Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter one: TRUCK!

Mornings were a chore.

Getting up in the morning to go to some hodunk school in the middle of the northern california foothills was a drag, as was dealing with my irritating sister who never pitched in around the house, and left me to do all her chores without so much as a thank-you gave me little reason to want to get up in the morning. At least I had my friends at school and my Transformers comics.

Throwing off the bed sheets and feeling the cold floor on my feet was just another reminder that another day had started.

"Mrow!"

"Hey ziggy, outta food again?" I said to my three month old kitten whom I'd gotten for my sixteenth birthday.

"Mraow!" she said again as she walked to her food bowl, indicating it was empty.

I stood up out of my bed and walked over to her bowl, picking it up and filling it from the food bag that I kept in my room for her.

Finishing with that, I looked around at my mess of a room, piles of clothes, half-dismantled RC cars on my 'desk' that was more accurately described as a workbench that was at the end of my bed. Walking over to the dresser next to my desk, I pulled out my favorite Megadeth T-shirt and threw it on, smiling at the image of Vic Rattlehead holding a piece of uranium while resting his other bony hand on a cryogenically preserved alien.

Sliding into my usual pair of jeans and topping it off with the hat that proudly displayed the logo of my cousin's ranch above the brim, I walked over to my boots and put them on, and walked out to the house.

My mom, Ann, had bought me a shed that we turned into a bedroom for me a few years ago, and with help from my grandpa we had added electricity, heating, cooling, insulation, drywall, the whole nine yards. I walked in the backdoor, noticing my sister had not closed the door to her room, and that meant the only bathroom in the small 700 square foot house was still open, and I made a beeline for it. Slipping in before Kayla had a chance to yell at me to get out, I closed the door and looked in the mirror. Combing my shoulder length red hair and taking out my aligners, I brushed my teeth and washed my face, before hurrying out through my sister's room again, watching her shoot me a glare. What I wouldn't give to be rid of her.

Making my way into the kitchen, the smell of the home grown eggs my mom cooked for me every morning made my stomach growl.

"Morning jesse!"

"Morning mom. Thanks for making eggs."

"Jesse, you know you don't have to thank me for doing my job."

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't at least acknowledge what you do for me. Thanks again."

"Your welcome sweetie."

Smiling, I made my way to the couch to eat, seeing as the table was always covered in various documents and important paperwork. My mom works two jobs to provide for me and Kayla, and I couldn't be more grateful. I also put in a fair amount of work, doing the jobs my dad had done before he passed. (queue the obligatory "Im sorrys" from people and inevitable "it's fine" from me) you never really get over that kind of thing, you just learn to live with it.

I finished my eggs, put the plate in the sink, and went over to where I charged my phone and pulled it off the cable. Grabbing my earbuds from the same place, I put on some music for my content mood, eventually settling on Pink Floyd's Animals album. Making my way over to my backpack, making sure my crappy school chromebook was charged, I put all the necessary folders and papers in, and zipped everything up.

Letting my mom know I was ready to go, I put on my backpack, she grabbed her purse and the keys, and we walked out the door. That earned the complaint "I'm not ready yet" from my sister who had an hour to get ready by now, all three of us made our way to the car, Kayla complaining about an overstuffed backpack the whole time. I got into the passenger seat, Kayla threw all her stuff in the backseat and climbed in as well alongside mom. Before I knew it the car was running and mom backed out of the driveway and headed down the street towards town.

Kayla was a 6th grader in elementary school and I was a highschool sophomore. The elementary school was about 5 minutes away, while the highschool was another 5 away. My mom worked at my school, managing the garden and helping the AG teacher.

"When are you gonna get your licence?" mom asked.

"Ughh, I'm working on it, you know how studying for tests goes." I said, exasperated.

"I'm getting tired of driving you to school on my off days where I have to work on my online shop and sell eggs."

"I know mom, it's just hard to stay focused. I get a little progress done and my mind goes 'hey, the latest invincible episode is out' and then i immediately get distracted and by the time i'm done with that, my drivers licence is the last thing on my mind. y'know?"

"Yeah, Jess, I know, but that's not a good excuse. I had my licence by the time I was your age."

"Well, maybe I'm not you!" I said without thinking, raising my voice.

I immediately regretted it, hating it when I got angry and took it out on mom.

"Sorry, mom"

"It's okay, jess. I just want you to do better than me."

"I know"

That effectively ended the conversation. ADHD ran in our family, with all three of us having some variant of the disorder. Her father was never diagnosed, but whenever I spent time with my grandpa (which I did a lot, he's basically my dad) he was always showing the signs, jumping from topic to topic erratically and always getting distracted.

A couple minutes later, we were pulling into the staff parking lot at the school. We had stopped and dropped off my sister during our conversation, and now we were at my school. We both got out of the car and went our respective ways, me single-mindedly heading to the group hangout spot.

I got to the spot, seeing most everyone was there and hearing a clamor of voices talking about the latest school drama that I was never caught up on.

My effective best friend, Dreyke, looked up from his phone, sitting on top of the lunch table as usual. "Bro, did you hear what happened?"

"No, man you know damn well I'm not caught up on all the drama that goes on here."

"You know Johan right?"

The name immediately brought a dark cloud over my mind. That kid had harassed me whenever he could, wherever, and anytime the opportunity presented itself.

"Yeah, you could say that"

"He got in a car wreck! Apparently he decided it was a great idea to pull out in front of a fully loaded logging truck, thinking it would stop for him."

That did not surprise me at all, the guy had been cocky to say the least, having an obvious superiority complex.

"Is he okay?" I asked. I didn't like the guy, but that didn't mean I wanted someone to die.

"He's alive, but he broke his right arm,leg, two of his ribs, and got a concussion. It would have been alot worse had the truck not hit the empty passenger side."

"Wow" was all my incredibly articulate mouth could deliver.

The 1st period bell rang, eliciting groans from most of the group, including me. Dreyke laughed at me "Ha-Ha! You got biology!" He knew very well just about every student at the school despised the strict but way overly positive teacher.

"Well you got her when she's all woken up and aware enough to actually catch you on your phone!" I shot back, knowing her first period class was too early for her to effectively enforce her no-phone rule. I was always zoning out enough so that I didn't get bored but still focused enough that I got a decent B.

I walked in the general direction of biology, intending to make a quick pit stop at the bathroom and then imprison myself in that hellhole classroom. Finding the bathroom, I took care of my business quickly and then arrived by the time the late bell rang.

I got out my laptop and binder and quickly turned on one of my longer albums that I had downloaded on my phone, and proceeded to do my normal thing in science class: escapism.

"Jesse. Jesse!" I was snapped out of my sleep (I never sleep in class, what the hell?) by the sound of my concerned English teacher. "You okay?" she asked me. "Class has been over for 5 minutes." She knew me slightly better than other kids, being I was part of the tech crew for drama and I was also a big part of set construction.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"You sure? You never sleep in class."

"yeah that's a bit weird, but my sister has been more of a drag lately." I lied.

"Oh. if you say so. Just let me know if you need to talk. K?" she said, not believing me for a second, but understanding me not wanting to talk about it.

Now that I think back on it though, I never sleep in class. I had my coffee, went to bed at the usual time, ate my usual breakfast, so what was wrong? I pushed the issue to the back of my mind as I made my way to the food court. Being a countryside school, everything was outside. It was a decent 72 degrees outside and it was my favorite thing for lunch: orange chicken. I crammed myself into the crowded lunch line, grabbed my food and made a quick exit.

Walking to the hangout spot, I saw that Dreyke and my other best friend, gremlin, (his name was Aiden but we all called him gremlin because he looked and acted like one.) were up to the usual shenanigans of mixing whatever chemical gremlin had stole from the chemistry teacher and whatever old food they could find. Chuckling to myself about it, I approached and said "same ol, same ol?"

"Yuuup" gremlin said as Drake was too busy laughing at the latest concoction of cucumbers, bleach and pepsi in a rubber glove. I set the tray of food down and opened the obviously microwaved chicken. (they could at least transfer the contents to a paper bowl but nooo the school was too broke after spending millions on things no one used.) I scarfed down the chicken, chugged my juice and called it a day. Joining Dreyke and gremlin, I noticed they were headed to one of the bathrooms and I picked up something about "the toilet or the sink". I snickered and suggested that we hide it in the toilet paper dispenser. That got quite a few laughs.

After the mischief was made, we made our way to our next classes. Me and drake headed to PE which we always enjoyed, and gremlin headed to math class. I got to the locker room, and proceeded to throw my backpack 15 feet, with no regard to the contents. Everything I cared about was in my pockets. Opening my locker and throwing on the junk sweatpants, shirt, and sneakers, I was ready and headed to the gym, sitting on the floor in my usual roll call spot.

When the roll call was done, I made my way over to Dreyke for warm-ups.

I was leaving guitar class, (man the teacher was loud but he was really funny) I made my way to the school garden, intending on telling my mom that I was heading to the park with my friends.

"Hey mom!"

"Hey jess! How was school?" she asked.

"Oh you know, same slow day."

"Yeah, same here. So, are you ready to go home?"

"Actually, I was gonna head down to the park and hang out with my buddies for a while."

"Okay, I suppose I'll pick you up from grandpa's around 6?"

"Sounds good. See ya later!"

"Okay bye. Walk safely!"

"I know, I know."

"Love you!" mom said.

"Love you too!"

My grandpa lived a short walk from the park so it was a common rally point for me and mom. I was moving towards the gate to the farm, and saw gremlin walking in the same direction. I called out to him, and he slowed down waiting for me. "So, same time tonight?" he said.

"yeah you know the drill" I responded. It was basically a tradition for us to play a round of TF2 before we went to bed every night.

"Last night was crazy!" he said.

"I know, the sheer amount of pushes we pulled off was insane! I should play medic more."

"yeah, I guess demoman was a natural for me." he said. We continued in this nerd-out as we walked up the sidewalk that led away from the school.

After about ten minutes, we came to the intersection that we needed to cross to get to the park. Gremlin waited, being cautious. Me, being the genius I am, decided to rush it. It was clear until the truck. I didn't see it until it was too late. The red Peterbilt launched me into the air, spinning. I looked at my body, and saw my chest caved in, my arms and legs bent at weird angles, but felt no pain. I blacked out, almost certain my life was over. My last thoughts were of my mom and my friends, and how I hoped my passing wouldn't destroy them. Then I thought no more.

Chapter Text

Chapter two: new… everything

If i should never touch a keyboard again, or if i'm actually cooking let me know. Criticism is very welcome.

When I woke up, I expected to get hit by a truck to hurt like hell. All I got was a feeling of being way too heavy. Opening my eyes told me it was around noon because the sun was shining directly into my eyes. Rolling over I got to my hands and knees, and what I saw made me almost faint.

My hands were black, with hinges where my finger joints should be, and folding plates making up my palm. My forearms had silver gauntlets that went to my elbow, and my humerus was nearly square with a sharp, wide point coming off the side. There was also a long black tube attached to my right arm.

"What the fuck!?" I exclaimed, my voice way deeper than I was used to. This discovery combined with the look of my arms and hands had me shooting to my feet, which also appeared just as changed. My feet were now wide, grey plates with my forelegs being black and very wide. My thighs were very short, connecting to my torso after a small distance. My torso was the same dull grey as my arms and thighs, with red accents to the side of where my abs should be (like I had them in the first place). Looking at my sternum area there was a symbol that I recognized: that of the autobots.

All this info made me remember the latest comic that I read: transformers: lost light, where megatron had joined the autobots. "Oh god" I said as I sat down, processing this whole thing. How did I manage to die, and then wake up as megatron, in… where was I exactly?

Looking around at the area where I woke up I noticed that I was in a clearing between pine trees, there was some snow on the ground, buy not much. but something was off. There was a new me-shaped depression in the ground, but all the trees were blown away at an angle, the ground was charred, and there was another shallow, oval hole in the ground about the size of my palm.

Getting up and looking at the small hole revealed nothing, so my thoughts turned back to my new body. Why was I here? What sent me here? Am I dead? Are there any other people here? Also, if i'm in the body of megatron, shouldn't I be on Cybertron?

Peeking over the tops of the shorter trees as they descended down the slope revealed I was on a foothill of a mountain range, looking down at a valley. There was a tiny cluster of small, brown, downright medieval looking buildings. That meant, more likely than not there were people, which was good. I wasn't entirely alone.(One question answered).

Turning to the other end of the valley, I noticed a larger crowd of buildings off in the distance, and much closer, what looked like a small farm. I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look, and my new eyes zoomed in! (Apparently megs had some crazy eyes.) Seeing the farm in much more detail now, I noticed there was an old man standing on the porch. I must not have been able to feel the cold anymore, because he was shivering and I could see his breath in the air.

He went back inside, I blinked, and my vision returned to normal. Returning to thinking about my new body, I looked at the tube on my arm, now identifying it as a fusion cannon, recognizing megatron's signature weapon, I decided to test it later. My mind realized something bigger: if I was a Cybertronian now, I could transform! Deciding to make an introduction to the locals later, I decided to try transforming until I had a plan for introducing myself.

Turning back to the center of the clearing I stood in the middle and took another look at myself, noting the second cannon that missed last time, and the treads where my calves and triceps should be, I guessed I was some kind of tank. Alright, how do I do this? I wondered.

At first I had no success "Dammit!" I cursed after my fifth attempt to move muscles (Pistons? Cables? Belts?) That wasn't there. I sat down, thankful my balancing skills had stayed with me, and let my thoughts wander. Eventually settling on my mom and friends, the whole weight of my situation crashed down on me. I was stuck, somewhere in medieval times, possibly in another world, with no way home, a body I didn't know halfway how to use, not to mention that of a mass murderer, even though he redeems himself.

Overcome by sadness, I let the urge to run away from wherever I was consume me, and ran in the general direction away from the village. Luckily I could fit between the trees fairly easily. I didn't even notice my arms folding in a way they shouldn't, my chest piece coming up and my head retracting into my chest, my legs flipping around and folding into themselves, and before I knew it, there were two cannons in the top right of my vision, tracks in my peripheral vision, and i was much lower to the ground

Apparently strong emotions do amazing things.

I tried to move, discovering what was apparently where my hand went, when I moved the hand for that side the corresponding track moved, and when I tried to move my head, I moved my vision, not the cannon, that stayed fixed in place, although it did move up and down. I also found that thinking about shooting something caused a purple glow to come from the end of the barrel, and a crosshair appeared in the center of my vision. Deciding I had no good frame of reference for how strong a fusion cannon was, I held off on firing.

Making my way back through the forest to the strange clearing of trees took a while. I guess I ran farther and longer than I originally thought, because when I got back, it was dark, and by my estimates it was 9:00 at night.

I realized I had one more conundrum to take care of today: I'm still a tank. I tried imagining that I was in robot mode again, and to my surprise, it worked! My arms and legs unfolded, my legs turning back the right way, my chestpeice folding back, my head emerging from my chest, and the fusion cannon returning to it's normal place on my arm.

I sat down, back against a tree, after having quite a day, still not entirely cured of my depressing thoughts, and fell asleep.

I hadn't noticed the other two sleepers in the clearing that night, nor had i woken them.

I had slept pretty well for a 10,000 pound robot with no bed and emotional issues.

Opening my eyes, I thought all was right with the world, (excepting the obvious) until my vision rested on the magnificent blue… dragon on the other side of the clearing. I immediately tensed, noticing the beast was asleep, and not necessarily wanting to kill the beautiful animal, I stood, quietly as I could, noting a quiet whirring sound whenever I moved that I had failed to do before.

Turning around, i tried to make my way down the trail i had made the previous night, but was thwarted buy a large branch that i had apparently been lucky enough not to crush last night, and before i knew it a winged reptile about my size had latched onto my back and I ate dirt as it pushed me down.

"Saphira! Shade's blood, what's gotten into you? Wait, what in the world is that?" Shit, the dragon has a rider. "What do you mean it was sneaking away from our camp?" Wait, the dragon never said anything, did it?

"Can you get this damned beast off of me please? I'm not here to hurt you!" I complained, attempting to get up only to be slammed down again by the large reptile on my back.

"Saphira is no beast, metal man! She is as intelligent as you or I!"

This guy didn't sound very old, maybe late teens? "That's great pal, I still can't get up!" I cried.

"Fine, Saphira, get off it, but be prepared to attack." I felt the weight of the dragon leave my back and proceeded to roll over, now being covered in snow. I stood up and glared at the dragon, who snarled back with equal ferocity. "mind telling me what exactly you are and why you're here?" said the… boy I realized. He was late fifteen by my estimates, making us almost the same age.

"For what I am, just call me a cybertronian. As for why I'm here,I couldn't tell you. I woke up in this clearing yesterday without a clue as to why or how." This info caused the dragon and her rider to exchange knowing glances, making me uneasy. I sat down with a boom, causing a rumble and the duo to tense up, only to relax. They stared at me for a couple seconds until I asked "so what's your name?" "Eragon," the strange kid said. "Yours?" this one took me off guard. Thinking quickly I settled on an alias, seeing as 'Jesse' didn't fit a 5 ton war machine, and said "megatronus".

The dragon, Saphira, was still poised to attack, so I said to her "you talk too?" and in response i got a voice in my head: "better than you seem to be capable of." completely taken by surprise, I asked Eragon if she always talks in your head. I got an affirmative yes. "Sorry for scaring you. If I could look less imposing I would."

"So what's a kid and a dragon going out in the woods, miles from the nearest village?" I asked.

"who are you? If I had to guess, you look like you're hundreds of well-fought years old, but you talk like a teenager. So to say, my age." Deciding I was lucky enough that the only person I had met so far hadn't run away screaming, I trusted him, and by proxy, the dragon.

"If I seem like you, that's because I basically am. I was human, like you less than two days ago." He and Saphira raised a single respective eyebrow at me skeptically, so I continued. "I wish I could show you, but-" cutting myself off as a small panel opened in my chest and began to display a hologram of my last moments. I saw the whole gruesome thing unfold in front of my eyes, the walk away from the garden and my mom's smiling face, (I guess I could still cry, because an unknown liquid began to drip down my face) me and gremlin walking away from the school, the intersection, my thick-headedness leading me to cross the street without looking, the truck coming that i would have seen had i looked, my body flying through the air, broken and bleeding, and then it stopped, the panel sliding closed and the hologram disappearing.

"Was that magic?" Eragon asked, incredulous. I shrugged, not really knowing the difference between tech and magic.

"I'm sorry for your loss, megatronus," Saphira said, bowing her head sadly. I offered a small smile in thanks. Eragon approached me, much to Saphira's chagrin and rested a hand on my shin. He only came up two thirds of my leg. "I'm sorry, I lost my mom at an early age and never knew my father. I know words don't capture those emotions well, so I feel sorry on your behalf." I appreciated the gesture, so I gave him the same smile that I did to Saphira.

Looking up above the treeline, I saw smoke in the distance. "That usual around here?" I asked, drawing his attention to the tall grey cloud. His face paled, Saphira's eyes seeming just as terrified.

"Uncle Garrow!" He yelled, quickly leaping atop Saphira. "Megatronus! We may need your help, my uncle is in danger!" He said. 

"got your back!" I said, changing to my alt mode as my newfound friends (i think?) Flew in the direction of the smoke.

I followed closely behind, keeping an eye on the skies. Having my thoughts mostly clear, I noticed my tracks articulated a decent length, causing my woodland drive to be relatively smooth, also noting that I appeared to have no engine, which did wonders for stealth. Small trees quickly gave way to my newfound weight, while I had to weave around anything wider than 4 1/2 inches.

Arriving at the small farm I had observed earlier, now burnt to the ground. Seeing that Eragon and Saphira had already arrived, i got a sinking feeling in wherever my stomach used to be in this form, seeing Eragon with his inner thighs bleeding heavily and hands pincushioned with splinters, digging through the wood, while Saphira struggled to move a large beam that a hand was sticking out from under.

Whipping around the house to the opposite end of the beam, I changed back to robot mode, grabbed the beam on my side, and lifted it with Saphira's help. Eragon, with his path now clear, pulled on the arm, recovering what I guessed to be his uncle from the rubble, and laying him down away from the burnt remains of the house.

"He's still alive!" He said, relieved. "Find something to build a stretcher with!" He said to me and Saphira. I rushed to the miraculously still-intact barn, trying not to damage the door, looking for a tarp or horse blanket. Saphira, meanwhile, scoured the wreckage for small pieces of wood for Eragon to hold. Finding the tarp I returned to the boy, and was relieved that Saphira had found some acceptable wood to form the stretcher frame with.

As he was assembling the stretcher, I offered to bring Eragon and his uncle to the village, but he refused. "same reason I'm not having Saphira take me and him. It would cause a panic, and the last thing Garrow needs is to have the village healer run away in fear." he explained.

"your legs look pretty bad, are you sure you can do this?" I said, Saphira expressing the same concerns.

"No other choice, you two would cause too much chaos." Me and Saphira shared a worried look, but decided not to interfere, placing confidence in the teenager.

Eragon picked up the stretcher and began to make good headway towards the village. Me and Saphira made our way back towards the forest, keeping an eye on Eragon the whole time. I stayed in robot mode, seeing as he wasn't moving very fast. We tailed him like that for a couple hours.

While we walked, I decided to try and talk to Saphira. "How long have you known Eragon?" I asked.

"I have known him for as long as I have lived. I chose to hatch for him a couple months ago." She said, walking to my left, still seeming very concerned with Eragon.

"How connected are you two?" Not giving up with how quickly she shut down the conversation.

"We are always connected at some level, but when we are within a small distance from each other, we are telepathically connected. I can feel the panic, sadness and rage he is feeling, while he can feel my concern for him" that was a surprise, knowing they were intimately linked like that.

Saphira seemed a little more relaxed, which made me happier, not wanting to be next to an angry dragon. Now it was her turn to probe. "What is the purpose of the two strange cylinders on your arm and back?" she asked.

"They're both highly destructive weapons, although I can only use one in this mode. I assume you can breathe fire?"

"I will, when i grow larger" she responded.

"They launch a ball of energy in a way that is similar to your fire, causing large amounts of destruction, but on a much farther range. Seeing as this body is only two days old, I have neglected to fire either one, for fear of causing destruction where it is not needed."

Saphira audibly chuckled at that, "you have such power but are afraid to use it? Why not inspire awe with your power?" Typical dragon response I assumed.

"Why make people fear you in public when you can be a symbol for peace and freedom from fear?"

She seemed to accept that answer, but then asked "what is the purpose of your two forms?" That one stumped me, so I answered as best I could. "this body is from a fictional place, and as far as I know, there was no particular reason for there beings to be able to change forms."

I was about to ask her something else when she suddenly stopped, looking towards Eragon. I followed her vision, seeing Eragon visibly slowing, seemingly having trouble keeping himself on his feet, when I saw someone walking towards him, calling his name.

I was about to rush forward, completely forgetting I was supposed to be a secret, when Saphira said "No, that is the village storyteller, Brom. He shows Eragon nothing but kindness."

I watched as Brom ran forwards, as Eragon was about to fall, but caught him in time. Brom looked him over, lingering on the spots on his legs I can only assume came from riding Saphira unsaddle. Brom set Eragon down carefully, checking Garrow, and getting seemingly more concerned. He slung Eragon over his shoulder, and with unnatural strength for someone who seemed to be in his late sixties, picked up Garrow's stretcher and brought them to the village.

Me and Saphira watched carefully, me zooming in my vision as I had before to keep close track of the house that Eragon and Garrow had gone into, which I could only assume was the healer's. Saphira informed me Eragon was unconscious, so she recommended we find a safe place to spend the night, as it was late afternoon already. We found a small clearing within eyesight of the village, but was also hidden enough so that no one would see us. Saphira told me the village was called Carvahall.

Resolving to alert me when Eragon woke, we both took up spots on each side of the clearing. I slept in tank form, as it was more comfortable, glad I had made introductions well enough on my first try.

Well, how did I do in my second chapter? I already know it's better than the first one, which i will probably rewrite soon enough.

Constructive criticism is still very welcome!

I will upload new chapters whenever I can, and I can promise this story will not be abandoned. It will end at the end of the first book, and I will probably write sequel stories following the next three books. Cya!

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: making friends and discoveries.

The next couple of days were filled with learning. Waking up on the first day, I got slightly anxious seeing Saphira was gone, but she quickly returned with a deer in her jaws. That made me wonder where I was getting power from. I knew cybertronians needed energon, but in the shows they never went more than a day without a little top-off and it had been what? Two and a half days? I put the thought to the side for now.

Saphira ate with gusto, splattering blood, fur and various other deer bits everywhere. Including me. So when she was done i gave her a look and said "you gonna keep that blood on your face as a fashion statement?"

"Would you rather I wipe it on you?" She retorted, heading towards a nearby snowbank to clean her snout.

When she returned I asked "Why would someone burn down Eragon's farm?" Saphira immediately snarled at that question, and I jumped, worried she was about to attack me.

"My apologies." She said, "I do not know who or what the strangers are, all I know is that they wanted my egg and most likely serve the black king, Galbatorix. Him and a small group of riders betrayed the rider's order and took power for themselves. He has ruled for at least a century, and no one can challenge him." "thats… wow. And are there any riders left?" I asked. "None save Galbatorix. Him and his thirteen forsworn killed all other riders before the forsworn died."

Pushing my thoughts to happier places, I decided I wanted to test the limits of my transformations. Looking at my fusion cannon, I tried to see if I could retract it into my arm, seeing as it was feeling a little heavy. It took me a couple tries to find the right components to move it. (muscles didn't feel like the right word.) When I eventually figured it out, the sound of it folding in on itself and sinking into my arm as a panel closed over the hole startled Saphira, who started to watch me. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Learning" I responded, too focused on my current task to answer any more. Noticing that the weight from the heavy cannon did not make my arm feel any heavier when it was folded in, it actually seemed to make me feel more balanced. Trying to pull the cannon back out, however, came far easier, now that I had discovered the right pistons to move it. Me and Saphira both watched, enraptured, as the panel in my arm opened, and the cannon rose from it, extending both up and down my arm. Doing it a few more times, I committed the process to memory, ending with the weapon inside my arm.

Standing up, I wanted to try my form changes next. Finding the pistons that moved my appendages, I tried to transform. Hearing the signature mechanical clanking and sliding and seeing my vision shift, I knew I was successful. "That was… strange to witness," saphira commented.

"Yeah, it doesn't feel like anything though. In fact I feel the exact same amount of comfort in this form as well, though I prefer my other look better." Deciding to switch it up a bit, I tried to slow down my transformation, in case I needed to make an impression. I remembered the robots transforming significantly slower to make a cool first impression. Not exactly knowing how to slow down the shift, I tried transforming but willing myself to do it slower. Shifting back to robot mode at the same speed, I gave the air a snarky look. Not giving up at a failure on my first try, I tried something different. Finding the pistons for the cannon, I had it come out of my arm but took note of every movement that my servos made.

Trying to replicate the process manually instead of through instinct, I folded up the cannon by replicating each movement, struggling to find each little servo and piston. Saphira got bored and went to sleep. Ignoring her, I accomplished retracting the weapon into the housing it sat in, and slowly figured out how to pull it down into my arm. The whole process took about half an hour. Trying to replicate the process with singular parts of my body, starting with my arms. My first try, I ended up transforming all the way by accident. So when I changed back, i focused specifically on what happened in my right arm. I transformed back and forth, eventually feeling like I had it. Luckily when I tried the right arm only again, it worked, although slower than the cannon. Repeating this process with my whole body took hours, though I welcomed the distraction.

By the time I was finished it was late in the evening, and I wanted to try transforming manually. Learning my torso had been tedious, I ended up only retracting my head inside multiple times, which provided Saphira with a good chuckle, as she had woken up to get food and saw me blundering around with my head missing. Putting all I had learned together, I shifted my legs at the same time as my torso and started my arms late, ending up with a pretty cinematic display of my legs and torso folding in their usual way, with my arms folding up a bit late, but that added to the looks, as I drug my fingers when my hands retracted, creating long furrows in the ground.

Saphira got back with a wolf in her jaws at the same time I was about to try changing back to robot mode, so she watched. Reversing the process, I transformed my arms first, slamming the bottoms of my fists into the ground and pushing myself up on them as my head emerged and my chestpiece folded into place, along with my legs at the same time. Standing from looking at Saphira's surprised expression, I gave her a questioning look. "That was an intimidating display. And I'm a dragon. I don't get intimidated." I stood up straight, now more proud of myself. It was a little past sundown, and I felt mentally exhausted from analyzing myself for hours straight, so I said goodnight to Saphira, transformed naturally, and fell asleep almost immediately.

I was plagued by oddly vivid dreams of my old life, seeing my family and friends at a closed-casket funeral, as what remained of my likely broken old body was lowered into the ground next to my father's grave. Everyone walked away except one man. My Grandpa. I saw his face and he seemed to be… crying? Grandpa never cried, much less got sad. I immediately felt guilty at causing that grief, wishing I could be there so this awful procession didn't have to take place. The dream faded away only to be replaced by the waking world.

Waking up made the newly raw feelings no better. Transforming back to my robot mode, I noticed Saphira hadn't left for food yet, and it was late in the morning. "Aren't you hungry?" I asked, not intending on sounding like a jackass but doing so anyway.

"I ate my fill yesterday, I will not need food for multiple days now. I also didn't want to leave you. You were rolling back and forth in your sleep, I was worried."

"I'm fine, it was just… a bad dream" I said, trying to brush her off. Saphira was not that easily persuaded though.

"Your old life, I assume?" I sat down, hanging my head and giving no response. "As far as I know, there is no way to return you to your old home. Nor can I guarantee that you would have your old body back. All I can say is that I'm glad you're still alive. You seem like you genuinely care about Eragon, despite only knowing him for a couple days, which makes you trustworthy in my eyes." I heard her approaching but did not look up. It took me by surprise when she laid her head on my shoulder and said "I hope we can someday be as close as Eragon and I." I tilted my head and laid it on hers, whispering "thank you." she backed off, sensing the moment was over.

I stood up and walked over to the edge of the clearing that was overlooking the village and looked down at the small, wooden buildings. Seeing nothing of note, I went to the other side of the clearing, transformed, and began to drive slowly through the forest. "Where are you going Megatronus?" Saphira asked.

"For a drive!" I said, discovering I could speak in tank form. The blue dragon, deciding she had nothing better to do, followed me.

