The Curse: Part One
Title: The Curse, Part One
Verse: G1
Characters: Sunstreaker, Ratchet, Sideswipe, a lot of others!
Rating: T, on the safe side
Warnings: Cross-dressing, cussing, insane bots
Disclaimer: …BLEH! Dang rules…messing up my dreams…I own nothing!
Notes: Bots wearing clothes…and cross-dressing while doing it…what’s not to love? Kinda set during ancient times, think stage coaches, beliefs in magic, and superstitions and you get the general idea. I bend a lot of rules and make up a lot of junk in this one!
Summery: A medic is called to the castle of the Noble family to heal one of their members, only to be met with secrets surrounding the family that might lead to his own end.
*Noms on your head!*
“And they bonded happily ever after, the end!”, Wheeljack smiled as he shut down the datapad holding the story he was telling his younger brother, “Time for recharge, Ratch, you know the deal, one story, one nap time.”
The youngling just giggled, his plating just now get it’s colors leaving a few patches still protoform grey but the white colorization was making it’s way through, “Pwease…anuter?”
“Aww…why ya gotta be so cute? Okay, one more,” he picked up the younger, though himself was still young, he was proud to be big enough to carry his sibling…even if it was just barely, “I’ll tell you one in the berth.”
“Bout wat?”
“About a young gypsy that traveled the land…”
Ratchet sighed as he opened his optics to stare out the window, it had been orns since his brother had told him that story, it was on of his favorites…and one of the reasons why he became a healer.
A gypsy femme that traveled the world with nothing but her personal belongings and the knowledge and will to help others no matter the cost…he had dreamed of himself doing the same exact thing…he even used to put bells on a string and tie around his ankle that way he would jingle every time he walked like the bot in the story when he was little.
In fact, he gave a quick glance down at his pedes were a gold ankle bracelet was wrapped around him with tiny silver bells…a gift from his Carrier who was thrilled his son was becoming a medic and knew exactly what had inspired him to do so.
Jacks still made fun off him for it…usually while he himself was fixing the idiot after one of his infamous explosions, he gave the charm a quick shake and listened to the chime, letting the feeling of nostalgia fleet over him before he returned to the window with dissparkened sigh.
The stagecoach bumping over the bumps in the road and he could hear the steel stallion neighing ever so often…the driver was sent to retrieve him from his quiet little village from a set of Nobles that ruled over the land…apparently they had went through all reasonable solutions and had decided to call upon him as a last resort for healing one of the family members.
The credits would go good toward helping him with his small clinic with the price of medical care, he wanted it to be a free clinic but he still needed to pay for the equipment that helped him and offering his services to the richer set helped pay for it so he wouldn’t have to charge those who couldn’t afford to. So be it, let the Nobles pay the price so that those in the small village didn’t have to.
He had no problem with that…he had visited others before and each time he came back with items to help those…even if said items were…lifted…from the premises… The higher ups never noticed and they could afford to replace it if they did and he made sure a family that needed the credits got it.
He never took anything important, just small things…
The carriage stopped and the horse let out a whine as cyber-wolves howled in the distance of forbiddance…not a good sign…when the nature around them was wary of the place that it thrived in…suppose those stories were true…
Pede steps were heard and the door swung open to the sight of the driver, “The Sirs are expecting you Medic Ratchet.”
He just nodded and lift his skirt slightly so not to trip over it on his way out of the carriage, no good looking clumsy when you were a doctor. The servant extended his servo to help him and he took it while gentle landing on his own pedes, the anklet chiming with his movements.
His breathe was nearly taken away from the sight of the place…the statues of disfigured beast peered down at them from above on the edges of the walls like demons scoping out their next prey. Half were falling apart if not already…vines grew out of control giving the place it’s age…all thorns but not a single rose crystal to be found…and the metal wolves sang their last warning as the dark clouds above echoed with thunder…the feeling of dread came over him.
Under any other circumstances, he would have turned around and left the whole horrifying scene from the beliefs of nature’s spirits warning him to flee from this land of malevolence…but there was a youngling inside that needed him…and he had promised to do what he could for the young spark…
He pulled his cloak closer to his frame as he gave a slight smile to the driver in thanks, the mech just nodded and released his servo before climbing back up on his seat to take the steeds to the stables…leaving the healer in the cold wind to find his own way up to the castle.
Sighing once more, he gave a look around to spot a path that he hoped would lead up to the doors. A slight shiver went through him as the nitro-crows let out their caws…so many warnings…shaking his helm and taking a deep intake, he headed up the stone pathway, careful not to step on the multiple cracks that the sprouting weeds were breaking through.
