Meow (Re)Mix

[namesnotprowl]

WHO: Barricade and you
WHERE: Solus Prime and Alpha Trion's quadrants, and the Junk Pile
WHEN: Backdated and forward-dated a couple days from now
WHAT: A certain fuzzy feline is getting the lay of the land from a much shorter perspective.
WARNINGS: n/a, will update if necessary

Skids - or the thing that had been Skids - had been chasing him around the Junk Pile until something happened that Barricade just couldn't sort out. Not for a while, anyway, until he was able to get a look at himself. Not human, so...

Wait. Fur? Oh scrap.


[The Junk Pile]
First things first is finding some kind of food, and that means sticking around the Junk Pile for a while. So a little black and white cat might be visible, hopping and skittering gingerly along debris, occasionally tripping and yowling in protest. These legs don't work like any he's used to and there's too many of them and he can't get his tail to hold still to counterbalance. Why are there so many limbs.


[Solus's Quadrant]
Eventually he manages to dig out food that isn't in a can and figures out how to eat it. He even tumbles his way ungracefully out of the Junk Pile in his own FirstForged's quadrant. Good enough for him! He trots along through the area, carefully avoiding the hotter spots until he finds the crystal forest on the border. And then... for no reason he can sort out, up one of the trees he goes. Without any idea of how to get out of it.


[Alpha Trion's Quadrant]
One way or another, he extracts himself and continues on, finally having gotten the hang of his limbs and his ears. At least his senses aren't quite so diminished as when Barricade has been human; there was something comfortable about that. Still, even he gets thirsty, and the easiest place to find water is the lake. Once he gets across the quadrants to the lake, he crouches down and dabs a paw into the water cautiously, jerking it out and shaking it with a meow. Okay, that's not so awesome. Maybe there's some easier way to do it...

Comments

[trionicpolarity]

As much as Alpha Trion would prefer to be nestled on one of his many balconies, reading, he hasn't had the chance yet. The past few days have been spent in meeting after meeting, gathering with his brethren to compare notes about the unusual changes happening across the Haven.

Because of this, he's taking the time to walk around the edge of the lake and think, wondering how much could be fixed by using the Pages of the Tome. It might work.

It might.

It also might--no.

No wait.

Did he see something, just now?

Was that?

"Now how did you escape?" He murmurs, moving closer to the cat at the edge of the lake. "It isn't safe for you out here, you know."

Crouching, he extends a hand to pet the creature.

[namesnotprowl]

Barricade would comment, if he could, on how he somehow ends up around Alpha Trion every time something weird like this happens to him. But at least he avoided haiku-activated jet thrusters this time.

Admittedly, that was his own fault.

Still, he crouches a bit, tensed for a few moments. He's not entirely sure what to expect from this... and petting wasn't the first thing that came to mind. It's not as though he'll complain about that, though.

He cautiously stands, arching into the FirstForged's hand with a loud purr. Sure, it's not safe, but Barricade is all about the danger. Even when he's tiny and everything wants to eat him.

[trionicpolarity]

It is a cat, and Alpha Trion has the only collection of cats on Cybertron that he is aware of (besides Splat, who came from him.) Thus it takes a few moments of petting before he becomes aware of something.

"You're a new one."

This doesn't stop him from turning his hand to pick up the feline, however, looking back towards his temple. His or not, leaving a cat to fend for itself on a world with little to eat is not something he's capable of doing.

"I've got just the place for you."

[namesnotprowl]

Barricade meows in surprise as he's scooped up. This is... definitely unexpected. Though he's glad Alpha Trion figured out he's 'new' even if not so much... normally this. He carefully sits down on Alpha Trion's hand.

"New to being a cat, too."

But if it's somewhere safe away from the things trying to eat him, he can't complain. He's not ready to be a cat, still. He's still figuring it out.

"I'm Barricade."

[trionicpolarity]

"It's nice to meet you, Barricade--I'm Alpha Tri..."

No.

No, that was not his imagination, this time. The cat had actually spoken.

Though he doesn't stop walking towards his temple, he does stare down for a moment. 'Barricade' was a familiar enough name, and with the recent fluctuations from the Lambda causing havooc--yes. Yes, he could see the resemblance.

"Have you been enjoying it so far?"

It's the only thing he can think to ask for a moment.

[namesnotprowl]

"I know. You fixed that whole thing with me writing poetry and schematics on the same page."

Barricade, at least, sounds amused about the whole thing. His tail swishes. Sorry, Alpha Trion; no new cat today. Just an old, grumpy robot stuck in an adorable and fuzzy body.

"Having four legs and a tail is harder than I imagined."

To say the least. Finding food is a trial too, unless he can beg it off someone else.

"I don't suppose your book left pages laying around again?"

