A/N: Pre-Word Count: 7.06K. Once again folks, another glorious update to be had ^^ Bit of a shorter read this time around, but its to be expected. Aside from Catra's side of things, not much really happens in this episode overall. Heck, I had to include the Frosta bit just to make it longer (not to say i didn't originally plan that in the first place, but still).
I am glad to see everyone slowly returning to this fic to, i'm just as excited to see old, returning, and new faces around here ^^ I seriously can't wait to get this fic caught up to season 4/season 3 finale! As 2 reminders though, I'd like to point out- 1, i haven't seen season 4 yet, so plz refrain from spoilers with that if possible XP.
And 2, for those new or old who have forgotten why I write such large descriptions at the start of my chapters, especially the beginning-episode bits, its to give a generalization of what happened over the course of the entire episodes- with so many parts per ep, it would be kind of easy to get side tracked and forget what happened throughout it as a whole (especially with how much I write XP).
But with that said, on to the show!
...
...
...
"Thank you for the invitation, Force Captain Adora." Frosta respectfully greeted back as she shook her hand.
"Please, just Adora is fine." Adora said, chuckling a little. Alright! This was going to be a good day, Adora would make sure of it!
The day had started off a little, well, off, for the young Force Captain. Following what may have been the worst meeting she's ever had with Lord Hordak, the girl was unsure of herself. What about her made Hordak think of her as a failure? What had she messed up? She formed alliances with various outposts, and thanks to the resources provided by the Kingdom of Snows, she was sure there was more than enough to distribute throughout the Horde's reaches. And how did the glorious leader of the Horde take it?
He barked like a wild beast, seethed every supposed accomplishment Adora had achieved, and nearly suffocated her just because she didn't have anything important to report. He wasn't anything like Adora remembered. The honorable stories she heard about him as a child, the proud leader that made her his second-in-command in the first place. Everything she's done to achieve victory was done for the Horde, done for him. Couldn't he see that?
Her failures were far and few between, at least to her. Yes, she failed to defeat the Rebellion at the Battle of Bright Moon, the Rebellion had restored the Whispering Woods to its former glory, and she failed to convince a member of the Rebellion to join the Horde. They were little losses that Adora, while irritated, didn't see as major setbacks, but to the leader of the Horde, they were everything, and he refused to let someone continue to promote such failures, even Adora.
Luckily, there was still a chance to change his view of her! She was confident about it!
With all the events leading through the last month, Adora thought it was an opportune moment to invite the Princess of the Kingdom of Snows to improve their relationship with one another. With all that's happened between the Battle of Bright Moon, the last month that had past, and nearly putting the young princess in danger a few days prior, she thought it would've been a chance to become better acquainted, to show to her that the Horde wasn't as bad as the Rebellion made them out to be.
On top of that, with her support, there was an even greater chance of recruiting the other princesses of Etheria who weren't aligned with the Rebellion yet. After all, as Princess Frosta lead one of the largest kingdoms across Etheria, anything she said would hold merit. So, once she saw how great everything within the Fright Zone was, Adora was positive the other princesses would be all too eager to join.
"I must admit, I was rather surprised by your invitation, Adora." Frosta commented as she observed her surroundings. "It was quite sudden."
"Well, yeah." Adora scratched the back of her head a little. "I wanted to start things off by apologizing about the droid incident a few days ago. I swear, it won't happen again."
"I understand, it was just an acci-" Frosta paused as she looked past Adora. "Um... is she okay?" Turning around, Adora saw who she was referring to.
"Mmmmhmmhmhmmhhh!" She squealed.
"H-Hey... Scorpia?" Adora spoke, rubbing her shoulder. "Are you okay?" The second Force Captain continued to stare in wonder at the young girl for a few more seconds before she finally said anything.
"Oh... my... GOOOOSH!"
"Wha- Ahhh!"
*tug*
"She is so CUUUUTE!" There wasn't any force that could keep the Force Captain from her deathly hold over the girl as she embraced her tightly, her massive claws circling around the younger princess's entire body as she squeezed the life out of her, almost literally.
"Nghhh! Let go of me!" Frosta squeaked, face turning red as she tried to pry herself from the Captain's titan-like strength. Even the two personal guards that were escorting Frosta were unable to do anything more than raised their spears defensively, unable to act with risk of harming the young princess in her arm.
