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

[Dart]

Dart had paused up by the log, but only for a moment. As she came back by the fire she double checked once more - oh good, no, it was out. Then she nudged the water bucket over with her foot and once it was empty, she dropped the juice box into it and lifted it. Hold it, hold it. Hold it, not far now, just hold tight...

Quickly, she loped back over to the others at the raft. It rolled and bobbed softly with the press of current. The water was clear to the bottom of the river. If you looked along the canyon though, you could see the marks where the old water levels used to be, striping along the stones as if nature herself had been measuring a child's height on an old doorframe in her kitchen.

"Pack it in, you pack it out," she said with a sheepish smile as she set the bucket down where they could put it where it was supposed to go. It fell through her hands for the last two inches and immediately she bent and fumbled it upright. "Sorry about that, I almost forgot. Where do you want me...?"

Oh. Right there. In the back.

It was easy to read the Autobot's glower even from here, but she'd come back as soon as she could last time. He might not trust her as far as he could throw her (which was probably pretty far) but come on, she had to trust him too if they were to both get out of here alive.

"Got it," she smiled at Sarah. The dark haired girl's enthusiasm was catching. Dart brought up a hand to finger comb her tangled bangs over her eyes. "You guys have the oars, we just might need to paddle in quieter water, and uh... rapids are fun. Don't worry."

She'd started to tuck her hands to the small of her back, like she did when repeating a missive. Dart caught herself though and gave the other girl a grin. "I guess I'm worried, but... okay, fun. Let's go with fun, awesome."

With that, Dart plashed forward through the water, concentrated, and hopped over the side. The raft gave underneath her, and it was totally awkward for a moment. Dart just hoped she didn't put a foot through it. No, it- it seemed all right, and she bounced her way next to Veronica and tucked herself down to where it looked appropriate. Then she looked thoughtful.

She wondered if it was possible for a mech to get motion sick. Not that she'd ever done that herself, but then again, all she was was motion. As long as it wasn't in the air kind of motion she was perfectly stable. Of course, she sort of had to pause for a second and eye the raft herself because wow, when you thought about it, humans did some pretty strange things when it came to their sports.

Seriously. They were fragile - well, compared to Cybertronians. They were very, very breakable, and they didn't survive major wounds very often. Yet they did things like jump out of aircraft, raced cars at speeds Dart didn't feel safe driving at, climbed on top of angry bulls, freeclimbed huge cliffs and... yeah, rafting. Whitewater rafting was on the list. She couldn't think of any other animal that shot cheerfully towards its own death for just the thrill of the experience.

Huh. They were more like Cybertronians than she thought. She'd met a few daredevil mechs in her time. Mostly fliers.

Well, she had to smile a little at that. Wow, this was going to be an experience to share later. I was hitchhiking on a raft, in the Colorado river, with humans and one not so happy mech. What's that? Oh haha, yeah, it was supposed to be a three hour tour, but you know how those things go. One minute you're trotting around Marble Canyon, the next you're building radios out of coconuts or something.

Dart chuckled and then looked over at the red haired girl. "Hi," she said with a little smile, and then caught herself. "Er, lifejackets, right?"

[Deleted]

Veronica studied her with the same quiet, curious air she had displayed on the beach.

"Yep," she said, and reached down and tugged another blue jacket from where it had been stashed beneath the thwart. She passed it to the courier. "Gotta wear 'em at all times on the river. The water doesn't get that dangerous, but the fines are pretty wicked if you're caught without one."

She held up a spare paddle next. "Got this for you too. Like Sarah said, we'll be paddling when it's calm. Otherwise, just keep the stern off the rocks."

At the front of the raft, the man stared at the courier baldly. His eyes were narrowed, his mouth bent into a scowl. But when the raft abruptly swayed and began to thrust out into the middle of the river he grabbed the side-lines and looked back over over his shoulder at the bow, alarmed. It was likely that Dart was not the only one having second thoughts about what humans enjoyed for sport.

Water splashed as Mark and Sarah kicked through the shallows. Working together, they shoved the raft away from the shore and leapt into it. The raft wobbled from side to side as they crouched at the oars, while its bow swung out into the current. All at once the beach began to shrink into the distance behind them as the river swept the raft downstream.

