Ep. 1 - The House of Stone and Light - Closed - Finis

[Deleted]

Max shaded his eyes with his hand and peered across the yard at the open stall. He nodded once, and drew in a deep breath.

"Almost," he said.

He seemed to steel himself, drawing upright off his hands. Rather than slipping under the metal rail he went over it instead, his feet landing on the dry earth on the other side. Dust puffed up from under his boots and he staggered, catching himself on the wall. The holoform flickered, and for an instant the sunlight shone clearly through him, as if he were little more than a flask of water. With a grimace Max concentrated and scraped together his solidity, enough that he could push himself off the wall and limp towards the barn, where the cool shade within the stall beckoned.

Inside it, the air was still and musty smelling. Straw littered the floor, freshly laid and airy. Black rubber buckets held water for drinking, as well as a few shells of grain that the mules had not yet licked clean. A few flies buzzed in the open doorway, basking in the heat that rose from the sun-warmed stones.

The shade fell over Max as he collapsed against the wall. Though an avatar felt no pain itself, the strain of it was reflected on his face as he turned to rest against the dusty stonework, leaning back against the filthy backpack. With effort he gathered his composure and opened his eyes, searching for Dart.

"Scrubbing the avatar now," he said. "See you back in the cave."

But it did not vanish right away. It hesitated. For an instant it turned its gaze towards the doorway, where the distant peaks and rises of the canyon still rose above the wind-tangled trees, their red walls ablaze beneath the noonday sun. Something inscrutable passed across its face, a fleeting wrinkle of regret.

Then it disappeared.

All of it. The pack, the shell - gone.

In the cavern, Ratchet let out an explosive breath as the big mech gripped his shoulder hard and laboured to stand upright.

"It's about time," the medic said.

[Dart]

The courier waited for him to climb over that rail. She had always kept the distance between them, observant of the need for space that the mech surrounded himself with. Dart understood it, she had it too; she had learned to be wary of hands and feet close enough to strike. However, she actually held to within arm’s reach when he pushed himself up and over the wall and braced herself in the red dirt of the corral.

The flicker- she saw it, as if the mech's worn avatar was a dusty windshield she was peering through. The leaves and branches of the mesquite tree behind sent dark lines and angles through his outline. Then he shook it off, pulled himself together, and limped forward. Immediately, she swung out to take the point once more, settling back into that position she’d taken for most of their travels now. This final stretch was short lived; and as the shadow of the barn covered them both, her footsteps did not rustle a single straw.

Dart quietly folded down. She tucked her legs under herself and settled her hands onto her thighs, palm down. Her leg muscles grooved her faded jeans, and the rip in the knee was completely exposed; the bandage was still bright white and pink. She politely looked away as he slumped against the wall, not wanting to stare. Dart hoped she’d been fast enough- she’d done her best. This was hopefully enough. Her gaze did drift to the soiled, road-grimed pack though, but when he opened his eyes she immediately caught herself and gazed up at him, unsure.

“Yes, sir...” she murmured, and started to nod. Scrubbing now. It was sort of one of those phrases she wasn’t sure about for a moment after all that talk of being scraped off of stone walls when this all started, but when he looked out on that canyon, she immediately put it aside.

Instead, she pricked up her head and listened in case something out on the trail had drawn his attention. However, there was no noise, no motion. There was only a moment of his expression. The courier did not say anything though; she just observed the walls around them, the dust motes curling through the sunbeams, and allowed the mech to be alone with his thoughts, because... she understood that too.

Then he was gone.

There was an automatic flinch, a wince; she reared back instinctively- the pack, what about the - and...

Wide-eyed, Dart snorted, spooked to the side, and then froze in bafflement. Nothing; nothing there, but she had already managed to scramble up into a crouch, weight resting on her toes and fingertips. Then she hesitated and stretched her neck out, angled her nose downwards and sniffed at the spot where he’d sat before - right, no scent. No scent, this totally had thrown her, all through their trip. Instead, she carefully pawed at the straw. Nothing. Not even a spent bullet casing gleaming. Maybe a few scattered oats.

