Chapter 38: The River Offensive Part 3

Now five skiffs instead of three - Seacat piloted her new prize, Adora their old one and the three deserters stuck with their stolen one - the convoy left the valley before any Horde reinforcements could arrive. They drove west, keeping the river in sight but not following too closely - with a damaged skiff, it was better not to tempt fate. Or something.

Seacat didn't really care. Piloting a skiff all by herself wasn't much fun. Fortunately, they reached the Alliance camp later in the afternoon. It didn't look like Seacat had expected. There were earthen fortifications, like those that the Salinean marines put up in the field. But theirs weren't covered in wooden spikes and thorny hedges like the ones here. How old was… Oh. That must be Princess Perfuma's work.

She also didn't see as many gun emplacements as the Salineans would have as they drove up close to the massive wooden gate - another creation of the Plant Princess, no doubt.

"Open the gate!" the shrimp yelled - she was leading the convoy for the last leg. With their captured Horde skiffs, they didn't want to risk fatal misunderstandings.

"Open the gate! Princess Glimmer is back!"

"We've got Horde deserters!" the shrimp added as the gate swung open. She jumped off the skiff as soon as they were inside the camp and addressed the officer at the gate. "Gather every commander for a meeting! And get the skiffs looked after!" She turned. "Bow! Come with me! Everyone - park the skiffs and join us in the main tent!"

Brain Boy dutifully trotted after the shrimp. Seacat looked at Adora. "Pushy little princess, isn't she?"

Judging by the scowls from the closest guards, the soldiers had overheard her as well. Well, it wasn't as if Seacat cared too much.

"Uh… she's the commander," Adora replied.

"As I said." Seacat flashed her a grin, then turned to the scowling guard. "Where do we put the skiffs down?"

The woman pointed her spear at the back of the camp. "Skiff park's there."

Seacat nodded and drove the skiff off.

The skiff park was rather small - the Horde usually had far more skiffs in a base of similar size. But that was no skin off Seacat's butt. She set the skiff down in a corner, aligned with the closest skiffs, tied it down - you always tied your vessel down, no matter how small it was - and headed towards Adora.

Who was headed towards the deserters. Well, Seacat had expected that. Or should have. She followed her lover and yelled to her three crewmates: "Come on, no lollygagging!"

Alcy scoffed good-naturally in return, Licy stuck out her tongue, and Horas merely kept working. Morale was good, then.

"So, come with us!" Adora told the deserters. "You heard Glimmer."

"Lonnie needs a Healer!" Kyle protested.

"No problem!" Adora beamed, pointed her sword at Lonnie, and a beam of magic struck the woman before she could react. "See? All healed!" Adora announced before frowning. "Well, you should be healed. Are you?"

"Watch where you point that sword!" Lonnie replied, gingerly touching her bandaged limbs. Then she blinked. "It doesn't hurt any more."

Seacat sighed. "Check if it's healed, duh!"

Lonnie scowled at her - she was being pretty ungrateful, in Seacat's opinion - but started to unwrap the bandages.

Kyle jumped to help. "Wow! Not even a scar!" he gushed.

"Good!" Adora beamed again.

"That's She-Ra - the best fighter and Healer in Etheria!" Licy said - the rest of their group had finished securing their skiff, then.

"Uh… anyway," Adora said, coughing, "we should go. Glimmer is waiting for us."

Lonnie cursed under her breath before speaking up. "I don't think we're expected at the staff meeting of the princesses."

"What? No, you heard Glimmer: She wants us to join them! Come on!" Adora insisted.

"Yeah," Seacat added. "Better don't start your service in the Alliance with insubordination. Do you know what they do with mutineers in Bright Moon?"

Lonnie's scowl deepened, but Kyle gasped and leaned towards Seacat. "No! What do they do?"

"They tie them down under their magical crystal lens, then let the moonlight focus on them. It drains them of every bit of moisture in their bodies - slowly. Most live three nights."

Kyle looked horrified, and even Lonnie and Rogelio seemed uneasy.