We walked in silence for a couple of hours, eventually coming across the clearing where I had first woken up. "This is where Eragon found my egg, which I thought was an odd coincidence, seeing as this is also where you first appeared, judging by the large imprint you made." I thought to myself about this, wondering if there was any connection between the two events. There seemed to be magic in this world, as Saphira had told me of the stories that Brom had told to Eragon about the seemingly endless abilities of the riders.

Not knowing enough about how the magic worked I just added it to my endless list of questions.

"Since we have some time, would you like to go test your cannon on some rocks? I saw a large outcropping of rock an hour's walk from here on my flight here the night before I met you" Saphira asked. deciding there was nothing better to do, I agreed, although I was still slightly worried I would find some way to burn down the snow-covered forest. After walking a little longer we found the large pile of stone she spoke of. Unfolding the cannon, I was not surprised to learn that the same purple glow came from my arm cannon upon thoughts of firing. Raising my arm and pointing it at the largest rock, a squeeze from my fist sent a large purple blast of energy at the rock, with a surprising amount of recoil, and a whining choom sound.

The blast completely annihilated the rock, sending stone shards everywhere and causing a resounding boom to ripple through the forest. Me and Saphira looked at each other, and then proceeded to laugh as hard as we could. "No wonder you were reluctant to use it!" She said between gasps. "That rock was the size of your torso and probably weighed more than me!" I had a hard time believing that was the pure firepower megatron was constantly carrying around, and now it was mine!

And then it hit me: I still had another gun to test. Transforming, Saphira noticed what I was doing and uncharacteristically backed up. I took aim at one of the smaller rocks, which were still half mine and Saphira's size, and fired. I didn't expect the tank mode blast to be bigger, but it completely demolished the three remaining rocks, made me rock back and forth from the recoil, and a much more tank-like boom came from the barrel.

It turned out saphira had the right idea backing away because I was immediately pelted by small bits of rock. Transforming back, I gaped at the destruction I had just caused. Turning to look at Saphira, I saw she was just as appalled. We resumed laughing for the next five minutes.

On the drive back to the clearing I asked "do you think anyone heard that?"

"Most likely. I wouldn't stress over it though, it will just add to the mystery surrounding these woods. Eragon tells me strange tales of the odd monsters that the villagers think reside here."

When we arrived back at the clearing, Saphira told me that Eragon had woken up and asked if i would like to hear their conversation. That was a yes. I wanted to see the fellow teen okay and also hoped his uncle was okay.

"Eragon. Eragon. Eragon! ERAGON!" I winced at the force of the mental shout. "Saphira?" Came the confused reply. "Yes, stone ears"

"Where are you?"

She mentally sent him the image of our hideout, which I wasn't aware was possible.

"I tried to contact you many times, but you never responded."

"I was sick … but I'm better now. Why couldn't I sense you earlier?"

"I wasn't close enough. Me and Megatronus got tired of waiting and went for a walk."

"Have you been able to eat?"

"I caught a deer and a wolf the first day. They both struggled valiantly but failed in the end. Does garrow also fight the inevitable?"

"I don't know. It'll be a long time, if ever, before we can go home. I won't be able to see you for at least a couple of days. You might as well make yourself comfortable."

I audibly groaned. I was tired of waiting around. "I will do as you say. But do not take too long."

"By the way, what were those large booms earlier?"

"You noticed those strange cylinders that are attached to Megatronus?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"He let me know that those were very powerful weapons, and on our walk we were… experimenting."

"Oh…kay" he said, cutting the link quickly.

The rest of the day passed without anything of note happening.

I was asleep in robot mode, switching it up, when I felt Saphira's claw on my shoulder. I opened my eyes wondering what could be so important that she would wake me at this ungodly hour. "Garrow's gone." I knew she was sharing all the pain her rider was in right now, so I simply had her give Eragon my condolences, and proceeded to uproot a tree with my bare hands and throw it in rage.

I woke up feeling like shit. I had wanted Garrow to live, not only because I hated unnecessary death, but because I also knew how it felt to lose your father.

Saphira was contacted by Eragon again, and without asking, let me hear their conversation.

"I can't live with this"

"Then don't," said Saphira, tactfully blunt as always.

"How? Garrow is gone forever! And in time, I must meet the same fate. Love, family, accomplishments—they are all torn away, leaving nothing. What is the worth of anything we do?"

"The worth is in the act. Your worth halts when you surrender the will to change and experience life. But options are before you; choose one and dedicate yourself to it. The deeds will give you new hope and purpose"

"But what can I do?"

"The only true guide is your heart. Nothing less than its supreme desire can help you"

"What do you want me to do … pursue the strangers?"

"Yes"

"Remember what you said in the Spine? How you reminded me of my duty as dragon, and I returned with you despite the urging of my instinct? So, too, must you control yourself. I thought long and deep the past few days, and I realized what it means to be dragon and Rider: It is our destiny

to attempt the impossible, to accomplish great deeds regardless of fear. It is our responsibility to the future"

"I don't care what you say; those aren't reasons to leave!"

"Then there are others. My tracks have been seen, and people are alert to my presence. Eventually I will be exposed. Besides, there is nothing here for you. No farm, no family, and—"

"Roran's not dead!"

"But if you stay, you'll have to explain what really happened. He has a right to know how and why his father died. What might he do once he knows of me?"

"Am I strong enough for this?"

"Yes" me and Saphira said in unison.

With that, he broke contact with Saphira and I as he prepared to leave, I assumed.

Before anyone asks, Im not trying to ship megatronus and saphira. Im just trying to make them feel like good friends. One of my biggest problems with the inheritance cycle is that saphira didn't get much dialogue, which i am trying to remedy here. Thats all for now, see you next time!

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: learning

Not long after Eragon broke contact, Saphira jumped to her feet, saying "We've been discovered! I will fetch Eragon, meet me here" she said, mentally sending me the image of what looked like a butcher shop, and she leaped into the air, flying towards the village. I transformed and sped towards carvahall.

Seeing the village through the trees, I was about to burst through the treeline, intending on scaring the old man shitless,when Saphira said "Wait! Brom has told me he means to help Eragon!" not knowing if or how i could respond to Saphira telepathically, I braked hard, coming to a stop, conveniently right behind the butcher shop. I saw Eragon and Brom having a hushed argument, Eragon seemed to be trying to keep whatever he had stuffed in his vest in his vest, while Brom said something about some stripling getting to run around with a dragon.

"I don't need your help, but you can come." Eragon said, perhaps a little overconfident.

"Then we'd best be going. I think you'll find your dragon will listen to you again."

I watched Eragon's face blank, assuming he was talking to Saphira. Seconds later, she contacted me, saying "Meet me at the farm. Eragon and Brom have reached an agreement."

Being unable to answer, I backed away from the treeline and headed in the direction of Eragon's old home. Arriving, I noticed that Saphira was already there. Staying behind the treeline, I said "Brom does not know of me yet, and I prefer to make an entrance."

"As do I, though him already knowing of me slightly dampens the effect. Although I will still show off a small bit." she launched into the air, hiding herself among the near-constant cloud cover. I backed away from the treeline, preparing for my display, the snow and shadows helping my grey and black frame hide easily among the trees.

We waited for a while, finally seeing Brom and Eragon making their way up the small road to the farm. Saphira dove from the clouds, swooping up and slowing her landing with her wings, flapping them shortly to hover, and dropping the final few feet to the ground. Brom stepped toward her, a joyfully solemn expression on his face, and a single tear on his cheek that quickly disappeared into his beard. Deciding there was no better time than now to make my entrance, I rolled out from the treeline. Brom's head immediately whipped in my direction, hearing the tell-tale tktktktktktk sound of my tracks clacking against one another. Eragon seemed to recognize the sound, though, tuning his head more slowly. I approached Brom, my cannon stopping inches from his face. I was pretty sure the only reason he hadn't run for his life was because Saphira and Eragon hadn't either.

Transforming manually to add to the effect, I started everything at the same time, slamming my fists into the ground and standing up all around the same time as my head and fusion cannon appeared. (It ended up looking like Optimus' first transformation in the '07 movie) "shade's blood…" Brom said. Never taking my eyes off the storyteller, I kneeled in front of him and waited for the inevitable questions.

"What are you?" he asked, not surprising me at all.

"I am what's called a Cybertronian. As for who I am, that is a secret solely for Saphira and Eragon. Maybe I will tell you in the future. My name's Megatronus." I said.

"In all of my years traveling across these lands, I have never encountered anything like you. Where did you come from?" He asked, eager to learn.

"Like I said, answers to some of your questions will come soon. I don't know everything myself."

"What now?" Eragon asked.

"We find a place to hide. you have somewhere in mind?" Brom said.

"Yes," Eragon said, wrapping up his bow and other supplies. "Follow me. Saphira, follow in the air, your footprints are too easily tracked. Megatronus, you should follow in your wagon mode."

"My alt-mode is a tank, not a wagon. But will-do." When I transformed Eragon and Brom both watched in fascination, never having seen that process before.

I drove towards the forest before asking Eragon and Brom if they wanted a ride. They both declined, stating they would stay back and cover my tracks. Appreciating that, I drove into the forest, when Saphira sent me the image of the clearing where we would be hiding out.

Having some time alone, I decided to collect my thoughts. There was probably no way to go back to my old home, and they thought I was dead there, and I don't want to hurt them anymore. I had found friends here, and Saphira seemed to understand the loneliness, being the last free dragon herself. I wondered how I would play into Eragon's life. Would he challenge Galbatorix? Would he flee and live out his days away from the empire, trying to be happy? Only time will tell, I thought.

When I arrived at the clearing, I saw that Saphira was already there as expected. "Have you ever tested how fast you can fly?" I asked, curious as to what her capabilities were.

"The night before we met you, I had flown from the farm to the clearing in under 10 minutes." That fact impressed me, seeing as it took me a whole 15 minutes to make that drive, not knowing the exact distance, but also knowing that I was driving slower to avoid wrecking on a tree. "Have you ever tried to go as fast as possible yourself?" she asked.

"No, I haven't had the room. Imagine Eragon trying to turn around inside a hollow tree trunk. That's what it feels like driving in the forest." she snickered, a repeated low snorting sound that ended up making me laugh so hard that we both were lying face-down laughing when Eragon and Brom arrived in the clearing. Saphira and I immediately straightened up, avoiding looking at each other, knowing that doing so would result in another bout of laughter.

Brom gave us both a questioning look, but then immediately went to setting up a quick camp, while Eragon seemed to be suppressing a laugh of his own. He walked over to Saphira, and she nuzzled him in affection. Brom finished setting up camp, and Eragon proceeded to start a fire and set some water over it to boil. When the water was done, he took some meat from his pack and cut it up with a pocketknife. Dropping that in the stew along with some salt, he sat back, leaning against Saphira's side and taking a deep sigh. I had taken up a spot across the clearing from Saphira, because we both took up a good 90% of the space in the small clearing.

"So what are those large cylinders attached to you?" Brom asked. I realized my arm cannon was still out, retracting it to conserve space in the small campsite.

"You heard those two big booms earlier today?" Brom nodded. "That was me testing them. The first one was my arm cannon, and the second, larger one was the cannon from my tank form, " I explained. "What exactly do these 'cannons' do?" Trying to think of a good analogy, I ran through my mental list of ranged medieval weapons. Bow? No, too small. Crossbow? Maybe. Catapult? Perfect. "Think of a large catapult, but entirely energy-based, and there is no projectile arc."

"Catapults are already rare, because they require the largest trees from the elves' forest, Du Weldenvarden. The elves do not take kindly to people cutting down trees that are older than most of them, so it is very dangerous. To think that you are essentially a thinking siege engine who is much more powerful than the others makes me concerned and relieved." I raised an eyebrow in question, prompting Brom to continue. "Concerned because once Galbatorix learns of you, he will want to add you to his army, seeing as you are a powerful weapon. I am relieved because you seem to be committed to helping Eragon and Saphira, and they could benefit highly from your assistance.

"I have a few questions of my own, Brom. For one, how does one communicate with a dragon like you and Eragon can?" I asked.

"Anyone can do so with the proper training, although you may present a challenge, due to your… unique makeup. Imagine a tendril of thought reaching out from your mind and searching for other beings." closing my eyes, I tried what brom suggested, to no avail. Opening my eyes again I looked at Brom and shrugged.

"Keep trying, almost no one gets it on their first try." resolving to practice this later tonight, and maybe seek some advice from Saphira, I settled in, watching as Brom went to his pack and pulled out an about five foot long object that looked heavy. Me, Saphira and Eragon all watched as Brom unwrapped the mystery object, revealing the glittering gold hilt of a sword, with an egg-sized ruby in the pommel. The handle was wrapped in silver wire, while the sheath was an astonishing dark red, so smooth I half-thought it was filled with liquid. The sheath was attached to a heavy leather belt. Brom passed the sword to Eragon, who drew it without hesitation. The blade seemed to fit him perfectly, which was a red much like the accents all along my body. "This was a rider's blade. When they were finished with their training they would be presented with a sword custom-made for them, that was virtually indestructible, and would never stain or need sharpening. Its name is Zar'roc, though I do not know the context or meaning of the name." Brom said, as everyone in the clearing including the old man stared in awe at the beautiful weapon.

"Where did you get it? Eragon asked.

"Not important, all you need to know is that I almost died trying to attain it. Seeing as you are now the only true rider in this land, the blade should be in your hands."

"Before we continue, may I see a map of where we are?" I asked, still curious about my new surroundings.

"Yes, of course," Brom said, reaching into his pack and pulling out a rolled piece of paper. He unrolled the map, and I took a look at it. Alagaesia was spelled in english in the top left corner. Below that was carvahall, with a road leading down to another small town called Therisonford. To the right of the word Alagaesia there was a massive forest labeled Du weldenvarden. Taking up most of the middle of the map was a large open space called the Hadarac desert. To the south of that, there was a mountain range called the Beors, and to the east of the desert there was a country that I could only assume was Galbatorix's empire. There were a multitude of cities and towns, the largest being what seemed to be the capital, Uru'baen. to the south of the empire, there was a small country called Surda,and I asked why it wasn't a part of the empire. "Surda seceded when Galbatorix took power. There are rumors that its king, Orrin, supports the resistance movement, the Varden. He has not confirmed it publicly, knowing that the king would crush him if he did so."

Returning my attention to the young dragon rider, me and Brom watched as he touched Zar'roc against Saphira's nose and watched in amazement as the blade rippled like water, before returning to normal. "Dragons will constantly amaze you. Things... happen around them, mysterious things that are impossible anywhere else. Even though the Riders worked with dragons for centuries, they never completely understood their abilities. Some say that even the dragons don't know the full extent of their own powers. They are linked with this land in a way that lets them overcome great obstacles. What Saphira just did illustrates my earlier point: there is much you don't know." Brom said, as Eragon sheathed the blade, looking troubled.

"My biggest concern right now are the strangers. Do you know who they are?" Eragon asked. Brom huffed and sat down in front of the fire, across from him.

"They are called the Ra'zac. They were never heard of or seen until Galbatorix took power. Whether he came across them in his travels or they are the product of one of his sick, twisted experiments is yet to be seen. Very little is known about them. Just know this: they are nothing close to human. I glimpsed under one's cloak and saw a beak and large, black eyes. They are physically far stronger than any normal man, but cannot use magic. If they could, you would already be in their grasp. They hate the sun, but not to the point that they avoid it altogether." so we were chasing down bird demons. That's just great.

"How many are there?" I asked.

"Only the two that attacked Eragon's farm, as far as I know." Brom said. "They are the king's personal dragon hunters, leaving a trail of death and destruction whenever tales of a new dragon rider reach Galabatorix." Eragon then proceeded to tell Brom everything that had happened since he had found her egg, Brom growing increasingly confused, occasionally asking questions but otherwise staying quiet.

When the story was finished, Brom said that the Ra'zac must have had another source of info from somewhere else, who was likely dead by now. I took a closer look at Brom, and noticed there was a medium sized welt on his forehead, hidden by his grey hair. I asked him about it, and he said "I was sneaking around the Ra'zac's camp, trying to get information about what they wanted, when they took me by surprise. They underestimated me and I got away, but not before one of them gave me this mark as a reminder of my sloppiness." Eragon had grown increasingly frustrated-looking throughout all these exchanges, finally snapping.

"You claim to be just an old storyteller, but have a dragon rider's blade! How do you know so much about the Ra'zac?"

"I thought I said I wasn't going to answer those questions."

"My uncle is dead because of this. Dead! You aren't the man I thought I knew all these years. I trusted you this far because Saphira did so, but it's high time you explain yourself." I thought about what Eragon said, and he was right. Brom was being very secretive. The old man in question had been getting much more tense throughout the whole debate, and I quietly unfolded my fusion cannon, in case he made a move against Eragon.

My fears proved to be groundless though, as Brom slumped on the log he was sitting on, saying "my past is very long and very complicated. I have spent most of my life outside Palancar valley, and I have played many different roles throughout my history. I came here to escape my past, so no. I'm not the man you thought I was." Brom explained, looking sullen.

"Then who are you? Eragon probed.

"I'm here to help you, Eragon. I have never spoken truer words. Not only have you not earned the right to hear my past, nor is it necessary. Brom the storyteller is just a small part of me, and I have knowledge that he doesn't. I don't just hand out transcriptions of my past to anyone who asks!" Eragon glared at him, turning back to Saphira and curling up against her side.

"I'm going to bed." he said tersely. I followed his example, transforming into tank mode and practicing trying to find one of the others in the clearing with my mind until I fell asleep.

I woke the next morning, not even bothering to transform, simply rotating myself, one track forward, the other back, until I could see Brom cooking something and Eragon starting to stir, while Saphira watched him like a loving parent. "Morning," I said.

"Good morning Megatronus," Saphira said. Reaching out with my consciousness, I tried to reach her with my mind, but nothing happened. It felt different this time, though. Brom seemed to be about to give me the same response, but Eragon suddenly groaned and rolled towards Saphira, pulling his blanket over his face so that only his medium-length brown hair was visible. He began to sob quietly, while Saphira gave me a concerned look. I pointed my cannon down to show I shared his sadness.

He eventually got up, after stopping the tears and made his way towards the fire, his eyes still slightly red. "Good morning," Brom said. "Mm" Eragon said in response, not wanting anything to do with the old man. He made his way over to me, and I transformed so he could see my face.

"Are you doing okay?" he asked me.

"I should be asking you that, man," I replied.

"It's just… I never expected losing a family member to hurt this much." He hung his head, and I knew exactly how he felt. I had gone through this same thing with my dad.

"Garrow was basically a father to you, right?" He nodded. Lowering my voice and bending down next to his ear so that Brom couldn't hear, I said

"I lost my dad too, long before I ended up here. I know precisely how it feels. You won't ever get over it, you'll just come to terms with it at some point. If you ever need to talk, or just sit in silence, you've got me and Saphira." he looked up at me, and I gave him a soft smile, which he returned in kind. Brom went over to his bag and pulled out some leather and began to fiddle with it.

"What are you doing with that?" Eragon asked.

"I'm making a saddle for Saphira" he explained. "The riders used two different kinds of saddles. One was molded, and the other was basically a leather blanket so the dragons didn't do what Saphira did to your legs. We cannot make a molded one, since those require time and tools, neither of which we have."

"Do you know what the light one looks like?"

"Better, I can make one."

"Then do so."

"Okay, but take note. You may very well have to do this yourself one day."

As Brom made the saddle, I tried to mentally contact Saphira again. This time I felt… something. It was like trying to remember something you know, but the knowledge escapes you. There was a presence there, just not definable. As I focused more, tuning out the sounds of the fire and saddle making, I noticed there were multiple presences, three to be exact. All in the same relative positions of Eragon, Brom and Saphira. I was getting it! Pushing towards the presence that seemed to be Saphira's, I brushed it with my mind, which was a very alien sensation. At the same time, Saphira stirred across the clearing, eventually looking towards me. "Was that you?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it," I said. Trying again and finding her presence much quicker this time, I tried thinking "hello"

"it's about time."

"this is really… weird."

"Eragon ran away when I first contacted him like this. You'll get used to it."

"Where I come from, everything about what we're doing is considered impossible. Me, being something that everyone thought was a purely fictional character. Did you know that dragons never existed back there?"

"You lie! A land without dragons is like a night without stars!"

"We had starless nights too, and no, there were no dragons."

"I do not envy you. It's hard enough being the last of my kind. To have none of my kind exist in the first place would be… unthinkable."

"You would enjoy other things we had there, though. Music is phenomenal"

"What's music?"

"It's… an organization of very specific sounds to create a rhythm that usually sounds amazing."

Thinking back on one of my favorite things back home, I settled on remembering Pink Floyd's The Wall. I tried to recall the opening track In the flesh, and before I knew it, the song was playing from somewhere in my chest, seemingly where my heart would be. This drew the attention of Eragon and Brom, who both watched me with fascination. The song ended, and the thin ice started. I pulled myself from the memories of the album, and the music stopped.

"That was beautiful." Brom said, Eragon nodding in agreement.

"I look forward to hearing more of that." Saphira complimented.

"That was a song from where i come from. We can listen to more later." I said.

"We're almost finished with Saphira's saddle, we can get going tomorrow." Saphira walked over to the two and gave a rumble of approval at how the saddle was looking. Watching as Brom continued to work on the saddle and Eragon went over to his pack and proceeded to organize his supplies.

The day was over by the time they were both finished, and I had barely moved a piston. I was surprisingly tired though. Apparently learning to communicate telepathically and play music from my memories was tiring. That bit with the music was extremely surprising. I wondered if my brain, which was more accurately described as a computer, could perfectly replicate my memories with that speaker, and that hologram projector that I had shown my last memories to Eragon and Saphira with. As I fell asleep, I found myself surprisingly happy with my new lot in life. I was rid of my sister, which I had wanted for a long time. My memories of my mom and friends were still like poking an open wound, but I had new friends, and I still had my favorite music. That was a huge plus. Seeing as it had now been a little over half a week since I had appeared here, and I did not feel like I was dying, I assumed I wouldn't need energon.

Transforming into tank mode, I found myself falling asleep more content with my life than I had been in a while.

So, megs can talk with Saphira telepathically now. With how magic works in the inheritance cycle, I've decided to take some liberties with the magic system. Talking with Saphira and others telepathically will be the full extent of his magical capabilities. The same can be said for how much effect the mental magic affects Megatronus. His new cybertronian brain module will protect him from having someone take over his mind, but he will not be able to do the same to anyone else.

He's still not gonna worry about energon consumption, but I do plan on writing a scene later in the series where someone casts a lightning spell on him and it absolutely juices him up, making his fusion cannons much more powerful. I know I haven't been sticking to a straight update schedule, which will continue to be the case. I'm juggling school, doing lights and sound for the school play, personal time, and this fic all at once. I will finish this at the end of the first book, that I can promise.

megatronus will slowly grow a bit bigger, but only by a couple feet. also, when they get to farthen dur, the dwarves are gonna have a hayday outfitting him with a crap ton of, ahh you'll see.

Also, please google a picture of idw megatron's alt mode. It looks really cool and i feel like i didn't describe it well.

Anyways, see ya!-TheRedLemon.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: setting off

When I woke, it was cloudy and grey as usual. Everyone was awake already, and preparing to get moving. The fire had been doused, and Eragon was hanging Zar'roc on Saphira's saddle, while his bow and quiver were hung by his pack for easy access. "I could carry those things," I offered.

"Now while you seem to be much more suited to packhorsing, we are going to try and keep you a secret from the empire. Which means stick to the trees, and once we get them, the speed of the horses. I have no doubt of your speed capabilities in an open space, however we must remain inconspicuous" I nodded in understanding, remembering what he said about the empire likely wanting me as a weapon.

Saphira took off, circling overhead. "So, where to first?" I asked.

"I want one last look at the farm before we leave." Eragon said. Brom nodded in understanding.

"I think we'll take you up on that ride now." Brom said. I transformed, and Brom took up a spot on my left tread, while Eragon hopped up on top of my midsection, next to my two fusion cannons. Driving towards the farm, I asked Eragon if I was leaving obvious tracks.

"You're leaving some wide patterns, but they are very shallow. One light snow and they're gone. I feel like your footprints would be more easily tracked though." Keeping that reassurance in mind, I drove at a decent speed, estimating about 15 miles an hour. As the farm came into view, I noticed I had left no treadmarks, but my square footprints were very visible against the white snow and brown dirt. The two dismounted, not wanting me out in the open, and walked through the farm to the road. Keeping in the trees, I kept a close eye on Eragon and brom, while also striking up a conversation with saphira.

"How does dragon hatching work?"

"I cannot speak for wild dragons, if there are any left, but I can, however, tell you what I felt. I was not fully aware in the egg, but I knew if there was someone touching or holding my egg, and I could sense the content of their character. I do not know where I was before I hatched for Eragon, but there were many people who came into contact with my egg. Many came into contact with my egg, some being much like Eragon, some as black-hearted as Galbatorix, with many more somewhere in between. I did not hatch for any of them, because I could feel it wasn't safe. Then it was… different. This new person was much more free than any of the others, but was much wiser, but still in danger. I wanted to hatch and help, but I still felt the time wasn't right. Then I felt Eragon. This boy was pure, good, and wanted to help. So I waited until he felt safe, and hatched for him."

"So how long did you wait in the egg?"

"I am not sure of the exact timeframe, but I know I waited for at least 250 years"

"WHAT IN THE-"

"Aghhhh, try not to shout over the mental link, it hurts"

"Oh shit, i'm sorry"

"It's okay, you just learned this yesterday."

Turning my attention back to the two humans (wait, I'm still human, right?) I noticed that they were having a very in-depth conversation about… something and tried mentally contacting Brom. When I felt his consciousness, I watched the old man stiffen in surprise. I withdrew quickly, realizing that I had neglected to tell him about my newfound abilities, and vocally called out, seeing as there was nobody around. "I'm sorry Brom, I forgot to tell you I could do that!" I apologized, watching the storyteller get slightly frustrated.

"Never contact me without warning again! You're lucky your mind is so alien, otherwise I could have killed you. On the other hand, congratulations on figuring it out! I assume you would like to ask me something?" he said, quickly getting over his anger.

"Yeah, you and Eragon are having quite the conversation, and seeing as I'm around here, I would like to learn everything I can."

Feeling someone that wasn't Saphira contact my mind, I suddenly heard everything Brom and Eragon had been talking about. Dragon's biology, how to fight them, weak points, their strongest points, fire control, everything. A lot of it went over my head, but I managed to get the important details. A dragon's armpit scales were much more vulnerable than any other part of their body, there were a lot of plants that had beneficial healing properties, but also many that would make a dragon very sick. They talked, and I listened for hours. I'd bet ms. godman would find a way to make even dragon biology boring.

By the time evening came around, I could see Therisonford as a small cluster of buildings on the horizon. "Which rider owned Zar'roc before you?" Eragon asked. Unsurprisingly, Brom gave a very vague and noncommittal answer.

"A very dangerous and powerful warrior" Eragon huffed, irritated with the old man's secretiveness.

"What was his name? Eragon asked, still curious. "I'll not say," said Brom. I audibly laughed at Brom's secretiveness, while Eragon shot me a glare.

"You know what? I'm tired of you speaking in riddles! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you enjoy watching me try and decipher your vague phrases. I'm half considering leaving you so I don't have to deal with them." Eragon said, I knew he wasn't serious though. He did give Brom a glare that could have cut steel.

When we found a place to camp for the night, Eragon asked Saphira if she had time to hunt for food. "If you two were any slower, I would have been able to half the deer population of the spine" she said sarcastically.

"They're such a drag, aren't they?" I said, adding to the teasing.

"We'll make much better time when we get some horses." Brom responded.

"These Ra'zac, they're miles ahead of us, and they could have just killed your uncle and got it over with. This feels too provocative of supposedly swift, efficient and deadly killers." I observed.

"Megatronus is right, they are most likely trying to goad you into following them and exposing yourself to the empire." Saphira said, making sure everyone could hear her.

"That's a good point," Eragon said, looking disturbed. Brom nodded in agreement as he finished whittling on a couple of large sticks.

I was taken off guard when Brom hurled one of the sticks at Eragon with surprising strength. "Defend yourself!" He caught it by reflex and stood, rolling his eyes. I had a feeling Eragon was in for a surprise, though. They circled around the campfire for a second, sticks ready, when Brom yelled and charged, swinging his stick towards Eragon's ribs. Eragon tried to block, but was too slow, as Brom hit him right in the chest. Eragon lunged, but Brom quickly parried. Eragon quickly swung the sword at Brom's head, curving at the last second and aiming for the same spot the old man had hit him. Brom blocked the swing, "way to improvise!" he complimented, before smacking Eragon upside the head with the flat part of the stick-sword. The kid immediately crumpled, a small bit of blood flowing from his head.

"Hey!" I shouted, standing, at the same time Saphira winced in pain and jumped at Brom, stopping inches from his face, snarling.

"Relax, I didn't kill him. He should be woken up pretty easily." he then walked over to his supplies, grabbed a pan, and scooped up some snow, and put it over the fire.

"Oh no, I'm not gonna let you splash that poor kid after you clobbered him like that. Though he's probably not gonna like this any better, he won't be cold and wet afterwards." I said, planning how to wake the kid up.

"What are you planning?" Saphira asked.

"You'll see." I said. Saphira and I turned to Eragon and reaching into my memories as I had yesterday, I thought of the heaviest metal riff I could at the time: Pantera's primal concrete sledge. Hearing the absolute full on attack of metal music, Eragon groaned, rolled over and covered his ears. Turning around, I saw that Brom was weaning a grimace, but Saphira was bobbing her head to the thrash metal. I cut off the music, and returned my attention to the young dragon rider.

"Why would you do that?" He asked. I heard a chuckle from Saphira and something about that song being an insult to music from Brom.

"Well, it was either that or let the guy who just knocked you out splash ice water on you, so I figured, why let him add insult to injury?" I said. "Well thanks. Just don't let me hear that again." he said. "Oh you don't know what you're missing. Glad one person enjoyed it, though." I turned and looked at Saphira, who nodded in agreement. I sat back down, watching as Eragon picked up his sword and said to Brom "you didn't have to do that." "An enemy won't soften his blows, why should I? Should I pander to you so you feel better? Now defend yourself!" he said as he swung at Eragon, who dodged the blow and walked away. "I'm done with this." he said, only to be smacked across the back by Brom. he turned on the old man, who said "Never turn your back on the enemy!"

