Days passed, and Megatron found himself growing stronger with each one. His limps became strides, the aches and pains faded to memory, and he was beginning to feel more like himself... But also, not quite.

His strength was returning, the force that could smash boulders and had leveled armies came back in his limbs, but... He felt no need to use it. As he'd laid on his berth one night, he had thought it over, and he realized that for the first time... He didn't need to fight. In the gladiator pits, he'd had to fight just to survive, and as the war went on, he'd fought to keep his position and to win for a vision he possessed of the future.

Now, he didn't need to fight for much of anything. The constant sense of approaching danger was gone, the drive to prove himself waned to a low hum in his spark. Was this what being at peace was like? No, he couldn't be at peace. Not with everything he'd done.

Still, the High Gatewatcher's words were ringing true; trusting him would only be foolish if he betrayed that trust...

To be honest, the only thing he'd really had to fight for was privacy. The first few days, there was almost always some Telensi checking on him or peeking through the curtains to admire him and then running away giggling when they were caught.

He was also having a very hard time getting the motivation to leave like he said he would. Every so often his optics would linger to the sky, the stars out beyond it. Ever since he'd awoken, he'd spoken of returning there and resuming his exile and search for his own demise, but for some reason... He just couldn't find the drive in that moment.

As the days passed, the novelty of the ancient cybertronian among them had waned. He was still greeted by the locals, but they no longer stared or pointed in astonishment. He was becoming a part of the community, even if he hadn't actually done much for them than send the Exatoms away that one time... And they'd be back.

Which was why when the next group of telensi were preparing to sneak out and collect supplies, Megatron accepted the High Gatewatcher's request to act as their bodyguard. It was a chance to get out of the city and try to learn more of these tiny bots' history here, and perhaps a little more solitude. Scribe had been coming to him multiple times a day with questions- Why were the little ones always so curious?

The gathering party consisted of him, plus three telensi with packs they would bring their goods back with, and a telensi guard that took point but never strayed far from the group.

It seemed that while a few of them had names of one word like Scribe or Spearen, most of them had names comprised of two words mashed together. Not too different from the naming conventions of Cybertron, really.

Megatron tried to remember the names to faces of those he was supposed to be keeping an optic on, so he could keep track of them and call for one if they strayed too far.

The winding trails of paths and streets led them further and further down the slope of the volcano, until the walls led to a large archway, and beyond that, the jungle. From a distance, Megatron hadn't noticed, but as he passed into the dense, green foliage, he could see just how big they all were.

The plants somewhat resembled some that he'd seen on Earth, but taller and thicker. Ferns stood tall enough for the smaller telensi to duck under them for cover, and the trees, Megatron was almost certain he could easily climb and sit amongst their branches, something no tree of Earth could dare attempt to support on its own. Vines draped down, and the sounds of the wildlife filled the treetops in a symphony of sound.

Screeches, caws, growls, chirps, groans, bellows, there was never a lack of sound down here, but it was almost impossible to see what exactly made what noise through the dense green. If a cybertronian ship had crashed here, it made sense it would be tough to break free of it again.

"Keep quiet, and hide if you can..." Riverflower whispered, "...fight if you must."

Rushwater and Whitefell nodded, gripping the straps of their packs. Whitefell looked to Megatron, "If the sounds stop, hide."

The visitor presumed he meant the symphony in the treetops, and gave a nod. "I will do my best."

Scalewood crouched low from his defensive point ahead of the gatherers- with his brown, speckled armor, he blended into the trunks of the trees almost perfectly. "It will be easier once you have learned the green..."

"A hide sibling would help too..." Rushwater hummed, leaping over a large tree root with ease on power legs.

Megatron ducked under a branch, "Hide sibling..."

"Yes... Our hides mimic that of the wilds here, but to mimic, we must first gain their trust and respect... It is a... courtesy." Riverflower explained, "That wild is called our Hide Sibling..."

She then transformed in a quiet series of clicks and whirs, her pack shifting with her until she had turned into a creature that resembled one of the Earth's deer, but with clawed feet rather than hooves, her pack hanging off of her sides. If Megatron hadn't seen it with his own optics, he wouldn't even be able to tell she was not one of the organics.

"Impressive." He hummed as she shifted back, "And effective."

"It has helped us blend with Telen... The wilds no longer fear us, we have become a part of their system. Sharing their world, growing with their light as they do..."
Riverflower's optics looked to the skies, and as Megatron followed her gaze, it began to make sense.

All this time, he had known the Telensi did not rely on energon, which they called Fure, for fuel, only using what existed here for special occasions- and for him now- but he hadn't thought to ask what they used for fuel instead.

Sunlight. They ran on the light of their host star like the plants did, and for now, it was an endless source.

"I see... But your ancestors relied on fure more."

"Yes... Their blood hadn't been touched by Telen. She helped them to become one with her in the Great Pools... She taught them what was good, what was not, and how to follow the wilds to keep away from danger in storm and flame, and to follow their paths when they are gone."

"I heard that your ancestors were buried in tombs..."

"Yes..." Riverflower sighed, "We used to make journeys to them to leave gifts to respect their work in forging our culture... but we haven't been able to in some time."

"Why?"

She pointed through the trees, "The tombs lie two lights from the city, but ever since the Exatoms built their hive between the city and the tombs, no telensi has been able to safely make the journey."

Megatron frowned, yet another reason to get rid of those insect invaders. They were keeping them from important cultural sites.

"The High Gatewatcher does not wish to engage in war, but he is not sure if there is a better option... They will not be peaceful, and they will not go on their own."

