You'll See the Light Again

By Starlight85 the one and only!

"So, what happened after you tackled him on the ground?" Cloud Runner

asked of Dinobot.

"He upper-cutted me a few times, and then kneed me in the gut" Dinobot

replied. He was describing one of his battles in the Great War to Cloud

Runner, who was listening eagerly. The female Transmetal grinned.

Battles and fighting were the only things the two of them could really

talk about, but they talked about it a lot.

Her father had been a general in the Predacon army back on Cybertron.

Dinobot had been programmed in the thick of the Great War, and was

weaned on battle and fighting and tactics. Just like Cloud Runner

herself had been.

"I managed to get the upper hand, and force him down to the ground"

Dinobot explained.

"Then did you hack him in two with your sword?" the female asked,

flicking her tail back and forth with excitement.

"I would have, but another Maximal with a chain gun shot me in the back"

Dinobot replied. "Then I turned around, and shot him with my gun, but

the first Maximal hit me on the back of my head with a staff."

"It was a team effort" Cloud Runner remarked.

"Evidently" the velociraptor replied. "What would you do in such a

situation?" he asked.

"I'd get away from the both of them" Cloud Runner said. "I'd get up off

the ground......."

"But what if you fell back down because of the Maximal with the large

gun, and the first Maximal jabbed you with a sword?" Dinobot asked,

challenging her.

"I'd shoot the Maximal that had the sword with my optic lasers, right in

the head!" Cloud Runner said. "Then, I'd jump up in the air, and shoot

the Maximal with the gun."

"If you were tripped by the Maximal on the ground before you got to

shoot the other?" Dinobot asked again, a smile in his eyes.

"Well....." Cloud Runner thought. "Hmm, I guess I'd just take care of

the Maximal closest to me first.....and.....I'd make him a shield, if

the Maximal with the chain gun shot at me. So, the Maximal I'd be

fighting would be taking all the shots from his comrade with the chain

gun."

"And once he was out of order what would you do? " Dinobot asked. "If

you dropped his body I mean. The other Maximal has a huge chain gun, and

is unleashing bullets after bullets on you."

"I'd probably duck, before I got beaten to a pulp" Cloud Runner started

off.

"And what if the Maximal fired at you while you were on the ground?" her

father demanded.

"Then.....I think I'd try to find someone on the battlefield who had a

smaller gun" she said sheepishly. Cloud Runner just could not think of

anything else to do in that situation.

Dinobot snorted, much to Cloud Runner's embarrassment. "Well, at least

you would have made an honorable effort" he said.

A few minutes of silence passed. Cloud Runner growled to herself. It was

the silence between them that she hated. But unfortunately, she had many

periods of silence with her father.

The silence could mean so many things. If only she knew what HE thought

of the silence. Did Dinobot not care about the silence? Was he thinking

about something completely different other than her? Was he analyzing

her last remark?

Cloud Runner could say so many things to her father, and ask him all the

questions she wanted to ask him. Questions like "were you upset when you

first saw my brother and me?" or "do you love us?" and all the questions

her heart kept on whispering to her.

But she could not, because the silence stole the words from her mouth

and left it barren. And also because she thought her father would not

answer them. Oh, what could she say to break the silence, a way that

would not offend her father.........

"Dad, what was your old name?" she asked.

"My old name was Grimslash" he replied.

"Nice name" Cloud Runner commented. Well, there was no embarrassed pause

there. That had to be good. "What did you do after the Great War was

over?"

That seemed to hit a nerve. Dinobot spun around and growled at her. "It

is none of your business to pry, daughter" he snapped.

Cloud Runner blinked and gave her father a hurt look. Why had he been so

mean? It was just a question. If he had done something he did not like

to talk about, he did not need to snap at her to let her know.

Dinobot ignored her look, and stomped off. "We should be scouting for

Predacons" he said. "You watch the left, and I will survey the right."

The metallic vixen sighed, and did as she was instructed. Her mind

wandered though, even though her eyes did not.

My mother never speaks to me, and my father treats me as a pupil, to be

taught and nurtured in his specialties, but not to be loved or cared

for. Oh Matrix, is this a curse or what?! Should I tell them what I

think of them? Should I really try to let my parents know what they do

wrong, so that they could stop doing it?

Cloud Runner opened her mouth to speak to her father. She wanted to say

"Dad, you didn't have to be so rough" or something to that extent.

Suddenly, doubts assailed her. What if Dinobot did not want to listen to

her? What if he got mad at her? What if he got so mad that they would

both never talked again? She shut her mouth.

No, that will not work. They can't know, I'm too scared to tell them.

Surviving a dysfunctional family is like walking on a spider web day

after day. You have to be so careful which thread you step on, for you

might stick to it and be trapped. Or, the string might be loose and the

web would give way underneath you. It can be so tense, but I just have

to bare it.

Cloud Runner thought of something her brother had said once, before they

had been discovered.

"Sis" Phantom had said "we're accidents. Screws so screwy, we're not

meant in the world. Our mom didn't want us, so she ditched us. Dad

doesn't even know we're alive."

"If we do show ourselves, it's only natural that our family, if we have

one, will be pretty dysfunctional. Not one of our parents will want to

function with each other. They won't want to function with us either."

"So, just live with it! Tweak their gears, get on their nerves, treat

them like you would any other bum on the streets. If you try to get a

machine that WILL not function to function, you're bound to end up being

stuck with a lot of parts that you won't know where to put."

She had replied. "Well, I'll just read the manual and find out where to

put them." Cloud Runner had been so proud of herself at the time,

because she rarely thought up good one-liners. Those were reserved for

her brother. Occasionally Demi-God got some, but you could not really

make anything he said into a one-liner, because he dragged out his

sentences for too long.

Cloud Runner now realized Phantom's vast knowledge, and realized her own

stupidity. She should have stayed away from her two parents, and given

them some space. If they wanted to know her, they would have to be the

first ones to speak.

But, instead, she had been the first to speak. Cloud Runner had been the

first to proffer the hand of friendship, maybe even love to her parents.

What had she gotten? Her mother rejecting her hand and her father only

taking it when he felt like it.

"Dinobot or CR come in!" Cheetor's voice called over her com-link.

"Dinobot here" the raptor replied.

"We got a Pred squadron in your sector, at coordinates P-34" the

Transmetal cat replied. "It looks like the spider woman, bug eyes, the

flying furball, the kitty cat and the head honcho himself!"

"Okay, are there any others with you?" Cloud Runner asked, wondering who

were all the Predacons Cheetor had just described.

"I got Firecat with me and Silverbolt. Optimus and Rhinox are on their

way! Cheetor over and out" and her com-link clicked off.

"Jets on!" Cloud Runner shouted. She shot up into the sky, and looked

around. A few kilometers from her position were the bunch of Predacons

Cheetor had noted. There was Blackarachnia, Waspinator, Unnamed Flyer,

Tabitha and Megatron.

Cloud Runner looked to see if her father was okay. She could not see

him, so that meant he must be heading towards the position of the Preds.

In a few seconds, she had reached the Predacons. Cheetor swooped to her

side with a huge grin on his face.

"Let's rock this party!" he said.

"All right" Cloud Runner replied, laughing. She was promptly shot at by

Unnamed Flyer and Waspinator who were heading up towards them. The two

Transmetals managed to dodge the shots.

Even though she had to zig zag, Cloud Runner managed to close the

distance between her and Waspinator, who had been shooting at her with

his insane frenzy.

One bullet got her in the left shoulder, and another one her right leg.

Cloud Runner roared in pain. Waspinator laughed. Cloud Runner's roar of

pain turned to anger as she dived straight at the wasp.

Waspinator moved to the side, but she had expected him to, and grabbed

his left arm in her jaws. Cloud Runner bit down hard, and sunk her

killer claws into his metal skin.

Waspinator dropped his gun and swatted at her. Cloud Runner then let go,

and cut the Predacon's back with her killer claw. She had to marvel at

how good she was doing.

The Predacon buzzed in fury, and slapped her in the head. Cloud Runner

was sent spinning away. Pain suddenly ripped down her back. She turned

around and saw Tabitha standing behind her.

"You mess with my friends, you mess with me" Tabitha said with a growl,

reloading her wing missiles.

"Oh look, isn't Unnamed Flyer getting mauled over there?" Cloud Runner

asked, her eyes wide and pretending to be innocent.

"Yeah right, like I'm gonna fall for that!" Tabitha said. "Hey, isn't

that your brat of a brother Phantom getting killed by Megatron?"

"Oh shut up!" Cloud Runner snapped. She transformed into robot mode.

Even though she was falling, she activated her eyebeams and shot both

Tabitha and Waspinator with them.

Then, the Transmetal fox/raptor went back into beast mode, and soared

through the skies again.

Optimus suddenly appeared before her. "Cloud Runner" he said "you take

the ground, Cheetor and I can handle them up in the air."

Cloud Runner nodded. Should would have liked to beat up Tabitha some

more, but Optimus was her commander, and this was a war.

She swooped towards the ground and maximized into her robot mode. The

first person she faced was Megatron. He would provide a challenge, but

then, Waspinator and Tabitha had got her mech-fluid burning, and she was

up to it.

With a guttural roar only warriors seemed to understand, Cloud Runner

lunged at Megatron. She was going to stick her sword through his torso,

but she was knocked aside with his tail gun. The vixen lay on the ground

in a daze, her head ringing.

Pain brought her out of that daze, as Megatron shot her in the back.

Cloud Runner stood up again, and shot at him with her eyebeams, getting

the Predacon leader in the chest. When Megatron shot back, Cloud Runner

took out her fox head shaped shield and blocked the shots.

With her shield on one arm, sword in the other, and charged up eyebeams,

she lunged at Megatron again. This time she defected his tail gun with a

blow of her sword. Hand to hand combat was always a fun way of whipping

your opponent's butt!

Megatron made a few more swipes at her, but all of them she defected.

The clang of metal upon metal hurt Cloud Runner's ears, but she still

grinned like a maniac. Fighting enemies was practically the most fun

thing she could think of. She had Dinobot's warrior instincts to thank

for it. It seemed that this was the only thing she inherited from her

father.

A blast of bullets suddenly caught Cloud Runner in the back. Turning

around, she saw Blackarachnia behind her. The Transmetal's back was

aching terribly. Cloud Runner glanced behind her to make sure Megatron

would not trouble her. The Predacon leader was battling with her father,

so that would be fine.

Cloud Runner wondered if she should try to fight the female spider.

Blackarachnia was fast and quick, and very deadly. Cloud Runner had

never been good at fighting with ninja-like people, because they never

stood still, and they knew where to hurt you the most.

Still, it was worth a shot. Even if she should die.....but, Cloud Runner

knew she would not die. It was just one of those things she

instinctively knew, or at least she hoped she would not die.