His processor went back on the stories that he had heard of this family…they were powerful…they were wealthy…they were built from the finest materials…they were cursed… As lovely as they look…hate and violence supposedly filled their darkened sparks like that of a demon from the deepest reaches of the pit. So cruel that any suitors would end up broken within a few moments with the bots, chased away with broken sparks that it was hard for their bloodline to actually bond with anyone because of the fear that the blackened sparks would kill the mates and leave nothing but a shell.
The poor young spark inside was supposed to be the result of one who had tried to bond with one of the member…the youngling came out sick from creation from the binding… Perhaps it was more of a genetic code then it was some kind of curse…he would only be able to tell once he reached the doors of the place.
Another cold wind blew the bottom of his cloak around him and he noticed he couldn’t hear the warnings anymore…as though a blanket had smothered out the sounds from reaching him as the place laid it’s tightening grip upon him as he finally reached the entrance…and finally one last crow caw called out to him in a begging for him to flee as fast as he could…
He ignored it as he reached up to the knocker and gave his farewell to the world outside as he waited for someone to come to him…the feeling of dread never leaving him and ever growing with the kliks.
About ready to turn around, he shuttered his optics as the large doors swung open and a green mech smiled down at him and the feeling subsided at the sigh of a friendly face, “You must be the medic that the Masters have called upon, please come in, they have been expecting you for some time.”
A quick nod and he was let in from the cold chill, the inside of the palace not reflecting the outside…then again who would want to live in such a dreary design…that and he was sure they could feel the abodes with whatever they please, filling up any empty spaces and making it look full.
The servant that let him in offered his servo, “May I take your cloak, the maids will make sure it is clean before you go.”
Crystal optics stared at the gesture, usually he just came in and left…his cloak would hide anything that he had decided somebot else could use…but seeing as he wasn’t going to get to far without giving it up, he undid the clasp and handed it over.
A bow and another smile, “Please, come this way, I will make sure the Sirs know you have arrived.”
He didn’t say anything as he followed the larger mech, his charm echoing in the halls as they walked, he noticed the smile growing on the other’s face at the sound…most likely amused.
They passed other servants and suddenly his simple skirt and blouse seemed so much more like a peasants as he noticed that even they were dressed in fine materials and he desperately wished for his cloak back to at least hide from the stares he was receiving.
“Here we are,” the cheerful voice broke through the silence as the green servant pushed open another set of doors leading to what the healer assumed was a room big enough to make his humble clinic look dwarfed if placed inside and it took everything for him not to gap…out of all the Nobles castles he had visited…this was far the largest.
“Sirs,” a bow, “I have brought to you the medic you had sent for.”
Finally taking his optics off the decorations, the porcelain mech noticed the optics upon him that held such coldness he was sure he would freeze to the spot, gaining reality back, he bowed as well, “Good evening, Lords, I am Ratchet, the healer-”
“We know who you are,” a bright yellow mech sneered at him, his white button up shirt nearly undone letting the armor beneath gleam in the glare of the fire from the fireplace, an appearance that most Nobles would have considered scandalous to be seen. His pants seemed to be a little tight as the boots he wore came up to his knees, the gold enamels glittering in the moments the fire flared and hidden underneath a golden half cape that hung around his right shoulder, the handle of sword threatened to make it’s whole self known.
“Ignore my brother‘s outburst,” a crimson mech to the first side smiled over at him, his outfit mimicking the others, but the cape was red and on his left, “he just doesn’t know how to behave in front of a cutie like you.”
Ratchet gave a glance at the servant, who just gave him an apologetic smile in return.
“Excuse them,” he’s attention turned back to a much more Noble looking mech whose colors were blue and white, a common color of those in royalty, the extravagant style of his clothes and jewels were something he was more accustomed to seeing in the wealthy “they are young and their actions are less then desired.”
This one had to be older, a servo did a motion and the higher up was bowing slightly, “I am Lord Mirage, these are my younger brothers,” he straightened up, his face plates holding a stoic look, “you are here to aid another family members youngling, I assume, Hound, take him to where he is needed.”
The servant bowed, “Yes, Sir.”
Following the gesture, the medic turned and followed suit, a call whistle trailing behind him, as soon as he was sure they were distanced enough, he turned to the other mech, “For Nobles, they do not act as such.”
A slight chuckle, “Yeah…the first two are the twins, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe-”
“You mean split-sparked twins?”
The bot nodded, “Yes and are unfortunately the most notorious…nothing good, that I can tell you, the other is the oldest brother Mirage and unlike the first two, takes his role verys seriously…a little too much but that is just me, what am I supposed to know is too much for a Noble?”
Getting no answer, Hound continued, “The youngling belongs to their cousin and even they respect family, his parental units are Inferno and Firestar…Inferno being their kin…though he does not reflect the usual family attitude, which is good if you ask me.”
