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When seeking out purpose, one may fail to realize that some answers are best left unknown. Especially when looking for what the hands of fate have shaped the future into. Something Dinobot needed to grasp, now that he held all those nasty explanations tight in his servos.
So, Megatron had indeed lead them to the right planet. To Earth. To where it all began. Had he been the fool to not believe his ambition at first, when they originally landed? ...No. Megatron was always going to be the fool in the tragedy deemed the Beast Wars. Dinobot was simply strung along for the ride.
Within these disks contained the future, and Dinobot was desperate to pick through them. The revelation of this planet being Earth meant that the information it held could only be true. The air around him crackled with energon as he trekked through a small range of mountains for much needed solitude. Lightning flashed through the sky, and the wind blew violently, as if nature herself was warning the mech to turn away and shield himself from the truth that laid within.
He sat himself down on a rock covered in moss and debris. He couldn't help but reflect on everything that lead him here, to steal the disks back in a need for knowledge. How his betrayal to the Predacons brought him to... to all of this. To the Maximals, to call the Axalon his home (if he could even call it a home anymore). As much as he lacked sympathy for most of his do-good teammates, they had done a huge impact on his life, for both better and for worse.
Cheetor was always wide-eyed and curious, but his lack of experince and age almost always lead to a stern talking from Primal that the whole team needed to hear after his impulsiveness resulted in yet another grave mistake. Despite this, he did have potential, and was capable of learning from said mistakes. Rhinox was slow. A drag to Dinobot's ambitions at times when he wanted a quick and easy victory. A smart mech who knew his way around technology, however, which Dinobot sometimes lacked in. Rattrap didn't deserve a reflection. He had already reflected about that infuriating waste of energon far too much. But of course, like all the others, he was useful sometimes. Tigatron, Airazor... he never got to know them very well, but perhaps it was better that way.
But then there was Optimus Primal. Their ability to cooperate, while still fluctuating (and sometimes infuriating), had significantly improved since that fateful day when Dinobot had challenged him for the position of leader. Of course, he still believed he deserved that spot, but Optimus... he certainly was a leader in his own right. A leader in a way that Dinobot couldn't match. He did admire those abilities he held, and though he might struggle being so kind as to voice that admiration, he knew Optimus understood. They had some sort of understanding. It gets awkward though.
Was there a real possibility that all his work, with the Maximals and with his growing bond with Primal, could have been for nothing? Of couse, and now that he knew his destiny was written somewhere on these disks, he could answer all his questions with just a little peek inside.
When debating what to look for first, Dinobot subconciously looked for anything related to Primal. Using a disk playing device he had brought along, he went forward, past what had already happened, off to the future.
...one he wasn't in. Not with Primal. Not with the Maximals anymore. He must have skipped too far forward! Even the great Dinobot could make a mistake in his personal calculations... but when he found the exact spot, the exact moment it was scribed about his sacrifice, it all came crashing down. Destiny, with his fate in her hands, had cursed him. He didn't need to look over it again. He had no control over anything. Was it in the disks that he would do this too? Was every little moment and action he commited already predetermined? Was... everything he thought had meaning, every relationship and every feeling he had been capable of recognizing, out of his own servos?
He had seen enough. He was to die, beside Primal in a burning forest, and shockingly soon. Destiny was such a fickle thing. If he had seen it though, could he change it? Could he rewrite what was foretold, and make it out alive? Primus, why was everything suddenly so much more difficult to grasp again? He could go run, go off and tell Primal everything, everything he couldn't say outloud before and hope it was enough to change something. He could destroy these disks right now. Prevent everything...
He stood up from the rock and dusted himself off. A storm was coming, and he didn't want to be caught in the interference. He lifted up a few large stones and hid the disks underneith. He hoped, for now, they would remain hidden and inaccessible, to both sides. He transformed and ran to the coordinates of the Axalon. It wouldn't hurt to vaguely vent his thoughts to Primal, right? He needed a while to think about it.