"All right, we're off," said Mark. He gripped his oar. "Mr Fre- Max, if you're up to it we're gonna get you to be on the lookout for rocks. Just give a yell when you see anything once we hit the rapids. Sarah and I will get us around them, no worries."

Something about the instruction seemed to resonate with the man. His irritability faded, replaced with an intent look. He twisted in his seat to face downstream. "Got it."

"Oh, dammit, I forgot to put on more sunscreen," moaned Sarah. "Shit! I am gonna get so baked. Oh well. Next stop, I guess."

She threw a glance back at Dart and made a face, grinning.

[Dart]

Dart did her best to offer Max an apologetic look. This is so not my fault, honest, was what she wanted to say.

Trust her, she was totally all for sitting up in front right now. Heck, she was totally for lashing her to the bow or something if that made him happy. Er, no. Scratch that. Didn't even want to think that idea in case he somehow got a whiff of that.

"Okay," Dart replied, and reached for the jacket. The first time she fumbled it right through the tips of her fingers and it dropped between them. "Sorry, sorry..." she apologized, finally scooping off the floor. It dangled precariously from a strap, and she took a deep breath. A look of utter concentration crossed her face, the tip of her tongue stuck out the corner of her mouth. A little snort-huff sound escaped her as she shifted the jacket in her hands and then went to slide it over her head.

Come on, come on...

It held. Dart couldn't help the relieved sigh. Now to draw the straps- ugh. This time the shudder that ran though her had nothing to do with the fact she was worried about the jacket staying on.

It was a memory that even the rock of the raft and the girl watching her... they couldn't drive it away. It was harnesses; of metal straps and rusting cables cobbled together. Knee deep in snow, the red mech eyed her with disdain. Cinch it up. It's the only blasted thing you're good for, right now. She had pulled that sled all over Alaska day in and day out. Supply sled, they'd had no other method of moving things.

Her hand went to her shoulder as if to rub at a sore spot... and then she realized where she was again and shook herself out of it.

She reached for the paddle. At least that she grabbed firmly, and she lifted it and set it down, bracing it on the bottom of the raft. "Right, got it. Stern off the rocks. Just- just bark at me what to do if I do it wrong, promise, won't hurt my--"

Sarah's grin suddenly had her laughing. "Well, yeah, next stop, whoops!" she agreed, just as the raft shivered into the current. She suddenly pricked her head up; watching the canyon walls slip past them in a motion that was - oh. It was different, it was amazing, it was not like running or driving, not at all.

"Wow," she breathed in awe.

[Deleted]

"Not bad, huh?" said Sarah.

The raft swept down the river. It rippled through waves in the current, riding the light surf with ease. All around them the walls rose up red and sheer, lit with a glowing band at the top where the sunlight struck the rock. The sandy beach turned into a rocky shore riddled with green plant life that flowed past them, even as the raft gently picked up speed.

Sarah bent hard at the oar. A long stroke pushed the raft forward, threading it smartly around a bend in the river. The beach disappeared behind them, while straight ahead loomed the canyon, a magnificent colosseum of light and stone.

"We should be entering the Grand Canyon itself sometime within the next half-hour!" said Sarah. She had to raise her voice to be heard over the sound of the river and the chop of the oars. "We do this trip every summer! Mark's been coming here since he was what, like - fourteen?"

Mark let go of his oar long enough to punch his fist into the air in a joking 'aw yeah' gesture.

"Normally we go all the way down to Diamond Creek, but nobody could get that much time off this year." She laughed. "Maybe next time! Okay, Rachel, if you're feeling pretty good about this, you guys can drop your paddles in as well. We'll do big push and get to the next rapids fast. Whenever you're ready!"

Veronica heaved her paddle out of the raft and plunged it into the water.

"You and your prof come to work in the canyon often?" she said, with a glance at the courier.

[Dart]

Dart sat. She fidgeted a bit but for the first time in a while it was not from stress or anxiety. It was that she was trying to take everything in, every little thing; from the rocking of the raft, the laughter and teasing of the humans, to the birds fluttering over the river. It felt as if they were barely moving, in a lazy little drift - but no, the banks were changing every minute, the landmarks constantly shifting.