"S-Scorpia, put her down!" Immediately, Adora's eyes widened in panic as she attempted to pry the smaller princess off of her gargantuan friend.
How was Scorpia supposed to put down this lovable little angel?! Everything about her just screamed "Hug Me!" to her, she was so adorable. The small winter coat she had on, those big sparkling eyes, the sky-blue tiara she had on. Just holding her alone, she felt like she was holding the world's softest teddy bear! She never got a chance to meet the princess up close at the Princess Prom, and now that she was up close and personal, she was powerless to resist the temptation to hug her!
"Awww who's a little ruler? You are! Yes you are!" Never has Frosta been so thoroughly humiliated and in crushing pain all at the same time before.
"Scorpia, let go of her already or else-! Um... I won't let you hug me anymore!" Adora's threat was immediately met with results as her friend finally dropped the girl to her feet as her arms slumped to her side.
"Awww..." She moaned as Frosta coughed a little for breath, the two guards kneeling to check on her, the left one rubbing her back to clear her airwaves. There were a lot of things Scorpia was willing to do, even if it meant disobeying orders, but losing her hugging privileges for her best friends weren't one of them. To be fair, it did slowly dawn on her how much she must've been hugging the girl as she saw her let out a few coughs. "Sorry."
"I am seriously sorry about that, Princess Frosta." Adora apologized again. "Scorpia's just, well, a bit of a hugger, you know?"
The princess let out another cough before straightening herself out, trying to maintain her professional figure. "Hmph. I'll let it slide this time, but no more hugging. Understand?"
"Yes sir..." Scorpia pouted a little, poking at her claw-tips.
"Good."
Adora never felt so much relief before in such a short amount of time. It would've been the first recorded event in history where an entire alliance was destabilized because somebody hugged another. Not two minutes into introductions with one another did a crisis present itself in the form of a humanoid scorpion with the knack for hugging things. If Frosta wasn't so mature, when dealing with foreign and kingdom-like matters anyway, she was pretty sure that would've ended the alliance the Horde had with the kingdom.
"Phew. Okay, so" Adora clapped, trying to bring some positivity back into the situation, "why don't we head along to breakfast before we start the tour?"
"Hmm. I guess a little breakfast wouldn't hurt."
...
*Splat*
Frosta stared at the tray of what the Horde considered food. Upon her stash there were two grey-colored ration bars, a typical carton of milk, a single muffin, and what could only be considered, as politely as possible, a pile of white mush in the center of it all.
All around her, Frosta didn't know whether to be disgusted a little or surprised. Within the one of the lunchrooms of the many training facilities, she saw kids of all manner of shapes, sizes, and species socializing and eating the food without a second thought as if it was the most normal thing in the world to them. On the outlook of things, this did look like a normal establishment. Some kids were socializing, others were joking with one another, and another kid was stealing someone's muffin when they weren't looking at a corner of the lunchroom.
Strangely, that was the most normal thing compared to everything else around here.
"Mmmmh!" She looked across the small personal table they had in the corner of the cafeteria as Scorpia slurped her lips, rubbing her claws together. "Oh boy! Double ration bars, Muffin Monday, and warm gruel! We hit the perfect day to have breakfast here!" And without skipping a beat, grabbing her spoon, she casually dug in as if it was a fine cuisine.
Frosta almost preferred being hugged instead if she didn't have to watch so many people eating the potential slop. Even her two personal guards, who sat along her right, looked at the strange mush as it as one of them poked into it, waiting for the gruel to eventually slide off the spoon with a plop.
"I know it looks a little off," Adora commented as she sat her tray down, sitting on Frosta's left, "but its nutritional value compensate for its looks. All the food here is made so everyone within the Fright Zone gets an evenly proportioned amount of nutrition on a daily basis." The Force Captain explained, taking a bite out of one of her ration bars.
"I... See..." She commented. Not wanting to seem like the rude guest, Frosta attempted to give the food a try, or at least the closest thing she could to it as she grabbed a spoon. She could've sworn, the longer she stared into the food, the longer it looked like something within the gruel was actually looking right back at her. It didn't really help as she watched a small air bubble slowly forming within the pile until it eventually burst, leaving a small stain on the girl's left cheek.