Cloud Runner lanced out at Blackarachnia with her eyebeams. The spider

dodged aside, to the left. When Cloud Runner shot at where she had just

been, the spider jumped towards her.

"That was smart" the Transmetal fox/raptor said. "I'm built for hand to

hand combat!"

"Well, you won't be anymore" Blackarachnia said, aiming her gun at Cloud

Runner. It was weird, the thing she had inside the barrel of her gun did

not look like a bullet. It was a black tube with a point at the end, and

a white liquid swirling around in it.

Ignoring that, Cloud Runner shot at Blackarachnia with her eyebeams. At

the same time, Blackarachnia shot her gun, and got Cloud Runner in her

left shoulder.

The fox/raptor growled and kept shooting. Suddenly, her world suddenly

darkened, and she fell down, unconscious.

******************

"Is she gonna be okay Big Green?" Cheetor asked, for about the billionth

time.

"I told you before, whatever the Predacons put into Cloud Runner, the CR

chamber must be able to cure" Rhinox replied. Still, Cheetor was right

to worry. Strange and very dangerous things had happened in the Beast

Wars, this just might be one of them.

"Are you sure?" Cheetor asked, his eyes intent on the CR chamber.

"Yeah, I'm sure" Rhinox replied.

Despite the fact that Cheetor had asked him so many times, Rhinox did

not mind. It was common knowledge around the base that Cheetor and Cloud

Runner were in love. It was just the fact that the two of them did not

realize it, which was why no one had said anything to them. Love was a

very odd, and fickle thing.

"Look kid, she'll be fine okay?" Rhinox reassured the Transmetal cat.

"Sorry if I'm bugging the pants off yah" Cheetor said, his eyes

downcast. Rhinox wondered why Cheetor used so many human catch-phrases.

"I just really want to make sure...."

"It's okay kid" Rhinox replied. "I know how much you care for her."

"Oh.....is it that obvious?" Cheetor asked, grinning sheepishly.

"Yep" Rhinox replied. It felt good to talk to Cheetor like this. Rhinox

and Cheetor liked each other, but the cat was too fast for Rhinox to

deal with on a regular basis.

Dinobot walked into the room. "Is Cloud Runner out of there yet?" he

asked. The velociraptor tried to make his voice sound mild, but there

was a tinge of worry in it.

"No" Rhinox replied. "She's been in there for half an hour. She must

have took some major damage." It was true. Dinobot and Cheetor had

suffered less compared to Cloud Runner.

"She fought like a warrioress should" Dinobot replied, raising his head

with pride.

"And a great lot of good it did her" Cheetor said rudely. He nodded

towards the CR chamber. "She still hasn't come out, Mr. Sunshine."

Dinobot growled.

"You two stop it" Rhinox said. Then, he noticed the hatch of the CR

chamber was open. "She's going to come out now."

The first thing that was evident was that all of Cloud Runner's wounds

had been repaired.

The second thing was that her eyes were white.

"What? Where am I? What's happened to me?" the metallic fox said in a

strangled whisper.

Rhinox looked at her white eyes. "You look......blind" he said. How did

that happen? Was it a virus the Predacons had infected her with? It must

have been.

"WHAT?!" Dinobot and Cheetor exploded.

Cloud Runner did not say anything. She just looked straight ahead, with

a pathetic look on her face.

"Blind?" she repeated, in the same hoarse whisper.

"Say "convert all available power to optics" " the rhino instructed.

"Convert all available power to optics" Cloud Runner repeated, saying

the word like a good luck charm. Her eyes did not even sputter red for a

second.

"Optic systems unresponsive" her computer replied. "Unknown virus is

blocking power to optics. Unit Cloud Runner is now: blind. Rerouting

power to normal functions."

"How in the Pitt can my daughter be blind?!" Dinobot snarled, glaring at

Rhinox evilly. "You better try to figure this out, charlatan, and cure

her!"

"That's what I was going to do" Rhinox said. He looked over at Cloud

Runner, who had not moved. Cheetor was by her side, comforting her.

"It's okay CR, Rhinox will have you fixed up faster than you can say

stealth bomber" Cheetor said, but it was evident that he was a little

uncertain. The cat looked at Rhinox desperately.

The rhino sighed. It was times like this that he hated being in so much

pressure. If Cloud Runner was truly blind, everyone would blame him.

Slag, he was not a medic! The only medic that they had had was Marbelle,

and she herself was comatose. Rhinox took Cloud Runner by the hand, and

led her to the sickbay.

"I won't stay blind forever, right?" Cloud Runner whispered again. She

moved like a robot, well they were robots so it was understandable, but

she did not have to carefree stride that she usually had.

"I don't know" Rhinox said, as the door of the sickbay slid open.

The sickbay had a large window, that made for a spectacular view. There

were a few beds with Earthling cloth that they had managed to salvage.

The Axalon had originally been an exploration vessel, and had no need at

the time for sickbays or beds. This room was actually supposed to be the

conference room.

He told Cloud Runner to shut down her systems, and she did so, willing

to do anything to help. Rhinox lay her down on a bed. The good thing

about the appearance of Marbelle, even though she was comatose, was the

she had a complete surgeon's kit with her. Rhinox looked at the bed

beside Cloud Runner, and saw the opossum lying there, breathing

peacefully.

Rhinox took the surgeon's kit. He had practiced medicine, of course, so

he knew the basic tools and incisions. He carefully took out a scalpel,

and made a thin cut around the perimeter of the coating of the eye.

Bot eyes are like sunglasses. The part of the eyes that is what people

see normally was made out of a fine mixture of glass and transparent

quartzite. If you remove that part, you will see the inner workings of

the optics. It is like removing the lens of the sunglasses, the eye can

still work, but you can see what the eye really looks like.

And what Rhinox saw was so odd it seemed like he was in a science

fiction movie.

Instead of the wires an light converters, the things that gave the

optics their color, he just saw a thick, gooey substance covering her

wiring.

Rhinox took some tweezers and tried to pry away at the gooey substance.

He tried very hard, but he could not. It was hard, like metal. And if he

pulled very hard, then he ran the risk of tearing her optical wiring. If

he tried to meld it off, then he might melt her optic wires.

All in all, Rhinox was stuck.

There was one good part though. There was one part that the gooey

substance had failed to cover up. That was the mechanism that allowed

Cloud Runner to shoot her eyebeams. The substance must have not covered

it, because she must have been shooting at the time that the virus had

covered the inside of her eyes. But still, it did not mean she could

see.

He sighed. He would have liked to take some of the substance off of her

eyes, if only for analyzation. But he could not tear even the smallest

bit off. If only he was a proper surgeon, then he might be able to do

something.

The rhino put the quartzite covering of her optics back where it was

supposed to go. Then, he took the miniature welder, and welded the sides

together, praying to the Matrix that he would not mess up. Despite his

fingers being very big, they were surprisingly gentle, and by the end of

the operation, Cloud Runner had her optic coverings back over her

optics.

He woke Cloud Runner up.

"I-I still can't see Rhinox" she said, looking around. "Everywhere is

just blackness, a bit of gray and some white. But...but it's mostly

blackness. Why am I still blind Rhinox, why am I still blind?"

"I'll bring you to the main room and explain this to everybody" Rhinox

said, taking her by the hand. He sighed sadly. He would do anything to

cure her of this blindness, but he could not do anything.

When he got to the main room, he was surprised to find that everybody

was there. All the Maximals, even baby Birch and her parents.

"How is she?" Cheetor asked, a fearful look in his eyes.

"Blind" Rhinox replied. He sat Cloud Runner down, and explained his

findings to the Maximals.

"And so, unless there's an antidote in the Predacon base........." Satin

began.

"She'll be like this for the rest of her life" Rhinox said, wishing he

could lose his power of speech, and be forced not to tell anything. Why

were the important people the harbingers of bad news? Rhinox did not

want to look at Cloud Runner's face right now.

It seemed as if everyone in the room lost their power of speech, or

movement. They were all still, not daring to breath. Their eyes spoke

though. They spoke of pity, and of regret. Optimus looked like he was

going to say something, but did not.

Cheetor broke the stillness. "Lemme take you to your quarters CR" he

said. She got silently out of her chair, and Cheetor directed her down

one of the hallways, sweeping the unfortunate one out of the room

*******************

Rattrap walked into the Axalon. He saw Rhinox, Optimus, Cheetor, Cloud

Runner and Dinobot in the main room.

"Now Cloud Runner" Rhinox said. "Try to picture a programming grid in

your mind. It has lines going horizontally, and vertically. The line at

the top of the grid is H-1, because it is the first horizontal line. The

first vertical line on the left is called V-1, because it's the first

vertical line. Try to picture it. The grid should have five lines going

horizontal, and five lines going vertical."

Cloud Runner screwed up her eyes, trying to picture the grid. Rattrap

knew that that was a very basic kind of grid, the kind first learned by

any bot at a Cybertronian school.

But of course, Cloud Runner had not gone to a Cybertronian school.

"I'm trying........" Cloud Runner whispered "I can't!" she growled.

"Look guys, we tried this all day yesterday, let's just forget it

because I can't do it!"

"Ahem...." Rattrap said, coughing to get their attention.

Cheetor's green eyes looked at him, as well as Rhinox, Optimus and

Dinobot's red ones. Cloud Runner's eyes were white, looking like some

sort of mist.

Rattrap felt Satin twitch by his side. The two of them had been off to

the Predacon base. And they needed to report.

"We saw Scorpinok and Unnamed Flyer making some more of de same viruses"

Rattrap explained. "We destroyed dem."

"And the anti-virus?" Optimus asked.

Rattrap sighed. "We searched up and down and top tah bottom. Nothing.

Zip, nadda, zilch. Nothing."

Rattrap felt like saying something more. But he could not, because Cloud

Runner had gotten up out of her chair.

"Cheetor, could you take me to my quarters please?" she asked, her voice

the same hoarse whisper.

"Sure CR" Cheetor replied, in an oddly slow voice.

Rattrap looked at Satin beside him. Although it seemed odd, the red fox

looked like she was trying not to cry.

**************************

Satin went into her daughter's quarters. It was odd, because Dinobot, of

all people, was at her side. It was not surprising, he WAS after all

Cloud Runner's father. He wanted to comfort his daughter as much as she

did. But, the last time they had been side to side together like this

was that one fateful night when......well, she did not want to think

about that anymore than she had to!

Whatever the heck happened between us, it was only for one night, Satin

thought. And another thought that was odd was that Dinobot did not seem

like the comforting kind. Oh well, maybe this was just a side no one

else saw. Still, it was very weird.

Cloud Runner lay on her bed in robot mode. She looked up at her parents

with white, glassy eyes.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It is me, your father" Dinobot replied.

"I'm here too, darling" Satin said. For some reason, she just could not

call Cloud Runner "daughter." Why was that?

Cloud Runner took a deep breath and sighed. "Thanks for coming you guys"

she said finally. "I don't think anything you can say will help me,

though."

