This piece here be from Scars of Yesterday, part of my Flights of Fancy/Harpyformers universe, and is the next installment which will strongly feature Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Soundwave, and all of Soundwave’s adopted siblings.
Sideswipe woke with a splitting headache, a pain so bright and acute it left spots dancing behind his eyes. He whimpered and turned into a fluffy warmth, the familiar scent of his twin surrounding him with comfort. Sunstreaker’s arms immediately came up around him, his bony chin resting on Sideswipe’s head.
“My head hurts,” Sideswipe slurred because talking was hard and nausea was settling hard and heavy in his gut. It would be nice, too, if the world would stop spinning.
"Here. Drink this." Sunny's familiar voice washed over him as a cup was pressed to his lips, the liquid inside smelling bitter and herbal.
"Don't wanna." Sideswipe wrinkled his nose and tried to turn away from him.
"It's supposed to help, I think," Sunny said and nudged it against his lips. "Please, Sides. I promise it's not poison. I drank some, too."
He could never say no when Sunstreaker took that pleading tone with him.
Sideswipe grimaced but obediently opened his mouth, letting Sunstreaker tip the cup so that the cold, bitter liquid spilled over his tongue. It was water, maybe, but it was gritty, too. There was an acrid taste to it, sharp, like the medicines they'd shoved down his throat from time to time.
His stomach clenched, trying to recoil, but Sideswipe fought the urge down and obediently emptied the cup.
"That's disgusting," he grumbled before he finally peeled open his eyes, the world a mass of hazy shapes and color, noise trickling in beyond the awareness of the scent and warmth of his twin. "What happened?"
"Don't you remember?"
Sideswipe sat up, and Sunstreaker helped him, belatedly realizing he'd been lying sprawled across his brother’s lap. And outside? His nose twitched at the scent of dirt and grass and fresh air, such a rarity for the both of them.
He blinked to clear his vision, taking in the shadows pockmarked with the shapes of others around him, human and harpy alike. Most were standing in small clumps here and there, talking to each other.
"You okay, kiddo?"
Sideswipe turned toward the voice, saw Vortex on the ground nearby, sitting propped up against the wall, a blanket draped over his legs. He looked swollen and bruised, the scar across his lips thin and shiny.
"Better than you probably," Sideswipe croaked.
Vortex laughed, though it sounded like crushed gravel. "Apparently we've been rescued. So I'm doing just fine." He dragged out the last word and giggled, and maybe he'd been hitting that sharp-sweetness they were given sometimes. He sounded drunk.
"Funny how rescue looks like a cage," Sunstreaker muttered and pulled Sideswipe back against him, into the embrace of his arms. "They knocked us out."
Sideswipe kind of remembered attacking someone, thinking they were going to attack him and Sunny. It had been dark, and he only remembered flashes of movement. It happened too quickly, and he'd been in so much pain it had been hard to focus.
There was another harpy on his and Sunny's other side. Sideswipe squinted at him, asleep as he was and snoring loudly, curled up under a blanket. Glimpses of bright red and blue feathers stuck out amid the grass. He looked gaunt, and vaguely familiar.
Hadn't they brought him in like a month ago? Sideswipe figured he'd been sold, since he'd vanished and no one had seen him again. That's what usually happened to the harpies who weren't tossed in the ring or kept for other reasons.
"Sides?"
"Let me think," Sideswipe sighed.