He then proceeded to give Eragon a very on the job tutorial, swinging and slashing at the kid while giving him directions on how to fight. When they were finished, the moon was high in the sky. They both collapsed, panting and out of breath. Eragon had amassed quite the collection of welts. "Saphira, we gotta practice fighting. I know it's not like fighting a dragon, but we shouldn't let our skills deteriorate."

"That is a good idea. We should do so when we don't have to worry about crushing the little ones."

Now that I looked, Saphira was just as tall as me, with a midsection that was longer than my torso, and she was governed with lean muscle. Thinking about it, I didn't know my full strength, besides the fact that I could completely uproot a medium size pine tree. Something I could test later.

Saphira looked at Eragon, and made that really funny snrk-snrk-snrk-snrk laugh when she realized how badly Brom had beaten him. They had a silent conversation, during which Eragon kept giving her exasperated looks, and she kept looking at him smugly. I said "okay you two, quit arguing" and they both looked at me. "I know exactly how that conversation went judging by how you two were looking at each other. Now, it's time to go to bed. All three of you are tired." I said.

"What about you?" Brom said.

"I would be more tired if I did something more today." I said, rolling over and proceeding to play David Bowie's ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars as I fell asleep.

When we woke up, there wasn't much said. Eragon and Brom quickly ate, packed up camp and then we set off. I was hiding in the trees, as usual, and Saphira was flying slowly overhead. We reached Therisonford by noon, and while Saphira had the ease of simply flying over the town, I had to drive all the way around. I was about halfway around, still hiding in the trees, when I heard screaming off in the distance. It sounded like a single small child, and seemed absolutely terrified. I spun on my tracks and slowly but hurriedly made my way through the forest, which was becoming less and less dense the lower in elevation we got.

I got closer to the sound, and I could see a very large boar with its front hooves on a tree, while its hind legs were on the ground, there wasn't any screaming, but I could only assume that there was some poor kid trapped up in that tree, unable to get away from the pig. Getting even closer, I fired a small shot from my cannon, which missed the boar, but made quite the crater next to it, scaring it off. I approached the tree, and looked up, also pointing my fusion cannon up. There was indeed a terrified little kid in the tree. He had short, dirty blonde hair, and was dressed in the normal medieval clothes, with a white tunic, green vest, and brown pants and shoes. He was looking away in the direction of the boar, so he hadn't noticed me yet. Better to let him think he got a stroke of luck instead of making himself known. I thought, as I backed away from the tree, but again being betrayed by the very loud snapping of a stick that had somehow survived being rolled over once.

The kid immediately screamed louder as he turned, looked down and saw me. "No! Dont hurt me!" He screamed in fear.

"Hey, kid. Don't worry. I scared the boar away, you can come down now." I said, trying to get him down from the tree and preferably, home.

"No! You're gonna eat me! You're a monster! You casted a spell on that pig! You're probably gonna cast another on me as soon as I come down!" he said, still delirious.

I transformed, bringing myself up to his level. "If I can get up this high this easily, why would I wait for you to come down?" The boy was deathly silent now. I offered him my hand, making sure my fusion cannon was retracted, and he stared at it in fear. "Look, I can either leave you here to get down by yourself, or I can get you down and get you home. what do you prefer?" I asked, trying to reason with him.

"Leavemealone!" he said, still scared out of his mind.

"Okay, suit yourself!" I said, turning around and transforming into tank mode. I was about to drive off, when I heard him say "wait!" I stopped and asked "yes?" feeling irritated with this kid.

"I can't get down," he said.

I chuckled, rolling my currently hidden eyes. I had done something similar to this at his age, climbing a ladder onto my roof, and then being too scared to get back on the ladder. I decided not to give him the whole 'you got yourself up, you can get yourself down' routine, knowing full well how he felt. I turned around and transformed again, holding my hand to him.

"Promise you won't eat me?" He said.

"I promise," I said. He reluctantly stepped onto my hand, and he still had a half a foot to walk around on each side of my palm. I lowered him down to the ground and looked down at him. "Want a ride home?" I asked. He nodded. I switched to tank mode, noting his awestruck expression watching the process. "Hop on," I said. He clambered up my right tread, sitting on top, below my cannon. "What's your name, little guy?" I asked.

"Caleb. What's yours?" he said.

"Megatronus. So what were you doing that got you stuck up in a tree with a big, angry boar after you?"

"I was walking around out here, when I heard that big pig. I got scared of it and tried to run away, but it saw me and chased me up that tree. I was stuck there until you showed up. What are you anyway? Why are you a wagon that turns into a metal man?"

"Well for one, don't approach strange sounds in the wilderness when you don't know what they are. As for what I am, that's not important. All I really am is someone who wants to help. For your second question, it's the other way around. Also I'm not a wagon, I'm a tank. I really don't know why I can do this, it's just part of my body."

"Okay. you seem really nice for someone who looks so scary."

"Please don't tell me you think I'm scary."

"You cast purple fireballs and are a big wago-tank. Sorry."

"It's okay, don't worry about it. Where do you live anyway? I'll have to drop you off a decent distance from your house."

The village was in sight now, and Caleb directed me towards a small shack on the edge of the village, conveniently towards where Saphira had landed. The house had a small garden and chickens in the backyard. I stopped a decent distance away from the village and Caleb got off. "Thank you Megatronus! I hope I see you again!" the kid said, grinning like a madman.

"Me too kid. Don't tell your parents about me, please." I said, still trying to keep the rumors about me to a minimum. I said goodbye to Caleb, and rolled away, trying to contact Saphira.

"That took you longer than I expected. Brom and Eragon are almost finished with buying horses." she said, exasperatedly.

"Sorry, I had to save a little kid from a boar. Anyway, where are you?" I asked. She sent me a mental picture of a small clearing. I made my way to the clearing, but before I got there, she alerted me that Brom and Eragon had finished getting horses, and took off. For a couple of hours, I drove at a faster pace than usual, seeing as the trees were getting thinner.

Eventually, I saw Eragon and Brom at a distance, Eragon on a sand-brown one, Brom on a bright white one. Both were riding at about 20 miles an hour. The more I drove around in tank mode, the more I got a feel for how fast I was going. I couldn't explain how I knew, I just did. I caught up to them, still staying in the trees, which were now much more sparse oaks and other leaved trees. "Hey guys, how'd it go?" I greeted, making the old man and the boy jump.

"Megatronus! You could spook the horses!" Brom yelled at me, not amused.

"Sorry. We're still gonna have to introduce them to me and Saphira sooner or later." I said, not yet pulling out of the trees because we were still pretty close to Therisonford.

after driving for a good two hours I said "I'm gonna pull out onto the road now, watch the horses" I alerted the two riders.

"Okay, but if the horses bolt, it's your fault!" Eragon said. I slowly pulled out onto the road, behind the two, and their horses took it surprisingly well. They did get slightly nervous, more Eragon's than Brom's. "Whoa, whoa." Eragon said, trying to calm down his horse. Successfully keeping his animal calm, we set off at a decent pace. The foliage slowly got wilder, with the road becoming so tight that there were brambles and other plants scratching me on both sides, getting pulled into my tracks and ending up on top of my hull.

As we rode, Eragon caught sight of something on the largest mountain, which I remembered from looking at the map was called Utgard. Drawing Brom's attention to it, he asked what it was. Zooming in on it, I noticed there was a crumbling structure on top. The kid had a really good eye. "That is one of the last remaining remnants of the rider's empire. It's an outpost that has been there since their founding. When Vrael, leader of the riders, fell by Galbatorix's hand, it was there that they fought. It became known as 'the place of sorrow' by the riders who managed to flee from Galbatorix for a time." I looked up at the mountain, and it was extremely steep. So much so that it seemed you could only reach it from the air.

Across from Utgard there was a much smaller mountain chain, but still foreboding, which created a valley that Carvahall and Therisonford rested in. There was a small, half-mile wide gap between the mountains, creating one viable route from the valley. As we traveled around the gigantic mountain, I saw why they picked horses. They wouldn't be able to hold onto me at the speeds we were moving, and it would have taken months on foot. Going up a hill, I saw what lay outside the valley, and it was a pretty view to say the least. There was a river off in the distance, but between it and us there was a huge plain that stretched out as far as we could see. The only sign of civilization was a small dot with a completely empty and well-worn road leading to it.

"It's going to take most of the day to get down from these foothills, so we'll set up camp for tonight." Brom said. Turning off the road, Brom had me go first to flatten the hostile flora, and we set up camp next to a small river. As Eragon picketed his horse, he named it Cadoc, after which he told me that the white one was called Snowfire. After camp was set, me and Saphira took up opposing spots in the clearing, me in robot mode and stretching my large legs out while lying on my side, while Brom cooked dinner and whittled more sticks for him and Eragon to spar with. The kid in question was glaring at the practice weapons the whole time, while Brom smiled wickedly. After a little bit Brom asked me "So what's that insignia on your chest represent?" I wasn't exactly sure. I knew the autobots were freedom fighters, so that was one thing, but megatron was kind of an enigma.

After thinking on it a couple minutes, I decided that even though I was in the body of a war criminal and tyrant, (who at least tries to atone) it was still my mind, so I said "it's a symbol of freedom from tyranny, lasting peace, and for me personally, it represents a new beginning." the old man nodded, thought for a moment, and then asked another question.

"What do you plan to do here?" Brom asked.

"Well, Eragon and Saphira are my friends, and so are you, so I think I'll do what I can to protect them. Plus, I have a problem with tyrants, so I think I'll join whatever that resistance group is. Maybe Eragon and Saphira don't want to get involved with that huge conflict, so if they don't want to, that's okay." The dragon and rider in question both looked at each other, and had a silent conversation, probably about joining the Varden.

Brom then proceeded to grab the two practice swords and chucked one at Eragon. He groaned, and stood, probably preparing himself for another beating. Me and Saphira watched them fight for a while, both of us eventually falling asleep.

This fic is now also posted on AO3! You can see megatronus alt mode there

I know I promised more time with saphira talking, but it hasn't felt like the right time. When the gang gets to Terim, and saphira and megatronus are alone together, they will probably practice fighting and talk some more.

Next chapter will be out soon! bye!

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: ambush at the village

When we were ready to leave the next morning, Eragon and Brom mounted their horses. "If we keep going like this, you're going to turn me completely black and blue." Eragon complained, referring to their continued sparring practice.

"I wouldn't push you this much if you couldn't handle it." Brom said as they walked towards the road. I was still in front, pushing the brambles out of the way with my wide treads.

"There's nothing but plains down the hill, so I won't bother trying to hide." Saphira said.

On the way down the foothills, the trail was extremely rough. I always went down first, because I didn't want to lose traction and crush Eragon and Brom. As we were coming to an especially thin part of the trail, I made the mistake of going down in tank mode. The trail ended up being too skinny, and my treads went off the road on the left side. "Whoahhhh!" I yelled as I began to slide down the slope, quickly transforming and digging my hands into the ground.

"I'd offer help but I can't exactly lift you." Eragon said while looking over the edge.

I looked at him in disdain, and he gave me a smug grin. I heard Saphira laugh at me in my head as Eragon no doubt sent her a mental picture of my situation. I rolled my eyes. I was about two feet from the edge of the road, so I pulled my right hand out of the ground, and swung it upwards, grabbing a small tree that immediately gave way under my weight. Swinging back up again, I dug my hand into the ground again, still about a foot from the edge of the trail.

Once I was back on the road, I resolved to walk on the skinny parts of the trail. We were on the plains by noon. I looked around, seeing nothing but grass, rolling in the high winds everywhere. I was suddenly glad I no longer had my human body. That grass looked like the worst asthma attack of my life. There were three trails, one going north, one straight across the plains, and another going south. Brom dismounted and checked the well-worn trails for the Ra'zac's tracks. (heh, that rhymed) "looks like they've gone to Yazuac!" he yelled over the wind.

"Where's that?" I asked, also needing to yell.

"About four days this way!" he shouted, pointing to the road that led straight across the grasses.

"Well, let's get going! I'm tired of yelling over this damn wind!" I said, getting ready to drive.

"We still have to fill the waterskins!" Brom yelled.

After that was done, I pulled in front of the horse riders, because the wind would be the worst from the front. "We're going to try and get there as fast as possible! So cut loose but don't outrun us!" Brom yelled. That put me in a good mood, since I had wanted to test my speed capabilities for a while. I sped up, eventually stopping at about 40 mph, not because I was topping out, I felt like I could go a lot faster, but because Brom told me they didn't want to push the horses too much. I looked to the side, and saw the grass rushing by at speeds I had only seen when I was riding in the car. And then it hit me: that was me. I was the one moving at speeds physically impossible for a human. I was the one with treads spinning at ripsaw speeds. It felt great. I was strong, I was fast, I was big, I was powerful. I had never been the one for being really physically strong, but this was great. It was probably what Saphira felt while flying.

"Feels good to finally cut loose huh?" I said to Saphira, trying to send her my feelings

"Wow, I never knew being on the ground could feel so… exhilarating. But try this on for size" before I knew it, I was seeing the world through Saphira's eyes. I could see myself, Eragon and Brom below, and there was nothing but grass for miles around. I had never been in an airplane before, so it was a novel experience to say the least. I felt Saphira's joy at being in the sky, her feeling of never wanting to come down. I was returned to my own body, and my attention was drawn to the sky by Eragon pointing to the sky and saying

"look!" I looked up and saw Saphira descending, but she stopped her descent, matched my speed, and flew on my left, brushing the grass with her wingtip and shooting me a smile.

"Race later?" she asked.

"Absolutely!" I said.

That night, when we made camp, both me and Saphira were curled around the two humans, trying to protect them from the wind. Eragon was trying to make a fire, but the grass wouldn't light. He gave the tinderbox he was using to Brom, giving up. He tried a couple times, failing too, when he hit it harder and swore "Brisingr!" The grass lit up with a small spark, and Brom said "it must have been smoldering inside. Now we can cook." After Brom got the food set up, he found two sticks. How he did so, I had no clue.I don't think I wanted to. There wasn't even an abnormally tall bush for miles around. They sparred for less time because riding had made them tired.

It was still windy in the morning. Even with me blocking most of it, Brom and Eragon lips were dry and cracked. The fact that they were drinking water so sparingly made it even worse. The day was a lot more of the same. Driving, riding, and flying.

The third day was much more eventful. When we woke, there were dark thunderheads on the horizon. As we reached the storm, it was still calm, seeing as the wind had died down yesterday. Being in front, I was the first one to notice the grass rapidly flatten, about 1000 feet away. "BRACE YOURSELVES!" I yelled to the horse riders, who flattened themselves against their horses. "Warn Saphira!" I told Eragon, who immediately alerted her. She dove, and headed back towards us, trying to buy time. She passed over and behind us, and landed. She was folding her wings, when the blast of air hit us. Her wings were immediately ripped open again, and she was launched into the air. She was suspended for a moment, but then she immediately got slammed down again.

Eragon immediately turned around and galloped back up the trail. I quickly followed, catching up to the kid easily. We reached the pinned dragon, and Eragon's horse got spooked next to the giant predator, so Eragon jumped off, scraping the bottoms of his arms. He got up, grimacing, but still charged toward Saphira. He was kept away by her giant wings flailing around. I transformed, immediately getting pushed by the wind, and crouched down. Eragon threw himself at her right wing, but there was another huge gust and her wing picked him up and threw him over her back, and he barely missed her back spines. I got closer and pushed her right wing against her body, and Eragon, no longer fighting a giant blue sail, did the same with her left.

"Are you okay?" we both asked her over the wind.

"Nothing's broken, but I'm pretty sore. I was completely helpless. That was horrible." she said as she shuddered.

I transformed and led the way back up the road, the dragon and her rider behind me and crouched low, sheltering from the wind. We got back to Brom, and he immediately asked if Saphira was hurt. Eragon said no, and then Brom immediately motioned to curtains of rain approaching us. Eragon gave a dejected look when the cold rain hit us, the torrential downpour making a sound not unlike that of rain on a tin roof as it hit my hull. I felt fine, though. I could feel the rain on my armor plating, but it didn't make me feel cold or wet. Everyone else was soaked and cold though.

I realized something: there was a storm directly above us, and even though my tank form was pretty squat, I was basically a lightning rod. "Get away from me! Quickly!" I shouted, driving away at a high speed.

"Wait!" Eragon shouted.

I continued to drive away. Once I was a decent 500 feet away, I mentally contacted Saphira "Stay back! My metal frame attracts lightning!" She relayed the message to Eragon and Brom, and not a moment later, I was struck by lightning. It didn't hurt per se, but it definitely didn't feel good. Ever accidentally have your fingers on the prongs of a plug when you plugged it in? It felt like that, but also like I had too much caffeine at the same time. If I had a heart, it probably would have burst. Random parts of my body tried to transform, not at all synchronized like normal.

After the spasms had passed, I warned the others to stay away. "Lightning never strikes the same place twice!" Eragon argued, only to be interrupted by another, stronger strike. This one actually hurt. It was much like the last, but I felt like every joint, gear, and piston in my body was being flooded with electricity. Eragon, ignoring my warnings, rushed towards me, yelling "Megatronus!" He got closer, and I shouted "Noooooo!" as he reached a hand towards my hull. The moment he touched me, he jerked his hand back and hissed in pain. I saw Saphira a few hundred feet away, stop and snarl as she felt Eragon's burn.

"I told you not to get close" I said weakly, noticing that the pitch of my voice kept going up and down. I transformed, and laid there on my back, noticing the majority of strikes were now back towards Brom and Saphira. There was still a small shower, and the water droplets evaporated when they landed on me. I looked at the spot on my chest where the second strike had hit, and it was cherry-red, slowly getting cooler. That felt like a straight up hot pan burn. I assumed the rest of me was quite a bit cooler, but still hot, judging by the steam coming off me.

"Ahhhhh," Eragon said, cradling his burned hand. I rolled over, and looked at him.

"Lemme see your hand." I said. He showed it to me, and his palm and fingers were a sunburnt red, but nothing else looked hurt. Brom and Saphira had made their way over to me by now.

"That will feel fine by the end of the day. Don't worry about it." Brom said, as he looked at Eragon's hand.

"He warned you not to touch him." Saphira chided.

"You're lucky I realized what was happening when I did. Otherwise you probably would have died. Though I appreciate your concern." I said.

"Let's not waste any more time. Can you drive?" Brom asked. I nodded.

"I think so. Might be moving slightly weird though." I changed modes, driving forwards, and everything seemed fine. I felt a little jittery though.

We found a place to camp for the night, and while Eragon was helping Brom set up he made a comment about how nice the rain made the plains smell. I tried to take a whiff of the air only to realize I couldn't. That saddened me. I knew damn well cybertronians didn't breathe, but I guess I hadn't realized that the rise and fall of my chest had disappeared. Everyone else seemed rejuvenated though, with Saphira turning her head to the sky and roaring. That put a smile on my face. Dragons had always been my favorite mythical creature, and I was now friends with one. That made me happier, so I stood, yelled "yeah!" and fired my fusion cannon into the sky, causing the grass to flatten around us momentarily.

That display made the two humans glance nervously at each other for a bit, but when my fusion cannon blast detonated high in the air, everyone said "ooooh" at the makeshift firework. "I have only seen fireworks one time, and it is a display that I will never forget. If your tank blast is more powerful, that will probably look spectacular." Brom complimented. He and Eragon went to sleep shortly after, too tired to spar.

I looked at the air, then Saphira's large wings, and an idea came to mind. "Think you could lift me up in the air?" I asked.

"What?" she responded in confusion.

"Like, pick me up by the shoulders and carry me." I said.

"I am strong, but not that strong. Dragons grow continuously though. Maybe when I am much older it will be possible."

Oh, well. What use could picking me up and dropping me be? I was pretty sure I could survive the fall pretty easily, I felt really sturdy. Maybe some time in the future. I thought as I fell asleep.

In the morning things were looking dire for everyone except for me. "The waterskins are almost dry. We'll be in trouble if we don't reach Yazuac soon." Eragon said, crumpling up an empty waterskin.

"Don't worry. I've been this way before, Yazuac will be in sight before dusk." Brom siad. I looked down the road, magnifying my vision as much as I could, but saw nothing but grass in every direction.

"There's nothing but grass for miles around! How can you tell where we are?" Eragon asked, voicing my thoughts.

"I am guided by the astral bodies, they have not led me astray for years. Let's go! Don't worry about something that isn't there."

And with that, we were heading down the road again. Saphira saw the village long before any of us, but it was only a couple hours later that there was a grey blob on the horizon, the only landmark around. As we got closer to the small village, I got more and more uneasy. When I zoomed in, I saw there was nobody moving between the houses or in the streets. There were windows illuminated by candles and fires, but no shadows passed in front of the windows. There was also a dark line winding next to the road. Eragon noticed it too, asking Brom what it was. "The Ninor river," he answered. "Saphira and Megatronus will be seen if we get too close. Should they go hide?" Eragon asked. Brom pointed to a bend in the river that was close to the village, but also capable of hiding me and Saphira. "We'll go through the town, get our supplies, and meet you two out here," Brom said.

"Wait" I said. "There's something off. There's nobody moving in the streets between houses. The lights are on in many buildings, but nobody's moving around inside. I'm going to hide in the grass in my other mode. This just feels off." Brom thought for a moment, then asked how I could tell. I then told him about my telescopic vision.

"Okay. but if you get seen, it's your fault." I shook my cannon up and down to mimic nodding, and the two rode towards the town.

"Frustrating to have to hide like a criminal all the time, isn't it?" Saphira asked as I crawled through the grass in robot mode.

"At least you know how to do it. You have been doing it all your life, this is completely new to me. I've just been lucky so far." I was only a few hundred feet from the village at this point. After waiting a few minutes, I was contacted by a panicked Saphira.

"Everyone in the village is dead! Two Urgals attacked Eragon and Brom!" Before even bothering to ask or think about what an Urgal was, I switched to tank mode, and charged the closest house to me.

The clay house immediately crumbled around me. I looked down the street that I was now on, and saw nothing. Wasting no more time, I rammed another house that was in my way, and that led me to a grisly scene. There was a pile of bodies half as tall as my robot form, with many children, women, elderly, and men in the pile. If I had a stomach and the obligatory contents, I was sure I would have hurled. Down the street past the pile, Brom was slumped over in the saddle, blood streaming from his head. A humanoid, 7 foot tall… something was raising an ax over Brom's head, preparing to kill him. Eragon, who I had not seen in the shadows of an alley, ran out, yelled, and charged the monster. The Urgal swung at him with its ax, but Eragon slid under the blow, running off into another alley. The monster followed him.

Another Urgal ran out from behind the pile of bodies, but before it was able to reach the alley that Eragon had run down, I took aim, pointing my cannon at the Urgal, and fired. The purple ball of energy immediately blew the monster apart, and left nothing but a pair of legs standing, which promptly fell over. The ball of energy continued past Brom, and dispersed on another house, which was left with about two thirds of the structure missing. I looked at the alley that the Urgal and Eragon had run down, and I heard an unintelligible scream, but one that was definitely a word. A blue flash of light came from the alley, and I heard no more sounds of struggling.

I switched modes, and walked over to the alley. Looking in, I saw Eragon slumped against the wall, panting. Saphira landed next to me, and began to fuss over her rider. I turned around, and looked down at Brom and the two horses, who had grouped themselves together. The old man had a large cut on his arm, and it was bleeding badly. I tried to extricate him from the saddle, but my extremely large fingers, which were half the size of his torso, made the task impossible.

Eragon and Saphira walked over, and Eragon unbuckled Brom from the saddle, tried to lift him, and promptly crumpled, bringing them both to the ground. "Help," he said, sounding weak. Saphira grabbed Brom by his shirt, and set him in her saddle. The old man stirred, groaning as Eragon strapped him in.

"Did Saphira get here in time?" He asked.

"No, I'll explain later. Your arm is hurt. Saphira is going to carry you until we have somewhere to rest." Eragon said, mounting his horse.

"Are you sure? I can ride Snowfire." Brom asked. "Not with that arm. This way, even if you faint, you'll stay on." Eragon said.

"I'm honored." Brom said. And with that, Saphira took off.

"Just you and me now huh?" I said, looking down at the boy. Wait, was I getting taller? I could have sworn he came up two-thirds of the way up my leg. Now he was only halfway up my leg. Probably less.

"You're taller." Eragon observed.

"Yeah, I noticed. I wonder how? I haven't and can't eat anything." I looked myself over, noticing that I felt… heavier. Not like I was struggling to move myself around, but like I had put on a lot of mass.

"Maybe it was the lightning." Eragon said. that was possible. I pointed at him, raising my eyebrows, and he returned the gesture.

I transformed, and he spurred the horses, me driving in the back because there was not enough wind to warrant using me as a windbreak. We stopped by the river, and Eragon refilled the waterskins. As he was filling the waterskins, I asked

"What was that blue burst of energy that killed the Urgal?"

He shook his head. "As far as I can tell, I used magic on an arrow and it killed the Urgal." Magic! I knew that magic existed here, seeing what Saphira did with Zar'roc and Brom explicitly stating that the Ra'zac couldn't use magic.

"Wow. that's… wow. Magic. You know it's not real where I come from? Neither are dragons, or Urgals, or Ra'zac."

Eragon raised his eyebrow at me and huffed. "Wow. sounds dull. I knew dragons existed, but until Saphira hatched for me, they never seemed real. I could go without seeing an Urgal ever again though." Eragon said.

"What are those Urgal things anyway?" I asked, not having been able to get a good look at the monster before I blew it to pieces.

"They are sapient like us, but are much more violent and unintelligent. They have pig-like faces and horns like a ram's." They sounded like run-of-the-mill orcs, basically fantasy cannon fodder.

As Eragon re-mounted his horse, he told me that Saphira had found us somewhere to camp for the night. Backing up from the riverbank, Eragon and I headed towards the place that Saphira had found for us.

When we arrived, I transformed, walked over to the small fire that Brom had set, and sat down, stretching out. Brom was nursing his arm by the fire. Eragon began to tend to him, changing his bandage, washing his wound, and then preparing food. After the two were finished eating, Eragon gave a recount of what happened after Brom had lost consciousness. After he was finished, Brom looked at Eragon and asked,

"Have you ever done something like this before?" He waited for a response as he looked at Eragon very closely.

"No, do you know anything about it?" Eragon responded. "A little." Brom said, secretive as usual.

I looked across the fire, and noticed Saphira looked distraught. Not wanting to interrupt the humans, I contacted her mentally. "Are you feeling okay?" I asked.

"Not really. I felt Eragon's panic and energy drain when he casted that spell. I thought he was dying. It scared me more than I thought possible." She said.

"You know when you're unable to help, I almost always have his back, right? And even when you're both around each other, I'm still looking out for ya, right?" she looked up at me, sky-blue irises glinting in the firelight.

"Always?" she asked.

"Constantly." I said. She smiled at me, her thin lips pulling up in the front and exposing big white daggers she had the audacity to call teeth. I smiled back, and then laid on my back, staring up at the stars.

As I lay there, I noticed something about the view I was looking at. There was no white splash of unknown space matter indicative of the milky way galaxy. I had always been into the idea of traveling and studying the stars, so I started looking for the easily recognizable constellations. Nothing. No big or little dipper, no ursa major, no Orion, and so forth. The moon was different too. A good bit larger, and all the shadows were different. Trying not to go down the path of the life I left behind, I said, to nobody in particular, "we explored the moon where I came from." that caused heads to turn.

"Impossible. The moon is as unreachable as the sun." Brom said.

"Actually, the sun is thousands of times bigger than this planet. And the sun, moon and earth are all round." Brom scoffed at that.

"How can our world be round? You can see for miles around, and there is no curve. you have been fooled." I smiled at that, realizing I was about to science the shit out of the old man. Eragon and Saphira both watched us talk with invested looks on their faces.

"You see Brom, you see no curve because the planet is simply so large that the curve is imperceptible to our eyes." He raised an eyebrow skeptically. I was about to give him an analogy for it, but before I could, that hologram projector opened in my chest and displayed a model of my solar system, and focused on earth, bringing it into view. "This is my planet. I said. As far as I can tell, it's relatively the same as this planet, just with much less fantastical beasts. The reason that the planet, the moon, and the sun are round, is because of an invisible force called gravity." I then went on to explain the concept of gravity, orbits, lightspeed, and many other things to him. When I was finished, Eragon and Saphira both looked at each other, then me, and both said in unison "I'm thoroughly convinced." Brom looked at them and then me with a glare, and said

"Bah! Fabrications. The world is flat, and the sun and moon orbit us. I'll have no more of these tall tales" the old man said. He then promptly went over to his bedroll, threw his blankets over himself, and turned away from us, too tired to spar with Eragon.

I looked at the rider and his dragon, who all seemed to be suppressing laughs. After a round of giggling, we all went to our respective sleeping places, me in tank mode and Eragon against Saphira's belly in his bedroll and blankets. I slept pretty good that night.

So, there's the fight at Yazuac. I've decided that megatronus will grow with every big discharge of energy that happens around him. Lightning strikes, magical explosions (Eragon's first brisingr was too weak to affect him.)

I hope i'm making saphira feel like megatronus's best friend in this world. That's what I'm shooting for. I'm also not gonna do any non-canon shipping.

Should I add another human in the body of a transformer? And if yes, what should their background be and which transformer. I also hope that I made Eragon feel like a teenager, someone told me he sounds too mature.

i was made aware that not separating dialogue is a really bad writing practice, so I fixed most of the chapters.

Anyways, see ya!-TheRedLemon

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: too much traveling

As we were riding away from the dead village the next day, Eragon brought up a good point: "what were those two singular Urgals doing in Yazuac?"

Brom thought for a moment, and then said "Most likely they stayed back to loot the town. What is much more concerning is the fact that they clearly gathered in force, judging by the way the town was ransacked. As far as I know, Urgals have only gathered like that two or three times in history."

That wasn't anything special to me, but looking at Eragon and Brom told me that the two were clearly perturbed. "How large is the Urgal population?" I asked.

"Hundreds of thousands, but they are broken up into many small clans. It takes a very strong leader among them to unite them like this. Their entire culture is almost solely based on fighting." Brom said. I was driving right next to him so I could hear anything he said to me easier. Eragon was next to Brom.

