Disclaimer: I do not own She-Ra or its related characters. All is the property of Noelle Stevenson, Dream Works Animation, Netflix, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Filmation, Larry DiTillo, and J. Michael Straczynski.

Inconvenient Arrangements

Chapter Twenty-One: In Different Directions

'Adora… Adora…'

"Adora!" Catra snapped at the Eternian princess.

She was turning out to be a bigger handful than Catra originally thought. She kept turning her head, as if listening to something only she could hear. Once or twice Adora even tried to wander off and Catra had to grab her and drag her along to keep them from getting separated. It was almost like taking care of Entrapta. Were all Princesses like this?

Catra pulled her long, moving between the trees on a newer course that –this time- she was sure would get them back to the mountains of Dryl.

Instead, the narrow trail widened unexpectedly, opening up into the front yard of a large house.

Easily three stories tall, and very wide. Probably meant to accommodate a large family. Catra just stared at the building, at a bit of a loss. Not only did she not know where they were, she didn't even know anyone lived in the Whispering Woods. She thought it was uninhabitable because of all the wild magic and constantly changing landscape.

Who lived out here!?

More confused than anything else, Catra took another step towards the house, pulling Adora by the hand with her.

But she froze in her tracks again when something zoomed through the air, just barely missing her nose. It stuck in a tree on the far side of the yard and Catra turned to see it was an arrow. Turning her head back, she followed its trajectory to see a man standing on the opposite side holding the corresponding bow.

"That's far enough." He announced.

He was not particularly tall, about average height actually. Dark skinned and dark haired, his hair shaved and shaped into a neat and respectable flat-top. Wearing a long sleeved shirt that went all the way down to the waist and was tucked into his pants.

Adora seemed unbothered by the weapon that was trained on them. She marched right up to the mysterious archer. "Do you live in these woods? Can you help us? My current guide seems a little lost."

"I'm not lost!" Catra snapped at her. "I'm just a little turned around and don't know which direction to go."

The mysterious archer relaxed his bow arm, and lowered the bow. His expression softened. "You're lost?"

"We're not lost!" Insisted Catra.

"We just have no idea where we're going." Announced Adora.

The archer unknocked the arrow and replaced it back in his quiver. He then shrugged the quiver off his shoulder and unstrung the bow. Walking to a planter, he lofted the flowers up out of it and slid the bow and quiver inside, replacing the flowers on top of them. "Come inside. My dads might be able to help you."

Both women shrugged. It wasn't like they had any better options, and he couldn't be much of a danger to them. He's just discarded his own weapon.

Adora slid up beside Catra to whisper in her ear. "Does everyone on Etheria store their weapons in dirt?"

"No." Catra hissed back. "Obviously, he's hiding it from the dads he mentioned."

They followed the archer inside. It turned out to be some kind of library that doubled as a museum. Every wall was lined with shelves, and every shelf was filled. Mostly books. Real books, hard bound with paper pages. But there were racks of datacards as well. Definitely a library of sorts. But there were also artifacts in glass cases. A cracked piece of pottery. A broken crystal. A fragment of a velum scroll. All of it preserved and protected behind glass.

"What is this place?" Asked Adora.

She recognized the language on the scroll as an older dialect of Eternian, maybe even middle-Eternian. And the pottery was painted with the figure of He-Ra, Adora recognized the legendary warrior from her history lessons. He-Ra and her brother He-Ro were legendary warriors that wielded magical Swords and were what allowed Eternia to hold out against joining the Empire for so long. It was said that He-Ra fell here, somewhere on Etheria and the Horde took her sword.

"This is my house." Said the archer. "But is also doubles as my dads' office, study, library, and archive." He chuckled awkwardly. "One of my dads is a historian."

"Ah." Said Adora. That explained all the pre-Horde Eternian artifacts.

"Bow, who are your guests?" Asked a voice from above them.

They all looked up. Coming down the stairs were two men. One was tall and slim, with long and neat dreadlocks, and just the shadow of a beard. The other was shorter, with his graying hair that was cropped short, and a well-groomed handlebar mustache.

"Dad, they were lost in the forest and I said we could help them. This is- um…" He hadn't asked their names. How rude. His dads would be disappointed. They raied him better than that.

"Catra." Supplied one. "And blondie over here is Princess-"

"Despara!" Adora blurted out before Catra could give away her real name.

She didn't know how long it would take her father and future in-laws in Brightmoon to figure out she was gone. If this library-house was close to the castle, it would be one of the first places they looked. But if the people who lived here could say 'there was never anyone named "Adora" here', that would throw them off her trail.

