Fanfic: Sedna: The Akhlut From The Depth Ch 15, Transformers/Beast Wars

All right, we've finally arrived on the second part of the two-part chapter. On the previous chapter, we followed an orca pod and Bumblebee's team. Now we're going to follow the other side of the 24hr events; the consequences of Strongarm's trauma has only begun. What's going to happen with Sedna and Optimus now when Strongarm is severely traumatized after the orca attack? Let us find out. The chapter title is based on Disturbed's song The Sound of Silence, which has given me a huge inspiration for this chapter. I also was inspired by the song The Host of Seraphim by The Dead Can Dance. I highly recommend you listen the song.

The Sound of Silence

Things changed drastically since the orca attack. The aftermath created severe consequences for the trio. Since her trauma appeared, Strongarm's condition worsened catastrophically. It took only one day after the shocking revelation of her condition when her trauma turned things into worse, in which neither Optimus nor Sedna predicted to face. The trauma made the cadet blind and deaf completely.

The sky was becoming cloudy in the distance as a storm was coming toward land. It was early evening but the sun vanished behind the incoming storm, its golden rays of sunlight illuminated behind the dark clouds, brightening the horizon in yellow, orange, red and weak blue. Seagulls flew around, shrieking complains between each other whereas they sought after fish. Sedna lied on the bottom in her Akhlut form. She had hidden under the surface for soon two sun movements. Her lungs labored whereas holding the deep breath she carried inside. Even if her lungs screamed out, she defined to swim up. Sedna feared to see the cadet. She hadn't forgotten the punch she received on her face plates, witnessing the utter fright on the cadet's optics. It hurt her so much inside her spark.

Blue Eyes, I don't want you to be like this, she thought while she used her left optic to look up on the bright surface, listening the sounds of waves, seagulls, currents and wheels.

Wheels.

She heard the familiar noises from two vehicles that she recognized immediately. It was Wise Voice and Blue Eyes returning. However, no matter how tempted she was, Sedna hesitated. What if her friend see her and run away in panic?

No, I can't do it. I cannot watch her scared, Sedna thought regretfully. She's lost. The Sound of Silence is clouding her soul. She is blind and deaf by it. Oh, Blue Eyes, why does it have to happen to you?

It was inevitable to think on it, even more knowing it. Sedna knew there was nothing she can do but pray Vanadis for mercy to her little friend. Thou, she feared Halja was not far to interfere. The Twin Goddess of the Void watched constantly over the world of the living. Just then, she could not hold it any longer before she urged to release her breath and swam quickly straight to the surface where she blew a long blow of air out of her blowhole.

Strongarm

The blow scared Strongarm.

She was frightened to death when she saw the Akhlut Predacon's blow of air. Only the dorsal fin was enough for her to give a shriek of fear, running away. She fled into the forest where she hid behind a couple of pine trees, surrounded by bushes. But she was not alone.

"Strongarm, it's all right!" Optimus immediately called her as he was quick to seek her, which took barely a few kliks before he found her behind the pine trees where the cadet sat squatted, her servos hiding her face plates. The Prime knelt next to her, touching her shoulder with worried optics. "It's okay. Sedna is not going to harm you."

"Don't touch me. Don't touch me," the cadet muttered lowly. Then she jerked rapidly, tossing her arms and took the Prime's servo from her shoulder as she yelled aloud. "Don't touch me!"

"Easy there, Strongarm. Easy," he held his servos up, showing no harm. "Nobody is going to harm you. I know you are scared. Sedna is your friend, not your enemy."

"Sedna… Sedna, Sedna, Sedna," she vented repeatably, inhaling and exhaling quickly. Then she lay her shaken servos behind her helm, closing her optics tight and wept in despair. "What is wrong with me? Why is this happening to me?"

Optimus did not answer. He expanded his right servo to give her a gentle touch. But again, the cadet shook up and slapped on his servo quite violently.

"No, no, no, no," Strongarm murmured, weeping a flood of tears while she repeated questioning. "What's wrong with me, what's wrong with me, what's wrong with me?"

The Prime could not answer her question. It hurt him too much to watch her crying. He wanted to hug her so dearly that he risked again to get closer to Strongarm and tried to embrace her. Nonetheless, it failed when the cadet punched on his chest plates, trying to escape. Yet, despite the clenched fists that kept punching his chest plates, Optimus persisted the pain as he wrapped his arms around the cadet and hugged her tightly so she stopped her punching. But still, Strongarm tried her best to break free.

"Let me go, sir!" she yelled, struggling to get loose from his powerful arms. Then she started to kick instead. "Let me go!"

"Stop fighting back," Optimus whispered calmly in her audio receptor, though his voice was fighting back against the emotions he dealt inside his frame. He felt more upset than ever before, but still even if he was upset inside, he didn't show it straightaway. Yet, it hurt him much inside his spark. "Strongarm, stop fighting back."

But then Strongarm did the unthinkable. She bent her helm backward, then threw a strong throw and banged her forehead onto the Prime's forehead, their crests clashing violently. It was enough for Optimus to drop her, letting her go while he grunted agonizingly with a nasty dizziness. He got an unpleasant helm ache that pulsed inside between his optics. Then, without warning, he received a hard fist that punched on his facial plates so hard that he drew Energon from a tiny crack on his lips.

Shocked over it, Optimus shook his head trying to understand what just happened when he heard harsh words from a broken voice that was thick by intense weeping.

"Why did you even bother to search for me on first place?" Strongarm cried dryly. The wounds on her cheek plate had ruptured wide open, Energon bleeding down. "You never stepped up for me."

"What are you talking about?" the Prime drew a small inhale. Not only was he shocked, he was also disbelieved over the cadet's words. "Strongarm, you know I've regretted over my inaction and I wanted to redeem. Don't force me to remind you."

"You don't understand, sir," her voice's dry thickness thickened inside her voice box. Tears kept streaming down from her swollen optics.

"What is it I do not understand?"

"You… you shouldn't have come."

The words struck him like a lightning from a clear sky. He could not believe what Strongarm said. Neither had he ever seen her so emotionally affected that Strongarm became unaware of her own condition. Strongarm's trauma proved to be far worse than he dearly prayed it was not. Now he realized how dreadfully wrong he was.

"Don't you dare to speak like that, cadet," Optimus tried to speak calmly despite the burning ache that flamed under his face plates. "You know I came because I wanted to find you. You know that you need help too."

"Help you say? Where was the help I needed when I was treated like the black sheep?" Strongarm's voice began to reveal a denial caused by her emotional state. Then her still tearful optics burst into flames as she shot a remorseless glare to the Autobot Commander. "I assume you haven't noticed something that differs me from others."

As it happened, Optimus chose to be quiet for a single klik.

"Do you want to know why? Do you?!"

No word slipped from him. Yet, inside he screamed. He wanted to say something in return.

"No…" then she suddenly surprised him. "You'd be just the others. You will laugh out."

"What do you mean I would laugh out about something? Tell me what it is. I will listen."

"You won't care either. Nobody never cared."

"Strongarm, stop it. You are frightening me. Please, I want to help you," Optimus expanded his servos straight to her, hoping she would not fight back.

"No, I don't want your help," she snarled. New tears refilled her itching optics. Her voice box was thick and dry. "You shouldn't have come."

"Stop it now."

"You… why do you care so much for me?"

"I told you that –"

"Stop talking," the cadet cut him off. "I don't want to see you."

"You won't dare to say those words to me again," getting increasingly frustrated, Optimus risked a few steps closer to Strongarm. The femme shuddered a lot in emotional distress, her servos shaking intensively. He was losing his patience. The anger boiled underneath his chest plates, scattering like a wild bush fire within him. Just then, he reached out his servos to grasp Strongarm, but before he could touch her, the cadet dodged swiftly and quickly swung to behind his spinal strut.

He cast his optics over his broad shoulder to see where Strongarm went, only to feel a sharp pain striking right at his spinal strut. It felt like his entire spinal column cracked apart. Optimus groaned while he fell on one of his knees, sensing the burning pain that spread over his spinal strut and hips and he relied on his other servo to prevent him from collapsing. Had Strongarm punched him there? No, she did not punch him. What she did was the unthinkable.

Strongarm had kicked him. Optimus fought back to hold the agony in check when he looked at the cadet who held her fists up. She was on the verge of emotional instability.

Optimus could not believe it. How dared Strongarm to kick him from behind? It was then he recognized her no longer. It became obvious for Optimus. Strongarm's trauma had catastrophically changed her in so short time that she was no longer herself. Then, he suddenly remembered Sedna's sketches that showed the cadet's blindness by her trauma.

"I don't want to see you…" she struggled to speak as fresh tears streamed over her heated face plates, tears mixed with the Energon that still poured from the wounds. Her voice box was thick and tense. "Leave."

Leave. That word stabbed through his spark. Optimus was speechless to hear her saying like that. That moment, he lost control over his patience.

"You have crossed over a terrible line, Strongarm," he warned her, stretching up on full height whereas he glared down at the cadet. His size towered her. "You are behaving the same like Bumblebee and his team treated on you. You're accusing me, and you are also denying for help when you truly are in desperate need for help."

"I don't want to hear your pathetic voice, sir! I don't want your help!"

"Don't lie to me, cadet!" it was then he barked out. His voice was thunderous in a depth of anger that grew increasingly. "You are not yourself. I don't recognize you anymore. I told you before that I came because I wanted you to forgive me for my mistakes, and you forgave me. But now you're like Bumblebee and Sideswipe; you are accusing me for nothing. Are you stuck in the past or not?"

"No, I'm not like them. They have not experienced what I've experienced-" she snapped back, only to get cut off by the Prime.

"You're not even nearest to my experiences," Optimus growled deeply, yet he struggled to reclaim control over his loss of patience and emotions. "I've experienced things long before you came to existence. I have done many things, both good and bad. But I'd never turn my back to some poor soul in dire need for help and support, especially those who want to end their lives."

"I… stop-"

"No, you stop talking. Now you listen to me once and for all!" he yelled at her. "I think I figured out now how you claimed yourself different from Bumblebee and his team. You're a lone wolf. You lived in total loneliness without love and care from others. You've been treated like a black sheep before… and many have turned their spinal struts against you."

On that moment, cards suddenly shifted between them. Strongarm turned completely silent. Her optics were wide-open in shock, utterly scared. Her body did not stop shaking by the intense tension. The dreadful silence hung over her, invisibly stitching her lips up with an iron thread.

"You have difficult to trust to others, because you are not willing to open up for others," Optimus continued. "And you're a big challenge for others too. I believe you have some secrets that you don't want others to know, but I do. I need to know. It's the only way if I can give you the support you really need."

Just then, Strongarm shook her helm slowly.

