When All Lights Go Out I (TFP)

Chapter 68

When they had reached the other side of the vortex, it was indeed a pine forest. Azura was rather happy about it as she had been right, but she didn't see any pinecones around on the ground yet. In fact, she saw more of the trees still had their pinecones on the branches, so they haven't fallen to the ground yet it would seem. But Azura was in no hurry to find them, as she didn't know how far they would need to walk. Especially since Arcee could only follow the direction the scanner was pointing to.

Jack walked beside Azura as they follow Arcee, and he looked at the sparkling curiously. "It must feel nice to feel a little bit better after being drowsy all week." Azura nodded with a slight shrug and Jack smirked at her. "I imagine trying to fake feeling better would likely get noticed."

"Probably. Daddy is smart, Jack. We all know that, plus he and Ratchet have years of experience when it comes to sparklings. So I imagine that they know when a sparkling is trying to fake feeling better, or even faking an illness to get out of something." Arcee glanced down with a smirk as she listened to Azura speak to Jack. "Aren't I right, Arcee? Humans tend to do that, especially kids."

Arcee chuckled softly at the sparkling in amusement. "You would be right, Azura. I admit, when I was a sparkling, there were times where I faked being sick just to get out of going to school. But, as you can imagine, we have a hard time faking it. Especially since we require a medic to look us over to actually determine if we are sick, as a higher internal temperature may not be a result of an illness."

Jack chuckled softly. "I've never been able to get away with that anyway. My mum's a nurse, so she knows when I am lying to her. So I could never get away with that."

"I can believe that." Arcee looked at her scanner as she continued to walk. "But even if Azura is feeling energetic, that doesn't mean she's better yet. Anyway, as long as she doesn't take off running, it will be fine."

Azura chuckled before flinching as she heard a mosquito flying around. Jack waved his hands to try and hit it away. "Let me get it, Jack." Azura grabbed at the insect to try and catch it, but it avoided her grasp a few times before she grabbed it and squished it, making Azura chuckle. "Got it!"

She wiped the dead insect off her hand, only to hear more buzzing. Jack was a little annoyed by them. "If I had known I would have to deal with bloodsucking insects, I would have put on some bug spray. I am honestly surprised that there are so many mosquitoes here."

"They aren't just restricted to the tropical areas, Jack." Azura clapped her hands and killed another couple mosquitoes. "Ew, one of them must have just drunk from an animal." She grimaced as she looked at her hand. "Gross." She grabbed some leaves from a nearby bush to wipe her hands. "Mosquitoes can survive in a subterranean area."

"Yeah, but it would also mean there's a water source nearby they are breeding at. There's so many flying around my head right now, you would think that it is a tropical place." He chuckled a little and swats at the annoying insects.

"At least I know why they never bothered me. I used to think I had a natural pheromone that kept mosquitoes and flies away from me." Azura let out a little chuckle of amusement. "But now I know. They don't care for energon or living metal."

Jack laughed at the sparkling and shook his head at her. "Well, of course. But I guess you must have thought it was great that you didn't have to deal with it like I have to. I'm lucky that mosquitoes don't particularly like Jasper so this is something I'm not used to."

"Yeah, but when it gets a lot of rain, they seem to show up." Azura looked up at Arcee with a curious expression. "Do you think we might find a nice, large deposit? I know you have found other energon deposits, but I haven't been sure if it has been enough to give a nice supply of it."