TF Dires

By

Dragon with a Shotgun

I actually had to do some wolf research for help in this chapter, but I hope it turns out just as okay. Thanks!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"But Mom…! We want to know what happened next!" the pup whined loudly, hurriedly.

The female shook her head smiling. "Now, now. You need to get to sleep. The sun is almost up."

"But we want to know what happened next!" the first pup's brother wailed, resting his paws on the younger one's back and pushing him down unintentionally with his weight. But the younger brother looked up with wide eyes, looking at their mother with sadness and not minding the older pup on his back. His eyes were bright blue, his fur yellow and his ears brown and the tip of his tail brown and a long brown line that stretched from his eyes to his back in a curve. The older brother who was on top of him, was pure white with blue ears, paws, and a back stripe going from his forehead to his solid blue tail and had crystal blue eyes.

"Yeah, did the packs join together?" the older brother asked.

The female smiled warmly at them. She gave their pleas some thought, but finally gave in to their sweet little faces, as she rarely did. "Well… Alright, I will tell you. Now settle down."

The pups did as told. The younger brother lied down while the older one rested his paws and chin on his shoulders. The pups were a month old, including the one who was asleep curled up near the mother's side although it was the runt. She was yellow with brown markings just like her older yellow brother, but had a white tip at the brown end of her tail and brown paws. She had her paws curled up over her small face, her paws twitching slightly in her dream. The mother smiled and licked the pup's head, and then looked at the boys. The pups, having only been a month old, have never been outside the den. They have been too small to leave the den yet, so their mother had been keeping them inside the den until she felt that the time was right. The pups had been eager to leave their den for the first time, which would actually be today. That was why she wanted them to get their rest, so that they would have strength to wander around on their own. Well, not exactly on their own. She would be keeping a very, very close eye on them. But the pups were so excited to hear the ending to their story that they had actually forgotten about their journey to the outside world today.

They had not yet seen the rest of the pack. The rest of the pack were excited to see them, but she being a female in the pack, she had planned out how they were going to meet the pups. She was strict on the rule of waiting a month, and everybody respected that rule. Now, everybody could hardly wait to see the young ones.

"No, the packs did not join together. The Mountain Pack stayed with the River Pack for a while, until the forests on the other side of the river began to show signs of life. Then they left some months later, when the caribou came back from their previous winter migration." She watched as the boys looked at each other, and then perked their ears.

"What about Starscream?" the white pup asked, frowning.

She blinked. "Starscream? Oh! Yes, of course. He still lives with Hava and her pack today."

"So… despite that he had been an ass all the time, he was still allowed to stay in their pack?"

"Stride!" the mother snapped, eyeing the yellow and brown male pup with a stern eye as he shrunk back in surprise and confusion. "Where did you hear that word?"

"What? Ass?" he said meekly.

"Yes. Where did you hear it from?" she demanded.

Stride fumbled with his words, and fidgeted with his paws. "Um… I heard Dad say it once… Is it a bad word?"

She nodded. "A very bad word. I don't want to hear you say it again, from the both of you. You hear me?" The pups nodded hurriedly in agreement, and she sighed in agitation. She hated it when their father used such words to describe things. He had gotten used to saying it around his old guardian, but he hadn't considered about not using the word around the pups. The young ones didn't even know what the words meant exactly, but yet they still used them as if they were normal for everybody to use. She would have to have a talk with her mate later. At that moment, he was actually with the others, telling them the plans that she had told him about for the pups to meet them. He would be back shortly.

"Hm… Anyway, yes. Starscream was still welcomed into their pack. As of this time, the pack still doesn't appreciate him being there still. But they are working on giving him a chance. In my opinion, I think that he is better off with them than he was with Megatron. That male was more trouble than he was worth." She frowned at the memory of him, his sneer and his cruel ways. Perhaps lowering the level of the wolves around him will make him less of an aggressive wolf.

Suddenly the white pup frowned. "What's… appre-ciate…?" he tried to sound the word out, getting the feel of it on his tongue before looking up at her with curious but obviously tired eyes.

"It means that they don't exactly want him there, Flash." she replied softly, seeing the pup's eyes droop some.

"What about Riverrun?"

"She lived with the Mountain Pack now, and is the mate of Megatron." Their mother said in a hushed tone, seeing their eyes starting to slowly blink, as if they were getting bored or tired. Their ears drooped slightly.

