Peppers chapter 4

Author's Note: Hello He-Man fans. Wow it's been sooo long since I posted an update to this story. I sincerely apologize to those who have been waiting for an update. I have had little motivation and time to write these past months. However, I do not want to leave any story unfinished and have been working on this and my other stories a little at a time. I finally feel I have a sufficient chapter to post. I hope you all enjoy and that everyone is well.


Frustrated and exhausted Teela lay her head against the grimy wall, her hands chained high above her head. Licking her lips, she brought some much-needed liquid to their parched skin. Swallowing, she tried to coat her burned out throat, a condition she was in due to her high-pitched continuous yelling for help. 'Where is he', she mused. Several hours had passed since Evil-Lyn and Beastman tied her up. Suddenly opening her eyes, a wild thought entered her mind. 'Could He-Man have left Snake Mountain?'.

'Was it possible?', she wondered. If that was the case, she was stuck at Snake Mountain until her absence was noticed at the Palace. That brought her new worries as she knew it could be days before anyone noticed that she was gone. This off course was due to her own accord, as Teela was known to go on extended survival expeditions on her own, often without telling anyone where she was going. Aggravated, she banged her head against the wall immediately letting out a cry at the sharp pain radiating from her head as she hit it too hard. Tugging against her chains she began struggling in earnest worried now that she wasn't going to be rescued. Bending her knees and closing her eyes, she placed the bottom of first one foot against the wall behind her and then the other, as she attempted to walk up the wall. Her intention was to raise herself off the floor as much as possible and then jump off the wall, hoping that the momentum of her body falling back to the ground would pull the chain's hinges off the wall. As Teela concentrated on her task, she didn't hear Battle-Cat's approach. Suddenly, she felt large callous warm hands upon her forearms causing her to instantly open her eyes. Standing there before her was none other than the blonde warrior she thought had abandoned her. Relief instantly flooded her body, before imminent concern for his safety took over as she remembered that Evil-Lynn had electrocuted the cuffs around her wrists. "No He-Man don't", she warned him before he took hold of the metal bands.

Hearing her, He-Man pulled his hands away from his long-time friend, as he looked at her expectantly to hear why she stopped him. Not wasting any more of their valuable time, Teela stated "Evil-Lynn's electrified the cuffs with her magic".

Undeterred at the warning, He-Man reached behind his back and withdrew his Power Sword. Placing it against the handcuffs, he stated "Close your eyes, Captain."

Teela immediately complied with his request. Ensured that her eyes would be protected, He-Man called upon the Power of Grayskull alighting the sword with energy as Grayskull's magic overcame Evil-Lynn's to remove the electricity from Teela's bonds. Confident that they were now safe to handle, He-Man placed his hands upon the chain enclosing his fingers around the metal loops and with a sharp tug, pulled downwards. Then quickly releasing his hands from the chains, he looped his arms beneath Teela's armpits as she fell forward into his awaiting embrace as the entire wall came apart behind her.

Suddenly loosened from her bonds, Teela couldn't help herself as she lost her balance falling even deeper into He-Man's embrace. Chest to chest, she tilted her head upwards to look at her liberator only to have her ire reach unimaginable levels. As she tried to steady herself to no avail, He-Man stood there holding her with a lopsided grin on his face. Confused, Teela pushed herself out of his embrace and took a necessary step backwards. Free from his muscular heat, Teela put her hands on her hips, the chains dangling low to the ground as she growled "What are you leering at?", in full self-righteousness.

The smile vanishing from his face, He-Man responded "I wasn't leering, Captain." "It was just interesting to have you in my arms", he flirted.

Teela's eyes bulged in their sockets as a tremendous blush covered her neck and face. Blinking her eyes in rapid succession, it was all she could do as she tried to formulate a snarky remark. Coming up empty handed, she turned and proceeded to walk away from He-Man, only to stop in her tracks as he gently called out her name. Turning her head, she looked at him to notice that he was pointing towards the floor by her feet. Following his gaze, she saw that the chains that were used to hold her against the wall were trailing behind her. Bringing her hands up, she took hold of the chains and pulled with all of her might. Teela was an exceptional strong woman but try as she might she couldn't break the links. Holding her hands out to He-Man, she turned her head away from him so as not to look at him as he gloated.

