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“Quiet!” Grimlock lifted his head and sniffed the air. Next to him, Sludge fell silent and froze in place. On Sludge’s other side, Red Alert reached for her sword.
“When I say run, you run. Both of you.” He knew Red would argue if he gave her a chance, but he wasn’t going to risk Ratchet’s beloved apprentice with what he knew was coming.
There was magic in the air, dark and strong and dangerous.
“I no run,” Red growled back.
And then they didnt have time to discuss anything else, as a bolt of energy flashed out of the trees and into Grimlock’s side. He growled and turned toward the source. “Run, dammit!”
“I’m not running either.” Sludge charged along Grimlock’s side and into the denser trees of the forest.
Grimlock growled in frustration at the action. His brother was smaller and more suited toward running through the trees, if not by much, but Sludge’s presence would hinder his own ability to just burn the hunter out.
“Me see him!” Red said, and then she charged into the trees as well, as another bolt of energy lanced into his leg.
Grimlock roared in anger and pain, and saw a smear of red moving through the trees as he did so. Then Sludge roared in triumph.
And a moment later, Red Alert was coming back out of the tree line, sword bloody. “There two. One run, one fall. Sludge following.”
“We had better go too.” Grimlock didn’t want to try and fight with his new magic burns, but he couldn’t leave his brother to the mercies of an unknown hunter.
Red nodded. “Treat burns after. Not bleeding.”
“Come on.” Grimlock crouched down so that the young woman could climb onto his back and sit in Ratchet’s saddle. Then he jumped into the air, inent on following Sludge through the air; his brother would be visible enough for him to track that way.
“North!” Red said once they were aloft, and he turned at her instruction and saw Sludge’s back almost immediately.
“That hunter won’t live long enough to regret his choices today.” With a few quick wingbeats, he had caught up with Sludge and was flying above his brother and their quarry as they tried to escape.
He could see a clearing ahead of their quarry, and Grimlock angled himself to dive as they stepped into the open space. If he dove as precisely as Swoop could, he would end this and they would be back at the Healer’s Hall before Rachet had time to worry about any of them.
The next moments happened in a blurr that Grimlock wouldn’t really remember later.
A third hunter stepped into the clearing as he started to dive. Red called out a warning, but he couldnt’ stop the dive in time. The third hunter unleashed a spell that struck him in the face.
Red Alert screamed as they fell.
They crashed into the center of the clearing, digging a long furrow into the ground as Grimlcok’s body came to a stop. Red Alert swore in every language she knew, but somehow she climbed off his back.
The second hunter and Sludge crashed into the clearing after them. Sludge screamed in anger.
Grimlock’s world went black.
-_-_-_-
Grimlock woke to pain and darkness, and he tried to struggle to his feet when he realized how vulnerable he was, but something was holding him down.
“Stay down, Grim!” Red Alert’s voice was a relief and he relaxed a fraction. “Sludge, don’t hurt him more, just keep him on the ground!”
“ME TRYING!” Sludge replied, and Grimlock realized that it was someone on his back, and he relaxed as much as he could. His brother pushed him back down, and then tiny human hands were on his snout. “Grimlock bad hurt, hold still!”
“Yes, stay still. I’ve only just gotten your bleeding stopped. You tore open the burns when we crashed.” Red leaned her forehead against his snout, and it ached for a moment but that paled in comparison to the radiating pain in his side and the throbbing in his head. “I’ve got a bandage over your eyes, because you scraped up your face pretty bad. They’re okay, i think, but I didn’t want to get blood in them.”
“How hurt?” Grimlcok asked softly. He knew Red could care for him almost as well as Ratchet now, so he let himself relax into her care.
“Your face, your burns and I think your front leg might be broken. Your scales are too thick for me to set it, though, and Sludge is afraid of hurting your more.”
“We ask Swoop then.” Grimlock sighed and nuzzled Red gently. “How hurt you, Red Alert?”
“Scrapes and bruises,” She replied. Sludge growled softly and she added quickly, “And a sprained wrist. I’m fine.”
“Not fine. Ratchet be angry.”
“He’ll be more relieved we survived than anything else.” The human moved away from his snout. “I think the bleeding in your face has stopped, I can take the bandages off if you’ll hold still.”
“Me hold stil.” Grimlock resisted the urge to nod the way he had become accustomed to after so many years among the Healers.
“Okay.” Red moved something, and the bandages covering his eyes fell away without letting any of the remaining bandages move. He was relieved when he blinked and saw stars and trees instead of blackness. “How’s that feel?”
“Fine.” his head hurt more than it had before, but he would take the pain if it meant seeing. “What happen to them hunters?”
“Sludge got one, I got the other. He wasn’t expecting me, and then he thought I would just be a scared little girl.”
“Red Alert never scared little girl.” He sighed and rested his head on a small pile of leaves that Red and Sludge had clearly gathered for that purpose. They already smelled like him, and Red’s healing salves. “Us make way home in morning.”
“I don’t think we should, Grim. Not on your leg. We should stay put and let Triage and the others come looking for us like we’re supposed to when we’re hurt.”
“Me Sludge agree. And me sit on your Grimlock if have to.”
He should have known that life with Ratchet would make his formerly-timid brother brave enough to disagree with him. If he were in his human form, Grimlock would have smiled. “All right. Us stay. Even if me Grimlock think us could walk.”
“Thnak you for not arguing.” Red Alert gave him a weak smile. “Sludge, stay here with Grim and I’ll go forage. I know mushrooms and nuts don’t do a lot for either of you, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Yes, Red.” Sludge slid down off of Grimlcok’s back finally and moved around so that Grim could see him without moving his head. Then he laid down next to him and rested his snout against Grimlock’s. “Us be okay after us get home.”