[trionicpolarity]

"I remember that. And you've been useful, since then--I've seen your posts."

He sees everything.

"You're taking it rather well, I must say." Reaching carefully with his other hand, he gives Barricade a scratch on the head. He's gotten very used to petting tiny cats over the years.

"Thankfully no. I have been keeping better track of such objects ever since I realized it could be an issue. Given where I usually keep the tome...it was quite a surprise when the pages were removed from it! This, however..."

This even was more sinister, in a way, because it was so hard to discover and reverse.

"This requires finesse."

[namesnotprowl]

"Been keeping an optic on me? I wonder if I should be concerned." He flicks his ears and shifts his front paws in the closest he gets to a shrug. "Those were all just me, doing what I can."

Barricade straightens, raising up to meet Alpha Trion's hand with a long, loud purr. "The petting doesn't hurt, I'll admit. Getting chased around by hungry things bigger than me, though..." He's learned to work his legs a bit better, since half the Haven seems to want to eat him now. Heck, at least one wanted to eat him in the first place.

"So this is from something a bit bigger and nastier - and smarter?" He has to mull that over a bit. "As much as I hate to ask the question, does this have anything to do with the one that keeps throwing monsters at us?"

The actual name is still something he's hesitant to say. Less out of fear than disbelief, still.

[trionicpolarity]

"I was the creator of the link--I keep an optic on everyone." Most of it was cursory, of course, but he never knew when there'd be something important to log in the history book. "Do you enjoy helping people?"

Entering his curved, quiet hallways, Alpha Trion found that he could get used to a talking cat easier than expected. Barricade was not bad to pet, and thus far he hadn't tried to bite. "I'll take you to the cat room, then. You can enjoy the company of other cats until we've gotten this unfortunate incident settled. There will be plenty to eat, and you shouldn't be bothered."

Besides, you'll love the cat ramps.

When you ask the last question, however, he stays quiet while he walks.

It isn't an easy thing for him to discuss, either.

"The simple answer is yes. His tactics are becoming trickier in time--which may mean he's growing desperate."

Or it could mean that he was on to a way to thwart them.

[namesnotprowl]

"So you made that, huh? Never met an inventor of these sorta networks before. I guess I shouldn't be surprised about it, in this case." Not that he would be surprised anyway; he's used to being watched like a hawk, even if it means he comes off as paranoid... which he admittedly is. "As for helping people..." He shrugs, as well as any cat can. "Sometimes I enjoy it. Ain't bad from time to time."

Barricade isn't much of a biter unless he's being attacked... or it's during other activities. Besides, anyone so good at petting him doesn't deserve being bitten, and he's slightly distracted by the architecture. "How am I ever going to pay you back for bein' so nice to me?" Even with the FirstForged, he's not big on owing favors. And having food and a safe place is definitely a favor.

Trickier tactics. Barricade flicks his tail briefly. "Or he's trying to find a way around the Glyphs, in a more roundabout way than before."

Since the monsters and the Pages and their friends hadn't worked. It's what Barricade would do.

[trionicpolarity]

"We did make most of the framework for the Haven's existence. Not everything, of course." Some of it had been set up by the previous Refugees, and there were reasons why some of the piles in the junk yard were already sorted through. "The rest we rely upon the Refugees for. It means even small acts can have far reaching effects."

Acts such as the little things you did for others. Even making hats.

"If you feel the need to pay me back--keep an optic out for literature once you return to your correct form. For now, however..."

He pushed open the door to the cat room...and within lay a veritable paradise. Cat walks extended from floor to ceiling. There were nooks to hide in, and nooks to purchase on, and many dangling strings to bat. The floor was soft, and there were plenty of textured surfaces for clawing...and even a sand pit in the back. You can use your imagination for that part.

"He wants you. All of you. The more of you he takes from us, the stronger he gets, and every piece of chaos sown along the way leaves its mark."

He extends his hand so that you can jump down if you wish.

"I am sorry that you have all fallen into this."

[namesnotprowl]

"Please don't get on that 'even the smallest can move mountains' thing, it's so sappy..." he teases lightly. "Some of us just do what we can. It's less boring than sitting around waiting to go home and more productive than trying to restart our wars." Barricade doesn't do sitting idle very well. He'd tried once and it made him want to scream.

At least here there was work to be done.

"Will do. Might even do some wr- nice." This is awesome; he probably would have gotten a kick out of this when he was a hatchling, too, but right now the whole place appeals to the feline part of him. He doesn't know quite where to start but by the All Spark he'll start somewhere.

Barricade carefully hops out of Trion's hand after a moment, looking up at him.

"I've told him no twice and I'll keep doing so until he understands; he may want me but he doesn't get to have me. And it ain't your fault any of this happened. You're doing what you can."

They all have to muddle through.