"Ca-Seacat!" Adora scowled. "That's not true!" Then she blinked and added: "I think. I don't remember Bright Moon having a deserter."

Seacat grinned. "Of course not - who would dare to desert with such a penalty?"

"If things were as bad as in the Headhunters, a lot of soldiers would," Lonnie said.

"Oh." Adora nodded. "I'm sorry. I wasn't…"

Seacat shrugged. "That's probably why the princess wants you at the meeting - first-hand information about the Horde forces."

The three deserters exchanged a few glances, then Lonnie nodded. "Let's go then!"

They walked over to the biggest tent in the centre of the camp. "Too obvious," Seacat muttered.

"It has to be big so they can hold meetings in it," Adora told her. "And by being in the centre, an enemy has to go through half the camp to reach it."

That was true. But… "Would that stop the Headhunters?" she asked Lonnie and the others.

"Uh…" Kyle grimaced.

"Tents won't stop shells," Lonnie said. "But the walls will stop an assault, even in a skiff, and they can't set up guns behind a ridge here."

That wouldn't keep them from blowing up the wall in a suicide run, followed by another. Though that was harder than it sounded - Seacat knew all about using a vessel to ram a target. And they'd need a huge bomb to blow up this wall. Or an enhanced engine bomb. And either was vulnerable to shells. Especially if placed on a skiff. "What about assassins?" she asked. They passed some guards who scowled at the Horde uniforms but didn't say anything.

"We weren't trained for that," Lonnie told them as they approached the tent's entrance. "Ambushes and scouting, rapid deployment. Massed attacks. Assassinations? No."

That made sense, of course - princesses were hard to kill without numbers or bombs. And an assassin strong enough to carry a bomb powerful enough to kill She-Ra wouldn't be able to sneak anywhere. She remembered the bug princess from the Fright Zone and snorted.

"What's so funny?" Lonnie asked.

"Just remembered a funny story," Seacat replied as they entered the tent. The shrimp was there, Brain Boy, several Bright Moon officers, a few people who looked like they had lived in the wilderness for years, and...

"Adora!" A blonde woman rushed at them. "You're back!" The Plant Princess.

"Hi, Perfuma. Didn't Glimmer tell you we were back?"

"I did," the shrimp said.

"Glimmer did," the princess confirmed. "But it's good to see you myself."

"Ah."

She didn't have to hug Adora for so long, Seacat thought. She didn't say anything, though. She noticed two women - two princesses - standing in the rear. "I'm Seacat. These are my crew, Alcy, Licy and Horas. And they are…"

"...they are our old squad. Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio," Adora cut in. "Sorry!" She blushed. "Perfuma, Netossa and Spinnerella," she presented the other princesses. "General Juliet, Colonel Kris and, uh, Headranger Loran and his deputy, Ranger Nesta."

"Plumeria didn't have a standing army, so we had to improvise," the Plant Princess explained. "Rangers were our guards, and so they're our officers."

"Ah." Seacat didn't really care about landlubber ranks. Not that she'd tell the person who supplied the entire Alliance with most of their food that.

"But we're adapting. And I think it makes us stand out a little, so people won't think all Plumeria does is provide food for the Alliance."

Seacat nodded, trying not to look as guilty as she felt. Even if Plumeria's food production was much, much more important than whatever soldiers they might send to fight.

The shrimp cleared her throat. "Anyway! Now that everyone's here, let's start." She didn't wait for a response and pointed at the map on the table in front of her. "This is our goal. The last base the Horde has on the river. We take it, and the river is ours - and their troops north-east of us are completely cut off. We've planned this with Mermista; we'll attack from both sides at the same time. We'll ship troops downriver on rafts that we'll construct thanks to the machine we brought."

"A machine?" the Plant Princess frowned. "I could grow rafts."

"That would tire you out," Adora told her. "And we can't risk you being too tired to fight should we get attacked. They definitely have Headhunters at the base."