At this, Adora paused from her eating as she noticed the girl's hesitation to eat the food. Looking back at it herself, she kind of gave it some forethought at how it must've looked to an outsider. "Here." Wanting to make the girl's experience here a pleasant one, she smiled as she took the tray away, leaving behind the large muffin that came with it and giving her one of her owns. "Trust me, it's better. The gruel and bars can kind of be an... acquired taste."
"Thanks." Luckily for her, it was as Adora said as she took a bite out of the muffin. It was as good as it looked, and actually had a bit of a sweet flavor to it. It actually made the two guards that followed her a little jealous, seeing how they were stuck with the previously-mentioned slop. "Wouldn't it be better to have... you know... better tasting food for these kids?"
"Eas'hier sh'aid dan done." Scorpia replied, muffled by the full mouth as she continued to eat.
"Most of the stuff like food is made within the Fright Zone itself." Adora explained. "There's only so much space around here to grow our own food, especially with the lack of direct sunlight we get."
"So you don't have any... different, food around here?"
"Heh, if you mean better looking and tasting ones, then not really. Usually all the good food we make is given to the front lines. It helps boost morale for our soldiers when they stationed at outposts for an extended period of time."
"Not that I'm complaining." Scorpia commented, having finished her gruel. "When you get used to eating like this, you can pretty much eat anything. It's useful when supplies are low and you have to scavenge the surroundings for food."
"I guess." Frosta shrugged, wiping the smudge from her cheek against her wrist.
Adora smiled inside as she saw Frosta continuing to eat the muffins in delight. So far, the tour was starting off without a hitch, minus a certain hugging incident. Frosta didn't seem too bothered by the strange food they were eating, and she was reasonable to understand their viewpoint from the Fright Zone's perspective. She guessed she should've had a more proper meal prepared for this occasion, but she wasn't willing to hide anything from the young princess. She wanted her to have an honest tour of how great the Fright Zone really was!
"So, anyway, I thought we could start off our tour by-"
"Force Captain Adora!" A pair of helmet-wearing soldiers addressed as they approached the table.
"Yes?" She replied, wondering what was urgent as she stood.
"We have those requisition forms you requested from the northern outposts. All the paperwork is waiting for you in council room."
"Requisition forms? What are you... Awwwww!" Adora groaned as she slapped her forehead. "I forgot about the movement on Erelandia." Why did she have to deal with this now? Better yet, why did she forget?! She had several requisition forms to go over today that were vital in several major fronts of the war, ones that needed addressing the sooner the better.
"You're invading Erelandia?" Frosta spoke up, curiously.
"We're not invading it, we're just trying to divide its forces part until we can negotiate with them." Adora explained, taking one of the large envelopes one of the guards had. Looking through it, she groaned more to herself as she saw the amount of paperwork this one envelope alone was going to involve. "This is gonna take awhile... Hey, Scorpia? Do you think you could continue the tour without me for a bit? I need to deal with this?" She didn't even give the girl time to respond as she walked off, rubbing her eyebrows as she glanced over the papers she was given.
With a hearty mouth-filled nod, she replied. "Mhhm! 'eave it to meh Adowa!" She replied before swallowing her food. This was going to be great! First she got to meet a new friend and a great ally to the Horde in person, then Adora entrusted her with a task with that very same person! Smiling with excitement, wiping the food off her face with her claws, she looked down at the little princess. "So! Where do you wanna go first?"
...
...
The trek through the woods felt a little more eerie than usual. Maybe it was the creepy silence that perverted the woods, maybe it was the fact this mission pertained to investigating an outpost that was abandoned without reason. Or maybe it was the fact all of this was occurring while dealing with a grouchy revenge-driven feline named Catra who was trailing behind them.
Following all they learned yesterday, Catra's attitude was... a little more than expected. Learning that Entrapta was alive, that she was well, that she had every opportunity to come back to the Rebellion but chose to stay with the Horde? It was outrageous. Suffice to say, Catra was angry. No, scratch that. That was putting it mildly. VERY, mildly. Perhaps not even that was enough to describe the anger welling up in the girl at this moment.
Catra wanted revenge. A cold dish known as revenge, and she wanted Entrapta's head on a platter.
After all Catra went through, the grief, the struggle, the reality of all that transpired since she thought Entrapta died, was something that scarred her for awhile. She was depressed, out of herself. She never felt so guilty for doing something that got a close ally killed, it messed her up.