"Well, Catra, and Despara, I'm George, and this is my husband, Lance." Said the shorter. "Bow says you're lost? It's a little dark to be wandering around the woods. Why don't you stay the night and We'll have Bow escort you wherever you need to go in the morning."

Lanced touched his arm gently. "Oh, no the Whispering Woods are much too dangerous to send Bow!"

"Alright, then I'll escort them." Nodded George. "Where are you ladies going?"

"Dryl." Answered Catra honestly.

Adora opened her mouth to contradict her. If a search part from Brightmoon came looking for her, she didn't want these people to point them in the right direction. But, if they were going to have a guide, their guide would need to know where he was going. So Adora said nothing.

"Dryl?" Next to them, Bow beamed with enthusiasm. "That's the seat of all innovation and advancement on Etheria! Are you two scientists? I'm a bit of an immature inventor myself."

Lance smiled fondly. "Our little Bow is quite the scholar."

Bow flushed self-consciously, embarrassed by his parents.

"I'm sure he's great." Adora flashed a well practiced court-smile at them. "But we couldn't possibly impose on you. If you could just give us some instructions, we'll be out of your hair."

"Non-sense." Insisted George. "It's dark out now, and besides, simple instructions won't do any good in navigating the woods. They change too much. You need someone who lives here and knows the changes. Now, we'll have Bow make up some rooms for you, and I'll whip you up a snack –you must be hungry after hiking through the woods- and while you wait, Lance can entertain you with a brief history of the woods."

George trotted down the stairs, past them, and through a side-door that presumably lead to the kitchen.

"The Whispering Woods actually have one of the most interesting histories on all of Etheria!" Lance seemed so excited to share his passions with newcomers. "Historians even theories that within these woods is the very spot the Eternian hero, Mara, fell in battle against the Horde!"

…

Hec-Tor was up in the cliff-hanging ship yards. It was so early in the morning it was still dark outside. He had barely gotten any sleep between Princess Prom and now, but their first shipment of weapons was going out and Hec-Tor wanted to oversee it personally. The shipment was on time, but several units short of what Brother desired.

He watched Enlisted check and double check the contents of every large freight container before clone units loaded it on the ship. Doing his own mental count as each container passed the gangplank.

Next to him, Grizzlor stood, also counting off containers as they were loaded. Logging each freight containers serial number on a datapad. The information to be sent to Horde Prime separately to be matched against the ship's own records upon arrival to make sure there was no tampering.

Grizzlor's datapad rang with an incoming call. The ID saying it was Mantenna. Grizzlor opened it as audio-only in order to keep tally of the cargo. "I didn't think you'd be up yet. Your shift doesn't start for another four hours."

Mantenna was yawning when he spoke. "Wish I was. But there's a very distraught –very loud- Eternian King here looking for the Prince, and even Baker can't make him go away."

"Randor?" Hec-Tor turned to address the datapad in his lieutenant's paws. "Is something wrong?"

"Hec-Tor!" Randor's voice shouted over the line.

"He's here with me." Added Mantenna, sounding tired and defeated.

"Is Adora with you?" He demanded, panicked. "I haven't seen her since Princess Prom last night and I know you and your new spouse left early, and we can't find her anywhere in the castle, and I know you and Adora aren't exactly close-" he hadn't seen Adora in person since she was an infant "-but I thought, just maybe, she might have tagged along with you last night?"

The panic in his voice was that of a parent worried for a lost child, and Hec-Tor could empathize with that. Imp was a mischievous little scamp and often got into the oddest places, giving Hec-Tor no shortages of panic attacks. But Adora was not a toddler. Adora was a full grown adult and legally independent by Eternian law –or, at least, as independent as the child of a king was allowed to be- so the sheer level of panic in Randor's voice seemed unnecessarily excessive.

Unless, Adora's sudden disappearance was also reminding him of Keldor.

Nobody knew what happened to him. He left no trace. They never found him, a body, or any answers. Randor was probably fearing the same for his daughter.

Randor was there for him when Keldor disappeared. Was supportive and helped with the search. "Adora did not come with us." He told Randor. "But I will come down and help you." To Grizzlor he ordered, "Continue to oversee the shipment, place the file on my desk when it is done. I do not know when I will get to it."

He left.

Randor was pacing the kitchen when Hec-Tor arrived back at the Crypto Castle. Mantenna was with him, still wearing his pajamas, but he had pinned his Horde Force Captain's badge to his nightshirt. Baker was brewing a pot of coffee for them all.

The moment Hec-Tor entered, Randor ran up to him. It was like Keldor's disappearance all over again. All shallow breaths and frantic. 'Where's my brother? Where have you looked? What do we know?'