Sun gleamed off the water as the raft leapt forward eagerly; apparently it too was ready to move on. It was as smooth as driving on a freshly paved road, so new that your tires didn't even hum. Dart held onto the handle of the paddle. She couldn't rock from foot to foot, she couldn't move far, so she had resorted to opening and closing her hands a bit. Remember that it's there, that you're holding it. The red walls overhead rippled by them, the ribbon of blue sky was hot and bright and clear, not a cloud wisping overhead.

Dart leaned towards the side of the raft and stuck her nose into the breeze created with the motion of the raft. The courier paused, her eyes wide with amazement, a soft little series of sounds came from her, a huff, a whuff. She was sniffing at the air even though there were no smells that she could process, no, but the wind, the motion, it was there, and it was reassuring to once again be upwind from the world.

She laughed in response to Sarah's chatter, and Mark's gesture. "Every summer?" she repeated. "Since you were fourteen, seriously? Okay, well, I'm feeling a lot better about this whole river rafting thing..."

"Oh!" she said suddenly, realizing that well, a paddle. Usually she was just up a creek without one. "Okay..."

She started to angle the paddle over the side. Okay, how did you hold this, hand over hand and...

"Huh? Oh, I've been here before. It was a while ago... um, not for work--"

"Or school," she admitted. "Just passed through on a trip. Long enough to take a photo. I- I really wanted to come though. I'm from Oregon, we don't have anything that looks like this there, not at all. I guess the closest thing we have is... um, Hell's Canyon."

She wrinkled her nose. "The professor, he's been all sorts of places, that's for sure."

[Deleted]

Veronica nodded dubiously.

"I guess he kind of seems like the sort," she said. She glanced ahead, to where the man sat at the bow. He and Mark were talking now, with some reluctance on Max's part. "He seems kind of unfriendly too, but maybe that's just a bunch of broken ribs talking. No offence."

She looked back at Dart. "I'm from Maine myself. This is my first time in the Canyon. I've done sailing and canoing trips before, but nothing like this until now. It's pretty cool here though. The view is wicked. I wish I'd brought my camera."

The wet blade of her paddle flashed as she dug in, briskly sending the rubber craft racing forward. Swallows darted overhead, dipping low over the water in front of them.

"So, what kind of work were you doing before you guys got caught in that rockslide?" she said. "You mentioned, uh... was it tagging?"

[Dart]

"He's just... um..."

Dart chuckled and rubbed her nose. She nearly brained herself in the eye with the end of the paddle, since she'd forgot she was holding it. "He's not entirely a people person, I guess. You know how it is, some folks are just better doing their jobs, and working hard at them, and he's just... um...."

Unsettling? her brain supplied. No, that wasn't she was looking for. It was probably a good word but not one that applied to this conversation. Dart eyed the mech and tipped her head slightly, watching him for a moment.

"Determined. Er... driven," she murmured, and it wasn't a car joke for once. "That's the word. I think he's just driven by his work and all that. He's super serious. Ex-military and all that, you know?"

Dart turned to push her paddle into the water. She hung onto it for dear life, feeling the current shove against the blade. She lifted it out again and tried a different angle, and tried to carefully move it after watching Veronica.

"Maine," she said. "East Coast's really pretty. I love it in the fall. Don't like the snow so much and oh yeah, no kidding. I wish I hadn't lost mine, but maybe someone will dig it up someday and it'll be on display at the Smithsonian in a thousand years or something..."

"Tagging? Oh, right, no, just boundry markers, detailing uh, layers and slides, sediment erosion, all that stuff. It's analyzing potential cues that help identify unstable areas for not even the canyon, right, and..."

A pause. "It's dry and boring," Dart admitted sheepishly. "Isn't it? I uh, I like dinosaurs better, but hey, have to start somewhere. Most of us aren't Jack Horner."

Dart sighed, shaking her head. "I think the professor's just a little upset with himself too, because he thinks he should have seen it coming."

[Deleted]

'Ex-military' seemed to satisfy Veronica. Her face relaxed a little and she nodded.