So how was she supposed to take it when she learned she went through all of that for nothing? To find out the person she thought she was responsible for was happy, chipper, doing whatever she wanted to, all while being on the other side of the war, making weapons that could get them killed at any moment, weapons that almost did kill them more than half the time, over the last month?
Entrapta had to pay. There was no other option.
At the same time, it presented another dilemma to the rest of her friends who did everything they could to physically keep their friend from storming into the Fright Zone. For the past eleven hours, they had to teleport, push, pull, and everything else they could think of to keep Catra from storming off to her potential death. It wasn't just for the sake of her well-being, it was to stop her from ruining She-Ra's power, too.
Her emotional state was attuned to the sword. The more positive her emotions became and the more peaceful she felt, the more attuned to the sword she grew, and the more power of She-Ra she obtained along with her appearance improving. Likewise, the more negative her emotions were, the more of her power she lost, and within the last eleven hours alone, Catra lost nearly thirty-percent of her She-Ra form, and was even less powerful than when she started this whole thing.
There only hope now was to find some way to either convince Catra to give up on this fool's errand, hoping the mission to the deserted outpost would help her forget, or find some way to reason with her and to give up on this vendetta she had.
Neither option seemed promising.
"Uh, hello?" Swift Wind spoke up as he approached the trio from behind. "I thought you should know, I'm sensing something weird the closer we get to the outpost."
"Weird as in boring, or weird as in we shouldn't bother with the mission and just move on to the Fright Zone?" Catra wondered uncaring. She was only in this for now because Glimmer promised to help her reach the Fright Zone if she helped them with this mission first.
"I can't describe it. Just weird." It was strange, honestly. He felt a tingling sensation from his horn that felt like it was giving off a weird energy, like a breeze only he could feel was passing through it. At the same time, he couldn't tell if it was because of where they were going for this, or if it was a side effect from Catra losing more her connection to the sword.
"Great. We get weirdness and revenge both in the same day. How fun." Catra rolled her eyes.
"Catra, can't you just focus on the mission for now?" Glimmer moaned. "You should take your mind off everything else, it'll help you relax."
"I will be relaxed once a certain geek gets what's coming to her."
"Seriously Catra, just try to think something completely different. Like, think of the most relaxing thing you can right now." Bow suggested looking back.
"Being back in Bright Moon after I get my revenge sounds pretty relaxing right now."
"I mean something else besides getting revenge. Like... Okay. Try to visualize something. Think of the most relaxing place you possibly can right now."
"Bow-"
"Come on Catra, just try it? Please?"
"Ugh..." There were too many headaches to deal with right now as she paused. If it got them to stop bothering her, she would gladly accept it. "Fine. I'm in a warm cabin..."
"Yeees...?"
"Sitting next to a warm fireplace..."
"Uh-huh..."
"Covered in a nice warm blanket, without any troubles."
"Haha! There you see? I knew you could-"
"And admiring the view of Entrapta's head on my mantle."
"Nooo!" Now Bow was the one groaning as he rubbed his head.
"Look, you wanted me to think of something relaxing, so I'm going to think of what I find relaxing, not what you find relaxing!" She huffed. "I don't get why we need to go to this stupid town in the first place."
"Catra, Alwyn is the Rebelion's biggest supplier of... Uh, well, supplies." Glimmer informed. "It's basically one big orchard. Fruits, veggies, dairy... Fiiiish~" Glimmer grinned a little as Catra looked away a little embarrassed, trying to pretend that didn't interest her. "You'll see. It's one big, happy-" She froze as they arrived.
Happiness did not loom in the air in the slightest. In fact, all that did loom in the air was an eerie fog that breezed through the village at a slow pace. Even the sky above seemed dismal as it gave off the tranquil appearance of darkness, a night's sky that forever rested on a village bed below.
From what few hours were seen at first glance, the town was entirely empty. All the lights were off, there wasn't a single soul, living or otherwise, standing around. The apples that hung from the trees had a strange rotten look to them, as if they were poisonous if you so much as touched them. Nothing about this place screamed "lively" or "happy". It looked like nothing more than a single, solitary, ghost town.
Emphasis on ghost.
"Incredibly... creepy... orchard." Goosebumps were already settling in on the edges of her skin.
