Forests of the Night - Part 2
Disclaimer: Transformers is the property of Hasbro et al.
Title: Forests of the Night (Fearful Symmetry, Arc One)
Rating and Warnings: T (brief violence/morbidity and some dark themes, "OC" that isn't really an OC)
Timeframe/Setting: G1 with bits of Beast Wars and a few little things from Prime and movie!verse, very slightly AU; Cybertron, early war
Summary: Jazz wasn't expecting a rescue, and he certainly wasn't expecting a rescue quite like this one.
Also available on FF.net.
Arc One, Part Two
Jazz uncurled with a jerk. He automatically looked up for the source of the deafening roar and for a moment was confused by the rough stone above him.
There was a heavy thump and a clatter nearby. He looked in that direction and saw the silhouette of a catbot crouched at the mouth of the cave. The beastbot crept out a few paces, audios swiveling this way and that. It all came rushing back to Jazz - capture, imprisonment, escape, flight. He got to his feet and warily followed the catbot out of the cave. Several meters away, an oblong metal box was flashing a red light.
"Aw, slag," said Jazz. He tugged on the catbot's tail. "We gotta move."
To his credit, the catbot - Cade, his name was Cade - turned and cantered after Jazz without hesitation. They had barely made it a few strides before the wave hit them. It wasn't explosive, thank Primus, but it was nearly as bad. Jazz could feel it tingling through his processor.
Cade looked up at him, faceplates wrinkled in confusion, when Jazz stopped. ::Was that it? What happened?::
Jazz felt his shoulders slumping. "Comm dampener," he grumbled.
Cade tilted his head. ::It obviously didn't work.::
"Try your long-range."
Golden optics went vacant as he did just that. ::Oh.::
"Yeah." Jazz sighed and kicked a loose stone. "Seems a bit late for that, though." He looked back at the smoldering ruin of the Decepticon base.
::They're stranding survivors,:: said Cade. ::Or, rather, they are flushing them out. The Autobot jets will be watching the road, and now there's no other way for surviving 'Cons to contact aid.::
"And they'll be pickin' off anyone they see on the road."
Cade nodded.
"And we can't contact them to tell 'em we're on their side."
Cade nodded again.
"Which means they've stranded us, too."
Cade snorted. ::Hardly. How do you think I got here in the first place?::
A flicker of hope rose in Jazz's spark and he felt a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I'm guessin' you didn't take the road."
::I did not,:: he said smugly.
They set off again, following a route known only to Cade. They kept their backs to the base, but the catbot angled them away from the road as well. Whenever they heard a jet approaching, they tucked themselves into whatever hiding place they could find. By noon, they were so streaked with slag and filth that Jazz doubted the jets could see them, anyway.
They stopped to rest in the meager shade of a boulder. Jazz pulled out one of his energon rations and offered Cade half.
The catbot shook his head. ::I will be fine for a few days more. You need it more than I.::
"How long will it take for us to get to friendly territory?"
::There is an abandoned Autobot base approximately three days' travel from here. It's where I was dropped off. There should be an emergency beacon or some other form of communicator there.::
"Three days driving?"
::Walking. It is very rugged terrain.::
Jazz's head thunked against the rock. "Great."
Cade gave him a stern look. ::It is better than imprisonment, I think. Or death.::
"You're right," Jazz said, giving himself a rough shake. He paused. "I never thanked you."
::You did,:: Cade said slowly.
"Not really. Not for risking everything to find me an' get me out. So . . . thank you," Jazz said sincerely, turning to face the catbot fully.
::You are welcome,:: said Cade.
They were quiet while Jazz finished his energon and the sun moved slowly across the sky. Before long, they were on the move again. There had been fewer and fewer jets passing by overhead as the morning wore on, and fewer still in the afternoon. The ground itself was still dangerous. Footing was tricky at best, and they couldn't go more than a few paces without zigzagging one way or the other around some obstacle. Jazz kept his head down, watching his own feet and the tip of Cade's tail in front of him. It was midafternoon when Cade stopped suddenly.
Jazz looked up and followed his gaze to the hazy horizon. "What is that?"
::The forest,:: said Cade, obvious relief coloring his voice. ::We'll be safer there.::
Jazz wasn't sold on that. He kept a wary optic on the line of trees as they approached. The ground turned smoother. Tufts of silicagrass bristled amongst the rocks where enough rust and pebbles had collected to give them a foothold. Before long, Jazz was tripping over the half-rusted trunks of irontrees rather than shrapnel.
