A Wandering Beginning

Hello, everyone, my name is Optimus Prime. I can’t seem to think what happened before I entered this place, but what I can remember is that I held Furaha and Orko under my arms as bombs fell everywhere on this place…was it Cybertron? I can’t remember. Then we were falling down a huge green and purple hole, and in a flash, we were gone. I, because I’m telling you this in a rather dizzy way, have lost my memory of my past life, but what I can tell you is that Furaha, Orko and I ended up here…in the very beginning.

When we woke, we were surrounded by a peaceful forest, much like the ones you’d see on Earth, except there’s no people taking walks with their dogs. When I awoke, I had no idea whether I was on Earth or not. I called out loudly for my friends, trying to wake up.

“Furaha!”

“Orko!”

Suddenly, I heard the branches rustle, and high above there came voices. “We’re up here!” cried a squeaky little voice. I couldn’t tell whether it was Furaha, Orko or not. “Who are you? What do you want from me?” I nervously whimpered, but suddenly, out from the trees fell Furaha the lioness cub, followed by her best friend Orko, a Trollan wizard. Luckily, I managed to catch them. “Optimus!” they both cried as I hugged them tight. “Thank goodness,” I sighed, “At least we’re in a better place now.” “What better place?” asked Orko, confused. “There doesn’t seem to be any people around here. No men, no women, no children, no dogs. Except us. And everything seems so peaceful and lovely.” “I know it is,” I reminded, “But look around you. It seems like an endless sea of trees.” “Look look look,” said Furaha, “If you try to compare the sea with the forest, they don’t even look alike. What matters most is that we ended up in this strange, unforgivable place when we fell through that strange hole, and someone in our heads told us we’re never going back to Cybertron again.” “We’re…not going back?” asked Optimus sadly. “Then…that means I…I…I’ll never see my men again.” “Well, there was a sign.” said Orko. “What sign?” I asked. “It was near the hole we jumped into to avoid Mega-Tyke’s tyranny. It said, when I took a glimpse at it from your shoulder angle: “You are now entering Paradise.” Is THIS where we are now?” “Maybe.” I wondered. “Let’s look around and see if there’s someone who can help us.”

We wandered around the forest together, looking for someone to help. Furaha and Orko stopped for a minute to play a game of hide and seek amongst the trees, as if their youthful spirit had come back immediately. I couldn’t laugh, because my head was still clearing, so I just sat by a tree and watched, wondering what it would be like to be a young Autobot again. A flashback entered my head as at once, everything around me turned into a white background, and Furaha and Orko turned into a younger version of myself in harmony with a younger Megatron, playing happily together, before this horrible war began. Seeing this figments of my Cybertronian imagination come to me was all too much for me, so I started to cry great tears of loss. Furaha and Orko saw me crying and ran up to see what’s the matter. “Optimus? Are you okay?” asked Furaha. I knew I had to hide my sadness from Furaha and Orko, but if I didn’t, they might think I’m a weakling and not a good role model. So I gulped, wiped my Energon tears from my optic sensors and puffed up my metallic chest. Suddenly, I felt a pain in my chest. “Ow!” I shouted. From that nasty fall we had when entering that hole, every single part of my body hurt. “I can’t go on any further,” I grunted, trying not to cry, “My chest is very sore.” “Maybe this can help!” Orko produced a tub of Cybertronian Healing Cream from his sleeve and gently rubbed it all over my chest. “I’m afraid healing cream won’t heal it quickly enough,” I said, “I’m afraid we’ll just have to spend the night here.”