After we had been traveling for most of the day at a decent 20 miles an hour, we found a place to rest for the night. "You know, Eragon, your sudden discovery of magic is much earlier than most riders began learning about it. this is a problem because you will be unable to go through the rigorous training exercises" Brom then went on about the ways that magic was instructed, who it was instructed to, (the king and all elves being one of these examples) and I got bored listening. Rolling over onto my front side, I decided to test my push-up abilities. Putting my hands in the usual position and standing on the tips of my… I really didn't have any toes anymore, did I? Tips of my feet I guess? Shaking my head I started. It was surprisingly easy. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. Damn. Even at my best I hadn't even been able to do that much. I tried one-hand push-ups next, and wow. I was doing it.

"What are you doing?" Saphira asked.

"I'm exercising. Wanna try?" I asked her.

"Brom's yammering is becoming irritating. I suppose I have nothing better to do." she walked over, and I was presented with a conundrum: Saphira was basically always in the push-up position.

I watched as she stood next to me, then got on the tips of her rear claws. Mimicking the push-up motion, she stopped and looked at me. "This is not 'exercise'. I exert more effort carrying Eragon."

I stood up and looked her over. "Try one foot." I suggested. "And don't

balance with your tail." She followed my directions, and as she got one rear foot over the other and let her tail go limp, she almost fell over.

"This is much harder." She said, doing one push-up, and struggling at it. Her front legs shook as she struggled to push herself up but she managed to get in seven good push-ups before collapsing with a whump.

"Come to think of it, I wasn't exactly challenged by my push up either. Maybe we need to find something to put on my back. Like a big rock." I said to Saphira, who looked around and shook her head, still seeing nothing but grass in every direction.

Brom then said something that piqued my interest. "Everyone has a hidden, true name that encompasses all that they are. Only elves know theirs by instinct." That got me thinking. What could my true name be? Would it include my time before this world? Or would it just be robo-me?

"I'd like to know mine." Eragon said.

"Be careful. No one escapes from the learning of their true name emotionally unscathed. Many were driven insane by the knowledge." Brom said. Eragon raised his eyebrows at that as me and Saphira returned to our respective spots by the fire.

"I think I'm fine not knowing my true name. I'm happy enough just being me and not putting it into words." I said.

"The name will also give others power over you. They can control you, bind you, and they know you inside and out." Brom said. That scared me. Someone could control me if they knew my true name? Yeesh. All the more reason not to know.

"I still wish to know." Eragon said, not easily dissuaded. I have to admit, I admired the kid's persistence. "I promised you guys we would keep listening to music." I said, interrupting the conversation. Eragon looked at me excitedly, and Brom raised an eyebrow. The tip of Saphira's tail started to wag.

"Saphira, I know you liked the music that I used to wake up Eragon, but I'm trying to make sure everyone enjoys what we're listening to. So should we continue with what we were listening to the last time, or start something new?" I asked. Everyone else answered with a "Keep going," so I began the second track of the wall, and everyone in the clearing started tapping a foot or bobbing a head. Eragon then proceeded to talk to Brom about healing his arm with magic, while me and Saphira lightly danced to the thin ice.

Brom then started to give Eragon instructions on how to actually practice magic. He picked up a small pebble and placed it on Eragon's palm and told him to say the words 'stenr reisa'. Eragon tried to use magic for a couple of minutes, eventually giving up. "this is impossible." He said

"No. I will decide when it's impossible or not. Now lift the rock!" Brom said. Eragon then closed his eyes and focused. I watched for a couple minutes and began to get bored, but then Eragon said the words again and the stone started to float over the strange mark on his palm, which was slightly glowing.

"Wow. That's… unheard of where I come from." I watched in amazement as the pebble slowly descended back onto his palm, and his hand stopped glowing. Brom then told him to lift the pebble again. After the day was over Eragon was tired and frustrated. He looked like he hated the pebble. As he was about to throw the pebble, Brom told him to keep it. Brom then went on to explain the names of different plants in the ancient language. I got bored and went to sleep.

Nothing much happened the next few days. (wow, I was spending a lot of time here.) Eragon started learning the ancient language, and Saphira and I did a lot of driving and flying. There was a 5-day streak where I stayed in tank form the whole time, seeing as there was no use for my robot form. I only broke the streak because Eragon and Saphira said they were tired of talking to a vehicle and wanted to talk to a person. The notion that they wanted to see my face, even if it wasn't even mine, made me pretty happy. Eragon slowly got better at sparring, so he was now not the only one with bruises and welts at the end of his sparring sessions with Brom. Saphira also grew, quite literally. She was now the same size as me, and she was eye-level with me. My own sudden growth spurt was still quite puzzling to say the least. As far as I could tell, the only thing that could have affected me was the lightning strike. Nobody passed us on the road, and we always found evidence of the Ra'zac as we traveled.

As we reached the next settlement, Daret, Brom told me it was called, I noticed it seemed just as abandoned as Yazuac. "I'm doing the same thing as last time." I told the pair. Saphira agreed, telling me that she would keep in contact with me and Eragon and tell me if something went wrong.

I was laying flat on my belly, looking towards the town. Saphira was also lying in the grass, waiting for signs of trouble. As we waited, we did not talk, seeing as everything was too tense for conversation. Suddenly, Saphira tensed. "Another ambush?" I asked.

"Yes, though not Urgals this time. Humans. But do not go in. Eragon has told me not to attack." I didn't like that, but if Brom and Eragon didn't want me busting down houses to save them, so be it. We waited for a while, then Saphira contacted Eragon to ask what was taking so long. "He said they are negotiating a trade. The people are just the village residents, scared by Urgal attacks all around." That relaxed me a bit. As we waited, Saphira got seemingly more and more frustrated.

After a bit, Eragon told me that they had negotiated a trade, got some supplies, and were leaving. They had instructed us to meet them away from the village. That was a lot easier for Saphira. All she had to do was make sure nobody was watching, and take off. I simply wasn't that lucky. I had to crawl away from the village, and switch to tank mode while still on my belly. That ended up being such a pain in the ass that I stood up with zero regard for stealth, and switched modes normally. By the time I caught up to them, Saphira was in the air, and Eragon was covered in dust. "You fall off your horse or something?" I asked him. He side-eyed me while raising the corresponding eyebrow.

"No, Saphira knocked me to the ground demanding that I ride her," He said. I chuckled a bit at that. Brom was also smiling slyly.

"So you've been neglecting your duties as a rider? You ought to be ashamed of yourself." I said in a mock British accent. I was glad I was in tank mode. If he saw the bigass grin that would have been on my face, he probably would have casted some kind of spell on me.

After we had made camp for the night, I was spending the night in robot mode, taking to heart the advice that people would rather talk to a face than a hunk of metal. Brom was preparing more sticks for sparring. I didn't even want to know where he kept getting them. There wasn't a tree for miles around. He got up and threw one of the sticks at Eragon, who looked at the piece of wood with a resigned look. In the middle of the fight, Eragon hit Brom's stick with a swing that was so strong, it shattered both of their sticks. "Damn kid!" I said as a couple of pieces of wood bounced off my leg with a hollow tnk sound.

"There's nothing more I can teach you with these sticks." Brom said. He then grabbed Zar'roc from his bag and gave it to Eragon.

"We'll kill each other!" the kid said.

"Not so. We have magic," Brom said. He then grabbed his own sword, and said the words "Gëuloth du knífr!" as he ran the blade between the tips of two of his fingers, as a res spark appeared between them. He then slashed his palm with the blade, without cutting his hand.

"Whoa!" I said. "Lemme see that." I said. He handed me the sword, and as I struggled to grasp the small handle with my large hands, I noticed that whenever I grabbed the blade edge itself, there was a small inch gap between my fingers and the blade. "That's really weird." I said, handing the blade back to him.

"Magic is an amazing thing. Even the elves, the masters of magic, do not know the full extent of what you can accomplish, if there is one." Brom said. Eragon then repeated the process for his sword after Brom had taught him the right words. As they were fighting, I noticed that the heavier sword seemed to be slowing Eragon down more than the sticks. Sparks flew. Both of them were battered and bruised when they were done.

As Eragon mounted Saphira the next morning and Brom was giving him tips, I smirked at the kid, and he rolled his eyes at me. Saphira crouched down and spread her wings, and I backed up to give her room to take off. With a single jump and wingbeat, she was in the sky. "Magnificent, aren't they?"

"Dragons? Yeah. I didn't think they were real until a couple weeks ago."

"Really? No idea they existed?" Brom said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"No, they don't exist where I came from. Neither does magic, or Urgals, or a plethora of other things." I said.

"First you tell me the world is round and now you say there were no dragons? Your home must have been very dull."

I nodded, deciding that the wonders of tech we had back home was probably a bit too far-off for him to believe. I switched modes, and we took off. Me and Brom drove in silence, not really having much to say to each other. After a while I got bored with driving. Now sure, going 40 miles an hour with a dragon right next to you is fun, but puttering along at a measly 25 next to an old storyteller on a horse was pretty boring. I didn't even have one of those cool dust clouds behind me, because everything was damp. I knew I didn't want one, though. That would attract a lot of attention and would probably be visible for miles.

After we had been traveling for a few hours, I noticed there were small groves of trees scattered around because we were keeping a close eye on any Ra'zac tracks, when they suddenly stopped. "Stop!" Brom yelled. I braked hard, my tracks seizing. I turned to the side to help slow myself. Backing up, I transformed to get a better look at whatever he had seen.

"What are we looking at?" I asked, crouching down.

"The tracks have stopped," he said.

"They couldn't have just stopped. They'd be here right now."

"Look. What other tracks are there?"

I looked around. Among the last prints of the Ra'zac, the wagon wheel ruts, bootprints, and various animal tracks, there were tracks reminiscent of that of Saphira's giant talons.

"No way the Ra'zac have dragons." I said.

"They don't. I've heard of these beasts moving with incredible speed, but this is the first time that I've seen proof of it. I will contact Eragon."

As the old man contacted the kid, his face contorted, seemingly struggling with something. Just as I was about to get worried, he relaxed.

"What happened?" I asked, confused.

"The idiot blocked me out." Brom said.

"You told him not the dangers of mental fighting didn't you? It stands to reason that he would get scared had anyone that wasn't Saphira contact him." I said.

"I suppose you're right. I even taught him how to block people out."

We were interrupted by the landing of the dynamic duo. "What's wrong?" Eragon asked. Brom then indicated to the tracks he had shown me. "What are we going to do? Saphira can't track them in the sky, and even if she could, we'd outrun you."

"Let's stop for now and think about it while we eat." Brom said.

After they had finished their food, Eragon suggested they have Saphira show herself at a town or city. That would draw the Ra'zac to them easily, but Brom quickly shut the idea down, stating that a confirmed rider sighting might be enough to draw the king himself, which would mean they would immediately be enslaved by him. Eragon stood up violently, then walked towards the closest patch of trees. As I was about to ask Saphira what we should do, I heard a loud clang come from the trees. There was no way anyone was swordfighting out here, and the only thing else that could have made that sound was a metal container being hit, or another… transformer.

"What was that?" Brom asked.

"I don't know," I said as I stood up, unfolded my fusion cannon, and walked towards the small grove of trees. It took me only a few steps to cover the distance that took Eragon a half-minute to cover. I got closer to the trees, and even though I was much smaller than megatron normally was, each one of my steps shook the leaves on the oak trees. I was almost to the treeline, when I heard a yelp that could only be one person's: Eragon's. I pushed through the trees, my shoulders at the treeline. I saw the kid shaking his hand, index finger smoking, and he was holding a flask of some kind in his left, non smoking hand. I folded up my fusion cannon, now realizing there was no possibility of an actual Decepticon here.

"What did you do?" I asked, startling him.

"Poured something I shouldn't have on my finger. Some kind of acid." he said.

I smirked. "How do you accidentally pour acid on your hand? Was there no label on the container?"

"No, there was no label! So get out of my hair about it."

"Oh. my bad." Now I looked like a jerk. "Anyway, want me to carry you back?" I asked.

"Sure," he said.

I decided to switch it up. I knelt down, and set my hand on the ground face-up. Eragon looked up at me, raising an eyebrow. "Hop on. My tank mode can't fit through the trees very well." He shrugged, stepping onto my hand. I raised him up and set him on my shoulder. He took up most of the space between my shoulder and head.

"Wow, what a view." he said, looking around.

"You're kidding. After all your time flying with Saphira, you think this is a good view?"

"Now, up in the sky is quite the spectacle, but it's more like looking at a map. You see a bunch of different dots down there, but you really can't appreciate how everything looks. This is just great. Pretty, detailed, colorful. Everything." Eragon said.

"I never thought of it like that." I said as we exited the trees and approached the campsite. Once again, it only took me a few strides to go from the trees to where we had stopped. I brought my hand up to my shoulder, Eragon stepped on, and I brought him down, sitting down at the same time.

"Look what I found." Eragon said, tossing the canteen of acid to Brom.

"Let me guess, you found a mysterious container and decided it was a great idea to pour the mystery liquid all over your hand." Brom said sarcastically.

Ignoring the old man's teasing, Eragon asked what it was.

"It is an oil from a plant called the sethir. It is normally used by jewelers, because it makes pearls lustrous and shiny, but speak a few words of power over it, and combine it with a blood sacrifice, and it will then eat through anything that was once part of a human or animal, but will leave everything else untouched."

"That's what they used on garrow. I smelled that same smell at the farm." Eragon said as he shuddered. "Why would they leave something so valuable behind?"

"It must have slipped off when they flew away. The king will be displeased that they lost it, but he would be even more unhappy if they had not immediately brought him the news of you. Now that he most likely knows your name, there will be bounties for you in every town. We must now take precautions to hide your identity."

Changing the subject, Eragon asked "how rare is this oil exactly?"

"Only the most wealthy of jewelers can afford the unchanged version."

"So there are people who trade in it?"

"Only a few, but yes."

"So there would be shipping records!" I said, interrupting.

"Exactly! So then you could access the records and see where the oil is getting shipped!" Eragon said.

"And the Empire's orders would tell us where the Ra'zac live! This is genius! How did I not think of this sooner?" Brom said.

"Corporate espionage. I like it. So where do we start looking?" I asked.

"The coast is dotted with numerous cities and towns where ships can land. I suppose that Teirm would be the place to start, as it controls most of the trade."

"So we're going to Terim?" Eragon asked.

"Yes. my old friend Jeod lives there, and he has friends in high places."

"How long will it take for us to reach Terim?" I asked.

"Shouldn't take us more than a few days to reach the pass. Then a couple more to cross it. Shouldn't Take us more than a week."

With that, Eragon hopped on Saphira, I switched modes, and we spent the rest of the day travelling.

The next morning, Eragon and Brom were riding next to each other. Eragon and Saphira had made a deal that he would ride her every other day, so he could still receive lessons from Brom.

The two in question were in a deep conversation about the sea. I had never been a huge beach fan myself, but it was interesting to hear all the little tidbits of how the sea was different here. Apparently the elves had originally come across the sea. Elves! I knew they were here because them and other fantasy races like dwarves had come up in conversation topics between Eragon and Brom, but the fact that they were actually real where I was hadn't really sunk in. elves, dwarves, urgals, dragons, bird demons. What next? Werewolves? That evening, the spine was a distant blur on the horizon.

The next few days were dull. As we got into land that was much more wooded, I ended up spending a couple days straight in tank form, because where we spent the night often ended up cramped. Brom and Eragon would spar, Eragon would practice magic, and I often had to hide in the trees again. Saphira had it the easiest. Brom and Eragon were physically beating themselves up, I had to both hide and sometimes even walk when the trees were too thick to get through. Saphira just had to fly.

After a few days in the mountains, we came upon a rock ledge that let us overlook a lot of the coast. The ground was mossy, muddy, and everything was green. We set up camp on the driest spot that I could. I wondered if I could rust now. Multiple transformers continuities had a segment where a transformer rusted away to nothing within minutes, but I was pretty sure that that was a special kind of plague that only affected transformers. So if I rusted a little bit, was I okay? I guess I'll worry about it when I need to.

"You should only ride Cadoc until we get to Terim. This is the most heavily used road between Dras-leona and Terim. An old man traveling alone will raise questions. An old man traveling with a kid is perfectly normal."

"Will we use our real names?"

"Only with Jeod. I trust him like he was my brother. Other than that, no. It probably won't make a difference, but I don't want our names in people's heads."

After another two days, Terim was clearly visible at the edge of the sea. It was protected by a huge wall a hundred feet tall and thirty feet thick. There were two huge gates in the wall, one facing the road, and the other facing the sea.

"We're going in now. You two better find somewhere to hide." Brom said, while Eragon seemed to be telling Saphira the same thing.

"Don't get yourself caught," I said as I turned around and headed into the woods, hoping Saphira would find us somewhere to stay quickly.

Man this chapter was a drag to write. I hope I'll get the next one out fast.

I did a little bit of research, and meg's canon height is 38 feet tall. Jeez. There's not enough explosions in Eragon for him to grow like that so I think the next one will boost him to his max height.

Please leave a comment! I love interacting with my readers and getting constructive criticism.

-TheRedLemon

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: someone’s in my head, but it’s not me.

“You could have picked somewhere easier to hide.” I said as I rolled into the hiding spot Saphira had found for us. 

“Then where would I watch you squeeze between trees?”  She said teasingly. 

Our hiding spot was a clearing in the spine far enough away from Terim that nobody would see us moving around, but close enough that if we went to a ledge a few hundred feet from the clearing we could see the city clearly. The trees surrounding it were exceptionally close together. That means I had to switch to robot mode and squeeze through the trees on my side. I ended up transforming my top half only to get through one exceptionally small gap. 

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to pick the smallest tree gaps. I’m gonna scrape all my paint off at this rate.” 

“Aww, worried about getting a little rusty?” she said mockingly. 

“You’d worry too if there was a disease that ate dragon scales while you were alive.”

“We should practice fighting tomorrow. Tonight, I'm going to find something to eat. Those rabbits and prairie dogs are a terrible excuse for dragon food.” 

“Suit yourself. I’ll stay here. Maybe make some changes to the place.” 

“Okay. I'll be back in a while.” The blue dragon then proceeded to walk off into the trees, having her own problems with the closeness of the trees.

Personally, I was tired of all the moving around and was glad I had a place to stay for the next few days. I stood up and stretched, not expecting anything to happen. I was pleasantly surprised to hear a mechanical clicking come from my back as it was stressed more than normal. My knuckles did the same thing when I cracked them. Clickcllickclickclick. It was nice to still have something slightly human about me. The trees were taller here than around Carvahall, so I couldn’t see over them.

It was evening when Saphira got back. She was clean all over, except when she smiled there were little bits of fur from some unknown animal that were stuck between her teeth. 

“Need a toothpick?” I asked. 

“No, and why would I?” she responded.

“To enhance your deerish smile.”

“I have no deer in my teeth. I am too elegant to allow such sloppiness.” she said as she ran her tongue along her teeth, checking for stuck meat.

“You're lucky. You get to eat. I’ll probably never get to eat anything again.” 

“You can still try to eat.” 

“I don't even know if I can still taste things. I haven’t exactly had any reason to stick something in my mouth.” 

“Why don’t you try something?” 

“What would I even eat? I don’t know if I need meat cooked anymore, even if I would still prefer it that way.” 

“Maybe we can try cooking something. We’d need to start a fire though. I can’t breathe fire yet.” 

“Maybe. I don't feel like doing it today though.” Truthfully, I didn’t want to see how far from my humanity I had fallen. 

“Fair enough.” 

I sat down, laid back, and shut my eyes, Resting for a while.

“Megatronus. Megatronus! Wake up you hunk of tin!” Saphira said as she repeatedly bumped me with her nose. 

“Urgh, what? It better be an Urgal attack. I was sleeping really well.” 

“Eragon is coming to check on us. He’s on his way now.”  

 I heaved myself up into a sitting position, and followed Saphira as she walked towards the cliff. I still had to squeeze through the too-close trees though. As we reached the ledge we both looked over and saw the boy at the bottom. We both waved at him, and he waved back. 

“He says he’s going to climb up the cliff. There’s not enough handholds for him to make it all the way to the top.” 

“Let the kid have his fun. We’ll be here to help him the final way up." I said. 

Inevitably, after Eragon had spent about a half hour climbing, Saphira said “he’s stuck. As I expected.” 

“Well, you better go get him.” I said as she rocketed off the cliff. I looked down over the cliff face, and saw him about halfway down, stuck on a ledge with no handholds above him whatsoever. “I’d help you up, but I can't exactly reach you!” I said to him, admiring that he was now in the same position I was in when I had slipped off the road a couple weeks ago. Same flat look, same smug smile, except I was the one teasing now. “You might want to get ready to fly.” I said, pointing to Saphira, who was heading straight for him, claws outstretched, preparing to grab him. He didn’t even have time to yelp.

Saphira grabbed him by the back of the shirt and quickly carried him up to the top of the cliff. 

“You chose what was by far the worst path to head up the cliff. Two feet in either direction and you could have made your way up all by yourself.” 

“Don’t even start. Saphira already reprimanded me about it.” 

The dragon in question set down right then, and laid down on the cliff, looking out over the sea. It was late in the afternoon, so the sun was starting to reflect off the water, turning the ocean many different shades of orange and yellow. 

“You think Brom’s friend is trustworthy?” Saphira asked, letting me hear their conversation. 

“I don’t know. There are many things surrounding us that we cannot control. Everyone around us seems to have secrets.” Eragon said. 

“That's how it goes. Everyone’s gonna have secrets. Almost everyone is gonna put someone else, most often themselves, over you. You’re never gonna know everything, and you’ll drive yourself crazy trying. The best you can do is prepare yourself for how you will deal with the future.” I said. 

“Megatronus is right. We can only prepare ourselves.” Saphira said. 

Changing the subject, I asked “How do you plan to get inside the record room? It’s probably locked and guarded right?” 

“Maybe I can use magic. It would be hard though. I’d need to combine the words for seeing, distance, reading, light. I’ll ask Brom about it tonight.”

We sat there in silence for a while, admiring the sunset. 

“I'm tired of being left outside.” Saphira said. 

“You know very well there’s no other option. I’m sorry to say that we might be here for a while.” 

“I still don’t like it. I hope we can fly together again soon.” 

“Me too. At least you have company.” Eragon said, as Saphira lowered her head down and pressed her nose into his chest. I smiled at the affectionate display. “I’d better get going before I get locked out.” We said our goodbyes and me and Saphira made our way back to the clearing. Once we got there, we were both starting to get sleepy. 

“Practice fighting tomorrow?” I asked. 

“Definitely. I’m too tired today though. Maybe when we’re finished we can cook some venison for you, somehow.” 

I smiled at her eagerness to help me, thanked her accordingly, and closed my eyes.

Saphira was still there the next morning, having eaten the day before. She was still asleep, so I got up and attempted to walk through the forest, still having trouble squeezing through the trees. After I had extricated myself from the knot of wood that circled our clearing, I simply walked through the dark green forest. There were small patches of snow where the trees broke, but since all the humidity from the ocean was causing the snow to melt before it fell. 

I continued to walk through the forest, stopping and taking a close look at anything that caught my eye. I tried to minimize the damage my giant feet did to the forest, but nevertheless there was a very visible path where it could be clearly deduced that something big had come through. “Well shit. there goes any semblance of sneakiness.” I said to myself sarcastically, before turning around and continuing through the forest. 

After a while, I came across a small stream. It had been much too dark to see my own reflection in the Ninor, and the Toark had been much too swift and filled with ripples to reflect anything resembling a clear image. The stream was slow, but deep, and there was a small, essentially still pool about 30 feet upstream. I walked up to the pool, and peered in. I can’t say that I was surprised by what I saw, but I definitely would rather have seen my own face. Instead, I saw glowing, solid red eyes, between that and my helmet there were two upside down triangles that seemed to be my equivalent of eyebrows, A silverish grey helmet that covered my forehead, the sides and back of my head. My nose was longer than normal, coming to a point above my mouth. When I opened my mouth, there were sImply two horseshoe-shaped metal bars on the top of my mouth and my jaw. No tooth gaps, no ridges for chewing, nothing. 

My face itself was surprisingly articulate, being able to replicate every human expression, despite appearing to be made out of a single piece of metal. There was also a wide ridge on my chin resembling a goatee. There was still something about my face that felt… me though. In the comics, Megatron looked very mature, experienced, and in general like he had been through alot. Mine still looked like it had seen millions of years of war, but there was a more, happy, young, juvenile feel about my face. It was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless. 

I soon got tired of staring at myself in the small pool. I stood up, and looked up through the trees. Judging by the change in daylight, I assumed I must have been gone for over an hour. Saphira was probably awake by now, and if she wasn’t, it was time for her to be. The relatively silent forest caused me to hear the thump thump thump of my now-giant feet on the ground. It was weird. It definitely hadn’t sunk in yet that that was me. 

As I made my way back to the clearing, I wondered if there was any way to return home. Even if it was just to make sure my family was doing okay. I knew damn well they had probably already held a funeral and moved on. Let's say I did somehow find a way back. That still leaves the whole fictional robot problem. Even if I did find a way back into my old body, what would I tell my family? Hey everyone, I know I was dead but actually not? You buried my body but here I am! Alive and well! No. things happen for a reason. There was a reason I was now mechanical, assisting a dragon and her rider, and not a drifting soul on some ethereal plane.

When I got back to the clearing, Saphira was awake, laying down, while holding her head up. As I entered the clearing, her head turned towards me, and she asked “where were you?”

“On a walk. I didn’t want to wake you.” 

“Don’t worry about it. I appreciate the gesture though” 

“So what now? I don’t think I’m ready to try eating yet. That leaves working out or-” before I could finish my sentence, Saphira flew towards me in a blur, tackling me to the ground. I guess we’re fighting, I thought to myself. Deciding to pull my punches because I didn’t have a good measure of my strength yet, I put my right arm over the top of my chest and swept Saphira off me with surprising ease. She rolled over once, leaped to her feet as I did the same. She charged me once again, and I quickly sidestepped. I was about to retaliate somehow when I realized I had zero hand-to-hand fighting experience. Saphira proceeded to swipe my legs out from under me with her tail, and I faceplanted a second time because of her. “Stop!” I called out. 

“What is it?” Saphira asked. 

“I have no idea how to fight.” 

“I don’t either. No other dragons to fight or train me, remember?”

“Then how are you doing so well?” 

“I don’t know. I’m kind of just letting my body drive itself. Do what feels right in the moment.”  

I shrugged, raised my fists, signaling I wanted to try again. She backed up, smiled at me and lunged. Taking her advice and just letting my body drive itself, something took over me. I flipped over, dropped on my back, pulled my feet in and drove them up into her underside. I heard her exhale rapidly, and I rolled out from under her before she fell on me. What the hell was that? Where did I get fighting skills like that? Focusing on the practice fight, I saw that Saphira had landed back on her feet and was panting hard. “You okay?” I asked, hoping I hadn't hurt her somehow. 

“I’ll be sore for a few hours but otherwise no. That just surprised me!” 

“Me too! Where did that come from?” my best guess was that I somehow had Megatron’s gladiatorial skills. That bothered me. If that was true, did that mean my mind was overlaid over Megatron’s? Did my appearing in his body somehow kill him? That train of thought was derailed by Saphira swiping madly at my face, which I had to duck backwards to avoid. Before I knew what I was doing, I had swung my fist at Saphira, and the tip of her ivory horn whirled off into the forest. I stared in shock at the now 2 ½ inch shorter horn. 

Saphira shook her head and said “Ow. That hurt.” she then turned to look at me, wondering what I was staring at. “ Did I sprout a third eye? Why are you looking at me like you’ve seen a shade?”  

“I, uhhh, might have broken your left horn. Only a tiny bit though?” I said with a grimace. Her eyes widened and she lowered her head while raising her left claw to the horn, feeling the broken tip. 

“Oh well. Something like that was bound to happen eventually.” 

Surprised by how little she cared about her broken horn, I said “you can give me a good smack somewhere of your choosing if it helps.” 

“No, it will probably regrow, and even if it doesn’t, there’s a fun story to tell.” 

“Really? I broke your horn, and you don’t care?”

“Superficial damage. It won’t affect how I fight. Let’s stop for today though.”

I nodded at that, wanting to take a break myself. 

“So where did those crazy skills come from?” Saphira asked. 

“I dunno. One more question I guess.” I said as I sat down, not telling her that it was actually bothering me. I laid down, and closed my eyes, wanting to be alone with my thoughts.

I was in some kind of stadium, with transformers filling the seats all around, cheering, jeering, and all other manner of things. There were multiple floors filled with cybertronians of all different colors schemes, shapes, and alt modes. There was a bot across from me, with a red torso, white legs, and arms. One of his shoulders had two rows of a strange symbol running along the front horizontally, 4 per row, with a single one starting a third row of symbols. Both his shoulders had a spike coming out the top, with a wheel attached to the side of his shoulders. He had some kind of energy hammer in his hand. Looking down at myself, I saw that I was nwo in Megatron's first body, much more dark grey, and I had a sword in my right hand. 

My vision flashed, and the strange robot was now slumped over me, my sword through his abdomen, a trickle of blue energon running down the blade. I stood, kicked the corpse off my sword, shoved the weapon high in the air, and reveled in the cheering of the crowd. 

Wait, why was I happy that I just killed someone? I was suddenly assaulted by a splitting headache, and I fell to my hands and knees. As the pain subsided, I looked around, everything was still, mouths were open but no sound came out, and standing about a body’s length from me was… Megatron, but he was the same one I had come to identify as myself. Looking down at myself revealed I was a carbon copy of the bot standing in front of me. “What’s going on?” I said.

Ignoring me, the grey bot looked solemnly upon the gruesome scene, and said sadly “This is where it all started. Where I lost my desire to free people from the tyranny of the council, and I gained an insatiable thirst for power.” I had seen this all before in the comics I had read, but it was so different watching it happen for myself. I didn’t know what to say to the former Decepticon leader standing across from me. The robot in question turned towards me, and walked over. I didn’t know what to think when he offered me his hand. I took it, and it was very strange to see two of the same hands grabbing onto each other. I was now eye level with Megatron, and I was about to say something when the former tyrant beat me to the punch. 