"Yeah, my dad's like that," she said. "He gets kinda pissed when things go wrong on him. I mean, sometimes it's a case of it genuinely being his fault, but sometimes he just ends up mad at himself for random badness that he couldn't have prevented. Random badness? What the hell does that even mean."

She sniggered. "Anyway, your job sounds pretty cool. I mean, okay, I can see getting kind of tired with rocks after a while, but at least you get to go outdoors and visit places like this. Way more interesting than what I do. I work at the electronics section at Walmart. It's like... fuckin' Radio Shack for the modern age."

Ahead of the raft the hollow roar of the river had grown louder. It reverberated off the canyon walls, filling the air with noise. A fine mist hung in the air, shimmering where sunbeams shone through it. Sarah laid her oar flat on the gunwale and turned around.

"We've got a bit of a run ahead!" she said. "Nothing big, but it'll get fast and bumpy in a minute. Rachel, if you see any rocks, just help keep us off them. Shouldn't be too rough!"

She flashed a thumbs-up and readied her oar again, just as the raft swayed in the rough current. Water splashed into the air, tossed by a submerged rock.

[Dart]

Dart turned her nose back towards avatar in the front of the boat, and then glanced back at Veronica. Surprise crossed her expression; the courier blinked. It- it was just... down to earth, that statement. It was a quiet, simple observation of a man that sat hunched at the bow, his feet braced against a pack, and a mech back in a cave that hadn't taken his eyes off her once. It was what it was, sometimes. Especially this war.

"Yeah..." she said after a moment. "Random badness. I dunno what it means either, but... it just sounds right. Random badness."

A pause, and then Dart looked concerned. She'd caught the slight hesitation on the other girl's part. "S'okay," she said suddenly. "He's just er- pissy. I mean, er, no, he's just pissed, promise. I mean, he's just stressed about things that went wrong too. He's not going to growl at you guys though. Maybe me, but not you, okay? Promise. I'll totally growl back at him if he does."

A snort escaped the courier, a little huff that many a horse would have been proud of. Her determined look faded back into a grin.

"Aw, I never get tired of talking about Earth, honest. It's just that not many folks want to listen to me talk about it. I do, I love my job... Well, I love the running around part of it and visting all these places. I got to go see the Northern Lights in Alaska once, part of an oil drilling thing, um, and Australia, I was there for a while. I totally got close so close to dingos they practically were climbing all over me, and then this one stuffed a dead bird into--"

My wheelwell...

"Into a hole in this beater car out in the desert," she quickly reiterated, with a little lopsided grin.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with working at Walmart, is there?" The courier scratched her head with her free hand before setting it back onto her paddle. "I think working at a Walmart has to be interesting. I mean, think of all the different people you see all the time. Like- well, everyone goes to Walmart at some point, right? Don't they?"

Sarah's voice distracted her abruptly. As did that rumbling, throaty growl bouncing off the high walls of stone. Dart grabbed the paddle and shifted it her hands, and then realized - oh, gah, it was already in the water.

"Yes ma'am!" she replied automatically to Sarah, even as the raft shifted weight. She compensated immediately; ready to spring whichever way she was needed - ah, no, sit! Sit, down, stay, paddle... paddle and rock. "Right. Got it. Off the rocks, I've got it, will do..."

Water sluiced up; bright drops scattered in the air and the courier braced herself. Her jaw tightened in concentration; the muscles in her shoulders stood out under her black T-shirt. Do the job right, have to do this right.

She couldn't help but throw a quick look at Max though and hope he was okay with this. The motion sure wasn't a feeling you ever got driving anywhere...

[Deleted]

For once, his stony eyes weren't fixed upon her. Max sat forward in the bow, twisted around until he could stare at the stretch of water ahead. He had wrapped the bow line around the knuckles of one hand, and his jaw was tight. His gaze was riveted to the river. A wave chopped over the bow, spraying him and Mark with mist; he unthinkingly flinched.

"Oh, this'll be a good one!" said Sarah.

