Summary: I hope you know it by now.
Disclaimer: Don't own characters, Mattel does.
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Ordained Pathways
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It was one of the largest gatherings of royalties, soldiers and common folk from across the planet that one event had brought together. Throughout the year the Masters had worked endlessly to unit the rest of the planet together against the evil that had plagued Eternia.
As a result many kingdoms began getting involved in others celebrations and honors. With one of the Masters being promoted to the highest ranked general, there weren't any nearby kingdoms that didn't attend and there were quite a few from a far that came to witness the honor.
The sun was at its' highest peak, Teela stood before King Randor, who before presenting her her title, gave a short speech.
"I have known Teela ever since she was a baby. I watched her grow into the beautiful young woman she is today. In all my years I have never seen anyone put as much time and effort into their responsibilities and duties." Randor paused to look at Adam, who in turn looked at Duncan for an answer of some sort. Duncan gave him a firm nod as if disciplining him.
Adam looked to his father's stern face and gave him a small shrug, trying not to draw any other attention to him. Randor returned to his speech. "There is only one other person who I can compare her work ethic to and that man was one of the greatest Captains in Eternian history. If she's anything like her father, I am sure her name, her rank and this moment will be remembered forever. And I start by announcing the new Captain of the Guards, Teela. The closest person to a daughter I have ever known," he said, a sort of sadness came before his face. He placed the ring upon her finger, raising her hand high for all to see.
Everyone cheered and Teela felt a new heavy load fall onto her shoulders. With this new position so much was expected of her because of the great man she was replacing. She wasn't one to let anyone down or fail at something that could be succeeded with a lot of effort and hard work. She wanted so much to make her father and everyone who believed in her throughout the years proud.
Suddenly another weight fell onto her already heavy load she carried on her shoulders. What if she failed? No! She couldn't, she wouldn't allow herself to think that or to disappoint so many people, no matter the challenge.
The celebration began. Teela smiled, allowing herself a day to relax a little and enjoy an enormous celebration.
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Hordak snorted as he stepped through the portal and onto Eternian soil. Behind him the portal closed. His force waited while he looked around at the surroundings. In the distance he saw Snake Mountain.
"This way," he instructed as the horde journeyed to the old base.
"Hordak, why didn't we just transport inside of Snake Mountain?" Mantenna asked.
"Because, simpleton, there is ancient power in Snake Mountain. If we were to transport there the magic used to open a portal would bring notice to the other magic on Eternia.
Now, we must scout out the palace. Imp," Hordak called out to the flying demon.
"Yes, boss?" Imp asked.
"Find the palace of Eternia and 'check' things out for us." "I won't fail you, Great One," the little blue demon said flying away to do his masters bidding.
"Come, we must explore Snake Mountain a little more and then we'll worry about Skeletor and the rest of the Eternians."
He headed onto Snake Mountain, behind him the rest of his warriors and troops followed. Only a short time would pass before the Eternians would suffer the might of Hordak's wrath upon them.
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Inside Snake Mountain Hordak had reclaimed his chair in the throne room. The old horde base hadn't had much nothing changed to it since then. So all that was left was for his warriors to scout the area out and get them familiar with the area.
Closing his eyes, Hordak searched through the castle, using his magic to sense the whereabouts of Skeletor. It didn't take long; they were buried inside the mountain just beneath the throne room.
Smiling, he relaxed. Waiting for his five warriors to familiarize themselves with their surroundings, plus Imp had yet to return with his scouting report. Skeletor could wait and so would Skeletor.
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Time had passed, Imp had returned with his report. It seemed Man-At-Arms' daughter, Teela, had been named to Captain of the Guards today, her father's, now, old title. There was an enormous gathering of Eternians there to witness the promotion of the young Master.
So they would have a day or two before the celebration would die down. Skeletor too would have to wait, in case he decided to blow Hordak's plan of surprise by turning against him. Time they had and they would use it. Now all Hordak needed to do was form a plan to begin the fall of the Eternians and Grayskull. He summoned Shadow Weaver and Adora to help him. This plan had to be flawless; no mistakes could afford to be made.
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The next day Teela had woken up earlier than usual; she didn't want to be late on her first day as Captain. So she went over her list of duties for the Masters, drills for some of the royal guards and patrol watch for the rest.
As soon as the sun had risen to bring daylight to the kingdom the royal guards began to fill into the war room. Teela stood in front, readying herself to give her orders. Once they were all inside lined up they waited for their commands.