*Chomp!*
Instantly, the three turned at the sound of the mysterious chomping sound, like the sound of a bone being bitten into. Fortunately, it wasn't anything of the sort as the source of the sound came from a colorfully hungry horse named Swift Wind. "What?" He asked, still eating it. "Creepy apples taste just as good as normal apples."
"The outpost must be up ahead." Glimmer continued to lead, speaking in a monotonic voice as she tried to keep her nerves from getting to her. She and Bow hid behind the trees as they peered into the village safely, examining it in secret. Catra, on the other hand, just looked more annoyed as she waited for them to finish. "I don't see any Horde soldiers. Actually, I don't see anyone for that matter."
"Whelp. What do you know? They just left. Mystery solved, let's go." Catra proclaimed, immediately turning a 180* and taking a step in the opposite direction.
"No." Glimmer flatly said, grabbing the cat by her tail and tugging her annoyed expression back. "We're not leaving until we know why they're gone, Catra."
"Who cares about the why? If it's dangerous, we probably shouldn't be here. If not, maybe they're just asleep? Either way, mission solved, no Horde in sight, now lets go!"
"Let me take a look." Bow suggested as he dug through his supplies. "I've upgraded my tracker pad to detect Horde signals. If they're here we'll find them with this." And with a single press of a button, their ears were immediately assaulted by the high-pitched sound of a large whirring noise.
*Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-!*
"Ahhhhhh!" Everyone screamed in pain as they covered their ears, Swift Wind and Catra taking it the worst with their extra sensitive hearing. The lead inventor of the Rebellion quickly fumbled with the machine as he attempted to turn it off, nearly dropping it out of his hands before he slid to the ground, catching it. Teleporting to his side, Glimmer checked on her friend as he examined the machine.
"Oh, man. I must've broken something during the upgrade."
"YA THINK?!" Catra hissed loudly, the ringing in her ears practically deafening her as she continued to squeeze them.
"N-Not to worry! I can fix this!" He assured, pressing on the pad.
"WHAT?"
Bow examined the device from top to bottom as he tried to adjust the settings. Nothing he did appeared to be helping as it continued to buzz with an static-like screen over the pad. "...IIIIII don't know how to fix this."
"WHAT?" Catra yelled again, her skin tingling as the ringing still surged through her body.
"I said I don't know how to fix this!" He repeated louder.
"WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME TO SNIFF IT?"
"Never mind."
"It's okay." Glimmer tried to cheer up with a confident smile. "Whatever's going on here, we'll solve it. Nothing gets past us!"
*whooooooosh~*
As if waiting for the correct opportunity, the three were briefly assaulted by cold brush of wind, sending their already-tingling skin to build on the edges of their goosebumps. At least Catra, giving her head one last good shake, finally got the ringing to stop as she picked at her ears.
"Even if people used to tell stories about Alwyn being haunted..."
"Haunted?" Catra asked, partly checking to make sure she was hearing right again. "What? Like ghosts and everything?"
"Ah, it's just stories. And even if it wasn't, we'd handle them. No reason to be scared."
"Tch, yeah if you go by any ghost stories told in the Rebellion, maybe." Catra smirked for possibly the first time today, crossing her arms. "They're nothing like the stories told in the Fright Zone. When I was a kid, Shadow Weaver would tell us scary stories that would make you wet the bed almost every week. And every night one kid would wake up in the middle of the night crying because of nightmares."
"S... Stories like what?"
"Like tales of the Bleeding Skull? A war spirit that wanders Etheria with an always-bleeding head?" She emphasized as she extended her claws, shifting her eyes from side to side menacingly. "The stories say he was a Horde general who was betrayed by his own units. Now he roams all over Etheria, wrecking havoc and vengeance on those who disobey their superiors. Legend has it the last thing you hear before seeing him is the sound of his blood dripping and his cries of agony. He'd creep into your barracks in the middle of the night, stretch his mouth out until its big enough to bite off your whole head, and then-!"
"AHHH!"
"Ahh!" The three jumped as they all turned around, readying their claws, magic, and gadgets, after Swift Wind let out a terrified cry.
"What is it?!" Glimmer yelped, eyes darting back and forth in worry.
"I'm not sure, I heard someone. A voice." Swift Wind stated, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks as he scanned the area.
