By: Sinead
Part One
{You are Velocitrana, Daughter of the Dire-Warrior. You are on Prehistoric Earth, to protect another warrior, and . . .}
My eyes opened, and I saw a fuzzy-looking face. I closed my eyes again, but felt a hand grip mine, and help me stand, then support me. My optical sensors weren�t fully on-line yet. Neither were most of my other systems. I took a deep breath, and reopened my eyes. This time, they focused almost immediately, and I looked up at the one who was helping me. He looked back down at me, and shook his head, then dropped to his beast mode, the same as mine. Neither of us said anything. Me, because my vocal circuits were still (unsuccessfully) trying to come on-line, but he, I don�t know why. Maybe he couldn�t . . .?
�You don�t seem to be damaged, yet you aren�t speaking. Isn�t it customary for Maximals to introduce themselves?� His voice was deep, and rough, as if he had been hiding a hard fact for a long time.
I nodded, then indicated my throat.
He frowned. �You�re mute?�
I rolled my eyes, shook my head, then felt it finally booting up. �I absolutely loathe Stasis Pods. �Ey knock every �un of yeh systems off-line. �M called Velocitrana, nowadays.�
The other nodded, as if he approved. �I am Dinobot.�
�Like ee old Autobots?�
�If you wish to say that.� He asked me about my background, and I answered rather freely.
�I wus born a Pre�acon, but orphaned when I was young, then �dopted by a Maximal family. �M sixteen now, an� I learned Martial Arts an� fencing as soon as I could hold a staff. I currently work with a double-edged broadsword. I lead quite a boring life back �ome, really.�
He snorted. �Here and now, it isn�t what you would call boring. Humph. Hardly.�
�Wha� �bout you?� I asked.
�My life is my own, and that�s all you need to know!�
�Well, yeh did ask me about mine . . .�
That night, I sat listening to the child, Cheetor, talk about the Beast Wars. Usually, I always give those who are younger than me all of my attention, but I felt my gaze tugged to stare at the warrior Dinobot. I sighed, and said, ��M sorry, Cheetor, but I�m tired. I�ll see yeh tomorrow. Continue tellin� me then.�
�Oh, okay. Whatever. See you tomorrow!�
I reverted to my beast mode, and walked slowly down the hall. Footsteps followed me, but I cared less. I didn�t lie when I had said that I was tired. I fairly staggering. I counted the hallways that I passed on my left, then took the fifth. The footsteps were closer. I tripped, but caught myself, and I swore. �O� all the bloody freakin� days!�
�What, female? Broke a nail?�
I turned, and spat, �Go shove it up yeh tailpipe!�
�Want to make me?� Dinobot snarled.
�Why were yeh followin� me?�
�I wasn�t, female!�
�Ee name�s Velocitrana, skidplate-sucker! Use it, or don� even try t� talk t� me.�
He snorted, and growled, �If you do so wish . . . child!�
�I am NOT a child!�
�Oh, really? You�re not much older than Cheetor!�
��E�s twelve, I�m sixteen! There is a difference! Four bleedin� years, yeh git!�
�Not by my book!�
�Which is pro�bly no� ev�n �alf a page long!�
He snarled, an evil sound, and I remembered . . . something . . . but what? I shook my head, and he said, �You�re still a child.�
�Ooh! Yeh say what yeh want t�. I don� �ave time t� argue.� I turned on my heel, and walked into my quarters, slamming the door. I heard the door to the quarters directly adjoining on my right open, then close in a slam. �Oh, bloody perfect.�
I lay down, and saw that my bed was right beneath a skylight. I sighed, then stood on the bed, and opened it, letting fresh air into the stuffy room. Before I lay back down again, I took my broadsword and shield from my sub-space pocket, and placed them on a shelf made specifically for that kind of thing. I closed my eyes, and fell asleep, dreaming about my life back home . . .