Satin saw Dinobot open his mouth to speak, but then he shut it. He

looked at Satin, as if saying "do you want to go first?"

The red fox thought hard. The look on her daughter's face was awful,

like her entire world had been ripped away from her. Satin felt a

desperate urge to help her, and to be with her.

It was sad. The only other times she had felt that urge to stay and help

someone, was when she saw her son dying, and when he was exiled. Satin

had never felt the need to bond with her daughter, only now.

Would she be destined to do this throughout her life? To only get in

touch with her kids when they were at the end of their ropes, and never

before? To never try to keep a bond between them?

"Look, darling, I know it must be hard on you, because you've lost your

eyes" Satin began lamely.

"Of course it is" Cloud Runner snapped. Satin had never heard her

daughter snap like that before.

"When I came out of that CR chamber, I couldn't see a thing" Cloud

Runner said. "I just heard voices, and people moving. I didn't know

where I was, I didn't know where anything was. Do you know how long it

took me to find this room? One minute, but that was only because Cheetor

helped me!"

I could have helped her to her quarters, Satin thought, why didn't I?

How come Cheetor had to help her, when I could have spent one minute of

my time trying to help my newly blind daughter?!

Satin looked on Dinobot's face, and she saw that he felt similar regret.

They both knew they were bad parents.

"If there is anything we can do to help, just name it" Dinobot said

desperately.

"There isn't anything, because no one can help me" Cloud Runner replied.

"No one can make me see again. No one can make colors appear in front of

my eyes. The both of you can't do anything....and neither can I. There

is nothing I can do in this war. I'm nothing to everybody, I'm useless."

"You're something to us" Satin said. She felt like she was trying to

throw some meat to a wolf that looked starving, but would not eat.

Cloud Runner sneered. Satin was surprised to see how much she looked

like Phantom when she sneered like that.

It was a cynical smile of knowledge. Cloud Runner knew what could not

be, and she knew that they could never be a family. They could never

have any real bonds, only shaking strings. Strings that could easily be

cut with the lowliest pair of scissors. All their words lacked a promise

of their words lasting. They cared for her now, but in a few days they

would not again. At least, that must have been what Cloud Runner

thought, by the way she smiled.

"Cloud Runner" Dinobot began "if you're upset because you cannot fight,

then....." he trailed off.

"Of course I'm upset because I can't fight! I'm upset because I can't do

anything!" Cloud Runner replied. "Just go away, please. You've done all

that you can do, and said all that you can say. There is simply no

hope."

Simply no hope, Satin thought angrily. Of course there's hope! But if I

say that, then she'll reply that I'm a hypocrite, because I am usually

the first one to say that there isn't hope. There is hope, but we just

can't be the ones to give it to her, because she won't let us. There's

too many bad things between the three of us. It'll have to be some other

people to show her hope.

Satin and Dinobot both left their daughter's quarters.

**********************

Cloud Runner sat on the ground. She had been escorted by her father

outside the base. When Dinobot offered to take her on patrol with him,

she had declined. Instead, she just plopped herself down on the ground,

she did not know how far away from the Axalon, and she did not care.

If anybody needs me they'll come and tell me, Cloud Runner thought. But,

nobody will need me, because they know I can't do anything.

Cloud Runner snarled to herself. She could not do anything! She was a

warrior, and a fighter. It was her duty to search for enemies and battle

them. It was a simple, yet very effective line of work. Cloud Runner did

not know a thing about technology, or science.

And now, she had lost her eyes. The eyes which she needed to see an

enemy. The eyes which she needed, to see a bullet headed towards her

head. The eyes which she needed for her life.

There was nothing she could do, for where does a blind person fit in a

war?

As a healer? How could you heal if you could not see the wounds?

As a scout? Sight is key in scouting, with no eyes a scout is worthless.

As a prisoner, locked away in a cage because they were too useless to do

anything? Yes. That was the only thing she could be. The Maximals had

not locked her away yet, but it was only a matter of time until they

did.

Cloud Runner heard a cough behind her. She flicked her ears towards the

cough. It sounded so odd, like a cough, but no one making it.

"'Ello, Lady Who Runs With Clouds, just came to stop off and see 'ow you

were feeling today. If you need any chicken soup, I'd be glad to give

you some. Of course, then I'd 'ave to find a chicken. 'Ave you seen a

chicken, Lady Who Runs With Clouds?"

"Of course I haven't seen a chicken, because I can't see!" Cloud Runner

snapped. She was getting very annoyed at Bouncealot's constant

prattling. She was blind, why did he not realize that? Was he that thick

headed?!

"Oh, ha ha!" the rabbit/sparrow Fuzor laughed a little in his

embarrassment. "It just slipped my mind. My mind, is a slippery thing.

Like a wet, wet fish. Well, fish are always wet of course, because they

live in streams. I could go get you a fish soup, would you like that,

Lady Who Runs With Clouds? Wait, that is a pretty long name. I'm going

to have to shorten it, do you mind?"

"How about calling me Cloud Runner?" the metallic vixen said, grumbling

to herself.

"Cloud Lady" Bouncealot said finally. "I was thinking of calling you

Running Lady, then I realized that the name didn't sound right at all.

I've never seen you run. 'Ave you ever run, Cloud Lady? Running must be

such fun. I don't run, I bounce. Bouncing and running are both fun, but

I prefer bouncing. No offense, wot? I'm sure running must 'ave its good

sides too. It's just that....."

"Does this visit have a point?!" Cloud Runner snapped. If he was

supposed to be cheering her up, it was NOT working.

"To make you 'appy again, because you're not right now" Bouncealot

replied. At least he's somewhat perceptive! Cloud Runner thought with

relief.

"I thought a song might make you 'appy" Bouncealot continued. "I

remember, back on Cybertron, singing songs always made me 'appy. Locke

and BendBlade kept on looking at me like I was crazy, whenever I sang.

And Nexus always covered 'is audio circuits. Sparkplug pretended to

listen though. She was a nice girl, lovely to the eye, and to the 'eart.

I 'ope she'll be okay."

There was a thump, like something hitting the ground, right next to her.

Cloud Runner sat up, and flicked her ears towards the sound. Bouncealot

coughed again. This time, Cloud Runner realized that the sound was near

her front, not behind her.

"'Ere's the song, Cloud Lady.....one, two, four, eighteen, five....."

Bouncealot counted down. Soon, the Fuzor burst into song.

"Quick into an alley dark,

Bare your blade and 'ide your spark,

Listen to the guards that bark,

You'll see the light again!

Now into the building sneak,

Very quietly you must creep,

But for danger always take a peek,

You'll see the light again!

Grab the object in your sights,

Your morals and conscience you must not fight,

Then run and dodge with all your might,

You'll see the light again!

With all your senses at the top,

You'll get your pick of a great big crop,

You'll soon be up to gain a lot,

'Though you might not see the light just then!"

Cloud Runner raised an eyebrow. Was that supposed to mean something?

Bouncealot a pretty good singer even with the accent, but the song he

had sung was pure nonsense to the female.

"There, didn't that make you feel 'appier?" Bouncealot asked. "Singing

is so fun. I can see why all the Earthlings do it. The Earthlings 'ave

so many bands! And all their names are so weird. Like Smashing

Pumpkins......who'd want to go around smashing pumpkins? It might be fun

though....maybe I should try it sometime. There are some Cybertronian

bands with weird names too, like Spike Dodgers or Chrome Demons. Those

are weird names, but not as weird as 'Anson. Now that is a weird name.

And Spice Girls.....who'd want to go around naming themselves after

things which season food? It's like calling yourself the Salt Girls, or

the Vegetable Oil Girls, or something. And All Saints.....why do they

call themselves that?! It's SO obvious that they aren't all saints!

Yeesh!"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LEAVE?!" Cloud Runner shouted. Incessant babbling

was something she just could not stand.

"Sure Cloud Lady" Bouncealot said quickly. She could hear Bouncealot

bound away from her and back to the Maximal base.

Cloud Runner sat back down. You'll see the light again, she thought,

what does that mean? I can't see any light, because I'm blind. Why did

he choose that song? I shouldn't try to figure out Bouncealot, it'll

give me nothing but trouble.

Cloud Runner sighed, and contented herself to getting back to her

depression.

She could not do anything! Why had Optimus not locked her away yet? Was

this some cruel joke, that she should be allowed to stay around the

Axalon, but do nothing? She might as well kill herself now, the Maximals

would be better off.

It is the law of the jungle, Cloud Runner thought, that if a creature is

unfit, unhealthy, or has any disabilities, then they must die. That is

the law of the jungle.

Cloud Runner smiled a bittersweet smile. That sounded like something her

dad would say. But, just today her dad was saying how much he would

protect her and care for her. Her mother had said that too, last night.

Her mother, who had never really cared for Cloud Runner, had actually

came to comfort and offer her undying love and protection.

She must feel obligated, the metallic vixen thought. It's just because

I'm her daughter that she's doing this. Mom is only pretending to love

me, because the Maximals would think she was cruel otherwise. My dad is

only pretending to love me. Everyone is pretending to care for me, when

really they want me dead. Because I am worthless.

"Hello Cloud Runner" came a deep, baritone voice from in front of her.

Cloud Runner stirred. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she

had barely heard the hello.

"Malice, is that you?" Cloud Runner asked. Once, she could have seen

what Malice had looked like. Now, she could not. His voice was just a

disembodied voice, floating around. It could have been from a tape

recorder, and she would not know the difference.

"It's me" the baritone voice replied.

"I thought you didn't associate with the children of former Predacons"

Cloud Runner pointed out. It was true, because Malice had never really

liked her, and he had hated her brother and father. With Predacons the

hyena was just filled with spite and.....malice.

The hyena coughed uneasily.

"Of course, it's only because of your relationship with my mother that

you're here" Cloud Runner guessed. Her mother and Malice had been

getting pretty friendly. "How many times did she have to push you to do

this before you did, eh? How long until my mom finally got her way?" She

curled her muzzle into a sneer, which, although she did not know it,

resembled the face Phantom made when making some cynical remarks.

"Look you little...." Malice sputtered. Cloud Runner grinned, then

stopped herself. Why was she feeling this perverse pleasure because she

had made him mad?

"I'm here on my own accord, actually" Malice said, his voice a bit

calmer now. "I just wanted to tell you that I know what it's like to

loose one of your senses. I used to not be able to speak....."

"And you never liked speaking anyway" Cloud Runner interjected. "You

hated communication. It's kind of surprising that your talking to me

right now. Mom's trained you how to talk then. Tell me Rover, how high

does she make you jump?"

"You better loose that attitude, you little brat" Malice whispered,

suiting his name more than ever. "We just might chuck you into one of

the nearby waterfalls."