Cade pressed forward, his tail curling eagerly. Jazz hung back. The treeline was tangled with scrub and the sinking sun cast eerie shadows in the trees. It was utterly silent. When Jazz kicked up a petrorabbit he nearly jumped out of his plating. Cade lunged for it but it quickly outpaced him. It vanished in the grass and the catbot turned back towards the forest.
Jazz grumbled as he fought his way through a thicket of tinbush. Cade had glided through like it was smoke, but the long thorns kept snagging on Jazz's armor and pulling him back.
::It opens up deeper in,:: Cade said.
"Are you sure this is even a good idea? I mean, we don't know what sort of things are in here," said Jazz. He unhooked a tendril from his elbow and made it a few paces forward.
::I have a pretty good idea of what's in here. And I know for sure what's out there. I'll take my chances in the forest, thanks,:: said Cade.
As if to prove his point, another jet approached. Cade melted into the shadows and Jazz threw himself to the ground. It circled them while Jazz withdrew his energy field and hoped that the brush hid him from sight. After an uncomfortably long time, the roar of its engine faded away in the distance. Jazz crawled the last few meters out of the thicket. Cade reappeared in front of him when he was finally free.
::I've found a game trail, come on.::
Jazz growled.
::There's an oil stream we can rinse off in just ahead, too. ::
"I could go for that."
Jazz followed him up a narrow, winding trail. It avoided the worst of the thickets and before long they had left the younger irontrees on the fringe and moved under the massive, ancient patriarchs of the forest. The columns of metal, some of them bigger around than Jazz was tall, reached hundreds of meters in the air. Their trunks were scarred and pitted with time, twined with climbing coppervines, and even spotted with rust in places. The lowest branches were high above his head, making Jazz feel as though he had walked into the ruins of an ancient cathedral.
Jazz was a city mech, sparked and raised in the urban sprawl of Polyhex. He loved the noise and bustle of the city and had never felt the desire to go off adventuring in the wilderness. The forests were dark, mysterious places full of strange creatures. Sure, he had known mechs that enjoyed hiking or camping, but Jazz was happy to just visit a park or garden now and again. But here, standing in the peace and safety of the irontrees, he could almost understand the appeal.
::If you've finished gawking like an idiot -::
Jazz snapped back to reality. Cade had turned around in the path several meters ahead and was giving him a rather unimpressed once-over. Jazz glared at him and started walking again.
"I wasn't gawking. I just - I've never seen irontrees this big before. They're really - I mean, it's impressive." And now he was babbling. Great. As if Cade needed another reason to think he was incompetent.
But the catbot's face softened. ::Yes, they are very impressive. We are fortunate that the Decepticons only harvested or destroyed as many as they did. It will be much harder for anyone to track us by air or by ground.::
The trees were nice, but Jazz couldn't help but remain skeptical. "You sure we're better off here? Seems to me like it'd be awful easy to get lost," he said as he fell in step behind Cade again.
::You're a cityslicker, aren't you?:: Cade smirked at him over his shoulder.
"No need for name callin', kitty."
The catbot made a rumbling sound that might have been a chuckle. ::As I said, I came through this way. I can find my way back.:: He gave Jazz another sly look. ::And I promise I'll protect you for all the scary boltbats and alloygators.::
He dodged Jazz's kick and ran a few paces ahead.
"Did ya ever think that maybe you got sent on this mission because someone was tryin' to get rid of ya?"
::Once or twice. Did you think the same?::
"You kiddin'? I'm a joy to be around."
::Except when you're complaining.::
"Hey, I've had a rough week."
::Maybe I didn't get the right Jazz. The one I heard about was supposed to be unfailingly, annoyingly cheerful.:: The trail made a sharp turn around a boulder. Cade hopped up on it and stared down at Jazz.
"Wait . . . you know me?" Jazz stopped and frowned up at him.
::We haven't met. But I've heard of you.::
"Oh, really?" Jazz sauntered past the rock.
::Heard you've got a good spark -:: There was a quiet thump as Cade landed on the trail behind him. ::- but that sometimes you're a pain in the aft.::
Something heavy collided with Jazz's back and he tumbled headfirst into an oil pool. He came up sputtering and gave Cade, who was sitting on the bank, an incredulous stare.
