Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

19. The Gemini Beast

        BlackLight walked across the desert ground. True to the nature of her spark’s origins, she rather enjoyed the night. She enjoyed the time she had to herself, even though she felt incomparably drawn to and protective of JewelBlade. She knew that of everyone, everything on this planet, that femme was the only one she shared a kinship with anymore. The Autobots were a family of sorts, but not the kind she’d had as a human.

        She could never go back to them. She would never finish her schooling. That world was behind her now. Frustrated that it had all been yanked away from her, a bit of flame left her nostrils with a huffing exhale. Her armor shone dimly in the moonlight, in the starlight. It was already riddled with scratches and burns, some of them self-inflicted in her struggles to escape the chains. Her wings curled up and small, BlackLight gazed up at the stars.

        ~~~

        She had changed under the sign of the Gemini. June Fourth. BlackLight could still remember the first screams she’d loosed that gave her shivers. The sounds she had made were foreign, not something she had ever expected to come out of her mouth. Primal and screeching.

        She had abhorred it. But the immediate sensation of what she wanted to do now that she was in this form had given her direction. BlackLight easily recalled all the times she’d scratched at the armor, burned it in her attempts to escape. Not just from the chains but from this form in general. It had terrified her that she had changed.

        Her immediate understanding of the Decepticons gave her the slightest edge. When Megatron was present, she purred like a good, compliant prisoner. At first, she had hated her wings, had hated the tail and the way it swished behind her when her predatory instincts kicked in. The spark that had been created inside her, that bit of rationalization it carried, was the only thing to prevent her from becoming that beast entirely.

        Some days, while she’d been trapped, it took everything she had not to lunge for their sparks. It had taken weeks, months, for them to trust her enough to let her out of those chains. She always smiled on cue, giving them the charming little warrior they’d wanted. Whenever they’d turned away, however, she bore her denta and hissed. She detested them. Every single one of them.

        It had taken even longer for them to allow her off the ship. And even then, she was out on scouting, nothing more. If she encountered Autobots, she was to contact the Decepticons immediately. Not knowing who on Cybertron the Autobots even were, BlackLight had agreed. She didn’t find any other Cybertronian beings for her first few scouting missions. In between each, she still endured abuse aboard the ship, small ‘warnings’ that she was to be a Decepticon and she had to leave her humanity behind.

        BlackLight hadn’t so much as given it a second thought. At least, not until she’d been out again. And she had seen Autobots.

        She had seen them with humans. Protecting them.

        BlackLight had nearly lost her mind and broken down. The Autobots were not like the Decepticons like BlackLight had assumed. They were kind. While she had been given orders, and she had intended to follow them, BlackLight now abandoned the notion. She would not give the Decepticons an advantage over the Autobots. The Autobots were more worthy of alliance. Even if she would never meet them, BlackLight would not betray them.

        Her mind changed about keeping her distance after a particularly brutal beating at the hands of Megatron.

        That night, BlackLight had waited, biding her time, before making a break for it, flying off into the night.

        Unfortunately, her absence had not gone unnoticed. Spark pounding, BlackLight flew further and further, evading the blasts of energon and fire that followed her, fighting back as she could. Having received no training as of yet, it was difficult to counteract their advances. So rather, BlackLight utilized her size and ability to disguise herself to escape. Having hidden in a small town, BlackLight waited for the danger to pass, hoping her connection to the Predaking wouldn’t give him an advantage to finding her.

        Quietly, she let the time slip by for hours. When the night was still, she snuck back out of the foreclosed house and began walking. BlackLight wasn’t even certain where she was going, only that she was leaving everything she had come to know behind. Shortly after dawn had struck, BlackLight found herself at a military base standing outside a large building. A warehouse or a hangar of sorts. For a while, she simply stared at it, feeling entirely out of place. This was not somewhere she should be. If anyone saw her, they would take her back ‘home’ which would only lead to her re-abduction.

        BlackLight felt lost. Hopeless. She was missing something she couldn’t find. It was gone.

        When the doors opened, BlackLight had only just realized that she’d knocked. The buzz of activity around the military base was coming to life. People would see her. Realize a civilian was here.

        When the doors opened, BlackLight came to realize her spark had led her in the right direction.

        “Human . . .” The deep voice muttered. “Ratchet!” It called out calmly.

        “I’m not . . .” BlackLight replied softly.

        “Excuse me?” The Cybertronian asked gently.

        “I’m not a human anymore,” BlackLight explained, keeping her eyes on the ground a moment longer before looking up at him. A black insignia was tattooed over her sternum, visible thanks to her tattered clothes. “Don’t send me back to them.”

        Immediately, the Prime understood. The desperation in the girl’s eyes was far too real, the fear and the restlessness of a long night spent running. Picking her up into his large hand, he closed the door and brought her into the safety of their base. That was the night BlackLight became an Autobot.

        ~~~

        And now that she was trained, BlackLight was more equipped to fight the Decepticons. Now that she was trained, she was more than willing to fight them for the Autobots. Her new form was a Gemini. She’d been born a Capricorn. As a human.

        The world was a cruel place. And yet there was so much beauty to it.