"So be it then. Stay quiet so long as you wish, but I will find it out eventually. Either, it will come out from your personally, or I can simply force you to speak up if I must," the Prime knuckled his servos into hard fists. Thou, he did it only to hold his anger under control no matter the cost.

Rapidly, the femme swung around, turning her back to him. She was trying to flee from him. But Optimus was quick to catch via her shoulders, turning her around to meet her panicking optics. His servos tightened when he held her on place.

"And this is how you show me gratitude?!" he roared. His voice was so enraged that it was heard for miles away, which it caused many birds and animals alike to flee from the area. "You dare to turn your back against me? You're not only turning your back to me, but you are also turning your back to Sedna, your only true friend!"

Regrettably, he was completely oblivious that there was one eyewitness watching far on the water.

Sedna was slightly spyhopping. She shook in trembles while hearing his enraging roar. Her spark pulsed fast whereas she listened, barely looking above the surface. Despite Sedna understood nothing of the words, she understood the tone. The Akhlut Predacon inhaled a deep breath, submerging below the surface. She did not want to listen on the argument anymore, yet her audio receptors heard everything. It was inescapable.

Strongarm shuddered more whereas her optics starred briefly on Optimus. He looked not much like the Optimus Prime she knew. He looked like a demon of rage. However, she noticed more than just hostile anger; she saw disappointment. Was Optimus disappointed on her as well? Strongarm recognized the disappointment. It was the same thing she had experienced before.

"Please…" she begged. "Don't…"

But the only answer she received was Optimus' shaking helm. He had it enough. He was done with her. Strongarm's spark screamed in mournful torment. Suddenly, she saw him before her optics. The one who loved her.

"I don't want to do this, but you give me no other choice," Optimus warned the cadet. He was close to lose as he was on the brink of his strong emotions that flamed viciously within his spark.

"Please," she repeated, then she swallowed. "Please, don't hurt me."

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're going to hurt me. Just like what he did to me."

"Who?" Optimus lightened his grip around the cadet's shoulders. It was something he really shouldn't have done.

Unpredictably, Strongarm pushed him quite starkly. She then spitted right at his face plates.

"You shouldn't have come. You wouldn't care whatever I tell you," she whimpered. "You really don't care about me…"

"I'm done with you," Optimus suddenly said, his tone ruthless.

Hearing the words stabbed through the cadet's chest plates. The same harmful words that she heard in the past returned with reprisal. Dead silence gripped her whereas she stared at Optimus, shaking more. Thousands of flashing memories beamed inside her CPU, recalling the painful moments of her entire life. Then she heard a desperate cry from a youngling, screaming out inside her audio receptors.

Don't go away!

Sedna

On that same sparkbeat, Sedna resurfaced. Unwillingly, she peeked slightly for a second time, listening intently. She hated doing it so much, and yet she did.

The Predacon femme felt the tension growing intensively between Blue Eyes and Wise Voice until it finally broke apart in between them. But just then, Sedna suddenly comprehended.

Blue Eyes was no longer herself. Her voice sounded so lost. It took barely a single sparkbeat for Sedna to realize straightaway. Blue Eyes was not only lost in the Sound of Silence; she had also the Voice of Denial. It was not the first time Sedna had encountered the Voice of Denial either. She knew how powerful the effects were. As it happened, the Predacon remembered that she used to be a victim of the Voice of Denial several times in the past. The Voice of Denial was only another thin but very common branch to the core.

The Sound of Silence, the core of all suffering, Sedna thought heavy in gloominess. All sorrows, pain, hatred and loneliness. Now my friend has it.

Friend. The Predacon femme shut her optics tightly, gently swinging her orca head away while she restrained from shedding tears.

I cannot stay here anymore. She has lost the fight. She's beyond saving...

By then, Sedna was totally upset as she dived under the surface.

Optimus

Optimus felt he had reached his own limits while he glared down at the young cadet who looked like she was about to collapse, losing her nerve and whimper like a youngling. He had it enough.

"S-S-Sir," Strongarm stammered.

"Leave," the Prime told her. "I have enough of you. I will not give you a second chance."

It was on that moment Strongarm looked utterly betrayed. It was a massive amazement that the femme still can produce liquids that glittered on the corners of her optics, despite she shed tears multiple times in row by now. She gently turned her spinal strut against Optimus, walking away while pacing up into a run. However, she then stopped to grab a large, sharp rock that fitted in her servo and threw it right at the Prime's face plates. The rock's sharp edges cut a nasty crack on his left optic ridge, bleeding some Energon that poured over his optic. Optimus was fast to cover his wounded optic with his servo, only to feel that the rock was stuck onto the metal plate.

"I hate you!" Strongarm yelled at him, crying loudly before running away, vanishing into the forest uphill past the eastern cliffs.

The former Autobot Commander tenderly removed the rock, flinging it away, then he pressed his servo over the wound to stop the bleeding. He swore under his breath while he knelt a knee gear down on the sand, grunting agonizingly. Spontaneously, Optimus heard a blow gushing from the water. He knew directly what it was. He moved his head over his shoulder to look behind him. He saw Sedna spyhopping near the bay's entrance. Was Sedna leaving? Miraculously, Sedna turned, swimming back to the beach. Thou, she swam on a slow pace. Then she walked up land, slower than Optimus thought. She walked slowly, her optics watchful and cautious, yet she posed no threat, only worry.

Eeeeiiiuuuum, Sedna vocalized. She took a few steps closer, then stopped like she was ambivalent where the line stood between her and the Prime, standing completely still.

"Sedna," he said her name.

Eeeaaam, she whistled briefly. Her call sounded like a question in concern.

"No," Optimus shook his head, frowning depressed. "I'm not okay."

The Akhlut Predacon shifted quickly to her robot form, still she stood where she was as if she did not want to make things worse. Waiting patiently, Sedna looked at the Prime when he offered her a sign to come closer to him, which she then walked closer toward him. She sat before him in silence, frowning remorsefully. Sadness shone clearly on her dark blue optics, the pupils wide and round.

"I don't know what to do," Optimus sighed. His bleeding optic ridge forced him to shut his optic tightly, thou it caused only more itchy pain than he wanted to. "I don't recognize Strongarm at all."

Deeeiiaaauum, Sedna whistled lowly, discouraged.

The Prime sighed again, bending his helm. He felt shattered inside. He was so fed up with anger that he suddenly felt guilty and disappointed, followed by the exhaustion that washed through his body. Optimus wished Strongarm was not severely traumatized. But then, he suddenly rethought. It was not him who was in fault. In fact, it was Strongarm's fault that led she got attacked by the orcas. Yet, she behaved like a youngling who did not want to learn to take responsibility for her own actions. How dared she to deny everything?

"Sedna, I'm afraid that there's very little I can do," Optimus admitted. Unexpectedly, he did not use any sign language to translate for Sedna, not on right mood to use his servos. Although, something told him inside that Sedna was listening on him. "I can't help Strongarm when she acts like that. The way she behaves… I can't take care of her when she's denying everything, blaming me for nothing."

Deeeiiaack, the Predacon femme shook her head, using her left index claw to point herself. Optimus quickly assumed Sedna would not take care Strongarm either.

"It hurts me to see her like that," he continued.

Then, without vocalizing, Sedna servo-signaled gently. First, she scratched over her right upper arm, using the 'hurt' sign, followed by pointing at Optimus and finally laying her left servo onto her own chest, feeling her beating spark. It said one single phrase: You're hurt inside.

"Yes," Optimus nodded, acknowledging. "I'm feeling sad too."

Silently, the Predacon femme nodded one single nod.

"Sedna, I need your help," he then begged her. "Tell me what we can do. Show me anything."

As it happened, as if she somehow understood the words without translation, Sedna stretched her servos on the sand, then rising her right servo up to signal the Prime to approach closer to her. Relying her left servo, she began drawing on the sand, sketching many figures with swift digits. In spite Optimus' wounded optic, he managed to use his other optic to look. Sedna's sketches showed a big picture; two squares divided by a straight line that cut through the middle. For him, it looked like an open book.

The left side showed Strongarm covering her audio receptors, her optics shut closed and lips sealed up as if she didn't want to speak. Above her stood simple sketches of Sedna in her Akhlut form, Optimus and other things; birds, animals, waves and even gusting wind. But the opposite side told a whole different story. What both stunned and disturbed Optimus was the side showed Strongarm all alone, her optics wide open and audio receptors uncovered. Her expression displayed a pure wake-up call of the absence. What was going on there?

"What is it you are trying to tell me?" Optimus pointed on the entire sketch, trying to comprehend the picture as whole. He pointed on the left side, especially Strongarm's expression.

It was then Sedna servo-signaled him to take a closer look, in which he did as he peered closer. On that moment, it became all clear for him when he looked closer on the differences between the two sides. One detail that terrified him was that Strongarm was all alone on the right side, thus it explained why about her shocking expression.

"You don't say…" he looked on Sedna. "You don't mean we have to leave her behind? No, I'm not going to leave her-"

Deeaaaum!

Just then, the Predacon femme opened her jaws, hastily snapping them hard like scissors, causing her fangs to clang loudly. She snarled widely, barring her fangs threateningly when she thrashed her arms and servos everywhere. Sedna used many signs in fast movements, so fast that Optimus couldn't catch up. Thou, her facial expression shone pure upsetting emotions.

"Hey, hey, hey, slow down!" startled by her aggressive sign language, Optimus waved his servos in surrender, although it barely helped as he nearly got pushed over by Sedna.

Helpless, he lay on his spinal column, watching in dismay as Sedna glared him down. That klik, the Prime was truly frightened over the intimidating predator glare. But as quickly as it started, it ended up with Sedna moving to the side still standing. Although, she raised her tail quite high before fiercely smashing it on the sand. Optimus could swear that he bumped up like a thick seal by the strong quake. He stared on Sedna whom glared him back, thou she like she tried to defy the temptation to leap at him, mauling him like a ragdoll. Yet, the voice behind the back of his CPU screamed out, reminding him that he should not underestimate the Akhlut Predacon.

"Sedna…" Optimus spoke carefully, sitting on his aft while he held his servos before him.

But before he could speak further, Sedna interrupted him as she swung her servos around, signaling multiple servo-signals that only confused the Prime. She expressed more than only anger though; she looked upset. Instead trying to say more words and possibly worsening it, Optimus surprised the Predacon femme when he pointed on himself, hastily poking on his left audio receptor and lastly pointing at Sedna.

He signaled a short, simple meaning: I'm listening.

It helped. The Predacon calmed down as she sat, slowly yet inordinately signaling many servo signs. First, she pointed herself, followed by poking on her icicled audio receptor, then pointing back on Optimus before using her servos to shape Strongarm's head. Then, she closed her servos into hard fists, beating the knuckles like two hammers. However, Sedna moved her left closed servo toward her throat, slowly moving under her chin and then opened her servo bare. She then pointed Optimus again, followed by repeating the same servo movement she made a moment ago, and a new servo signal came.