"What about… Bumblebee?" Stride yawned, blinking his eyes slowly.

She smiled at him, her eyes warm and her smile soft, her features calm and her heart beating happily. "He still lives in the River Pack today."

"I wish I could meet him… He sounds so cool…" Flash said slowly, and before he knew it he was asleep, along with Stride.

The mother smiled in amusement of how fast the pups had fallen asleep. Flash was hanging his head over Stride's back, his paws stretching out and touching the soil. Their soft snores filled the den, quiet and sweet to her ears, since she loved them so much anyway. They cuddled next to each other, smiling in their sleep and twitching their ears and tails.

"Stream?"

She cocked her ears back at the voice and turned her head to see a familiar wolf at the entrance of the den. He was large, bulky, and had a less chubby face than he had when he was younger and his voice was deeper. He stood at the opening patiently, smiling at her calmly and waiting for her response. Stream smiled at her mate, and nodded at him.

"I will wake her." she assured, and watched as he smiled back proudly at her.

"Growing up so fast… Can't believe it's the big day." he mused, thinking happy thoughts to himself of when the pups were only a week old. Stream seemed to see that spark in his eyes, and she smiled at him.

"I know… Well… go and tell the others. We will be out in a minute." He nodded at her and disappeared away from the den. She then looked down at the little female pup beside her. The pup looked like an angel send from heaven, created from Primus himself. But then again, she thought that way of all of her pups, because they were hers. She really didn't want to bother her daughter, but she knew that she and Firefly had made a deal some time ago. The boys were always the first to do things before their runt sister, and although Firefly didn't mind it too much, Stream wanted the only little girl of the litter of three to be met by the rest of the pack first, to make it special for her.

She nudged her head with her nose gently. "Honey, time to get up. The boys are asleep." Firefly's brown ears twitched, and she groaned, whimpering as she didn't want to wake up. It was a tiny sound that no human could hear, but because wolves had such a keen sense of hearing she could hear it as if it was thunder in the sky. But it wasn't a booming sound. Stream's idea had worked. The plan had been to tell the boys a very long and possibly boring story, and make them fall asleep. But they had actually found the story interesting, and as planned before had fallen asleep anyway. She and Firefly had planned it out together, during one of their mother daughter moments.

Stream nudged her again. "Firefly, wake up."

"But Momma…" the pup yawned, stretching her paws and curling next to her mother more closely.

"Baby, you know you wanted to get up for the pack meeting."

Suddenly Firefly's eyes widened, and she lifted her head to smile at her mother in happiness. "Oh yeah!" she giggled as she rolled over so that she was on her stomach. The pup's eyes were sparkling with excitement as she shook her fur and wagged her tail. "I'm ready!"

Firefly was such a sweet little female, always determined to do something good for someone despite the few wolves she even knew, her parents and brothers. But being the only female in the litter, and being the runt at that, she sometimes needed a mother to huddle next to on stormy nights. Her brothers could play a little rough, and Firefly would run to her mother if they became too rowdy with their wrestling. But Stream never minded having her come to her for comfort.

The mother chuckled softly, and licked her daughter's forehead where a piece of her fur was sticking up and out of place. "Alright, these wolves you are about to meet are very kind. They are your family, too. Be sure to be polite."

Firefly nodded as her mother licked her face, washing soil off and cleaning her ears and neck fur. After the bath, Stream led her out of the den. The pup followed close behind, determined to keep up and not get left behind. Outside the den, Bumblebee stood, smiling proudly at his mate and licking her muzzle in affection before turning his gaze to look at his little girl.

"You ready to meet everybody?" he asked, smiling brightly at her and lowering his head to lick her head.

"Yep!" Firefly giggled, licking her father back on the nose. He chuckled softly, as to not wake the other pups in the den.

Stream inspected her den, sniffing around and making sure that the brush covered the entrance and making sure that the pups were still asleep. Seeing as they were, she nudged the dead grass up to disguise the hole in the entrance, and nodded to Bumblebee before following him and her pup away from the den and towards the trail that led to the others.

Firefly was actually nervous. She had never met anybody from the pack before, and she wondered what they would look like. She pictured big wolves with happy faces, but she couldn't help but get the shaky feeling from her legs. She was still excited to see the rest of her family, but she wasn't sure that she could say that they were actually a family, since she didn't even know them. But if they were part of her pack, of course they were her family, right?

