Work Text:
Boom!
Blades’s helm snapped up.
Oh no. We're being attacked. I have to warn everyone! I have to go help the recruits!
Blades commend his team and then began searching for the recruits.The world around him blurred with fear. He had never been more terrified in his life. Caring about the lives of the innocent made it easier to be afraid. During war, those sounds could possibly (HOPEFULLY) mean it was your enemies were dying. Here, the screams Blades was sure he was hearing, could only be the recruits.
War isn’t Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.
Hmm?
Tell me, who goes to Hell?
Sinners.
Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell, but war is chock full of them – little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for a few of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.
It was common knowledge to check the place you least wanted someone to be first, so Blades rushed outside, terrified of what he might see. The screams got louder and louder as the world seemed to tunnel. You're too slow. They're already dead. You've failed them. Finally, he made it to the front lawn. To his surprise, he wasn't greeted with the mutilated corpses of the children he was supposed to train. They were on the lawn for sure, but they seemed to be fine. In fact, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.
BOOM!
Blades covered his audials.
BOOM!
The recruits cheered. Blades looked up. His optics widened. There in the air, blazing lines of pure, sparkling color whizzed across the sky. Fireworks. It was only fireworks.
And suddenly. The world washed from a fear filled haze to a moment of fantastical joy. Because it was beautiful. This life was beautiful.
This isn't about the fireworks. Perhaps it never was.
Watching them, so unafraid, simply enjoying themselves as humans lit a teeny,tiny part of the atmosphere on fire. Millennia ago, he would have assumed the Decepticons had come up with new weapons that were sure to make more bodies for his team to collect and pronounce dead. If they were this close, he would have assumed that he was going to die.
The recruits didn't know about such worries. To them, it was only a light show. Blades liked that. He wanted to live in a world where the sky lighting up didn't mean imminent doom. Where kids could be kids. In the way he never got to.
The recruits hadn’t even noticed him behind them. Except for Wedge. He had turned around when Blades had accidentally crushed a branch. He looked at his teacher for a bit with an indiscernible expression before turning back around. Maybe he understands. I hope to Primus he doesn't. Nobody deserves to learn fear in the way I have. Blades looked towards the sky once more.
I'm not afraid now. Maybe it'll only last for tonight. But at this moment, I have what I need. Hope.