The courier blinked. She sat back, and then...

Dart laughed. She put her head in her hands and tried to muffle it, but it wasn’t going to happen. It was a laugh that slipped through her fingers with honest to goodness humor, relief and a whole lot of emotions. She simply could not stop for a few seconds and when she finally was able to shut up, all she could do was bounce onto her feet. The courier pranced, sidestepping lightly in the straw; she shoved her nose into the sunbeams and sky and watched the distant dark dot of the hawk circle in the sky.

Bluff. It had been his bluff, and Dart was the first to admit she was a pretty awful poker player, but really - hey, it was okay. She knew of an excellent cardsharp, and she was still going forward and able to maybe beg a few pointers someday, and– well, still going forward. Alive and she had– she had oh– yes, yes, yes–

She scrambled then. The paper was still in her hand; the bent bit of brochure with those email addresses. Dart opened it, and did her job. Memorize the missive. Carry it in your head, remember the details, the names, the email addresses, do it fast and do it now. No solid evidence, no hard copy sometimes. When she was sure she had it, she looked around the barn and leapt up to stick it deep in a chink in the wall, stuffing it there for safekeeping. If she needed it, she could fetch it later.

Then she stood back, and shook herself from nose to toe -

A deep, rattling intake of air, and the reek whacked Dart upside the sensors. For once, she was delighted, and she lifted her chin and took it in and analyzed every odor, drawing molecules deep. It may have stunk like dead mech, but there was life here and she was among it.

“Yes sir,” she apologized to the medic. “Was as fast as we could go, sir.”

[Deleted]

When Dart returned to the cave, she would hear voices speaking in low conversation.

The ground bridge was still open; the green light swirled gently. But sunlight streamed into the cave now as well, brightening the deepest corners. It fanned across the sandy floor, warm and glowing. Only the dark fuel soaked into the sand marred the otherwise cheerful scene.

As did the bodies of the Vehicons. Ratchet eyed them as he supported Maximus' weight.

"We're going to have to dispose of those right away," he said. "Can't let the humans stumble across this. Any others we should know about?"

"One in the river," rasped Maximus. "Other isn't recogniseable."

"Hmpf! So I expect. What a mess."

When Dart stirred the medic shot a glance back in her direction. Maximus was too tall to bolster with an arm across the shoulders, and it was all he could do to prop the big mech up as he sagged and dripped fuel, his plating smeared with it. Ratchet settled with glowering at her, though by then the expression had lost a little of its ire.

"There you are," he said. "You were quick enough, I suppose. What in Primus' name were you thinking, extending your avatars that far down the river?"

"Couldn't get a signal out of this cave," said Maximus. "Couldn't leave, or their aerial patrols would jump me. Avatar the only option. But not strong enough to relay a radio transmission through the avatar itself. Went searching for a human radio."

His red optics slid to Dart. "Found something else instead."

Ratchet arched a brow at that.

"Is it true?" he said. He eyed her. "And you, what... got that transmission through yourself? You, a Decepticon? Why?"

[Dart]

Dart shook herself again, then quietly stood and listened. They were between her and the outside of the cave and at first she tilted her nose. She'd half expected them to be heading out by now. There was sun and warmth though and the breeze outside nudged some of the stench away.

"Yes sir, I'm here," she agreed. When Ratchet glowered at her, she ducked her head, shading her optics with the brim of her helm. Wow. Rather go nose to nose with an angry moose.

Dart tilted her head as the big mech glanced at her; in response, there was a tiny side-to-side motion of the left side of her spoiler, just a twitch. It immediately stilled as Ratchet continued on.

Why? That was an awfully loaded question.