Sedna used her right servo to describe a flat ground, then using her left servo's index and middle digits that 'walked' over her servo.

As it happened, Optimus understood what Sedna signed. She had overheard the argument, but not only she'd overheard them; she also heard him telling Strongarm to leave.

"You heard everything…" he said heavily.

Deeaaaum…

"Sedna, I'm very honest now," he continued, slowly rising a servo. "I'm done with her. And that I told her to leave…"

Deeaaaum, Sedna nodded, acknowledging.

"I need some time alone. Once she comes back, I will talk to her," he tried to tell her, when all suddenly, Sedna stretched her dominated servo to his face plates and closed his lips.

Deeeiiaack, she shook her helm. Then, she signaled 'look' and poked on her sand sketches. There she sketched a third page. It showed the Predacon and Autobot Commander returning to Strongarm who hugged them, crying large tears.

"So… if I understand right, you and I leave Strongarm to her own fate," he spoke, trying to comprehend the whole picture. "But after a couple of days, we return and she will be happy to see us?"

Deeaaaum, she nodded again. But her face plates frowned like she rethought something, casting a downcast glance away from the Prime.

"What is it? Change of spark?" Optimus questioned.

Sedna turned her optics back, looking at him. She servo-signaled a new, very complicated sign. First, she held her left fist up, slowly moving it into a circle. But when it reached halfway, her servo shaped a big C, then continuing a whole circle with a closed fist, and finally opened widely. She repeated it three times in row. While she did it, Optimus observed the new sign she created. He copied after her movements. After another three repeats, the Prime understood directly what Sedna's new sign meant. She described a crescent moon and a shining sun.

"Moon?" he mimicked the C-sign, circling his servo to the 'sun'. "And sun?"

The Predacon femme nodded.

"Moon and sun… day and night?" he clarified.

It was then Sedna tilted her head on one side, confused over the words. Once again, it reminded Optimus far too well about the Predacon's massive lack of Cybertronian knowledge. Thanks to the over fifty-five thousand years isolation, the Akhlut Predacon femme lost her chance to learn Cybertronian speech and socialization. Yet, Optimus sensed that Sedna was also lucky to miss witnessing the Great War and the fall of Cybertron. Just then, she repeated the new 'moon and sun circle' signal, followed by 'explanation' wave movement.

Despite her confusion, she still wanted to learn. Understandingly, Optimus helped her by explaining.

"Night," his servo shaped the crescent moon, then circling his fist to the sun sign. "Day."

Sedna copied his movements, listening precisely on his voice. After a few repeats listening on the words, she seemed to understand the connection.

Deeaaaum, she whistled, nodding. But then, she frowned again when she looked on her bare servos as if she thought on something else to add.

"Let's say we take a week," Optimus said patiently, rising his servos up, showing seven digits.

The Predacon femme stared at his digits. Seven days. She then cast a gaze on her own servos, seemingly thinking harder, but it took only a klik before she soon figured out. Without vocalizing, she nodded, although uncertainly. But just then, Sedna got heavily discouraged when Optimus sighed. His patience ran out, in which she sensed it undoubtedly. Sedna closed her optics, turning her face plates away in shame. It hurt inside her spark.

It was then she decided it was enough. She can't stay any longer; she'd crossed the line. But at the same time, it hurt her thinking to leave her friends behind. Separation pained much, but she was used to it. Hastily, Sedna stood up on all four limbs, walking back to the water. It triggered Optimus to rise on his pedes, startled over Sedna's sudden behavior.

"Hold on, where you're going, Sedna?" he asked aloud.

She turned around, looking at him. He saw a clear message coming from her unhappy gaze. She was hurt. Then, without warning, Sedna swiftly moved her head away, kicking off into gallop before leaping high in the air. It required one single leap for her to jump far over the shallow water, then diving through the surface with a tremendous splash. It all happened so fast that Optimus had no time to say a word to the Predacon.

The Prime stared widely in disbelief, thou he moaned when he saw Sedna's tail flukes slapping large splashes rapidly, then it stopped in an instant klik. He watched as the beast blew a deep breath, diving underwater and vanished out of sight. But waves revealed her path; she was swimming out from the bay.

"So be it then… I'll see you in seven days," Optimus spoke sadly, suddenly feeling guilty. "Until then, stay safe."

I'm done with you.

Those words rang inside Strongarm's audio receptors like rattlesnakes, unpleasant and unfair. The words stabbed her spark endlessly like ice-cold daggers. The cadet had run up to a well-hidden pond that belonged to a small group of small lakes within the national park. Laying on the side of her body, Strongarm covered her face plates with both servos, sobbing almost silently. The tree canopy hid her well, protecting her from the incoming storm. Yet, the howling winds began to increase strength, blowing harder and faster. The cadet shuddered, curling like a fox on the cool grass.

I'm done with you…

The words seemed never going to fade away. Then, all suddenly, she stopped shuddering. Strongarm lay completely unmovable for a klik. Her nerves had finally reached their limits, forcing her into shutdown to calm down. Her audio receptors muted every sound in her surroundings, leaving only her beating sparkbeats to be heard from within. It was something she always automatically did. Whenever suffering a meltdown or outrage, her systems would automatically turn into shutdown in order to prevent critical overdrive from potential damage.

Strongarm relaxed slowly down like she rode on a streaming river, imagining the cold water washing by her shoulders while her olfactory sensor smelled in every scent from the wildflowers around her. She fell shortly into a nap, although her body was not entirely free from the tension that bit an iron grip on her arms, legs and chest plates.

"Why is this happening to me?" suddenly she mumbled in her recharge, in which she woke awake and stared up to the cloudy sky. She began shaking again whereas her optics looked on every corner around her.

Just then, Strongarm reheard the words again, now louder than she can take. She put her servos over her audios to block noises, but it made it only worse. It pained her a lot so much that Strongarm screamed agonizingly. But there was no actual scream heard. No, it was all happening only in her CPU. The cadet grimaced a silent scream as if she didn't want to hear her cry. However, all suddenly, she heard a vocalization that sang inside her CPU, scaring the words away into oblivion.

Piieeeaaauuum…

"Sedna…" she whispered her friend's name.

Piieeeaaauuum…

"Sedna… Sedna, Sedna, Sedna," Strongarm repeated whispering. Opening her optics, she realized what she truly needed. She needed Sedna. She needed her company. "Sedna… where are you?"

What she failed to completely understand was that she was unmindful of her mental state. Her trauma had changed her processor drastically in a speed too fast for her to notice. She cannot think rationally. Strongarm got up on her pedes, checking on every corner and then she looked after the way back to the beach downhill. It took some kliks until she saw the cliffs, which she recognized immediately as the bay's eastern cliffs. The cadet jogged toward the beach, hurrying hastily when her ped hit a small log and she flipped over, rolling like a rock.

The rolling stopped when she landed on the wet sand. Dizzily, she lay still, thou some waves touched her helmet. The sound of the waves gave Strongarm a chilling shiver through her spinal strut. It tickled uncomfortably, yet relieving for her. She then moved gently up, shaking her dizziness off and looked over the bay.

It was then she became shocked by her discovery. Optimus was not there on the beach. But where was Sedna? Spontaneously, Strongarm grasped a tiny stone that she tossed it over the water. The stone's splash sounded like a large raindrop. Nothing happened. Then she grabbed a bigger stone, throwing it out and watched its bigger splash. Still nothing happened. Strongarm did not quit there. Instead she collected many stones that she carried on one arm, using her other servo to hold many rocks at once, and she threw them like pieces of bread. But no matter how many stones she tossed, nothing happened. On that moment, Strongarm realized the reality.

She was alone.

"No… no, no, no, no!" she panicked, gasping in trembles. "This can't be real!"

By then, her processor went into defense mood, blocking everything of her sensors. The cadet swung round in a circle, watching for signs of movement. Nothing here, nothing there. Had both Optimus and Sedna left her to fend her own? The cadet cannot believe it. But just then, she cast her optics over her shoulder to see the western cliffs.

"I must search after her," Strongarm said, thinking irrationally without second thoughts. "Sedna can't have swim far."

Without thinking clearly, the cadet jogged straight to the cliffs where she climbed over to the other side. On the other side of the bay, she saw a long beach that must have covered far as her gaze can see. The storm was coming closer by every klik. The tide was low, exposing the long beach clear and uncluttered as far as the eye can see. Brown seaweed lay dispersed over the wet sand. Many seagulls walked on the sand, seeking for a quick, easy meal.

Strongarm became stunned to see the flat beach's exposed soil. She hadn't explored outside the hidden bay before. Yet, it did not matter much for her anymore when her processor clouded her optics to think straight. She stood for a few moments, observing the low tide pulling back into the deeper shallows, and then she walked on, following alongside the tide waves. The cadet started to jog gently. At same time, deep rumbling roared through the sky as some lightning struck down, igniting bright light within the clouds.

Strangely enough, Strongarm bothered nothing of the risks getting thunderstruck. She didn't think, she just acted. Rational thoughts existed no longer in her CPU. Whereas jogging, the cadet moved her optics everywhere to see for any signs of Sedna. But then, as it happened, she suddenly spotted something ahead of her. Many seagulls seemed flocking close into a big body breached, screaming their complaining cries like a bunch of old femmes in heated argument.

She narrowed her optics to get a better glance on the body. The body had a small dorsal fin. In an instant sparkbeat, Strongarm added more speed to run, heading straight to it. The seagull flock took liftoff, flapping in haste to flee from the incoming titan. It was then Strongarm heard the squeaking cries. What laid before her was a gray bottlenose dolphin. It must have beached itself. The dolphin raised its tail in dread, squawking loudly like it begged Strongarm to spare its life.

"It's all right, I'm not going to harm you," she knelt next to the dolphin's head, bending down and stretched her servo to touch the dolphin's chest behind the blowhole. Then she peeked her head over her shoulder, inspecting the view behind her. The storm came closer and closer in fast rate, now forcing the waves to grow bigger, meaner and more frightening.

The cadet moved over to the opposite side of the dolphin so she faced the stormy view, expanding her arms to carefully lift it up, carrying the poor dolphin safely in her arms. The dolphin's head rested on Strongarm's left elbow while her other servo held its wide belly. Taking large steps, the femme walked rapidly in rush.

"Primus, you're a heavy one!" she exclaimed, scaring the dolphin even more as it tried to shake itself free by rocking up and down. Its squawking cries penetrated through Strongarm's audio receptors. But she did not hear its panicking cries; she focused solidly on the waves. "And stop screaming!"