“Strange, you're me, but not me at the same time. Your face is much less weathered than I imagined mine to be.”

“What am I doing here? Why am I in your body? Did I kill you? Why aren’t you in control?” I rapid-fired questions at him. 

He smiled softly at that. “For your first two questions, I have no idea. I simply hope you put this chassis and spark to a better use than I did. It comes with some perks, one of which you have already discovered. For your third, don’t worry. After my time in the lost light, I was executed for my crimes, so no, you did not kill me. As for why I'm not in control, I couldn’t tell you. My time in this body is limited. Your mind was overriding mine the moment you showed up here.” 

“So I didn't kill you, but I'm evicting you from your own body?” I said, distressed over the fact that I was a stranger in his body, and I was killing him by being there.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “There’s nothing I can or want to do about it. You’ll use it for a better purpose than I ever did.” he was starting to become slightly transparent. “Here’s a tip Jesse: don’t let yourself fall under control of someone who will use you without a second thought, but never let yourself become one of those people.” he was almost completely see-through now, and I shot forward, trying to grab onto the bot before he disappeared completely, but my hand passed right through him. “Carve a new legacy for me Jesse.” 

“No!” I yelled, grabbing onto thin air before noticing that he was gone.

Waking told me I had slept for most of the day. It was mid-afternoon and Saphira was laying on her back on the other side of the clearing. I tried to stand up to walk over to talk to her, but rolled forward instead. I had somehow switched to my alt-mode while I was asleep. I transformed, and just sat there, staring up at the clouds passing overhead. Megatron didn’t blame me for being in his head, and even though it seemed like he wanted me to have his body, I still felt like I had killed him. “Hey, Saphira,” I started to say when I was stopped by the sound of my own voice. It wasn’t Megatron’s deep, stoic, gravelly voice anymore, it was mine. My medium pitched, smooth, nerdy-sounding teenager voice. I started laughing to myself, noting that my voice still had a robotic tinge to it, but it was still my voice . Saphira was still sunning herself, oblivious to the fact that I was awake. 

I stood and walked over to the drowsy reptile, and poked her in the side. 

“Ow, hey, I was enjoying the sun.” she complained as she rolled over and looked at me.

“Check. It. out.” for each word I said, her left eye ridge crept higher and higher. “My old voice is back! Ha-Ha! This is great!” I said, transforming and doing a lap around the small clearing, my fears that I had killed Megatron momentarily forgotten. I switched back to robot mode and laid on my back, looking up at the mostly cloudy sky. I started to ramble about whatever came to mind, relishing the sound of my own voice. I was interrupted by Saphira walking over to me, looking down at my face, and tilting her head in curiosity. “What?” I asked. 

“You look different.”  

“How so?” I asked, curious what other changes had been brought upon by Megatron leaving my body.  

“Nothing that comes to mind immediately, you just look younger. Your face before you went to sleep looked like it had gone through thousands of years of war. I was about to bring it up tonight. Why did it happen?” she asked. As the best friend I had made in this world so far, I figured she had a right to know. I explained to her everything that Megatron had done, good and bad, who he was, and I finally topped it off with my strange dream.

By the time I was done, I was sitting against a tree, with Saphira laying beside me, watching intently. It felt good to talk to someone about everything that was troubling me, and she didn’t seem to think it was my fault that the old warlord was now gone from my body. 

“You sure are quite the enigma, Megatronus. You are a human in the body of a mechanical tyrant, who you recently shared the body with until today, you acquired his skills and abilities, but what is now entirely your body has slightly changed itself to fit you.” she said, summing everything up pretty well. 

“Jesse.”

“Excuse me?” 

“That was my name before. Jesse. In Megatron's honor, I would prefer to stick to the name Megatronus, but I want you, and by association, Eragon, to know the name I had before I ended up here.” 

“Thank you, Jesse.” I smiled at the use of my old name. I hadn’t heard it in a few weeks, so it was a comforting reminder of my old life. Saphira perked her head up, and said “Eragon is coming to see us again. I will retrieve him.” The blue dragon took off and headed toward the cliff to pick up her rider. 

A couple minutes later, Saphira contacted me, saying “meet us at the clifftop.”

I stood up and walked towards the cliff, and I wondered as I walked how I should show Eragon how my voice came back. I then realized that I had forgotten one important detail: Brom doesn’t know who I was before. I pondered this as I walked towards the cliff, running through different ways of telling him, eventually deciding that I would just come out and tell him. He had a right to know. 

As I arrived at the cliff face, I saw Eragon and Saphira watching the waves crash below. “What’s going on?” I asked as I broke the treeline. Eragon whirled, hearing a voice he didn’t recognize, and I smiled and waved. He stood up straight and raised an eyebrow, looking at me with suspicion. “I assume saphira hasn’t told you yet?” I said. 

“You look and sound different. What happened?” 

“Little one,” Saphira said, bringing his attention back to her. He stared at her blankly for a few moments as she brought him up to speed on my situation. A range of expressions flashed over his face, mostly of surprise. 

“So you had him in your head this whole time, and you didn’t know until he was dead. That’s… wow. And now your body has changed itself slightly to fit you?” I nodded, confirming everything he had just said. 

“Kinda crazy, huh? At least my voice is back to… mostly normal.” I said. 

“And your face looks younger.” 

“That’s what Saphira said.” 

“I had kind of a crazy experience too.” he then proceeded to tell me about the witch who had told his future, the werecat (wow, I was half-right with my prediction) who had given him advice and knew he was a dragon rider. I had never been one to believe in future-telling, because if our future was set, that meant we had no true free will. “She mentioned you, Megatronus.”

“Really? What did she say?” 

“Something about a gray sentinel who will never lead me astray.” I was surprised by that. Not that I would never try to lead Eragon the wrong way, but that this strange witch knew of me. There was no way rumors of me had somehow outran me from Therisonford, so how could she know of me? “There’s one more thing. She wanted to meet with you, tomorrow at noon, at the strange tree. She said you’ll know it when you see it.” She wanted to meet with me? What could this strange woman possibly want from me? 

“She also said that there was to be a death in my future, and a betrayal by someone close.” He looked visibly distraught sharing that info, and it rubbed off on me and Saphira, who exchanged worried glances. I didn’t know what to say, so I simply put my hand behind the kid’s back, and patted him lightly. He leaned back against my hand, and at the same time Saphira set her head down next to Eragon, and he patted the top of her head lightly. “Your horn is broken,” he said. 

“It was bound to happen sometime.”

“My fault.” I said, and everyone there chuckled lightly.

I really couldn’t think of a good way for Megatronus to learn to fight, and I wanted to include the ACTUAL megatron somehow, and I feel like what I did worked. 

To carrandos: Johan's incident was intended to be foreshadowing, and Jesse actually died . I wasn’t going to transport someone living to Alagaesia.

Once again emphasizing leaving a comment. My motivation to write primarily runs off that, and music. 

See ya!-TheRedLemon

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: witches and family secrets.

The witch must have cast an anger spell on me, because finding this damn ‘strange tree’ was really starting to piss me off. “Where is that crazy woman?” I said to myself, as I broke another tree branch off, not even bothering with my alt mode. Me and Saphira had been trudging through the forest for hours, trying to find the tree that Eragon had told us about. 

“You’re going to destroy half the forest at this rate,” Saphira said as she walked behind me. 

“Well, then maybe I could find her and her damned tree!” 

“She could have given us clearer directions. It still doesn’t justify destroying innocent vegetation.” 

“I know, it’s just… breaking stuff helps with anger.” 

“I’ve never met an elf and I know for a fact they wouldn’t be happy with you right now.”  

“If they had to deal with this crazy woman, they would have made an exception.” I said. 

I was just beginning to consider turning around, when I heard someone to my right say “I'm already not on great terms with them, I'd hoped you wouldn’t kill innocent plants in my name.”

I whirled in the direction of the voice, as did Saphira. I unfolded my fusion cannon and pointed it towards the newcomer. Saphira growled threateningly. A small, fair skinned woman in a green dress and brown corset, brown hair pinned in a bun. For a witch, she looked pretty unassuming. Her unfazed expression told me I was far from the strangest thing she’d seen.

I pointed my weapon at her, letting the glow of a prepared shot illuminate her. “I’ve been walking through this damned forest for hours now, looking for you! You should give me one reason not to vaporise your ass RIGHT NOW!” I yelled, venting at the rage-inducing witch. 

“Because I can tell you why you are here.” The glow from my fusion cannon faded immediately, and I lowered my arm and hid the weapon. “Not what brought you here, or why you’re no longer human, but the effect you are destined to have on this world.” She knew I used to be human? Who is this lady? Saphira stopped growling and her jaw dropped, just as surprised as I was about my biggest secret somehow being known by the witch. 

“How do you know so much?” I asked, completely bewildered. 

“Some secrets are meant never to be shared. Now, shall we start with the fortune-telling?” I nodded for her to proceed, and she sat down next to a tree, took out a leather roll from a small satchel, and unrolled it on the forest floor. She motioned for me to sit down, and I obliged, Saphira taking up a spot next to me. “I assume you’re the young rider’s dragon?” Angela asked, and Saphira nodded accordingly. “You better keep him safe now. Everyone in Alagaesia, even though they don’t know of you yet, is gunning for you both. Him, on the other hand,” Angela said, pointing to me, “Has only appeared in my most recent telling, so his very existence is completely unprecedented.” me and Saphira looked at each other, I shrugged and she shook her head. 

Angela pulled a small bag out of her satchel, and poured the contents into her hand. “The knucklebones of a dragon. I will not say where-” she was interrupted by Saphira lunging at her, stopping an inch from the woman’s face. Angela actually looked the slightest bit scared, staring down the growling blue reptile. “If it makes it any better the dragon these came from was long dead by the time I got my hands on these.” 

Saphira backed down slightly, then said to Angela with enough venom to kill an elephant “that doesn’t explain why they are clearly the bones of a juvenile. Look at my talons,” she said, holding up her talons. Her knucklebones were much larger than those in Angela's possession, so much so that she would need a much larger bag for Saphira’s knuckles. I looked at Angela suspiciously, but before I could make up my mind about trusting her, Spahira said “let the woman have her secrets… for now. I will find some way to have my revenge.” The blue dragon stood up and stalked back the way she came. “I will be waiting a little ways from the witch.” she said as she stalked into the forest. 

Angela looked at the departing dragon, then said “Now that big, blue and moody is gone, shall we continue?” I nodded hesitantly, still not trusting the strange woman. She took the knucklebones in her hands, shouted “Manin! Wyrda! Hugin!” and tossed the bones onto the leather pad. After a moment, she looked at the bones, raised an eyebrow, then said “your future is so unsure, it is more unclear than Eragon's. I have never seen the bones appear in this pattern before. There are only two things I recognize: this indicates long or eternal life,” she said, pointing to one of the bones. “Eragon had that too. And this one-whatever you choose to do, whatever path you take, you will be nigh unstoppable. Only the King is on a level to match your power.” My jaw dropped. I was strong enough to take on the king? I voiced as much, but she quickly stopped me. “But! You have not grown into your full strength yet. It does not tell when, but you do not have the power to battle Galbatorix yet . You will grow into it.” 

I didn’t know what to think of that. This ‘fortune telling’ was not what I expected. I mulled over the info Angela gave me as she packed up her things. This weird lady was a force to be reckoned with. So was I, apparently. I knew Megatron had been strong, but apparently Galbatorix had overthrown an empire essentially all by himself. I was skeptical of my abilities at best, to think that I would have the capacity to take down someone who everyone and their grandma had been gunning for for years apparently. 

“Megatronus?” Angela said. 

“Yes?” I said as I was standing. 

“What is the purpose of those black plates on the back of your arms and legs? They look like they move, but there’s no reason for them to be there.”

I started laughing hysterically. “You know I was human, by far my biggest secret, but you don’t know of something that is now as much a part of me as something like my hair used to be?” I said between gasps.

Angela simply shrugged and raised an eyebrow. I didn’t bother wasting any more time; I switched to my tank form, and slowly too, admiring the surprised expression on her face. “Pretty cool, huh?” I said to the witch. “Your display with the dragon bones was cool, but I think I showed you up quite a bit.”

“That you did,” Angela said, still astonished by the highly complicated transformation sequence. I switched back to robot mode, prompting Angela to watch, enraptured, as the whole process happened in reverse. 

“Thanks for the fortune.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for not blasting me to pieces.” 

“There was no reason to make me traipse through the forest like that.” 

“How else would I have found you?”

“There was never a ‘strange tree’ was there?” I asked as I started to walk off back towards the direction Saphira had gone. The witch cackled as she headed back towards the city. I shook my head, wondering what to make of the strange lady.

“You’re not happy about those dragon bones, are you?” I said to Saphira on our walk back. 

“That crazy old hag. Those bones should be buried with the body they came from. Not with some crazy, fortune-telling pansy.”  

“I feel like you’ll get her back someday.” 

“I sure hope so.”  

The forest was quiet, with only the sound of our heavy footsteps to keep us company. There were no birds chirping, no insects buzzing in the air, only a thump-thump-thump-thump rhythm from me and Saphira. 

“Does it ever bother you?” 

“What?” 

“Being so big. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that I'm going to have a serious problem interacting with anybody should I get any bigger.”

“The only human I worry about interacting with is Eragon. And the mental link makes that very easy. I suppose you have a bit more of a hard time, because you value human interaction so much more.”

“And I'm worried about crushing someone if they get under my feet without me realizing it. And if I join the war against Galbatorix, I'll certainly have to kill people. I don’t know if I want to do that.” 

“You might have to. But keep in mind that many of the soldiers who want to keep Galbatorix in power.”

“Don’t forget those who were conscripted and we have no choice but to kill.” 

“The king probably has binding oaths on all of his soldiers, so we’re doing them a favor if we kill them.” 

“You have a point, but I still don’t like it.” 

We walked in silence the rest of the way back to the clearing.

Saphira walked off into the forest to get food when we got back, and she offered to bring me back some. I declined, putting off trying to eat anything. While Saphira was gone, I analyzed myself to a downright scientific degree. I turned my joints in all different directions, taking note of every click, whir, and clank that my joints made. I swung my arms and legs in different directions, seeing that some plates shifted as I moved, some shook as they absorbed the shock from my steps. My alt-mode was no less intricate.

Me and Saphira spent the next couple of days practice-fighting, I mostly played defensively, not wanting to cause any more damage to Saphira than I already had. Despite that, we quickly discovered that I was more than a match for her in both weight and strength. She was faster than me though, often jumping over my head, grabbing me by the neck from behind, and slamming me down on the ground. I found out that switching to my tank mode before she could grab me often helped. I still ended up with a few scratches where the three claws on the front of her feet gouged my armor. That didn’t hurt, but it sure did when she accidentally jammed her horn into my knee joint. 

“Gah! Ow! What the hell?” I yelled as I collapsed from the force of the headbutt. I accidentally pulled saphira down with me, her still sharp horn jammed in my knee. She tugged a couple times, her head twisted at an angle that would have been painful had her neck been shorter. 

“I’m stuck.” 

“Well, shit. Now what?” 

“You need to pull my head out. I can't seem to lift my head from your knee, and I don't want to damage you.” 

“You sure?”

“Just do it, ironbrains.”

Obliging, I put one of my hands on each side of her head. Careful not to hurt her, I sharply pulled her head away from the side of my knee where her horn was jammed. My knee erupted in a shower of sparks. It really hurt, like someone had jammed a red-hot poker into the side of my joint. I gritted my smooth teeth, grabbing for something to pull myself up on, before I remembered that I was in the middle of the clearing and there was nothing to grab onto. I decided it was best if I just lay there until my knee stopped looking like a 4th of July sparkler. 

After a couple minutes, I looked up, seeing Saphira staring at me, flabbergasted. “Guess you got me back for the horn after all,” I said. She simply nodded, not saying anything. I looked down at my knee, hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. I immediately noticed the trickle of glowing blue energon that was coming from the joint. That wasn’t good, but it didn’t look terrible. I attempted to stand, and as I moved the wounded knee, a couple small sparks came from it, but not much. It didn’t hurt anymore, but moving it felt like poking a fresh bruise. I hoped the injury didn’t impair my ability to transform. I stood, my leg sparking a small amount. 

Saphira approached and sniffed the joint, wrinkling her nose. “That blue fluid smells like melted metal.” 

“It’s basically my blood. I hope it’ll stop flowing in a couple minutes. I’m going to put off mode-switching, don't want to overwork it.” Saphira nodded, and laid down. I looked up, and sheesh, it was getting late. I stood and walked over to the tree where I had been sleeping the past couple days and sat down against it, my knee still occasionally sparking. I fell asleep pretty easily.

I was once again poked awake by Saphira, much earlier than normal. “Eragon has told me they are leaving. They wish to meet off the road, far from the city. I woke you early because you will need extra time to leave the forest. I will walk with you most of the way.” I appreciated that Saphira wanted to keep me company. 

“Thanks for that. There’s one thing I gotta do before we go.” I looked down at my knee, and to my relief it had stopped bleeding, with no sparks. I moved it up and down, back and forth, only seeing one spark. I huffed, or mimicked huffing with whatever made those noises in the back of my mouth, and switched modes. It went smoothly for the most part, my wounded leg was stiff but complied with the sequence.

When we met Eragon and Brom outside the city, the trading hub was nothing but a small grey blob in the distance. We had been walking for a couple hours, Saphira taking off halfway through our walk, so I switched to my tank mode and drove the rest of the way there, making for much better speed.  Me and Saphira ended up waiting behind the treeline for the two, somehow having beat them to the spot we chose to meet up. Saphira was circling in the clouds, enjoying flying after having been on the ground for a couple days. 

“What do you think’s taking them so long?” I asked Saphira after we had been waiting for over half an hour. I was still in tank mode, not seeing any reason to make myself easier to see. 

“I have no clue. They are most likely riding slow so as to not attract attention." I supposed that was as good an answer as any. 

After a while, we saw the dynamic duo coming up the road. Or I did. I kept forgetting others couldn’t zoom in their vision like me. I rolled out onto the road as they reached us, shouting a greeting. 

“I don’t think I'll ever get used to something that looks like an inanimate object greeting me.” Eragon said. I chuckled at that, pulling up behind them. Saphira dove from the clouds, descending at a speed that would have turned a skydiver pale. She leveled out just above the treeline, and came to a dramatic stop in front of us. Eragon eagerly hopped off Cadoc, tossed the reins to Brom and gave Saphira the closest thing to a bear hug he could, while she pushed him closer to her chest with the underside of her head, no doubt having a silent conversation with her rider. Brom smiled at the pair with a wistful look in his eyes. Eragon went around her side, hopped on her back, told us he’d meet us for lunch, and took off. 

“Why’s her horn broken?” Brom asked as they flew up into the sky.

“Sparring got a bit… intense. She got me back though.” 

“Your voice is different,” He immediately said as I pulled up beside him. 

“Long story. I’ll tell you tonight. Just wait till you see my face.” 

Brom shrugged, and spurred the horses into movement. We picked up the pace pretty quickly, moving at a decent 25 MPH.

Eragon ended up switching to his horse at lunch, having been sore from riding Saphira for hours. He then started to probe Brom about his past again. 

“I need to talk to you. I wanted to do it when we first arrived in Teirm, but I decided to wait until now.” Eragon said. 

“What about?” Brom asked. I resigned myself to another day listening to Eragon probe Brom with different questions while he continued to dance around the questions.

“There’s a lot going on that I don’t understand. For instance, who are your ‘friends,’ and why were you hiding in Carvahall? I trust you with my life—which is why I’m still traveling with you—but I need to know more about who you are and what you are doing. What did you steal in Gil’ead, and what is the tuatha du orothrim that you’re taking me through? I think that after all that’s happened, I deserve an explanation.” 

“You eavesdropped on us.” 

“Only once,”

Eragon then went on with a whole grocery list of suspicions he had of Brom, odd coincidences, the ‘storyteller’s’ nearly bottomless store of knowledge, all while the old man avoided every question with an intentionally vague answer or calling Eragon rude for not minding his own business. I have to admit, the kid had a point. What was the old man so keen on hiding? And what damage could it do if Eragon knew? It must have been a pretty big secret. 

“I can't afford to ignore anything that could be dangerous.” Eragon went on. 

“You won’t wait?” Brom asked. Eragon shook his head. “I'll tell you, but I will not reveal everything. There are many others intertwined in my story. You’ll have to talk to them to know the rest.” 

“There are reasons for my secretiveness. I’ve tried to protect you by shielding you from forces that would tear you apart. Once you know of them and their purposes, you’ll never have the chance to live quietly. You will have to choose sides and make a stand. Do you really want to know?” 

“I cannot live my life in ignorance,” said Eragon quietly.

 “A worthy goal. . . . Very well: there is a war raging in Alagaësia between the Varden and the Empire. Their conflict, however,reaches far beyond any incidental armed clashes. They are locked in a titanic power struggle . . . centered around you both.” Brom said, looking back at me, then to Eragon. That took me off guard. 

“Me?” Eragon and I both said in unison, looking at each other. 

“That’s impossible. I don’t have anything to do with either of them.” Eragon said. 

“I know what they would want with me and Eragon, but nobody but you two and Saphira know of us!” 

“Not yet,” said Brom, “But your very existence is the focus of their battles. The Varden and the Empire aren’t fighting to control this land or its people. Their goal is to control the next generation of Riders and…” He trailed off, looking at me. 

“Transformer, Cybertronian, whatever you wanna call me.” I filled in for him. 

“Whatever you are, you and Eragon are currently the focus of every major power.” 

Eragon’s face contorted, thinking of all the people who were suddenly interested in him and me. If my face had been visible, it probably would have looked about the same. I knew exactly what Eragon was thinking. “You’re probably not exactly used to being a celebrity, huh?” I asked the kid. 

He shook his head. “If I was anything back in Carvahall, I was just another face in the crowd. I was the only one who could get around in the spine though…” 

“I wasn’t exactly a sensation back home either, just kind of ‘the weird kid’.” 

Brom interrupted, saying “you are a giant metal man who can turn into a piece of artillery, and you were unremarkable? That only makes sense if everyone from where you came from is even more strange than you.” 

“I didn’t always look like this.” I said, seeing no better time than now to tell him my secret. 

“So that means you were…” 

“Human. Just as tiny, fleshy and squishy as you two. Eragon and Saphira already know, but if there’s anybody else who should, it’s you. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss my old life, but I don't exactly miss being vulnerable to everything.” Brom looked at me, astonished. 

“I can’t imagine what that must have been like, losing everything like that. I'm truly sorry, Megatronus.” 

“Thanks. Although who I ended up with ain’t exactly bad. You, Eragon and Saphira are some of my best friends, even compared to my old life. Cross my spark.” he smiled at me in thanks and… wait. Cross my spark? I thought it was ‘cross my heart’? I thought about the thing that gave me life, the thing in my chest, and to my surprise I immediately thought of spark. I still knew what a heart was, but my mind now immediately went to spark. That was weird. Didn’t seem harmful though, so I saw no reason to think otherwise. A spark was the thing keeping me alive. 

Before I could continue that train of thought, Eragon pointed something out. “You said Saphira was the last free dragon. Where is this ‘new generation’ of dragon riders supposed to come from?” 

“I lied about the dragons. There are currently two viable dragon eggs, still in the king's possession. Saphira used to be within the king’s clutches, but she was stolen and is now your dragon.” 

“So there soon could be two dragon riders loyal to the king?” 

“Exactly, There is a deadly race in progress. Galbatorix is desperately trying to find the people for whom his eggs will hatch, while the Varden are employing every means to kill

his candidates or steal the eggs.”

“But where did Saphira’s egg come from? How could anyone have gotten it away from the king? And why do you know all of this?”

“So many questions. There is another side to this story, one far older than you. I hated the empire, for reasons I'll keep to myself, and wanted to damage it in whatever way I could. I met Jeod, who claimed to know of a secret passageway into the castle, and we brought this info to the Varden. They launched a mission to steal the eggs, but were only able to get away with Saphira’s.  The man who stole the egg made off with it himself, and I had to race against Morzan to track him down.” I had no idea who this ‘morzan’ was , but judging by Eragon’s shocked expression, he was quite the character. Brom went on for a while, explaining how he had killed Morzan, sent the egg to the Varden, and hid in Carvahall. 

I wondered what role I could have in all of this. It would probably be pretty easy to break into Galbatorix’s castle, but the big man himself was another story. If what I heard was true, at this size he could crush me as easily as I could crush a squirrel. I’d have to hold off on a direct assault on him until I was strong enough and I knew what kind of hornet’s nest I'd be poking. 

“What do you think about all this, Saphira?” i mentally asked the dragon. Due to the sheer weirdness of mental contact, I had been avoiding mental contact, but now it was necessary. 

“This is a lot to process. The only thing I know I can do is keep Eragon safe. As you said, no use worrying about what you can't change, just focus on what you can.” 

“But what can I do? I know that I want to join this resistance movement, but if you and Eragon decide to go somewhere far away and avoid the war altogether, I'll have to leave you behind.” 

“I’m already certain that I want to join the fight against the Empire. It’s only a matter of time before Eragon chooses the same.” Taking that comfort to heart, I focused on the literal road ahead.

After we had stopped for the day, Saphira, and I were sitting in a clearing, as usual, and Eragon was out looking for streams to fill the waterskins with. Brom was hunting for firewood. I was in robot mode, just about to ask Saphira something, when She snarled and shook her hand. “What happened? Bug bite?” I asked. 

“No, Eragon has broken his wrist.”  

“Should I go get him?” I asked. 

“Would you? I can’t fit through the trees.”

“How do you like the taste of your own medicine?” I said smugly. She glared at me as I switched to tank mode and drove through the trees. 

As I was about to cross the treeline, saphira mentally yelled at me “urgals! Get to Eragon quickly!” Turning dead serious, I sped through the forest to the best of my ability, crushing trees that were in my way, and as I was turning around a particularly thick tree trunk, I almost flattened Eragon, who was cradling his wrist and wincing. I stopped dead in my tracks, skidding a few feet. 

“Get on.” I told him, and he did the best he could, jumping up onto my left tread fender, and I turned around and headed back to camp. 

“I saw a fresh Urgal track. Be ready to shoot.” Eragon said. I gave him an OK, readying my cannon to fire. Every little shadow now looked like a threat to my squishy passenger, and I prayed to primus that there wouldn’t be any urgals. There it was again. Primus, not god . Worry about that later. 

As I saw the campsite come into view, I called out, making sure they knew it was me. Eragon jumped off, and asked Saphira where Brom was. She lifted her claws, revealing the cussing old man. Eragon immediately explained the situation to him. “Saddle the horses. We’re leaving. Wait, what’s wrong with your arm?” 

“Wrist’s broken.” 

“Damn.” Brom quickly saddled the horses for them both. I once again offered to give Eragon a ride. Eragon accepted, hopping atop the middle of my hull, wrapping his good arm around whatever hold he could find. 

“Let’s go.” I said. We took off, Saphira flying low as Urgal deterrent, as if I wasn't scary enough already. We travelled for a couple hours, the sky turning red and orange. We stopped, about a mile from where we had originally planned to stay the night. Brom put his index finger to his lips, telling everyone to shush. Saphira landed, quieting the flapping of her wings. “I don’t hear anyth-” I started to say, getting cut off by a horn sounding off in the distance. I assumed that was bad.  

“They’re going to chase us as far as they can now. They do not easily let prey escape.” 

“Well, let’s quit yapping and run!” I yelled, speeding past Brom and Saphira, Eragon still on my roof. A second horn sounded, much closer. Saphira and Brom were hot on my rear. I could see the kid, wincing with every little rock and pothole I hit on the road. The horns gradually got quieter in the distance, and we slowed down, Saphira now slightly ahead of us. Brom rode up alongside us, looking exhausted. 

“We’ve gotten away from them for now, but we must keep going. They will track us as long as th-” another horn sounded, only a few hundred feet from us. 

I sped up, Brom doing the same, when Eragon suddenly yelled “Stop!” 

“Are you crazy?” I yelled at him, wondering if the pain in his wrist was too much for him. 

“You and Saphira can scare them off!” I thought that over. It was a terrible idea. It was the only choice we had. Me and Saphira could keep going easily, Brom couldn’t. “Saphira already knows what’s going on. Are you ready?” he asked. I said yes. “Three, two, one, NOW!” he shouted. I stopped, doing a 180 as my transformation launched Eragon in the air as I pointed my fusion cannon at the attackers. As I reached my full height in robot mode, Eragon was just starting to fall, but he ended up only dropping a couple inches onto my right shoulder. Saphira landed to my left, snarling and spreading her wings in a display of size. 

Brom stopped by my left leg, probably figuring out what our plan was and knowing there was no way to stop us. 

“Would you rather sit on Saphira?” 

“No. if things get dicey, transfer me to her back, so you can fight without worrying about me, but for now, this provides me with an excellent lookout post.” looked at the trees surrounding us, and tensed as humanoid shapes emerged. First, only two, then six. then finally, twelve. They looked like the closest things to Piglins that I had ever seen. Ratty clothes and armor, grey skin, upturned noses, and curled rams horns on each side of their head. In the evening light, they were unintimidated by Saphira, but as they looked towards me their eyes flashed with fear and a wave of uneasiness swept through the crowd of urgals. Nevertheless, one that was taller, bigger, and more battle-scarred than the others stepped forward. 

“Our master wishes to speak with you, human!” He said, pointing at Eragon. I flipped him the bird, fusion cannon ominously glowing under the offensive gesture. “It’s a trap. Don’t listen.” Saphira said to both of us. 

“We should still hear him out,” Eragon said. “Who is your master?” he called from between my shoulder and head. 

“His name does not deserve to be given to one as low as yourself. He rules the sky and holds dominance ov-” he was cut off as iI pointed my fusion cannon at him aggressively. 

“The name of your chicken-shit leader or your life.” I said, letting the purple glow build, illuminating his face. 

He gulped, then continued “Durza the shade has requested that you be brought to him alive.” Eragon stiffened. I guess a shade was bad news. He kept his resolve, though. 

“I’ll never go with you or your foul master.  I will not parley with that breed of twisted fiend!” 

The Urgal leader snarled. “A grave mistake. You will stand before him soon. Your resistance will bring nothing but pain.” 