Dart obviously struggled with it too. She lifted a foot and started to paw at the wet and clumping sand, her spoiler rattled. This situation had gone awful places on many levels; she wasn't stupid, nor did she expect anyone else to be. She'd disobeyed, ignored a direct contact order, and even worse, she'd caused Decepticons to be killed. It was like that mission in Australia all over again, and the thought made her chest ache and her main pump want to crawl up her throat. Ugh.

Realizing the medic was waiting for an answer, Dart quickly shored herself up, she lifted her chin and came back to attention, her hands clasping at the small of her back. Why. There were lots of reasons why and most of them weren't the sort you could tell anyone.

So she sidestepped with words, instead of with motion. Tell the truth... but not all of it. Dart had learned over the years that course was the safest route. Avoid the sharp rocks at the bottom, try to stay on firm ground you trusted.

"Yes sir," she nodded. "It's true. I- I thought he was human. I went to help him out of the situation and he sort of um, well, it was a good bluff, sir."

Dart laughed sheepishly, and rocked a bit back on her heels. Her hands went to her hip carriers as if she was going to stuff her hands into them like her avatar had done with the pockets of her jeans. She stopped, though, and lightly curled her fingers over them.

"As for why, sir...? Er, once the real humans got involved and helped us, I couldn't let them get hurt. They didn't have anything to do with this. They were just... they don't know who or what we are, and don't deserve to be caught in the middle."

The grime and gore spattered femme hesitated, shifted her weight. She rubbed her battered helm and jaw against her shoulder pauldron, winced and reset herself.

"So, I told him I could run a message, if he needed me to. That I could do. I don't know, maybe it's that deep rooted thing in function, right? Couriers, we get things where they are supposed to go. We don't ask what it's about or the message finally goes to. We just- we just carry the message, and drop it where we're told."

She brought up her hand, started to touch her sigil; then quickly avoided that and tapped dirty grey fingers to the brim of her helm instead.

"I can call this in when you're gone, sirs, if you'd rather do that for speed's sake," she offered cautiously. "I'll make sure it gets cleaned up, I promise. None of this needs to be out for anyone to see or take, agreed."

[Deleted]

The look of mingled suspicion and disbelief that had come over Ratchet's face disappeared at that. He shook his head.

"Leave it to us," he said sharply. "I'm sure there are one or two Autobots about who have nothing better to do. Besides, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is probably something that you shouldn't send a bunch more Vehicons to clean up, particularly if they begin to ask questions about what happened, and why."

He gave Dart a knowing look, his optics narrowed.

Then he glanced back at Maximus. Something passed between the two Autobots, a message exchanged over private commlines. Maximus did not raise his head once, nor did the heavy pitch of his shoulders change. He stood quietly, despite the dark flow of fuel that streamed from the rent in his chassis. Nonetheless, the medic grunted.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," said Ratchet. "Now, come on. We're going straight to the medbay. I'll get that debris out of you, but you're not going to like what happens after that. And you!"

Even as he steered his patient towards the open ground bridge, Ratchet glared at Dart.

"I don't like Decepticons, and I don't trust them," he said bluntly. His gaze was hard, his words grudging. "But Autobot or not, I still know when to extend a word of gratitude when it's due, even if it's due to a 'Con. So... consider this exactly that. Hrm. You have our... thanks. Yes. And that's all I have to say upon the matter."

He stiffly turned away.

But Maximus lingered a moment in front of the portal. He lifted his head and regarded Dart silently, his red-eyed gaze steady.

"Vantage, right?" he said.

And turned towards the bridge and limped into it alongside the medic, moving slowly, without another glance back.

[Dart]

Dart's spoiler flicked back at the medic's growl, but she didn't protest. To be honest, the courier was rather relieved.

They'd clean up and she could just bolt for the high hills, which was just fine. She didn't want to drag any of these bodies out of the river, and she certainly didn't- no, she didn't want to get another bunch of Vehicons down here, thank you. Not after all this, and not when tempers and frustrations and fear ran high, and not when the humans were still somewhere down the river. They'd get to go home too.