"Are you able to check the castle?" Randor demanded this time. "I know you said Adora didn't leave with you, but that doesn't mean she didn't stow away with you."

"Of course." Nodded Hec-Tor. Randor helped him so much with the search for Keldor. They did everything short of invoking the power of the three towers to peer through the veils between dimensions to see what happened to him. It was only fair that Hec-Tor do the same for Randor. "The datapad with my administrator control is in my office."

Randor remained restless and anxious the entire way to Hec-Tor's office, and in the office once they got there. Walking the perimeter. Testing the walls. There were no windows. He kicked the carpet up too, looking for trap doors. There were none.

Hec-Tor set his app to scan for any organism larger than a mouse that wasn't carrying a tracker.

"Is she here?" Randor asked again, now leaning over the datapad in Hec-Tor's hands, standing on the tips of his toes because Hec-Tor was so tall.

"I am searching." He informed his brother-in-law.

He noted that Imp was out of bed –again- and that Mantenna had not gone back to bed but was still in the kitchen with Baker, also, that Catra's tracker was absent from the grounds. Entrapta was in her lab. There were a number of Enlisted in the castle. Those on duty were at their posts, those off duty were mostly still asleep with only a few milling about the castle. But there were no beings moving about without trackers.

"I'm sorry, Randor. It looks like she is not here." Hec-Tor had to tell him.

The look Randor gave him, one would think Hec-Tor told him he'd lost his brother all over again. Only worse this time because it was his own child.

"But I am sure she is fine." Hec-Tor tried to assure him, hoping it would put Randor at ease. "Adora is very smart and I've sure an equally capable warrior. The fact that your family is all powerful warriors is something Keldor often reminded me of on an almost weekly basis. Wherever Adora is, am I sure that she is safe, and that is where she wants to be."

Randor continued to look skeptical …and oddly betrayed. "Is that what you believe of Keldor?"

The question was such a punch in the gut, Hec-Tor felt his bottom lip quiver and his eyes begin to water before he could catch it and control them. He cleared his throat in an attempt to get a better hold of himself. "There is a vast difference," he growled, low in the back of his throat, "between a Prince of the Horde Empire, a seasoned warrior, commander of my armies, and a soon-to-be father, vanishing without a trace, leaving behind a husband who loved him and a new child on the way, and a moody teenager running out on an unwanted marriage!"

Randor checked himself almost immediately. He was lashing out because he was worried about his child. But Hec-Tor was right. What happened to Keldor was a mystery and probably a tragedy. Adora's disappearance, however, was probably voluntary and under her own control.

Both men took a step back from each other.

"I'm sorry." Randor said. "I didn't mean to imply that- Keldor left- you…" He chewed on his bottom lip. "That was wrong of me. And Keldor would never willingly abandon his child. Our own father wasn't the greatest to him and he never wanted to be like that to his own children."

"Perhaps," began Hec-Tor, suggesting an alternative for the Adora situation, "she made a friend at Princess Prom. Perhaps Adora has run off to another Princess' kingdom."

"That- that's a good idea." Randor nodded. "Yeah! This planet if full of talented young women with desirable qualities! Adora probably just ran off with someone else!"

It was amazing how relieved Randor appeared at the idea that his daughter had run away –and possibly eloped- with a random stranger. He really had been afraid that she'd just up and vanished without a trace like Keldor had.

"If you need, I can assign some of my own troops to aid your search." Hec-Tor offered. Brother would probably disapprove of using Imperial units to search for one missing planetary princess. But Brother wasn't here right now and Randor was. Besides, Randor was his brother too.

"Thank you. I'm sure that won't be necessary." Randor assured him.

"Nonsense, we are family." Hec-Tor typed out a quick message to Mantenna's datapad to put together a contingent of Enlisted troops to help Randor in his search for Adora.

"Thank you." Randor said again, this time he did not try and turn down the help. It was an Eternian custom to first refuse a gift before accepting it. "And, I'm sorry again, for what I said about Keldor. However he disappeared, I know he didn't leave by choice."

…

Skeletor touched down on planet Phantos with Trap Jaw and Tri-Klops flanking him.

The local Queen, Elmora, had run a foul of the Horde recently by trying to raise the price of phitanium, a precious mineral only found on Phantos. The Empire saw the price increase as a local Queen trying to extort the Horde and did not react kindly.

Now Phantos was occupied by the Horde, and Queen Elmora was stripped of all control and power. She was a 'Queen' in name only now, with no real power or influence.

But she did have access.

Access to smelting facilities and processing plants. Which was exactly what Skeletor needed. Now, he just had to find a way to arrange a meeting.

…