Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

21. Maria

        “Maria!” BlackLight screamed the name out as she rushed forward, easily covering the distance separating her from the shadowed figure on the ground. It had been left in a ditch, disfigured, but BlackLight would recognize it anywhere. It simply didn’t matter what sort of distance would separate them, nor the time, nor the changes that occurred -- BlackLight would always recognize her older sister and best friend.

        “Maria!” She called out again as she turned the motionless form around to look into those familiar black eyes, but they were closed. Brushing the strands of nearly orange hair out of the way, BlackLight looked into Maria’s lifeless face. “No, no, no, no, no! Maria! Maria come back!” It had been one thing when BlackLight had had to accept the fact that she might never be able to see the people from her old life again, it was another thing when she found them on the desert floor, coated in dried blood that had an inexplicable origin. “Maria, please! Please!”

        ~~~

        JewelBlade froze when she felt the shift. It wasn’t something she could pinpoint as being off, much less it’s origin within herself, but something drove her to wonder about BlackLight. Where was that girl? “Ang, I need to go,” Blade muttered as she stood up.

        “Where are you off to now, Sugar?” Angel asked, her head tilting in slight confusion, even though her ability with the UP allowed her to sense the distortion that now surrounded JewelBlade.

        “I don’t know,” Blade answered with a shrug. “But I’ll figure it out soon enough.” Without losing any more time, she jumped off the cliff and transformed to her aerial mode, hunting for BlackLight, even though she’d been unaware of her departure the night before.

        ~~~

        It took only a few minutes for Blade to find them, and by that time, BlackLight had already devolved into a fit of sobs as she held her deceased sibling closer, muttering her name as she rocked back and forth. BlackLight wondered what sort of nightmarish encounters had led to her sister being face-down in the middle of a desert while she’d been away. What kind of sister was she if she wasn’t there for something like this?

        Blade transformed, landing on the ground near the pair, taking in the horrific sight slowly. “Li?” She called out for her comrade gently.

        “Get away!” BlackLight spat out, her eyes ablaze with that amber shade, her pupils narrowing to slits as a bit of smoke clouded out of her mouth. Even though it was too late, BlackLight’s protective instincts had kicked into overdrive. She would allow no one near her sister now. No one could be trusted not to hurt the 23-year-old ginger.

        “Light,” Blade muttered quietly, taking in the scene. It was obvious that before she’d been brutally murdered, the girl BlackLight held had suffered more than any human ever should. More than any sentient being ever should, period. Venting deeply, Blade tried to calm her spark as she approached BlackLight. It would do her no good if her spark began beating out of control and that nervousness resonated into Li.

        Ripping through her human form, BlackLight’s wings tore open, a protective shield and a warning to JewelBlade to back down, to leave.

        JewelBlade refused to listen and came closer, kneeling down next to Li, her optics taking in the closer visual of the young woman in Li’s arms. “Li, do you trust me?”

        A growl resonated through BlackLight’s throat as her head snapped up to glare at JewelBlade, the first time she’d taken her gaze off Maria since finding her. Blade was certain that a stern “No,” was going to be BlackLight’s answer, but the blonde girl stayed silent a while, her expression softening the longer she looked up into JewelBlade’s optics.