"Good, at least the Maximals will be minus one useless bot" Cloud Runner

said. "When am I scheduled for this underwater voyage? Today or

tomorrow?"

"This is hopeless" Malice said, and his footsteps faded.

Cloud Runner thought for a little bit. Why had she acted like that? Why

had she gotten all snappish? Was there something wrong with her?

More footsteps interrupted her thinking. Cloud Runner noted with

interest that this time, there were only the sounds of two footsteps.

"Hi Cloud Runner, it's me, Nightshade" came a voice that sounded like

sweet sugar.

"What do you want?" Cloud Runner snapped. She could not stopped herself,

she just felt so mad and upset. Why was everybody bugging her today?

What was it with all these people thinking she needed comfort? Did these

stupid Maximals understand the word "alone"?!

"Cloud Runner, I know you must be upset and hurting right now"

Nightshade began.

"No freaking duh!" the metallic vixen growled. "Of course I'm upset. You

know why? Because you're here! Go away and leave me ALONE! You got that?

A-L-O-N-E, alone! Don't ever bug me again."

"Cloud Runner-" Nightshade began again. The vixen could tell that there

was a bit of hurt in the raptor's voice.

"I don't want to hear it" Cloud Runner shouted angrily. "I've been

comforted to death! Leave!"

Nightshade's footsteps disappeared. Cloud Runner put her head between

her paws and sighed.

Why was life so hard on her?

***************************

Cheetor went down the elevator lift. He looked around him with a worried

stare. Rocks, ground, tree, Cloud Runner, rocks......wait! Cheetor did a

double-take. There was Cloud Runner! She was sitting at least forty five

meters away from the Axalon, not too far away. She would not want to get

lost.

Cheetor smiled. He was about to walk over there, when he was stopped by

Malice in beast mode.

"Gone to cheer the lady up?" the hyena asked. Cheetor nodded. It was

still odd, to see Malice talking. A few days ago, he had been a mute,

but now he was back in the land of verbal communication.

"Don't bother" Malice replied, snorting. "CR's ticked. She even told

Nightshade off. Slag, if someone doesn't want the Maximal's resident

angel near by, they have got to be mad."

With those words of encouragement, Malice walked towards the Axalon.

Cheetor gulped, but walked towards Cloud Runner. He had to help her! He

would not feel right if he did not. Cheetor was her friend, and friends

helped each other. Well, some day he hoped to be more than her

friend..... but now he had to comfort her.

Cheetor reached her. "Hi CR" he said.

Cloud Runner's head shot up with a start. She glanced around, fearfully.

"It's me, Cheetor" the Transmetal cat said softly.

"Oh" Cloud Runner nodded. She looked disappointed, and depressed.

Cheetor growled to himself. Slag! How many days before had it been

before she got blind? Two or three? Two or three days ago, she would not

have that look of depression on her face. If only he had not told her

about the fight! If only Cheetor had been there to protect her. The

cheetah looked at the ground guiltily. He had not been there for her,

and this was the thanks he got.

"Look" the metal vixen started out. "I know you're trying to cheer me

up. But it won't work. Other people have tried today and failed."

"Come on CR, gimme one chance?" Cheetor asked. "Please, just one?"

"Oh fine" Cloud Runner sighed. Cheetor smiled, then frowned when he

realized he had no idea of how to cheer her up.

"What are you going to do this time Cheets?" Cloud Runner asked. "Sing a

song about seeing some stupid light? Tell me how bad it is to loose one

of my senses? Tell me that things you know I must be hurting inside?

What have you got lined up for me?"

Cheetor realized something. Cloud Runner needed to forget she had no

eyes, she did not need to keep hearing about it! He would take her on an

escape, and escape away from her blindness. Now, HOW to take her on the

escape was another story........

Cheetor thought for a few minutes.

Cloud Runner snorted. "You didn't even come prepared? Sheesh. Out of all

the people I've seen....no, my mistake, HEARD, you are the worst."

Cheetor hung his head. He would have to think of something quickly

before he got robbed of his chance. He urged his brain to think. But he

turned up blank.

That is so like me! Cheetor thought. I remember when I used to take

exams for my school back on Cybertron. I always got nervous and had to

do most of them over again. Eventually I grew out of that

but........Cybertron! That's it!

"Mind if I tell you about Cybertron?" Cheetor asked.

"Uh, sure.....go right ahead" Cloud Runner replied. She seemed taken

aback by his answer. Cheetor grinned, that was what he had hoped.

He sat lay down on the ground beside her, the way a cheetah lounges in

the mid-day heat. Cheetor kept a bit of distance between them, even

though he would have liked to go a bit closer to her. He just did not

want to frighten her.

"I'm sure Dinobot must have told you about the Great War, right?"

Cheetor started off.

Cloud Runner nodded.

"Good, then you can explain it to me" he said.

"Why?" Cloud Runner asked. "You don't know?"

"Nope" Cheetor replied. "I was programmed after the Great War. Or as me

and my former friends called it "The Great War of Idiots Who Ran Around

With Big Guns Blowing Things Up." We could never really think of an

acronym for that." Cheetor laughed. Cloud Runner did too. The cat

smiled. She was laughing, that was a good thing.

"Why did you call the Great War stupid?" Cloud Runner asked.

"Because we hadn't been in it" Cheetor responded. "Okay, I'm gonna start

from the beginning. I was programmed by Vector Sigma, and designed in

the Matrix. You know Vector Sigma, the giant computer that programs

bots?"

"I heard my mom say to Rattrap that "when Primus programmed you he must

have told Vector Sigma to do some pretty weird stuff"" Cloud Runner

replied. "What's Primus?" the vixen asked.

"Primus is like our god" Cheetor said. "Some people say he controls

Vector Sigma, some people say he is Vector Sigma, and that his spark

inhabited the giant computer. Me, I never really believed in Primus, but

I know I was programmed by Vector Sigma, so I believe in it. Your mom

must be one of those people that believes Vector Sigma is controlled by

Primus."

"The Matrix is two things. The Matrix of Autobot leadership has all the

wisdom of the ancient Autobot leaders. It's like our version of heaven.

But the Matrix I'm talking about is the factory on Cybertron that

designs and creates Maximals. Vector Sigma gives us our personalities

and sparks, and the Matrix gives us our bodies" Cheetor said, trying to

make it simpler. Cloud Runner looked like she understood all he said so

far.

"The Inferno, or the Pitt, is like our version of hell, and it's also a

factory, except it makes Predacons. The Inferno gives the Predacons

their bodies, and Vector Sigma gives them their sparks and

personalities. There's also a guy named Smelter, who's supposed to be

the devil or something. I don't believe in him either."

"So, when people say "thank the Matrix" do they mean the factory or the

Matrix of Autobot leadership?" Cloud Runner asked.

"They mean the Matrix of Autobot leadership" Cheetor replied. "And when

people say go to the Inferno, or go to the Pitt, they mean....."

"Go to hell, right?" Cloud Runner asked. Cheetor nodded, she was

catching on quickly. "And "smelt you all" means damn you all, right?"

"You got it" Cheetor replied.

"Anyway, after I was first created, I was taken to the Maximal Elders.

The Maximal Elders are a bunch of old, wise bots. These were Autobots,

programmed before the Great War. They were so wise, that they managed to

survive the War. When the Maximals were formed, they chose these wise

Autobots to lead them, and these Autobots became the Maximal Elders. At

least, so I've heard" Cheetor admitted. "There are Predacon Elders too.

They were just like the Maximal Elders, except they are leaders of,

obviously, the Predacons."

"I was ushered into their presence. The Maximal Elders looked me over

and asked me questions, such as "what do you want to be when you get

older?" and "what do you think of the world around you?" They asked me

all these deep and spiritual questions too, like if I believed in Primus

and Vector Sigma and all that. When I had finished answering the

questions, the Maximal Elders announced my name to be Whirlwind ."

"What did you look like in your old mode?" the fox/raptor asked, her

ears perking up with her growing interest.

"I was yellow and orange, with a bit of light brown around my face and

hands." Cheetor replied. It was strange, he could not remember his old

face that well. Had he been gone for so long that he had forgotten what

he looked like?

"I had two long spikes on my elbows, long legs, and a smooth head, kind

of like what Rattrap's head used to be like. But I had two spikes that

curved backwards on my head, like those ones on the backs of race cars.

My friends used to say it made me more aerodynamic." Cheetor smiled at

the memory.

"Well, anyway, the Maximal Elders automatically enroll you in a school,

no matter what kind of bot you are. So, from the day you're first

programmed, you're expected to do homework."

"That's awful!" Cloud Runner explained, making a face.

"That's what I said," Cheetor replied. "No bot ever appreciates it when

they first come on-line. I know it's supposed to be good and all, but I

never liked it. Don't ask me what the Predacon Elders do, I don't know.

They probably enroll you in the military or something."

"What were Cybertronian schools like?" Cloud Runner asked, her white

eyes wide with wonder.

"Compared to this planet, they were very metallic" the Transmetal cat

said. "All of Cybertron was metallic. These schools weren't any

different."

"They kind of looked like Earthling schools, but there were some

differences."

" Instead of note books, we were all given laptops, with came with a

lot of floppy disks. Instead of blackboards, we had holo-boards, which

just looked like giant computers with keyboards, so we never used chalk

or crayons. We had compu-books, instead of text books. And of course,

the whole building was metallic. Cybertronians never had to change for

gym, because we didn't sweat." Cheetor laughed. "It was a good thing for

me, because my school was obsessed with sports programs. My school was

called Metallix Learning Center."

"I remember the first day I went there I was scared to death. I just

walked from class to class, keeping out of everybody's way. I never

remembered any of the teacher's names, or what subjects they specialized

in. I hardly ever spoke to anyone. But a few days later, I got used to

it."

"Where did you sleep at night?" Cloud Runner asked.

"All Cybertronian schools have dormitories" Cheetor explained. "Because

all bots are programmed in their teens. It's always been that way. You

had to share your dormitories with a few other bots though. All of your

same gender of course. At least in Metallix Learning Center. In a few

other schools......well, I heard some mean rumors about them."

"The two bots I was with were Nanowire and Fliplid. Nanowire was quiet

and shy, and a brainiac. I didn't really like him. He was too much of a

nerd."

"Fliplid on the other hand, was wild and crazy, and hated studying. He

had a group of friends that were called the "Cool Group" and he was

adored by all the females in the school, admired by all the guys, but

hated by all the teachers." Cheetor cleared his throat in embarrassment.

"I gotta admit, I kinda fell in with his crowd."

"Meaning....." Cloud Runner asked.

"Meaning I didn't do my homework, I talked back to my teachers, and I

basically failed most of my subjects" Cheetor admitted. "I really, just

wanted to be popular. I pretended to be cool, and that I didn't care

about anybody. When all the members in the "Cool Group" had the newest

cybercars, I had to waste a couple of energon chips, and get one as

well. I made fun of people who really didn't deserve it. It was

basically a game of "Be Better Than You Are" every single day. I was

nothing more than a lowdown punk."

