Magical!Bots: Pet
“You’re doing it wrong.”
Starscream whipped his helm around, his optics flashing in annoyance. “Who said that?” He demanded over Skywarp’s snickers. There appeared to be no one in the clearing but the Seekers themselves.
“I did.” A small grey shape detached itself from the tree branches above, fluttering through the leaves on pale grey wings. She - her voice was distinctly feminine, with a rasping undertone - settled neatly on a lower branch so that she was optic level with the seekers, her black-tipped talons closing around her new perch. An organic avian of some sort, Starscream noted. She was tiny in comparison to him, of course - her wingspan couldn’t be more than five feet - but a decent size for an organic. A predator, with that hooked beak and sharp talons. She folded back her wings, the dark patterns on her feathers blending in with the trees so that she appeared to be almost a shadow-barred ghost with her predominately grey-silver coloring. “My name is Nubium,” the bird said without preamble, “and I was sent here to guide you. You accepted the Upgrades, didn’t you?” She didn’t give them a chance to reply, raking the three of them with a scornful eye. “Obviously you did, you wouldn’t be in those ridiculous skirts otherwise. In accepting the Upgrades, you get me, too.”
“Oh, at last, something useful.” Starscream said. “Just what we needed: our own little organic filth that won’t keep its mouth shut.”
“I always wanted a pet,” Skywarp said wistfully.
“You had a pet,” Thundercracker reminded him. “Remember the retro rat?”
“Until Starscream stepped on him.” Skywarp said mournfully.
“It wouldn’t leave me alone!” Starscream shot back. “Crawling in to my vents, getting tangled up in delicate wires…”
“He was just showing you some affection.”
“It tried to eat my wings!”
“He liked you!”
“No, you just kept forgetting to feed it. And that’s why you’re not allowed a pet anymore,” Thundercracker said flatly. Skywarp sniffed derisively.
“I am not a pet,” Nubium informed them. “And I’m capable of catching my own dinner, thank you.”
“Organics don’t seem to do well with Energon, anyway.” Skywarp said.
“If you’re not going to be Skywarp’s pet - not that you can have a pet, Skywarp - why shouldn’t we just blast you out of that tree and be done with it?” Starscream fingered his star-shaped brooch. “After all, there’s nothing wrong with my null ray if I power back down.”
“Or we can squish her,” Skywarp said cheerfully. “Organics are kinda gross if you step on them, but a rock works just as well.”
“It’s disturbing that you speak as the voice of experience,” Thundercracker muttered. Skywarp shrugged, non-repentant.
“Hey, those little masked furry things were annoying. Even you thought so.”
Nubium paused briefly, suppressing the urge to shudder. This is what she had to work with? “Because I have something you need.” she said firmly.
“And what could that be?” Starscream sneered.
“Information,” she replied. “You don’t know how your Upgrades work. I do.”
“And you would be willing to teach us how to use our Upgrades? Against the humans?”
“Your Upgrades won’t work against the Earth or any organism on it,” Nubium said. “As I’m sure you’ve already noticed. Any chance one of your attacks might hurt the Earth - or her children - it will backfire.” Thank the Light she added silently. Earth had enough problems already without psychotic skirted Seekers high on magic thrown in to the mix.
“So what good are they?” Skywarp asked.
“I realize this may be hard for your slow processor to understand,” Nubium said bitingly, “but there is more out there than the Autobots and the humans. And when those enemies come knocking, you don’t want to be reliant on your sworn adversaries for protection, do you?”
“So what are these enemies?” Starscream asked, derision lacing his words. “What could possibly be out there dangerous enough to take on the entire Decepticon army?”
“I don’t know,” Nubium replied. “All I know is that it’s something big and dark and old. Yes,” she added testily when Skywarp started to snicker, “older than you, even.”
“Starscream,” Thundercracker said quietly, “I think we should listen to her.”
“Are you out of your processor?” Skywarp demanded. “I mean, more than usual.”