"Bleeding Skull!" Catra screeched, for once the hairs on the end of her tail sticking up.
"No, it was someone else. Someone's here, I'm sure of it. We have to find them." The horse stood bravely in the face of fear as he took off, the other three looking at each other before chasing after him. None of them felt comfortable after Catra's story, nor did any of them intend to stick around long enough to hear the sound of dripping coming near them. It was a ridiculous story to be sure, but when abandoned towns and eerie scenery greeted your vision, it was better safe than sorry.
Perhaps that's why none of them were aware of the mysterious figure that slowly crept between two of the trees, its translucent body almost hazy as it crossed paths.
For a moment, Catra came to a stop, quickly turning around as she heard a strange noise. By the time she did, the figure was gone. It was hard to tell if her weakening connection to the sword or the ghost stories were really getting to her, but something was telling her something was wrong. Shifting her eyes one more time, she slowly stepped back, one foot at a time, before sprinting back to the other guys who called out for her. No sooner did she did another translucent figure cross a path of trees, and disappeared just as quickly.
Whatever force seemed to engulf the outpost, the four would make sure they'd stick together, caring for each other and each other's safety.
...At least, Catra did before Bow asked the wrong question.
"Say Catra, about those kids who wet the bed..."
...
...
"Alright. Third Battalion is closest." Adora stated as she looked over the map. It provided a detailed diagram of the Horde's various checkpoints displayed over the landmass. "If we can set up checkpoints within these three sections, they should be more willing to listen."
"Are you sure they won't take it as a sign of threat?" Kyle asked from the other side of the table.
"That's... gonna depend on them." Adora commented, rubbing her chin, still wearing her glove. "If we show any sign of aggression, they'll immediately swarm to the Rebellion. We need to show them they don't have anything to fear from the Horde." Adora paused as she yawned briefly, rubbing one of her tired eyes. "Thanks again for the help, guys. I really appreciate it.
She was lucky enough to come across her three friends as she did, even more so that they were willing to help her out with the paperwork. With everything that had went on today, she needed to turn things around. First, she needed to prove her reliability to Hordak, then she needed to finish the paperwork and battle strategies involving their newest target, then she needed to rush back to wherever Scorpia and Frosta was and continue along with the tour.
Such was Adora's life on a daily basis. And it was more than double that since she became Hordak's second-in-command.
"It's okay Adora, we don't mind the help. But are you sure you won't get in trouble for letting us in here? I thought the room was only for Force Captains and lieutenants?"
"I'm sure it'll be fine. I mean you're just helping me. And even then, this shouldn't take very long. We just need to pinpoint our forces next movement."
"Yeah, slight issue there, Capt'." Lonnie replied, sitting with her back against the table on the floor as she skimmed through one of the many folders. "The Third Battalion is refusing to fight."
"What? Why are they refusing to fight? It's not like we're sending them to the Rebellion or anything."
"Because they don't have armor. They put in... Ugh, so many folders..." Lonnie grumbled, skimming through several more folders simultaneously. She didn't mind helping someone like Adora with her work, but at the very least, it could've been something less boring. Even moving equipment was more fun than this. "Ah! Six requests for resupply. Didn't you see these?"
"I've been busy prioritizing our efforts to topple Bright Moon." Adora replied with a small bit of disdain in her voice. "Once the Rebellion goes down, the rest of the planet will be more than willing to join us." She mumbled looking through another folder she was holding in her armpit. "I've gotten closer to succeeding than anyone else in the Horde's past." She frowned a little as she lowered her head. "Why doesn't Hordak see that...?"
The trio looked to each other in a brief silence, Kyle returning Adora's comment with a small smile. "Well we noticed Adora. You work harder than anyone else around here, right Rogelio?" The lizard-man right next to him gave an assuring nod as he continued sorting through the many papers. It was comforting to hear as she usually did, but it just didn't feel the same since her meeting with Hordak this morning.
"Thanks guys... So we just need to resupply them with armor, right?"
Poking his shoulder with it, Rogelio handed Kyle another file, one filling the teen's face with misfortune. "Umm... right... except..."
"Now what?"
"According to this... The armory is out of armor."