"Then perhaps... It is not war that is necessary."
Megatron overlooked the Telensi before him. They were small, yes, but they had to be smart and intuitive if they had forged their own lives here and even healed him from near-death. "...But rather, what must happen is to make a statement."

"What do you mean?" Whitefell asked, "Have you convinced enemies to flee?"

He had. Many times, in fact. Not many Autobots had mustered the courage to engage him directly, after all. "To avoid war with an opposing force, you must show them through a display that you are not to be messed with. I briefly did so when they attacked the city, but to have the Exatoms leave Telen entirely, it must be more than a few downed drones."

"Open to ideas."

"...Destroying their nest would be a good statement."

"HA!"
Rushwater remarked, "That is easy for you to speak. Your stature and might could cause even the King Drake to cower!"

"Shh...!" Riverflower hissed, "They might hear you...!"

The conversation lulled as they listened to their surroundings, but the sounds of the jungle continued on. 

Scalewood led them further into the green, transforming into a reptilian shape that crawled up and over the branches and trunks with ease. The others jumped or crawled over them just as easily in their own way, but Megatron trudged through the foliage behind them, trying not to crush too much of it under his pedes.

Their trek didn't take them too far from the city, but the thick green split apart just enough that the light of the sun could reach in and bathe down a small patch of ground. Pieces of wood had been carved and planted into the ground as posts, and woven between them were strands of drying material. Megatron had seen similar apparatuses back in the city for weaving their fabrics, but this was on a larger scale.

The Telensi crouched at the edge of the woods- looking, listening. Like prey checking for predators, they searched the skies and trees for any threats, and then moved forward quickly and began to pluck strands of dried thread from the posts and placing them in their packs. Riverflower was also picking up rocks from a small stream nearby, checking them over and selecting certain ones and placing them in her pack.

They were vigilant, checking the skies and listening for danger at all times... This wasn't right. Cybertron-born or not, no bot should have to hide in order to do simple tasks like collecting materials.

Megatron listened, and the Telensi's helms popped up as the canopy's song grew louder, and then dead silent... Then Megatron heard the hum.

"Hide!" Riverflower hissed.

They all dropped their packs and dashed into the foliage. Scalewood slithered up onto a trunk and stuck his tail out like a low-hanging branch. Riverflower and Rushwater ducked under a bush, curling up like large stones nestled on either side. Whitefell found himself a hollow log to duck into.

Within moments, it appeared that Megatron was completely alone in a clearing in an alien jungle. He couldn't camouflage like the Telensi could, but he made his way into the shadows as well, crouching down where he could see all of them, but not where he might give away their location.

The ground began to vibrate just a hint, and then wildlife was bolting past them through the trees. On foot, on the wing, slithering over and under the foliage. They were running away from the sound, and whatever was causing it.

Megatron looked in the direction the wildlife had come, feeling his spark beating a little faster. That old urge was back, the urge to pull out his cannon, to aim, and to fire at whatever approached.

The trees shuddered and trembled, and dark shapes barreled through them. Flying, buzzing shapes. They latched onto the trunks of trees, beginning to gnaw at them and tear limbs off of them, shoving them into their mouths with snapping mandibles like wood chippers.

Scalewood dropped from his tree perch and into the green foliage below, but didn't move, laying perfectly still like piece of bark that had simply come loose. He appeared to be ignored, but Megatron could feel the Telensi's EM fields flaring with fear.

Then one Exatom came after the log where Whitefell had hidden. It began to rip at the top of the wood, long claws digging in and rocking it back and forth with its weight. Did Megatron fire and give away the little bot's location, or wait and see if it never noticed the cowering telensi?

The log's top was then ripped off, and the Exatom and Whitefell made optic contact. Megatron prepared to engage, but then Whitefell let out a shriek of his own, and the Exatom found itself being swatted away as the gatherer transformed and then took flight. His scaly frame had suggested a reptilian sort of alt mode, but now Megatron could see it was more than that. Whitefell's legs and arms had folded in and disappeared altogether, leaving behind a long, scaly, horned serpent with wings that kept him aloft and fangs bared.

The insectoid flew across the clearing and smashed into the trunk of another tree. It didn't appear killed, but rather dazed, and now all attention was on the smaller bot as he slithered in mid-air.

Megatron snapped into motion, firing at some and knocking them out of the air while Whitefell smacked and ripped limbs off of others with his teeth. They tried to grasp onto him in retaliation, but the serpent's scales were slick and the lack of legs made it hard to find anything to grab onto. He slipped right out of their grasps and smacked them into the foliage, or directly into Megatron's line of fire.

Within a few moments, most of the swarm laid dead, and those that survived once more took off into the air and away.

The buzzing dulled, the sounds of the jungle began to slowly return, and Whitefell transformed back into bot mode and dropped to his hands and knees.

"Whitefell!"
Riverflower led the others into coming back out of hiding, rushing to his side and putting his helm in her hands as she looked him over. "Starling, what you did was dangerous...!"

"Are you wounded?" Megatron asked.

Whitefell shook his helm, a smile on his faceplate. "No... I am brave."

He crawled over and collected his pack, overlooking the fallen bodies that unfortunately had smashed much of the remaining threads they'd come to collect. "...You are right. This... This has to end before others are harmed... We must be brave."

Megatron sighed, looking at the three shaken and one tired but proud telensi, he began to wonder just what he was bringing into being. Was pulling these gatherers and peaceful bots into a battle against the invaders really the right call?

...Or was he once again luring innocents to sprint head-on into their deaths?