“Well, as long as I am free, your master can lick my boot!” Eragon’s expression hardened, and he got a look on his face. I knew that look. Every time Eragon lifted a stone or did something else with magic he got that look. Before I could stop him, he raised his broken wrist, and shouted “Jierda!” beams of light emanated out from his palm, launching every Urgal  hundreds of feet away.

wow. This chapter is over 1000 words longer than normal. 

I figured if anyone knows about Megatronus already, it would be angela. She’s too damn weird not to. 

Megatronus is slowly beginning to think more like a Cybertronian because Megatron occupied a small portion of his brain module that contained a lot of habits and some instincts. So his brain is working with all the new info now. Don’t worry, he himself is not in danger, he’s just gonna have a slightly different thought process and vocabulary now. 

I’m probably gonna write longer chapters over more time, so i won’t be updating as much. Still probably every week-two weeks now.

cya!-TheRedLemon

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: family secrets

It took us two whole days to track down the urgals, and some still got away. Every time Brom rode with me while Saphira searched overhead, I could feel the old man thinking of all the creative curses he would throw at Eragon.  

“The kid tried to think quickly and do the best he could. Cut him some slack.” I said as we drove back to the camp we had made. He was sitting at the front of my midsection, ready to hop off and dispatch an Urgal with his sword should I whiff a shot. It had been a day since the ambush, and we had eliminated seven out of twelve of the urgals, not wanting them to carry information about our whereabouts back to their leader, Durza. Brom had informed me that he was REALLY bad news, being stronger than Eragon and Brom both physically and magically. 

“That doesn’t excuse the illogical spellcasting. There are so many better ways he could have gone about killing the Urgals. He didn’t have to launch them halfway to Uru’baen!” The old man had been furious all day. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was acting like an angry dad after his kid had done something stupid. 

“He tried to help. I would have stopped him, but I realized what he was up to too late. You really care about him, huh?” 

He closed his eyes and looked at the ground rushing below my treads. “More than you know. Thank you for caring about him so much.” 

“No biggie.” 

“Before Eragon wakes, I need to tell you and Saphira something extremely important concerning him.” What a surprise. Brom had more secrets.

When I arrived back at the campsite, Eragon was still out cold. No surprise there. Saphira wasn’t back yet, probably still flying above, looking for the escaped Urgals. I switched to my robot mode, and sat down against a tree, looking at the low-smoke fire that Brom had built and was tending at the moment. It was late in the day, and I was beginning to doze off, when I was pulled back to reality by the sound of flapping wings. The big blue dragon landed in the clearing with a thump , and immediately went over to check on her rider. Her head drooped and she rumbled sadly when he showed no signs of waking. 

“At least he’s still alive.” 

“That doesn’t mean I have no reason to worry. He may never wake up.”

“If he’s asleep for too long Brom can surely come up with some magical way to wake him up.” She walked over and laid down next to me staring at the brown-haired kid. “Brom has something to tell us later.” 

“What is it?” 

“I have no idea. He just said it involves Eragon.”

“More secrets?” 

“More secrets.”

It was at that moment that Brom stood from his spot at the fire, walked over to a fallen tree at the opposite side of the glade where we were camped, and sat down on it. Me and Saphira exchanged looks, wondering what he could be about to tell us. 

“Both of you need to be trusted with something very important. I need you two to both promise in the ancient language that you will not reveal this to Eragon, unless I meet my end, and even then, it must be the right time for him to know.” He then looked at us intently, clearly waiting for an answer. 

I looked at Saphira, and she looked at me. “What are we gonna do? Refuse?” she shrugged. “Tell me what to say, boss.” I said, turning my attention back to Brom. He gave me and Saphira the words to say, and it was long. I had been much less attentive to the ancient language instructions that he had given to Eragon, so I had no idea what I was apparently binding my soul to, but I trusted Brom not to take advantage of me in any way. When I said my oath, I felt… something in my chest, like a small tugging that went away after a few seconds. Apparently those words had real power behind them. 

“I… am Eragon’s father.” My jaw dropped. I think a spark flew from my neck. Saphira had a reaction that was much the same. We both stared at him, wide-eyed, as he looked at his feet in sadness. 

“Of all the things I didn't see coming, I saw that one coming the least.” I said, absolutely astonished. This guy had been living in Carvahall for most of Eragon's life, and he didn’t even bother to tell him? I didn’t know what to think. 

“I haven’t told him any of this because my past is so dangerous. Brom the storyteller is a much less dangerous person than Brom as a whole. You two are the only people who I can trust with this.” I scraped my finger against my gauntlets, causing a couple of sparks to fly off. Saphira was no less antsy, having started to carve long furrows into the ground with her claws. I looked at Brom, and he looked like the saddest, worn and beaten down old man I had ever seen. “It pains me very much to keep this from him. I hope you can understand my motivations.” 

“I don’t necessarily understand why you couldn’t tell him and keep your dangerous secrets to yourself, but I know how far parents will go to keep their kids safe. You have your reasons and I'm not going to question them.” Brom looked up and smiled at me.  

“Saphira, I need to give you a message for Eragon.” 

“I do not understand why you tell us this now. It’s almost as if you know you don’t have much time left.”  

Brom hung his head, and I seemed to be the only one to notice his lips moving slightly, as if he was talking to himself. “However, it is not my place to question your request. Proceed with your message.” Brom then casted a spell on Saphira that would hide the memory-message from Eragon. I had never seen the old man so sad. It clearly hurt him quite a bit to keep the secret from Eragon. Saphira was visibly disheartened too, wings drooping and claws dragging. 

The message Brom had for Eragon was very poetic. He talked about his past with Eragon's mother, who he said was named Selena. He went on for about fifteen minutes with his message, clearly having planned it out for a while.

We tracked down one last Urgal that day. 

Brom was riding with Saphira, heading back towards Terim, and I was going east, towards our next destination, Dras-leona. Apparently the largest quantities of Sethir oil were being shipped there. As I drove through the forest the next day, I wondered if I could help with the Ra’zac in any way. The biggest problem would be my size. I had no radio communication, from what I had heard of magic a spell that would let me see through their eyes wouldn’t work, and shrinking me down would probably take more energy than both of the humans had. 

I remembered something Megatron had said about ‘this body came with a few perks’. I assumed he was talking about his abilities. I combed through my memories of the comics. Extreme strength, durability, antimatter manipulation? (Maybe when I won't kill everything in a 500 foot radius should something go wrong.) He did have some spacebridge bits in his body, and what else? None of this was inherently helpful, if not actively a detriment. 

Then I remembered: his pistol mode. The giant ‘con had turned into a human-fitting pistol, and wasn’t as dense as a black hole. “Mass shifting,” I said to myself, still looking out for Urgals. I resolved to experiment with trying to mass-shift when I wasn't hunting down discount orcs. 

The forest around me was all quiet, save the click-click-click-click of my tracks, when I heard a sharp snap to my right. I stopped immediately. Looking around revealed nothing, so I transformed to get a better look at the area around me. Nothing immediately caught my eye, so I walked to the left, hoping to make the Urgal who had made that noise run from his hiding spot. I was immediately rewarded by the sound of stealthy (attempted) footsteps slowly creeping away. I whipped around, pointed my fusion cannon and blasted him to pieces. I looked up at the sun, and it was almost time to head back to the campsite, so I transformed and headed back to the camp. 

As I drove, I thought about mass shifting more, when I realized something much more relevant. Every single Urgal that I had killed so far was a living, breathing, thinking being. I stopped dead in my tracks. Literally. What had I done? I had killed those urgals because they were following orders they probably had no choice but to. As I resumed my trek back to camp, I got more and more bothered by the prospect that I had killed someone. I had ended a life. I was no better than those who I had ended. My thoughts went down darker paths. What would mom think? What would grandpa think? I was a murderer. And I hadn't killed in self-defence either.

As I arrived back at the campsite my thoughts and mood were no better. Eragon showed no signs of waking, so I simply parked on the side of the campsite and fell asleep, hoping for nicer dreams or no dreams at all. 

I didn’t even activate my optics as I was woken by the sound of beating wings, I pretended to still be asleep. I fooled Brom, but was not so lucky with Saphira. 

“What’s wrong? Respond mentally, you clearly don’t want to talk.” 

“I’m fine. Trying to sleep.” I said, trying to find an excuse for her to leave me alone.

“Bullshit you’re fine. Your cannon is pointed down and your suspension is loose. What happened?” I had taught everyone about the basics of my mechanical bits. Now I regret it. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fine.” I was then pressed down even farther onto the ground, so much that my undercarriage was pressing against the dirt below. I switched on my optics and looked up. All I saw was blue. I transformed, which knocked the tenacious blue reptile onto the ground. I promptly switched back to my alt-mode, which earned a confused look from Brom. I was once again laid on by 4 tons of dragon. I transformed again, and walked off into the forest, Saphira following without hesitation, a devious grin splitting her muzzle. Brom looked at me, seeming concerned. 

“Stop following me.”

“What’s wrong?” 

“Leave me alone.” 

“Spill it.”

I unfolded my fusion cannon, turned around, and blasted the tree next to her. It toppled, unable to support its own weight. She jumped to the side and continued towards me, undeterred. 

“What’s gotten into you?”

“Im no better than those fucking urgals.” 

“My scaly ass.”

I was fed up with her. “I KILLED THEM! I killed someone who had done nothing wrong to me, and probably had no choice but to attack me! Happy now? Go away.” I continued to stalk off into the forest, and Saphira actually stayed put. Until she didn’t. I felt a scaly hand on my shoulder and turned on her, ready to give her a much more direct warning. 

I was pulling my fist back, when Saphira said “you did it to keep someone safe. That’s far from as bad as an Urgal.” I dropped my arm. 

“You really think so?”

“What matters is the intention. They kill because they enjoy it. You killed because you had to.” I sat down.

“That still doesn't justify killing, under any circumstances.” She looked at me exasperatedly, looking like she was about to say something, when Brom decided to show up at that exact moment. Saphira turned to look at him, most likely filling him in on what was wrong. 

“I assume taking a life is much rarer where you come from?” He asked as he walked up to me. I nodded. Climbed up on my knee so he could look me in the eye. “Killing is no light act. The only thing you can do here is to set yourself apart from those who you kill. Why does it bother you so much? You had good intentions.” 

I shrugged, causing my shoulders to clank and whir. “I’ve never killed anything before. Never even crossed my mind before. Even when I killed the Urgals before now.” 

Brom looked down, then back at me. “I went through this too. I had just met… a friend, and then the rider war broke out. Obviously the forsworn had their fair share of mortal followers, and I had to fight for the riders. I still remember the first person I ended.” Brom got a faraway look on his face, looking back on the moment. “He was terrified, clearly not knowing what he had gotten himself into. He was pinned to the wall with my sword. I saw directly into his eyes, and I don't even think he saw me .” The old man looked down in shame. “I spent the rest of the battle sitting against a wall, wondering if I should run myself through with my sword. If my friend hadn’t torn down half the castle trying to find me, I probably would have sat there till I died.” I raised my eyebrow at him, wondering where he was going with all of this. “The point is, don’t let things like that affect you too much. It’s a part of life here. I don’t think you’ll get used to it immediately. You will have to come to terms with it though. But for now, you should take a break from Urgal hunting.” 

And with that, he dropped off my leg, and walked back towards camp, leaving me and saphira alone in the forest. I leaned to the side, looking at the smoking tree stump I had blasted. How did I let myself get so emotional that I threatened my friend like that? Saphira must have known what I was thinking, because she stepped in front of my line of sight, and said "don't blame yourself. Everyone does stupid shit when they’re emotional.”

I looked up at her. She had grown a little bit more in the two weeks that we spent traveling to Terim. She now stood about two feet higher than me when I was sitting. “Thanks.” I said, still not entirely cured of my thoughts, but Brom’s talk had helped. 

As I stood and proceeded to walk back, Saphira at my side, I tried to focus on something else. Thankfully, my ADHD took over and immediately drew my thoughts back to mass-shifting, all but completely removing my less-than-pleasant thoughts. I had no idea where to even start with it, so I settled on closing my eyes and just imagining I was shrinking. I could’ve sworn I felt myself start to reduce in size, when I ran face-first into a tree. I heard the signature snrk-snrk-snrk of dragon laughter behind me. I turned and glared at her. She immediately stopped and looked everywhere but my eyes. I couldn't help myself. I cracked that mini-laugh that you do when you’re trying to hold in a laugh. Saphira did her own approximation of it. We both busted out laughing.

This chapter didn’t turn out to be what I hoped it would be. I'm posting it early and moving on. 

I’m tossing the idea around in my head for an original work that involves someone getting turned into a dragon, but they end up a part of the fire department. Ice breath, fireproof scales, what’s not to love? Lmk what you think about that. 

I need a beta reader please. 

If you wanna chat with me my insta is in my bio. 

-TheRedLemon. (ps: PEDAwriter, you’re my goat)

Chapter Text

Little bonus chapter cuz i wont be posting the full one this week.

Optimus had no idea what to make of the 'bot he used to call Megatron. After his journey on the lost light in an attempt to be judged by the long-lost knights of Cybertron, and their faliure to find the aforementioned knights, he had been subsequently executed for his crimes. He didn't think he'd ever see megatron's lifeless frame ever again, much less walking, talking and helping a blue dragon and a couple of humans. 

Him and a few other autobots had been in this new world for about an orbital cycle, with no signs of anything transporting them there. 

The strangest thing about megatron was that he wasn't acting like himself at all. Nor did he sound like himself. He had been tailing the now-living bot for a couple days, the other autobots only thinking that he was out scouting for energon. He had to get answers from Megatron, but now wasn't the righ time. the blue dragon landed, and the elder human was now reprimanding the younger one for something. Megatron was watching without interuppting, seemingly having a silent conversation with the dragon. 

The autobot leader stood and walked away, careful not to make any noise that might give him away, transformed into his alt-mode, and drove off, back in the direction of the others.

Extremely busy with the school play at the moment, so the full size chapter won't be out till next week. 

Optimus and the others (haven't decided who the others are yet) are not going to appear anywhere else for a while. They will for sure, don't get me wrong, but not yet. As Optimus thought, not the right time. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: tiny again

It turns out shrinking back down to human size after being as tall as a house for a month and a half comes with its own set of challenges. 

It was the morning after I had my realization of what I had done. Thanks to Brom’s talk and Saphira’s non-stop friendliness, I was feeling a bit better, but it was still nagging at the back of my mind. I was staying back, watching Eragon while Brom and Saphira tracked down the remaining urgals. I was trying to figure out how to mass-shift. I knew I had been making progress, thanks to an eye-level notch that Saphira had carved into one of the trees. There had been multiple times where I had opened my eyes while imagining myself shrinking, and I had seen the mark slightly above the top of my head, but the moment I opened my eyes I shot back up to my normal height, with a clank as some of my armor plates shifted back into place. I had taken note of some of my largest pieces of armor not shrinking with me, but I had no idea what to do with them. 

Eragon was groaning and rolling back and forth in his sleep occasionally, but he never woke up. Brom had set his wrist and made some stew for him if he woke up. On my tenth-something attempt to shrink, I decided to pay close attention to how my largest armor plates felt, as I had when trying to figure out my transformations. Shrinking again, I noticed something that felt off in my shoulder plates, my largest chucks of armor. I focused on the sensation, not daring to open my eyes for fear of losing focus. It seemed like there was something that felt really tense in my shoulders, like when you need to stretch in the morning. When I attempted to stretch whatever it was, I was greeted by a pshhh, clank sound. Unable to stop myself, I opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed was my shoulder plates, lying on the ground. A second pair of smaller, much smoother plates had appeared underneath. “Huh. detachable armor.” 

I reached down to pick up the detached plates, but before I could touch them, one rolled towards the other, and they stuck together, combining into a very mechanical looking cube. I jumped back, surprised by my body parts moving on their own. I picked up the cube, horrified, and was jumpscared again when the cube split in two, and two smaller cubes attached to my shoulders, but they reformed, turning back into my shoulder plates. I regained a couple feet in  height. I stood in the middle of the clearing, completely shocked. After taking a couple seconds to process the whole armor-with-a-mind-of-its own thing, I refocused, attempting to shrink once again. 

This time I was successful. Armor plates detached, I shrunk, pieces of me rolled towards each other, combining into a form resembling my tank mode. Two large black tracks on each side, one big cannon on the right side, autobot symbol on the front, blocky and unusual looking, as all Cybertronian alt-modes are. I still had my cannon though, it popped out of my arm in the usual spot. I was still very silver and mechanical looking, with the autobot symbol on the middle of my chest, but I was a lot smoother and cut-down. My tank cannon on my back was missing too. My feet and legs were still pretty much the same, just skinnier. I actually reminded myself of old me, which was a comfort. 

Something felt… missing, though. Like I was incomplete. Imagine forgetting your arm at home, but you can’t remember that you forgot it. I was still bulkier than the average human, though. It didn’t feel right. Like a part of me was… missing. It quite literally was the case, but I felt incomplete. It wasn’t a horrible feeling, but I would definitely rather be complete.

I still had alt-mode parts, like the usual tracks on the backs of my arms and legs. My tank mode like this was drastically different, with only my fusion cannon in the middle of my chassis, and It swiveled on an axis. I assumed that touching the tank made out of my discarded bits would cause them to reattach, so I held off on that. Then a thought came to me: could I move the tank while like this?

I turned to the discarded parts of my body, and imagined them moving. Nothing complicated, just a simple forwards movement. It rolled forwards without a hitch. I willed it to stop. It stopped. Then another thought hit me: could it transform? The thought disturbed me. Would my head be there? How would I control it? Wouldit have a mind of its own? No better way to find out then try. After a couple minutes of trying, I had no luck. Some armor plates shifted, but I assumed it wasn’t possible. I knew I had a T-cog, so it must be a part of tiny me. 

After I had pulled everything back onto myself, I noticed how small everything felt. I had gotten used to being eye level with the trees, but being human-sized again put everything into perspective. It was weird. Speaking of humans, Eragon chose that time to wake up. I wanted to surprise everyone with my newfound ability, so I made the decision not to tell anyone… yet. 

The kid sat up rapidly, immediately groaning and laying back down. 

“Regretting some decisions, are we?” I teased. 

“Where’s Saphira? I can’t sense her.”

“Out looking for urgals with Brom. You flung each one about a quarter mile.” he groaned again and flopped back onto his bedroll.

 “How long was I out?”

“All day yesterday, and since the whole incident with the urgals. Brom made ya stew.” I pointed to the pot of stew over the fire. He less stood, more dragged himself over to the pot of food. He ate like he hadn’t eaten in days. 

When he was finished, he stood, and walked into the forest. “Where ya going?” I asked, chasing after him with the usual thump thump thump.  

“I have to do something. Knowing you, you won’t believe your eyes.” I wondered what the kid had up his sleeve. We eventually reached a small stream, and we knelt by it, Eragon closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. It was my turn to be astonished. A clear image of Saphira, Brom on her back, formed on the surface of the water. I couldn’t believe my eyes. 

“It’s called scrying. It’s basically a magical version of that light-image thing that you do.”

“Hologram” I filled in for him. 

I ran my mechanical fingers through the image causing it to distort, but it stayed. Eragon glowered at me for a second, then went back to staring at the water. He waved his hand over the water a second time, and the image changed. At first it was black, but then it switched to an image of a woman with black hair on a stone jail bed. “Who’s that?” I asked, but Eragon shushed me as the image flickered, without any interference from me this time.

“I need to focus,” he said. The woman was clearly malnourished, her cheeks were sunken in and she was very pale. She rolled in her sleep, and her hair moved out of the way, exposing her ears. They were pointed. “An elf?” we both said at the same time. I don’t know why I was so surprised. An elf was far from the strangest thing I had seen here. Suddenly, she opened her eyes, and stared directly at us, before falling back down, seemingly asleep. The watery image faded. 

“This shouldn't be possible,” Eragon said, standing up and pacing. “I-I only saw her in a dream. You can’t scry things you haven’t seen. H-H how did i-”

“Chill out,” I said, reaching a large hand towards him. I put my hand on his back, calming him down. 

“What I just did shouldn't be possible.”

“You’ll have to ask Brom when he gets back. Speaking of, we should probably be getting back, too.” I picked him up and placed him between my head and neck. 

As we walked back, I had to ask the kid something. 

“What happened? There’s no reason you should be bothered by that… elf.” 

“I wouldn’t normally. It's just… I've only seen that woman in a dream. The rules of scrying dictate you can only see things that you have seen before. Dreams don’t count.” 

“Elves use a lot of magic right? Maybe she projected herself to you, in your dream. So it was something you saw, a real location or person, just in your sleep.” 

“I suppose that makes sense.” he got a faraway look in his eyes, clearly deep in thought. “Should we help her?”

“We don’t even know where she is. Maybe that shade guy has her?” 

“I sure hope not. Then we have no hope of getting her then.” 

“Well, we can’t just sit here and watch her die.”

“I guess we can ask Brom when he gets back.” Eragon nodded, ending the conversation.

Brom and Saphira got back around mid-afternoon. The moment he landed, the old man proceeded to jump off and chew Eragon out. 

“For the past day and a half, I've been cleaning up your mess. Do you have any idea what your little stunt pulled?” 

“Megatronus filled me in.” he said, looking down in shame. 

“Even with the help of our two giant friends, three urgals escaped! You could have sent a rock through each one of their heads, but no, you just had to launch them halfway to Terim! And now we have a shade on our trail, and they know of Megatronus, too.”

Brom got closer to Eragon, and put his hand on Eragon’s shoulder. “But.” Eragon looked up. “You did your best to protect us, and that’s what matters. I can't blame you for doing the first thing that came to mind. Split second decisions often aren’t the best decisions that could have been made, but you don’t exactly have time to analyze the situation. Don’t take this the wrong way though, I'm still mad.” 

Eragon looked up, beaming. 

“What do you think?” I asked Saphira

“Eragon did his best. He was trying to protect me, so I don't blame him.”

We turned our attention back to the two humans, and Brom was now looking concerned. He was tapping his foot and pacing back and forth like a ping-pong ball. “There’s one other problem. The shade.” 

“What makes him so dangerous?” Eragon asked. I had already heard this talk from Brom, but now he had to give it to Eragon. 

“Shades have much more magical prowess than any average human, and were usually only bested by riders and elves, so taking him on now will spell doom for everyone here.” Brom said.

“Now what?” Eragon asked. 

“The king would be foolish to keep all his disciples in the same place, so this shade is unlikely to be at dras-leona. We should continue on our way there. Even if we find those blasted Ra’zac, you’ll be helpless to fight them until you’re healed.” Eragon lost all of his happiness and looked down, dejected. 

“However,” Brom said, “We will be able to find out if they are there for sure. We can come back when you are healed.” 

And with that, we all packed up and prepared to leave. Eragon and Brom saddled the horses, Saphira leapt into the sky, slightly sad that Eragon wasn’t joining her. I took point behind the two, keeping an eye out behind us should any of the urgals we missed decide to come after us. I doubted they were that stupid, though.

Brom almost fell off his horse when Eragon told him about the elf that he had scryed. 

“Are you sure it was an elf, and not some random woman?” he asked Eragon, after having been silent for almost a minute. 

“What else has pointed ears?” I said, driving behind the two. The old man groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“You said she sat up and looked at you?” Brom asked. 

“Yep.” we both said at the same time. 

“As far as I know, it’s impossible to know if someone is scrying you.” 

“How could we find her?” I asked. 

“We have no idea where Eragon was scrying, so we’d have to search every prison in the land to find her and hope we get lucky.”

It took us almost three weeks to get to dras-leona, and it was some of the most boring days of my life. Drive for most of the day, camp for the night. Rinse and repeat. It got better once we reached the only body of water me and Saphira had been able to get close to.

It was evening, and we were on the shore of the closest thing to the great lakes for thousands of miles. Saphira was standing with her talons in the water, enjoying the breeze off the lake. I hadn’t yet stepped in the water, and neither had Eragon or Brom. Honestly, I knew I would sink like a rock, so I was waiting, dragging my feet. 

“The water is great. Come on in!” Saphira said, wading farther into the lake. Eragon and Brom were setting up camp a few feet behind us, so I turned around and walked back to the camp. I heard a splash and felt water patter on my back. 

“Look, I have the biggest splash maker you have ever seen on my arm. Don’t play this game with me.” I said, unfolding my fusion cannon for emphasis. 

“Bring it on.” Saphira said, clearly not convinced. 

“You asked for it!” I yelled, and charged towards the big blue dragon. Her eyes turned from smug confidence to fear as I folded up my fusion cannon and jumped into the water, belly flopping, seeing as I had no more air to knock out of me. The wave I created in the shallow water soaked the giant reptile from snout to tail, and nearly put out the fire Brom had spent almost a half an hour building. I had landed on my stomach, and now that the wave had soaked everything around, the water rushed back in, sinking me down five feet under the water. I didn't even bother holding my breath, enjoying the clear water seeping into every one of my joints. It even helped the knee that Saphira stabbed feel better. 

I sat up, and looked at the blue dragon in question. She was flabbergasted. All the water running out of the tiny holes in my body made the awkward silence even funnier. I looked towards the campsite, and Eragon was holding in a laugh, looking at both of us. 

I cracked. 

Saphira cracked. 

Eragon cracked. 

Soon enough everyone but Brom was recovering from a bout of laughter. As soon as Eragon was able to catch his breath he said “I don't think I'll ever see a water splash that big as long as I live.”

“Yes, water splash this, water splash that. Can you try NOT to put out the fire next time?” Brom yelled, frantically trying to save the fire from my killer wave. I stood, taking a minute to let the water drain from my appendages. 

Saphira was dry by the time the endless flow of water drops from the different gaps in my armor stopped. I walked over to the campfire, and sat down, laying back. The sun was setting, giving us a beautiful view of oranges and yellows that were flitting across the lake. Dras-Leona was a grey blob, far in the distance. 

“Brom.” I said. Everyone looked at me. “What’s the plan once we find out where the Ra’zac are? Eragon can't exactly fight, so where would we go?” Brom looked at Eragon and Saphira. They both looked at each other. 

“I don’t know if I want to get involved in this war yet.” Eragon said, looking down at his legs. He was resting against Saphira’s side, so she wrapped her tail around, making it so she made a circle around him. I already knew what her answer was. She hated what Galbatorix had done to the dragons, so she wanted him six feet under. 

“Saphira wants to fight. I… can’t ignore that in my decisions.” Eragon said. Brom nodded. 

“Well, I’m tired. I’m gonna go to sleep.” I said. We said our goodnights, and everyone else kept talking.

It had been too long since I had a dream.

I was running through the forest, not a single landmark around. I heard something crashing through the forest behind me, getting closer and closer. I tried to transform, before noticing all the trees were too big. A quick glance at my hands revealed, white, skinny kid hands. I stopped, cold sweat suddenly running down the back of my neck. My vision warped, and there were suddenly two bodies overlapping each other. One was grey, mechanical, and big. The other was tiny, tan, and organic. 

When everything returned to normal, my hands were back to my original hands, but something felt off. Organic flesh and bone suddenly felt very wrong. I didn’t have time to dwell on that though, because whatever was chasing me suddenly got much closer. I could see mysterious yellow-black spots shuffling through the trees, and I was filled with dread as they split into two different entities, encircling me where I had stopped. 

They circled me for what felt like hours, before one of the monsters stepped out of the trees, stepping directly towards me. 

The thing looked like a mangled predacon, it was quadrupedal, had wings like Saphira’s, but no wing membranes, so it shouldn't be able to fly. All of its armor plates were either missing, broken, or bent away at awkward angles. Tiny pinpricks of yellow light shone under its armor, flickering with every move the mechanical monstrosity. 

It slowly walked towards me, and I gracefully and elegantly tripped on a rock as I backed away, landing flat on my ass. I tried to push myself away from the thing, but it caught up to me in no time. 

A mechanical claw almost the size of my entire body landed on top of me, trapping me in a beastly cage. I was trembling with fear, suddenly really missing the protective shell that Megatron’s body had given me. Now that I was closer to the beast, I could see that the yellow lights weren’t energon flows, but… muscle tissue, brown and decaying, but still functioning. 

The thing lowered its head right above mine, and opened its mouth, dripping some unknown liquid on me. I closed my eyes, accepting my fate, but instead of tearing me to shreds, the thing spoke.

“Youuuu…” it said in a disembodied, bad radio signal-like voice.

“Wha?” I said, looking back up at the monstrosity.

“Stop protecting the riderrr… or HE will have your head,”

“Wh-wh-who will?” I said, shivering in fear.

“The one who created me…”

And with that, the monster clamped its jaws over my head and twisted.

Could transformers sweat? I was pretty sure I was sweating, even with metal skin. I shot upright in my sleeping place with a clank. It was the middle of the night, and the moon was reflecting off the lake. I stood, careful not to wake anyone, and walked to the water’s edge. 

Taking a seat, putting my feet in the water, and laying back with my hands behind my head, I stared up at the alien starscape of Alagaesia. As I tried to forget the nightmare, my thoughts inevitably kept creeping back to the dream. Was it just a nightmare, or was it something like Eragon’s sleep-CCTV? If it was a vision, who was the creator of those beasts? Was I not the only transformer here? And what would a zombie-predacon creating Cybertronian want with Eragon? the only way that a mad transformer scientist would even know about him would be… oh no. the big man Galby himself. And there was only one scientist I knew of in IDW that would be crazy enough to make zombie predacons. Shockwave. 

It was still just a dream, as far as I knew, and I wouldn’t know for sure until the cyclops himself or his creations stood directly in front of me. I couldn’t seem to relax, though. The more I thought about it, the more the dream seemed real . And then there was how much being human again bothered me. I had already accepted the fact that I was never getting my old body back, but it was weird how much my old body felt wrong .

I was pulled from my thoughts by my blue companion flopping down next to me. I already knew she knew something was wrong. 

“How do you always know when something’s wrong?” I asked quietly. 

“It helps being bonded to an emotional teenager. So what’s wrong now?” 

I told her about my dream, my realizations with shockwave and who he was, and my human body feeling so wrong. Saphira sat there quietly for a little while, her head lifted. 

“It sounds like your mind has adjusted to its new body, so much so that your old body simply doesn’t feel right.”

“That doesn’t explain why it didn’t feel right in a dream though.”

“Maybe it’s like those dream-visions that Eragon has.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“That cyclops sounds scary. I don’t want to imagine what he could accomplish if he is actually here and partnered with galbatorix.”