But she missed to see the large rock that sat on the sand, still soaked. It was covered by brown and green seaweed. As it happened, Strongarm's right ped accidentally hit the rock and she tumbled, literally soaring over the sand before landing hard. By then, she heard a loud cracking sound. It came below her chest plates. Was she damaged?

No, it was not her. Quickly, she raised backward to watch the cause of the sound. Her optics widened in utter horror when she saw the fast shuddering dolphin that waggled its crushed body. The jaws splattered blood; the jaws were broken. It was the same for the chest, flippers and even parts of the spine. All the waggling was the result of the nerve system overreacting in spite it was disconnected from the brain.

Seeing the dying dolphin's eye, Strongarm saw her reflection, all petrified. Then, the pupil enlarged as the dolphin stopped moving. Death claimed the dolphin's life. The blood flowed alongside the waves, creating dark red lines on the sand. Strongarm shook whereas she stared at the dead dolphin. She crushed it by her bare weight.

She killed an innocent dolphin.

"No… No, no, no, no," she said, crawling backward away from the corpse. "What have I done? What have I done? No, no, no, no!"

Strongarm inhaled fast vents before she threw her helm back and screamed aloud. Her scream was so loud that it was heard for miles. Then she stopped as she felt the first raindrops slamming onto her face plates. The rain felt like icily hammering needles. The cadet closed her optics, sensing the sheer cold raindrops beating her exposed face plates.

Just then, something within told her to unlock one of her chest plates. She opened her right chassis plate, sticking her left servo inside to touch after something tiny. The tips of her digits touched two things, which she grasped tenderly and took them out of her chassis pocket. Holding two things in her servo, she recognized instantly her dolphin whistle, but it was the second object that caused her to tremor.

My locket, Strongarm swallowed whereas she glanced on the oval-shaped locket that shined like silver, the slender chain hung long. She unlocked it gently, though her digits shook a lot when she looked two photos. Temptation to throw the locket away was strong, but she could not do it. If she rid it off, she would forget them entirely no matter what happens. The dolphin whistle was a whole different story. Strongarm needed it no longer. What was the point keeping it when she was completely alone? She then turned around to throw the whistle as far as she can toss, and the dolphin whistle flew far, glittering like silver.

Come…

As it happened, she heard a soft singing voice echoing from the waves. It enchanted the femme. Without thinking, Strongarm stepped up, ignoring the dolphin corpse as she headed straightaway toward the stormy sea, but not before she put her precious locket inside her chassis pocket. Perhaps the waves will cleanse her spark from the pain.

Come…

"I'm coming," she answered, unaware of the dangers.

Enchanted by the voice, the cadet neared closer and closer to the deeper waters. The waves appeared not to be so frightening. Whereas she walked closer, her pedes splashed the water. It was unexpectedly ice-cold. Thou, she did not bother it at all. The waves reached higher and higher until Strongarm started to swim front crawl, then diving underneath a big wave. However, the powerful force of the currents pushed her back, yet she refused to give up as the cadet used all of her strength to dive deeper.

Spontaneously, another powerful force pushed her back, only to push her deeper, causing her to roll into a swirl. With closed optics, Strongarm felt how extreme her swirling became as her processor bounced back and forth, up and down inside her helmet. The chilly saltwater stung underneath her armor, entering her inner chassis like a thousand claws. The waves thrust her back and forth, still the currents pushed her further into the depth.

Down there, the depth was pitch-black. No light went deeper than barely below the stormy surface as the rays of sunlight were already gone, replaced by fierce thunder that electrocuted through the dark clouds. Strongarm opened briefly her optics to cast a final gaze to the surface, plummeting into the bitter darkness.

I'm done with you…

Abruptly, she heard Optimus' voice. It did not echo within her audio receptors. It was heard around her like a deep, angry voice. Her optics grew large when she saw glowing blue orbs shimmering in the dark, then more orbs appeared as large shadows of ghosts swam to her. More voices came.

I'm disappointed in you, cadet…

Why won't you listen to me?!

It's all your fault! You ruined everything!

"My fault…? No!" realizing what the voices belonged to whom, Strongarm recognized instantly the ghosts that expanded their servos to grab her, attempting to pull her down deeper. She tried to jerk off free in vain. "Please let me go!"

I trusted in you. Now I can't trust you anymore…

You aren't learning your own mistakes…

You used to be a stray, dummy!

"No! Let me go!" she begged, utterly terrified to death while she struggled to break free from the ghosts. "I didn't mean to!"

You are a fool…

You never listen to me. You care nothing else but your own education…

She's so stubborn. It is not a surprise why she doesn't know about love…

And this is how you show me gratitude?!

"Please! Stop it all of you! I didn't mean to disappoint you all!"

There is nothing you can do, Strongarm…

Do you even love me?

No, you love your pathetic academics above me! You are so selfish!

Don't go away!

Dead silence. Strongarm stopped sinking; instead she floated gracefully like an astronaut in outer space with peds down, arms outstretched. It was completely pitch-black. She was too deep for the light above to penetrate through. The femme glanced every corner, activating her night vision optical system to detect any movement, but there was nothing.

Fear crept through her spinal column whereas she moved her helm left to right, watching around the surroundings. Then she closed her optics tightly, praying mentally a pray to Primus. Her trembling spark pulsed so loud that she heard the sparkbeats beating inside her audio receptors.

Come…

Just then, the singing voice echoed again. It sounded closer as it echoed louder than before. Strongarm sensed a familiarity in the song. It sounded like a humpback whale's deep song. Enchanted, she reopened her optics, intrigued to peek a glimpse. It was then she saw something bright glowing in front of her. A weak blue orb glowed in the dark, first brighter, then decreasing like a beating spark.

Strongarm thought nothing when she swam toward the light, her optics focused like a moth going to nearest lit lamp. Thoughts mattered nothing.

Come…

The voice called. It came from the light itself. It required only a few sparkbeats for Strongarm to reach the light. The orb was not really an orb. It was a crystal-like light with blue flames burning round it. The femme did not care thinking about the flames when she expanded her right servo to the crystal. She wanted to touch it, feeling its flames and beating heartbeats. But just as her servo touched it, the crystal suddenly burst up in flames that engulfed Strongarm, trapping her within the explosion of multiple-colored lights. That moment, she covered her face plates with both arms, curling like a cat. Swirling round and round, she uncurled quickly as powerful forces forced her for exposure, purely vulnerable for the unknown.

Then, unexpectedly, she opened her optics, unknowingly that she was about to become an eyewitness over something outstanding beyond comprehension. Strongarm got overwhelmed by the elegant aurora borealis that danced in swirling movements. But it was not just the borealis lights. No, what Strongarm saw next stunned her. Thousands of creatures swam past her in full speed, except they were not real. The creatures were spirits. One creature looked like an ordinary dolphin, another a big baleen whale, but there were also odd-looking creatures that caught Strongarm's attention.

But before she could understand what the odd-looking spirits were, she plunged down hard to the bottom. The empty seabed's soil was darkly sand-brown, both soft and rough as the femme's head got stuck under the sand. After some struggling, Strongarm drew her head up of the seabed, shaking her head to toss wet soil and clear her face plates. It was at that moment she heard squealing cries. She threw her gaze up to look where the cries came.

A klik later, a pod of five dolphin spirits swam straight to Strongarm, squealing piercingly in fury. The spirits encircled her, however their bodies then shifted into different shapes. Their bodies grew longer and slender, jaws longer and pointer with bizarre teeth, flippers outstretched, and tiny hind legs sticking out under the belly.

Witnessing the bizarre and vicious spirits whirling round her like wolves, Strongarm's memory bank flashed the scary moment when she got attacked by Big Jake, him biting over her face plates. Panic erupted inside her as she shrieked out of fear. Although, instead running away, she curled into a ball, hiding her face between the knee gears and covered her audio receptors, shielding from the outraged cries.

"Stop it!" she yelled as she suddenly waved her arms defensively, seemingly scaring the spirits away as they retreated. Then she hid her helm tightly in her elbows, inhaling unsteadily whereas Strongarm shuddered frozen, feeling naked for the unknown. Yet, the screeching cries continued to scream inside her audio receptors. "Stop it… stop it, stop it, stop it..."

Unmindful of the surrounding lights, a pair of orca spirits swam high above the Autobot, looking down. The spirits glowed with own characteristic lights between blue and bright purple.

"Poor thing..." an old orca cow with a white spot on the rostrum's left side whistled sad. "Listen to her voice, brother."

"I hear it, Närakaláq," the spirit of Halké sang, looking on his sister. "I feel pity for her."

"Me too, Halké," Närakaláq's spirit answered. "She's another lost soul. I doubt she will ever recover."

"I'm sure she will," Halké nudged his rostrum gently behind his sister's head. "Maybe she can recover."

It was then they spotted a few spirits coming closer to the Autobot.

Strongarm didn't know why she opened her optics. Maybe it was her consciousness commanding her to stay alert of the changing surrounding. Maybe it was her fear making her anxious enough to watch over her spinal strut. But on that moment, when she opened her optics, Strongarm saw something supernatural. She saw two creatures standing in front of her.

The first creature looked like a short dog, but it looked very vaguely crocodile-like one with long snout, webbed paws, robust tail and tiny otter-like ears. Its short fur was darkly gray brown. However, it had no claws. It had five even-toed hoofed toes. The second creature was even shorter. It was a fox-sized mouse-deer with thin legs, long tail, white spotted coat like a tiny fawn, and even-toed hoofed as well.

The femme widened her optics, perplexed to see the strange creatures that looked on her with an innocent curiosity. She had never seen those animals before. She remember reading some books of mammals before, but she remembered no page that told anything about the creatures. Whatever they were, she had literally no idea what or how to do.

Then, she gulped anxiously when she asked: "What are you two?"

"Why are you so afraid for us?" suddenly the dog-like creature spoke, its angel voice echoing.

Strongarm dropped her jaw as she crawled backward, holding her panicky gaze on the two creatures. "Did… did you just speak, dog?" she spoke. "No, it's impossible."

"It's ancestor, alien. What you're witnessing now, it's beyond your comprehension. We are the ancestors of the Cetacea," the ancestor spirit snarled, strongly disliking the word 'dog'. Its angel voice changed to a devil's unfriendly voice. "But of course, you aren't familiar to us Achaeocetes."

"Calm down, Pakicetus," the smaller mouse-deer spirit squealed. "The alien can't help that she's ignorant about every ancestor of every mammal genome."

"Aren't you feeling humiliated, Indohyus?" Pakicetus snarled wider, casting a sharp glare onto Indohyus. "Even the foolish hairless Landwalkers don't have any memories of their own ancestors! I bet the titans have no Ancestral Genome either!"

Strongarm thought she had gone mad whereas she looked on the two spirits talking to each other in fierce argument. She could not believe it. What was going on with her?

