Journey to the Past [OPEN]
Who: Starscream [OPEN]
What: Having wandered away from Tally, Starscream walks ariound in a stupor. he still can't remember shit.
Where: Near the center of Nautilus.
Warnings: No?
Note: Tag in separate threads please!
( Somewhere down this road, I know someone's waiting. Arms will open wide, I'll be safe and wanted, finally home where I belong. )
What: Having wandered away from Tally, Starscream walks ariound in a stupor. he still can't remember shit.
Where: Near the center of Nautilus.
Warnings: No?
Note: Tag in separate threads please!
( Somewhere down this road, I know someone's waiting. Arms will open wide, I'll be safe and wanted, finally home where I belong. )
Sari was lost, and she knew it. How could she concentrate on Bending when she couldn't see the point of doing it if she wasn't with her family?
She might look fourteen, might act fourteen, but Sari was eight years old - now nine, she guessed, but her birthday had passed when she was in Kalliste without mention - and sometimes that lack of life experience caught up with her in ways she didn't expect. It made it harder to accept everything that had happened; everyone else was years ahead of her and she was still trying to find her place and way in the universe. Her time in Nautilus had basically been spent raising herself, despite the many guardians available. No one told her how to act, when to go to bed, what to eat, or when to go to school.
That was, except for Starscream, and as much as a past version of Sari loved the freedom involved in not having a constant parental presence in her life, she'd come to depend on the Decepticon for stability. Love...yes, she was loved, and loved the members of her family back, but love alone wasn't enough compared to the feeling of safety and protection that came with at least the knowledge tht someone would care if she ate herself sick or stayed up too late or failed a test on purpose.
Starscream had given Sari the guidance that she hadn't known since she was in a normal eight-year-old body and living with her dad in Detroit. He wasn't like the Autobots; he didn't love unconditionally. Sari had had to earn his affection, and she treasured it more than anything.
But he was gone. And so was Prowl, and so was Bee, and Sari's world felt more dizzy and unstable than ever, lost from its center of gravity and hurtling into the vastness of unforgiving space. What if he never came back? What if none of them did?
She was walking, alone in thought, and drawn closer and closer to the heart of Nautilus. She'd been here once before, but it had never given her answers or comfort. Just a useless, cold Aeon with more important things on its mind than lost little girls.
Sari stared at the glass covering from some distance away. Anger suddenly seized her, and she was grateful for that anger because it filled the hole that sadness was boring into her. A rock Bended into her hand and she hurled it with all her might.
The rock bounced harmlessly off the glass. Even if Megatron had fired at it, Sari guessed it wouldn't make any difference.
She made to turn away, fists clenching. And the rock that she had thrown bounced further off in the opposite direction, eventually rolling to a stop with a light tap against Starscream's bare foot.
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A small rock resting against his toes.
Do rocks moved on their own? He wasn't sure what was normal... he had no standards for what was, anyway.
"Hello..." He tried cautiously. The rock of course, didn't answer. After a moment he picked it up, weighing it in his hand, and then looking around for a source. Movement a ways off caught his eye, and he squinted to see. Another person. A smaller person. The rock must have been her's. She must have lost it-
It was the first conclusion he'd come to in a while, aside from the fact that cuts hurt and cats are nice.
He stumbled to his feet and ran awkwardly, the cuts under the bandages stung, but he was far more interested in catching up. When he did he was out of breath, running up behind her, extending his arm over her head, and dropping the rock in front of her.
He looked cautiously proud of himself.
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A rock suddenly dropped into view, and Sari paused, staring down at it. She bent down, picking up her rock, and staring at it, turned it over in her hands. It had broken her out of her dark thoughts, at least.
She turned around, expecting...well, even she didn't know what she was expecting. Skywarp, maybe, or Wykkyd.
Certainly not Starscream.
Staring back at him, stunned, a hard lump began to form in Sari's throat. Tears welled up, and she dropped the rock.
He wouldn't remember her; she knew that.
But it still didn't stop her from wrapping her arms tight around Starscream's chest and breaking down, sobbing into him.
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He didn't seem to mind- it was so oddly familiar. For a moment he felt something. Belonging. The Seeker awkwardly lifted a hand and placed it on her head. She was crying... was she hurt? Maybe he should do something. Do what? How? Could he help?
He knelt down... maybe he should just let her do this.
He arms hesitantly wrapped around her in a limp hug.
"Mmmh..."
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Sari might have dared to hope he remembered her when he returned the hug and she felt his hands at her back, but it all felt wrong somehow; he wasn't holding her like he usually did, with confidence in his actions or determination or reluctant acceptance. He was missing something, somehow.
"Don't leave me, okay?"
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Promise me you won't die
"AGH!" His hand moved to clutch his head and he jerked away.
"Sorry- I..." It passed, and he sat down, taking a deep breath.
"Okay..." His head hurt. Everything hurt.
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Man. She must've freaked him out just there.
"I'm sorry," she said, voice still choked and quiet. "...What happened with your head?"
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Sorry. Sorry. Sorri. Sarri. Sari. Sari....
"Sari." He shrugged helplessly at the question, looking a bit guilty.
"D'nno."
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No. He was just repeating what he'd heard.
"Okay," she said, swallowing and reaching out a hand. "A lot of people are looking for you, you know...we should go see Tally."
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"Needed to leave." He took her hand regardless. Out of habit, it almost seemed. Though he had no idea why. She, like all the others seemed infuriatingly familiar in a way that gave him such a headache.
He pulled her hand.
"Sit. Stay." He nodded firmly, as an idea struck him. He picked up another small rock from the ground and placed it into her hand as if that would convince her to stick around.
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"Uh. Thanks, Starscream," she said. "But I'm not leaving you. You don't have to give me a rock."
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"Tom. Latta. Tom Latta." He corrected her.
"Sit for a while, Sorry."
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She sat down in front of him, frowning.
"Where'd you come up with that name?"
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"Saaaaahhh reee. Sah..." He sighed and threw up his hands in defeat.
Vaguely tapping his head as an answer to her question.
"I don't know."
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"It's okay. Sorry works too."
She paused, frowning.
"When's the last time you ate?"
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He had no idea what she was talking about. Yes, he believed himself to be human, but there were some things one simply forgets...
Especially in a place where there is no hunger.
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