Nightlife

Nightshadow peeked out from behind the wall and focused on the staggering mech in the near distance. She smiled and picked two spheres from her subspace. Then she took aim and, once her targeting systems had locked on, launched the first sphere. It sailed over the busy street and cracked open all over its target. The femme grinned as neon orange paint splattered across the large brown and black mech. She giggled softly as he cried out and  backed up against the wall of the club he had not long stumbled out of. A few passers-by looked around, so she ducked back into her hiding place and loaded the second paintball into her makeshift slingshot.

After a count of twenty, she popped up again and lined up the purple fin on her arm with a shiny yellow femme further away than the last mech. One optic narrowed slightly and she adjusted her aim. The second paintball arced gracefully upward before becoming a little turquoise explosion as it found its mark. Nightshadow doubled with laughter while the car femme shrieked about her expensive paintjob and pushed an innocent bystander out of the way as she transformed and drove off.

Nightshadows audios twitched and she straightened up, motionless for a moment, then moved backwards into the shadows. She subspaced her slingshot as she looked around, her audios twitched again. A rapid clicking sound drew closer. She crept towards the neighboring wall just as a quadruped mech rushed around the corner.

He skidded to a halt and stared at her, then scowled and stomped forward. "So it IS you! I've got you this time, you little fragger!"

Nightshadow flashed a grin, then darted sideways and vaulted over the wall. She was halfway along the alley before she heard the mech scrabbling after her.

"GET BACK HERE!" He dropped from the wall with a solid thud, then the clicking noise started up against when he bounded after her.

As soon as she made it back out into the open, she headed towards some of the busier establishments and weaved her way through the crowd. She slowed down briefly to wave to a drunken femme that seemed familiar, then she ducked down another alleyway and found herself staring at an autobot insignia. Her vents kicked in and she took a step back.

The owner of the insignia was too engrossed in conversation with the swaying mech next to him to notice her, so she edged passed them and continued down the alley. She glanced back as she climbed the fence at the far end, but nothing happened. Once one the ground again, she intergrated herself into the crowd, her wings flicked while she peered at some of the tacky neon signs that decorated a number of the buildings. Her vents shut off and she kept her head down as she walked along under the blinding lights. She took a step back as a cybercat darted past her.

She vented a sigh and relaxed her wings before finally spotting one of her prefered take-off areas further down the street. Her audios stood upright as yet another sound caught her attention, and she looked around. A gaggle of tipsy femmes had practically fallen out of one of the nearest doors. Her wings flicked. She shrugged it off and kept walking until a familiar giant emerged from one of the bigger buildings. She smiled and wandered over to him. "Hi, HighTail."

The mech turned and glanced down, his optics brightened. He beamed at her. "Little buddy! How you doing? You good?"

Nightshadow nodded, then laughed as he patted her on the head. "I'm fine. I just wanted to say hi."

"Ah, you been out here targeting old Hookclaw again, haven't you?" he asked with a knowing smile as he ushered her ahead of him while he moved away from the door he had been blocking. "Did ya get him?"

Her optic glittered as she smiled up at him. "Not this time. He chased me though, it was funny."

HighTail raised an optic ridge and shook his head. He casually strode in the direction the smaller femme indicated she wanted to go. "So how many did you get this time, then?"

"Seven." Nightshadow's audios lowered slightly and she edged round behind the mech as they passed a more crowded bar front. Music blared through the open doors. Her wings twitched.

The silver and black stratotanker glanced back, then turned around and picked up the femme jet. Once she was settled on his arm, he marched forward again. His long strides covered ground quickly. "Didn't quite catch that. Did you say seven?"

She nodded and looked around now that she was higher up than most of the passers-by. "Mm. Almost eight, but I got distracted."

"You're gonna get yourself in trouble one of these solarcycles," HighTail said, then chuckled to himself. "What distracted you?"

Nightshadow looked up from watching some mini'cons go past. She smiled slightly. "I thought I saw someone I knew, so I hid for a while."

They walked on in silence for a moment. "You hide from friends?"

"Only the ones that I might get into trouble with for being out here," she replied as she leaned sideways a bit. Her wings made small back and forth movements.

HighTail stepped around a group of presumably party-goers that were starting to sprawl across his path, and picked up his pace.  He gave a soft sigh when he noticed the little jet femme leaning too far forward, but he smiled good-naturedly. "You always on the run? Seems everytime I see you, you're either chasing or escaping from someone. I worry 'bout ya, little buddy."

"I'm fine," Nightshadow answered, she looked up and patted the mech on the arm. Her head tilted slightly to one side and she nudged against him for a brief moment, then fidgeted. Her wings twitched. She looked at HighTail, then at the ground, then back again.

"Alright, alright. Before you take off on me," He shook his head a second time as they reached an area where the crowds thinned out, then he lowered her back to ground level. He stayed crouched so he was closer to her height. "You sure you're okay? Do you have enough fuel to get back?"

Nightshadow shifted her weight from side to side a little once she was standing. Her optics brightened as she glanced up and examined the sky, then she looked at HighTail and half-smiled. "I'm fine! Really, and I'm not running away either. Not this time. I just need to go home before it gets too late."

After saying goodbye and HighTail had stood up and patted her on the head, Nightshadow ran ahead to get enough space then ignited her thrusters and took off. She reached rooftop level, then looked back to wave down at her friend before she transformed and flew away, leaving the small city of Exolesco behind and taking a roundabout flight path back to base.