�Wake UP!�
I opened my eyes, then closed them, and rolled over. ��Oo gave yeh permission t� come in, Dinobot?�
�Primal sent me to wake you. I�d suggest you follow me.�
�Go away.�
�Don�t make me drag you.�
�Try it. I dare yeh.�
He grabbed my ankle, and succeeded only in that, before I twisted savagely, kicking his wrist on a pressure point, (that hurts, personal experience) and ended up standing, glaring at him. His eyes narrowed, as he looked down at me, and walked silently out of the room. I grabbed my sword and shield, replacing them in sub-space, and walking behind Dinobot. We reached the control center, and I saw Optimus Primal, my new commander, standing there. �Well, good morning.�
I snorted, and stalked away from Dinobot. �Iff�n yeh consider bein� rudely woken up without a warnin� �good�!�
Optimus shook his head. �I�m sorry I couldn�t page your quarters earlier. You and Dinobot are to patrol together in the Delta quadrant.�
I heard sniggering, then the source revealed himself a moment later. �Heh! Dey�ll kill each othuh soon as dey can! She can hold �er side of an argument better�n me!�
�Go boil your head,� Dinobot snarled.
�Dinobot, don�t even think of starting,� Optimus said tiredly. �Otherwise I�ll have Rattrap patrol with you instead of her.�
Dinobot shut up, surprisingly. I sneered, �How�d yeh �ear, rat?�
�You two were right outside my door. I�d havtuh be deaf not ta hear �ya!�
�I�m. Goin�. To. Kill. You.�
Rattrap dodged behind Primal, who said, �Enough. You two get going, and I�ll see you both in six megacycles.�
I sighed, and followed Dinobot onto a lift, and it started to lower before I had even placed one foot on. It hit the ground, and Dinobot ran off. I kept pace, realizing that I could run faster than him, if it ever came to it. I hoped that it wouldn�t, because I knew that if he ever caught up to me, he�d probably end up killing me. The running ability was one thing that I was thankful for . . .
Six-and-a-half hours later, I arrived back in the command center dead tired, scratched, muddy, and quite irritable. Dinobot had deserted me, and for five hours, I had been wandering around, trying to find my scent, or his, if need be. I was ready to kill him on sight.
Optimus saw the look on my face, and asked, �Are you all right?�
�Yeah, �m fine.�
�You look . . . uh . . . pretty bad. Where�s Dinobot?�
�Ee decided t� take a little more time lookin� at som�in�. �M goin� t� clean up.�
As I was leaving, Optimus called, �But what happened to you?�
�Hn? Oh, aye. I fell, that simple. �M not used t� a beast mode.�
Late that afternoon, I was watching the clouds through the skylight, when someone knocked on my door. �Wot?� There wasn�t any answer, so I groaned, and opened the door. �Oh. You. What part o� �go away� don�t yeh understan�?�
�Why didn�t you tell Primal about . . . today?�
�Look, I �ave enough troubles, an� I don� need t� add any more t� that pile. Good. Afternoon.�
I started to close the door, but a hand gripped it, and opened it again. �Thank you.�
�Are yer wires crossed? Lemme sleep! I�ve been tryin� t� find my way back �ere fer five bleedin� hours! �M entitled t� me rest!�
His eyes darted, then he nodded, and walked back toward the command center. I closed the door, and the moment I did, there was another knock. �Y� son uva Scrag! I thought I said that I wanted t� rest!�
�Uh, yo, ah, Velocitrana? �S me, Rattrap.�
I opened the door. �Yeh�d better �ave a good reason t� be disturbin� me. I�m in a very bad mood.�
�You were lost for five hours? �Ow come �ya didn�t tell a Boss Monkey?�
�Yeh seriously must �ave a death wish.�
�Well?�
I drew my sword. He flinched, but said, ��Ya can, uheh . . . oh, SSSSSLLLLAAAAAAG!�
He ran down the hall, with me in hot pursuit. He darted past Dinobot, who was still walking, calm as can be, to the command center, but then skidded to a halt, and hid on the other side of him from me. Dinobot turned, saw me, looked at the rodent, and shrugged. �I�ll take care of him, if you do so wish.�
�Jes� tell �im not t� ever think �bout eavesdroppin� on me again, or I�ll be makin� sure that �e�ll be even more undesirable by any female than �e already is!�
I stormed back down the hall, but I faintly heard Dinobot snarl, �You were what?!�then race after Rattrap. I had the vague feeling that Rattrap might be seeing many more of these episodes.
But, as for now, all I wanted to do was sleep.
Half an hour later, there was a timid knock on my door. I�m going to kill whoever this is.