And the rafts probably wouldn't swim very well, in Seacat's opinion. She doubted that the princess had any experience with ships and other vessels. "But you can grow some trees to be cut," she told the Princess. "If that's not too exhausting."

"Oh, no, no - I can do that."

"But as soon as we start constructing the rafts, the Horde will know what we're up to," the shrimp said.

"We'll have to prepare the wood in advance before we start assembling the rafts," Adora said. "Make them think we're, uh, going to turn this into a fort?"

Brain Boy nodded. "That sounds like a good plan."

Seacat nodded. "It won't fool them for long, but any delay will help us. They have no gunboat, but they'll place guns on the river as soon as they realise that we're coming."

"That will force us to either detour overland, run the guns or take them out," Adora said. "We can't detour; even a single battery could delay us long enough to jeopardise the entire operation."

That made sense as well.

"But can we take them out quickly enough? We'd have to screen the whole southern shore of the river as we travel downriver - on land," Brain Boy pointed out.

"Then we'll have to gather a force on rafts to land under fire and take out any guns setting up," Seacat said. "Or have them on skiffs following the river - on the southern shore. But that would keep them from retreating across the river if they are attacked by stronger forces."

"Or a combination of both," Adora said. "If we have our main screening forces on skiffs, we can quickly react. Reinforcements on rafts in case we need more forces."

Seacat hid her scowl. That was a good plan - as expected from Adora. But it also meant She-Ra would be on point the whole time; everyone knew who would be on the skiffs: Princesses and select other outstanding soldiers. Such as Brain Boy.

And Seacat.

"So, we have experienced sailors here to handle the rafts," Adora went on, nodding at Seacat, Alcy, Licy and Horas.

What? Oh, no, she couldn't! Seacat glared at her lover. She wouldn't be stuck on a raft while Adora was on the frontlines!

"Yes. Only four of them, but it'll have to do until we link up with the Salinean forces," the shrimp said.

Seacat swallowed her retort. The princess was, damn her, correct - they were here to help with shipping the troops downriver.

"You'll have to handle both the rafts transporting the bulk of our troops and the rafts with the reinforcements for the screening forces," the princess went on.

"I'll handle that. The reinforcement rafts," Seacat blurted out, glancing at everyone.

No one contradicted her. Adora frowned but didn't say anything. She'd better not say anything when she was going to travel by skiff - on the Horde side of the river! With other princesses!

"The Headhunters are ready for a raid," Lonnie spoke up. "They'll be ready for a small force on skiffs."

"Yes, we've trained for that," Kyle added. Then he blinked and ducked his head. "I mean, back when we were in the Horde."

"How many Headhunters are there?" Adora asked with a stern expression.

"There is supposed to be a company of Headhunters per regiment," Lonnie replied, "but you know that we - the Horde - never had their full complement in the field. So, it's usually half that. Multiply that with the number of regiments..."

"Unless they mass all companies," Kyle piped up. "Force Captain Crusher wanted all under his command to defend the river yards. He thinks the rest of the Horde is just cannon fodder."

"Yes," Lonnie confirmed. "Last we heard, they were gathering all Headhunters at the yards."

"That would mean the river's only covered by regular Horde sc… soldiers."

"The dregs of the service," Seacat said.

"We can't underestimate them," Adora told everyone. "And it also means that when we reach the yards, we'll be facing... " She frowned for a moment. "...a regiment full of their best."

"Unless more of them desert," Lonnie said. "Not everyone in the Headhunters is ready to die for the Horde."

That was only logical, Seacat knew. The best soldiers were often the brightest ones as well - and many of them would see the writing on the wall. Although… She narrowed her eyes. "All the Headhunters are being gathered at the yards?"

"Yes," Lonnie scoffed. "I already said that."

"But that means that they won't be defending the approaches," Seacat pointed out. "The Salineans could push through the rest on land, even without support by their frigates."

"And the same goes for us," Adora added, nodding.

"So why are they doing this? Headhunters are very mobile; they could harass the Alliance all the way to the yards," Seacat asked. "They would gain more time for reinforcements that way." It was as if they wanted the Alliance to hit the yards. "It's a trap!"

