Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

9. Round Trip

        Aura and Shadow, sensing a dangerous, potentially deadly, situation, got up and rushed over. At least, they’d tried to rush over in order to intervene. The wolves intercepted them, snapping their jaws as they stood in front of Raven and I, effectively blocking out Shadow and Aura. They bared their primal denta and growled loudly, not allowing any form of interference. They somehow just knew what this was and why it was important.

        I stood back up from where I’d landed, growling at Raven. She still hadn't quite put the situation together, but I knew Fang had. He watched me, intrigued and anxious at what was happening before his optics. I imagined it had been quite some time since someone had sacrificed something for him. Much less something that was so precious.

        "Blade! Stop!" Raven pleaded, her vocalizer carrying hints of her desperation. I didn’t listen to her. Instead, I lunged again, this time pinning her to the ground beneath me. Raven struggled, but it wasn’t enough. I had to lessen the pressure.

        After what felt like far too long, she managed to flip our positions and force me into a submissive pose; my belly up and her servo pinning me to the ground, her digits and palm spread across my neck.

        Raven’s denta were bared, and I watched her canines grow to fangs; I felt her instincts take over as she became the animalistic being she had to be in order to rule a pack. I stopped struggling and immediately transformed back to my Cybertronian mode. I would still have my wolf mode, but I wouldn't need it unless my former pack had a need for it in battle.

        "Take good care of them for me, Ray,” I murmured slowly, my defenses dropping drastically.  I wanted to tear up, actually. Despite the torment and the hard times, I was going to miss them.

        Raven left where she’d been over me and kneeled on the ground nearby. Raven's defenses lowered and her optics widened as her instincts, perhaps just her processor, told her exactly what had just happened.

        She was the new alpha.

        She stood up and looked around at the wolves. The pack didn't reject her or challenge her, much less her newfound authority. Actually, NightFang trotted right up and licked her gently on the cheek.

        That gesture alone told me I'd done the right thing; not for me, but for them. Yet some part of knowing the pack was no longer mine broke a part of my spark.

        ~~~

        It took us two days to retrace our steps to Cerebus. The entire time I felt a heavy pang in my spark. It was a loss I couldn't describe. To make matters worse, I hadn't seen Optimus since our arrival here and was hoping to see him tonight. I needed to see someone who still cared enough about me to give a slag.

        Fang was a hardened warrior, but he had still cared about while I'd been a ruling alpha with him. Without him, I just wanted someone to be here and care for me. I felt lonely now that I knew he was gone from me.

        Our journey to get here had taken over six months and would take just as long, if not longer, to get back. To put it simply, I was feeling homesick and lonely. I missed Earth. I missed the mechs and femmes and humans that lived on it.

        The affection between Raven and NightFang wasn't making me feel any better. Their now constant, and very open exchanges, reminded me of what I was missing.

        To make matters even worse, I didn't see Optimus until five nights after our departure of Cybertron. And when I did get to see him, not only was it brief, but he seemed distracted.

        The voyage home couldn't be short enough. The nightly visits with Optimus were shorter and with longer periods of waiting in between. It was daunting and almost painful to try and mull through the periods of time between visits. More so when he continued becoming more and more distant. All I wanted was to be home again.

        Seven long months later, I got my wish.

        MoonShadow landed Cerebus smoothly and extended the exit ramp. I couldn't contain myself. I wanted to see Optimus and the others and I knew they'd be waiting for us. I ran outside and saw Optimus . . . With a human sized predacon. She was obviously a Cybertronian, armor and all, but her size was puzzling. It was as if she had stunted growth. From the knowledge in her optics, she certainly wasn’t a sparkling.

        My first instinct was to activate my cannons, and I aimed them straight for her.

        "Maiden!" Optimus shouted, moving towards me. I didn’t pay much attention to him as he called me. Thanks to her appearance, I was on high alert.

        The girl’s, femme’s, optics widened, the amber color and narrow slit setting my nerves on end. I was waiting for one wrong move, one small indication that she should be disposed of. The very fact that she was a predacon, a dangerous, mindless, human-like predacon was disturbing. But she didn’t appear the part of a dragon like the others did. She appeared more of a natural Cybertronian. She stood upright, her wings and detailing between a honey and amber shade.

        “What the slag is going on here, Optimus?” I demanded, my spark beating strongly in my chassis as I stared down at the femme and the danger she presented with her presence alone. What disturbed me just as much was that the Autobots in our welcoming party didn’t treat her like a threat. She certainly appeared the part of one.

        "Trust me,” Optimus insisted. His voice was so soft, I wasn't sure I could resist doing anything he requested of me. That was the Prime I had known. That was the Prime I’d grown so attached to. Where had he been during the return trip?

        I looked down at the quiet femme, or, girl, whatever she should be classified as. “So, what’s all this about, then?” I asked, still trying to lower my defenses, even though I was having issues with that at the moment.

        “The Autobots saved me,” she said carefully, her voice steady, even though her body language spoke of the anxiety and nervous energy she was carrying. “They got me out of that place.”

        “Well what the slag are you?” I asked, wincing a bit at the the fact I’d been so abrupt and straightforward about it. The girl didn’t seem to mind. I could only guess she was around my age, whatever age that was.

        “It’s a complicated explanation,” she relented with a shake of her helm. “And I don’t believe this is the best place to be explaining it.”

        I looked at Optimus again, frustrated from confusion.  "How did this happen in the time we were gone?"

        "You were absent for over a year," Optimus explained calmly. “Plenty of things change in that amount of time, Maiden.” My spark nearly seized at his words.

        “Did . . . Anything else change?” I asked him. His form was the same as when I’d left, larger than his original, bulkier, but it was Optimus. I hoped nothing else had changed. I hoped nothing had changed between us. I’d been waiting to come back to him. Had it been a mistake to leave after we’d reconciled our differences so soon?

        Optimus gave a small nod. “I ask you not to worry yourself over it, Maiden. We shall work things out.” I glanced back down at the young, rather, small, femme, and her unique size. If she was at all tied to Optimus becoming distant, shouldn’t I have reason to worry?”

        “All right, Optimus,” I murmured. “I’ll try not to, but only because it’s you.” I hoped those words meant something to him, speaking the volumes of how much I trusted him, even when my spark was uneasy.