Chapter 3 is up! I decided not to edit this one because I'm currently half asleep. Also, I'm not sure when exactly chapter 4 will be up because I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with this story. My best friend had to give me a pep talk because I kept wanting to give up. I'm trying hard, but I just don't have a lot of confidence in myself and my writing. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this.
-So-min
Previously in The Voyage
“Haru!” He cried as her eyes fluttered shut.
He elevated her slowly. Staring in horror as two glowing blue orbs revealed themselves.
“S-Stay back!” Cody exclaimed as he pulled the unconscious Haru closer.
He gritted his teeth as he tried to lift her, noting that the situation had sapped most of his strength. His grip tightened as the rustling grew louder and louder before he gasped sharply. A yellow and black bot walked from the vegetation.
“B-Bumblebee?!” he gasped.
‘Cody! What are you doing here?!’ Bumblebee beeped at him in concern.
Cody took a deep breath to calm himself. He smiled at his old friend.
“I-It’s a long story. What about you? WHy are you here?”
Bumblebee carefully walked forward.
‘I was on a mission and got stuck. I have no way of contacting anyone.’
Bumblebee’s shoulders slumped. Cody sighed softly and smiled at his old friend.
“It's good to see you again, Bee.” He said.
Bumblebee gave him a thumbs up before making a distressed sound upon noticing Haru’s unconscious state.
“SHe slipped on the ice and bumped her head, I think.” Cody informed the bot, looking down to the girl as he bit his lip. “Pretty hard.”
Bumblebee looked down.
‘I scared her….’ he said sadly.
“N-No.. not like that.” Cody responded hastily. “It was the sounds that you unintentionally made. They were getting louder and since we did know what it was, it sorta.. Surprised us. She and her grandpa know about you guys, Bee.”
Bumblebee looked at him in shock before he found his optics moving to Haru. He carefully walked closer and picked her up gently into his *servo.
‘You’ll have to guide me, I can’t transform because if the trees.’ he told Cody.
The boy smiled and nodded, eager to help his friend. He narrowed his eyes in thought then looked sheepishly up at Bumblebee.
“I-uh-have no idea where to go…” he said with an embarrassed smile.
Bumblebee shook his head in amusement and looked around.
‘Let’s try this way.’
Bumblebee began to travel slowly with Cody next to him, both of them unknowingly traveling in the wrong direction.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Kade grumbled as knocking echoed on the firehouse’s door.
He yanked it open with a scowl plastered on his face. It immediately softened as an African American girl stood there with teary eyes, some of the tears escaping rapidly.
“Frankie…” Kade whispered sadly.
“I-I’m sorry, Kade. I-I just wanted to come over…” Frankie whimpered.
KAde shook his head wordlessly and let her inside as Dani came down from the stairs.
“Dad’s finally asleep. Took me a while to convince him that in order for him to find Cody, he needed to be rested enough to focus.” she said.
She gasped as she caught sight of Frankie and instantly gathered her into a warm tight hug,
“Oh Frankie…” she whispered.
The said girl clutched on to Dani, trembling. She sniffled, the normally brave girl breaking down into sobs.
“I-I want my best friend back!”
“Bumblebee I think we went the wrong way.,, We’re near mountains.” Cody said as he looked around. “I don’t see Haru’s village anywhere.”
Bumblebee let out a sound of annoyance, He looked down as a small moan reached his audio scepters. Haru’s eyes began fluttered, the shorter girl beginning to wake. Bumblebee looked for a soft place to lay Haru down, opting for the smooth boulder in front of him.
Cody smiled widely as he saw HAru’s eyes open before he quickly climbed onto the boulder(with Bumblebee’s help of course.).
“Nngh..? W-where?” Haru whispered.
“Haru? Can you hear me?” Cody asked softly.
The Asian girl slowly looked over with half lidded eyes.
“C-Cody? What happened?”