"Mass your best forces in a good defensive position and let the enemy smash themselves to pieces attacking you, then counterattack them." Adora nodded. "But we won't be smashed or smash ourselves. Even if they have an entire regiment of Headhunters, we can beat them."

"Yes. But they know that - they've lost enough battles," the shrimp said. "I agree with Seacat: This is suspicious. Very suspicious."

"They might not want to risk losing their best forces piecemeal," the general pointed out. "Either of your columns could overwhelm a smaller force. And even on skiffs, they risk being cut off or crippled, then mopped up."

"And they'll have shorter and less vulnerable supply lines at the yards. Until we cut them off, of course," Adora added.

"Well, if they don't oppose us, we'll be at the yards in a day," Brain Boy said. "And then we'll find out what they are planning."

"And we'll defeat them!" Adora added.

Everyone nodded. But none cheered, Seacat noted.

"...and we were told to - taught to - stop to shoot, for added precision," Lonnie explained while pointing at the swivel gun mounted on the skiff. "Three people per skiff, plus shells and powder."

Seacat suppressed a yawn. That was pretty obvious. Unlike ships, skiffs could quickly stop and didn't have to deal with waves or the currents of a river.

"We noticed that, yes," Adora said. "But it's good to have confirmation."

"You can shoot on the move," Kyle added, "as you've seen." He pointed at the damaged steering sail of the skiff. "Canister shot is preferred, too."

"We've also noticed that," the shrimp said, rubbing her arm.

Kyle blushed. "Uh, sorry." He tried to push back a box of canister shots back, slipped and almost fell off the skiff, but Rogelio caught him in time. "Sorry!"

"And what's the supply situation?" the Plant Princess asked.

"We've got enough rations, but we've been short on powder," Lonnie replied. "Too much went into the bombs floated down the river, they say. And into the bombs that wrecked our own lines." She snorted. "There were even rumours that they were building catapults!"

"I've heard them myself!" Kyle protested. "And I saw the materials drawn from the depot!"

"Catapults?" General Juliet looked surprised. "They haven't been used in years! If they're building catapults, the Horde must be really short on powder."

That would be good news.

"But how would they use catapults?" Adora asked. "Their ballistic arc makes them not very useful as field artillery - especially not against a mobile enemy. Are they planning a siege?"

"Or they plan to use them against us when we lay siege to their yards," the shrimp said. "They could save on powder and still have some artillery for indirect fire. Not very precise, but they could target ships and a beachhead."

"And when we charge, they have their guns," Adora said.

Seacat shrugged. "They would have to be desperate. Entrapta thought of using catapults to shoot her anti-engine solution, but no one in Salinea had the needed expertise to use them effectively - as effectively as the design could be, anyway."

"The Horde hasn't been using catapults since the earliest part of the war," Adora said. "They would have to train their crews just for this."

"We've also heard rumours that the Horde called back the best artillerymen to the Fright Zone for 'new training'," Kyle told them.

"Their best?" The Shrimp shook her head. "They wouldn't call their best back; they need them for the real guns. They could as well take anyone and teach them how to use a catapult."

"Well, they did call them back!" Kyle protested. "Or so I've heard," he added, ducking his head at the shrimp's glare. "But the Force Captain was pretty angry about losing one of his best artillery crews."

"He recruited from the Headhunters?" Seacat asked.

"Yes." Kyle nodded, almost hitting his head against the beam of the sail behind him.

"Only one crew? That could be meant for training catapult crews from scratch," Seacat said. "Teach them indirect fire and how to call the shots."

"Or that's a disinformation ploy," Adora said. "They know that Horde soldiers have been deserting and switching sides for a while. They might want us to underestimate them."

"Yes," Brain Boy agreed. "If they have cannons in reserve, and we think they are out of powder..."

Seacat winced. That would wreck the operation. "Were there any other rumours?"

All three former Horde soldiers shook their heads. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the usual gossip," Lonnie said.

