True Leadership )-Predaking x Youngling Reader-(

Trust No One

     (Y/D) giggled, pouncing on small metal creatures that had the misfortune of wandering into her sights, which were quite acute in the darkness of the locked room she was set in. The little thing clearly didn't mind as she spit the occasional glowing acid that lit the entire room with her primary color. She transformed, picking up the crawling thing with purple optics. It was mostly round and kept hissing at her, despite her show of dominance, and hurt when it bit her. She kept it between her digits so it couldn't twist around and bite her again. The youngling already had a large surface wound when it started to gnaw on her at a very quick pace. She giggled as it squirmed and squeaked, only to squish it accidentally, making her frown as it's optics turned grey. She let it drop, whimpering before beginning to wail.

     Predaking was trying to convince the Autobots to let him investigate the mine he found (Y/D) in, but they refused. He decided it must be the new trend.

         "It's the last mine to make it through the war, we can't have it torn apart inside." Ultra Magnus huffed, "We had long since decided to let it remain as a historical sight to be looked at and remembered, not destroyed."

         "Then let me do just that: look!" Predaking bellowed, angered by their lack of apparent consideration for his case.

         "Tell us why you suspect it to be such a 'gold mine' -so to speak- for these Predacon femmes," Knockout told him, "It will make things much easier and leave much less secrecy between us."

         "And what secrets do you have?" The Predacon accused, earning sighs and the shaking of their helms.

         "None, we assure you," Bumblebee said smoothly, "We only want our diplomatic relationship to be as transparent as possible, and while I understand your concern, it is hard for us to make a decision when you're not coming forth with all the information."

     Predaking cursed himself within the confines of his helm. If only he could trust these Autobots would not just take the Predacon femme away from him. It was hard enough keeping her quiet so the other Predacons wouldn't hear, the only reason he had forced her into a prolonged stasis- it wasn't his first choice but what else was he supposed to do?

     The meeting was fruitless and he left with a scowl for the second time. It was enough to make him want to tear down a building, or better yet one of their precious statues. He hated their statues of old Primes and the long since deceased Optimus Prime. Normally he wouldn't bother to pay them any mind but Predaking wanted to brood before going back to the youngling, so he stomped around the pristine streets, scattering bots as he simply stared straight ahead. He only stopped when he reached the statue of Optimus, the fourteenth in the circle of thirteen.

         "They practically worship you," he muttered, "sacrifice yourself, knowing death awaits and you get immortalized. Now what do I get? Treated like a dumb Earth animal who knows nothing of diplomacy or a hierarchy. Your precious team refuses to consider my efforts to repair our broken history, scared to lose the history of your war."

     He did not consider it his war, nor his brethren's, not even Skylynx and Darksteel. They were just unfortunate enough to become pawns. Very powerful pawns.

         "I cannot trust your little team- perhaps you may have spoken wise words I would have agreed with, as you were a powerful leader yourself," the king admitted, "but you are only a statue now, and as time forgot about the Predacons, time will forget about you."

     He left with that as his 'goodbye', charging for the skies as he transformed and pumped his giant wings. The beast let out a huff, smoke billowing from his maw. The smell made him shake his helm in an attempt to think of other things. Something other than smoke, fire, and destruction that he wished so badly to cause in his current anger and frustration. He couldn't leave the sparkling for too long, though.

     The thought of the smaller being made his spark lurch, and he knew something was wrong. He took too long. She was probably awake, hurt, or worse- discovered. His wings pumped harder to pick up speed, the forced wind around wing membrane leaving the sound of audio-ringing in its wake. The movement scared any surface dwellers that were simply enjoying the tranquil morning. Predaking pushed through a line of flying humanoids, making them curse towards him for interrupting their flight, but he didn't listen. Not even as he forced his own kind off their flight pattern, landing harshly on the ground and stomping towards his dwelling. It was a short distance away but not short enough as he transformed to his robot mode, a rather cramped space considering his true size.

     He heard sniffles and the beginning of a sharp wail before he flung the door open, the lock now broken. He picked her up, not realizing he had scared her, but didn't quite care considering she was quiet now.

         "It's okay- you're going to have to learn to remain on your own for far longer," he looked inside what was meant to be a medical room, something he decided would be nice in case any innocent Predacon was caught in a tussle and needed protection or was uncomfortable with his brethren- it hadn't been used until now. Predaking sighed when he saw the acidic scorch marks on the floor, curious optic eyeing a small crushed scraplet. He then checked (Y/D) for injuries, thanking Primus the Unicron spawn had only grazed her surface.

         "It must have bit you, so you woke up," he sighed, flicking the last of her unshed lubricants off to the side, "I'm sorry little one, but there is simply no one I can trust to watch over you. Your brothers are looking after the others, and always together, so one being absent would be suspicious. The Autobots would more than likely take you away from me, and I can't stay here and teach you every earth hour."

     The beast took a deep sigh once more, the femme cooing in her odd, lizard-like croaks. There was only one other bot he could potentially trust. It was worth a shot- he called Tapper.

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Feel free to comment! Thank you to all who have read and voted on my story so far. I've only posted seven chapters and it has been received so well. I hope you will all stay for the drama to come!