"Careful, kitty. I'm beginnin' to think that you might actually have a sense of humor."
::Lies, all lies.::
Cade was examining the talons on one forefoot, or he might have noticed the saboteur's smirk. Quick as a flash, Jazz grabbed him and hauled him into the pool as well. The catbot twisted free and shot for the bank in astroseconds, but there was a film of oil coating him from nose to tail. He retreated a few paces, out of Jazz's reach, and set about cleaning himself with his raspy tongue.
::Hmph. I would've had to do that, anyway. I'd never get all this slag off otherwise.::
"Keep tellin' yerself that," Jazz said as he flicked a few droplets at the catbot.
Jazz pulled up a handful of silicagrass to scrub himself with and a companionable silence fell between them. The oil was thin and nearly transparent, very unlike the refined stuff Jazz was used to. Still, it suited his own purposes well enough and before long Jazz could see the dull black of his own armor under all the grime. He sat on the edge of the pool and stretched out his sensor net while his hands kept up their mindless task.
There were no jets, friend or foe - or alloygators, either - that he could find. He got a few faint sparkreadings around him, but nothing of the size or frequency that would suggest a mech. It was probably petrorabbits or the razorsnakes that hunted them, or some other wild thing that Jazz couldn't identify. The edge of his net brushed Cade's energy field. He glanced at the catbot, found him absorbed in the bristles at the end of his tail, and prodded the field carefully.
Jazz was subtle. He had no doubts about that. He wouldn't have survived in special ops very long if he wasn't. But he had barely gotten a sparkreading - faint for a mech but not unusual for a cassette - before Cade froze and slanted a look at him.
Jazz pretended to be absorbed in his cleaning. Cade was having none of it.
::Jazz.::
Jazz picked at a particularly stubborn spot on his left foot.
Cade sighed. ::Look, I know you don't trust me but -::
"It's not that."
Cade tilted his head.
"I'm just trying to figure you out," said Jazz.
Cade's head tilted the other way. ::Why?::
"What?"
::Why are you trying to figure me out?::
Jazz gave him a curious look. "Because it looks like you're gonna be my only company for the next few days . . . ?"
::Oh.:: Cade seemed genuinely surprised. ::Why does that matter?::
"Why wouldn't it?"
Cade studied him for a long moment before turning back to washing his tail.
"Cade? Why wouldn't it matter?"
Cade turned that penetrating stare on him again. ::We are only here because of circumstance. It is unlikely that we will ever see each other again once this mission is over. Why bother?::
"Wow, you really suck at making friends, don't you?" said Jazz.
Cade flinched and turned away.
"Sorry. I didn't mean that t' be . . . y'know."
The bristly end of Cade's tail got bristlier. ::Why should I tell you anything, anyway?:: he said.
Jazz put up both hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm just tryin' to be friendly."
::By spying on me?::
Jazz chuckled. "Well, kitty, that's practically the unofficial spec ops handshake."
Cade gave him a skeptical look but did not reply.
Jazz gave up on getting any cleaner before Cade did. He swished his feet in the oil and leaned back on his elbows, peering up at the lattice of branches overhead. It was nearing sunset, but Jazz guessed that Cade would want to move deeper into the forest before they holed up for the night. At least he hoped that they stopped when it got dark. Jazz's visor gave him better night vision than most, but one nighttime journey through inhospitable territory had been enough for him.
Cade stood up and walked to the edge of the pool. He lapped up a mouthful of oil, swished it around, and then spat it back out.
::I believe I remember an energon spring around here somewhere. Let's try to reach that before we stop for the night,:: he said.
"Sounds good t' me."
::Oh, before I forget . . .:: he added distractedly.
Cade marched up to Jazz and didn't stop until they were almost nose to nose. Jazz consciously willed himself not to cringe back. Cade studied his face for a moment, then tucked his chin down and bumped his forehead against Jazz's. With a satisfied nod to himself, swung around Jazz and headed off down the trail.
"Um . . ." Jazz said intelligently as he got to his feet.
::Catbot handshake.::
"Oh. Of course."