"Nothing?" Seacat frowned. Adora was looking worried now.

"Did you hear anything about new frigates being built?" Seacat asked. "Gunboats?"

"Who cares about the navy?" Lonnie shot back. "But, no, we didn't. Not since you took the crystal mines."

"But they're building gunboats!" Kyle piped up. "At the yards."

"Ah."

"That means we need to hurry so we can catch them before they use the gunboats against us," Adora said.

"The Salinean ships can sink them, and we can board them," Seacat said.

"And almost get killed by a shell," Adora said with a frown.

Seacat frowned back. That had been one time. And bad luck. She wouldn't make the same mistake again.

"Anyway, we should get a move on," Brain Boy said. "We need as many rafts finished as possible by tomorrow."

"We can save on the numbers needed if I carry seeds and grow our supplies in place," the Plant Princess offered.

"That's a good idea!" Adora agreed.

"As long as you don't get taken out by the Headhunters," Seacat pointed out. "Or we'll be stranded without food."

"Oh." The princess hunched over a little. "I didn't think of that."

"It's still very useful," Adora said. "We'll carry emergency rations and can save them for such an emergency. Enough to get back to this base, at least."

"Right!" The princess was smiling again.

"Then let's get started!" Adora said.

This time, there was cheering.

The soldiers from Bright Moon and Plumeria weren't sailors, but they knew their forest - and they knew how to cut and use wood. Coupled with Entrapta's sawmill and the Plant Princess growing trees right into the mill, planks were quickly piling up.

"Looks like the glue's going to be the bottleneck," Seacat commented.

"We're creating more of the stuff, but the Princess' instructions were a little…" Alcy shrugged.

Seacat nodded. The princess was a genius. Unfortunately, she had a little trouble realising that not everyone was as smart as she was. Or knew as much about alchemy. "So, we might have to use ropes? Do we have enough?"

"Licy and Horas are checking the supplies." Alcy hesitated a moment, then added: "I think we'll actually be faster using ropes - the glue's too dangerous for most."

It wouldn't be dangerous if those idiots would listen, of course. But what could you expect from landlubbers? "As long as the rafts don't fall apart on the way, anything goes," Seacat told Alcy. "And I want all-glued for my force." She didn't need a raft falling apart in the middle of a landing operation just because shrapnel sliced a rope. "Remind me to check how many of them know how to swim," she added.

Alcy groaned. "I hope more of them know how to swim than the soldiers from the Kingdom of Snows."

Seacat chuckled. Sure, it got so cold up north, odds were most sailors would freeze to death in the water before they could reach land or a boat, but that was no excuse for not learning how to swim. She blinked. "Oh. If ropes are a problem, see if the princess can grow some rope-like plants or something."

Alcy nodded. "That's a very good idea." She glanced at the Plant Princess, who was conjuring up more trees.

"Provided she doesn't exhaust herself," Seacat said. She sighed. "I'll talk to her."

Alcy nodded, appearing to be relieved. The woman was still a little shy around the princesses, Seacat realised.

She walked the few dozen yards over to the sawmill. "Hey!"

"Seacat!" The princess beamed at her. "Is everything OK?"

"Plenty of planks, yes. We might run out of glue," Seacat told her. "Or of people trained to use the glue." They hadn't had a serious glue accident yet, but it was probably just a question of time."

"Oh." The princess blinked. "Am I overdoing it?"

"No, no - we're looking for ropes. They'll do in a pinch, though we'll be slower."

"Oh! I can grow ropes!" She beamed at Seacat. "No problem!"

"Will they hold up in water?"

"Oh, yes. Plants love water!"

Ah. The princess meant living ropes… "As long as they don't suddenly ensnare the passengers."

"Oh, no, they won't! But wouldn't that be useful for cargo?"

"It would - but you'd be needed to unload every raft," Seacat pointed out.

"Right." The princess's face fell. "That would be a bad thing if anything happened to me."

"Anything happening to you would be a bad thing anyway," Seacat told her.

