Prequel: Hunter at Night 11

Slash continued to visit his new 'girlfriend' each night. He enjoyed her company, and the feeling was obviously mutual. On the third day, he had noticed a subtle change in her scent. On the eleventh day, he sensed yet another change. And as it turned out, this was to be the last day he'd ever dare to enter the Autobot camp. A somewhat familiar scent lingered in the air, and it made him nervous.

"Something's happened," Aura said as Slash climbed through the window into the room, "Someone broke into one of the storage buildings and stole some energon. Whoever did it was not seen, but some think that the culprit was one of those mindless Seekers."

Slash was alarmed. This was no doubt the work of a feral Sweep. That explained the familiar scent he'd detected in the yard earlier. Some of Number 13's cubs were a bit older than Scourge, and although they were not yet fully grown they were big enough to kill a small Autobot. If the feral pack had grown bold enough to steal energon right from the base, then it was no longer safe for him to come here.

They spent the night together as usual, and decided that if they wanted to see each other again, that Aura would have to come to the edge of Slash's territory so they could meet. The Pack-leader's keen sense of smell would pick up on her scent immediately and he would find her with no trouble.

"When you come, be careful. Remember that you will have to pass through the territory of my feral brethren, and they may not take kindly to your presence," Slash told her.

"I'll be fine," Aura assured him, "While my senses aren't anywhere near as keen as yours, I can still detect energy signatures. I'll know if they're nearby, even if I can't pinpoint exactly where they are."

When it was time for Slash to leave, he nuzzled his mate affectionately before exiting the window and dropping to the ground as usual. He picked his way carefully through the compound and froze. There were sentries in the area, keeping watch, and they were definitely covering the open space that Slash needed to cross to get to the forest. His mind raced as he tried to figure out an alternate route.

"HEY! You there!" a voice shouted, and Slash turned to see an Autobot staring at him from a rooftop. He'd been spotted. He had no choice now, he had to run. But trying to head for the forest in the direction of his own territory was too risky. He ran the other way, deeper into Feral Sweep territory.

"It's one of those beasts! GET HIM!" the Autobot called out to his comrades.

Slash didn't even consider trying to talk to them. In fact, it was best that they had no idea that he was sentient at all. If they caught him, there were bound to be questions asked; questions that he'd rather not answer. Somehow he felt that his explanations would not be believed in any case. He uttered a sharp growl as he was being pursued, in a flat-out run on all fours. He was grateful for the extra speed that he gained in doing so. The direction he had picked was closer to the forest, and although some of the Autobots had transformed in order to chase him in vehicle mode, they quickly had to change back to robot mode, as the big Sweep cleverly chose to enter an area totally unsuited for vehicles. He kept running until he reached a large river. He jumped into it and submerged himself, swimming upstream for quite a ways. Fortunately the direction the river was coming from was also the direction he needed to be headed in.

The Autobots pursuing him stopped at the river, looking this way and that for any sign of the gigantic Sweep. "We've lost him," one of them said, after finding no trace of him, "We'd better get back to base."

After shaking the Autobots off his trail, Slash emerged from the river, re-checked his bearings, and leaped into the air and transformed. That was the fastest way to get home, enabling him to avoid his feral brethren. In a few minutes he was back at his den. He transformed back to robot mode and landed, then sighed heavily. "That was close," he said.

The other pack members looked at him with concern. "What happened?" Number 3 asked.

"I was seen," Slash said, "But I fled, and led them in a direction that would not cause them to search here."

"I don't understand," Number 9 said, "I thought you said that base was unguarded."

"It was," Slash said, "Until last night. Some of their fuel was stolen, and I'm certain that one of Number 13's offspring is responsible. After spotting me, that base will be more heavily guarded than ever. But perhaps that is just as well. They were too careless before. However, this does.....complicate things."

TO BE CONTINUED!