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Chardirakii had left me by the oasis with many questions, and her cryptic answers from earlier I knew had not sufficed. I wanted to know where she was from, how many other gods or goddesses were there like her (obviously Joyspark was real), and most prominent, what was her mission, and why was it so special only she had to do it alone? I looked down into the still water of the pond and my reflection stared back at me. More questions arose. Why did she keep pushing us away? Why did she push me away? Had I done something to disgust her? My personal hygiene wasn't that bad, was it? I sniffed my arm. Nope. But maybe I'd start showering more regularly now. Then there were questions I was asking myself. Why was I so intrigued with her? Why did the mere sight of her make my spark leap to my throat and beat faster than usual? I had only felt this way for one femme in my life. Elita One. But she had sadly been killed on Cybertron when Megatron got word of my affections for her. At least Elita One had returned my affections. Chardirakii seemed...was it...afraid? Afraid to spend more than ten minutes in my presence? I frowned in determination. Chardirakii may have told me to leave her alone. To never seek her again. But I needed answers. Answers only she could provide. To do that though, I'd first have to find Chardirakii, and I currently had no clue as to her whereabouts. Sighing, I stood up to head back to the base. My questions would have to go unanswered until later, when I met Chardirakii again. I pulled out a small remote and flipped a switch on it. A ground-bridge opened and I walked through to the base. Ratchet was still as I had left him, snoring on the console. I smiled slightly in amusement, then picked up my exhausted friend and carried him to his berth-room to 'tuck him in' as the humans said, before returning to my own room. I lay down on my berth and stared at the ceiling, all these questions running through my processors, round and round like a carousel. It was some time before I could sleep. I tossed and turned for hours before my spark finally settled down enough. That night my dreams were very mixed. I could hear voices whispering my questions in my audio receptors while foggy images of Chardirakii's beautifully dangerous face-plates floated before my vision. When I awoke I felt very warm and uncomfortable. For the first time I actually wanted to sleep longer, but the others would be up soon and I also wanted to see if I could somehow track Chardirakii. Begrudgingly I left my berth and rubbed my optics tiredly. The night had left me feeling more exhausted than ever. I dragged my peds to the control room and went to the main console. I minimized Ratchet's work, then pulled up the signal trackers and typed some codes in. Chardirakii, to my joy, apparently had a signal! Quickly I plugged my ground-bridge remote into the console and transferred the portal data on her location to it. I could visit her this evening, whether she liked it or not. And it also depended on Megatron if he was going to fight us again, though I doubted it. After Chardirakii's impressive and gory display, I was certain I wouldn't want to mess with her either. Then I shook my helm, bring Ratchet's work up again and pocketing the controller in my subspace. I was disobeying a goddess' orders. What sort of idiocy was that. I smiled to myself and thought,'The idiocy of a fool needing answers.' Ratchet walked in, rubbing his optics,"Morning, Optimus." "Good morning, Ratchet," I replied,"Did you sleep well?" Ratchet nodded,"I fell asleep here, but somebody must've awoken and taken me back to my room because I awoke in my berth." "I figured you would appreciate a more comfortable surface to rest on," I replied, amusement showing in my voice. "Thank you, Optimus," Ratchet said with a small smile,"How did you sleep last night?" I frowned,"The new femme puzzles me. I could not push my questions far enough away to get any proper sleep." Now it was Ratchet's turn to frown,"Rest is important. Perhaps you should take the day off. Go somewhere on the planet and relax." "If Megatron attacks-" I began, but Ratchet interrupted me. "Eeep ep ep! You'll have the day off, Optimus. If Megatron attacks I can comm you if that sets your mind at ease." I hesitated, then nodded. I could certainly use a power down or two, and maybe I could see Chardirakii sooner. I typed in some coordinates to the African jungle, then transformed and drove through the ground-bridge. I ended up in a lush, green jungle. It looked to be midday here already. Birds sang in the trees above me and jungle hunters growled in the distance. I transformed abd started walking, following Chardirakii's signal to a cave. Swiftly I entered, then something hit my leg, knocking it from underneath me, and I collapsed. I rolled onto my back-plates just as something with glowing greenish-blue biolights leapt on my chest-plate. Claws were pressed to my throat, and I could barely make out Chardirakii from her silhouetted form. "I told you to leave me alone!" she hissed,"I told you never to seek me again!" I grabbed her wrist and flipped her off of me, the femme landing to one side. I rolled on top of her and pinned her wrists to the ground,"I have questions, you have answers." Primus! She was so close, her dermas barely a servo's-breadth from mine. I felt my spark-rate increase at this mere realization, and blushed at the sudden thought to kiss her. "I have no answers to give you," Chardirakii replied, kicking me in the side, hard. I grunted, but didn't loosen my hold on her. "None you will choose to give," I corrected, kneeking on her legs so she wouldn't kick me again. "You will die for this," Chardirakii hissed, her violet optics blazing and her cheeks also coloring. "I do not fear death," I replied,"Therefore I have to fear of you." Suddenly there was a loud crack and Chardirakii looked up to see what it was, her chin brushing my bottom derma very lightly, causing me to turn a very dark blue. "The platform!" Chardirakii cried just seconds before the rock crumbled away beneath us and we fell into the pit below. Instinctively I wrapped my arns around Chardirakii and twisted so my back-plates were to the ground. When we landed, all the breath was knocked from me, and Chardirakii didn't help by beating on my chest-plate. "Let go of me! Let. Go. Of. Me!" she coughed as dust rose around us. I dropped my arms and the femme rolled off of me, coughing. Once I had my breath back, I slowly started to get up, also coughing as the dust invaded my respiratory systems. I looked up and could barely see the dim light of the cave entrance. "Well, no getting out that way," I muttered. Chardirakii jumped to her peds and looked at me angrily,"Why would you do this?" "Oh I did this?" I asked, my anger rising dangerously fast,"You attacked me if I recall correctly, forcing me to fight back. If I had known we were fighting on such a flimsy platform, things would've been different." Chardirakii clenched her fists and glared at me. I glared right back.