"Of course. But letting down the Alliance would be worse. We need to help each other to win this terrible war."

"Yes. But you're already doing so much," Seacat told her.

"I could do more, though."

She suppressed a groan. The Plant Princess was as bad as Adora, it seemed. "No one's being helped if you hurt or exhaust yourself."

"I know! It's just…" The princess sighed and wriggled her fingers, and a tree grew into the sawmill. "I want to do more."

"Well, don't overdo it. Please," Seacat added. "We need you healthy and in good form."

"I'll do my best!"

That was what Seacat was afraid of. But she nodded. "Thank you."

"How many ropes do you need?"

"We'll see that when Licy and Horas are back and we'll start assembling the rafts."

"Alright!"

Seacat smiled, nodded, and returned to Alcy. "We should be good," she told her. "Keep an eye on things - I'll check up on Adora."

Alcy smiled widely as she nodded. "Aye aye, First Mate!"

Seacat sighed. "Not like that." But she was smiling as well. Everyone needed a break, and she was sure she could convince Adora to take one with her.

Adora was, unsurprisingly, busy. Very busy - Seacat's lover was bent over the planning table in the command tent and sketching on a map. A map of the Fright Zone, Seacat noticed when she cocked her head and took a closer look. "Hey, Adora! What are you doing?" she asked.

"What?" Adora looked up, blinking. "Oh." A smile appeared on her face that managed to make even She-Ra look cute. "Uh... I'm making plans."

"For an assault on the Fright Zone?" Seacat raised her eyebrows. That was quite the forethought. Although it was also very optimistic - they hadn't even taken the yards yet, much less finished off the northern forces Horde.

"They're contingency plans, you know," Adora went on. "Just in case." She nodded firmly with her jaw set.

"In case…?" Seacat tilted her head.

"In case we should end up invading the Fright Zone."

Seacat sat down on the table - it was massive; her weight wouldn't budge it at all - and took another look. "An invasion from the Whispering Woods."

"Yes."

"We're east of them. And we'll be far more east once we take the yards."

"Yes. They are contingency plans." Adora nodded even more firmly.

"In case we abandon our current operation?"

"Yes."

"And withdraw to the Whispering Woods."

"Yes." Adora smiled. It looked more than a little forced.

"Should you plan our retreat to the Whispering Woods, first, in case the operation fails, and we cannot hold the river?" Seacat asked.

"I already made those plans." Adora pointed at a few rolled-up maps on the side. More than a few, Seacat realised.

"How many contingency plans did you make?" Seacat counted half a dozen maps or scrolls.

"I like to be prepared," Adora replied. "For everything. We can't afford to be taken by surprise again."

"Well, I say we need to be well-rested, or all the plans in Etheria won't help us. That means you and I are taking a break, now!" It wasn't as if most plans survived in the field, anyway.

"I can't take a break! I need to prepare our operation!"

"Adora, you've been planning an offensive in case we scuttle the operation, abandon the river and attack - somehow - through the Whispering Woods. You can't know what kind of forces we'll have available for such a strike. You don't know what the rest of the Horde will be doing." Seacat leaned forward, her hands brushing some of Adora's notes away, and faced her friend. "We're taking a break."

Adora opened her mouth to protest, but Seacat cut her off. "I can call the shrimp and make it an order." Wait a minute. She frowned. "Where is the princess, anyway?"

"Uh… she's inspecting the troops."

"Ah. And she said you should keep making plans?" Seacat narrowed her eyes. If the shrimp had ordered this...

"Uh… She didn't say I shouldn't."

Adora was a terrible liar. "She told you to take a break, didn't she?"

"Uh… I took a break. Really."

"For a few minutes?" Seacat shook her head. "We're taking a real break. Get some food. We can look for something useful to do when you're no longer trying to plan imaginary battles."

"They aren't imaginary!"

"Sure they aren't."

