The Power Within - Transformers Prime (2)

Chapter Thirty

  "Never take your eyes off me," Arcee barked and I rolled out of the way of her attack. I sprung back to my feet, whirling around to face her as she swooped in for another attack. This time my footwork wasn't as fast and I landed on my butt, her fist stopping a few inches away from my face.

  "My point," She said and I let out a huff of frustration, which made her smile a little. "Let's take a break."

  I didn't argue with that and headed to the patio, slumping in one of the lawn chairs as I took a long drink from my water bottle. Arcee and I had been training everyday after school for the past week for at least three hours. Optimus had been busy training Smokescreen, so keeping this away from him wasn't hard. We had told the others that we were practicing my powers and made it seem like we were lifting objects or making them morph into something different. They had no idea it was actually combat training we were doing.

  "You've gotten a lot better," Arcee said, sitting down on the lawn, her gaze travelling across the large green space.

  I barked a laugh. "I don't think so. You still win every time."

  "That's because I've been at this for a lot longer than you," She said, amused. "For someone who fought her first Cybertronian over a week ago, you've really improved. If someone didn't know what you're capable of, you could take them out easy."

  "You think so?"

  "I know so."

  I shot her a sideways look. "Thanks, Arcee. For teaching me... and understanding why I had to do this. I know it seems weird, but-"

  "Hardly." She cut me off. "I was in your position a long time ago."

  "Really?"

  She laughed. "Do you really think the generals in the war for Cybertron would pick a small, femme like me to go on a mission when there were bigger bots for the job? I had to fight to get where I was, and then fight even harder to stay there. I didn't become a general by sitting around."

  "Seems to me those generals got their butts handed to them," I commented and she laughed again.

 "It was something like that," She turned to me, eyes serious. "You're strong, Amanda. You've got a fire not many other people have. Never douse that fire, it's what makes you who you are."

  I took that in, frowning. "Then why didn't Optimus want to train me?"

  "Optimus... he had to fight for his position, don't get me wrong, but he didn't go through the same battle. His was on a whole other level, and that's why he thinks he can handle everything. He usually can too, which fuels this. He doesn't want anyone else to have to get involved when he can do it himself. Sometimes it's great, but other times... well, you can see what happens in those other times. Don't take it in the wrong way, it's just how he works."

  "I guess," I said, then a memory hit me. "My mom... when I was young she started teaching me how to fight. She always told me that I should never have to rely on anyone else in a fight, because then there'd be a way for your enemies to get the upper hand on you. She would always give me little lessons that added up over the years, everytime telling me to never rely on anyone else."

  "That's why you're pushing so hard for this."

  "Yeah. She wouldn't have wanted me to rely on you guys everytime some Cybertronian comes at me, no matter how much I trust you," I realized. We fell silent for a long moment, then I stood up and stretched a bit. "Alright, break's over. I'm not paying you for taking breaks."

  "You're not paying me at all!"

~~

  Arcee and I trained for another hour after that, fighting back and forth as the sun went down. I started to incorporate my powers into my movements, giving me an edge on her even though she really out experienced me. At this point, neither of us were getting a single point on each other because we became so evenly matched. Truth be told, I was barely keeping up with Arcee, but the pride in her eyes told me I was doing fine.