“Are you? We’re potentially throwing away a weapon here.” Thundercracker replied. “If she can teach us how to use our Upgrades properly, we should give her a chance.”
“You don’t even like the Upgrades.” Skywarp muttered.
Thundercracker ignored him. “Besides,” he added, “we can always slag her later.”
“Charming,” the bird said dryly. “But true enough, I suppose. Listen,” she leaned forward on her perch, her golden eyes intent on the three Seekers. “I’m not here to make you in to something you’re not. I’m not going to nag at you to make peace with the Autobots, or the humans, or anyone at all. Granted, it would make things easier,” Starscream snorted loudly at this, and Nubium tilted her head to the side, a smile creeping in to her voice, “but to try to force you in to something you don’t want is stupid, and that’s one thing I am not, thankfully. If you go to the other side, it will be your decision, and not until then.” And they would go, of that Nubium was certain. It would take time, but she was patient. They might not want to go, and they might complain about it, but in the end, they would go of their own volition. It was the sort of thing an advisor could count on.
“Hmph.” Starscream gave her a once-over and then shrugged, his hands dropping from his brooch. “Well, I don’t care. Tag along if you want, just don’t get in my way.”
“Thank you,” Nubium replied, barely able to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Thundercracker regarded her silently before sighing in something approaching resignation.
“So, about these Upgrades…”
A/N: Oh Primus, it's plot. RUN.
Nubium's description was not pulled out of nothing; she's a gyrfalcon. A silver-morph, to be precise. Females tend to be 20 to 26 inches long (about two feet), and their wingspan is generally from 49 to 64 inches across - or about four to five feet. (Thank you, Wikipedia.) A fairly large bird by our standards, although probably not to Starscream.
Starscream might be somewhat mollified (and smug) to discover that gyrfalcons were considered royal birds in medieval times; they were generally only seen on the fists of kings and nobles among those who practiced falconry. (Of course, someone would inevitably point out that eagles were considered to be higher in rank, but shhh.)
Please help my dragons grow!
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
Starscream whipped his helm around, his optics flashing in annoyance. “Who said that?” He demanded over Skywarp’s snickers. There appeared to be no one in the clearing but the Seekers themselves.
“I did.” A small grey shape detached itself from the tree branches above, fluttering through the leaves on pale grey wings. She - her voice was distinctly feminine, with a rasping undertone - settled neatly on a lower branch so that she was optic level with the seekers, her black-tipped talons closing around her new perch. An organic avian of some sort, Starscream noted. She was tiny in comparison to him, of course - her wingspan couldn’t be more than five feet - but a decent size for an organic. A predator, with that hooked beak and sharp talons. She folded back her wings, the dark patterns on her feathers blending in with the trees so that she appeared to be almost a shadow-barred ghost with her predominately grey-silver coloring. “My name is Nubium,” the bird said without preamble, “and I was sent here to guide you. You accepted the Upgrades, didn’t you?” She didn’t give them a chance to reply, raking the three of them with a scornful eye. “Obviously you did, you wouldn’t be in those ridiculous skirts otherwise. In accepting the Upgrades, you get me, too.”
“Oh, at last, something useful.” Starscream said. “Just what we needed: our own little organic filth that won’t keep its mouth shut.”
“I always wanted a pet,” Skywarp said wistfully.
“You had a pet,” Thundercracker reminded him. “Remember the retro rat?”
“Until Starscream stepped on him.” Skywarp said mournfully.
“It wouldn’t leave me alone!” Starscream shot back. “Crawling in to my vents, getting tangled up in delicate wires…”
“He was just showing you some affection.”
“It tried to eat my wings!”
“He liked you!”
“No, you just kept forgetting to feed it. And that’s why you’re not allowed a pet anymore,” Thundercracker said flatly. Skywarp sniffed derisively.
“I am not a pet,” Nubium informed them. “And I’m capable of catching my own dinner, thank you.”
“Organics don’t seem to do well with Energon, anyway.” Skywarp said.