They found the energon stream shortly before nightfall. Like the oil, it was thin and weak, but it was better than nothing. Cade daintily stepped around the clusters of crystals growing on the banks and down into the streambed. He drank for a long time while Jazz pulled out his final emergency ration, divided it between the three cubes and cut the rations with the natural energon. He returned two of the cubes to his subspace and sipped the third. It wouldn't have taken him so long to recover from his energy loss while imprisoned if he hadn't been walking for most of the day. He hoped he'd have enough fuel to reach the rendezvous point at the old base, assuming they managed to get a message to the Autobots.
Cade scouted around until he found a fallen irontree that had begun to rust on one side. It was nothing but a brittle shell in some places, but Jazz moved some branches to make a rough lean-to where part of the shell formed a roof. Cade climbed on top of one of the studier portions close to their shelter and watched the darkening forest.
There was a steady drone of insectobots in the background. The forest that had seemed dead in the daylight came alive with little sounds and lights. Jazz kept still and watched as various night creatures crept up to the stream to drink. A pair of cyberhounds brought their litter of rowdy pups. A starbuck, his head crowned with gleaming chrome antlers, appeared like a ghost and then disappeared just as quickly when Cade shifted and coughed. Boltbats swooped through the trees, catching flying things too small for Jazz to see.
A high, sobbing wail had Jazz pulling an energon blade out of subspace. Cade got to his feet as everything else in the forest fell silent. The wail was answered by another off in the distance. The catbot sniffed the air and then folded himself up again.
::Turbofoxes,:: he said.
::Makes my plating crawl,:: Jazz said via comm, reluctant to break the quiet.
::They won't bother us.::
Jazz settled down. He wondered if it would be appropriate to mention that he had a friend who used to hunt turbofoxes, considering his current companion would be considered fair game to some people as well. Had Cade been born as a wild thing and willingly or unwillingly submitted himself to the Autobots? Were the turbofoxes Mirage had hunted just as quick-witted and insightful as he? Jazz wasn't sure he wanted to know.
::How do you know all this?:: he asked to distract himself.
Cade was silent for so long that Jazz thought he wouldn't answer, then, ::My mother, Tigerwalk, took me hunting when I was young.::
::So . . . did you grow up . . . here?:: Jazz gestured at the forest at large.
::In the wilderness like this?:: Again, he hesitated before answering. ::No. I am from Praxus.::
That wasn't something Jazz had expected. Praxus wasn't a metropolis like Polyhex, but it was still a large city - not exactly the sort of place he'd expect to find a catbot. ::So you didn't - I mean, you weren't -::
::We were . . . domesticated, you might say,:: said Cade, apparently taking pity on Jazz.
::Ah,:: was all Jazz could think to say.
::Are you bothered by that?:: Cade said.
::Not really. It's just - it seems kinda weird, ya know?::
::It is normal for my people. Better to be a captive than a trophy.::
Jazz winced. That answered that. ::Yeah, but - you're sentient. Pit, you're sapient.::
::Yes. I chose this life.::
::It just . . . it seems an awful lot like slavery to me,:: said Jazz.
Cade was silent again for a while. ::Some mechs can be cruel,:: he said slowly. ::I am fortunate in that I have never been subservient to anyone who was less than fair. And if anyone were to try to mistreat me, I am capable of defending myself.:: His voice deepened into a growl.
Jazz chuckled. ::I don't doubt that.::
::Don't worry about me, Jazz. I am remarkably well-off.::
Jazz smiled at Cade's gentler tone. ::I don't know many cassettes,:: he said. ::I guess I've never really thought about how you live.::
Cade didn't have an answer for that, so Jazz filled this silence by talking about himself. He was the youngest of five, which seemed to fascinate Cade. He told about all the funny and interesting things he and his siblings had done. He counted it as a victory whenever he heard Cade's soft laughter.
Finally, when it was fully dark and the moons had risen, Jazz succumbed to his exhaustion.
A/N: Alloygators are canon critters. I couldn't have resisted using the pun even if I'd wanted to.
If you have never heard the scream of a red fox (and you don't plan on sleeping tonight) there are various videos on YouTube. It is a very disturbing sound.
The definitions of sentience and sapience are vague and the line between them is vaguer still, but I am going by what I was taught. Sentience is consciousness, or an organism's ability to sense the world around it. Sapience is wisdom, or an organism's ability to use reason and think abstractly; it is generally believed to be unique to humans. We could argue about it all day, but for the sake of this fic let us assume that humans (or human analogs - Transformers, in this case) are both sentient and sapient whereas most other animals (beastbots/cassettes) are sentient but not sapient.