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| Author | Topic: Dug up an old fic beginning.... |
| Sapphire |
posted 6/7/03 8:53 AM
Hello all, I was digging through old attempts at fics when I found what was to be the introduction story of my character Ebony. Ebony's been in my mind for a long time, waiting patiently to be written. I started this fic, but lost interest and wrote something entirely different. Can't remember what, exactly. Anyway, there's one interesting thing about it: The role of a leader and how difficult it can be when you have other things to worry about. You'll know what I mean once you've read it. (Nurran, you're an Optimus fan so, you should read it!! lol) It's not finished, and maybe never will be. Depends on the response I get from it. ------------------------------------ Ebony Hello. My name is Ebony, and this is my story. I was born on Earth and my parents were two Maximals of the Axalon crew. My grandmother is dead, my grandfather is dying, my father is missing and my mother...well, that's what I'm going to tell you. Because with all biographies, you have to start with your parents, although in this case for it to make sense, I have to start with my grandparents. Tiahlika, pronounced Tee-ah-lee-kah, entered Earth's atmosphere two and a half year's ago. She crashed into a marsh, her pod was retrieved largely undamaged and she emerged with the beast form of an African Marsh Harrier - a bird of prey, a mixture of browns, creams and mahogany, it's wings speckled with white. Unlike Airazor, her beast mode seemed to fold over her back like a back-pack in robot mode and her torso was quite clearly feminine. She had a feathered 'bra', if you will, and bottom torso plate with feathered shins. The rest of her body was bronze. She was pretty, but what made her beautiful was her personality. Although I never knew her I was told she was very liked, and respected. By all the Maximals and after her death, even the Predacons. She was a capable fighter, she was obedient but intelligent, friendly but sharp when need be. It was obvious why Optimus chose her for his crew. Other than the fact that he seriously liked her. So seriously, in fact, that they had my mother. ---------------------------------------------- Dinobot was forced to admit that he actually couldn't find much wrong with Tiahlika, but he'd been working on it. Rattrap had named her Tiara, such was his fashion of failing to call anyone by their correct name, and occasionally he found himself slipping the tongue and calling her that too. It was a lot easier to say. Optimus was very aware that love and war are not a good combination. He tried to set an example for the rest of the team that one must stay focused on Megatron and the Predacons and at the same time, one must not get too close to anyone because chances were that that person could get hurt or even killed. Optimus, though, was finding it very difficult to follow his own advice, especially since Tiara, uh, Tiahlika plummeted into the swamp. He tried to very hard to keep his personal life out of the Beast Wars. He never openly kissed or cuddled her, and he never treated her differently when dishing out orders, but their relationship was having its effect in other areas. Whenever she was shot on the battlefield, and slag it, they all were from time to time, one could see the agony on his face each time. He didn't want to jeopardize any other Maximals by sending them off during a battle to collect her, although that was the right thing to do anyway. Dinobot would have done it willingly for Cheetor, Rhinox and maybe even the vermin, and of course he would have done it for Tiahlika because she was a warrior in need of help, no other reason. But Optimus feared that his emotions were controlling that move until he became unable to hand out any orders at all when it concerned her. They felt so sorry for him that most of the time Rattrap or Cheetor, and even once himself, would help her without even speaking to him or asking him if they had the okay to do that, as strategically it wasn't always good to fetch a fallen comrade until the coast was clear. Rattrap's teasing didn't help, nor did Megatron's, for that matter. Dinobot looked down the long hallway, in beast mode, and sighed. He sometimes found himself prowling these corridors with nothing to do other than stop and think. Day dream. Sometimes, when it was quiet, he'd just drop of to doze on the cool metal surface of the floored corridor. No one seemed to mind. He was feeling unusually lazy today, and he very nearly dropped to sleep right there when he caught sight of Rattrap coming down the hallway. He usually wouldn't have cared but it was the look on the transmetal's face which sent shivers of curiosity through him. "Rodent," he hissed as Rattrap approached, in a worried daze. "You look...a little...concerned," he said slowly, turning his head slightly to one side. Rattrap shook himself out of his daze and blinked and Dinobot for a moment, before fully focusing on him. "Yeah, yeah I am." Dinobot's large fore-claws tapped the cold floor with slight annoyance. "Why?" he asked. Rattrap looked very hesitant. "I think I just heard somethin' dat...I shouldn'ta heard." Dinobot chuckled a little. "Oh, were you eaves dropping, as usual? Typical rat, scurrying through dark tunnels and feeding off whatever's available." Rattrap frowned, started to come back with something, paused and decided to look worried again. Dinobot noted with heightened interest that whatever was alarming the Maximal, it must be quite something to stop him from his regular insulting. "Well! Whatever it is that's bothering you, it must be important. Are you going to tell me or am I wasting my time?" Rattrap scratched his head and shrugged. "I think dat... I should keep quiet, for now." With that he continued shuffling irregularly down the corridor, occasionally stopping, shaking his head and continuing until he had turned left and out of sight. Dinobot rolled his eyes and dropped to the floor, and fell asleep. --------------------------------------------------------------- Dinobot didn't have to wonder long what it was that Rattrap had discovered. Optimus called them all to a meeting (except for Tiahkila) and told them rather miserably, that a blank stasis pod (in other words a protoform with no spark) had fallen a few weeks ago, he'd dragged it in and never told them about it. Cheetor insisted that this really was no big deal and hauling the pod in for parts was a good move anyway, but then Optimus told Cheetor that the pod was still intact and so was the stasis pod and he was not going to use it for any parts. Everyone had looked at Optimus, who seemed to be getting increasingly uncomfortable and Cheetor asked all their questions. "So, what are you intending on using it for, Big Bot?" The innocent nick name of 'Big Bot' got to their leader quite a bit, it appeared as he cursed softly and looked away from their