I opened the door, clouted the first face I saw, then slammed the door shut. I heard a voice say, �Ye-OUTCH! Da Pit she �its hard!�
Lower chuckling announced another person there, and a voice called, �Velocitrana, open the door.�
I did so, and started to snarl some evil words, when I saw that Rattrap was hanging in midair. That�s why I was able to hit him so easily. Dinobot had a firm hold on the scruff of his neck. The tall warrior shook the rat, and growled, �Say it. Primal�s orders, you remember.�
�Yeah, yeah. �M sorry for eavesdroppin� on �ya. Happy, Scale-Butt?�
Dinobot dropped the rat, who scurried out of sight as fast as his four legs could carry him. Dinobot looked at my eyes, and I glared back. ��Sider us ev�n.�
�If you insist.� He walked down the hall, in the direction he was originally headed in, and I returned to my bed. I was asleep before I knew it . . .
<One week later . . .>
I opened my eyes, and breathed in deeply the smells of morning. But today . . . something was different. Not really bad, but different. I sat up, and saw some sort of plant on my desk. It was about a foot high, and had clusters of tubular flowers on it, which was a bluish-purple, with bright yellow highlights. Tulip? Nah. Snapdragons? Um, nope. That�s it! Irises!
Who in the Pit would give me irises? Who in their right mind would even think of getting me flowers?
I caressed one of the flowers gently with a finger, and thought. Did anyone have . . . Primus forbid this ever happening . . . a crush on me? Not that I know of, unless it was Cheetor, with his childish infatuations. I shook my head, and opened my door, almost walking into Dinobot, who was about to knock on my door, to wake me. �Yeah, yeah, I know the routin�. This time, don� drop me.�
Dinobot nodded, and I followed him to the command center. Optimus waved us on, and we left.
As we were patrolling, I was looking around for irises on the side. Nothing. I heard jets, and I turned.
�Dinobot!� I called. He turned to look at me. �Are there any Predacons �oo are red, an� another �oo�s a wasp?�
�Remaining alive? Inferno and Waspinator,� he growled. �Why?�
�They�re flyin� this way.�
�What?!�
�Look for yehsel�!�
He did so, and snarled. I was finally able to place where I heard it before. �Dethswipe.�
Dinobot�s head snapped around. �What did you say?�
�Yeh were Dethswipe, weren�t yeh?�
�How . . . what has that to do with anything?�
�Yeh knew me older adopted sisteh. She introduced yeh t� me, then boo�ed me out o� the room.�
�You . . . you�re Freecall?�
I felt the ground explode beneath my feet, and I went flying, but transformed, and landed on my feet. �Yeah, yeh try that again, �ya flyin� snowblower!�
The one called Inferno cackled, and shot repeatedly at me, but I either dodged or blocked the shots. Between them, I shot my optical lasers at him, managing to knock him out. But, before I could ask Dinobot more about his past, I felt someone trying to sneak up on me.
�Veloci, behind you!�
I whirled, my arm out to its fullest, but it wasn�t enough. The taller Predacon was too far away, and I slowed my turn, digging my toes into the ground. He sneered at me, and I rushed him, giving honor to my old name, Freecall, as I screamed bloody murder. He dodged to his left, as I predicted. I swung my sword toward him, but I realized too late that my move was a mistake. He let it slice into his arm, which was his tail in his beast mode, by the look of it. My sword was wrenched from my grasp, and put into his own. I felt the icy grip of fear clutch at my Spark, and I knew that this would be bad.
He swiped in an inexperienced manner at me, but it was still lethal. I dodged, rolled, and kept out of his way. But then, I tripped over a root, and screamed. My eyesight dimmed, and when I was able to open my eyes again, it was because I felt Dinobot removing my sword . . . from me. He clapped both hands over the wound, activating him comm-link at the same time. I couldn�t hear the words, but I knew he was talking furiously. When my hearing returned, I whispered his name, and he looked at me mournfully.
�I�m sorry,� he whispered back.
I shook my head weakly. �It . . . wasn� yeh . . . yeh fault.�
He looked down, inevitably at my wound, and then back at my face. �About those . . . those flowers . . .�
��Ey were from . . . you?� I whispered. He nodded dumbly. �Wh . . . why?�
�Hush,� he murmured, and carefully leaned over, kissing my forehead softly. �And live . . . for us all.�
That was the last thing I heard, before I slipped into unconsciousness . . .
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