So Furaha and Orko set out a picnic lunch for them to enjoy, but since there was no Energon, I had to stand by and watch. Orko used his magic to set out a feast of cheese sandwiches, cakes and juice, and as they tucked in, I was only too happy to watch, as I thought about what it would be like if Transformers ate normal human food, and what would happen if the pain in my chest happened if I was one of the children in a certain book about those kids being locked up in an army base. I read this story to Orko and Furaha once - they were fearless as I read it to them, but for kids their age, they felt sorry for the children in the story, especially some girl who named herself Melanie. They were only human, and the strange flesh-craving creatures in the story were called Hungries, a sort of nuclear equivalent of zombies but born from parental blood. This night, I decided not to tell the story to Furaha and Orko, because it may bring them memories of being on Cybertron, before this terrible war happened. So, Furaha and Orko snuggled up next to me as I fell asleep in the shade of the tree, the gentle beam of the yellow moon shining onto me like a theatrical spotlight on a show of sleep. Furaha huddled next to Orko, who felt so tired and so full from the picnic he set out that he couldn’t say another word about it.

The moment we woke up the next morning, we had no memory of what happened the day before. The first thing I heard was Furaha giving a shout. “Look! Look at those giant blades of grass.” Orko was laughing hard at that fact. “There’s no such thing as a giant field of grass! What made you think that?” “Calm down you two,” I said, “There’s no such thing as a giant field of grass.” “Well there is,” said Furaha. “We’ll explore it after I’ve woken up a little. By the way, my chest has fully healed, as is everything in my body.”

After I’ve woken up a little, Furaha, Orko and I took a walk through the field of long grass, hoping to find someone who can help. “The grass sure is long,” said Orko. “It’s perfect for playing hide and seek around!” said Furaha. “Stay by me!” I warned, “It may not be safe. You might get eaten or something like that.” Suddenly, we heard the sound of marching feet, and I peered behind two grass blades to see a troop of Lionants marching in line. They looked like ants but had the heads and bodies of lions, which meant they were half ant, half lion. “Wait to cross,” I said carefully to my friends as they watched the Lionants march by. As the last Lionant passed, a loud screech echoed through the air and grabbed it in its beak! The screech belongs to a mighty Ladyhog, which is half a ladybug and half a fierce warthog. “RUN!” I shouted, and I grabbed my two friends under my arms as we ran from the Ladyhog’s beak. We had to jump for cover as the Ladyhog swooped down and almost got us. The Ladyhog was gone, and we all sighed in relief. When we looked up, we saw a group of Praying Meerkantises, which were coloured a bright mossy green and were half praying mantises, half meerkats. “Yoohoo! Can you give us directions to get back home?” called Furaha, but the Meerkantises didn’t listen. They just kept digging for worms to eat, which is quite disgusting if you were to see them in real life. “Let me ask them, Furaha,” I said, and I went up to the Meerkantises and asked, “Do you know the way out of this forest?” The Meerkantises pointed in unison to a large opening in the forest. “Why thank you very much,” I giggled nervously, and I even got to shake hands with a Meerkantis, which made Furaha and Orko giggle. “Oh, so you find it funny, eh?” I said, finally finding my sense of humor and scooping them up onto my shoulders, “Come on, let’s go!” Furaha and Orko shouted and laughed in delight as I ran towards the opening of the forest, following the little trickle of water that ran across the forest. When we emerged, we found ourselves on a huge cliff looking out over a huge natural environment, which consisted of Arctic tundras, rivers, lakes, forests and mountains. Right beside us was a large river. “Wow!” shouted Furaha, her fur blowing in the wind, “This is amazing!” “I know, right,” laughed Orko, “Imagine how happy we are to be in a wonderful environment such as this!” “We’re free!” I cried, finally feeling happy again. “And look where this river leads to,” said Furaha, looking way down below, “It leads to the most enormous lake I’ve ever seen.” “Enormous…lake?” I couldn’t contain my excitement. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Hold on!” So Furaha and Orko held on as I ran to the edge of the cliff and leapt over it.