Dinobot never noticed how eerily quiet the world was until these past few weeks. As the lift brought him up to the bridge, he was slightly slumped over. It was hard to stand confidently, when everything suddenly felt so desolate and silent. He enabled Sentinel once more, and sat in a seat near the console, where Primal was working quietly behind on a new strategy to use against the Predacons. All his thoughts were still plagued by his discovery. He felt... despair, anger, grief. Though his end was honorable, and he wouldn't have it any other way, it didn't make it any less jarring to realize how little time he had left. So then, if he was to go so soon, he needed to speak up.
Dinobot made an effort to gain Optimus's attention. Almost immediately, the other mech looked up at the raptor expectantly.
"Did you need something, Dinobot?" Optimus's voice was firm, but held a softness that Dinobot didn't typically hear used to the other mechs on this ship. Softer than he had expected after losing the disks and messing with their fragile trust again. He suddenly felt much more nervous as to if this was a good idea. He must get over it anyway. So with a sigh, he sat up straight, and put his thoughts to words.
"Have... you ever thought about the future?" A simple and open question for now. Depending on how the leader reacted, he would go from there.
Optimus seemed to really think about it. Why would Dinobot be asking this so suddenly? There was so much he didn't understand about this mech. "I can't say I haven't. Why? Is something happening?" He sounded concerned. This really wasn't something he had expected to hear, from Dinobot no less. Was the stubborn raptor finally opening up to him?
"Hm. Nothing has happened. I'm just.. asking a question." Dinobot didn't mean to sound so defensive, but he normally had a little snarl to his voice, so he hoped it wasn't taken personally. Optimus sighed to that. He stopped working and walked over closer, next to where Dinobot sat.
"Well, I suppose I do think about what we'll do when we find a way out of here-"
"If we find a way out..." Dinobot had the gall to correct him. Optimus rolled his eyes.
"I don't want to hear that, we will find a way off this rock. I promise. Even if it takes a few more weeks, months, years..."
If there was anything Dinobot liked the least about them, it was the amount of blind hope the Maximals still had after being stranded so long. Dinobot didn't have the time or effort to try to pretend he believed it would happen. Not with him there, at least. After a few moments of silence, Optimus decided to continue.
"It's hard to think about the future, when I'm still unsure what it could contain. I don't know how to prepare for it yet." He admitted. Optimus sounded almost... defeated. Tired. "But I know I will face it just as bravely as I would anything else." He smirked slightly and looked up at Dinobot.
Dinobot felt a slight flutter in his spark at Optimus's smirk. How could he still be confident in his ability to face the unknown? Dinobot already knew his face, but he was faced with uncertainty.
"Do you think fate is already written?" His voice hitched at the end unexpectedly. Why was he losing composure? All it took to shake Dinobot was knowing the future? No.. he must dismiss those thoughts, at least for now. He couldn't have Primal worried about him. "And can you change it?"
"I don't think fate is decided so easily." Optimus shrugged. "Someone else may have decided what happens, but you still have control on how you react to it. It's impossible to know for sure." There he goes smiling again. How can he smile right now in such a serious conversation? And why did it make him feel a little better?
Dinobot simply nodded. Optimus did have a point, like always. Another reason why he was such a great leader. He managed to look back up and make eye contact with him again. "...Thank you." Dinobot's move to be polite just made Optimus's smile even warmer. How dare he. It made him feel awkward. Before he could get up and lock himself in his quaters, Primal made a move to slow him, and walk at a steady pace to his destination. Then came an awkward shoulder pat and yet another sigh.
"I can tell you're going through a lot. After I send Cheetor to check on a Megatron sighting near the human valley, we should... talk more. I'm here to help, as your leader and as your.. friend." The awkward feelings grew again, but before Dinobot could respond, Optimus had duties to carry out at the bridge, leaving him now alone in his quarters. Left alone to reflect and realize the time he wasted.
He wished he had put the effort sooner to fix this awkwardness. He waited too long.