They walked over to the mess tent to grab some food. Seacat couldn't help but whistle at the sight. So many fruits - fresh fruits! And fresh bread. No hardtack and lemon juice. Although… no fresh fish, either. And not as much meat, salted or not, as she was used to.

"Isn't it great? And we owe it all to Perfuma!" Adora said, smiling as she loaded a plate with fruits and sweet bread.

"Yes. I knew she was more or less supplying the entire army, but to see it in action…" Seacat nodded and filled a plate with as many different dishes as she could manage. "This looks almost as good as the buffet at the Princess Prom."

"Oh, no - there's not much dessert, really," Adora corrected her. "And not as much fish, either."

"I noticed," Seacat said. She also noticed that Adora must have been used to living with a princess if she was missing dessert in the field. "I hope Perfuma's bodyguards are on the task." If the Plant Princess was killed, the logistics of the Alliance would collapse.

Adora nodded. "Oh, yes. Perfuma doesn't like it, but we have an entire company looking out for her in the field."

Seacat snorted. "Let me guess: She wants to fight."

"Uh… yes and no. Perfuma doesn't like to fight, actually," Adira explained between eating her snack. "But she doesn't like not fighting when we're fighting even more so." She blinked. "Did I say that right?"

"I got what you mean," Seacat told her. No fish, but the fruits were good. And the bread was good as well.

"Ah… good." Adora kept eating, but she was fidgeting.

Seacat sighed. "Relax, Adora."

"I can't relax while everyone else is working so hard!"

"I'm relaxing here," Seacat told her.

That earned her a glare. And a pout. "Everyone but you, then."

"People take breaks. People need breaks. If you're exhausted, you make mistakes." And that could sink a ship, as the Captain had taught her.

"I'm She-Ra. I don't get easily exhausted."

Seacat leaned over the table and tapped her index finger on Adora's forehead. "Your body might be tougher, but your brain? That's pure Adora."

"Hey!" More cute pouting.

Seacat suppressed the urge to grab Adora's face and pull her in for a kiss. That wouldn't have worked anyway - not when Adora was She-Ra. Too heavy. Too strong. Seacat grinned anyway. "If you can't relax here, we might have to go take a nap."

And now Adora was blushing. But her pout turned into a frown and then into a smirk. "I doubt that we would actually nap."

"But we would relax," Seacat countered.

And the blush returned. "I only have a tent here. Everyone would hear us."

"You didn't care about that last night."

"That was… we weren't in the middle of a camp, then!"

"Actually, we were in the middle of a camp. Just a small one," Seacat pointed out.

"That's… that's not the same! And we were surrounded by our friends! Not by… everyone!"

She was right, of course. Seacat didn't really give the entire army a show. But teasing Adora was fun - and helped relax her friend. Or at least distract her.

And Adora needed a distraction before she ran herself into exhaustion with busy work. As the Captain always said: A good sailor knew when to sleep. "Come on," Seacat told her, finishing her snack. "Let's find the princess and see what needs to be done."

"Alright you scallywags! Get those rafts into the river, but tie them up first! I don't want to see anyone drifting downriver! If you lose a raft, I'll throw you in myself so you can swim after it and drag it back!" Seacat put both hands on her hips and yelled at the landlubbers lining up on the shore. She heard a few scattered laughs from the assembled soldiers, but they quickly died down when she glared at them. "Move it!"

"Seacat's in a bad mood today," she heard Alcy comment as the woman waved towards the first row of soldiers.

"She had to sleep in a tent in the middle of the camp," Licy replied.

"Ah. That would do it."

Seacat rolled her eyes. No, the fact that last night, she had only cuddled with Adora hadn't put her in a bad mood. Or shouldn't have.

But the delay in getting the rafts ready because some idiots glued themselves to the glue reserves? That had annoyed her. They had to get a move on to reach the Horde yards on schedule or they would open themselves to defeat in detail. Fortunately, Perfuma had managed to compensate. As long as her living ropes held up in the river, they could still make it.

"You there!" she bellowed at a soldier in the second row, loud enough to carry through a storm. "Don't fiddle with the ropes!"