She tripped over a stick, but she wasn't on the ground for long, and Stream gave her rear a careful push with her muzzle. Firefly trotted after her father, right on his heels with her tail wagging in excitement and her ears perked in interest. Her eyes darted all around her. She had seen the outside world through the opening of the den, but she had never actually been outside to see it.

"What's that?" she asked with fascination when she saw a fluttering creature darting from flower to flower.

Bumblebee smiled as he saw what she was staring at. "That is a butterfly. It is an insect and one of the flower creators of the world." He remembered how Ironhide had told him so long ago about how butterflies spread this yellow stuff from flower to flower, creating new ones just like bees did. He missed being the one who was told the stories. Now, he was the one passing the stories down from his puppyhood. He was proud to be the one telling the tales though.

Bumblebee and Stream had become mates two years ago, a year after the forest fire. They had been inseparable ever since they had been reunited after the fire, and the next year when they were young adults, they became even closer. A few months later, she had unexpectedly become aggressive, and had made him leave the den for a night and day. He had had no idea what was wrong with her, and when Ratchet had told him that she was having puppies, he nearly passed out.

But he stayed near the den, prepared to do anything to help her if she needed or ready to defend the den from coyotes or badgers. He had stayed up all night at the entrance of the den, watching as Ratchet came to check on her every now and then, but not often. He had said that females needed time to be alone, said it was part of nature. Now, Bumblebee wasn't quite sure how this 'nature' had started or how it had even happened, but instinct told him to guard the den with his life, and to not enter until she called. When she had called him the next day, he had never felt such pride and joy when he saw his three, healthy and whimpering pups nestled next to his mate.

He smiled at the memory when he had first seen them, and then slowed his pace when he spotted a familiar wolf up ahead of them. At first, he was wary, by instinct, but then he smiled in relief when he recognized the figure. Stream smiled brightly, happily, and let out a small yip that caught the young male's attention.

"Streak!"

The young wolf wagged his tail and instantly bounded up to the two adults, sniffing at Stream and licking her muzzle. She wagged her tail in response and perked her ears at him. Streak was much bigger now, at least her size. His muscles were bulkier, but he wasn't too big for his size. His muzzle was longer, and his tail longer and a bit fluffier, his chest harder. He was pretty much a grown wolf now, but he was still a young one.

"Sis, how are ya?" Streak greeted happily, sniffing at the new scents on her chest. His voice was deeper as well.

She lifted her head when he touched his nose against her chin and smiled. "I am fine. Streak, I want you to meet somebody."

At first, the young male just cocked his head slightly to the side in curiosity. His face was soft, serious as he thought about what she said. Then he remembered the reason he hadn't seen her for a few days, and he grinned. Suddenly he wagged his tail and let his eyes trail to the pup behind her front legs, her ears flattened and her shoulder's hunched to her neck. She looked up at him with curious eyes, but with a shy expression. With bright blue eyes, he tilted his head at the small yellow and brown pup.

"Hello!" he beamed in a happy tone, wagging his tail more.

She peeked out from behind her leg, and Stream looked down at her with a soft, reassuring smile. "Go on, talk to him."

She looked up at her mother with big blue eyes, but she swallowed and did as said. She crept out from under her mother and slowly walked to the much larger young wolf.

"Hello… How are you?" she greeted with a small voice.

He lowered his body close to the ground until his stomach slightly touched the dirt so that his eyes were at the same level. "What's your name?" he asked.

She lowered her chin slightly. "Firefly…"

He had a bright smile, and he perked his ears. "That's a pretty name. My name's Streak. I'm your uncle!"

She looked up at him, frowning in confusion. "What's 'uncle'?"

Bumblebee chuckled and looked at Stream with light eyes and an amused smile. "He is your mother's brother, young one."

Firefly looked up at Streak. He was huge compared to her, but he seemed younger than her mother. Much younger. Her mother had a brother? Like she had her two brothers, Stride and Flash? Streak seemed nice though, unlike her brothers who were always so rowdy and always wrestling. Then she remembered the story her mother was telling her brothers. He was exactly like that wolf in the story. Did she make up that story? Maybe she used her brother as one of the characters.

"Let's introduce you to the others, huh?" Streak said in a happy voice, raising to his paws and looking at his sister and brother-in-law. Both of the parents nodded in agreement and followed the excited younger male down the trail. Now Firefly trailed after her uncle, looking around in amazement and watching his tail as it swayed behind him. He might be still a young wolf, but wither being only a month old with short stubby legs and him being at least two years with long legs, he was pretty hard to keep up with, and she received a nudge from her mother every now and then to help her stay within the middle of the group of three. Her mother had become very, very protective with her pups. She kept her eye on her daughter every moment, while her eyes darted from the forest to the trails.