"No… this is not happening for real," she whispered, pressing her servos onto her audios to block all sounds around her. "This can't happen for real!"

Unluckily, it hardly helped in any manners when she suddenly witnessed Pakicetus transforming into a savage monster. The monster's long and bulky crocodile-like body revealed a long snout, sharp pointy teeth and webbed five-toed paws. It leaped over her like a tiger, ready to maul her in pieces. Strongarm screamed frightened as she held her servos over her head, protecting her from the monster that snapped its jaws wildly, but then it suddenly disappeared as it went through her transparently. Just then, the Autobot heard some squealing coming from behind. She moved her helm to check where the squealing came from.

"Ah abyss, here we swim again," a female voice squawked. It was a female orca.

"There goes the surprise," a large male squealed beside the female.

Immediately, Strongarm remembered the attack she'd suffered, the orca jaws that bit over her face plates. It was then she sensed the itchy sting coming from her wounds. She reached her servo to touch on her wounds on her cheek and neck, in which the sensation stung a lot. Then she saw Big Jack appearing inside her optics, swimming straight to her with open jaws. Clouded by the still fresh traumatic experience, Strongarm panicked as she waved her arms around, shrieking scared to death. However, she was unmovable. Her legs were stuck, invisibly glued on the sea bottom.

"Don't come closer, you monsters!" Strongarm begged. "Please, don't come closer!"

"It's worse than I thought, sister," Halké's spirit sang. "She can't see the difference between Peaceful Singers and Silent Hunters."

"I'm not surprised, Halké. Fluke-standers aren't sane in their minds," she answered. "And apparently, even they can suffer by the Sound of Silence."

At that moment, Strongarm stopped when she heard their voices, thinking she truly was crazy. The two orca spirits gazed on her, seemingly wary that the Autobot would react more if any movement or sound came from the spirits.

"What's going with me?" the femme questioned in distress, then slapped on both sides of her head, trying to rid off the madness before she covered her optics. All the stress took its toll as she felt exhaustion washing through her. As it happened, she fell to her left side, starting to sob.

The spirits of the orca siblings, Närakaláq and Halké, looked on each other whereas they listened on the titan's mumbling words, empathy shining on their ancient eyes.

"It's not looking good," Halké whistled merrily. "What shall we do with the fluke-stander, sis?"

"I don't know… a part of me sings to take a closer look," Närakaláq sang her answer, unsure what choice was wisest to do. "But another part sings me to take it slowly. We don't want to get harmed."

"Now when you sing it," her brother squawked playfully, giving his older sister a gentle nudge on her side. Then, Halké surprised his sister as he swam to the Cybertronian. "Let's investigate..."

"Hey, wait for me!" she squealed, trying to catch up whereas her brother swam a huge lead.

"Who's Skándr member now?" he teased back.

Hesitant, the two orca spirits approached closer and closer to the Autobot femme, though they halted instantly as Strongarm saw them coming. Fear reappeared on her face plates, heavy liquid flowing dryly whereas she sought after her weapon on her hip, but to her utter horror she didn't have it equipped. She had no memory of its whereabouts. Had she dropped it, thrown it away, or did someone take it from her? Whatever happened, it was no idea to look after it.

"Don't come closer," Strongarm warned, servos outstretched in defense. "I'm warning you two. I will fight!"

"You have nothing to fear us," the male orca whistled reassuring. "We're not going to attack you."

"Attack me? Attack me?! Your kind attacked me and hurt me!" Strongarm yelled outraged. She lost her control completely, but no matter how much she tried to get up, she was all unmovable. It was like she became paralyzed, unable to control her legs. "You came out of nowhere, attacked me and my friends, and you bit me -"

"Enough!"

Suddenly, Strongarm felt a sharp pain slamming on her face plates. She didn't react in time before black and white tail flukes slapped on her cheek plate, giving her a big blow enough to leave a nasty bruise. It was the orca cow who slapped her tail on the femme.

"You dare to accuse us without reason?!" Närakaláq shrieked aloud, her voice bearing pure irritation and lacking of patience, which made Strongarm quiet like a mouse. "Who the abyss are you fish-minded fool? I have no tolerance of that tone of yours. You're just another motherless calf in my eyes!"

"Sister, she's blind in the Sound of Silence," Halké squealed, trying to calm his sister down. "She has the Voice of Denial. There's no reason to slap her like that."

"She deserved it. You know that kind of tone causes only problems, no solutions. Now… apologize to me," she whistled angry.

But silence sealed Strongarm's lips. She was voiceless, lost beyond comprehension of what was reality or not. Shaking, she swallowed dryly when a glimpse from a memory revealed inside her CPU.

Cybertron, several stellar cycles ago

"Come with me, Strongarm. You need to leave Cybertron," he begged her. "We leave together."

"I can't. I have my studies to finish. After I've completed them, I can come," she replied.

"Am I a joke to you?" losing his temper, he snarled. "I can't believe this. You're unbelievable..."

"I mean -" she tried to explain, but her words were cut.

"Do you even love me?"

The question startled her. What did he mean?

"Of course. I love you," she smiled. But when she neared him for an embrace, he pushed her away.

"Why won't you listen to me?!" he yelled at her.

Present

"Not again..." Strongarm whispered, tormented. Why is it repeating again? Why can't it just go away and never come back.

"Pathetic. Brother, here's little hope for the fluke-stander," ignoring the titan, Närakaláq's spirit sang to her brother, thou her voice sounded more like she empathized. "I fear she will not leave this place alive. She has the same sickans attitude, like Ikrianskándr used to have."

"What the scrap are you talking about, killer whale?" to her own surprise, Strongarm spoke up, startling the spirits. "No, you're not real. You are not existing."

Spontaneously, an awkward feeling came inside, that she must be talking to creatures from her own imagination. But then, she became uncertain, full of doubts and confusion. Her optics moved, looking on the dancing lights that seemed never going to disappear. Yet, she found it beautiful, so beautiful that the powerful enchantment consumed her sight.

"Heh, we are not real, fluke-stander," the female orca spirit whistled, somewhat teasing. "You are in the middle border between the Oceans of Eternity, the world of living souls and the dreaded Void. No living soul can visit here… But you are here for a reason."

Just then, Strongarm discovered the corpse of the bottlenose dolphin. It lied before her optics. Then, its body shined in glowing lights, joining the borealis. The lights shaped the spirit of the bottlenose dolphin, slowly swimming to a pod of dolphins that awaited for their new member. But it wasn't just the dolphin that shocked Strongarm. It turned out that there was a tiny calf inside the spirit, still inside the shimmering womb and attached with the umbilical cord.

An unborn dolphin. Now dead, killed by the cadet. The bottlenose dolphin mother's spirit stopped to cast an unforgiving gaze on Strongarm, that slashed through the cadet's optics.

"Oh no..." Halké whistled horrified.

"This doesn't look good," Närakaláq sang, one eye on the Autobot and the other on the disappearing dolphin. Her tone shifted drastically. Now she sounded terrified for something unseen yet to come. The orca cow then looked on her brother, "Halké, we can't stay here. It's not safe here. I don't want to be eaten by Halja..."

"What about her?" he whistled urgently, both frightened and distressed over the signs. "We cannot leave her to fend herself."

"What's going here?" confused by the rapid changes, Strongarm asked them both, feeling an increasing creeping fear that stalked behind her spinal strut. "Who is Halja? No, wait!"

Much to her despair, the orca spirits swam away in retreat, but then they turned around to give her some final words of advice. "All you can do is pray. You can flee, but you can't hide from Halja. She knows your crime," Närakaláq sang.

"Wait! I don't know your names!" the femme shouted asking for their names. But there was no reply coming from them.

Before she could even think a single thought, the lights vanished instantly, leaving Strongarm lost in pitch darkness. Silence overwhelmed everything, but it lasted not longer than a few sparkbeats when the cadet saw lights lightning. However, the lights were red as blood, nor were the lights borealis. The lights were nebula, mucky in darker red whereas the nebulas spread out like crawling snakes. She checked frequently on every corner, looking for anything or anyone hiding.

"Well, well, well..." suddenly a deep, sinister feminine voice echoed from behind her doorwings, the tone so overwhelmingly haunting that the cadet froze instantly.

"Who is there?" Strongarm asked with a shaky voice. "Show yourself!"

"So young, so naive. What an amusement," the voice came closer, followed by a laughter.

"Whoever you are, show yourself!" she shouted.

"Hehehe… turn around, you'll see me."

The Autobot femme followed the command as she turned her head over her shoulder, witnessed a terror beyond imagination. Behind her, the nebula contained a glowing core, beating like a heart, and on that moment the core split up to reveal a gate where Strongarm saw only the darkest pit. But then, as she got up on her pedes, the gate enlarged wider, transforming into a pair of jaws.

A tiny dot of red light appeared in the bottomless pit, growing larger and larger by every klik as it came closer and closer toward the cadet. Instead standing still and admire the red light, she ran. She followed the instinct of flight, running the quickest speed she'd ever run in her whole life. It was in right time she did when the red light transformed into a monstrous beast of nightmare.

It was Halja who submerged from the gate. While running like a gazelle, Strongarm cast a look behind her shoulder, and as soon she saw the monster merging from the gate, she became utterly struck by the fear of the monstrosity. Halja's appearance was an enormous orca skeleton; inside the chest glowed red nebula and dark matter that held attached the entire skeleton. The right eye socket carried the sun. The jaws were full with razor-sharp teeth, primed and ready to grab and tear the victims into shreds.

"Murderer! Denier! Tusska! Sinner!" Halja's voice sounded like thousands of voices that were trapped inside the nebula, crying out all sufferings, torments and regrets. "Guilty, guilty, guilty!"

Hearing the cries were venom inside the femme's audio receptors, hurting her processor, but she kept running like a chased prey. But no matter how fast she ran, she felt pulled by a strong force of gravity that seemed sucking her closer toward Halja's wide-open jaws. Her spark beat fast, it wanted to jump out of her chest plates. Suddenly, she stumbled down, landed quite hard. The gravity was stronger as it dragged her closer to the open jaws. In desperate action, Strongarm tried to get up, but it did not help when she watched the jaws approaching above her.

"You can run how much you can," Halja roared piercingly, closing her jaws slowly, "but you will never escape Void itself! Your soul is mine to devour, and you shall be forever trapped in the Void!"

"No! Please!" Now realizing how much she wanted to live, Strongarm begged for mercy. "I didn't mean it! I swear I didn't mean to kill the dolphin -"

But just then, a heavenly light of falling stars zapped down like a thunderbolt, blocking Halja from reaching the Autobot as it zapped between them. A roar of outrage came from Halja as she retreated away from more stars.

"Stop it, twin sister!" an angelic voice sang strongly from above, starlit lights beaming down and shielded Strongarm.