“You slipped on the ice after being frightened by the noises and you hit your head really hard.” He informed.
HAru winced.
“I am so lame…”
‘I don’t think so.’
Haru jumped at the new “voice”, gasping her her amber eyes met with Bumblebee’s bright optics. She stared at him with her mouth ajar. Cody facepalmed and looked at the yellow bot with a slight glare. Bumblebee shrugged before looking down at Haru.
‘Are you alright? Wait.. you can’t understand me. Cody?’
“He said-”
“Y-Yes I am okay…” Haru unitentionally interrupted. “And I c-can understand you. Is that.. Unnatural?”
“For Bee it is. His voice box was damaged in battle so he talks like this until it gets fixed.” COdy informed. “I’m the only one who can understand him in my family, besides the other bots.”
HAru nodded in understanding then looked up at Bumblebee.
“So your name is ‘Bee’ then?” she asked.
‘BUmblebee actually, but Bee is fine.’ Bumblebee responded, giving her a thumbs up.
Haru smiled and nodded.
“Then it’s nice to meet you, Bee. I'm Haru Yi.”
‘LIkewise’
“So Haru, do you know where we are?” Cody asked. “We kinda got lost.”
HAru frowned in thought as she gazed around.
“We’re… at Yama Mountain.” she said. “It’s a pretty long way from my village, but not that long of a trip to the beach. If we can get to the beach before nightfall, we’ll be able to see the village.”
“Sounds good.” Cody said.
“But there’s one thing. This part of the island has dangerous creatures. The mesdwaeji and the jangsumalbeol(AN: Pronounced like this: met. dway. ji. & jahng. su. mal. buhl) are especially dangerous.”
Cody shuddered.
“I don’t even know what those are, but the sound of em creep me out.” he said.
“A wild boar and a giant hornet.” Haru replied.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll help keep you safe.’ Bumblebee beeped to them as he lowered his servos.
The two children hopped on them, Haru widening her eyes and holding onto his thumb for dear life. Cody chuckled at her.
“You'll get used to it.” He said.
Haru huffed in response. She bit her lip hard, closing her eyes tightly. Bumblebee, noticing her distress, tilted his head.
'Don’t worry, Haru. I won't let you fall.’ He said soothingly. Well, as soothing as beeps can be.
Haru slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him with a shaky smile. She nodded as she took a deep breath and relaxed. She looked around with a slight frown.
“We're near Goro path..” Haru muttered, narrowing her eyes. “This is boar territory….”
'What’s so scary about a giant pig?’ Bumblebee asked in amusement.
Haru raised an eyebrow. “They’ve been known to kill people.”
Bumblebee paused.
'Oh. Giant pigs are bad.’
“You mean… those giant pigs…?!” Cody exclaimed suddenly, pointing to the sounder of boars.
“Oh crud…” Haru muttered.
She glared at the furry creatures that snarled in their direction.
“Is there any way to avoid them?” Cody asked.
Haru sighed. “To be honest, I haven't heard of anyone really escaping them.” She looked at Bumblebee and grinned. “Then again, no one had a giant alien robot either.”
'And I'm one of a kind!’ Bumblebee exclaimed.
He placed the two down and transformed, barely having enough space to do so. His doors opened, allowing the children to climb inside before his engine roared. The boars squealed in fright before bolting off. Haru blinked rapidly.
“Am I the only one who was expecting something like an epic showdown, but… that'll do.”
Cody snorted as Bumblebee let out a few beeping sounds that reminded Haru of laughter. The blonde boy suddenly frowned sadly. His brown eyes gazed at the ground as tears began to form. His thoughts drifted off to his family back on Griffin Rock. Did they miss him? Were they searching for him? Did they...care? Cody shook his head. He couldn't think like that. His family loved him, especially his father. He knew that… Didn't he? Cody released a sad sigh, not knowing that Haru and Bumblebee were watching him worriedly. The two looked at each other before looking back at the distraught boy. He leaned against Bumblebee as the sun began to go down.
