For the Love of Honor, Part 2
Disclaimer: She-Ra belongs to Filmation, not me, and I make no money from this.
The trio of Sundar, Adora and Silver Wolf made their winding way to the Fright Zone.
A few days ago, the Rebellion had destroyed the village that had been the home of the two children and their teacher. Sundar, in his grief and rage, had decided to join the Horde.
"It is a good thing that war is so terrible," whispered Silver Wolf. "We should come to be too fond of it."
"Aunt Silver?" asked Adora, puzzled. This was not the first time that she had quoted some obscure author or leader, but that didn't make it any easier for the twelve-year-old to understand her Aunt.
Silver Wolf came out of her reverie. "I was thinking about how awful war truly is, little one. This land, Etheria, was a peaceful one, once. Though, in truth, I guess there was as much conflict here as there is anywhere else. I never was able to study what life was like here before the Horde came."
All three were mounted on some old plow horses. They didn't make much more speed than they would have walking, but it was going to be a long trip.
Turning in her saddle, Adora looked at her in surprise. "Where are you from, anyway?"
"Somewhere far, far away."
Adora wondered if all adults spoke like oracles. She hoped that she wouldn't have to put up with that when she was an adult herself.
It had been a long, boring day, with nothing but their grief to keep them company. They were going through the lands controlled by the Horde, and Adora was confused by what she saw. They weren't any better off than anyone else. That went against everything she had ever heard. Did the town criers always say that the Horde brought prosperity to their people?
They were about the same, Adora realized, because they are better off, but pay higher taxes. She could see that when she noticed the well-fed troops that swaggered around, doing their level best to convince the townsmen that they were their betters.
"At least the Horde protects them," Sundar whispered miserably.
"There is that," Adora agreed.
Only then, did several of the troopers notice them. They came surrounded them, taking a good look at their horses.
"My men are needing some new beasts," a voice said, coming from a man with bright red plumage on his helm.
"I think your men are beasts," said Aunt Silver, her voice dripping with contempt.
"Who are you, woman, to give a Horde Captain such rudeness?" asked the fancy-plumed man.
Getting easily down from her horse, Adora saw a side of her gentle Aunt that she had never seen before. She was haughty, regal, with an air of command about her that made you immediately do whatever it was that she wanted.
"I am General Silver Wolf, Sergeant."
Not only the troopers, but also the citizens of the town quickly whispered the name, "General Silver Wolf," in astonishment as well.
The captain's eyes made a pair of huge holes in his head, as the name struck home.
That didn't stop him for long. Recovering his bravado, he retorted, "Anyone can claim the name of that great general. I will not allow that supreme warrior to be insulted."
"How many other warriors can do-" she was already on the ground, but she then kicked her boots off, "This!"
Tossing her head back, she uttered the deepest, most bone-chilling howl that they had ever heard. Her silver hair turned into a thick ruff of fur and the landed on all fours.
The fur rapidly spread across her body, covering her from head to foot, and her body reshaped itself. It was spectacular to watch.
It was over in a few seconds, with the Hordesmen all but tripping over each other to apologize.
Having returned to her human form, Aunt Silver remounted her horse, and made to ride away.
"Please, please, milady, let us give you an escort, supplies, anything!" shouted the Captain.
"I'm sorry, sergeant," she answered him. "But you don't have the authority to do that any more."
"But, but, I'm a captain!"
"Not any more."
Turning to the man with the had the symbol of second in command, she told him, "Inform the Fright Zone that General Silver Wolf is returning, and that she requests a meeting with Lord Hordak."
"Yes Ma'am!" he shouted, sounding like he was afraid that she would choke him. He ran to do her business.
Turning her mount's head, she motioned for her two charges, that were gaping at her like she was still a wolf, to continue on.
"Aunt Silver?" squeaked Adora.
"Yes?"
"What_was_that_ all about? Are you really a general? Why did you leave? How come you never told us? What is going on?"
"There are several things that I didn't tell you, largely because I was retired. I decided that I needed a vacation. When Hordak decided that I was to raise you, I took that chance."
Adora looked stricken. "You mean that the only reason that you raised me was so that you could have a vacation?"
"NO! What I meant was, Hordak put you in my care. That has nothing to do with the way that I felt about you." She turned around, and put her arms out to the young Adora, her face filled with horror that the girl might think that.