"Honey," Bumblebee said in a hushed tone, smiling at her behavior. "There's nothing got be worried about. Ironhide ran the whole territory just a while ago. Nothing is here to hurt her."

She sighed, smiling hesitantly back at him and nodded in understanding. "I know, but… I can't help it. This... This is her first time out of the den and… You know?"

Bumblebee laughed warmly, and nodded as he looked ahead at the trail. "Of course, Stream. I know." Even as he had said it, he remembered when Ironhide had been so overly protective of him when he was a pup. He sure missed those days, when he didn't have to worry about everything that went on, and when he had a father to lean on. Now, he was the father. He was the one that his pups would have to lean on at times they needed him most. He was almost saddened by the thought that he wasn't a pup anymore, and wished that he could go back in time.

"Optimus!" Streak yelled, starting to run. Firefly was at his heels, a little clumsy and falling over here and there but still trying her best to keep up.

A group of wolves were standing in a group near the dens, most of them sitting down and relaxing on this particularly calm day. There was a large blue and red one, sitting next to a dark grey one and talking to him in a calm voice. A yellow-greenish wolf with red lines on his sides and ending at the tip of his tail was sitting next to two other wolves that looked very much alike, one with red markings and the other with yellow. A large green male sat with a pink female and another female that looked almost like Stream but with grey fur instead of white. They were speaking quietly, laughing about something that he must have said. A smaller grey wolf with blue and red markings was lying on his back with his feet in the air, making another male who was sitting next to him, one with white fur and dark grey underbelly and blue and red markings, shake his head in a knowing and unamused fashion.

"Streak, welcome back. Have any luck on the hunt?" Optimus said in return, looking over at him and smiling. Streak had been hunting on his own for small game now, so now it was common to see him wandering around hunting for rabbits or other small mammals.

"No, sir! But I did come across someone on the way back." Streak blinked in surprise when something ran into his hind leg, and he turned his head to look at the pup behind him, who was rubbing her head with a paw and shaking her head. After she regained her senses, she looked up at him. She had been too busy trying to keep up with him and watching her paws that she hadn't been watching where she was going. But he didn't seemed agitated or anything. He smiled and chuckled before looking up at Stream and Bumblebee, who were walking calmly beside each other down the trail behind them.

Stream frowned and leaned her head toward the side near her mate's ear. "Where's Hava and her kids?" She referred to them as kids, despite them being about the same age as her. She had just formed the habit and it stuck.

"They couldn't make it. The showers the other day flooded the river, so they couldn't cross that log since it gave out a few weeks ago. They said that they'd come as soon as they could in a few days probably when the river quietened down." Bumblebee leaned his head as he spoke, and he smiled at the rest of the pack who had stopped what they were doing.

Everybody looked down at the pup behind Streak's legs, and she gasped and shrunk behind him, bashful of all of the eyes gazing at her.

"It's alright," he assured, moving his leg out from in front of her. "They're nice. This is your family!"

She lowered her head when his leg disappeared. She froze. But then the large dark grey wolf stood up and walked over calmly, looking down at her with amused eyes before lowering his head. Streak walked toward the group, sitting next to Hound. He and the green colored wolf had grown close, and had been like father and son almost.

"Hello, young one. It's alright, you can come out." The dark wolf said in a rough voice, but it was clear that he was being nice. She tilted her head, and immediately walked over to him slowly, her nose in the air as she sniffed at him. He had scars on his face and leg, and she examined them before looking up at him. He looked like that wolf that had been described in that story her mother had told her earlier, before she had fallen asleep anyway. The dark fur, the scars, the deep voice, everything. It made her curious.

"Ironhide?" she asked meekly, her ears perked.

He smiled broadly and nodded. "That's my name, young one."

She gasped. So he was from the story like Streak? She blinked in surprise, and looked at the others. All of them, they looked exactly like the described wolves in that tale, and she smiled brightly as she compared each to the characters in the story. They were those wolves, she realized. She looked at Ironhide, and he still looked at her with soft but proud eyes.

