[Robots and Magic] Between Claws

5. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥

Before the timberwolf could try to lift its free paw and cause more harm, a large beam of powerful fire was aimed at its face. The giant wooden beast roared in pain and stepped aside, releasing Steeljaw in the process. The wolfcon got up and peered behind him, only to see a mysterious femme firing at the creature out of her transformed into a weapon arm. Its entire figure began to burn in flames, each second turning to ashes. The female robot approached it as it collapsed from the blaze, its desperate whines vanished along with its whole existence. She turned off the flamethrower and ex-vented, she relaxed when the timberwolf was no more, staring at the remains on the dry land.

"Greetings, sister!"

Sunset flinched at the near voice, causing her body to tense up once again. She immediately turned around and aimed her weapon directly at the wolfcon. Steeljaw halted and lifted his clawed servos, showing he meant no harm, "Do not make another step." she alerted with a glare.

The mech could easily read by her expression she trusted him none bit, "I only wanted to express my gratitude for rescuing my spark. Why would I have any intentions of harming my savior?" he placed a servo on his forehelm and let out a low chuckle, "Oh, I haven't introduced myself to you, where are my manners? I'm Steeljaw. May I know your designation?"

"I uh—" the girl hesitated to answer as she tried to come up with a different name. No way she was going to tell her real identity to a complete stranger, "Flame... strike." she replied unsurely, cringing inside at the fake name she came up with.

Steeljaw kept watching her with curiosity and interest, tail swaying from behind, "Pleasure to meet you. Tell me, which side are you on?"

"...Neither."

His intake formed a smile, "A neutral? So am I!" he placed his servos on his chest-plate and stepped closer to her. Sunset instantly returned to her prepared position, continuing to point her flamethrower at him.

"Stay. There." she warned coldly one more time and he stopped, "My turn to ask questions. How did you get here?"

He raised an optical ridge and lowered his arms, "You still haven't heard? After such a long time?"

"About what?"

"Why, about Alchemor's crash, of course. It happened several stellar cycles ago."

The teenager's neon blue optics widened, "You are a prisoner..."

He lifted his index digit at her, "Correction, was a prisoner. I must admit that I'm very ashamed of my past crimes. But I have changed!"

She kept looking at him with suspicion, her gaze then fell on his shoulder-pads. He had Decepticon symbols with clawed marks on top, "Is that why your insignias are scratched?" she asked in a shady manner.

The Cybertronian glanced at his emblems and smirked, "I destroyed their tracking mechanisms. I do not want to be captured again before I can prove myself I have reformed and want to live here now, in peace."

"Oh, really?" Sunset sceptically questioned.

"You see, all I want is for me and the other fellow Decepticons to have a place to call our home and start from the beginning." he explained calmly, with a look full of determination, "A place where I can be their ruler."

She rolled her eyes after his last sentence, "Ah, there it is."

The wolfcon drew near, "Don't you want the same thing, Flamestrike? A world where you belong, to call your home? I can help you, only if you join me."

"You don't belong here."

"And neither do you. Yet, here you are."

Those words made her feel some uneasiness. He was right, she wasn't from this world. He had no idea of who she was nor any information about her past. Still, somehow it got to her. But she fought her way to become the person she is today, her friends and all of the people she knew have accepted her. She was healthier, happier and functioning way better than she ever had, all thanks to the support and love from her close ones. Her thoughts were disturbed by the big shadow over her.