The raft surged into the chute. The walls were a little narrower here, and the shore disappeared beneath the waves as the river plunged through the stony bottleneck. Bobbing, leaping, the raft whirled down the run with ease, darting smoothly from one fast-moving stream to the next. A light plume of spray broke over them, and the raft lurched, but it sturdily weathered the cascade.

On the oars, the two humans worked together to keep the bow oriented properly. Water sprinkled over the stern and over Dart, sparkling in the sun. The rapids were not very fierce, but playful, and she would see worn stones here and there beneath the surface, crested by a cap of white-water. One stone stood above the water, perhaps one blade away from her paddle - the raft swung towards it, pulled by an eddy.

"The Canyon starts somewhere after this chute, doesn't it?" yelled Sarah over the sound of the current.

"I think so!" shouted Mark. "Veronica! Grab my phone outta my pocket and take a picture of this, will ya?"

"Geez," said Veronica, but she scrambled forward and patted down the leg pocket of his cargo shorts while he pulled at the oar. For the moment, Dart was left to paddle at the rear.

[Dart]

Tension in the Autobot's tanned arm, his shoulder, the way he was focused totally ahead of them, and how he had twined the rope around his forearm. No, it was the fact he'd taken his eyes off of her; he was staring at the water, and Dart realized this had to be probably one of those things that the mech didn't ever think he'd be doing. He was off land, he was defenseless against the water. Not her. She herself had gone into rivers deeper than this, she'd been in the ocean; she'd actually had to swim in her mech form. It wasn't graceful, no, but she could do it.

Not many mechs could, or wanted to. Cybertron didn't have much like water that didn't destroy you or turn you into a puddle of molten goo, she'd heard. Dart honestly didn't know; she knew nothing about her homeworld except what had been told to her in passing by others.

It mirrors things, she remembered herself saying. She wondered if you could drown an avatar. No no, haha, probably not, right? But the rocks could bash you, the water could smash you into them, it could get hurt or destroyed.

Dart set herself against the side of the raft. The first buck of the craft sent her lurching against the side, holding the paddle out like a shield. It rose and fell; that was not at all a sensation you got in vehicle mode. Not even jumping ditches. All she suddenly wanted to do was duck her head and flatten herself out in the bottom of the boat, dive for cover. Then it rose again, tipped her back on her knees and she braced herself. Water sprayed into the air; the raft danced and lifted and it was motion...

Not terrifying motion. Something different. Think about it, she was rafting with humans on the Colorado River. How amazing was this? They were no more than any other creature on this world, nothing more at this moment, as much a part of this world as the red stones and the green, frothing water.

The boat danced, eager to bolt down into the narrows. As the spray splashed across her, Dart let out a noise, a joyous, barking laugh of pure delight, and there was only one other being in this boat who might even have an inkling of how downright awed she was.

"Max!" she called, unable to stop laughing. "Isn't this- this is just... whoa-"

She suddenly realized that he was probably thinking it was anything but. Erk, hopefully he hadn't heard her over the rush of the water.

Water shown as she swung the paddle out over the water. It mirrored the easy gestures of the humans in the raft. Motion she knew, motion she could understand, she could imitate it easily. The courier chortled as Mark yelled about his phone and Veronica scrambled up to grab for it.

"Hahah, be careful!" she called and turned to push the blade of the oar into the rock. The handle of the paddle abruptly phased through her hand in a burst of static. It fell down, and then bounced up in the air off of the side of the raft; it nearly caught her in the jaw. A lifetime of dodging branches sent the courier scrambling back; she threw up her hand to protect her face. Somehow it solidified just in time; the oar spun and bounced forward into the craft bottom.

Dart froze, and what color was on her face drained. The courier's eyes were wide. Her hand came up to her chest, hand outstretched to protect herself. Then she yelped and scrambled desperately to pick up the oar. Can't mess up can't mess up, oh geeze, no....

"Veronica!" she yelped.

[Deleted]

Already tense, the man looked back sharply at the sudden cry. His eyes widened at the sight of the oar clattering to the bottom of the raft.

Startled, Veronica glanced back too.