Alcy and Licy had the first rafts in the water now, tied up to the improvised pier they had built. There, soldiers would board it. Seacat would've preferred if those who built the raft boarded it, so they would be motivated to take extra care, but that would've meant more instructions and more delays.

"Seacat!"

She turned. The shrimp had arrived, followed by Brain Boy. "We've started loading troops on the rafts," she told them.

"I can see that," the princess replied.

Of course she could see it. But you still reported. That was the way things were done on a good ship.

"Any problems so far?" Brain Boy asked.

"No one managed to drown yet," she told him. "Not for lack of effort, though."

The two others chuckled. Seacat snorted - she had only been half-joking.

"What about your force?" the shrimp looked around.

"We need the rafts to carry Adora's force across the river, first," she told them. "Those are our most stable rafts." She had checked them personally.

"Ah." The princess nodded.

Seacat suppressed a scowl. She should be with Adora, not on the river.

"How long until we're ready to move?"

"An hour, by my guess," Seacat replied. "And even then, we'll still be loading people on rafts. But the first rafts will have to move then."

"Ah."

"We've only been using ships for supplies so far, so we're not used to this," Brain Boy told her.

"I know." He didn't have to state the obvious. Anyone would know this after a glance at the pier. If those were her crew, she'd keelhaul the lot of them. "Form orderly lines, you misbegotten sons of squids!" she yelled.

Brain Boy looked surprised, but the princess giggled. "I'll have to remember that."

She snorted. Soldiers were like sailors. Some only moved when you cursed. "Any news from the east?" she asked.

"Nothing. So, we'll proceed according to schedule. As close to schedule as we can manage," the shrimp replied.

"We'll manage," Seacat told them. "Even if I have to personally drown anyone who's lagging, we'll be there on time."

Once more, the two laughed, but this time, she had been joking. Mostly.

If anything happened to Adora because of some idiot soldier not following orders… What was that noise? She turned and saw three skiffs driving towards them. Adora, Spinnerella and Netossa in the leading skiff, Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle in their liberated gun-armed skiff, and behind them, bringing up the rear… a skiff with just a single pilot? That would be the shrimp and Brain Boy's skiff.

"Not going to comment about the commander of the entire force riding in the skiff on the enemy's side?"

Seacat blinked. "Why would I? Admirals are on the bridge of their flagships, sailing straight at the enemy. Plus, you can teleport." And she could save Adora if she had to.

"That's refreshing," the shrimp told her with a smirk aimed at Brain Boy. "Some people didn't want me near the frontlines at all."

"I just mentioned that it's more difficult to command an army if you're fighting a skirmish," the boy told her.

"General Juliet has my full trust." The shrimp scoffed and crossed her arms. "Seacat understands!"

"We're not at sea."

"We're on a river running a convoy. That's almost the same," the princess retorted.

"Hey, Seacat!"

"Hey, Adora!"

Adora jumped off the skiff and quickly joined them. "So, how's it going?"

"We're going to be on schedule," Seacat told her.

"Mostly," Brain Boy butted in.

"We're going to be on schedule," she repeated herself with a glare. "So get on your skiff and get going! We have an army to ship downriver!"

"Uh, right." Brain Boy climbed onto their skiff.

"So…" Adora shifted her feet.

Seacat sighed, then grabbed her for a hug. "Don't do anything foolish," she whispered.

"Same for you," Adora told her. And squeezed.

Very tightly. "Bit… tight…" Seacat managed to say.

"Oh, sorry!" Adora released her. "I didn't…"

"I know. Just… don't die."

"I'm She-Ra!"

She narrowed her eyes at her friend.

Adora caved. "I won't die."

"You better not."

"So, can we get a move on? We need to ship those skiffs over to the other side!" the shrimp butted in.

"Glimmer!" Brain Boy blurted out.

"What? It's true! We're on a schedule."

"Right." Seacat laughed. "Let's get you over the river."

And then they would be on their way to the Horde yards. The next step to winning this war.