he asked threateningly.
I covered my mouth with a servo to stifle a giggle.
"Oh my...sorry, Crosshairs," I apologized.
"Yeah? You look real sorry," the mech grumbled, picking a blade out.
Aura touched my arm,"Orchid."
"Yes?" I asked.
Aura jabbed a thumb at a large door behind her,"We need your help opening this thing."
I smiled and snapped my digits, and my staff appeared in it's sheath.
I grabbed the weapon, and on Aura's count, me, her, abd Drift stabbed our weapons into a groove in the door. Then on a count to three, we pulled.
The door creaked and groaned, then with a whine...opened.
"Big boy comin' through! Move! Move! Move!" Hound shouted, bowling past us.
"Whoa!" I gasped when I entered.
"This gotta be the center core," Hound remarked.
"There's a lot of cages," Drift said uneasily, standing protectively near Blue Moon.
"I doan' wanna know what's in the big cage," Crosshairs commented.
"What's this?" Hound asked suddenly, approaching a cage.
"Hound, don't do it!" Crosshairs warned.
"Aw, you don't look very scary in there," Hound told the little critter within the cage.
The strange creature opened it's...claw/leg...thingies to reveal a fanged mouth.
"Oh! That's...festering ugliness," Hound said.
The critter was obviously upset by this, so it spat a disgusting green goo at the gun-slinger.
Hound jumped about a foot backwards, almost hitting Kamicazii, screaming,"Aaah! It's melting! It burns! Aaaaahhh! I think it's acid!"
Once he calmed down though, he got enough sense into his helm to get a good look at the green stuff.
"Euuugh! Nuts! It's just...shizzle," he said in relief.
"I hope that's not contagious," Crosshairs remarked, backing away from the gun-slinger.
Hound wiped the stuff out his beard and looked at the critter again.
"I've gotta hurt you now," he told it,"You're just too disturbing to live."
He pulled out a gun and shot the critter, effectively killing it.
Suddenly a joyously familiar voice cried out,"Hound!"
"He's aliiive!" Hound exclaimed, getting to hit peds.
I was at the cage before anyone else. Optimus was in there, dangling upside down in a very uncomfortable position by one ped. Random blades were sticking out the walls, ensuring every movement would create pain.
Drift opened the cage and began hacking at the chain holding the Prime.
"We can break free, it's a seperate ship!" Optimus said.
"Where's the cockpit, right or left?" Hound asked.
"Right!"
I unsheathed my claws and immediately cut clean through the chain.
Optimus slumped to the ground with a grunt, scratching himself a few times on the blades.
Drift helped him up and Crosshairs ran to a fighter ship. He was going to help Bumblebee.
"Hurry!" Optimus cried, running to the cockpit.
"Aura, help me," I said and ran to the door.
Aura and I together shoved the door closed, and a little bit of metal added locked it tight.
We ran to the cockpit just in time to hear Hpund sat,"I'm a sucky pilot, let's give it a whirl."
"Wait, what?" I asked a split second before we dislodged from the mother ship.

Author's Note: That felt good to get another chapter in. Hey, I got over my depression, and now am feeling a lot better. I'll try and update early tomorrow morning, because most of it I will be running a booth at a Farmer's Market.
See you later.
Katttybri
💕