She suddenly wagged her little tail, and jumped into his paws. "Grandpa Ironhide!" The old wolf laughed heartily, wrapping his paws around her in an embrace and leaning back on his haunches. She snuggled into his neck fur, wiggling her tail and giggling happily as she felt his legs fold around her. Ironhide felt the young puppy's love radiate off of her and her paws run through his fur. She was so small, but was full of such spirit. Just like her father. She almost looked exactly like him, except for her brown paws.

Bumblebee and Stream smiled in happiness as they watched the older wolf and pup share that moment of bonding. They were actually surprised of how fast she had clung to the old male. Bumblebee knew from that moment on, that the two were going to be an inseparable pair. Just as he himself had been with him when he was younger.

The rest of the pack approached one by one, each taking in her scent, and talking politely to her while she gave them nuzzles and licks. She looked so excited to see everybody. Too bad her brothers were taking a nap at the den.

Then a female approached Stream. She smiled at her sister.

"'Run, how are you?" Stream asked, licking her sister on the ear and smiling brightly.

Riverrun laughed softly. "Never been better. You know, I still can't believe that you have had pups before I. It's amazing. She's amazing." She turned to look at the pup playing with Jazz, rolling over on her back and giggling when he pressed his nose against her side, nuzzling her playfully and rolling her around.

Stream nodded. "All three of them are."

"Where are her brothers?" the older sibling asked.

"Sleeping." Riverrun nodded knowingly at Stream. "So, how is Megatron? I thought that he'd be here."

"He's at home. I had left a few days earlier while the water was calm in the river. But since that storm they weren't able to make it."

"You've been here for a few days? Why didn't you come to my den?" Stream demanded in shock.

Riverrun shook her head. "You being a first time mother, I wanted to leave you to your thing. But besides, your family is beautiful. Everything is lighting up-,"

As his mate and her sister were talking, Bumblebee was watching his daughter play with Ironhide again. Memories flashed through his mind again. Good memories that made a tear come to his eye. When he had been found by Optimus, and had been snuck back to the territory. How Ratchet had scolded Optimus for it, but had given him to Ironhide to watch over. Ironhide had grown on him as a pup, and Bumblebee had become like a son to the old male. Then came the frightening memory of Megatron, when Bumblebee had been taken on his first day to the river and had been used to the Mountain Pack's advantage, although it didn't work out the way they had planned. Ironhide was then holding on to him, telling him that everything was going to be alright, and they he would never let anybody else hurt him anymore.

Then there was that memory of when he had first met Stream on that white snowy day, touched noses and chased after her. Then they became friends after she and her tiny brother came to live with him and his pack. How he and the female had grown close, and how he had taken her to that cave, how he had first experience true love. Then he had lost her, had fought with Barricade, had experienced aggression and rage. He had had a broken heart for five days, not having seen Stream and knowing that she was scared and alone. How he had felt when he was running through the smoking forest, how he had experienced pain when he had twisted his leg and found Primus. How he found Megatron, and had led him out of the fire, and jumping into the waterfall. How he felt when he awoke to all of his friends and family near him, how he felt when he was reunited with Stream.

Then a thought passed through his memories. When he had first found out about his mother being dead, and how he had arrived to this pack. He smiled now at that memory, thinking of how immature he had been to not have thought about the good things that had come out of his past. If it were not for this pack taking him in, and giving him all the love and care that he had so desperately needed as a pup, then he would have died from loneliness and hunger. He didn't remember his mother, but he knew one thing. Even though she wasn't able to be there to care for him, he knew that she would've been here to see this now if she were able to. And it made him sad to know that his biological family wasn't here, whoever they were. But at that moment, he wasn't too concerned about that. He was happy now, he had always been. He had had some rough times, times that he didn't know what to do. But with this pack, with this family, he had grown. He had become a wolf, and was no longer a pup. He had a family of his own now, and he knew that he had to take care of it.

And as he watched his daughter riding on Ironhide's back now, he felt that spark in his chest, similar to that one he had felt when he had first seen his puppies. It was that feeling you would get, when you almost couldn't contain your happiness and excitement. It made a smile spread over his face. He belonged here. He was at home.

And he mentally thanked Primus for giving him such a glorious gift.

Well… I guess this is it. Phew… I am surprised that it had lasted this long! I loved it for sure, and I hope that everybody else did as well. Thanks, and comment! (Hope this was a good enough ending for you guys! And I remember, from a while back, that antubis said something about puppies, and that made me think up this last chapter, thought it would be a nice little ending!)