“If you’re not going to be Skywarp’s pet - not that you can have a pet, Skywarp - why shouldn’t we just blast you out of that tree and be done with it?” Starscream fingered his star-shaped brooch. “After all, there’s nothing wrong with my null ray if I power back down.”
“Or we can squish her,” Skywarp said cheerfully. “Organics are kinda gross if you step on them, but a rock works just as well.”
“It’s disturbing that you speak as the voice of experience,” Thundercracker muttered. Skywarp shrugged, non-repentant.
“Hey, those little masked furry things were annoying. Even you thought so.”
Nubium paused briefly, suppressing the urge to shudder. This is what she had to work with? “Because I have something you need.” she said firmly.
“And what could that be?” Starscream sneered.
“Information,” she replied. “You don’t know how your Upgrades work. I do.”
“And you would be willing to teach us how to use our Upgrades? Against the humans?”
“Your Upgrades won’t work against the Earth or any organism on it,” Nubium said. “As I’m sure you’ve already noticed. Any chance one of your attacks might hurt the Earth - or her children - it will backfire.” Thank the Light she added silently. Earth had enough problems already without psychotic skirted Seekers high on magic thrown in to the mix.
“So what good are they?” Skywarp asked.
“I realize this may be hard for your slow processor to understand,” Nubium said bitingly, “but there is more out there than the Autobots and the humans. And when those enemies come knocking, you don’t want to be reliant on your sworn adversaries for protection, do you?”
“So what are these enemies?” Starscream asked, derision lacing his words. “What could possibly be out there dangerous enough to take on the entire Decepticon army?”
“I don’t know,” Nubium replied. “All I know is that it’s something big and dark and old. Yes,” she added testily when Skywarp started to snicker, “older than you, even.”
“Starscream,” Thundercracker said quietly, “I think we should listen to her.”
“Are you out of your processor?” Skywarp demanded. “I mean, more than usual.”
“Are you? We’re potentially throwing away a weapon here.” Thundercracker replied. “If she can teach us how to use our Upgrades properly, we should give her a chance.”
“You don’t even like the Upgrades.” Skywarp muttered.
Thundercracker ignored him. “Besides,” he added, “we can always slag her later.”
“Charming,” the bird said dryly. “But true enough, I suppose. Listen,” she leaned forward on her perch, her golden eyes intent on the three Seekers. “I’m not here to make you in to something you’re not. I’m not going to nag at you to make peace with the Autobots, or the humans, or anyone at all. Granted, it would make things easier,” Starscream snorted loudly at this, and Nubium tilted her head to the side, a smile creeping in to her voice, “but to try to force you in to something you don’t want is stupid, and that’s one thing I am not, thankfully. If you go to the other side, it will be your decision, and not until then.” And they would go, of that Nubium was certain. It would take time, but she was patient. They might not want to go, and they might complain about it, but in the end, they would go of their own volition. It was the sort of thing an advisor could count on.
“Hmph.” Starscream gave her a once-over and then shrugged, his hands dropping from his brooch. “Well, I don’t care. Tag along if you want, just don’t get in my way.”
“Thank you,” Nubium replied, barely able to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Thundercracker regarded her silently before sighing in something approaching resignation.
“So, about these Upgrades…”
A/N: Oh Primus, it's plot. RUN.
Nubium's description was not pulled out of nothing; she's a gyrfalcon. A silver-morph, to be precise. Females tend to be 20 to 26 inches long (about two feet), and their wingspan is generally from 49 to 64 inches across - or about four to five feet. (Thank you, Wikipedia.) A fairly large bird by our standards, although probably not to Starscream.
Starscream might be somewhat mollified (and smug) to discover that gyrfalcons were considered royal birds in medieval times; they were generally only seen on the fists of kings and nobles among those who practiced falconry. (Of course, someone would inevitably point out that eagles were considered to be higher in rank, but shhh.)
Please help my dragons grow!
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