“Yeah,” I breathed, feeling slightly hopeless. What was I supposed to do? Just wait around until the mad scientist shows up? According to Angela I was nowhere near the strength level needed to take on Galbatorix, so what was I gonna do? Fight shockwave? 

“You’re stressed. You should take your own advice. Don’t stress about it, just try and prepare.”

I looked up and smiled at her. “Thanks.” I said. (how exactly did a Dragon become my best friend after I got turned into Megatron?)

We spent the rest of the night staring up at the stars, listening to David Bowie's hunky dory album.

We spent a lot of the next day skirting leona lake, while Saphira played in the water. 

That night was quite the crazy one. Eragon and Brom were fighting around the fire, as usual. Eragon grabbed a stick that was lying on the ground and hurled it at Brom, who just happened to be standing right in front of me. He dodged, and I instinctively raised my arm to protect myself, even though my rational mind knew it would be harmless. The stick bounced off my arm with a hollow clang , landing next to saphira, who ignored it, completely focused on the fight. 

Brom jumped at Eragon, knocking him down, and they both started rolling around in the dirt, fighting for a spot on top. Suddenly they were both back on their feet again, sparks flying from each one of their blades. Something changed, though. All this time, Eragon had been able to get a few good hits in on Brom, but Brom won every time regardless. This time, Eragon got faster and faster, seeming more energetic with each swing. Brom, however, got slower and slower, struggling to block each hit more and more. 

Within the blink of an eye, Eragon had knocked the sword out of Brom’s hand, which went flying towards me again. “Oh shit!” I yelled as I ducked to the side, the sword planting itself in a tree, right where my optic had been moments before. “Watch it!” I said. 

Eragon had the tip of Zar’roc to Brom’s throat. “We’re done for today.” Brom said, standing and retrieving his sword from the tree. 

“But we just started,” Eragon said, confused. 

“There is nothing more I can teach you about the blade. We will still spar, but it is much less necessary now. Only three of the fighters I have ever met could fight like that, and none with their left hand. You are quite talented.” Brom said. Eragon then launched into a series of questions pertaining shades and magic, and I quickly got bored and went to sleep.

Sorry this chapter took so long. I was at school until 7:00 at night for a week, doing lights for the play. 

Anyway, yeah megs can mass shift now. If you need a way to visualize him, just imagine D-16 from tf-one, with his cog, but not megatronus prime’s cog. 

cya!-TheRedLemon

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: BAR FIGHT!

Me and Saphira were waiting for Brom and Eragon to finish getting lunch at the lakeside village we were at. They were intent on checking for rumors about me and Saphira, but I was getting bored. They were spending an awful lot of time in the village. We knew they were fine, because Saphira could sense no distress from Eragon, but she was antsy nonetheless. 

“Damn, Chill out.” I said. She had been swishing her tail back and forth for about a half an hour now, so much so that she had worn a bare patch into the grassy dirt we were hiding out on.

“He’s been gone for too long. Something must have happened.” 

“Stop being ridiculous. You can still sense Eragon, right?” 

“Yeah.”

“Is there anything wrong?”

“No.” 

“So relax. Eragon can handle himself for the most part, and do you really think Brom wouldn’t protect him? Besides, I got something to show you. Just don’t tell Eragon or Brom. It's a surprise.” 

“I’m about to lose my mind over that boy. Get on with it so I can get my mind off him.”  

Chuckling, I stood up, closed my eyes, and concentrated. I hadn’t had an opportunity to practice mass shifting since my first time, seeing as I was trying to keep it a surprise and we didn’t exactly spend a lot of time alone when we were travelling. My mind seemed to have taken an exact note of the process though, because I didn't even have to think about it this time.

Soon enough, I felt myself shrinking, and heard an audible gasp from Saphira when my shoulder plates detached and attached to each other. 

When I opened my eyes, I actually had to look up to see her. Her scaly eye-ridges were trying to escape from her forehead. “Pretty cool right? Now I can go with Eragon and Brom to Dras-Leona!” I immediately regretted saying that, though. Her head and her wings drooped and she rumbled softly. 

“You have to leave me alone?”  

My now human-sized shoulders drooped. “Shit,” I whispered under my breath. “Hey, don’t worry. It’s a one time thing. I feel incomplete without the rest of my body, so I'll avoid being like this unless really necessary.” I walked over to her left foreleg, and gave it a robo-hug. “I won’t leave you alone unless absolutely necessary.” 

“And it’s necessary now?”  

“No, it’s not.” i said, drawing the discarded parts of my body back to myself, and bringing myself back up to eye level with her. “And I’m not gonna go with Eragon and Brom until we get to Dras-Leona. ‘Kay?” I raised my fist to her, and she raised an eye-ridge at me. “Fist-bump. Sign of friendship back home.” 

She tried and failed to raise her foreleg to the level of mine, because her neck was most of her height. I got down to a more manageable level. She successfully bumped my fist that time. She looked down at her claws curiously. “Huh. you promise?”  

“I promise.”

It took us a few more days to get around leona lake, and nothing much happened in that time. 

The morning before we went into the city was tense. Brom was cooking some rabbit he had caught, since it was the only thing to eat back down on the plains. I stood, ready to show Eragon and Brom. “What are you doing?” Brom asked. 

“Wait and see.” I said. For dramatic effect, I spread my arms before closing my eyes, and shrank. When I opened my eyes, my discarded pieces were behind me, in tank form as usual. Brom was staring at me with an unreadable expression, and Eragon looked like he was about to explode. “I’m coming with you guys. You’re gonna need all the help you can get if you fight the Ra’zac.” 

“How long have you known you can do this?” Brom asked. 

I rocked my head side to side, considering. “About two weeks. I wanted to surprise you guys.” In the background, Eragon and Saphira were having a conversation, and Eragon appeared so excited that he punctuated the conversation with arm-waving. 

“You can come, but it will be slightly complicated. I’ll have to put a veil around you, so you look like a normal human. It won’t use much magic, but you’ll have to avoid touching anyone.” 

“What’s a veil?” I asked. 

“It’ll be a magical cloak that makes you appear like a normal human. There are many different types, but the kind I'll give you will be very simple and energy efficient. However, it is simply a visual disguise. Anyone who touches you will still feel cold steel.” I nodded in understanding. 

I was suddenly tackled by a very enthusiastic teenager. I guess I weighed a lot less now that I was human-sized, because I was knocked to the ground. I opened my eyes, and Eragon was looking down, a huge grin splitting his face. Saphira was also looking down at me. “It’s about time!” he said, reaching down a hand to help me up. I accepted it, and he pulled me up with surprising ease. “This is great! Now you can stay with us every time we-” I held up a hand, cutting him off. 

“Just this once. I’m sure that Saphira has already told you how she hates it when you go somewhere alone. You should have seen her while you were looking for rumors about us. It was like a thousand ants got under her scales.” his shoulders slumped slightly, but he was still clearly happy. 

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get going!” he said. I started to walk towards the forest, and Eragon and Brom saddled the horses. “What are you doing?” Brom asked. 

“We’re getting going, right?” I said. 

“Well, you're not walking. Get up here. Sit behind me.” 

“I’m probably too heavy-Hey!” I said as I was picked up by one of Saphira’s big blue claws. 

“You weigh only a slight bit more than Eragon. Snowfire should be fine carrying you.” she said. 

And with that, I walked over to Brom, and climbed on Snowfire's back. I must have been quite the sight. A silver metal man, sitting on top of a horse behind an old man. As we slowly rode out of the forest, Brom started muttering under his breath. Eventually, the air shimmered around me for a second, before dissipating. “There. You shouldn't stick out like a sore thumb now.” I looked down, but nothing had changed. Same cold, grey silver, black hands, and shifting armor plates. 

“You sure you did it right? I don't exactly look any different.” I asked. 

Brom chuckled. “Look closer. Try to imagine what everyone else is seeing.” I took another look, and suddenly got the strangest sense of deja vu. It looked like my entire body had a hologram projected over it. If you just looked at it, it looked like normal human hands and arms, much bulkier than my original ones, but if I waved my fingers through the illusion, it flickered and bent around my digits. “Wanna see your face?” Brom asked, handing me a small pocket mirror. I hesitantly held it up to my face, and I let out an audible gasp. 

It was my face. Down to the hair, nose, mouth, everything. There was just one big difference. My irises were the same ruby red that Megatron’s, no- my eyes were normally. My body itself looked like my own too, just bulkier, obviously hiding all the mechanical imperfections. It still had that very wrong feeling that it did in my dream, though. “How long are we staying here?” I asked. 

“No more than one night. We’ll be gone by midday tomorrow. Why?” 

“I’m just hoping you can get this illusion off of me when we’re in private.”

“You’re not enthusiastic about having some semblance of your old body back?” Brom asked, clearly confused. 

Eragon answered for me. “I guess his mind has adapted to his body so much that he feels more at home in what body we’ve always known him in.” I guess Saphira and Eragon really share everything together. It must have been tearing Saphira up inside to not tell Eragon about his heritage. 

It was very weird to be among a large population of people after two months of hanging around the same three people. Wagons, people on horseback, and simple walkers passed us on the road. At first I expected every passerby to suddenly point at me and scream, but Brom’s veil worked like, well, magic. I soon got accustomed to the large crowds again. There were all different kinds of people coming in and out of the city, but one kind in particular caught my eye. 

“What’s with the surplus of amputees?” I asked. 

“The mad worshippers of helgrind. They believe that they should detach themselves from the mortal world as much as possible to worship that mountain.” He pointed to a massive mountain with three peaks that I had somehow missed. “Helgrind. The only mountains that surpass its terrible grandeur are the Beors, the ancestral home of the dwarves.” I gawked at the mountain for about a minute. The biggest mountain that I had ever seen living in the foothills of California was miniscule by comparison. 

“That’s terrible.” Eragon said. “Religion should never go that far.”

“Looks like the perfect hideout for a certain couple of particular beasties.” I said. 

“That is a common theory, though many have scoured the mountain and found no openings.” Brom said. “Ah, the city!” he said suddenly, bringing my attention back to the road ahead just as a huge shadow passed over the three of us. I looked up, and the sun was blocked out by a fifty-foot tall wall of clay brick. The conditions inside the city were downright disgusting. I was suddenly very glad I couldn't smell anything anymore, because there was filth everywhere. The houses looked like something straight out of a homeless camp in LA or San Diego. 

“Remind me later to tell you two what bacteria and viruses are later. You’ll never see places like this the same.” 

“No need to make us feel inadequate!” Eragon yelled over the crowd of people. A group of small children ran between the bustling crowd of people, having the guts to run directly underneath the horses. There were people begging for money, and the more I saw of the extreme poverty, the more I wanted to be out of the city and back on the peaceful plains. As if reading my mind, Brom said “it gets better farther in. Right now we need to find somewhere to sleep and get a plan together.” 

We pushed farther through the city, and eventually the people and fifth cleared out. Soon enough we decided to stop at some place called the golden globe inn. The man at the counter didn’t even look at me twice when we got a room. The room itself was small, cramped, and cheap, but not horribly maintained. Knowing what I did about medieval times, the bed would be filled with enough cockroaches to eat someone alive, so I felt bad for whoever was sleeping in the bed. Eragon said much the same. 

“Well, I wouldn't want them eating the other guests.” Brom said as he set his stuff down on the bed.

“What now?” Eragon asked. 

“We find food and liquor. Around here, it will be simple water in comparison to what the dwarves make, but it’ll be alcohol nonetheless.” Brom said. 

“You’ve drunk dwarven beer?” 

“And fought with the short little bastards the next day. They make a good brew and even better war.”

“Be careful. If we’re discovered for who we really are, we’ll have to leave the city immediately.” Brom said as we were about to descend to the first floor of the inn and get food and drink. Or, Eragon and Brom were, to be exact. 

All three of us got a seat at a table near the center of the dining room, not wanting to see the still-present squalor outside while we ate. Soon enough, a waitress came and got our order. Brom and Eragon both got lamb chops, while I got nothing. I was still hesitant to try and eat anything. Everything was peaceful for a time, we chatted about nothing in particular, letting the subject flow from favorite foods to different dreams we had. Eragon in particular seemed eager to try pizza. 

Everything went to shit when the guardsmen came in. a group of about twenty soldiers, all dressed in the robes and armor of the Empire, laughing and jeering. I looked over at the bartender, who immediately started glaring at the group. Clearly they were like a group of unsavory kids or bikers who would cause trouble around town. 

We ignored them for a time, but Eragon got progressively more drunk, as the soldiers did too, downing round after round of beer. I could feel something bad coming on. Me and Brom kept shooting nervous glances at each other, Eragon and the guardsmen, who had begun to harass the waitress who had taken our order. 

Eragon started to glare at the soldiers, and just as me and Brom were standing to get ready to go back to our room, Eragon walked over to the soldiers. “Hey! Yyyou leavve her allone!” he said, slurring his words. 

“Beat it, kid.” one of the less drunk guards said. Eragon ignored him, pushing through the men, and just as one of the guards reached to feel up the girl, he punched that guard in the face. I had just enough time to say “ahh, shit.” Almost every soldier jumped on Eragon, or tried to, but a couple got some good swings in. 

I couldn’t just stand by and let my best friend's other half get beaten on, so I marched over, drawing the attention of the guards, who stopped attacking Eragon. Trying to avoid any further conflict, I grabbed Eragon, who now had a black eye and a bloody mouth, by the shoulder and walked him back over to Brom. he protested, drunkenly stating that he could take them on and was good to fight, but I still pushed him back over to his Dad anyway. 

A hand rested on my shoulder as I was about to follow the father and unknowing son up the stairs. “We weren’t finished with him.” a guard said. I turned around and looked him dead in the eye. 

“Fight me then.” I said. I could feel Brom’s eyes boring into the back of my head, but I didn't care. These assholes had beaten up my friend. The guard who had confronted me swung a fist at my midsection, and I heard an energon-curdling crack. I didn’t even feel anything. The guard raised his hand back up, now bent at an impossible angle, and screamed. I couldn’t care less. Upon seeing that, about half of the guards made a quick exit, including the one who had hit me. The rest, who were either too drunk to care, or braver than the others, all drew their swords. 

They formed a circle around me, forcing me into the middle of the room. Suddenly, one of the soldiers to my left swung his sword at me. I let Megatron’s fighting instincts take over, as I whirled to the side and caught the blade with one hand. The soldiers watched in horror as I crushed the sword with a single hand. Their resolve seemed to falter, and they all tried to make a break for the door, completely forgetting about me. 

But before they could reach the exit, the door locked itself. “You just had to get yourself into a fight, huh?” I heard someone behind me say. 

“What was I gonna do? Just let them beat on Eragon?” I said to Brom, who flicked his hand, drawing gasps from the Soldiers across the room. I looked down to see the illusion had been removed. Grey steel instead of pale skin. We both turned towards the guards, and approached them. 

Seemingly overtaken by adrenaline and probably fear of me, the soldiers suddenly formed a ring around me and Brom, who drew his sword in response. “And here I was hoping for a quiet night.” Brom said. All the soldiers charged us. 

I punched the closest soldier in the face, careful not to hurt him too badly, but hard enough that I knocked him out. Brom, being the skilled swordsman that he was, was fighting off 3 soldiers. There was a fourth trying to sneak up behind him. I walked up behind him, raised my fist above his head, but first I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, and I promptly knocked him out, his helmet making a clang sound. 

“Thanks!” Brom said. 

“I’ve got your back.” I felt something hit the back of my head, so I turned around with a clank of shifting armor plates, and saw another soldier staring at his sword, with a suspiciously head-shaped dent in it. I wasted no time in knocking that one out too. One of the last few came charging at me from the side, and I simply stuck my fist out right when he was about to reach me, knocking him unconscious too. I heard a clang and then a thwump behind me. I turned to see that Brom had knocked another guard out, judging by the sword-pommel shaped dent in his helm. 

He was distracted though. One last soldier was very close to him, raising his sword, most likely intending to kill Brom. Suddenly, my vision went red, with what seemed like bits of static running through it. I shook my head, clearing the haze, and I was met with a grisly scene. There were nine unconscious guards in a semicircle around us, but I remembered there being exactly ten guards. I slowly turned my head to look at Brom, and he was standing with a shocked expression on his now blood-coated face. My fusion cannon was out, smoking, pointed at where the last soldier’s head had been. I looked down, and nearly had a panic attack. The last guard’s headless corpse was lying face-up right in front of Brom, sword still in hand.

“Oh fuck… not again…” I said. I brought my hands up to my face, covering it, my fusion cannon folding up automatically. “Why…” I said, shuddering. My optics suddenly flickered and glitched as someone hit me upside the head with a sword pommel. 

“HEY!” Brom yelled. “Get up! Now’s not the time to break down and cry! We have a mess to clean up!” I uncovered my optics. Brom was glaring at me, sheathing his sword. “Push it to the back of your mind. You can think about it later. Right now, we have to remain undiscovered. We can’t do anything about the man you killed, but those other soldiers are bound to come back, maybe with reinforcements. We have to make sure they don’t come back to a corpse. Now get up!” He was visibly angry now. Brom muttered something, and the illusion quickly covered me like a blanket, once again hiding all my mechanical imperfections. 

“Help me move him. We’ll throw him into the sewer. He won’t be found for years, if he is found at all.” Brom said. I didn’t want to do anything. I had just ended a man’s life. He probably didn’t even have a choice to join the army. I hoped he didn’t have anyone waiting at home for him as I picked up his legs and drug him outside, Brom grabbing him by his arms. We went out the back door, trying not to get any blood anywhere else. In the alley behind the hotel, there was a manhole cover that was conveniently marked sewer that Brom promptly flipped open, and we dropped the man down it, giving him an unceremonious resting place. 

“Meet me upstairs. I’ll take care of the blood.” Brom said when we re-entered the building. I turned to the stairs as he started muttering, probably casting spells that cleaned up the blood. I went into our room, seeing that Eragon was asleep on the floor, comfortably wrapped up in his bedroll. I busted into the bathroom, wincing as the sound of breaking glass accompanied my hasty entrance. Just how many things was I going to fuck up tonight? Looking in the mirror, I saw the illusion of old me instead of my real face. I wanted to break the mirror. I was starting to hate not only who I was, but who I had become. I was a killer. No better than those in the bar tonight. 

I glared at my reflection for a solid minute. Soon enough, Brom came in and the veil fell once again. He walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. There were only a couple lanterns to light up the dark space, so his still blood-covered face looked like he was about to tell a scary story. “Go away.” I said sternly.

“I know exactly what you’re thinking.” Brom said. 

“Cool. fuck off.” 

“Jesse.” That took me by surprise. “You are a good person. What you just did proved that. You saved my life. I did not see the soldier until your projectile was flying through the air. Killing does not make you a bad person. It’s your reason for doing so that defines who you are. Now, how many times will I have to talk you through this? Now move, I have to get this blood off my face.”

I got out of his way, thoughts swirling. I trusted Brom not to lie to me, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he was wrong. I exited the bathroom, transforming into my much smaller and stouter tank mode, and backed under the bed. Brom exited the bathroom a few minutes after, and looked around, confused. “Where did he go?” he said to himself. I simply rotated my cannon so it stuck out from under the bed, and the sound of creaking wood caught his attention. “Ah” he mouthed, making his way over to the bed and flopping down on it. We both fell asleep soon after. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 13: you weren’t supposed to see that.

I woke to the sound of Eragon groaning in pain. I never drank back home, but my friends who did said a hangover was horrible. I groaned myself, rolling out from under the bed and transforming. Brom was already up, and was in the bathroom doing something. Eragon groaned again, clutching his head. I still had a sort of cloud over my head from last night, but I didn’t want to drag the mood down. 

“I’m sure Saphira has already reprimanded you enough. I’m not gonna add fuel to the fire.” I said, looking down at him.  

“Urgh. Never let me do that again.” He said, clutching his head and rolling over. 

Brom exited the bathroom, drying his face with a towel. “That my dear boy, is called a hangover. I have my own coping methods, though. Come on, let’s go.” the old man said. 

“I just woke up.” Eragon complained. 

“All the more reason to get up before it fully hits you. Up, up!” 

His father almost heaved him up off the floor, and they both went downstairs to get something to eat. I stayed behind, flopping down on the bed and just simply thinking. I knew Brom was right. I just couldn’t stop feeling like I was doing the wrong thing. I put my hands behind my head, looking directly up at the wooden ceiling. I traced the wood grain pattern with my optics as I thought. What if I killed someone who didn’t deserve it? I might have already been with that soldier last night. He probably thought we were the bad guys. An extremely skilled old man and what they probably thought was a suit of armor brought to life. 

He might have been one of the soldiers who was being less handsy

I nearly jumped out of my armor when I heard a mouse skitter under the floor. I really needed to de-stress. Swinging my legs out to the side of the bed and standing back up, I paced around the room, trying to make sure the clank of metal on wood wasn’t too loud. 

And so I paced, tapping my servos against my frame, muttering to myself incoherently. I probably walked back and forth in a straight line for a good five minutes. I sat back down on the bed. Walking back and forth like that wasn’t helping at all. I clasped my hands, propped my chin on my thumbs, and simply sat there. Simply thinking about it wasn’t doing any good. I had to actually do something about it. I couldn’t not fight, that would just get the people I care about hurt. I’d probably just have to take Brom’s advice. Just don’t think about it. 

The old man himself walked through the door at that exact moment, followed by Eragon, who now seemed to be feeling much better, judging by the sparkle in his eyes. 

“Saphira wanted me to tell you that the rest of your body started rolling back and forth for a couple minutes.” Eragon said as he entered the room. 

“Tell her I'm sorry if I scared her. And that she can jam a tree in the treads if she doesn’t want it to happen again.” Eragon acknowledged.

“She said it didn’t scare her.” we both rolled our eyes, knowing how prideful she was. 

Brom interrupted, saying “The first thing we need to do is ask some discreet questions. I want to find out where the Seithr oil was delivered in Dras-Leona and where it was taken from there. Most likely, soldiers or workmen were involved in transporting it. We have to find those men and
get one to talk.”

I had almost forgotten our original goal in coming here. Personally, I was hoping that whoever we needed to get information from was cooperative. I’d had my fair share of hurting for the week. I wasn’t even sure what day it was.

We walked through the city for hours, looking for warehouses where the Sethir oil might have been shipped. 

We passed a large palace, made entirely of polished granite. The courtyard was made of mother-of-pearl. Me and Eragon gawked at the palace as we walked, but not without Brom noticing. “The home of Marcus Tabor, the ruler of the city. He only answers to Galbatorix and himself.” He said. 

We continued on our way around the city, but found nothing. At noon we stopped, and got lunch. “We have found absolutely nothing of interest. We’ll split up and search the city until dusk. Meet me back at the hotel around then.” Brom said. He glared at Eragon from under his bushy eyebrows. “Make good decisions.” He then turned his attention to me. “And you… make sure Eragon doesn’t do anything stupid.” 

“I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Watch yourself, too. You're not exactly the greatest quick thinker.” I rolled my eyes. 

Brom handed Eragon and me a handful of coins, and we parted ways. 

The cathedral’s dark spires stared down at us as we searched the city. The only place where you couldn’t see it was inside, and even then, you still had a creeping feeling that something malicious was watching you. 

We talked to all manner of people as we traversed the city. Merchants, beggars, average people, nobody had any idea where the Sethir oil went, and most people we talked to didn’t even know it existed.

We had a sudden stroke of luck when someone who had been directly involved with the shipping of the oil told us that it was stored at a warehouse across the city. We both excitedly went to the warehouse, which was on the shore side of the city, only to find out it was locked.

“That’s quite the buzzkill,” Eragon said. 

“Yeah. guess we better head back to Brom.” 

“You’re still pretty strong, aren’t you?” 

“Yeah. why?” I looked over at him. He was glaring directly at the lock on the door. “Ohhh no no no. we’re not breaking in.” 

“Why not? You could snap the lock with barely any effort.” 

“Yes, and we also have no idea what’s inside. For all we know there’s a magical landmine right inside the door. I’m supposed to be the responsible one, so I'm being the responsible one.” 

“And what’s brom gonna do against a magical ‘landmine’? whatever that is…”

“He can probably tell if it’s there. I know for a fact the explosion wouldn’t harm me, anything that would would be too dangerous to have in the city. We just have to stay low.” Eragon’s shoulders slumped. I could tell he wasn’t a fan of having to wait longer to find the Ra’zac. 

“Whatever. Let’s head back.” He said, blowing past me towards the part of the city where the golden globe was.

Slam. I was jolted from my half-sleep in the chair that was at the foot of the bed. Eragon abruptly stopped wearing a groove in the floor. We had gotten back about an hour before Brom, who was just getting back now. He shut the door behind him, and then proceeded to drop the veil around me.

“What did you find?” Eragon asked enthusiastically the moment Brom walked in the door. 

“Many interesting things. The most pressing of which is that Galbatorix will be visiting Dras-Leona within a week. Apparently Tabór has taken too many liberties with his power.” I watched Eragon’s heart sink to his feet. 

“Do you think he knows of us?” 

“Certainly. He just doesn’t know where you are, else you would not be standing here right now.” 

“So what do we do? I can’t hope to take on Galbatorix, but I still want my revenge.”

“Good, caution. Now what did you find?” 

“We found a warehouse where the oil was taken, however it was locked, so we couldn’t get inside, else we would have found out where the oil was taken from there.” 

“Ah. That confirms what I heard. I was invited to the servant’s quarters as a bard, and snooped around for a while. It’s amazing what palace servants find out. Did you know that one of the earls has three mistresses in the same wing of the palace?” Brom said. I wondered how that earl kept that under wraps. “Aside from other interesting tidbits like that, I learned that the oil is shipped out of the city from that warehouse.” 

“And that would be?” Eragon asked. 

“Every full moon, there are two slaves sent to the bottom of the mountain as offerings, with a month’s worth of provisions. Including the oil. The slaves are never seen again, same as anyone who follows them.” 

“So that’s where the bastards are.” I said, standing up and slamming my fist into my palm. “I’ll bet I could give them quite the fight, just gotta have all my pieces.” 

“Don’t be so hasty. We need to plan.”

“I thought the riders demolished the slave trade?” Eragon said. 

“Galbatorix has caused the industry to flourish once again.” 

“So the Ra’zac are somewhere in helgrind.” 

“Or somewhere nearby.” 

They proceeded to make a plan to scout out the mountain, before somehow taking the place of the slaves. I thought it was a terrible idea. “Maybe, with Saphira hidden nearb-” I cut Eragon off. 

“If anything goes wrong with that plan, you are the last person Alagaesia needs to lose. If we do this, me and Brom are going. It’ll take quite a bit of power to hurt me, and I can protect Brom.” 

“I agree with Megatronus. I know you want your revenge, and that is completely justified, but you cannot put yourself in harm’s way like that.” 

“What happens when someone touches Megatronus?” Eragon said, gesturing to me. “The moment someone touches him and feels his metal skin, we’ll be discovered.” 

“Not necessarily. I can cast an illusion that will make him appear human to people who touch him.”

Eragon huffed angrily and flopped down on the bed, pretending to close his eyes. However, it was obvious by his hand movements that he was conversing with Saphira. 

“He’s going to get himself killed.” I said.

“That’s why he has Saphira. Look-I feel like she agrees with us.” Brom gestured to Eragon, who’s brow was creased like he was having an argument. He relaxed after a little bit, seemingly going to sleep for real. I was tired too, having worn out my leg pistons due to being deprived of the ability to roll. 

“I am going to head back out. I need more information on the slaves and the process of them being sent to the Ra’zac. I am going to leave food money for Eragon In case he wants to go out. Would you like your illusion, in case you wish to follow him?” Brom asked. I nodded, and he applied the illusion once again, handing me a bag of coins afterwards. “Make sure he doesn’t get himself killed. And don’t go near the palace.” He said, walking out the door. I mocked a salute, and he nodded to me. 

I flopped back down into the chair, falling asleep almost instantly.

Clang. “Ow!” was what woke me up a couple hours later. It was dark outside now, but the city was still well-lit. I onlined my optics, and saw Eragon hopping on his left foot, clutching his right, wincing. “I see why Saphira wakes you up gently.” he said, setting his foot back down, but still putting most of his weight on the left. 

“Why’d you kick me?” 

“I can’t avenge my uncle because of you!” 

“Relax. There’s still plenty of time for things to go wrong early. Wanna go get yourself some food? Brom left to go investigate some more, and he left money.” I said, tossing him the bag of coins. 

We left the hotel a couple minutes later, not really having any plan on where to go. We didn;t do much besides wander the streets aimlessly. I kept looking at the blacksmiths that we passed, wondering if I should snag myself a weapon, so if I ever had to disguise myself as a human again, I wouldn't need to drop the illusion to defend myself. I knew Megatron had a fair share of experience with melee weapons, especially his signature spiked mace. I was actually thinking I wanted something more like a war hammer. 

After Eragon bought food for himself, we heard the sound of an auctioneer rattling off numbers. We followed the noise, eventually finding a courtyard on a street, sandwiched between two large buildings. There were 5 men, dressed in brightly colored robes, the yellow lamplight casting shadows on the auctioneer’s faces like they were telling some sort of ghost story. Everyone in the crowd was dressed in clothing that made me think they were rich. They didn’t have grime on their hands, the clothes were freshly washed, everything. 

“What do you think they’re here to buy?” Eragon asked. 

“I don’t know. Back home auctions always had the merchandise up on stage…” I trailed off, noticing that the auctioneer was done. He gestured to someone below the stage to come up, and what I saw just about made my spark chamber detonate. A young man, wearing nothing but a tattered robe with shackles around his ankles and wrists. I clenched my fists and looked over at Eragon. He looked over at me, his face perfectly calm but rage to match Saphira’s in his eyes. 

“We gotta do something about it.” I said. 

“I want to, trust me. But the moment we free him he’d be taken prisoner again, not to mention that we would also have the focus of the entire crowd on us.” 

We watched, enraged as the young man was sold to someone. Next, a little girl was wrenched from the arms of her mother, who was sobbing uncontrollably. I whipped around and marched out of the courtyard, Eragon hot on my heels. We walked until we couldn’t hear the woman’s cries anymore. I didn’t talk to Eragon, fearing that if I did, I'd put us both into a negative feedback loop that would get us both neck-deep in trouble. 