"How did you realize how stupid you were acting?" Cloud Runner asked.

Cheetor stopped himself. Should he tell her? Before he could stop

himself though, he had launched into the story.

"One night we were bragging about how much detention we had gotten. I

was feeling kind of proud of myself, because I had got more detention

than Livehight, a regular in the detention halls. Then Fliplid said to

me "well Whirlwind, I think you've earned a prize tonight." I was

puzzled, and didn't know what in the Inferno he was talking about, but I

went along with it any way."

"It turns out the surprise was......" Cheetor stopped himself from

retching. Had he ever told anybody this before? No he did not think he

had.

"Tell me, please Cheetor?" Cloud Runner begged. She moved closer to him,

sliding her paw against his paw. Cheetor gulped and stared at her. She

was so beautiful, if he was not in his beast mode he would kiss her.

Cloud Runner brought her face closer to his, but she just did not know

it. Their noses were almost touching now. Matrix! Maybe Cheetor should

kiss her now, or at least nuzzle her......

"Cheetor, please?" Cloud Runner asked again. Cheetor shook his head to

awaken himself.

"Their surprise wasn't all that great" he warned. "It was.....it

was......a female bot" Cheetor spat out the words quickly. "She was one

of the dropouts of our school, and she had made a living serving at

bars, and begging on the streets."

He looked over at Cloud Runner, who did not say anything. Cheetor sighed

in relief. The last thing he needed was to be accused like that.

"I took one look at her and ran off" the Transmetal cat said. "I may

have been an actor by pretending I was someone else, but I just could

not do what they wanted me to do to that girl."

"Wait, you're saying that Cybertronian bots can have children?" Cloud

Runner asked puzzled. The cheetah slapped himself. Of course she did not

know! She was never on Cybertron.

"No" Cheetor replied. "But, bots have ways of......doing stuff like

that" he hoped that that was not too offensive. "It's just, there were

never any children afterwards."

"Okay" Cloud Runner replied. "So, after your revelation, then what did

you do?"

"I started trying to be a good, if not model, student" Cheetor replied.

"I took some studying tips from Nanowire. He and his friends were nice

to me, and I realized that they were not just a bunch of nerds, but just

nice bots."

"They taught me all the stuff I had missed, and didn't scream at me when

they had to explain it three times for me to understand things. I

finally fell in with the right crowd. I still had some bad habits, but

those were easily forgiven. Nanowire kept on joking that he had rescued

me from the clutches of the evil Fliplid, and led me down a path of

goodness. When I got my first one hundred percent mark on a test, we

went out to a nice restaurant and celebrated."

"They sound like some wonderful friends" Cloud Runner said, smiling at

him.

"They were" Cheetor responded. Matrix! He had never realized until now

how much he missed his friends. "The bad thing was that Fliplid kept on

getting back at me, and bugging me because I had chickened out. At first

he was really annoying, but after a while he left me alone. Actually, it

was because Nanowire had said that he would send a virus into his laptop

and erase all his homework. Fliplid said he didn't care, but he stayed

away from us any way. Of course, I had to repeat a few courses, and a

few grades. It took me ten years to complete school, when usually it

took others only seven. The reason we have fewer years of school than

Earthlings is because we have no free days, and no summer holidays

either."

"I'm glad I wasn't born on Cybertron!" Cloud Runner said.

"Yeah, you're one lucky bot" Cheetor said. "Eventually, I graduated from

Metallix Learning Center."

"I was free to do whatever I wanted now" Cheetor said. "I was free to

make my name out there in the world, and do whatever I needed to do. The

first thing I did, was get a job at the local McTonalds, it was a

Cybertronian rip-off of the Earthling McDonalds, except Cybertronians

said it served better food. I was the guy that did cleaned the leftover

energon out of the heater. I hated that job, so after a little while I

left, and got a better job. Well, better than working at the McTonalds,

anyway. I was still young, so no one really trusted me with a good job."

"I was a waiter at a nice restaurant. It wasn't that popular, but it

was still nice. It wasn't like some restaurants that tried to steal your

credits by making you pay too much for cheap food. This was a very nice

restaurant. People gave me lots of tips too. The manager was a friendly

old bot named Forgefire, and he made sure I got paid well."

"Meanwhile, I rented an apartment. It wasn't the White Coliseum" Cheetor

smiled. "But it was nice enough. The White Coliseum is a really fancy

apartment building" the cat explained.

"Then, there was the time of the great Recktor scare" Cheetor began.

"Recktor was a Predacon, and he wanted to start the Great War again. He

went around destroying cities and villages. He didn't get near my city,

thank the Matrix. He was eventually locked away, and all his followers

fled. There were so many dying and wounded, I was lucky the city I lived

in was spared."

"The job at the restaurant was nice, but I just got bored after a while.

I wanted some action, I wanted to have some fun. The restaurant just

couldn't give it to me. Forgefire said he understood, and let me leave,

and paid me a full weeks salary too. That guy was the best boss."

Cheetor grinned.

"I decided to contact Nanowire, my school friend. Matrix, was I

surprised when he told me that he was going on a space trip! He said he

was boarding a ship called the Axalon, which was headed off to explore

an uncharted planet, called Inderstan, or something like that. Nanowire

was getting on the Axalon as apprentice to a bot called Trample......now

we call him Rhinox."

"Wow!" Cloud Runner said.

"Nanowire told me the Axalon was captained by a bot named Optimus. I

asked why the captain didn't have a "Prime" at the end of his name, like

the ancient Autobot leader. Nanowire said because the Maximal Elders

didn't think he was worthy to be called Prime. It must have been a let

down for poor Optimus."

"I was pretty jealous of Nanowire. He was successful, and although not

handsome, he even had a girlfriend. Me, I never had a girlfriend, not

once. Well, there was this one girl who kept flirting with me, a fellow

employee at McTonalds. I hated her, she was such a-" Cheetor stopped

himself.

"It's okay, go ahead" Cloud Runner said. "I want to hear about the

former annoyances of my best friend."

A friend, Cheetor thought, that's all she considers me. Just a friend.

Cheetor shook his head and continued talking, quite glad that she did

not see the look of disappointment on his face.

"She thought I wanted a relationship, but I didn't. She talked about

other people behind their backs and said mean things to their faces.

That girl also spread rumors about peoples, just for the fun of it. I

really didn't like her. That might be also why I left" he mused.

"Back to Nanowire. Well, here's the odd twist of fate. A few days before

the Axalon was supposed to take off, he was converting robots into

protoforms, and putting them into stasis pods."

"Stasis pods were a new method of transportation, and it was kind of

risky. You could get your databanks deleted, your memory files erased,

and your spark could fade in the stasis pod and you would die. Not that

many people, but a few, decided to take the risks. I think we had thirty

or something members of the crew in as a protoform. The thing with

protoforms is that when they land on a planet, they can take the form of

any living organism there. Some people thought that was cool, and worth

the risks."

"Well, Nanowire is doing this, when he slips and breaks his leg. That

means, he can't go on the space voyage. And that was a problem, because

the Axalon needed at least four people to handle it manually. There had

to be four people who were not put into stasis lock, to pilot of the

Axalon, and to make sure nothing damaged it. Optimus needed a

replacement for Nanowire right away, and asked Nanowire if there was

anyone he could recommend in his absence. Guess who he chose?"

"You?" Cloud Runner asked.

"Yep" Cheetor grinned. "Nanowire said that I wouldn't be the best

apprentice to Trample, because I wasn't that much of a technology

specialist. But, he said I would be a great pilot and driver, as well as

a lot of other talents. Back at school, I had really excelled at pilot

courses. I felt kind of guilty, me going instead of him, but he assured

me that it was okay. So I got on to the Axalon with Optimus, Trample, a

bot named Locke, who is now Rattrap, and a bunch of thirty something

stasis pods."

"I was kind of scared and frightened, when I first boarded the Axalon. I

had never done anything this big in my life. And, I didn't know anybody

there. Optimus and Trample were old friends, and Locke was Trample's

best buddy, which was how he had gotten on to the Axalon in the first

place, because he knew Trample. I didn't know anyone. I could tell Locke

wasn't too happy with me being the pilot of the ship, because I looked

so young. Optimus and Trample even looked kind of worried, but they kept

the comments to themselves."

"The Axalon had taken off, and I was piloting it" Cheetor said. "I had

no idea space was so big until I was finally out there, navigating a

ship through the stars. The view, and the feeling, was wonderful. I was

actually doing something fun, something that I liked."

"We had been in space for about three hours. I was navigating as well as

I could, and I could tell even Rattrap was impressed with my skills."

Cheetor allowed himself to puff out his chest with pride.

"Then we got attacked by a Predacon ship" the Transmetal said. "We were

an exploration ship, and weren't designed for battle. But we put up our

cannons anyway, and returned fire. Optimus realized that this was the

Predacon ship that had stolen an important disk from the Maximal

Elders."

"Then, for some strange reason, we went through a wormhole" Cheetor

said. "I don't know how that occurred, that's Rhinox's department. I

just knew that one minute we were in open space, the next minute there

is a flashing of purple light, and then there's a large planet on the

viewscreen. It was ancient Earth."

"Well, I guess you know the rest" Cheetor said, realizing how long he

had been talking.

Cloud Runner nodded. Cheetor looked at her. She looked a lot.....happier

than she had been. That was good.

"That was very interesting Cheetor" the vixen replied. "Thank you very

much." Cheetor smiled to himself.

He had done a good job.

*********************************

I'm still depressed, Cloud Runner thought, when she awoke the next

morning. When she opened her eyes, she saw blackness. Oh, there was a

bit of gray too. She should have seen colors, her room, her bed.....but

instead, it was just blackness, with that bit of gray.

Cloud Runner slowly got out of bed and walked to where she thought her

door was supposed to be. Was it on the right, or the left? She smacked

her nose into a wall.

"Ouch" the female fox said. She continued to search along the four

walls, until she found her door, which was on the left side of her room.

She walked out of her room and into the hallway, and then realized she

did not know where in the world to go.

I should have stayed in bed today, Cloud Runner thought with a grimace.

Cloud Runner heard the clanking of two metallic feet in her direction.

"All available power to audio circuits" Cloud Runner said. She listened

again. It seemed that her hearing improved a thousand fold. She smiled.

She had not realized that that would work. How come bots did not do this

all the time? Then Cloud Runner remembered that the only reason she

could do this was because she was blind, and frowned again.

"Hey CR, you're up and out of bed" Cheetor's voice sounded loud in her

ears. Cloud Runner smiled, despite her ringing head. Cheetor had helped

her out yesterday, an she had stopped being depressed then. Maybe he

could help her now?

Don't count on it, one part of her thought sullenly.