"Then how come you didn't tell us?" asked Sundar. He had been almost forgotten in the little drama, and the two females both jumped at hearing his voice.
"Because I wanted to live in peace. I have seen enough war in my lifetime to make anyone wary of it." She had a far away look for a moment. "Of course, my lifetime has been longer than most."
There wasn't really all that much that could be said after that. Though the two youths wanted to ask more questions about Silver Wolf's past, she wouldn't answer them, and it took them several days for them to get to the Fright Zone.
The silence of the place was unnerving, thought Adora.
She had never been there before, but the smell seemed, familiar?
The soldiers at their posts never moved, never seemed to acknowledge that she was there. It was like they didn't know or care that someone was entering their domain. Or less, it was because they were so used to being the most powerful, that that they thought that anyone else was a joke.
"Then why couldn't they have stopped the rebels from destroying us?" she whispered softly, to herself.
It was then that Aunt Silver made the only criticism that she would ever make of the Horde, where she could here it.
"Because they didn't care."
As she said this, some of the ceremonial troops that continuously protected Lord Hordak surrounded them. They formed up an honor guard, and asked, "General Silver Wolf, would you care to don your usual uniform before entering the presence of Hordak?"
Nodding her head graciously, Silver Wolf dismounted, and gave the scared-out-of-their minds youngsters an encouraging wink.
"What do we do now?" Sundar mumbled.
It was then that a man in the outfit of the Horde Training Academy came over to them.
"Sundar?" he asked, his voice booming. Sundar responded, looking like he was afraid that he would be eaten. "Come with me."
So Adora was left there, beginning to tremble with nerves.
"So, you are Adora," a soft voice hissed in her ear. Turning, Adora saw a shifty, shadowy form detach itself from a wall. Yellow eyes glowed out of the hood that covered the face, making it impossible to see.
There was a horrible feeling, like icy picks being slashed through her mind. "YAHH!" she moaned.
"What are you doing to me?" sobbed Adora, not knowing what was going on.
"Just seeing how you have turned out, dearie. And, I see that Silver Wolf truly has raised you well. Unfortunately."
"What do you mean? What are you doing to me?" Adora shouted, dismounting from her horse and trying to run.
"After her," hissed Shadow Weaver.
Adora switched directions when several Troopers blocked her way, and she ran deeper into the Fright Zone.
"AUNT!" she yelled, trying to find the woman that had raised her. She desperately looked into the rooms down the passage that she had disappeared down.
Silver Wolf had been changing into her old uniform when she heard her niece's cries. She was shocked, but old reflexes took over. Dashing out, she ran to the hallway-
In time to see the two troopers grab Adora and haul her away.
Following, half dressed, Silver Wolf saw Shadow Weaver stand over Adora, and begin to chant a spell. The girl was screaming.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Wolf shouted. "What are you doing?"
"Putting her under a spell of compulsion."
Silver Wolf raised an eyebrow. "By who's authority?"
"Mine," came a harsh voice, followed by a disgusting snort.
"I wanted this child back years ago, Silver Wolf, but you hid her. I had to destroy the village that you were hiding in to get you to come out again."
"So, I take it, then, that I am under arrest for treason?" said the sarcastic voice of Silver Wolf.
"Who said anything about an arrest?" Hordak smiled, and his arm transformed into a cannon.
Adora was screaming, struggling against her captors, when Hordak fired. The last thing she saw as a free woman was her protector crumpling to the ground, a large, gory hole where her heart used to be…
Thirteen year old Adora stood across the practice mat from Catra. Adora was sparring with the older recruits because she was so far above them already. In fact, the instructors were already grooming her for command rank, and not just because of her patronage.
Catra struck out with an open hand, trying to claw at her opponent's eyes. Adora was able to swiftly duck, and hit Catra with an uppercut to the jaw, sending her off balance. Catra, though, wasn't her greatest adversary for nothing. Regaining her center, she snap-kicked to Adora's knee. There was a sickening crunch, but she didn't go down. Fighting past the pain of a hyper-extended knee, Adora threw herself forward, and with a jab and a cross, she knocked Catra out.
There was the sound of applause from the door.
It was Lord Hordak. Adora wanted to go to her master, but her leg wouldn't allow it.