He-Man easily closed the distance between them. Grabbing hold of both of the chains, he used his strong fingers to break them. The metal bands around her wrists were next. With careful precision, he used his mighty hands to crumble them within his hands. Finally freed, Teela dropped her arms to the side and opened her eyes. Instead of finding a smug look on his face, Teela was surprised to see a look of tenderness come over the Champion. Confused, she looked him in the eyes as he did the same. "I'm sorry", she heard him state.

Teela's mouth fell open at the apology. She couldn't fathom why he was apologizing to her. "What for?", she asked cautiously.

"It was my fault you got captured", he answered.

"No, it wasn't." "I was the one who followed you here", she replied then widened her eyes even more at his look of confusion. 'Shit', she thought. 'Now he'll wonder why I said that', she mused. Earlier, she had told him that she was here because of Prince Adam. Teela didn't want to disclose her newfound knowledge of his secret identity to him yet. Trying to come up with an excuse to cover her blunder, Teela engaged in a behavior she saw fair ladies at court engage in on numerous occasions to avoid difficulties. Feigning exhaustion, Teela brought a hand to her temple as she nearly swooned backwards. Having no choice, He-Man reached out to steady her. In a tremulous voice the red-head whispered, "I'm suddenly not feeling well." "Can you please take me home?", she asked in a weak voice.

Being that they both lived at the Palace, He-Man swooped her up bridal style to carry her out of Snake Mountain. Battle-Cat watched their awkward interplay from the sidelines, not having once partook in their games of will. He wasn't fooled though. His feline instincts were firing, telling him that something was off with Captain Teela. She wasn't behaving normally and his companion was too head over heels in love with the Captain to notice her change.


Royal Palace of Eternia

Teela stood in front of the Royal Thrones, as she gave an account of all that transpired today to the King and Queen. Her father and Orko were also present, but as usual Prince Adam and his pet tiger were missing. As Teela gave her report, she kept looking behind her shoulder expectantly waiting for the Prince to appear. Finishing her report, she was slightly disappointed that Adam had not yet made an appearance. Teela was itching to let him have an ear full. She couldn't wait until she saw him next. He had a lot of answering to do. She had a lot of yelling to do. However, in front of the monarchs and her father, she kept her cool. Keeping her voice light, she finished her adventurous tale.

"So, He-Man stated that he will send Adam and Cringer back?", asked the King.

"Yes, your Majesty", Teela responded.

"I wonder what's taking them so long", the King inquired.

"I wonder the same!", Teela thought inwardly.

"Perhaps, He-Man is just ensuring that Adam and Cringer are well enough to travel back home?", Duncan volunteered.

Sharply turning towards her father, Teela smirked. Duncan heard her, but didn't address his daughter's rude behavior. In order to hide Adam's secret, it was better at times to let Teela behave as such as it fortified the differences between Adam and He-Man. However, lately Teela's behavior toward Adam bordered disrespectful. Duncan knew he would have to address this problem, but chose to do it privately. As much as Teela's behavior needed to be censured, he didn't want to embarrass her in front of the King and Queen. Resolving to speak with her after dinner, Duncan excused himself so that he could return to his workshop where he was planning on contacting He-Man to inquire about Adam's whereabouts.

Having finished her tale, Teela also asked if she could retire to her rooms until dinner. Having received permission from the monarchs, Teela made her way to her bedroom. She was in desperate need of a shower to cleanse the grime in her hair and body.

As Teela bathed, Duncan contacted He-Man.

"Where are you, lad?", he asked of Grayskull's Champion having reached him on his communicator.

"Duncan, I'm back at Snake Mountain", He-Man informed him.

"What!", Duncan exclaimed. "Why?", he queried.

"To bring in Beastman and Evil-Lynn", He-Man replied. "Battle-Cat and I had captured them earlier." "I was planning on bringing them in before; however, forgot to do so after rescuing Teela." "Tell my parents, I won't be home for dinner", he instructed before clicking of his communicator.

'Great, I have to lie to my Sovereigns again!', Duncan thought. 'What excuse should I give this time?', he worried.


Back in Snake Mountain

He-Man had just reached Skeletor's domain when Duncan had contacted him. He realized that Duncan and his parents must have been worried about him as he had not yet made an appearance. That was not without a reason from He-Man's perspective. He truly had not planned on returning back to Snake Mountain; but after having traveled to the Palace with Teela asking him a million questions he needed to put as much space between himself and the red-head as possible. Having dropped her off safely, he turned Battle-Cat around and headed in the direction they had just traveled.