We just walked through the lantern-lit city, not paying any attention to where we were going, simply letting our tempers cool. 

We only stopped when Eragon looked up and gasped. I had been so lost in thought that I had only been paying enough attention to where I walked to not run into things. I looked up, and to my surprise, we were standing right outside the doors of the cathedral. There were gargoyles, ornate archways, statues, kings and knights and all manner of other things decorating the building. No, work of art was more like it. Ignoring what it was dedicated to, the building was one of the most beautiful works of engineering I'd ever seen.

The door to the cathedral seemed to be made of iron, probably wrapped around wood, and there was an inscription on the door reading ‘May thee who enter here understand thine impermanence and forget thine attachments to that which is beloved.’ 

“Charming.” I said, looking over the cathedral once more. 

Eragon didn’t say anything, instead opting to push open the door, which was surprisingly unlocked. The door opened inwards, completely silently. I rushed in behind him as he entered the cathedral. The first thing I noticed were the stained glass windows. I won’t go into detail about what was depicted on them, but I will say that they were unnervingly hostile. Everything was painted a dark blue by the lantern light cast through the windows. I followed Eragon down the rows of granite pews, my feet making a click click click sound as I walked, unlike Eragon’s shoes, which were completely silent. 

“Gives you a creepy feeling, doesn’t it?” I said, optics resting on an altar in the center of the large room. It was a simple stone slab, no decorations whatsoever. I had a feeling it was untouched to make cleaning it of blood easier. 

“The atrocities this place has probably witnessed…” Eragon said. He moved towards the altar, eventually stopping in front of it and kneeling. Was he praying? Who was I to judge? I had never subscribed to any religious ideas myself, but it wasn’t my place to tell another person what to believe. 

After a few moments of kneeling, Eragon stood silently. 

“What were you doing?” I asked. 

“Paying homage to the cathedral. The things that have happened within its walls…” He shuddered. “I don’t even want to imagine…” 

“I can’t blame you,” I said as I turned around. 

I wished I hadn't. 

There were two figures cloaked in black standing in the doorway. Judging by the way I heard Eragon’s breath catch in his throat, I didn't have to guess who they were. The raspy voice only confirmed it when one of them spoke. The Ra’zac. 

“Leave the boy… and we will spare your life. We only have business with him.” It said, drawing a twisted and wickedly sharp shortsword, pointing it at me. 

I didn’t know what would happen if I transformed or drew my fusion cannon while Brom’s illusion was up. I guess it was time to find out. I extended the deadly weapon once again, watching as the illusion bent around it, making it look like there was a tumor growing on my arm extremely fast. The illusion, however, couldn’t take it. Once it had unfolded to about half-size, it flickered and died, leaving me back with grey metal ‘skin’. The two beasts took a step back in surprise, hissing in displeasure.

“Not on your life.” I said, pointing the cannon at the one with the dagger. They both regained their resolve, stepping into the cathedral and closing the doors behind them. Faster than the blink of an eye, an arrow flew through the air, embedding itself in the wall right where the other Ra’zac’s head had been a moment before. I followed my friend’s lead, firing a blast straight at the creature. I had no qualms about killing these monstrosities. The Ra’zac dove out of the way, planted its feet squarely on the wall behind it, and launched itself at me. It was moving too  quickly to hit out of the air, either with a fusion cannon shot or punch, so I transformed into tank mode, watching the creature fly over me. It toppled into the pews on the other side of the church. 

Eragon was showing down with the other one, both of them with swords drawn. I knew damn well he wasn’t yet strong enough to fight one of the Ra’zac, so I accelerated rapidly, straight into the legs of the Ra’zac, causing it to topple to the ground. I switched back to robot mode, and kicked the creature into the opposite wall as it was attempting to get up. Before I could make another move to attack either of them, soldiers began to file through the doors. Flashes of recognition dawned on a few of the faces of the ones in front. 

I looked at Eragon.

He looked at me. 

“We gotta go,” we both said at the same time. 

He took off sprinting to the nearest door, busting it open and running inside. I was hot on his heels, running through the stone hallway just a few feet behind him. We were both encouraged to keep running by the sounds of scratching and unholy screeches behind us. Eragon suddenly turned down another hallway, and I followed him in. He slammed a door behind me just as I entered the room. 

The Ra’zac began pounding on the door from outside. 

“If they knew where to find us, Brom’s in danger too!” Eragon said frantically. 

“Shit…” I cursed under my breath. “Is there another way out of here?” I asked, looking around frantically. The Ra’zac’s pounding got louder and more ferocious as they slammed themselves against the wooden door. The hinges began to pull loose. 

I ran over and slammed myself against the door, trying to hold them back. Eragon ran to the other side of the room, to a door that I hadn't noticed. My feet began to slip on the smooth stone floor, causing sparks to fly as my pedes scraped against the rock. Eragon’s palm began to glow, and he shouted a spell, causing the door to splinter into a million tiny pieces. Just in time too. The Ra’zac threw themselves at the door with even more ferocity, breaking it off its hinges completely, and throwing me to the ground. 

Eragon sped through the newly opened door, so I switched modes and drove after him. We ended up running through a kitchen, and I spun out on the slick floor, spinning around and bumping my rear end into one of the floor cabinets. The cooks began to shout and throw pots and pans at me, while my tracks spun on the smooth ground. 

I gave up trying to drive after a couple seconds, so I transformed again. I froze under the stares of the cooks, who were looking at me like they’d seen a ghost. We stood there for a good ten seconds, looking at each other in silence, when the Ra’zac suddenly appeared in the doorway. 

I looked at the monsters, then the cooks. “You saw nothing!” I yelled at them, and then ran out of the kitchen, the Ra’zac hot on my heels. I ran down the hallway that Eragon had. There were no branching paths, so there was only one way he could have gone. 

I burst out into a garden, with high stone walls surrounding me all around. Eragon was hanging from the wall, behind a tree on the other side of the garden. 

I ran up behind him, and dragged him down by his ankles. 

“What are you doing? I was almost over!” 

“No you weren’t. Besides,” I raised my fusion cannon, blasting a hole in the stone wall just big enough for us to both crawl through. “There’s more efficient ways to do things. Now get going! I’ll meet you and Brom back at the inn.” 

“What about you? You don’t have a disguise. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb!” 

“I’ll figure something out. Go!” 

“But-” 

“GO!” I pushed him through the hole, following close behind, as the sounds of the Ra’zac searching for us grew ever closer. We exited the gap into a small alleyway. There were some wooden crates to our right, and an empty but glowing street to the left. Eragon took one last concerned look at me, before turning and running down the alley to the street. I heard the thump of boots behind the wall, and then the sound of the Ra’zac hissing orders at the soldiers. 

One of the Ra’zac’s twisted, withered hands appeared on top of the wall. With no time to spare, I leaped behind the crates, transforming and dragging one of the crates on top of myself just as one of the creatures scaled the wall. 

I heard the Ra’zac thump down on the ground, just a few feet from me. The darkness of the crate-fort simply heightened my other senses. I held my breath as the Ra’zac began to pace around, looking for me, or Eragon. There was no telling which. 

It eventually gave up its search in the alleyway, sprinting off away from me in pursuit of Eragon. It’s… brother? Followed it a moment later. 

After waiting a couple minutes, I transformed and wondered how I was gonna get back to the pair. As I pondered what I could do to avoid people’s gazes, my optics were drawn to the crates I had just hidden under. One of them was just a tad bit larger than my alt-mode. An idea came to me. 

I picked up the largest crate, finding that it was surprisingly light. I pried the bottom panel off the crate. There was nothing inside but straw and wood shavings. I grinned. “Perfect.” After punching a hole through the front of the box so I could see, I placed the box over myself and transformed. 

I sped through the city, where the streets were, thankfully, fairly empty. I still had to stop and creep along at a snail’s pace whenever someone was on the street, though. 

I got really lucky with the kid. 

I had just turned down a dark alleyway, and was beginning to exit said alley when I saw him. The kid from the slave auction. His hands were shackled behind his back, his feet were chained together, giving him only a few inches of chain to walk with. There was also an iron collar around his neck, attached to a chain that the man who bought him was holding at his side. The kid looked like he was on the verge of tears. 

I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. 

I switched modes and immediately pressed my back against the building that he was in front of. I had gotten lucky with my positioning, seeing as the owner had his back turned to the kid, and was busy chatting away with another noble. I had to get the kid’s attention somehow. I looked on the ground for any pebbles I could throw to get his attention. Nothing. 

When I looked up, the kid was staring directly at me, his blue eyes screaming for mercy. He mouthed a strangled ‘help’ at me. I had to save him now. The kid had seen me. I pointed to his ankle chains, made a snapping motion with my hands, and put a finger to my lips. His eyes filled with fear as I unfolded my fusion cannon, but when the tiny blast I fired simply melted the middle chain link on his leg shackles, I knew that he understood. 

Somehow predicting what I would break next, he held his arms out behind him as far as he could. Pew. Another link broken. 

He looked desperately at the chain running from his neck to his ‘owner’s’ hand. I mentioned to him that once I broke that chain, he should run straight to me. He nodded, and I prayed to Primus that he understood. 

I’m pretty sure I used up all the luck I was ever going to have with that shot. Somehow, when the glowing red link fell to the ground with a clink, the dumbass who had bought him didn’t notice, and neither did the man he was talking to. 

I grabbed the crate, held it over my head, motioned him over, and transformed. the kid skidded to a stop next to me, panting.

“What are you?” he asked immediately. 

“All that matters right now is that I'm here to help. Get in.” I ordered. He lifted the crate and clambered on top of me, grabbing a hold of my cannon. “Hold on tight.” I said, before tearing down the street right as his owner noticed he was gone. He didn't say a word as I ripped through alleyways, down streets, and behind parked wagons. 

Soon enough, the golden globe came into view. Eragon was throwing his things onto Cadoc’s back, Brom already having mounted Snowfire. They were both looking around frantically, whether for me or for the Ra’zac was unknown. 

“Throw the crate off! They need to know it’s me!” I yelled. The boy complied. The crate flew off, shattering into splinters behind us. I skidded to a stop in front of Eragon, and transformed as the kid jumped off my back. 

“Where have you been?” Brom asked, infuriated. “And who is that?” 

“He’s…” I petered off, realizing I hadn't even asked the kid’s name. He’d been surprisingly okay with the fact that a metal man who could turn into a tank had just rescued him. 

“Jorik. Who are you people?” 

“Everything will be explained in due time, Jorik. For now, we must hurry!” Brom said. Just as Eragon packed the last of his belongings into the saddle, lines of troopers began to stream from in between the buildings. I helped Jorik into the saddle behind Eragon, and slapped Cadoc on the butt. 

I transformed and followed the three as they sped towards the city gates. More soldiers tried to cut us off, but I was able to make gaps for us with some well-placed shots at their feet. Jorik screamed, his still-attached shackles clanking as the horses galloped. 

We came into view of the gates, but something was wrong. There was a line of soldiers wielding pikes, completely cutting us off, all while the iron portcullis was sliding closed behind them.

“I’ll deal with the men, Eragon, you keep the gates open!” Brom shouted. He raised his hand and shouted a spell, causing the pikemen to fall to each side, creating a gap for us. I sped in front, passing under the gates quickly. Eragon and Brom followed not a moment later.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14: A man worthy of the matrix

I glared at the Ra’zac, straining against the chains they’d wrapped around my wrists. I knew I could snap the chains effortlessly, but the knife they had pressed to Brom’s neck told me to do otherwise. The man himself was unconscious. I had summoned my discarded bits back to myself, but who knew how long it would take for them to arrive. Eragon was tied up, drugged, and on his knees in the middle of the clearing. Jorik was also unconscious, laying on the ground about five feet from me. 

A screech from across the clearing had me snapping my head towards the source of the sound. One of the beasts was holding Zar’roc, staring intently at the mark on the blade. 

“You will serve our master very well, yesss,” They said to Eragon. 

“I’ll kill you.” he said, slurring his words. 

Brom rolled over and groaned, causing the Ra’zac to start debating on whether or not to kill him or take him alive. I hated just sitting here, helpless and unable to help my friends out of their current predicament. 

Eventually, the Ra’zac reached a conclusion on Brom, because they dragged him from his spot next to the muzzled Saphira and threw him to the ground next to Eragon. 

As the Ra’zac picked Brom up and placed the knife to his throat, time seemed to slow as two things happened. First, an arrow whizzed out of the darkness, embedding itself in the shoulder of the Ra’zac who was about to kill Brom. 

Next, a crashing and cracking of branches sounded off to my right. I flinched, seeing as my whole predicament had been due to a close-up with a high-speed vehicle, but I was filled with relief as the rest of my body came flying out of the bushes and grass,ramming into me and absorbing me back into the metal carapace. 

Boy, did it feel good to be back. Eragon and Brom proceeded to put as much distance between themselves and the Ra’zac as I towered to my full height. More arrows came flying out of the forest, causing the Ra’zac to run and hide behind a pair of boulders. I took advantage of the distraction, carefully picking up jorik and running over to Saphira, before snapping the metal muzzle they had put around her snout. 

As another volley of arrows came from the opposite direction, I raised my fusion cannon and fired, blowing the Ra’zac out from behind the boulder, but unfortunately not killing them. Both of the monsters scrambled onto their feet, fleeing the camp. As they were leaving, the smaller one drew a knife from its belt, and threw the knife at Eragon. But before the blade could reach its intended target, Brom suddenly leapt up, causing the knife to strike him in the chest with a dull thump. 

“No!” me and Eragon yelled at the same time. Saphira leapt up, zooming past me, and roared at the Ra’zac, who fled immediately. Eragon slumped over his father, bringing our attention back to the two much more fragile members of the group. Jorik was still clutched safely in my left hand, so I sat him down next to the two other humans. He groaned and rolled over, filling me with relief seeing that more harm had not come to him. 

“Eragon. Eragon!” Saphira yelled, nudging him repeatedly. 

“He won’t wake up for a couple hours.” came a voice from the same direction as the last arrows. Saphira immediately turned to the voice and growled fiercely. I pointed my cannon in the same direction, glaring. 

“Come out now or I remove your general direction.” I said, letting my cannon glow with an ominous purple light. 

The stranger emerged from the night, riding a grey horse. He looked to be a few years older than Eragon, with frizzy brown hair about the same color as the kid in question. He had a bow, a sword, and a dagger in his boot. His eyes flashed between me and Saphira warily, lingering on me the longest. 

He raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I’m just here to help,” he said. 

“How do we know you’re not here to take him back to Galbatorix?” I asked, gesturing towards Eragon. “And I suggest you answer truthfully, because angering a Cybertronian and a dragon at the same time is a very bad idea.” 

The man got a dark look on his face. “An enemy of my enemy is my friend. I was following those monstrosities, when I saw you five.” 

“You know about the Ra’zac?” 

He nodded. I looked at Saphira. 

“What is he going to do against us?” I said to her, keeping our conversation private. 

“I don’t trust him.” 

“We don’t have much help around here. I say we give him the benefit of the doubt, and if he tries anything funny, he’s not exactly a match for either of us.” Saphira grumbled in annoyance, but agreed. 

I pointed to the other three humans. “Do what you can for them.” he nodded, dismounting his horse and walking over. The moment he set his hand on Eragon’s shoulder, Saphira growled a warning, stepping towards him. I put my hand on her wing, holding her back. “Give him a chance.” I said. She narrowed her eyes at him, before lying down right next to him. He worked nervously, tearing Brom’s clothing away to get a good look at the wound. 

He started by removing the knife, immediately covering the wound with some bandages he had pulled from his saddlebag. As he worked, Jorik started to stir. When he woke, he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. He froze like an icicle the moment he started looking around. I kept forgetting how terrified people would be when they saw a giant robot and dragon in the same place. He started to panic, kicking with his feet and trying to get away. Saphira was completely unfazed, all attention on Eragon.

I quickly shrunk down to about human-sized, putting my hands up and trying to calm the kid down. He stopped trying to get away, but still looked at me with fear. I squatted in front of him. “Hey, Jorik. Sorry I didn't warn you about… that.” I said, gesturing to the rest of my body. I reached towards him, intending to help him back up, but he scrambled away from me again, eyes darting to Saphira, then back to me. “It seems we got off to a bad start. Name’s Megatronus.” I said, holding a hand out to him. 

He looked at my hand skeptically, then back to me. 

“I swear, I will not hurt you. Neither will she, even if she comes off a little fierce at times.” I said, pointing to Saphira.

“Okay.” he said timidly. He took my hand and I pulled him up quickly. I walked back over to the rest of my body, pulling myself back up to my full size. “What are you?” he asked. 

“I’m what’s called a Cybertronian, but for the sake of simplicity you can call me a transformer. I’d prefer if you’d just use my name though." I said. Jorik nodded, before taking a seat at the far side of the clearing. He probably needed a minute to process. 

Saphira suddenly growled again, bringing my attention back to the stranger. He had taken Eragon, and attempted to start treating him, but she had gotten up in his face, and was now bearing her wickedly sharp teeth. 

“Can you get her to relax? I’m trying to explain to her that I'm here to help, but she won’t let me.” I nodded. 

Tapping Saphira on the shoulder, I brought her attention to me. “Give him a chance. He handled Brom well enough.” 

“I don’t-” she started to say, before I interrupted her. 

“I know you don’t trust him. You’ve made that pretty clear. So what’s stopping you from simply sitting here and watching him carefully?” She rolled that over in her mind for a moment, eventually accepting. I nodded to the stranger, also taking a seat next to my friend, in case she overreacted. He continued working on Eragon. 

“So what’s your name?” I asked as he treated Eragon’s wounds. 

“Murtagh.” He said stiffly. “I heard yours, Megatronus. Quite an odd name.” 

“In case you haven’t noticed, I don't exactly match the description of ‘average’.”

“Quite. So what exactly makes you a ‘transformer’?” He asked. I had been itching to mode-switch ever since I got the rest of my body back, and now I had an excuse. I stood, walking around Murtagh and in front of him. He watched with the same look of fascination that everyone else did as my body shifted and folded, eventually coming to rest on the pair of treads that had served as my feet for so long. Jorik was also watching at the other side of the clearing, wearing a sad expression. 

I switched back, and walked over to him. I sat down next to him with a large BOOM , startling everyone at the campsite and launching Jorik about a foot off the log he was sitting on. He latched onto the log when he came back down, white-knuckled.

“You okay?” I asked. 

He let go of the log, and looked down at his bare feet. “My mom and little sister… they were both sold to a different person.” I remembered back at the plaza earlier that night: the crying little girl and the sobbing mother, torn away from each other in a cruel display of humanity’s worst attributes. My upper lip curled at the memory. 

“Hey.” I said. He looked up at me, tears forming in his eyes. “I swear, on the spark that burns in my chest, that I will free them. No matter how long it takes.” 

“You’d do that… for me?” He asked. 

“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.” I quoted. Though obviously, Jorik wouldn’t know who said that. I picked the kid up, and he yelped, before setting him down next to the fire. He eyed Saphira nervously. I looked the kid up and down, sneering at the tattered rags he was wearing. “Murtagh.” the man looked up, having just finished patching up Eragon. “Could you go look through Eragon’s saddlebags real quick? He needs something better to wear.” Murtagh nodded, and started rifling through Cadoc’s saddlebags. 

A couple minutes later, he came back with some black pants, a tan vest, and a pair of sandals. He tossed them to Jorik, who went behind a tree to change. 

When he came back, he absentmindedly walked close to Saphira’s snout, and when she grunted, he jumped about two feet in the air, yelping in terror. He pressed himself against my lower leg, panting short and fast. Murtagh was also keeping a close eye on the dragon. 

“We need to get these two used to you.”

“Agreed. We cannot have half the people around us squealing like pigs when I twitch the slightest amount.” I looked at the two currently-conscious humans, and decided to introduce the one that was currently rattling my shin-plates. 

I bent down so that my face was right next to his ear. “Go on.” I said. He started again. “Introduce yourself.” He looked at me like I was crazy. With all that had happened, he wasn't far off. 

“To a dragon? But-bu-” 

“And she knows you’re talking about her.” 

“She-she does?” 

“Mhm. Now I'll get the pleasantries out of the way before she gets bored.” Jorik gulped. He looked at Saphira nervously. She shifted her massive head so that he was staring her straight down the snout. 

“H-hi.” he stammered. Saphira blinked. I felt the familiar mental contact that meant Saphira was sharing her conversation. 

“Hello, little one.” 

“Ah! Who said that?” Jorik said, looking around frantically. His gaze eventually settled on Saphira. “Did you…” 

“I did. What is your name?”  

“Jorik,” he said. 

Saphira extended her neck and sniffed Jorik, while he closed his eyes and looked away from her. “You smell of many hardships, Jorik. But you also have the scent of a good man. My name Is Saphira. My rider is Eragon.” she flicked her tail to the unconscious rider. 

“How can you smell something like that?” He asked, his earlier fear momentarily forgotten. 

“That’s a secret I will keep to myself. However, I will tell you this: the wounds from your life will not begin to heal until you look for someone to commune with about it.” Saphira looked me dead in the eye. “Speaking from experience.” I smiled softly.

Eragon woke later that night. Murtagh quickly explained what had happened since he had fallen asleep. Brom was in bad condition, Eragon had broken ribs, Jorik was scared, and Murtagh was on the run from the empire. 

We all decided that we needed to get moving, seeing as we were only a few miles from the city where everyone was looking for us. 

“How are we going to move Brom?” Eragon said, stroking his chin and tapping his foot. Murtagh looked at me. 

I shook my head. “No. in any other case, yes, but every bump I hit in the road is going to shake him around a bunch.” I looked at Saphira. “That leaves us with one other option.” 

Eragon groaned. “I’ll have to make a litter, like I did for garrow.”

After the makeshift stretcher was made, we tied Brom to Saphira’s belly, meaning she had to walk awkwardly due to the sticks jamming into her armpits. I laughed as she waddled around the campsite, looking like a giant, overgrown duck. She glared daggers at me. “Be cautious you don’t wake up with a cork in your cannon, Megatronus.” 

I raised my hands innocently. “Just fooling around,”

I Transformed, pulling up next to Eragon, Murtagh and Jorik. They were busy giving Jorik instructions on how to ride a horse. Intermittently, Eragon kept trying to convince Murtagh to leave him behind, citing a concern for the man. Murtagh was not swayed, stating that he wanted to help protect Eragon. 

Saphira launched into the air, signaling to us that it was time to go. Murtagh and Eragon both spurred their horses at the same time, with Jorik spurring Cadoc a moment later. I drove behind them, figuring that if soldiers start to chase us, better me take spears and arrows than the people they’d actually hurt. 

At dawn, Saphira dove down, having found somewhere safer for us to rest. We found her standing at the base of a giant sandstone hill, pockmarked with caves. 

“There is a cave at the top that can comfortably fit all of us, while also hiding us from prying eyes.” She turned and climbed up the rock formation, disappearing into a hidden cave entrance about twice as high as my robot mode was tall. I transformed, stepping up to the base of the hill. I looked up. Saphira’s head poked out and smirked at me, before disappearing again. 

I looked down at the three horse rider-human pairs. “Jorik, Eragon, I'm taking you two up first. Sit between my shoulders and head, and I will be back for your horses.” They both nodded. I sat down on the ground, while they took a couple moments to clamber up and secure themselves. As I stood, Jorik wrapped his arm around my head, while Eragon held onto my secondary cannon. 

It took me about a minute to get up the slope. The sandstone was soft and easily breakable, so I simply grabbed onto the rock, and it crumbled around my fingers, giving me easy handholds to use. As my head crested the rise, and I could see into the cave, they both hopped off, Eragon hurrying over to untie Brom and Jorik wandering aimlessly around the cavern. I needed to talk to him. He’d been silent ever since Saphira’s talk. 

I brought Murtagh up next, who looked around, eventually settling on a seat next to Eragon, on the opposite side of Saphira.   

I had to bring the horses up one at a time, and it took significantly longer because I had to hold them in one hand. Cadoc and Snowfire were significantly more used to me than Murtagh’s horse, who thrashed and whinnied on the entire trip up. He only calmed down when Murtagh came to him after I set him down in the cave. I took up a spot next to Saphira. The cave ceiling was about five feet above my head, so I had plenty of room. 

Murtagh was quick to start working on a fire. I laid back next to Saphira, watching Eragon try to give Brom water, but he wouldn’t take it. 

I fell asleep quickly.

Saphira’s sudden roar jolted me awake. I shot onto my feet, unfolding my fusion cannon and pointing it around frantically. Saphira tapped on my leg, and then gestured to Brom, who was resting on a stone ledge at the back of the cave. He was thrashing around, while Murtagh, Eragon, and Jorik all tried to hold him down so he wouldn’t hurt himself any further. 

“Megatronus! hand me that waterskin, and a cloth!” Murtagh yelled, pointing to his stuff, which was sitting next to the fire. Since my giant fingers couldn’t get around in the bags without smashing everything, doing the next best thing, I simply grabbed all the bags and brought them over. Quickly extracting the needed supplies, Murtagh got a piece of fabric wet and dabbed it on Brom’s forehead. 

The light of the dimming fire didn’t provide much seeing ability at the back of the cave, so I leaned over, the glow of my optics and autobot insignia casting a red glow over the four humans. 

Suddenly, Brom’s eyes snapped open. He immediately pointed to Eragon. “Bring me the wineskin!” he ordered. It relieved me to hear him talk. 

“Brom? Wine will only make it worse…” 

“I don’t want to hear it, just bring the damn alcohol.” 

Eragon complied, about to make his way over to his own saddlebag when Murtagh pulled his own wineskin out. “Here. take mine.” he said, leaving to go sit at the mouth of the cave, giving us privacy. 

“Wash my arm with the wine.” Brom said quietly. 

“What-” Eragon said, before Brom interrupted him.

“No questions! Just do it…” he said, the force of his shout surprising me. Eragon started to wash his arm, layers of dirt and grime coming off with each scrub. He continued to wash his hand, when something on his palm caught my eye. A glint of silver, hidden under a layer of brown dye. Eragon saw it too, and he scrubbed faster, eventually revealing the same mark that he had on his hand. 

“You’re a… a Rider?” he said, mouth agape. I was staring at him with a similar reaction. Not only was the man Eragon’s father, and was also a dragon rider at some point? What else was he hiding? 

“Once, that was true. It is a truth that is no more, however. I joined the rider’s ranks when I was younger than you. Much younger. As I trained, I became friends with the young Morzan. Before he was one of the forsworn. He betrayed us to Galbatorix, and in the battle of Doru Areaba, my young dragon, Saphira was killed.” I looked over at Saphira, and she looked at me, equally incredulous. Brom turned his attention to me. “That was the friend I mentioned to you back in the forest.” 

“Why did you wait to tell me?” Eragon asked. I saw the fear in his eyes. 

Brom coughed, doubling over in his seat. When he laid back down, there was blood on his lower lip. “I am so very old, Eragon. I have lived longer than most, and I still grieve for Saphira and hate Galbatorix for what he took from me.” He sat up quickly, grabbing Eragon by the collar of his shirt. “Protect Saphira with your life! For without her, it is hardly worth living.”  

“Don’t talk like that! Everything will be fine.” Eragon’s desperation was obvious in his voice. 

“This wound saps my strength. Eragon, take my blessing.” 

“You don’t have to do this.” 

“It is the way of things. Please…” Eragon nodded, kneeling in front of him. Brom placed a hand on his son’s forehead, and whispered to him in his ear. 

Brom turned his head to me, and I could see my optics and insignia reflected in his eyes. “Megatronus, you are likely the most powerful being to enter this land since Galbatorix. Please,  protect Eragon, and fight for what’s right. You said the last inhabitant of this body wanted a better legacy?” I nodded. “Then make that legacy.” He coughed again, before stilling on his bed and closing his eyes.

We sat there for hours, Eragon not moving a muscle for the entire ordeal. My own father had been on the other side of the country when he had passed, and I only got the news a few hours later. I couldn’t imagine what it was like for Eragon to watch someone who meant so much to him die before his eyes.

The evening sun was just starting to shine into the cave when it happened. He stiffened suddenly, and Eragon cried out for Murtagh and Jorik’s help, but they couldn’t help. My vision grew dim and fuzzy with static, the only thing I could make out clearly being Brom’s lifeless form.

Everything became a blur as Eragon fought with Murtagh and Saphira about burying him. I simply sat there next to Brom, motionless.

The night  passed, and eventually Saphira slithered around the entrance to the cave, approaching me, and ignoring Jorik who was staring at the fire with glazed eyes. Something told me he wasn’t feeling okay, but I didn't really care at the moment. 

Saphira tapped on my helm with a single claw. I onlined my optics, giving a simple “Hmm?” when I saw her in front of me. 

“Come. I have something to show you.”

I stood, having nothing better to do. She climbed out and around the cave, and I followed her, eventually ending up on top of the sandstone mound. Eragon was already there, sitting cross-legged in front of a pile of rocks. I knew what was buried underneath it. There was an inscription on one of the rocks, reading:

HERE LIES BROM 

      Who was a Dragon Rider 

  And like a father 

         To me.

    May his name live on in glory.

I didn’t know what to think. The man who had accompanied me and Eragon halfway across a country, comforted and taught us both when we needed it most, was gone. Forever. In a way, we had both lost a father figure today. 

Saphira got in close to the tomb, touching her nose to it. She started to hum, causing the air around us to reverberate, rattling my armor plates. From where her snout touched the rock, streaks of clear material shot across the rock, binding the loose stones together. The diamond-like material wove around the stone, eventually turning the entire gravesite transparent. I could see Brom’s serene face through the material, and he looked like he was only sleeping, his hands clasped over his sword. 

“There. Now time will not ravage him.” Saphira said, nudging Eragon affectionately. 

Seeing what Saphira had just done, I felt compelled to give him a gift myself. Not having any idea what would happen, I rested my hand on the diamond tomb. I heard a click-shhhh that lasted for a couple of seconds, before fading off. Tendrils of smoke drifted out from between my fingers. 

Removing my hand revealed the autobot insignia traced into the rock, with the words ‘till all are one’ circling the insignia. I turned my hand over in surprise, only to see that there were still the same black plates that there had always been. 

Eragon came over, and looked at the mark I had made. “You’ll have to tell me what that means later. For now, though, I feel he would’ve been honored."