I shot past the waterfall as Furaha and Orko held on for dear life, with Furaha reaching out to touch the water as it shot by her. At last, SPLASH! We had dived into the lake, and Furaha, Orko and I were screaming with laughter as we began to splash each other, feeling excited and content. After a while, when we calmed down, we finally relaxed in the water, lying on top of it and feeling cool and confident that we’re in the right place. “You know,” sighed Furaha, “Being with you guys is the best experience I’ve ever had, and aside from that, let me just say that it’s always hot in this place.” “You’re right,” puffed Orko, “I should wear cooler clothes.” “This place is the best thing that ever happened to me,” I laughed, “I feel like I’m not the leader of the Autobots anymore. I feel like I’m in a totally new world.” Furaha ducked her head under the water and saw a huge shadow swimming underneath. “I think you’re right,” she said, just as a huge Whalebird dived out of the water and back in again, surprising us to the core. SPLASH!

Later, we went into a meadow. It was a lot calmer there, and the grass was soft and green, much like a blanket. It was such a beautiful place, with nature at its work - flowers blooming and swaying in the breeze, birds flying high above singing beautiful songs and just me, Orko and Furaha there, no one else. “Look!” Furaha said suddenly. The meadow had a huge grassy hill which reached up to the sky. At once I began to run up the hill, with Furaha and Orko holding on for dear life. Once I approached the top of this large hill, Furaha and Orko jumped off and started rolling down it. “WHEEEEEEEEEE!!” they cried, laughing happily. Furaha stopped mid-roll and called. “Come on, Optimus! What are you waiting for?” I thought for a moment. Memories of Megatron attacking Cybertron were about to enter my head, but I ran towards the edge of the hill, fell over and rolled downhill. Furaha and Orko cheered as they rolled with me and stopped midway down the hill, laughing in joy. Seeing the sun set, I began to yawn, and Furaha and Orko’s laughter slowly turned to yawning too. They huddled up next to me, and I cuddled them softly to sleep. “Goodnight,” I whispered. “Goodnight, Optimus,” whispered Furaha and Orko as they fell asleep.

By the time 12 O’Clock rolled around in human hours, I wasn’t having a good night after all. A nightmare entered my head of everything that went on back on Cybertron.

“Furaha! Orko! Quick! Run!”

“You can’t escape from me, Prime, Cybertron is now mine!”

“Quick! Into that hole!”

“Is that the only option we have?”

“Hold on!”

I awoke with a jump, and looked around, breathing heavily. Furaha and Orko were still asleep soundly, so I took them in my arms and climbed back up the hill, where I saw the unthinkable - a mountain with some colourful Northern Lights hanging over them.

I climbed the tall, rocky mountain and, after a few falls and tumbles, I finally made it to the top, where the Northern Lights were ready to grant my wish. According to the sign on the mountain, “He who wishes will have it come true.” So I took a deep breath, and said, in rhyme:

“Oh Northern Lights, please hear my song,

I need to get away from Megatron.

Those memories are in the past,

Northern Lights, don’t make them last.”

The Northern Lights enveloped me and my two friends softly in a gentle glow. At once, I started to feel myself glowing golden, as well as Furaha and Orko. Once the glow stopped, I felt like nothing happened in the past. “What happened? Who’s this Megatron?” My memories were wiped clean. Suddenly, the mountain crumbled and my friends and I fell towards the snow.

When I emerged the next morning, nothing came into my mind at all. Furaha and Orko emerged from the snow and shook them all off. Orko had to spin to get all the snow off, because he’s a wizard. “Optimus, do you remember a place called Cybertron?” asked Furaha. “No.” I said. I turned to Orko. “Do you remember someone called Megatron?” “Uh-uh, nope, I do not remember a thing.” said Orko. The Northern Lights’ magic worked. Our memories of the past were completely gone.

Furaha, Orko and I made our way through the snow, wondering along the way what that Megatron and Cybertron thing is, and what species and places they might be, and what a chance it would be to show what type of world it would be without a Megatron or a Cybertron.

Suddenly, Furaha saw something in the distance.