She had to ask though, it just seemed like the thing to do.

"Thank you," she murmured, when the medic said he'd take care of it.

Ratchet's optics narrowed- and Dart swallowed down the pooling gunk in the back of her throat and immediately ducked her helm. You know, after everything, she'd rather have Maximus yelling at her, thank you. Medics had lots of large, sharp objects and were not afraid of using them to their advantage. That glare made her fidget. He had a heck of a bigger knife than she did.

The courier wanted nothing more than to turn tail, but since they were in front of her at the moment, she just held still, waiting. Last thing she wanted was to do any sudden motions. She'd made it this far, darnit. Last thing she wanted was to get shot in the end for running away from all this.

Or end up stuck in a box again.

Dart tucked her hands behind her back just a smidge tighter, and laced her fingers. There was a soft rattle of her spoiler as Ratchet continued. Nod. Nod. Yep, she was good at nodding agreement. Long meetings with angry commanders had taught her well.

She understood, you don't like us or trust us, and that was okay, she couldn't really say she'd expect anything else, and--

Dart shuttered her optics in a surprised blink.

Wait, did he say - oh, he did. Even if it was all he had to say on the matter, well, it wasn't 'now, get off our lawn.' That's good. Isn't it?

She was about to stutter out something when Maximus lifted his head to look at her. Dart immediately squared up again, met the big mech's gaze, the tips of her spoiler pricking over her shoulders...

Then she nodded, and watched as he turned back without another word. Ratchet helped him through the portal.

Dart quietly remained standing, hands tucked behind her back. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, waiting there until they were surrounded by glowing green and she could only see their shadows.

Immediately with a rattle of spoiler, Dart bounded out of the cave into the warm sun and bright sky, scattering wet, oily sand behind her. However, she suddenly dug her heels in and threw her nose upwards for a fraction of a second, just to stare up at the bands of red stone, the green-grey shrub, the sun glittering off of the calm lagoon. Then she glanced down at her feet- her eye was suddenly caught by a small chunk of stone, sheared off from the cave overhang. Bright orange, grey and black, it had a bit of mica flashing through it-- silvery gold.

Dart suddenly snatched it off the ground. A flick of her fingers, it was in one of her hip carriers. She snapped it shut.

That was all the time Dart spent before she gulped a long suck of air into her cooling intakes. With a frantic bound, she scrabbled away in a dirty black and grey rush of leg and elbow. In two strides the courier hit the stony edge of the river, throwing pebble and rocks behind her. Eight more and she stretched out in a dead sprint- no a live one, a totally live one, haha - bolting back up the canyon and away from this place as fast as she could go.

<< Fin!>>

[Deleted]

It was days later when the photos were posted to Facebook.

One of them showed a group of people in an old yellow raft, surrounded by the rushing water of the river. They were dripping wet and all smiles, and the sun shone down brilliantly upon them as they hoisted their paddles.

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Veronica Ganz

Back home from the Grand Canyon. Holy shit, best trip ever. I can't believe our two East Coast friends missed out on it! You guys! Check out the people we totally rescued down by Marble Canyon. The grizzled old dude hiding up in the front of the raft looked like a serial refuge and I honestly thought he was gonna murder us in our sleep at first, but Rachel was pretty awesome. They both were cool. Sarah, you are making the weirdest face in this one omg :p.

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Sarah McKenzie and 18 others like this.

Sarah McKenzie That's my normal face D:

Mark Hill Good shot!! Hahahahaha Sarah

Trevor Whitman oh man I want to go to the canyon so bad. next year!

Thao Lam I went to the Grand Canyon two years ago! It's awesome there. Tell me next time you go, I'd love to go again :-D

Jacqueline Bercier cool! Love all these pictures they turned out great. Fffffft Sarah XD

Eric nice pics

The Julienator HOLY SHIT


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