Cloud Runner tried to move, but she could not. Her eyes widened, and

panic began to flow through her. After a few minutes though, she

realized what was wrong.

Hmm, she thought, this must be because most of my power is being used by

my hearing. That explains why bots don't do this all the time.

"Convert power back to normal functions" she said. She felt herself

unfreeze, and she stretched her arms, and was surprised when she hit

metal.

"Ow" came Cheetor's voice.

"Sorry" Cloud Runner said, embarrassed. She hit Cheetor! Jeez, that was

pretty stupid!

"It's okay" Cheetor replied.

"Has anything been happening?" Cloud Runner asked.

"Nah, not much" the Transmetal cat replied. "Firecat and Silverbolt are

out on scouting duty. There's no stasis activity. Rhinox is repairing

some stuff in the base. Rattrap is watching over Marbelle. Your dad's

talking to Killshandra, and Nightshade's off bugging them. All in all,

it's a regular day at the Maximal base."

"Except for the fact that I'm blind" Cloud Runner grumbled to herself.

"You're still upset about that?" said Cheetor despairingly.

"Of course!" Cloud Runner grumbled, unnoticing how much she was

upsetting Cheetor.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked hoping for some response to save

her self-confidence.

"I don't know......um......you wanna practice some programming grid

stuff some more?" Cheetor asked.

"Oh face it" the vixen hissed. "There's nothing I can do!" Why had she

kidded herself like that? She was stupid! Stupid as well as blind!

"Well, you could talk with me for a little while, and keep me company"

Cheetor said. Was it just her audio circuits, or was thee a hint of

shyness in his voice?

"Sure, but don't expect that I can do much" Cloud Runner grumbled.

Cloud Runner felt Cheetor's hand, it had to be Cheetor's, touch her

hand. She smiled unconsciously. If she would be getting this close the

Cheetor, maybe there might be some advantages to being blind......she

shook her head, and wiped that though from her mind. It was wrong to use

her weakness to further an ambition.

"I'll take you to the main room, there are chairs there" the cheetah

explained. She thought she could see him giving her a sheepish grin.

The two of them set off, Cheetor in the lead, pulling her steadily along

the corridors and hallways of the Axalon. Cloud Runner's steps were

shaky at first, but soon they got stronger.

"Well, here we are" came Cheetor's voice. Cloud Runner looked around.

Instead of the blackness she normally saw, she saw a lot of very light

gray, and some black along the sides of her vision. That must have meant

that there was more light in the Axalon's main room than in the

hallways, which she already knew.

"Where do I sit?" asked Cloud Runner, scanning around for chairs which

of course she could not see.

"Here" Cheetor replied. She was led for a few more steps, the felt his

hands on her shoulders.

"You can sit down now" the cat said, and Cloud Runner did as she was

told.

Suddenly, Cloud Runner was jolted out of her chair, and fell onto the

floor. Many metallic footsteps were heard as they ran into the main

room. Cloud Runner shakily stood up, waving her hands around to restore

her balance.

"It's a Predacon attack" came Optimus's voice.

"Really? I had no idea!" Dinobot said, his voice slippery with sarcasm.

"All Maximals out of the base" Optimus ordered.

"Before you all leave, can I do anything?" Cloud Runner asked. She knew

the hopelessness of her question even before she closed her mouth.

"Never mind, I'll just stay here" she said. There was a pause, during

which people probably gave her pitying look. Cloud Runner growled.

"Well, get going all ready! Whip some Pred butt, I don't care!" Cloud

Runner snapped. She did not want any pity right now. She just wanted to

fight and battle the enemy. To prove she had a use in the Beast Wars. To

show others, but more importantly, herself, that she could do something,

and could rise above her blindness.

But, that could not happen. So, why was everyone pretending to feel pity

for her, when they knew she was useless?

"CR, are you sure you want to stay here alone?" Cheetor asked.

Another few shots rocked the base.

"Does that answer your question?" Cloud Runner growled. "Now get, all of

you!"

The rest of the Maximals obeyed her, and she could hear their metallic

footsteps go out the elevator lift.

Only two bots remained in the base. Both of them could not fight, for

various reasons.

"Mew" came a voice near the fox/raptor's feet.

"Birch?" Cloud Runner asked.

"Meeew!" the baby replied.

Cloud Runner sighed. "Hey Birch" she said, waving her hand limply in a

greeting.

"Birch, you are one lucky baby" she said, rather enviously. "You've got

two parents who love you. Your mother never dumped you in a cave. You

never grew up in a forest, with only your brother to keep you company.

Weirdoes like Demi-God and Guano never were your friends. And when you

finally saw your parents, they loved you from the start, didn't they?

Just because you were nice and cute, and didn't have an attitude, or a

personality like we did."

"And your mother, she pays attention to you, doesn't she? She's your

friend. My mom ignores me, and avoids me. When she does come near me,

it's only to mutter a few vague words, or bug me about being a warrior.

Your dad loves nature and everything. My dad.......I know he's a great

warrior, but that's about it. You know your dad, or, you will know your

dad. Tigatron loves you, doesn't he Birch?"

"Your brother is dead. I'm sorry to remind you about that, but he is. My

brother's an exile, which is probably a lot worse than being dead. I

know you loved your brother. But you've never grown up with him. I know

what it's like to have this person in your life that is so opposite to

you, that you make the perfect team. The perfect pair."

"And you're not a warrior, either. You don't know how.......enjoyable it

is to fight. The satisfaction of hitting your mark. They feeling of a

battle well fought. The constant moving and shooting and tactics you

have to face. You've never had to feel your adrenaline pumping, and to

know that any moment could be your last. You'll probably never know what

it's like to have these things taken away from you. The only thing you

were good at, the only way you could contribute to a war, stolen from

you by one small act. One virus, without an antidote."

"You're one lucky baby, Birch" Cloud Runner sighed again. "Heck, you're

even having a childhood! A childhood was stolen from me."

"In fact, let's just make it simple! Everything was stolen from me. My

childhood, my brother, my parents love....well, scratch that, I never

had any. My skills, my ability to fight, my right to be in a war, my

eyes.....all of them were stolen. Matrix! My old friends were stolen

from me. I'd actually like to hear Demi-God's snotty yapping, and the

way Guano always used to say he hated people. And I mean, if I actually

want to have Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee around me, then I've got to be

depressed."

"Yes, my life has been stolen away from me, by the bandits and thieves

we call misfortune and bad luck. Hmm, that's almost poetic, in an odd

way. I could be a poet. I could go up to the Predacons and recite my

latest piece of poetry, and bore them to death. What do you think about

that, eh Birch?"

"Mew!" Birch said. Cloud Runner felt some fur rub up against her, and

knew it was the baby.

Cloud Runner was somewhat awed by the fact that she felt relieved. Just

by telling someone, she had gotten some things off her chest.

"You're a wonderful sounding board, you know that?" Cloud Runner said.

She bent down and scratched a part of Birch, she did not know what part

it was, but it was furry.

"Purr" Birch said.

Cloud Runner heard the sliding sound of the elevator lift as it came up.

She heard a babble of talk, and some more metallic footsteps. The smell

of mech-fluid and circuits reached her nose. Then she remembered how

depressed she was. She felt Birch run out from under her hand, and Air

Razor and Tigatron coo over their baby.

"How was the battle?" she demanded of anybody. The battle that I missed,

she thought to herself.

The babble quieted down. Cloud Runner almost felt suffocated by the pity

hanging in the air.

"It was just a lot of shooting" Firecat said "you wouldn't have liked

it."

"And a lot of the Predacons fought unhonorably too" Satin said as well.

Cloud Runner could not stop the sneer. Since when did her mother care if

any of the Predacons fought unhonorably? They were only saying these

things for her benefit.

"Okay then, I guess I didn't miss much" she said, pretending to fall for

their lies.

"Yeah, that's right" came Rhinox's voice.

"Why don't you sit down here Cloud Runner?" Cheetor asked, leading her

to the chair. She sat down.

The rest of the Maximals busied themselves with various tasks and such.

Cloud Runner did not really want to see, nor did she care what they were

doing. She had missed a battle! The one thing she was good at in the

stupid war! Her self loathing came back at her with a vengeance,

proclaiming loudly that she was stupid, and not good at anything.

Cloud Runner realized there were no more people in the main room. A

sudden thought occurred to her.

What if I leave the Maximal base? No one would no that I was gone for a

little while. I'm blind, how hard can it be for me to get myself lost?!

I'll live in the woods....no, I'll live anywhere, as long as it's far

away from the Maximals. Then they'll realize how much they hate me, and

they can stop feeling obligated to have me around! Yes, that's perfect!

"You 'ave a 'ard life, Cloud Lady" came Bouncealot's voice from behind

her.

"What?" she turned around and asked him, even though she could not see

him.

"I 'eard what you said to the Baby" the hare/sparrow Fuzor replied. "The

Jolly Green Giant said I'm not allowed to go out for battles, so I

stayed inside. I 'eard what you were telling the Baby, and I didn't want

to disturb you."

"Well you should have" Cloud Runner snapped, trying o cover up her

mortification. No one was supposed to know about that! These were

private things she had been telling Birch! That crazy rabbit was not

supposed to know them. She felt like she could die, or melt into the

floor.

"Are you going to blackmail me or something?" she asked fearfully.

"Blackmail?" the rabbit laughed, increasing Cloud Runner's ashamed

anger. "I'm a Maximal, like you" Bouncealot replied. "I don't go around

doing mean things to people. Well, I used to, but now I don't. I'm nice,

and refined, just like a refined energon and radium sandwich. You ever

'ad one of those? Very yummy!"

"But, no I won't do anything mean to you. You might think the whole

world is against you, but it's not. If you need any 'elp, I'll be there

for you. And, so will the Metal Kitty, because it's obvious 'ow much 'e

loves you."

"Cheetor?" Cloud Runner asked.

"You still 'aven't noticed, 'ave you" Bouncealot said, a smile in his

words. "It's just like that song by the Spice Girls: love is blind, as

far as the eye can see. Deep and meaningless words to me. 'E is a lover,

I need a friend. Run to nowhere, twist and turn and will it never

end....."

Bouncealot's voice disappeared down the hallway, still singing the song.

Cloud Runner blinked. Cheetor......in LOVE with her?! Friendship she

could understand, but love?

"That crazy bunny was just saying that to keep me from leaving, and to

stop me from being depressed" Cloud Runner said, coming at what she

hoped was the right conclusion.

Still, she had to admit that some part of her DID wish that Cheetor was

in love with her. It would be so nice. Cloud Runner had never kissed a

man in her life, and Cheetor seemed like the nicest on she

knew.......Cloud Runner shook her head. She could not suffer any

romantic disillusions! She had to leave, now! Before any more Maximals

came.