intense stares. "We're, I'm...no, we're as in Tiahlika and I, we're going to use the protoform for another transformer, because we've got a spark for it...now." There was a moment's confusion but Rattrap and Dinobot exchanged knowing glances. They both understood immediately. Rhinox got it only a second or two later, Tigaton and Airazor took their time and Cheetor was the very last to understand. "I see," Dinobot finally said, breaking the silence. Optimus was looking down, ashamed, embarrassed and defeated. "Well," Rattrap piped up, "I can't complain! I mean, uh, adding another Maximal to da group is always useful. Erm, uh, da more da merrier?" Rhinox sighed softly and sent Rattrap a gentle smile and shook his head. Rattrap sighed too, folded his arms and looked downwards, thinking. "The rodent is right. I don't see a problem. If we have another fighter, scientist or technician ready to be introduced into this world, then why keep him or her waiting?" Dinobot said, sounding the most confident one out of the lot of them. Optimus looked up and the look he gave Dinobot made something twist uneasily inside of him. "I know. We'll have to anyway. It's just...it's different for me, you know?" Rhinox smiled and patted him on the back. "Of course, but I think you should be excited. You'd make a great father, Optimus. I understand your concerns about bringing him or her, into this war but I can promise you we'll all try our very best to protect the new bot from harm." There was a general murmur of agreement and two days later, she was born. -------------------------------------------------- Ironically enough, Rattrap came up with her name. Optimus had chosen the beast form of a Whitebacked Night Heron - an African water bird. For those of you who do not know what this kind of heron looks like, here is a description: They have a large dark head with a pale eye area. They have a black back with a shock of white down the middle of the back in a patch visible when flying. They have a mahogany-red neck and a touch of white under the beak. Long legs with long clawed bird feet. Her body was silver with pale streaks of white on her arms and legs and the reddish brown colour carried onto her cheeks, making her look like she was permanently blushing. So, it was fitting that Rattrap called her crimson cheeks, and Crimson became her name. Crimson was beautiful, she was everyone's little angel. Of course everyone knew that she was not just another warrior; she was their leader's daughter and they felt obliged to treat her as such. Dinobot offered to help Optimus train her for battle, Cheetor, who'd always viewed Optimus as a kind of father figure, took on the role of an older brother and the two got along very well from the start. Rhinox promised to teach her how to use the computers, Tigatron and Airazor said they would teach her about the wild and how to manage her beast form and Rattrap just made her laugh. Tiahlika was very proud of her daughter and openly showed it, whereas Optimus was more reserved. There was no doubt in their minds that he loved her dearly from day one, but he was naturally strict with her and kept a close eye on her. The first week was awkward for him and everyone else, including her. Tiahlika helped break the uneasy atmosphere by joking around, playing with her and soon everyone began to lighten up and that was when Crimson truly began to bloom. -------------------------------------------------- Week 2 of Crimson's Life - as she told it to me. Crimson had her own room, her own laptop and her own weapons (a laser gun and a pair of small shoulder missile launchers which came with.) But she had very little in the way of freedom. She was very aware of the situation, that the Predacons were the enemy and she'd seen holographic pictures of them, but so far she hadn't fought them. They had not attacked and this was making her father increasingly nervous. She wasn't sure what to feel. All she knew was that she was to remain in the base and she was only allowed outside, within Maximal territory and in close proximity with the Axalon AND only if she had BOTH Tigatron and Airazor with her. A little extreme, she thought. She was naturally curious and wanted to fly by herself and taste some solitude which she so desired. Rhinox had taught her all she needed to know about operating sentinel, the scanners and the autoguns which was fine because she wasn't particularly interested in computers. She liked Rhinox - he was big and friendly and treated her as an equal, not the boss's daughter. She liked him more than anyone else because of that. Cheetor was lively and a lot of fun. They spent countless hours talking, chasing each other round the base and when they went outside, racing each other in the sky, although they could never fly too far from the base. Cheetor treated her like a sister, and she looked on him as a brother. Tigatron and Airazor were loveable, soft, gentle bots whom she was very fond of. They were her teachers and protectors and when Dad wasn't around, they even took her a little further away from the base to show her a certain flower, river or tree. She learnt to appreciate the planet for all its beauty and could understand why her mother and father had been so keen to explore the Universe. Dinobot was very different. He was colder, gruffer and uninterested in being cuddly and friendly, and she respected that too. He taught her to fight, she paid attention when he spoke and showed her things. She had some deep, inexplicable desire to please him and so far she hadn't done anything to upset him. He had never attempted to get to know her or get any closer to her. Optimus often attended these training sessions and helped her too, especially when it came to flight combat. Her mother would assist him in showing her how to maneuver and fight in the sky. It was interesting more than fun to watch them 'pretend-fight' in the sky. They were gentle with one another but at the same time both seemed very serious and focused - she knew then that these lessons were no joke: she was going to need them someday and they knew that too. Rattrap. She really liked Rattrap. He was...he was...she wasn't sure what their relationship was, actually. He made her laugh, he teased her and taught her how to play card games but...he was also her friend. He seemed to have a soft spot for her like she reminded him of someone. He made her feel special without actually trying that hard. She liked him, but as an uncle figure. She called him Uncle RT, which amused him to no end. That was what she had learnt and felt over the past week and now another had begun. She had woken up that morning, though, with that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. It was early, it was quiet, but she knew something was going to happen today. Something. ------------------------------ >Sapphire< http://sapphire15.yoll.net Sapphire's Beast Wars Website |
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