“Cody…?” Haru whispered softly. “Are you okay?”
“I'm gonna get some sleep… wake me up when we're at the village..” He responded softly as he closed his eyes.
Bumblebee let out a sad whir when he heard Cody sniffle. Haru watched him sadly as he curled on the boy’s shoulder. She looked to Bumblebee once she heard Cody's soft snoring.
“Bee… Can you take us somewhere before the village? It’s not too far from here.” She asked.
Bee tilted his head then nodded.
'Sure but why?’
“I want to show Cody something once he wakes up.”
THe big yellow and black bot nodded, focusing on the directions Haru gave him. Soon, the three were at a stream that was somehow not frozen. Bumblebee let out a whir of surprise at the scene. The sunset reflected off of the water, giving it an orange-pink glow. The snow sparkled magnificently on top of a thin broken tree that hung over the stream. Haru smiled and breathed in the crisp air.
“You think we could camp here for the night? By the looks of it, we won’t be making it to the village any time soon.” she said.
Bumblebee nodded and gently placed her down. He looked to Cody then carefully moved him onto his hand. The boy began to stir at the movement, causing Haru to bite her lip slightly.
‘Oops..’ Bumblebee sounded before COdy began to wake. He slowly fluttered his eyes open, looking around in confusion.
“This… Isn’t the village,,,?” he said bewilderedly.
Haru shook her head and smiled at him.
“No, it isn’t. I told be to come here instead.” she said.
“Why?”
“Because y-you were upset and I thought that this place would help you feel better. Back at the place closer to the village, it seemed like you really enjoy stuff like this so.. I-”
“Thank you.” Cody interrupted with a smile.
Haru blinked.
“W-what?” she questioned.
“Thank you. I.. I was and still am a bit upset, but this.. Is beautiful and makes me feel a little better.”
Haru blushed and nodded with a smile before looking around.
“It..really is beautiful..” she breathed. “I’m actually surprised I remembered this place. I’ve only been here once or twice when I was younger. My family and I hiked a lot back then.”
Haru suddenly yawned, catching herself off guard. “I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”
After she said that, Bumblebee then transformed and opened his doors.
‘Get in.’ He said.
The two kids climbed in as the sky darkened a bit more. Bumblebee pushed his seats back and dimmed the lights. Haru snuggled deeply into the seat before looking at Cody.
“Hey Cody…?” she whispered.
“Hn? WHat is it, Haru?” he asked.
“If I may ask.. Why were you upset?”
Cody let out a small sigh as he curled closer to his seat.
“I was just thinking about my family back on Griffin Rock. I.. just wonder if they miss me, you know?”
“Of course they miss you. They’re your family.”
“Yeah, I know. I know my dad at least misses me.” Cody sighed sadly. “I wonder how he is right now. Before all of this happened, my siblings.. They never had time for me. They were caught up hanging out with the bots or patrolling. I mean, I get that they have to patrol and I’m glad that they get along so well with the guys, I just… miss them.”
He sniffled, causing both Haru and Bumblebee to frown. Haru reached over and placed her hand over his.
“They’re your siblings, Cody. I know they miss you. They love you! They’re probably looking for you as much as your dad is.” she whispered, trying to comfort him.
“Maybe…”
“No, not maybe. They are. Have some faith in them, kay?”
Haru began to doze off, her eyes slowly falling shut.
“Thanks a lot, Haru. You know, despite the situation, I’m really glad I met you.” Cody said, not realizing that the girl was in fact asleep. “Maybe you could come to Griffin Rock some time? Huh? Haru?”
He looked over then smiled softly at the sleeping brunette.
“Night Haru.” he whispered. “Night Bee…”
Bumblebee gave a soft beep in response as Cody drifted off to sleep. The yellow bot slowly slid the seat belts securely around the children, pulling them closer to the seats.