After wandering around the main room a bit, the fox/raptor finally found

the elevator lift. At least, what she hoped was the elevator lift. When

she hoped into it, it turned out it was. As the lift went down, she

toyed with the notion of just staying at the base, remembering

Bouncealot's disjointed words of comfort.

No! she ordered, I can't let anything shake my resolution. The Maximals

don't care about me or need me. I am nothing to them. So, they should be

nothing to me. I should stop clinging to them like an emotional security

blanket, for I haven't gotten any security from them.

Cloud Runner blinked, as pure whiteness invaded her vision. That meant

the sun must be shinning. Whiteness and light grays meant there was

light around her and dark grays and blacks meant there was mostly

darkness.

The fox/raptor set off on foot, her legs pounding the ground. She

briefly wondered why she was not flying. If she was flying, she would

get lost a lot faster.

Still, I need to know how far away from the base I am, she thought. I

need to make sure I am far away enough that the Maximals don't find me.

The ground under Cloud Runner's feet was dry and dusty, occasionally her

paws felt a bit of sparse grass. She ran quickly, her nose sniffing the

air. She smelt steam and fresh leaves ahead of her. Was she near the

jungle?

After a few more minutes, she figured out that she was. The air around

her was thicker and she brushed past many leaves and tropical ferns. The

ground under her feet was cooler. Cloud Runner heard many birds, a few

howler monkeys and the buzzing of many insects. There were many light

and dark grays here, nothing of the pure white she had experienced out

on the savanna.

Cloud Runner hit her head on something hard. The pain ceased quickly

though. Was it a Predacon? She growled, and sniffed at it. It smelt like

leaves. She touched it quickly with her paw. It felt rough and gnarled.

It was also three feet wide, in a cylinder like shape. A tree! Cloud

Runner realized. She had been scared of a tree! Matrix, was she ever

stupid.

Walking more slowly this time, Cloud Runner set off again. She felt the

ground ahead of her before she stepped. If her paw nudged something, she

just moved to the right or the left of where she had been going. Cloud

Runner guess she was moving about as fast as a snail, and wondered

grimly if she would win a race with one.

Eventually, after at least ten or fifteen minutes of the exercise, Cloud

Runner's temper flared again. This was stupid! She was trying to get

herself lost quickly, before the Maximals could scout around for her! So

what if she ran into a few trees? The fox/raptor dashed off again.

After bumping into many, many trees, Cloud Runner went back to the slow

moving method, to make sure she did not get brain damage. It was slow

going, but this time she made it for twenty minutes before she ran off

again, barging into more trees and getting a good spanking from many

bushes.

Cloud Runner sat down, panting. After at least an hour of blind running,

she needed a break.

She took the time to sniff the air around her, to see if she could pick

up any scents. Many animals had moved away from her, rather noisy,

presence to save themselves from this bumbling metal creature who was

running like a mad thing. That meant she did not smell or hear many

animals.

What she did hear, was a loud buzzing sound. The roaring of jets. A two

legged creature scuttling through the grass, with somewhat heavy

footsteps. And, the loading of pistols.

"Maximal blind, found I!" called a voice from directly in front of her.

It was somewhat far away, so that meant Dippy was not right in front of

her face.

"Wazzpinator dezztroy blind-bot!" called the wasp. His voice seemed to

be above Cloud Runner and to her left.

"Yeah, we can bring her back to the base, and I can take her apart!"

said Unnamed Flyer excitedly. Her voice seemed to be where Waspinator's

voice had come from, which meant they were probably hovering side by

side.

Cloud Runner would have loved to take them apart, but she knew she could

not. It was so awful, here were these Predacons, practically standing

right in front of her.....and she could not attack them. They would win

any fight with her. The even worse thing was that the Predacons knew it

too. Oh, if only she had her eyes back! Then she would gladly rip them

all to shreds.

Instead of fighting, Cloud Runner chose the most cowardly thing she

could think of. Running.

She jumped away from where she thought the three Predacons were. Her

paws hit the ground and propelled her to her right. The Preds were not

shooting at her. Maybe she would escape!

Blam! Cloud Runner rammed head first into another tree. Her head spun,

and she fell down onto her belly. When she tried to get up, she

staggered like a drunk, her sense of balance temporarily stalled. She

tripped on her long, sideways swishing tail, and fell down on her metal

rear end.

The mocking laughter of the Predacons stung Cloud Runner's ears. The

fox/raptor charged at where she heard the laughter, roaring. This time

she was slapped on the head by Dippy's hunting knife. Her head spun even

harder, but this time she did not try to move, she only waited until the

dizziness passed.

"All right that's it!" Cloud Runner snarled. "If I'm gonna go down I'm

gonna go down with a bit of decency here. Cloud Runner Maximize!"

With a shifting of gears she knew her deed was accomplished. Now, she

could try to face them like a true warrior. And die like a true warrior.

"Down go shall you, my knife by!" cried Dippy, his voice very close to

her right ear. Cloud Runner whipped her sword out of sub-space, and spun

to her right, all in one motion. Dippy cried out in pain. Cloud Runner

heard either Waspinator or Unnamed Flyer shoot at her. Where exactly had

the shot come from? From her right or her left? Cloud Runner dodged to

her left, and to her misfortune she jumped right into the shot! It got

her straight in the chest.

Cloud Runner clutched herself in pain. Another shot rang out, this one

behind her. I had come from her right, so she put her shield up to

shield her right side. It worked, and the shot was defected.

The Maximal heard the dancing of feet to her right, which were coming

closer to her. That must mean Dippy was moving towards her. Cloud Runner

shot to her right with her eyebeams, hoping she hit Dippy. Another shot

hit her in the back, but she ignored it and kept of firing.

She was rewarded with many shouts of pain. Cloud Runner heard another

shot from behind her. It had come from above, but it had also come a bit

from her left. She held her shield to her left side, and dodged to the

right. She did not feel any new pains, so she must not have gotten hit.

A few footsteps told her that Dippy was scampering away from his

previous position, and over to her left. She shot to her left a couple

of times. This time she heard a loud thunk. Was Dippy unconscious?

She had no more time to think about that, because she was being barraged

with bullets from Unnamed Flyer and Waspinator. The two of them had

decided that the Maximal could not withstand them if they both fired on

her at once.

And, their theory was proving to be correct. Cloud Runner dodged to her

left, but hit her side on another tree. With a spark of inspiration, she

ducked behind the tree. Or what she hoped was behind.

Shots rang out behind her, but they did not hit her. Instead, Cloud

Runner felt the tree shake. The Transmetal listened intently, focusing

her ears on the slightest sound. Other than the gun shots she heard the

buzzing of wings........to her right........and at least twenty meters

or so above her. She fired her eyebeams, hoping that her calculations

were correct. A buzzing scream was the next thing that greeted her audio

circuits. Cloud Runner shot at that same area repeatedly, hoping to nail

Waspinator again. She did, judging by the Predacon's wailing.

A shot hit her in her side. Cloud Runner growled. She had been so busy

with Waspinator she had forgotten about Unnamed Flyer. Cloud Runner

heard another shot from the vampire bat's gun, and jumped away from the

shelter of the tree. From the roaring of her jets, Cloud Runner could

tell that Unnamed Flyer was pretty close to her. And only a few feet up

in the air.

The vixen got hit again on the leg this time. Before the bat could

reload, Cloud Runner shot in her general direction repeatedly. Unnamed

Flyer almost shattered Cloud Runner's audio circuits when she screamed,

because she had amplified her voice. But still, Cloud Runner kept

shooting. She could hear Unnamed Flyer's jets move aside to her left,

and so she shot there. A crashing of metal was heard next to Cloud

Runner. Tentatively, Cloud Runner stretched her foot out, and was

surprised when she encountered metal. Unnamed Flyer?

Her attention was distracted by a buzzing noise above her. "Bat-bot!"

Waspinator called worriedly. That gave away his position entirely, and

Cloud Runner gladly shot at him. The wasp tried to move away but he was

too late. There was another plunk and then, silence.

Cloud Runner leaned against the tree, taking in deep breaths of air. Her

side, back and head hurt terribly. After a few minutes of breathing,

Cloud Runner picked up the body beside her. It was skinny, and it had a

jet pack on it's back. It WAS Unnamed Flyer!

Cloud Runner went back into her beast mode. She sniffed the air. A lot

of mech-fluid and charred bark was what she smelt.

Then, the full realization of what she had done hit her. She had

defeated three Predacons, without any eyes! She had managed to defeat

them, just by using her ears, smell, and sense of direction. Three

Predacons were rendered useless because of her!

Cloud Runner smiled at herself, as happiness attacked her self-hatred

and won by a mile. Matrix! She felt like she could go attack the whole

Predacon fleet!!

Cloud Runner began to dance around on her four paws, jumping and kicking

and twirling. She knew she must look pretty stupid, but she did not

care. She could fight again! She had a purpose in the Beast Wars! She

was not useless. Matrix, it was good to feel good again.

"With all your senses at the top, you'll get your pick of a great big

crop, you'll soon be up to gain a lot, 'though you might not see the

light just then!" she sang, laughing at the end of it. That was what

Bouncealot had meant when he sang the song! If she just kept her all her

other senses in working order, and of course if she felt happy and felt

was nice to people, she could do whatever she wanted to do. She had not

seen the light then, but now she did.

Now, how do I get home? Cloud Runner thought. Panic was starting to mar

her happiness.

She sniffed again, not at the air this time, but at the ground. And,

sure enough, after a bit of sniffing, she smelt her old tracks. All she

had to do was follow her nose back to the base. Matrix! She was lucky

she had not flown, or she never would have known which way to go.

Cloud Runner started sniffing her way back to the base. She managed to

avoid most of the trees she had hit on her way to her battle ground.

Cloud Runner's paws were the most prominent smell, but there were

others. There was the fear scent of a small mouse, the scent of insect

larva in a nearby log. There was also the scent of fresh, damp leaves,

and the heavenly scent of a few jungle flowers. It was amazing, with her

eyes she never would have needed to do this, and she would have missed

out on a lot of pretty smells.

She did not know how long she walked, but she did know that she heard

some people calling her name. Their voices sounded like Silverbolt and

Air Razor......or wait, was that Dinobot in there too? Cloud Runner

shrugged, if she kept on sniffing, she would meet them all soon enough.

After a few more minutes, in her black and gray vision she saw some

white up ahead. That meant she must be approaching the savanna, and if

so, the base. She could hear the falling of the waterfall that was near

the Axalon. With a few more sniffs and steps, Cloud Runner found herself

out in the savanna again.

Here it was harder to pick up her scent, because she smelt many other

Maximals as well as just her scent. And the scents of the Maximals were

a lot more fresh than hers were. Still, they all had to come out of the

Axalon, if she chose one person's scent and followed it, she would get

to the base.

Cloud Runner chose Malice's, and followed it. She knocked her head on

something hard, again. This time it was not a tree. Was it part of the

base? No, it did not smell like metal, and it gave off a very, very

faint humming sound.....