At first, the great tiger thought they were leaving in the same direction to find a spot away from the Palace to transform. After traveling several miles, with He-Man sitting speechless in his saddle, Battle-Cat came to the realization that He-Man was not stopping any time soon. Soon Snake Mountain loomed before them and then Duncan contacted them. That's when Battle-Cat was informed of He-Man's intent.

"We're really gonna go back in there?", asked Battle-Cat as he sniffed the air around him. To his perspective the sooner he was safely back within his Palace bedroom, as Cringer, the better.

"Yup, old friend." We are", answered He-Man as he stared at the monolith in front of him. He really needed to let off some steam right now. Teela's incessant questioning had him wondering if she had truly seen him transform Cringer. Although she hadn't bluntly asked if he was Adam, her questions alluded to the fact that she may have actually seen the transformation. Her questions were directed at him, not for Battle-Cat, leaving the disguised Prince with no allusion to how she would react if she ever were to find out the truth about his identity.

Thus, he found himself heading away from home, a hot meal, and a much-needed comfortable bed and towards the gloomy threshold Skeletor called home. He figured, he might as well complete his mission in freeing Pretty Kitty and capturing Skeletor's minions.

Entering Skeletor's domain through the same exit he had just left from, he quickly found where he had imprisoned Beastman and Evil-Lyn. Coming to stand in front of the cell door, he scanned his environment to make sure he was still alone. Peeking inside the cell, he noticed that Skeletor's minions were huddled together on the dirty cell floor using Beastman's thick orange fur for warmth. Using his mighty fists, he pulled the cell door off the hinges, surprising the cell's inhabitants. Befuddled, Skeletor's minions stared at their unexpected liberator.

Before they could move a muscle, He-Man pulled a port-a-prison from Battle-Cat's saddle and threw it into the cell. As soon as the metallic confinement hit the floor, it automatically unfolded to triple its size enclosing Evil-Lynn and Beastman within. He then retrieved a long rope with a rope attached to one of its ends and looped that around one of the port-a-prison's handles. He-Man then attached the hook to the back of Battle Cat's saddle before he hopped back into it. He completed all of these actions so quickly, his movements were nothing but a blur to those he captured.

With a nod of his blonde head and his feat accomplished, He-Man urged Battle-Cat back out of Snake Mountain. Once outside, he left his comrade to guard his prisoners as he went looking for the trapped animals Beastman had showcased the day before back at the Palace. Knowing Snake Mountain's layout very well, it wasn't long before Grayskull's Champion found the imprisoned animals still inside their glass cages. Standing in front of each enclosing, He-Man used his mighty fists to break the glass. As soon as the glass shattered, the animals leaped to their freedom. Coming to stand in front of Pretty-Kitty's cage, He-Man hesitated momentarily wondering how Cringer would feel if she would to follow them home. He knew that Cringer long craved a mate and this particular feline was beautiful. Sensing that she understood him, He-Man briefly left her inside her enclosure as he sought a place to hide to transform back to Adam. Finding a large enough boulder, he transformed into the Prince and then approached Pretty-Kitty. Squatting so that his eyes were at the same level as with the feline's, he spoke to her in a soothing voice informing her that she was welcome to visit Cringer in the Palace whenever she felt like it. The alabaster feline nodded her head and then moved away from the front of the cage as Prince Adam drew his sword. Using the hilt of the sword, he cracked the glass freeing Pretty-Kitty. Stepping to the side, he waited to see what she would do. The feline gingerly stepped over the sharp shards of glass and came to stand next to the Prince, sniffing the air around him. Recognizing Cringer's sent on him, she purred throatily and looked around expectantly for Cringer. Not seeing him, Pretty-Kitty roared loudly as she bound away from Prince Adam.

Once the alabaster feline was out of sight, Adam transformed into He-Man again and sought Battle-Cat who was still guarding their prisoners. Jumping into the saddle, He-Man lead the way away from Snake-Mountain back to the Palace. Looking on the ground, he discerned Pretty-Kitty's pawprints as she too traveled in the same direction a few yards ahead of them. A soft smile graced He-Man's lips as he would be surprising his faithful feline companion. Keeping his lips sealed, he didn't tell Battle-Cat that Cringer was going to have a special visitor today. He-Man did his part to bring these two great cats together. He was now going to take a step back and let nature her course.