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It was cold and wet. Three days worth of rain had made the water get everywhere, and Bluestreak wasn’t even sure he remembered what it was like to be warm anymore. His paws were soggy, he was shivering, and–
“GET OUT OF MY TERRITORY!!!” He flinched back from the scream, but the other cat was coming at him from under a broken crate and there were claws and… and…
“Bluestreak?” Bluestreak woke with a yowl, but someone was already grooming him and purring at him the way Prowl did when he was upset. He didn’t recognize them by smell, so he turned to look, and was very surprised to see the leader of the clowder. Optimus gave him a warm look, pulled him closer with one paw and continued grooming.
Bluestreak wanted to relax into the huge cat’s offered comfort, but that first time he’d been attacked was too fresh in his memory and he could still feel the other cat’s claws digging into his ear and leaving the scars that Doctor Vanessa and Ratchet had both been upset by.
Optimus paused for a moment. “Will it help, if you tell me?”
“I don’t know,” Bluesteak replied.
“Well, I won’t be able to sympatize as much as Prowl, if it’s something about your time with the humans, but I will listen. And advise, if you would like that.”
He would really rather go to Prowl or Sideswipe or Sunstreaker–or even Drift who was a thoughtful as he was scary–but Optimus and his deep, rumbling purr were starting to help and maybe… Maybe.
“I was dreaming about getting attacked, after I lost my girl.” No one in the clowder had made fun of him for not knowing how to fight or judged him for being attacked and hurt while he was on his own, but he still didn’t know Optimus or how he would react.
“Is that what happened to your ear?”
“Yeah.”
“You can’t see it, with all my fur,” Optimus butted his head gently before lifting a foreleg for Blue to look at, “But I was also attacked when I was your age, before the temple took me in. That is how I met Doctor Vanessa, and she thought I might lose my whole leg.”
“Was it because someone thought you were trying to take their territory?”
“No, she thought I was trying to take her food.” Optimus went back to grooming, and Bluestreak felt himself finally start to relax. “She had managed to steal a whole chicken from the grocery store somehow, and it would have been days worth of food for her and her kittens. I didn’t understand then, though I do now.”
“I was just looking for somewhere that wasn’t wet.” Bluestreak sighed. “I didn’t even want to stay, and I didn’t know I was in someone’s territory. I didn’t even know how to check for someone’s territory until I came here. But the other cat didn’t even give me a chance to explain. It hurt so much when he slashed me that I thought I was going to die.”
“Now I am doubly glad that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe brought you to the temple, then.” Optimus nuzzled him affectionately, the kind of gesture he vaguely remember getting from his mother a long time ago. It seemed out of place, coming from such a huge tomcat, but it was kind of nice too. “We will teach you what you need to survive in the wider world, and the lessons will serve you well even if you find another human to love.”
“Thank you.”
“And you will learn best on a full stomach.” Optimus licked him one last time before standing up and stretching. “Come with me. It’s nearly dawn, which means that Alpha Trion will be putting scraps out for us near the fountain.”
That did sound nice, especially since his stomach had growled as soon as Optimus mentioned food. But he hadn’t known… “Wait, someone feeds us?”
“Only a little. The temple cannot afford much, and there are many of us. Alpha Trion saves what he can from dinner, and leaves it for those of us who are up at dawn. Today, we’ll have turkey, if I remember correctly.”
“That sounds nice.” Turkey wasn’t his favorite, but he wasn’t about to turn down free food. And if there wasn’t enough for a full breakfast, there was always the deli and Smokescreen had said something about a sushi restaurant nearby… “Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure.”
He followed closely as Optimus led the way into the temple, past the priests who were just waking up themselves, and toward breakfast. And a future where, maybe, he didn’t have to keep fighting for everything.