"Sentinel, stand down" Cloud Runner said.Her vision turned dark gray,

because she was in the shadow of the Axalon. The shield disappeared, and

she walked to where she remembered the elevator lift being. She was a

little bit off, but in a few minutes she found it.

Might as well call all those Maximals in, Cloud Runner thought. And what

better way to do it then the Transmetal Twins trademark?

"Rowf, rowf, rooooowwrrr" Cloud Runner howled out. "Rowf, rowf,

roooowwwrr! Rowf, rowf, roooooowwwwwrrrr!!"

Cloud Runner smiled. She could almost see her brother howling that out

with her. If only he were here to help her......but he was not. Phantom

was not, but Cheetor and Bouncealot were. Her parents were too.

Dysfunctional though they may be, Cloud Runner realized that she should

cherish the moments when they were functional. And of course Firecat

was, and Silverbolt, and Birch and Tigatron and Malice......all the

Maximals were here to help her!

"Rowf, rowf, roooowwwrr!" she howled again, to make sure everyone heard.

That signal could mean many things. It could mean "I am sad." It could

mean "I am in trouble." It could mean "I am the happiest in the world."

I'll leave you to guess which one Cloud Runner meant.

******************

"CR!" Cheetor shouted, urging his jets on faster. He had been so worried

when she had disappeared. He was so glad nothing had happened to her.

Cheetor blinked. On closer inspection, something HAD happened to her. It

looked like she had been in a battle.

"The Young Lady looks like she has been wounded!" exclaimed Silverbolt,

who was flying beside Cheetor.

"I'm just gonna ask her about that, Bird Dog" Cheetor replied, heading

in for a landing.

He was the first to reach her, and therefore the first to ask the

questions.

"What the heck happened to you?" the Transmetal cat asked, looking her

up and down. The odd thing was, Cloud Runner was smiling like she was on

top of the world, despite her wounds.

"Oh, hi Cheetor!" Cloud Runner said. "It's nothing much, just a few

scratches" she assured him.

"Young Lady, those do not look like mere scratches" said Silverbolt, who

had landed beside Cheetor. The Fuzor folded his wings with a gentlemanly

grace. "I suggest you get into a respiration chamber, it would be best."

"Yeah CR, you can tell us all that happened later, okay?" Cheetor said.

Cloud Runner nodded, and went up the elevator lift, Cheetor and

Silverbolt behind her.

"Want me to show-" Cheetor began.

"No, let me try" Cloud Runner said gently. She slowly walked to her

left, where the CR chambers were. After a few seconds, she bumped her

nose on one of the tanks.

"Is this it?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's it" Cheetor replied. Cloud Runner transformed, opened the

hatch, and stepped inside.

"Truly a remarkable lady" Silverbolt said, nodding. Cheetor looked at

the wolf/eagle Fuzor. He suddenly remembered what Phantom had told him

about Silverbolt and Blackarachnia. Cheetor shook his head. That could

not be true, could it?

"I know, she is" Cheetor replied, with a sigh.

"One you would like to have by your side?" Silverbolt asked, giving him

a fatherly smile.

"Why does everybody say stuff like that?" Cheetor asked, a little

embarrassed. Did he have this sign on his head saying "I love Cloud

Runner" or something?

"Young one, it is obvious who your heart yearns for, all who have eyes

can see that" Silverbolt replied.

"Except for Cloud Runner herself" Cheetor replied, allowing himself to

get counseled.

"The Cloud Lady!" came Bouncealot's voice. The rabbit hopped into the

main room in one smooth bound and landed beside Cheetor. He looked up at

the cat, his black eyes alight with worry.

"She looked so upset!" Bouncealot began. "And she was talking to the

Baby about 'ow bad 'er life was! Oh, I tried to 'elp 'er, but she didn't

want to be 'epled! I was singing one of those peachy Earthling

songs......not a song about peaches, I mean one of the nice Earthling

songs. There is a song about peaches though....millions of peaches,

peaches for free. Millions of peaches, peaches for me!"

Bouncealot stopped singing and looked around. He flicked his ears in

worriment. "Anyway she just up and ran off" he continued. "I thought I

'ad scared 'er away. Is she okay?! Tell me I'm not the one to blame if

we find her corpse in a river bottom. Oh it wasn't me! I tried to turn

the Cloud Lady from 'er path, but I did not try 'ard enough! Oh why me?"

"Bounce, it's okay, she's in the CR chamber" Cheetor said, calming down

the grief stricken hare.

"Oh" Bouncealot said, breathing for a few minutes to calm himself down.

"And your 'eart is in there too, eh? She stole your 'eart, so it 'as to

be with 'er in the CR chamber."

Cheetor groaned. Matrix, everyone knew!

"Anyone with eyes can see, young cat" Silverbolt replied.

"And" Bouncealot added " we must all remember what the trapped rabbit

said to the fox " 'urry up and make your move before we die of suspense

already! You're going to eat me anyway, just eat me now!" "

"Er....yes" Silverbolt said, eyeing the hare warily. "You must let her

know your feelings for you, Cheetor. That is the only way true love can

function."

"Thanks you guys" Cheetor said, sighing. He would love to tell Cloud

Runner his feelings.....but what if she did not love him back? He would

be crushed. It was better if he not tell her, or let her ask him first.

Optimus came in the room, as well as the rest of the Maximals.

"Well, what's the situation with Cloud Runner?" he asked.

"Cloud Runner's in the CR chamber, because she was beat up pretty badly"

Cheetor explained. "We're waiting for her to come out so that she can

tell us what happened."

And wait they did. To pass the time, Rattrap, Malice, Bouncealot, and

Satin played poker with holographic cards. The others either watched the

game or cuddled Birch, or talked to each other.

Cheetor, however, stood at the CR chamber, occasionally petting the baby

Maximal.

Finally, after a little while, Cloud Runner came out. Cheetor was the

first to greet her.

"All right, you're back" he said, transforming into his robot mode.

"Yep!" Cloud Runner replied, smiling. Everyone stopped what they were

doing, except for the poker players, who were too intent on their game.

Rhinox had to take away all their holo-cards so they could listen.

"So, what happened?" Optimus Primal asked. "Why did you run away from us

like that?"

"Because I was upset, and blind." Cloud Runner replied. "I didn't think

any of you guys really cared about me. I decided since I'm blind it

would be pretty easy for me to get lost, so I just ran around a lot. I

bumped into a lot of trees, but I still kept running."

"Then, I met up with Waspinator, Unnamed Flyer, and Dippy. They didn't

really think I could be a threat to them, so they wanted to have fun and

toy with me. At first I was pretty scared, but then I got used to

battling them, even though I couldn't see. The good thing for me was

that they talked a lot, and I could pinpoint exactly where they were

when they spoke. I get beat up a bit, but they're all unconscious on the

jungle floor now." Cloud Runner smiled.

"To get back here all I had to do was sniff my way back, it was easy.

So, that's about it, maybe not a story for the record books, but at

least it's the truth."

"That is a very remarkable thing you did, Cloud Runner" Optimus said, a

look of pleased surprise on his face. "You don't need to run away again

though. The Maximals will always protect you and care for you."

"I realized that, thank you Optimus" Cloud Runner said. She coughed.

"And, I know, I was really crabby to a lot of people. I was crabby to

everyone. I'm very sorry for the way I acted, and I never will again."

Many people uttered thank yous, and said that they understood. Except

for Rattrap, he said it was a female thing. Cloud Runner threatened to

have him skewered on her sword and he was quiet. Birch did not say a

thank you either, because she could not talk.

"If you guys don't mind, I think I'd like a little nap" Cloud Runner

said suddenly. "I didn't really get a lot of sleep last night."

"Of course" Optimus said.

"Can I take you to your quarters?" Cheetor asked.

"Sure" Cloud Runner replied, nodding.

Cheetor moved towards her, and led her down the hallway. He pretended

not to hear Rattrap's mocking "rowrr!" as he passed.

"Okay, so we're going down the left hallway" Cheetor said, guiding her.

"We have to pass five doors until we get to your quarters, can you

remember that?"

"Five, my lucky number" Cloud Runner said with a grin. Matrix, but that

was a wonderful smile! She looked so much more happy now than she did

earlier. Cheetor grinned, everything had turned out all right.

After a few more steps, Cheetor announced that she was at her quarters.

Cloud Runner turned and faced him.

"Cheetor, I owe you a personal thanks" she said.

"Well, really, you don't have to...." he began, somewhat embarrassed.

"Yes I do have to" Cloud Runner said. "You were there when I was down in

the dumps. And I treated you like crud, but you still stuck by me.

You're the best friend anyone could ever have. I thank you for that."

"You're welcome CR" Cheetor said. It was nice to hear praise from her.

He felt like he was on Cloud Nine.

Cloud Runner opened her arms, and made a move towards him, almost as if

to hug him. But, she stopped.

"I'd hug you, but" she grinned with embarrassment "I don't quite exactly

know where you are."

"Why don't I hug you and then you'll know?" Cheetor asked.

"Sure" Cloud Runner said. Cheetor coughed, then put his arms around her

torso, hooking them under her arms. He pressed her close to him, and

felt her arms wrap around his back. Well, if this is a hug I couldn't

have done any better, Cheetor thought with a grin. The cat hoped Cloud

Runner could not hear how fast his heart was beating.

"Cloud Runnner?" Cheetor asked, pulling her closer, so that their cheeks

were touching.

"Y-yes?" Cloud Runner asked, with a touch of shyness in her voice.

"I....." Cheetor began, but something clogged up his throat. He wanted

to say he loved her so badly, so why did he not say it?! What was wrong

with him? Cheetor sighed, and tried to regain control of his voice.

"I.......I'd like to be your personal assistant" he blurted out, much to

his surprise. How had "I love you" been transformed into that?

"What do you mean?" Cloud Runner asked.

"Well...." Cheetor stuttered. "I mean, show you where things are, teach

you how to live with being blind....stuff like that."

There were a few seconds of silence, where both of them did not speak.

Finally Cloud Runner broke it.

"I'd like that, very much" the fox/raptor said, pulling out of the hug.

Cheetor looked at her. She looked so much better then she had, she

looked so much more full of life. Cloud Runner was the conquering kind.

She could conquer battles, and she would conquer her handicap of being

blind. Just like she had conquered his heart.

"Well, um.......I'll see you around" Cheetor said.

"Yeah" Cloud Runner said, nodding. She paused, and felt the wall.

"Your door's right here" Cheetor said, holding her hand to the door of

her room.

"Thanks" Cloud Runner replied, and ducked into her quarters.

Cheetor grumbled to himself. Why had he not told her anything?

Love isn't just blind, it's speechless, Cheetor thought with a grin.

But, love had made itself known, eventhough it was blind. Maybe, it

could be shown, even though it was mute.