"What?" Adora blinked at the stupidity of the statement. "How can an armory be out of armor? It's in the name, they just have to make it!" She took a glance over at the clock, biting her lower lip a little as she saw the time. Its been over forty minutes since she started all of this paperwork, thirty minutes since she managed to get Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie to help around, and she still wasn't anywhere close to being done.
"I-It shouldn't be a problem! We just have to find the right file, and- Whoa!" Before the fragile teen could finish, he was suddenly thrown off his feet as he slipped over several files scattered across the floor, sending the paper flying around him.
*thud*
"Ow..."
Adora moaned again as she rubbed between her eyes. Every new request came with another request. When that request needed to be filled, another request needed to be filed for that request. Then, in order to get that request actually started, at least two files worth of requests needed to be filled out and organized to send to processing. Afterwards, processing needed to file for a request which took that request another file to be filled out before filling out its assigned request. And if that wasn't annoying enough, then THAT file was categorized into another file to be requested by an additional processor that needed a request!
This was Adora's life in a nutshell. Whenever she wasn't out in the field, allying with outposts, collecting resources from other communities, she was practically knee deep in paperwork that required her constant supervision and approvals, or at least that of another Force Captain.
Perhaps this is where Hordak's anger towards the girl stemmed from? At first, the amount of paperwork she was dealing with could be done within an afternoon's time, taking about two to three hours on a daily basis. However, thanks to the multitude of allies Adora garnered throughout her career, the paperwork has kept piling up in greater numbers, with nearly another foot of paperwork every time a new alliance was formed.
But wasn't what they were doing worth it? Wasn't the point of all of this to spread security, protection, and safety across all of Etheria, to unite under one powerful banner where everyone lived in harmony? She had little taste for the likes of the Rebellion, and would never accept their allegiance after all she's been through, but even with that, the safety of the rest of the world was their priority.
...Right?
"How am I supposed to stop the Rebellion when all this paperwork keeps coming up?" She finally groaned, leaning against the table.
"Well, maybe you should take a break from the recruitment?" Lonnie suggested, shrugging. "I mean at this rate, we got more allies than we know what to do with. With so many people in every corner of the world, we have more requests than soldiers at this point."
"And risk them being recruited by the Rebellion?!" Several bangs of Adora's hair fell to her face with another groan. "How did Shadow Weaver do this everyday?"
"Well, you could always ask her?" Kyle suggested. "She seemed to be handling it pretty well. I'm sure she knew what she was doing." There was a empty silence that filled the room as Rogelio and Lonnie looked back to him, slightly surprised and slightly worried at what he said. By the time he realized how he sounded, he could already see the ire coming off of Adora as she glared at him a little, bits of shadows rising from her shoulders. "N-No-Not that I'm implying you don't or anything! I think you're doing a great job! Honest!"
Adora continued to stare at him for another few seconds before letting out a sigh, the shadows dissipating once more. "But it's not good enough..."
"Wahhh!" A familiar wail was heard as a certain figure came crashing down from the round vent above the entrance. The four were greeted by the sight of a geeky scientist and a bundle of purple hair dropping from the metals and landing on her tush. "Hi."
"Entrapta, we've been over this. You don't need to sneak around the vents anymore, you're not a prisoner."
"I know, but the ducts are faster, and I don't have time to waste." She replied, hopping to her feet as she searched the nearby boxes. "I need a six-sided hex driver right now."
"Entrapta, I don't have time for this. I have to get this paperwork done, and get back to the tour with Scorpia and Frosta. Besides, can't you just make whatever tool you need? You made my wristband from scratch, it can't be that hard."
For one of the few times Adora's known her, Entrapta sighed in frustration. "Ugh, of course I could, but its the principle." As she went on, she slid herself under the large table, knocking Rogelio and Kyle off their feet, and nearly toppling Adora over again as she climbed over it to the other side. "Use the proper tool for the job."
"If you make a tool and then use that tool to make whatever you need, then how is it any different than just using a tool you get?" Kyle asked Rogelio, who could only shrug in response.
"Look, it's fine if you can't help me. I saw one in Hordak's lab."
"Yeah, sure, I bet he has one..." It took Adora a moment to pull her eyes from the papers she was looking at to realize what she just said. "Wait- No!" Before Entrapta could pull herself to the vent again, Adora extended a shadowy tendril from her arm, wrapping it around the girl's chest before pulling her over into her hand. "Entrapta, listen to me. I know you're still adjusting to the Fright Zone, there's still a lot you haven't seen yet, and you're still getting used to people. But under no circumstances, can you bother someone like Hordak, okay?"