Quickly, she threw her optics up to look. It was a moment she would not forget. Above her shone another orca, but unlike the skeleton monster, the orca was covered in blue, turquoise and purple nebulas, thousands of glittering stars that created a graceful and gorgeous celestial constellation. The right eye was the moon, half-closed as if the celestial orca was either about to wake or sleep. The white patches shimmered of bright nebula. The tail and flippers glowed with dancing northern lights.

"Vanadis, you dare interrupt my hunt?!" Halja shrieked as she looked to the celestial orca. "She has committed the worst crime of all crimes. Her judgementis Void sentence!"

"I'm aware of her crime, twin sister," Vanadis sang unthinkably calm, yet there was an anger hidden behind the calmness. "But I want her to live..."

"So what? You know every sinner is a doomed soul," the skeleton orca hissed sharply, the teeth steaming of red nebula. "Why are you so willing to spare a pathetic Cybertronian's life all suddenly, after she'd done with the mother and her unborn calf!?"

How did she know I'm a Cybertronian? There's no way they'd know, baffled, Strongarm wondered, but then it hit her. Unless… they've watched over Optimus and his team stellar cycles ago here on Earth.

"Void sentence is an easy game for you, dear twin sister," Vanadis sang wisely, she knew something yet to be judged. "You know there's a curse far more powerful than yours. I want her to live, so she'll learn to look through the eyes of the squawker. You can torment her how much you wish, but she will be under my control..."

"Heh, so that is what's all about. So be it…" Halja sounded like she was laughing underwater, all deep of sins and evil. "Let's do it together, Goddess of the Oceans of Eternity. Let's do our little game together."

As it happened, Strongarm felt suddenly a powerful lift, pulled by a force so strong that her weight mattered nothing. Lifting higher and higher toward Vanadis, the cadet started to swing her arms, kicked her legs like a caged bird. But it did not help before the invisible force squeezed her, then glowing chains of stars swirled around her, and chained her arms and legs. Yet, despite all chained up, Strongarm withstand whereas she kept fighting to break free in vain.

"Do no defy me, young Cybertronian," Vanadis' heavenly voice judged.

"Please… I swear I didn't mean it. I don't want to die!" Strongarm pleaded for mercy. Tears filled her optics, now by the fear of getting executed for a crime she didn't mean to. "I'll do everything you want me to do..."

"You're not going to die, not yet… but I will not let you go freely. The crime you committed cannot be ignored, nor can you be forgiven," the Goddess judged the sentence the young Autobot will receive. "We, the Twin Goddesses, never forgive those whom kill mothers and calves, and you killed a mother and her unborn calf."

"Void sentence is one penalty, but honestly, that's not yours yet," Halja swam below, very excited. "No, your true penalty is much, much worse…and far more entertaining."

On that moment, the moon eye opened up, fully awake. The moon was a half moon, quickly phasing to full moon and ended on half moon of last quarter.

"As your punishment, you shall take the shape of the squawker, boundbetween land and sea," Vanadis' voice changed drastically from heavenly to unjust and remorseless. "Your body and mind shall be under my command. Never shall you remember who you are, nor the names of your companions."

No matter how strong her defied, Strongarm fell unwillingly weak for the moon's power. As soon her optics met the full moon, her optics suddenly transformed into new ones; large circle-shaped pupils glowed within the optical rings, white as bright moonlight.

"Forever shall you be bonded within the Dream. Forever shall you be imprisoned in the Dream, until your life ends..." slowly, the moon eye closed as the moon phased from half moon to new moon. "Sleep now…"

"...Kaimana." both the voices of the Twin Goddesses sang together as one voice, dark but angelic.

Like commanded, Strongarm slumbered into a deep recharge, sensing nothing anymore but the lacking experience of gravity. She recharged so deeply that she didn't even see the fast swimming monster coming right to her from below, jaws wide-open, and as the cadet was inside the jaws, Halja swallowed her down into the dark nebula.

But she didn't arrive in the Void.

All she heard were her own sparkbeats that pulsed calmly when she slowly woke. Strongarm noticed directly that she was still in the pitch-black darkness in the depth. A creeping sensation of fear crawled on her spinal strut, warning her for something that she had no understanding about. Quickly closing her optics, she tried to locate the core of the creeping sensation when a sudden pain ripped tore through her body. It was an agony so excruciating that she thought she was about to get torn in half, shredded in pieces.

Her entire body went through a dramatic transformation, slow and agonizing that felt lasting millennia. Her limbs expanded slender and slim. Her chest plates, spinal strut, shoulder gears and doorwings degraded into new parts. She experienced how her body lengthened longer, expanding a tail behind her legs. But the worst part of her transformation was her head. Her flat face plates got pushed out by her jaws, whereas her yellow forehead crest and helmet pulled backward, shaping a weird-looking long snorted head. Her optics split sideways, moved to sit on the sides of her head. It was a pure torture that tore through her entire body.

"Help me!" she cried out, but all suddenly her voice disappeared, replaced by squawking cries. Iiiiek, iiieek, iiieeek!

No one heard her cry for help. No one witnessed her breathtaking transformation. No one came to the rescue. But one did came. A tiny soul swam weakly toward the Autobot, heading straight to her helmet where the soul penetrated through her processor. On that sparkbeat, Strongarm's world turned blackout.

The soul was the spirit of the unborn dolphin calf.

Sedna

Sedna was no stranger to storms. She was used to face all sorts of weather, and thunderstorms were no unfamiliarity for her either. The Akhlut Predacon swam beneath the rising waves, enjoying the strong movements of currents that streamed over her body. While she swam further to the open sea ahead, Sedna thought deeply on the message she received from the tiny cousins. The message from Hvalfunka. But as she thought more on it, the conflict inside her wasn't calming down at all.

"Why am I doing this? No, I need to know what Hvalfunka has to sing me," Sedna sang, refusing to let emotions cloud her decision.

But her spark beat very fast when her memory bank showed her the beautiful sparkbeats she'd spent with Blue Eyes. Remembering the sparkbeats, she stopped, headed up to the surface where she spyhopped. On that sparkbeat, she recalled the very last time with Chíhän.

Over 55,000 winters ago

It had been over a winter since Chíhän took Healiáq under her flippers. Throughout the time she'd spent with her surrogate mother, Chíhän's guidance helped the hybrid to learn how to handle the mourning, and with help by Tsenain and Marako, Healiáq slowly recovered. But the scars would never heal up completely. The deaths of mother and brother remained traumatic inside her soul. Even if one winter had passed since then, Healiáq had not fully recovered from her mourning yet.

One late summer evening, she swam closely to Chíhän in her orca form. They traveled far behind the pod, thou the other pod members had no issues of them being slow paced. The hybrid hid under her surrogate mother's white belly, listening on the gentle waves above them. The couple swam on shallow waters. The air was warm. The murky water began getting darker.

"Chíhän, where are we going?" Healiáq whistled a question, noticing that they took a different path from the others.

No answer came from Chíhän. The hybrid sensed directly that something was wrong with her surrogate mother. A silent orca meant trouble. A few sparkbeats beat, still no reply was heard. When Chíhän emerged for a breath, Healiáq swam beside her to meet her aging eye. She saw a tired gaze, not caused by lack of sleep, but rather like Chíhän was unwell.

"Are you all right?" Healíaq sang, now growing more worried.

"Healiáq… I need to whistle to you," Chíhän whistled, taking another deep breath, although she didn't submerge.

"What's wrong?"

"I think it's time for you to return to your family."

The hybrid held her breath, dismayed to hear the words. A winter with Chíhän was enough for her to forget her family, the Láq Bloodline pod. The Nain Bloodline had welcomed the stranger, tolerated and accepted her presence. Marako looked up on Healiáq like a big sister; he often played games with her, often joined her side when they practiced hunting.

"My f-family?" she squawked scared.

"Yes, my dear. You've spent a whole winter away from them," Chíhänwhistled, calm but heavy of tiredness. Her age had caught her up. "They must be worried sick for you. Don't you miss them?"

"I..." words trailed lost from Healiáq. She did not know how to answer it. But deep down inside her spark, she missed her sisters Minláq, Éindaláq and Kaylaláq. What a coward she had been. She fled away without singing a goodbye to her sisters. All because the shame of a Bloodless. "I miss my sisters. But I don't want to lose you too."

"Oh, young one. There's nothing you can do," her caretaker sang, gently giving the hybrid a small nudge on her right flipper. "I'm very old. I've become weaker, slower. I'm afraid my life is reaching to an end."

"No. No, no, no, I'm not going anywhere," Healiáq cried, shifting to her half-orca, half fluke-stander form and stretched her webbed servos to Chíhän's chest between the flippers where she placed her head on the white patched chest, listening on the beating heartbeats. "I don't want to lose you… I lost my mother and brother. I can't let you disappear."

Instead shaking her off, the old orca cow rose her head above the surface, seemingly hugging the youngling. The clear evening sky painted dark amber whereas the sun traveled closer to the horizon out on the open sea. Yet, the night would not come until far later. Healiáq started to cry, the strange tears filled her optics before streaming down her cheeks. First mother, then Engo, and now Chíhän. The hybrid did not want to let her surrogate mother leave. Why must life be so unfair to her?

"Sweetheart, I know you're still mourning of your loss," Chíhän whistled, "I understand you're scared to be alone. But this part is something you need to learn handle. You need to sing goodbyes."

"I don't want to..."

"Did you sing goodbye to your pod before you met me?"

Healiáq knew she could not deny it. Chíhän sang the truth. Yet, it hurt her so much within her spark when she thought on the inevitable. Why must life be so unfair for her?

"It's not fair," the hybrid whistled, broken. "Why must you leave? It's not fair."

"That's a part of the circle of life, my dear. Nothing lasts forever. Some sun circle, the Great Glacier will melt down," the old orca sang calm, thou her voice heaved by sadness. "Some sun circle… you will find the truth of your origins. You will find your true kind and reunite them."

"But what if they don't remember me?"

"No, Healiáq. They won't remember you, but they will certainly recognize you. No matter what you think, don't lose hope. You must stay alive, for me, for your family… and your mother."

Healiáq turned silent whereas she listened on the slow beating heart inside Chíhän's chest. As it happened, she felt a growing sensation. A need of searching for her true kind, and perhaps finding her real parents. Even though, she suddenly got afraid. Think if her true kind will reject her for being different, that she was a shape-shifting half-orca.

"Chíhän..." the hybrid then whistled.

"Yes, my dear?" Chíhän sang calm.

"Before I leave, can I sing goodbyes to Nain Bloodline?"

"Oh yes. You mightn't want to leave without singing a word to Tsenain. She'll swim crazy if she doesn't get a farewell," a squeal was heard from her, slowly sinking down, but still letting her surrogate daughter keep her hug. Healiáq's tears stopped when she finally removed her arms from her surrogate mother, quickly transforming back to her orca form. No one in the Nain Bloodline knew about Healiáq's true shape. She hid it very well.