At least I won't shame myself with tears, she told herself.
"Well done, Adora. We will make a Hordeswoman of you yet," he sneered, trying to make it look like a smile.
Glowing with the compliment despite the pain, she was about to say something, but Hordak went on.
"But you should have done better, and as punishment, you will have to get yourself to the medical bay, without help."
He turned and left, along with everyone else.
Biting back tears of agony, Adora started the long process of dragging herself to the medical bay.
Adora woke up with a scream.
It was that dream again, the one that had haunted her since she had been old enough to actually take part in her Horde Academy training.
Shivering as cold air hit her sweaty arms and face, she pulled up the covers that had fallen off in the night.
"I wish I knew where those dreams were coming from," she said to herself, and sighed, shuddering. "I've lived in the Fright Zone my whole life. Why would I dream about someone else raising me, and that I had parents other than my father Hordak?"
Even as she said that, her mouth twisted on the words. She knew that Hordak wasn't her real father, that much was obvious. He had rescued her, though, after the rebellion had destroyed their village when she was a baby.
He had raised her since hen.
Now, at fifteen, she was already at the rank of lieutenant.
Getting up, she walked down the halls of the barracks that she lived in, to the community bathrooms to get some water.
"Crap," she said when she got there, because someone was cleaning in there, and she didn't want to be caught awake.
Slipping away, she came face to face with-
"My lord Hordak," she whispered is shock.
It was the first time she had seen him out of armor, and it was also the first time he had seen her out of uniform.
She really, really didn't like the way he was looking at her. The way he was glancing at how she had grown in the past year was making her sick, and for a moment, their gazes locked.
His hand reached out to touch her bare shoulder, where her night shift had slipped.
She stood there, locked in place. His hand drifted from her shoulder, and down…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Damn that witch," Hordak snarled, as he again slammed Adora on to a gurney to be taken to Shadow Weaver.
"What is wrong, Mighty Hordak?" asked Mantenna, his eyes popping out.
"Shadow Weaver can't keep the spell of forget on her long enough any more," he snarled, his face twisting into a grimace.
"What?"
"Silver Wolf, blast her hide, gave her training in the things that we are already teaching her, and perverted it! She taught the "articles of war," and to spare civilians! Thanks to her, Adora has too strong a personality to forget things for too long, and every time we try to remake it, we risk wiping out the very things that make her such an-" he let out a deep, gut tearing sound of disgust," asset to us."
"Why not kill her, Mighty One?"
"I can't you fool!" Hordak shouted, making Mantenna back up into the wall behind them. "She is more intelligent than anyone else here, and if I do," here, his voice became contemplative," someone will replace her."
"Replace her?"
"What, is there an echo in here? Yes, she has a fate that says she will do something amazing, and if she is killed, someone else will take her place, someone that we don't know, and can't control."
Mantenna saw the look on Hordak's face, which was murderous.
"I'll just be leaving," he said in a rush, and left.
His face taking on an expression of delight, Hordak turned his arm into a whip. The best way to help the spell of Shadow Weaver's along was to torture the one it was cast on, and that was something Hordak definitely enjoyed.
Commander Adora looked at her troops, and nearly burst with pride.
Today was the first of the war games, and her squad was being pitted against Catra's.
Adora walked over to the command post, and took her place. It would be this contest which would determine which one of them would get the rank of Force Captain.
Both of them settled into their respective positions, and the games began.
The Sorceress of Grayskull was dreaming.
She was watching the horrific events that led up to the kidnapping of Princess Adora and she felt like she was going through the misery all over again.
The Sorceress had been unable to leave the Castle, even with the crystal, because of her pregnancy. The pain that she had gone through after Adora's capture, was compounded by the loss of her husband, who had died in the fight.
Waking from the horror, the Sorceress gasped, seeing the last thing that she would have expected. It was the Sword of Protection.
It glowed with a light that was brilliant, blinding and beautiful at the same time. The jewel in its center shone with rainbow iridescence.
It floated, of its own volition, to one of the many doors that seemed to come and go at random intervals throughout her tenure as Sorceress.
Only this time, it was ornate, and surrounded in deeply carved stone that marked a permanence to it that meant it was here to stay.
Awe filled her, when she realized what it might mean.
"After all these years," she said in a hushed, reverent voice.
"We've finally found Adora."