"...Why?"
"Because he... He's not in the best of moods, all right? And he's too busy to be bothered." She pointed her other finger to her to emphasize. "You are not to go to Hordak's Sanctum under any circumstances. Understand?"
"...Ooooh, he calls his lab a sanctum?" That was like scientist gold right there! Finally, someone who knew how to treat their lab with respect! "That is so classy!"
"ENTRAPTA!" For just a second, during that one single world, the four were greeted to the sight of Adora's anger getting the best of her. In one solitary line of dialogue, a wave of shadows burst from Adora's back, actually striking the lights above and causing a momentary static to cause them to flicker. Not once in the history of knowing Adora, even after she obtained her magic, had they ever seen such a moment of anger from her.
The Force Captain herself felt her heart racing for a minute. She knew she was overreacting to her friend's typical curiosity and wonder. She just... felt so angry all of a sudden, like saying that one name was the angriest part of her day. Sighing again, she rubbed her gloved hand between her eyes, taking a deep breath through her nose before exhaling, releasing her grip on the girl.
"Look. I'm sorry for yelling. I just need you to promise me that you will stay away from Hordak. Promise me?"
"Okay, I will."
"Promise me!"
"I promise, you have nothing to fear!" She gave a calming smile as she waved her hand. "By the way, what's with the glove?"
"Hu-" Darn it! She keeps forgetting about it with all the stuff that's been going on. "Oh... N-Nothing. I just... Started liking them, and I started wearing it."
"...Well why didn't you say so? I got a whole bunch of them in the lab, you can have some if you want!" She smiled as she offered the strands of her hair. "I got plenty of hands as it is."
"T-Thanks, I'll... think about it." In actuality, she was a little curious about the offer. If she could find a matching pair of gloves, nobody would be the wiser for her new fashion statement. Hopefully, by then, her hand would've returned to normal.
"H-Hey, Adora?" Kyle nervously spoke out, still trembling a little at the sight of Adora's rage. "I found a file about the armory. It turns out they can't make anymore because they need more iri... ri.. dium! Iridium!"
"Huff, okay. So where do we get more of it?" Adora asked, reaching a shadow over to the file as she collected it.
"Umm... I don't have the file for that... Sorry."
Once again, the Force Captain took a momentary breath as she collected herself. "It's fine, I'll just look for it, like all the other stuff. Anyway, can you guys do me a favor and just keep an eye on Entrapta? I'll handle the paperwork myself, you guys relax." The three looked at one another with curiosity and nerves, wondering if they really should take Adora up on that offer.
On one hand, it meant they didn't have to risk Adora suddenly bursting with rage again and getting caught by her shadows. On another hand, it meant Adora building up more stress and making it more likely that she was going to burst into rage in the future. The lights were still flickering above, which Adora didn't seem to mind or notice, and there was no telling what would happen the next time her magic hit another person.
Still, it was better obeying her orders for now than disobeying them, even if they were in an effort to help the girl de-stress a little. With a confirming nod, the trio gathered all the papers that surrounded them before placing them neatly in front of the Force Captain who continued to work at the table.
"Sure thing, Adora. Just let us know if you need help again." Lonnie stated as the three took off.
"Thanks Lonnie." It was nice to know she had three reliable friends around her, even more within the Horde itself. They were living proof to her that having more friends and allies could only lead to a positive effect. They could help each other in their times of need, and look out for each other to keep them from getting hurt.
Simply put, when it came to having allies, nothing could go wrong.
"...By the way, Adora, any chance you saw which way she went?"
"...Uggghhhh..."
Except that.
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A/N: And another one down! Hooftah. I'll be honest, I actually had this done yesterday, I wrote it that fast X) But with the weird bug going on yesterday making the site slow and keeping the reviews from being updated, for whatever reason, I wanted to wait till today to post it in case some annoying bug occurred that kept the update from notifying watchers and whatnot.
And yes, you can rest easy, there will be more Frosta-touring next episode. And before I forget, kudos go to Star Saber again for one of the above scenes. I don't take scenes usually in my line of work, but if you're interested in a possible suggestion, send me a PM ^^.
Anyway! Hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hoped to see you soon!