Piieeeaaauuum...

Chíhän began calling to the other members of the Nain Bloodline, and it took quite a long time waiting until the first appearances of the pod arrived. The first one to approach was Tsenain.

"Tsenain..." Chíhän started. "Healiáq has something to sing to you."

"Oh?" Tsenain sounded surprised.

"Tsenain. I… I'm going to leave."

"WHAAAAAT?!" it was not just Tsenain who squealed; the entire Nain Bloodline were utterly shocked to hear the words.

At first, Healiáq regretted instantly to sing it for the pod that accepted her, but in the end, she missed her sisters more than ever. She must return to her family pod.

"Sweetie, no offense, but I don't want you to leave us yet," Tsenain swam closest to the hybrid, rubbed a gentle nudge on Healiáq's white jaw. "You're not ready yet. You are still grieving."

"I need to return to my pod," Healiáq sang. "I must see my sisters again. They haven't seen me since..." then her voice trailed off as the painful memories of the deaths of mother and brother reappeared.

"But you c-c-can't just leave us!" as expected, Marako shrieked as he swam like a racing launch toward the hybrid. "I don't wanna you to s-s-swim!"

"Marako..." she whistled lowly, letting the albino orca calf rubbing his head on her left side. "I didn't sing goodbyes to my sisters. I fled from them without a goodbye. It was unfair to do so. They're missing me."

"B-B-But -"

"No buts, Marako. You'll need to lean to deal with goodbyes," Chíhän pushed him away, blocking him from Healiáq. "It's part of life. Besides… who wants to live forever? Who wants to live forever to see their loved ones live and die?"

Who wants to live forever.

The words stuck inside Healiáq's processor. Then she whistled more: "I know I've joined Nain Bloodline only a winter ago. You have treated me like I'm one of you. I see you as my family. But it's time for me to reunite to my real family. I miss my sisters. I… I promised my little sister Minláq to always be there for her."

None interrupted her.

"I'll never forget you, Tsenain," she thanked the matriarch of the pod. "I'm happy for the time I spent with your Bloodline, and I thank you for your support."

"Awww, I'm going to miss you a lot, little sweetheart," the matriarch whistled back and gave her a smooth prod on rostrum. "And if you get second thoughts, you're always welcome to rejoin my pod."

Healiáq could not whistle a word before she got cut by a desperate Marako who tried to stop her from leaving. "No! Don't l-l-leave us!"

"That's enough, grandson," it was now Tsenain's turn to block Marako from preventing the hybrid's departure. "She has made her decision."

"B-B-But I -"

"I will see you some sun circle," Healiáq sang, though she had already begun her departure. "I will never forget you either. You have been a good friend. But I have made my decision to see my sisters again."

Piieeaaa! Piieeaaa! Piieeaaa!

By then, she allowed her surrogate mother to follow her as final support push. Although, as they sped their pace, Marako kept shrieking in protest and despair, in which hurt Healiáq to listen. Even when the couple went long distant from the pod, the echoing cries continued. After several sparkbeats later, the echoes eventually stopped.

"Oh, graceful Vanadis, may you watch over Healiáq," Chíhän spyhopped, gazing onto the horizon. The hybrid spyhopped beside her right. "May your guidance lead her the right path, and may you protect her from all dangers and threats."

Healiáq vocalized not a single word. She didn't want to interrupt, so she stayed silent. The sun glowed Inhaling a deep breath, Chíhän sank slowly, and Healiáq mimicked. The hybrid changed to her hybrid form.

"Chíhän, will you be okay?" she asked, outstretched her servos to touch on her surrogate mother's rostrum.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," the orca cow whistled softly. "You must let me swim. I'm not afraid to meet death. When my departure comes, I'll welcome it. Perhaps… I will meet your mother up there."

"Is…Is it possible?" her optics enlarged. Her spark beat in hope. Was it possible?

"Yes of course my dear, it is possible. When a soul is in the Oceans of Eternity, there are no borders between languages. No matter who you are, no matter what Cultured Clan you belong… Vanadis welcomes every good soul."

Concentrated, Healiáq listened. She didn't dare to cut in. When Chíhän finished, the hybrid rose her head over the surface, took a deep breath. The beams of sunlight started to fade gradually. She looked on her caretaker who gazed her back.

"It's time," she whistled. "I'm ready."

Although, before she departed, she gave Chíhän a final hug. She held her for a long sparkbeat, then her surrogate mother tried to shake her off. Healiáq did not protest. It was now time to leave. The hybrid shifted back to orca form, swung to left, and with a boost, she swam fast. But what she would not know was it was the very last sparkbeat she saw Chíhän.

Present

"Chíhän… I should've stayed," Sedna regretted when she remembered her surrogate mother, but knew she can't change the past. "I should have be with you when you left the world."

Some sun circle… you will find the truth of your origins. You will find your true kind and reunite them.

All in a sudden sparkbeat, Sedna remembered the words Chíhän whistled back then. How long had it been since she saw her caretaker for the very last time.

They won't remember you, but they will certainly recognize you. No matter what you think, don't lose hope. You must stay alive, for me, for your family… and your mother.

"They did recognize me. Blue Eyes and Wise Voice sees me as one of them," she confirmed. Yet, she felt the insecurity kicking directly. Even if Blue Eyes and Wise Voice treated her well, she had not forgotten the sparkbeat when she attacked the rest of their group moon circles ago. "But the others didn't recognize me. Am I a monster to them?"

Just then, another memory awoke.

Over 55,000 winters ago

Healiáq's search for her family was painstakingly slow and lonely. It took longer for her to seek in the vast coastal sea. An entire moon circle passed since she left her caretaker. The hybrid relied on her audio receptors to listen every vocalization from squawkers, great singers and fast swimmers. Still, she felt more lonely than before. She started to miss Chíhän, but she missed her sisters more.

One morning, Healiáq hid in a kelp forest. While sticking on the surface, surrounded by the brown kelp that rubbed her armor, she napped deeply. Though, she was in her robot form as she hugged a large rock to hold her still. Recharging in her deepest recharge, Healiáq dreamed a lot. Some were good, others less good. She dreamed she was hunting a large school of sabertoothed salmon. She vocalized loudly, stunning the fish into panic as the school swirled into a big ball. She boosted through the ball, trying to catch one.

However, the dream ended rapidly when her audio receptors captured a familiar sound. The sound came from a blow, followed by more blows. Instantly, she opened her optics, thou her vision was blurry. Black shadows emerged, then submerged. At first, Healiáq thought she saw dorsal fins, but she shrugged it off, quickly returned back to her nap. She wanted to continue her dream. Unfortunately, her recharge didn't continue farther before her audios heard flapping wings landing on the rock's top.

It was not a seagull. The hybrid reopened her optics again, throwing an annoyed glare up to the large shadow above her. But then she got petrified when she saw the majestic bald eagle staring at her. As it happened, she thought on mother's stories. One of the stories sang about the Skriéa, the Thunder Eagle Spirit of protection, whom chased away Void demons from reaching the sky, therefore called as Sky Protector. The eagle glared sharply. Why did the eagle come?

"Spirit of Skriéa, why are you here?" she whistled the name of Sky Protector, trying to sound nonthreatening. The eagle stood still, seemingly not bothering over the strange vocalization. Somehow, the bird carried a message to her.

Beware, the call from the land will be heard soon…When it calls, don't deny it...

Healiáq got surprised hearing the sharp male voice. Her spark pulsed fast, but she did not flee. The eagle was a messenger sent by the Sky Protector. The voice belonged to the Sky Protector itself.The message sounded like a warning. The eagle inclined its head to left, its sharp eyes displaying a fade curiosity. Although, it raised its head and shrieked out before it flapped its wings. Watching the eagle take flight amazed Healiáq. Think if she'd fly like a bird in the sky?

Then, she decided to move on. She'd napped enough. Now, with energy restored, she changed to orca form, taking a deep breath and dived underwater into the murky underwater fog. The kelp forest let little sunlight penetrate through the maze. Since the earliest memories she had, Healiáq remembered the times when her mother would guide her through kelp, exploring together. Just then, she spotted some otters swimming on the bottom, searching for scallops to feast. She ignored them, and they ignored her too.

Deeeiiaaauum… Deeeiiaaauum…

She vocalized gently, listening after any call that would respond back. No response.

Deeeiiaaauum… Deeeiiaaauum…

She continued. The vocalizations sang far and vast. While swimming slowly, Healiáq glided through the dense kelp canopy. The kelp blades rubbed over her body, dorsal fin and flippers. Nothing felt so relaxing as a kelp message. The ticklish sensation drew an atmosphere of tranquility as the hybrid half-slumbered into a trance.

Diiiaaaaam…

Just then, an echoing call sang. Deep in the trance of tranquility, Healiáq did not hear it straight on. Far from the kelp forest, many black and silver shadows swam in the murky waters. They followed after an orca matriarch. Her singing calls echoed far, somehow searching for someone's distant cry to response. She swam slowly whereas gliding up toward surface where she blew air. The pod members stayed close, especially her two sisters sticking close to her side.

Diiiaaaaam… Diiiaaaaam…

Healiáq's trance deepened as she spun gently, holding her flippers up in the air. The hybrid sensed the chilly sensation of cold air tickling her flippers, but then she detected something that made her to snap of her trance. An echoing vocalization. Her spark pulsed rapidly. She recognized it.

"Minláq..." she whistled almost quietly, before she thrust her optics up widely in realization. "Minláq…"

Diiiaaaaam… Diiiaaaaam…

"Minláq!" she squealed, quickly made a spin and took a deep breath before she dived underwater. "Where are you?"

Deeeiiaaauum! Deeeiiaaauum!

Diiiaaaaam… Diiiaaaaam!

"I'm coming, sister!" her squeal shrieked louder. Healiáq swam fast as she could, breaching through the water. The rejoice burned hotter as she kept calling.

"Healiáq!"

"Minláq!"

That sparkbeat, she changed shape from orca to hybrid form when she hugged Minláq's chest. They spun a short spinning rhythm on the surface, splashing enough to draw attention of the other pod members of Láq Bloodline.

"Éindaláq, Kaylaláq!" Minláq whistled loudly just as familiar shadows neared them in full speed. "Look who's back!"

"Sisters!" Healiáq squealed while she tossed her arms to give Kaylaláq a long longing hug between her flippers. Éindaláq bumped her rostrum at her older sister's shoulder blades gently.

"You're finally back," Éindaláq whistled, full of rejoice and alleviation. "You're finally here with us."

"We've missed you so much, sis!" Kaylaláq swirled slowly.

"I've missed you too. I'm so, so sorry. I shouldn't have left you..."