A slight tilt of the chevron helm, “So the stories are true?”
“Hmm…that depends on you-oh here we are!”
They stopped and he motioned to the door, “The young Sir is inside with his Creator, I hope you can help him, he is the only sparkling born to the Lords in such a long time.”
He turned and left, leaving him there to stare at the door while his processor caught up with everything before he opened the door, a little wary of what to expect.
A large mech looked up from a desk that was positioned near a berth where a small youngling sat cross-legged while clutching the blankets around him, the elder smiled and motioned him in, “Thank you for coming,” he turned to his offspring, “see Red Alert, the doctor isn’t scary looking at all.”
The gentleness in tall bot’s voice was surprising considering how his other family sounded and the warmth that radiated off of him was so comforting that the medic found himself smiling.
Optics peeked at him from underneath the covers before a red helm popped out as he pointed at the new comer, “He’s wearing a skirt too! Uncle Sides lied to me!”
A hearty laugh filled the room as the Creator picked up his youngling, the covers falling to reveal a skirt that reached his knees and a blouse that had silver designs in it, “See, others like wearing them too.”
Ratchet let out his own laugh as he twirled around, his bells clinging together, the youngling’s outfit looked more like a Noble’s as his own looked more like the clothes that he had imagined the gypsy from the story his brother had told him would look like. Yet, he was in a skirt and that was all that seemed to matter at the moment to the new spark, who was happily laughing away at the sound.
So different from the others…
He stopped and took a bow, “Lord Red Alert, I assume?”
Another giggle and he looked back up with a wink, the one he assumed was Inferno placed his son on the ground, who quickly made his way over to the skirted older, “Sideswipe likes picking on him for it and there aren’t many other mechs around here wearing them.”
The medic snorted and glanced down at the awed youngling, “He’s just jealous he can’t look good in them like we do.”
Another giggle and the little red and white mech grabbed a shiny belt that hung loosely from the healer’s waist, the metal clanging together in his tiny servos, “Cool,” he glanced up, “you dress funny…I like it!”
He nuzzled his small face into the material of the skirt, giggling as he did, “You smell like the outside too, not as much as Mister Hound, you’re more flowery then earthy though.”
“Thank you…I think…”
“He usually doesn’t take to strangers that well,” a glance up showed the Creator to be wearing an odd smile, “He’s usually so scared of everyone…”
“Well,” the guest chuckled down at his new found friend, “I guess it’s the skirt.”
*-_~*~_-*BREAK*-_~*~_-*
He paused at the sound of bells coming down the hall, a smirk and he stopped to lean against the wall, the chimes nearly passing him before he was noticed with a sudden jump and the glare of crystal optics. His smirk widened into grin at the look, “Evening medic.”
“Lord Sideswipe, how are you?”
The crimson mech just chuckled, he always loved it when a new bot visited…a fresh lay for him to have a taste of, he tilted his helm, “Well and how is dear Red Alert?”
The optics narrowed, “May I ask why it concerns you? From what the sweetspark has told me, you are a constant aggravator to his glitch, in which I have just found out through his Creator and I need to be informed on why such a condition was kept away from me!”
Damn, this didn‘t look good for him…he could make a save though, “Just trying to play with him.”
White arms crossed over the clothed chassis and for a brief moment he noticed that the smaller mech’s servos were red…wonder what else was on his hidden frame…
“Am I to believe that? What you are doing is more like torture to his delicate systems, now please excuse me, I have to find his Carrier.”
A snort, “Good luck with that, when it comes to that femme and the care of her own offspring, she vanishes.”
He received a confused look, “Why would she do that?”
The Noble refused to say it was because of the curse…that no matter how much love there was at the start of the relationship…something happened to make it change…and it wasn’t unusual the bonded to go insane…if not suicidal…no need to chase the lovely little medic away, he just rolled his optics, “How should I know? I’m not her.”
He smirked again, “Though, I’m sure you don’t mind that, being me means a large spike for others to enjoy.”
A disgusted look flashed across the porcelain features, “Why am I not surprised by that response…did you skip out on your manner classes or something?”
“What are these manners that you speak of?”
The chevron decorated helm shook, “For a Noble you are-”
A scream pierced the air and the two gave a glance down the hall from the direction it came from before returning to stare at each other’s shocked features, it only seemed like kliks as the taller of the pair took off with the other behind him, “That sounded like Firestar!”
“It came from the youngling’s room!”
“RED!”, the thought that the sparkling could be in trouble made them both speed up until they broke through door…both coming to a complete freeze at the scene…
Hound was holding a crying Red Alert while growling at a femme who was being held down by the golden brother while the oldest was checking over the Creator as he was sitting on the edge of the berth holding his helm in his servos.
