Birthday Gift for Xobit

Sniffing at the base of a tree, Optimus followed the scent of circuitpheasant. The stupid thing had a broken wing and it still managed to move silently through the underbrush. Shaking his head, he trotted forward, huffing softly as the scent grew stronger. He could hear it now, fluttering about weakly and giving its position away.

Crouching down, he flicked his tail back and forth as he prowled forward. One step…two steps…now!

Leaping forward, Optimus cleared the small bush and dropped onto the unsuspecting fowl. He felt the spine snap beneath his paws, followed by the startled squawk of a dying bird. Before he could even sink his dentas into the soft armor-flesh, his nose picked up the scent of spilt energon and he balked.

Whipping his head about, he scented the air in a panic. His mind produced an image of a thin, purple line leading him towards the source and he hurried to follow it. His fueltank was twisting about in fear as he charged through the underbrush; who was bleeding like that and not tending to the wound?

Bursting out from the shelter of a low weeping crystal, he almost tripped in fright. A massive gunmetal gray cyberwolf was lying on the ground with a thin wire cutting into the thick neck. Tail tucking quickly between his legs, Optimus crept forward slowly.

The wolf did not twitch as Optimus approached, letting him get close enough to sniff at the thick fur. It was a strong mech, thick with metallic muscle and connective circuitry. It was still alive; with his nose pressed against the mech's shoulder, Optimus could feel the chassis rising and falling slightly.

"A-are you awake?" Optimus stuttered.

A bright red optic opened and shifted to gaze at him. A savage growl rose in the mech's throat as the hackles rose. Optimus, fearing for his life, darted into the undergrowth and whimpered as the massive cyberwolf struggled to its paws.

"Go away, mechacoyote," the cyberwolf snarled. "I do not need you snacking on my hide before I am dead. There is still fight left in me."

As if to prove it, the cyberwolf thrashed in the wire trap, revealing where the metal wire was attached to a tree high above its head. Energon dribbled to the forest floor as the cyberwolf shuddered and dropped.

"You need help," Optimus whispered as he crawled out of the bushes. "Please…I can…."

"Are your audios broken, mechacoyote?" the cyberwolf demanded furiously.  "I said go away!"

Steeling himself, Optimus crept forward and started gnawing on the wire. Pain blossomed up from his leg as the cyberwolf wrenched itself around to sink its dentas into his leg. He yipped in pain and pulled away, licking his wound carefully. The dentas had been careful and had not broken through his armor, but it still hurt. Looking at the snarling cyberwolf, he swallowed.

"Please, just let me help," Optimus whispered fearfully. "Our kind do not get along, I know that, but even the less honorable of my kind would not let a powerful cyberwolf die in a hunter's snare."

The cyberwolf bared its dentas before slumping to the ground. "Fine."

Inhaling, Optimus moved forward again. The cyberwolf tensed below him as he rested his paws on the massive shoulder, but he started gnawing on the wire again. He felt it slide in between his dentas, missing his sharper canines and settling against his bicuspids uncomfortably. But eventually, after the sun had started to sink below the horizon, the wire came apart in his mouth.

Darting away swiftly, Optimus watched as the cyberwolf trembled. A wet inhalation filled his audios before the massive head turned towards him. Red optics focused on him, taking in his form before he stumbled to his feet and shook himself out.

"Where is your den, furball?" the cyberwolf growled. "I'm in no shape to travel far and my den is a long ways from here."

Venting carefully, Optimus crawled forward and licked the injured neck. "Wait here," he instructed before he darted back to his kill. "This way," he yipped as he started guiding the massive cyberwolf back to his den.

The cyberwolf kept pace with him the entire way, only faltering when he was standing at the mouth of his den. The abandoned cyberbadger set had been widened out over the vorns that Optimus had lived there and he was more than comfortable to slip down the ground.

"It's safe," he barked up at the other canine. "Really, you just have to keep your weight on your paws and slide down."

"Stupid furball," the cyberwolf spat before he slipped down the slope and curled up the instant his paws touched the ground. "Ow."

"Here," Optimus murmured as he pushed the cyberfowl to him. "Eat your fill and I'll try to clean your wound up."

The cyberwolf looked at him darkly as Optimus started to lick away the energon. The wound had started to fester, but it was shallow and a bit of pressure pushed most of the rust out. The cyberwolf snarled at him, but he remained still as Optimus lapped the spilt energon up and started to push the damaged armor back over the wound so that the self-repair system could seal it up when there was more fuel available.

"Thank you," the cyberwolf growled softly as Optimus pulled away and curled up beside him.

"You're welcome, sire," Optimus replied.

"Megatron, furball, my name is Megatron," the cyberwolf chuffed in his audio before a large glossa was rolling over them. "And yours, furball?"

"Optimus," he replied a little shyly as he relaxed under the gentle licking.

"I see," Megatron murmured. "Rest well, Optimus."

Optimus felt a massive head settle on his shoulders and he curled closer to the warm chassis. Just before he fell into recharge, he was almost startled back into the waking world.

"So, how against mating are you?"
________________________________________
"And that's how I was born!"

Bumblebee and Wasp stared at their older brother in mixed awe and disbelief. Leaping to his paws, Bumblebee glared at the bright red and orange mix-breed.

"You're a dirty liar!" he accused. "Carrier, Hot Rod's lying to us!"

Optimus smiled from where he was curled up under the shade of a large leaved crystal tree. "And what is he lying about, little Bee?" he asked gently.

"Coder wasn't that blunt," Wasp huffed miserably. "He's never that blunt!"

"That's all you're upset about?" Optimus teased before he nodded. "No, your coder was not that blunt; he had more flowery terms for it and tried a different approach to courting."

"Continually jumping you until you sat still does not count as courting," Perceptor murmured from where his head was resting on Optimus' hip. "That's just being an aft."

"And how did Starscream court you?"

"Not much better," Perceptor admitted with a heavy sigh. "Cyberwolves are not known for their patience."

"And yet I've never heard either of you complain," Megatron's voice called before the massive cyberwolf trotted into the center of the den site and dropped a large petrorabbit on the ground. "Dinner, little ones."

The pups, Optimus' and Perceptor's, all bounded forward and attacked the petrorabbit, tearing it open with their sharp dentas. Megatron stepped over them and headed for Optimus, nosing his stomach insistently enough to make his mate groan.

"You finished mounting me three orns ago; you are not going to feel the pups yet," Optimus huffed before biting the larger mech's audio. "Shoo."

Megatron let out a low growl of amusement before he flopped himself down beside Optimus and forced the smaller mechacoyote to rest his head on his massive shoulders. Sighing as if it was an arduous task for him, Optimus flopped his head onto the gray shoulder and watched his little ones tear the petrorabbit open.

Not bad for a mech that had almost gotten his paw ripped off for trying to save the life of another.