BRAAMZUUM!

Suddenly, without warning, a loud crack of lightning struck above the surface, which startled Sedna up, snapped back to reality. By accident, she blew a large blow of bubbles from her blowhole. In quick hurry, she went up to the surface where she blew out her air, and then changed into her robot form impulsively. Taking deep breaths, she prepared for another deep dive when a familiar voice rumbled through the violent thunderstorm.

Return to your friends…

In a splendid sparkbeat, she threw her optics upward to see the source of the voice. Among the black clouds, a shape began to appear. Her jaws dropped once she realized who'd arrived. It was Skriéa, the Sky Protector. The entire thunderstorm was himself; his tremendous eagle body hid inside the clouds. His head, vast wing and tail feathers sparked thousands of lightnings enough to blind eyes. His sharp eyes sparked brightest. The thunder eagle spirit stopped on a halt. His flapping wings made the clouds spreading further far and wide. The winds grew much more violent as the waves began rising higher and higher.

"O mighty Skriéa!" Sedna trembled whereas she used both her servos to cover her optics from the sheer brightness. But then she lost the words she meant to sing.

Return to your friends, Healiáq… one soul is now cursed, sentenced for a lifetime's curse, and bonded with the Dream...

A cursed soul? Oh no, she jaw-dropped. Don't sing it's Blue Eyes. Is she a...

Return… don't let the cursed soul roam freely, don't let the Dream-swimmer reveal herself!

Spontaneously, a long white lighting thunderstruck straight on the stormy waves, wrathfully brightened the water to white. Sedna breathed a fast breath, dived hastily under the large waves, but the rumbling sky voice continued to echo down to the endless depths.

"I must swim back," she whistled, shaken by horror.

She kept blinking her achy optics. It hurt a lot after the sharp light, which made her sight blurry and unclear. Fast beating sparkbeats pulsed under her throat, then the Akhlutformer changed to her beast form and swam on full speed.

"Hold on, Blue Eyes! I'm coming back," Sedna begged desperately. Don't you dare transform tonight!

Piieeeaaauuum!

Like her life hung on a thin thread, she swam so fast that her spark was close to burst out from her chest. Coming back to the shore, the first thing she did was swimming back to the hidden bay. No sight of neither Wise Voice or Blue Eyes. Where could Blue Eyes be? Just then, a weird shrieking cry echoed through underwater. It startled Sedna. It sounded alien and foreign.

That's not a cetacean, she thought. Neither is it a moving island.

In instinct, she turned around, swam out from the bay to follow the shrieking cry. The cry was not far. It was close to the shallow waters, thou it seemed sinking deeper into the dark seafloor. The low tide had naked the entire coast. Sedna inhaled a deep breath, then she dived down to find the source. Her bio-sonar guided her as light above vanished completely, the darkness now dominating in the depth. Then, the shrieking cry suddenly stopped. At first, she stopped, trying to remember the direction. It was then her audio receptors heard a big thud; it sounded heavy. Now desperation made her oblivious of her surroundings whereas Sedna approached closer and closer, until her clicks picked the shape of Blue Eyes lying on the seafloor.

Deeeiiaaauum!

Blue Eyes was unconscious when Sedna used her jaws to bite gently on her friend's shoulder, then lifting her up and swam up to the surface in haste. The Predacon grew more desperate and anxious while she hurried to the long beach. Blue Eyes moved barely anything. She looked almost lifeless. Sedna carried her further until she stopped, dropped her friend down onto the wet sand soil before changing to her robot form.

Deedaadiii… Piieeaaam, Piieeaaam…

Still no response from Blue Eyes.

Optimus

Optimus drove fast, mixed in emotions of anger, disappointment and sadness. After driving past the harbor town, he was going to leave the area and enter inland. But he barely reached there before he suddenly pushed the brakes. His tires screeched aloud, leaving long black marks of tires across the rad, and white smoke smoked behind him.

What am I doing really, he questioned himself in his CPU. Regret and guilt gripped his spark, he knew he was doing it wrong. Yet, why was he even considering leaving? I can't just leave Strongarm behind. She's not going to look after herself.

Then he swung a clumsy left turn over the road. He was lucky that he was alone of the road. Igniting his engine, Optimus thrust full speed to hurry back. By then, heavy rain hammered on his window frames, rumbling thunder was heard across the dark sky. He saw some lightnings ahead; most of them hit the sea, though as the storm marched over, more thunderbolts hit everywhere. Some hit trees, others hit grass. Just then, without a single warning, a strong lightning struck right in front of Optimus. It happened so fast that he didn't response in time before he felt the fiery pain striking over his entire chassis. He skidded roughly, then fell down the ditch where he nearly collided with a few trees. Quickly, he shifted to his robot form, caressing his helm as a massive helm ache beat his CPU.

"Oowww..." he groaned. Then, by coincidence, he looked up to the clouds. His optics enlarged broadly when he saw something hidden in the clouds. A titan eagle that was the heart of the storm. He could not believe in it. Was he hallucinating or was it happening for real?

Optimus Prime… Return to her… her soul is now cursed, sentenced for a lifetime's curse…

Optimus dropped his jaw hearing the rumbling voice from the thunder eagle. He shook his head, trying to shake any hallucination. But it was not a hallucination.

Return… before it's too late. Hurry!

Another thunderbolt struck right behind Optimus' spinal column, it struck one of the trees and cleaved it in halves. Immediately, he got up on his pedes, rushing up to the road while he still looked up on the clouds. The eagle was no longer there. It had vanished out of the blue. Yet, the words echoed inside his audio receptors. Realizing it, he changed back to his truck form, boosted his engine and drove like a madman on the loose.

In highest speed, it took roughly an hour for him to return to the harbor town, then driving past it. Just then, as he approached the hidden bay, he saw something on the long beach. Two figures far in the distance, yet he recognized one of them. "Sedna!" he exclaimed her name, both relieved and distressed.

He changed back to his robot form, slid fast downhill to the beach, then ran fast as he can. The soil was both wet and slippery as he was close to slip over, although he got muddy pedes. The rain was not calming down either. It slowed him down faster, his optics narrowed by the sheer raindrops clouding his sight.

Sedna

Sedna saw Wise Voice coming to them, thou she stayed. Blue Eyes still showed no movement. She was completely unconscious. "Strongarm. What happened to her?" he knelt next to the cadet, checking her condition. His face plates paled. "Sedna, please tell me."

The Predacon servo-signed that said: I found her in the sea bottom.

"We have to take her back. It's not safe here," he said, quickly pointed to the direction where the hidden bay was.

Deeaaaum, Sedna nodded, then she let Wise Voice to lift Blue Eyes and carry her in his arms.

They hurried hastily toward safety. The storm remained enraged; it wasn't going to leave for the entire night.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee had no memory over what happened to him. Totally blackout after the severe freezing seawater that almost terminated him, he was in deep unconsciousness, his spark pulsing weakly. It seemed lasting for an eternity until something electric reactivated his sensors back to life. Though, it was a slow progress. His chassis began to warm up, his temperature increasing to the right level enough to reboot his systems. When he woke up, the first thing he saw was the cargo dock inside a ship. Loud noise of engines came from the other side of the walls; he must be next to the engine room. Then, there was the rocking wave movements that rocked up and down. Confused and lack of memory, he checked around him when he sensed the presence of a human.

"Ah, now you're awake at last," an old man's voice came without warning, which startled Bumblebee up. He shot his gaze over his right shoulder to see a man sitting on one of the cargoes onboard. He wore thick black jacket, winter trousers and a black shirt that had a symbol of a skull with one hook and one tripod. He had white hair. "Back from the dead. I thought you'd never wake up again."

"Where am I? Who're you?" Bumblebee's confusion didn't go clear away. He was full of questions, looking around to find a way out. "What are you taking me? What are your plans to do with me?"

"Hey, slow down there. You're onboard on Steve Irwin," the man said calmly. "I'm the captain of the ship, and I'm taking you to Australia. I have no plans to do anything with you. If you wanna know, turn to Ice King and ask him. He's got lots of plans for ya."

"Ice King? Is he a human?" the Autobot had totally forgotten the moment when he faced the sea monster.

"Nope, he's not human. He's one of your kind," the man then answered with a shake of his head. "He brought you here to make you sure you get to safe land."

Bumblebee became silent, struggling to remember anything. But he couldn't remember anything. His entire blackout gave him a big hole inside his CPU. "I… I don't remember."

"Oh. That's unfortunate to hear. I guess the Antarctic seawater caused a screw loose from you. Those waters kill you instantly," the man then said. "Apparently, Ice King chose to spare you for some odd reason."

"Tell me where he is and I'll talk -" Bumblebee got somewhat tense, feeling the urge to leave.

"It's not a good idea. He's hunting after the Japanese whaling ships. We, the Sea Shepherd, cooperate with him. I'd be surprised if he spares one survivor after he destroys one ship."

"What do you mean?"

"…Ice King eats humans. Trust me, he's a brutal man-eater."

Bumblebee gulped hearing it, shuddering by the word 'man-eater'. Just then, he heard a loud bellowing sound from the horns above the ceiling. The captain stepped up, headed fast to upper deck and the bridge. But before he left through the hatch, he cast a final look on Bumblebee. "Stay here and don't cause any trouble. I'll let you know when coast is clear."

"No, wait! You said Sea Shepard," the Autobot shouted.

"That's right. Also, try not to escape. You are long away from home," the captain said. Then he disappeared.

Now alone, Bumblebee sat, trying to recall anything. He could not remember anything. Whatever happened to him, he should consider himself lucky to be alive. Whoever Ice King is, he's got a lot to explain to me, he thought, and hopefully I can get back home.

Just then, he stretched his right servo to his audio receptor, pressing on the comlink. "Bumblebee to Fixit, do you read me?"

To his horror, he heard no response, not even static was heard. Bumblebee touched after the device of comlink. It shocked him to discover it was deactivated. Somehow, the humans managed to deactivate his comlink device. No matter how much he tried to reactivate it, it did not work. Soon, he figured out why. They did not want him to reveal their location through secret communication.

"Scrap… oh well, I guess I'll have to get along for now," he muttered, then leaning backward to lie on his spinal column. The rocking movements of the waves were not tender directly. It took not long before he got hit by seasickness, totally nauseous. He gurgled, fighting against the temptation to regurgitate up all oil from his tank. Which he failed miserably.

Finally. Finally this chappie is finished. I'm so terribly sorry for the massive delay. A lot of things happened for the recent years; severe writing block, personal RL distractions and a lot more consumed my time. I'm not giving up on my story. Now, on next chapter's main question; what happens next to Sedna, Optimus and Strongarm? I can't promise you when the next update comes, I expect next chapter be a mega long one to work on. The longer, the better.

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