“DAMN PIT SPAWNED GLITCH, YOU DID THIS TO ME!”
The servant held the wailing mechling tighter, “Firestar, have you gone mad! Red has done nothing to you!”
She hissed, “Oh, but they tell me different…and they are always right, it why I did it…I’m not becoming a shell! I’m not going insane!”
Ratchet ran over to the sparkling and the green mech, “What’s going on here!”
The servant glared over at the sparkling’s Carrier, “I was hired as a guide for Lord Mirage’s hunts…my sense of smell is beyond that of a normal bots…I had noticed a particular scent coming from her when ever she came back from her walks…thinking nothing of it but perhaps she had ran into this flower by accident and merely got the smell on her. I didn’t notice what was going underneath our noses.”
The medic shuttered his optics, as a medic, he had a diverse study in the natural ways of healing, which lead to knowledge of what plants did what and he knew there was a certain kinds that nowhere but death…but it would have to be through a constant supply of the herb.
Looking around, he noticed a small cube of energon meant for the youngling, reaching over and taking a sniff of it…he nearly cried in outrage from the familiar scent…to those who didn’t know what to look out for…it was just a perfume to make it more tempting to a fussy sparkling.
He glanced at the servant, who just nodded at him and then went back to glare at the screaming femme, “I smelled Goldenseal.”
Sunstreaker glared at them, “What the pit is that?”
A sigh came from the healer as he reached into his subspace, ignoring the way the crimson twin stared from having to undo a few buttons to do so, he took out a small vile and opened it before handing to Hound to give the sparkling, “Goldenseal is a poisonous herb that slowly kills overtime if continually given, like the amount she has put in Red Alert’s fuel.”
“WHAT!”
They all glanced over to watch Inferno stand up, a heated snarl sent to his bonded, “Why would you do that! He is our son!”
“He’s a pit demon just like you and the rest of your family! Blackened sparks all of you! I should have listened to them…they were right!”
Mirage stepped between the two parents, “Who was right?”
She giggled and continued to struggle out of the golden Noble’s grip, “The voices, the voices,” her optics widened as she watched the sparkling drink the liquid that the healer gave him, “what is that!”
The white mech frowned, “Antidote…voices are telling you to kill your child?”
Another scream, “NO! He can’t live! He’ll be just like the others! I’m saving him, can’t you see that! The voices will come after him too!” She opened her mouth to let out another scream, only to go completely still and pass out in the twin’s arms…Inferno following right behind her because of their bond.
The oldest brother immediately checked on his cousin as Sunstreaker snorted as he dropped the femme’s frame, “She’s out not dead.”
Sideswipe watched as the medic went over to check on the prone figures before rushing over to the mechling, the sparklings cries becoming louder at the sight of his parental units, “It’s alright Red, shush…”
“They’re in comas…probably from her systems…they look tampered with…”
They all stared at the skirted mech, Mirage was the first to speak, a low growl in his usual calm voice, “I do not care for her, what can you do for Inferno, medic!”
Crystal optics snapped up at him, “For me to know that, I have to find out what happened to her, whether you like it or not.”
“I got a feeling…whoever these…’voices’ are, they have to do with this.”, the green servant nuzzled the shaking frame in his arms, “Something is wrong here…who would do this…who would want to force a Carrier to attempt to murder her own sparkling?”
A snarl and the yellow twin glared down at Firestar, “I don’t know…but when I find out…”
The threat hung in the air…
A deep sigh came from the eldest brother as he turned to the medic, “It seems…you will be staying here until we figure this out, I do not wish for any of this to get out in the public until solved and to do so, I must make sure everyone in this room does not leave.” He glanced down at his fallen family member, “Besides, your assistance is required to make sure Inferno wakes up,” a cold look was suddenly sent to the guest, “and if he doesn’t, I will hold his failed health in your servos, understand?”
“But I have patients to get back to!”
“I do not care! You will heal him or I will make it were you never be able to help another! You will stay here until you are no longer needed!”
Ratchet bit back a response…this mech owned the land his village was built on…he could burn if wanted to…for no reason…the bots…the community…all of it belonged to him like his personal playthings…and he could easily get rid of it as such…
Sighing, he nodded in agreement…he had no choice but to stay in this place…with these cursed mechs…that held no judgment in taking another’s life as long as it suited their purposes, “I will get the berths ready for them and prepare what is needed…”
He could never put his home and it’s civilians in harms way…even if himself was the shield to stop it…
-Part One! I hope you enjoyed it! I hope so, I wasn’t so sure of putting it up. Don’t worry, there will be more Ratchet and Twins in the next part, along with more answers!