re_alignment_logs | Meow (Re)Mix

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Meow (Re)Mix

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...

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Shira just snorted at the jab. Sharp teeth, maybe, but her thick fur had very little to fear from such a small creature. And yes, she is quite full of herself sometimes.

"It's more or less the only hunting spot around, cousin. No fish in the lake, and no herd of grass-eaters anywhere. You are stuck eating whatever the Lambda spits at you, and that's all."

The saber toothed cat yawned and stretched voluptuously.

"Well, I am sorry -really!- to say it like that, but you hunt like you just got a rock hitting your head. You are not going to catch anything like that. But if you come with me for a little while, I might be willing to share my next prey with you."

She turned her green eyes to him, winking.

"You just have to promise to return the favor someday."

"Figured as much. Hopefully it won't always be that way. Lambda spits out enough things to get a sustainable population." After this it will only affect him marginally - he still has to feed his firelizard, after all - but it would be a boon to the organics he knows.

Barricade snorts. "No, I definitely deserve that description. Hunting on four legs ain't my forte. I'd be grateful for the assist." At least until he figures out how to coordinate his limbs without crawling on his belly or being chased. He tips his head in a grin. "I always repay my debts, ma'am. Name's Barricade, by the way. Or just 'Cade. A pleasure."

"Well, I have to say that for now, the Lambda just gives us splattered preys around the landscape. They are really not easy to eat, or rather whatever is left of them is too scattered to be really sustaining. I dream to catch something alive, as long as it's not a mammoth or something."

Mammoths needed a pack to be hunted, and Shira certainly wasn't going to charge something that big with only a tiny mouse-eater as her back-up!

"And you are even polite! Pleasure's all mine, and you can drop the ma'am, 'Cade. I am Shira. And for a little while, I guess we are packmates. Think you can follow me and be relatively silent?"

"Hm. Well, some of the Cybertronians have been working on a slightly more stable device. Maybe something can be arranged that way."

If nothing else, a sustainable prey population will help everyone and be a welcome addition to the landscape.

"Only polite to people that have earned it~ And I can be quiet at the very least, I hope. That's one skill that's translates." Mercifully. "I at least won't be a complete detriment."

"I don't even want to know how they do that. That magic of yours is way beyond my comprehension."

The saber toothed cat raised her head and sniffed the air, before leaping on a nearby Junk pile to take a good look around, before glancing back down at her "cousin".

"Or polite with those who got bigger teeth, hm? Don't worry, cousin, I am not about to kill or let die one of the few people with an interesting conversation around there."

She jumped back down trotting toward the small cat.

"I can smell blood, this way. Ready for the hunt, cousin?"

"Sometimes parts of it escape me too, don't worry. I specialized a touch."

He chuckles, straightening a little when Shira's attention is on him. Others being bigger than him or having bigger armaments has never stopped him. But refraining from killing him when he's obviously outclassed... that doesn't happen for him.

"Interesting conversation? Now you're flattering me." Not that he'll complain. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Well, it's not flattery when it's deserved, cousin." Shira just wanted to make sure you wouldn't step on her when you took that big, metallic form of yours back.

"Tell me if I am going too fast for you. Let's go now."

The saber toothed cat began to trot silently, following the faint scent of blood in the air. She didn't break in a full run, unfortunately, as it would no doubt leave the little cat behind, but she hoped dearly that whatever was bleeding wasn't strong enough to distance them.

She raised her head a few time to sniff the air and make sure they were under the wind, keeping a eye on her small packmate. Damn, if evolution changed saber toothed tigers into that, it was a major bitch. Dammit.

"We are coming close. You can follow me but stay under the wind, that's all I ask."

The feline crouched, slowly advancing toward a pile of junk, so she could see what was behind: approximately ten meters away was a small doe, with a broken leg, it seemed. Shira smirked. Just perfect.

He's not generally in the habit of stepping on others... though he'd surely punt a few if he could get to them. No such luck, though.

Barricade manages to keep up, and it means he's coordinated enough to keep up, thankfully. Much less in the way of stumbling from here on out, and that's the best he can hope for, for the moment.

He ducks down slightly, sniffing the wind like Shira did. It's different in this body, but his sense of smell is slightly closer to normal. And that is definitely the smell if something edible, and that something's blood. Beyond that he wasn't sure.

"You've got it." He doubts he'll be of much help in the hunt itself, but the least he can do is not hinder it. He crouches low, finding a piece of junk to hide behind, and peeks his head up for a brief moment before huddling back down. That looks just about right.

At least, her little cousin knew how to run... somewhat. He was still a little wobbly and it showed, but hey, Shira could imagine that being shoved in another body like that was a murder for your coordination. At least he wasn't falling face first on the ground or something!

And Blurr walked on only two legs, like Sid. Maybe Barricade did, too? Two extra limbs weren't exactly easy to get used to, she figured. Somewhat.

And Cade knew how to be discreet, which was even more useful: after she heard him crawl behind a piece of junk, she lost track of him completly, meaning that he was staying unmoving and silent!

Perfect. Now, back to the hunt.

The doe was still oblivious to her presence, and it was weakly calling for its herd: but there were no other deer in view unfortunately. The proof that other grass eaters lived nearby would have been a comforting sight.

At least, her silver fur was a perfect camouflage: it made her almost invisible in the middle of all that metal. Diego would have been a lot more handicapped.

Shira managed to come very, very close, and didn't waste any time before pouncing: the poor deer didn't have a second to react as the saber toothed cat powerful jaws closed around its neck: a loud SNAP, and it was over. The doe fell on the ground as Shira let it go, blood gently dripping from the puncture wounds on its delicate neck.

"Cousin, dinner is ready!"

He'd gotten his faceplanting out of the way a while ago at least. He would prefer to avoid that embarrassment in front of someone else. And his coloring is at least good for hiding among the junk, he must admit. Find the right spot and he can vanish. It's a lot easier when he doesn't have an engine going at all times.

Barricade only peeks up from his hiding spot to carefully watch her hunting. He'd feel sorry for the deer, on some level, if he didn't need food. But sometimes, something just has to die for the greater good. He hops out of his hiding spot, trotting over, practically purring.

"You're good at that."

Shira snorted, and opened her prey's belly with practiced ease.

"In my world, either you are good, or you are dead. Saber toothed cats aren't exactly nice with each other, save for a few exceptions. I am one, luckily for you."

The bowels of the doe spilled out of its body, and like every predator Shira went for the liver. She cut off a piece for Barricade with a "Eat that, it's the best part, especially when it's still warm" and swallowed the rest in one mouthful. That was so good!

Oblivious of the red blood now running on her fur, the feline attacked the rest of the carcass with enthusiasm, happily munching the more tender bones of the ribs and neck. A real meal! That was gorgeous!

"Looks like I do have some luck, in that case. I'm suddenly glad."

Barricade has never been particularly adverse to blood and gore, and is hardly opposed to it now when he's hungry... though he's admittedly used to eating cooked food when he's organic. Thankfully cats can handle this. And liver is delicious. He practically purrs. "And you have good taste."

The Cybertronian-turned-cat digs in to the rest of the carcass enthusiastically.

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