"Oh crap!" she said. "Hang on, I got it, no worries -"

On hands and knees she scrambled back to her seat, already reaching for her paddle. At a loss, she quickly stuck Mark's black cell phone between her teeth in order to grab the paddle with both hands. Without hesitation she leaned across Dart and jabbed the blade squarely into the rock. The raft veered, and Veronica heaved. Slowly, the stern of the vessel swung away from the obstacle and back out into the open water.

"Oomf - pleagh!"

Veronica fell back and spat the phone onto the bottom of the raft. In a tone of mock outrage Mark said, without looking back, "Did you just put my phone in your mouth?"

"I put my lips on everything you own, Mark," she said. She cackled, checked her paddle, and then looked at Dart. "You okay? What happened? Your paddle didn't break on the rock, did it? I've had that happen before."

At the front of the boat, Max stared hard at the courier, his face like a thundercloud. Evidently he had a good idea what had gone wrong.

[Dart]

Dart was clutching the paddle in front of her like a shield. Her gaze had met the mech's and she couldn't look away for a moment. Where he was glaring and furious, she was simply scared to death. This was not going to be easy for her, no. Stupid generator, stupid glitchy systems, ugh... this could have gone far worse and he'd think she'd done it on purpose.

Of course this led to Dart's imagination running away with her for a moment; Max would commandeer the raft, tie the rope around her ankle, and grimly toss her tail over teakettle into the river for a helpful bit of drag the rest of the way to their destination.

High note, she'd see fish. Maybe even a trout.

"N-no," she stammered, quickly breathing out a shaky sigh of relief as she resettled herself. "It- it skipped off, I think. Not sure, I thought I had it."

A sheepish grin, the courier took one hand off the paddle to rub at the side of her nose. "Sorry about that. Thanks for the save there -"

Then she looked over at Mark, back at Veronica.

Color totally came up on her cheekbones, even as she started to laugh. "Er, um, good thing it was just the phone..." she observed, and resettled herself in the bottom of the raft. She just shook her head and grinned, then observed the river again. "Okay, right. Don't turn the paddle like that. See, I said I was rusty, sorry guys..."

[Deleted]

Veronica quickly checked the plastic blade of the courier's paddle. When she saw that it was still intact she leaned back and waved.

"No worries," she said. "It happens. Especially when you get rocks that are wet and covered in algae."

"Will someone please get my phone?" said Mark in a plaintive voice.

"Psssh." Veronica laid her paddle flat across her lap and rescued the cell phone from the damp bottom of the boat. She shook it off a little. "It's fine, you wuss. Are there any rough spots ahead?"

Sarah swept her oar around, steadying the raft as it wobbled through a narrow draw. "A few, but we're good for the moment! Just keep an eye out for rocks!"

"Great."

Veronica immediately held up the cell phone and turned to Dart. She grinned and snapped a picture of the red-cheeked courier.

"Totally watching for rocks," she said.

[Dart]

Dart nodded, and looked thankful. "Glad the paddle's okay," she breathed. "I thought I nearly lost it over the side that time. I'll be more careful, now I know. Thanks."

The courier's shoulders automatically tensed a bit when Veronica held up the phone. It was automatic to duck into the woods or crunch down into a vehicle when people did that. That was the warning; you don't get caught out of disguise.

As Dart did not have those options at the moment, she merely peered out from under her tangled bangs and blinked. "Wha-- hey!"

Then she laughed, tucked the paddle against her knee and the side of the boat.

"I have failed my special Geology three-oh-three powers," Dart admitted, looking shamefaced. She sat up and adjusted the knot on her sweatshirt as if she was arming herself to go into battle. "Nearly got taken out by rocks twice today. This has got to be a new record for me."

Of course, what she really wanted to say was something along the lines of, hey, it's a good thing I'm not a giant robot from another planet who totally missed the whole ambush thing. Also, tip of the day, Vehicons aren't dumb, not one bit.

The courier wrinkled her nose. Her blue eyes were bright and cheerful once more. "Hhaha, not a good one," she told Veronica. "It's more like one of those records that's um... got a great beat, but it's lousy to dance to, right? Something like that. I think I'm mixing my metaphors. I blame the grape juice, I'm such a lightweight."

Dart gathered up her paddle again and looked down the river. "I am totally watching for rocks."

And rough spots... oh boy.