5 Chapter 5: Sad as it may be

It's been two days since Skyrider's burial, and Solarflare wasn't doing any better. The red and orange mech would wander around the cave and fiddle with something in his servos, usually a piece of metal. Firespark even caught him going through her medical supplies, picking them up, and putting them down in random spots. He seemed to have just given up on having a purpose, and it broke her spark.

Firespark stretched her arms over her helm with a yawn as she woke up. Her orange optics opened and widened in horror at the mess. Her supplies her strewn everywhere across the cave, along with her medical equipment. It looked like a tornado had hit the place.

Quickly, the femme jumped to her pedes and rushed over to check what was damaged. Thankfully none of her equipment was broken, maybe a few dents but still functional; however, some of her supplies were not so lucky. Medkits sprawled opened, and bandages, syringes, and other materials were destroyed or dirtied.

Firespark glanced over at her roommate to find him still in stasis. She groaned internally; this had to stop. Solarflare probably couldn't fall asleep and, not in his right mind, proceeded to destroy the place.

After rearranging and tidying up her supplies, Firespark walked over to the sleeping mech, gently rocking him awake. Solarflare's beautiful blue optics opened and looked at her dimly. "Hey, sleepyhead," she whispered, "Didn't get a good night's sleep, huh?"

He didn't respond, only turning his gaze away from her. Firespark sat on the edge of his messy berth, giving him a thoughtful look. "I'm going on a supply run. You should come with me,"

Gradually the mech sat up and massaged his servos over his face. Once he finished cleaning the sleep from him, Solarflare stood up and followed the pink femme out of the cave.

Supply runs consisted of going to abandon escape pods or deserted energon mines. Finding medkits and fuel was easy, but energon was harder to obtain since Decepticons nearly owned all of it. If Firespark got lucky, she would find small energon crystals leftover or a whole chamber filled with energon cargo containers.

The walk through the woods was quiet, except for the occasional crow of a raven. Firespark looked over her shoulder and waited for Solarflare to catch up. He hardly talked anymore, making it difficult to know if he was still following her. It broke her spark to see him like that, and it made her determined to help him. Once he reached her side, Firespark slid her servo into his, squeezing it tightly, which he responded to in a light squeeze.

The supply run occurred inside a mine, one that she frequently visited, was a successful one. Fifteen crystals were the most she ever uncovered. Even though they were small, they went a long way and would at least fill three cubes.

Solarflare's attitude changed when he was in a different environment. He actively participated in searching and brought back five of the crystals. What surprised Firespark was when he sparked up a conversation. "How far do you think this mine goes?"

"It depends on how much energon is here; if a mine is only a vein, maybe about a mile deep," Firespark responded, racking her memory files for the information Soundwave had told her.

That seemed to perk the mech's curiosity, "That's interesting! How do you know those types of things? I mean, you know that only small shards will be here. You gotta learn that from somewhere."

Unsure of what to say, the femme replied, "I have my ways. Let's head back. We have everything we need."

At the mention of going to the cave, the red and orange mech's demeanor changed drastically. "Oh, right," Sluggishly, he started to walk toward the sunlight.

Suddenly, Firespark got an idea. "Hey, wait up, will you!" At his side, she tugged on his servo, "There's something I gotta show you!"

At the sight of her bright smile, Solarflare smirked, "All right, where too?"

"This way!" Firespark exclaimed, nearly dragging the mech behind her. The startled mech yelped in astonishment as they ran toward their destination.

The golden afternoon sun hung high in the bright blue sky. The still lake shimmered like crushed diamonds as the pair halted at the water's edge.

"What do you think?" Firespark asked, a childish gleam in her orange optics.

Solarflare's mouth dropped wide open in amazement. "It's, it's beautiful. What are those creatures called?"

Confused, the femme followed his gaze and caught the sight of a freckled trout leaping out of the water as if saying hello. "Those are trout. They only live in the water. Humans sometimes come up here and catch them. Sometimes they release them, or they take some with them."

Solarflare nodded, "Maybe they're a food source for them?"

The two Cybertronians walked together around the lake. The mech was very interested in nature and the creatures. He found a fondness of the butterflies, even though they flittered in front of his faceplates.

Firespark laughed as a blue jay swooped over his helm, resulting in the mech ducking out of the way.

"That was close. What animal was that?" Solarflare looked around frantically, looking for the pesky bird.

"That was a blue jay," the femme began but started to laugh again, "and they tend to discharge on things,"

Dread appeared on his face as he looked on his shoulder pad. A small white puddle was apparent against the red plating. "Please tell me that not all of Earth's flying creatures do this."

"No, but I've heard the seagulls are the worst at these occurrences," Firespark informed him when she had finished giggling.

Blue optics swam with amusement until they locked on to something behind the pink femme.

She turned around and gasped. The doeling was back, and the buck was at her side. Firespark looked at Solarflare, "Those are deer, and they are frightened easily." Cautiously, she crouched to sit on the grassy surface; the mech followed suit as they observed the beautiful beasts.

"Why does only one have the horns?" he asked as he watched the two drink from the cool silverly water.

"They're called antlers, and it's usually the males that have them. They use them for defending themselves and impressing females." Firespark responded as she leaned closer to the mech.

"Right, so should I get antlers?"