"General Mikal, you and your squad have the northern perimeters. General Williams you and your squad have the south. Both squads are expected to routinely check east and west perimeters. Also be sure to keep in contact regularly. Remember it has been peaceful, but we need to be on our toes more than ever, since we are vulnerable to attack from being off guard for so long. The rest of the guards and I shall work on some tactics today. I will meet you outdoors in the courtyard after I speak with the Masters. Dismissed," Teela ordered. The guards left to do their intended tasks.
In the back, Man-At-Arms discreetly watched Teela handle her new position with ease. He was overcome with pride, nodding his approval of her orders. A second feeling filled his insides as a look of sadness covered his face. 'This is only the beginning of her new duties and identity on Eternia. She was no longer the little girl he raised as his own. Now she was Captain of the Guards. When the time came for her second duty on Eternia would she realize of the important responsibilities in life she would have to fill.
As the Royal Guards left the room, Man-At-Arms slipped away, not wanting Teela seeing him watching her. He left to join the other Masters; Teela was to give them their daily 'schedule'. Today was Man-At-Arms' last day as a 'full' Master, he had planned on working with King Randor and some of his political responsibilities. So he left the duty of Captain of the Guards for the first time in fifteen years. He could not have felt any more confident with his successor. Man-At-Arms couldn't help but smile, 'what will the future hold?' he thought, leaving to meet with the other Masters.
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"Hordak, if we are to strike it should be soon. Their guards will be down more than usual since the celebration and their enemies being defeated," Catra said.
"No. It might be true of the Etherians, but the Eternians will be ready now more than ever. They have not been in power this long to make a careless mistake like that," Adora corrected.
Hordak smiled at the girl. 'By the horde, she would one day conquer entire planets on her own!' Catra was about to protest when Hordak got involved. "Adora is right. These Eternians are very strategically intoned. If we are to surprise them we need to look deeper behind the scenes."
"Perhaps, Hordak, we should free Skeletor and have him tell us of some of their routines. With that type of intell we should have a better chance of forming a solid plan," Adora suggested.
"A well thought out idea, Adora, but there was a reason I chose not to free Skeletor earlier than I had to. He's not someone to trust. Our only advantage is that the Eternians do not know of our presence. That is something we need to keep safe for the time being."
"But Hordak, even if Skeletor doesn't trust you, which I'm sure he doesn't, he would still use you to get rid of the Masters, since he has yet to do that himself. Then after we have 'helped' him against the Masters he will make his move against us," Adora corrected.
"Hmm," Hordak began, rubbing his chin thinking of what the girl had just suggested.
"You may be right Adora. Okay, assemble the others and we'll free Skeletor, but I want it to be absolutely clear that everyone needs to stay frosty. If he tries anything, don't hesitate, if it comes down to that, it'll be them or us," Hordak warned as they started towards their captive allies.
It was in the throne room that Hordak and Shadow Weaver found where King Hiss had imprisoned. Hordak had the area circled with his troopers and warriors with the exception of Adora, Leetch and Catra, whom lurked in the shadows nearby in case they needed the element of surprise.
"Shadow Weaver, you will perform the spell on your own. I don't want my power to be known on Eternia just yet. If you are detected the powers of an unknown sorceress would raise too many eyebrows. Begin Shadow Weaver." He commanded.
The witch began her spell. At first nothing happened, then the ground beneath them began to tremble forcing everyone to stumble for only a moment. Then a figure began to emerge. Some of the horde who knew the being previously recognized him immediately, as the others would soon learn it to be Skeletor. The Eternian horde was now free from Snake Mountain.
The bone faced man looked around at his surroundings. Finding a familiar face he stopped, glaring at his old teacher. "Hordak! What on Eternia are you doing here?" Skeletor insisted, standing his ground.
"Getting you out of trouble," Hordak said, dripping with mockery, standing his own ground.
"I would have gotten myself out of this mess sooner or later. I didn't need your help." "Your gratitude hasn't changed, Skeletor. But enough of this, Horde Prime wanted you out sooner then later. He grows tired of your failures on this planet," Hordak insulted, still standing his ground.
"It was you who taught me how to fail on this planet, Hordak."
"With you as part of my squad, I can see why I had such trouble conquering a planet. But now that I dropped my dead weight, I am in near conquering of my current planet."
"Why you..." Skeletor began, staff glowing with magic.
Hordak interrupted him, "Wait, I did not come here to settle old scores with you, though I wouldn't mind teaching you a needed lesson. It seems Horde Prime has requested that I conquer this planet and I intend to fore fill that request. Horde Prime expects you to take orders from me." "What makes you think that now you can finish what before you couldn't?"
"That my warriors now are actually loyal this time around."
"Hmm," Skeletor began rubbing his chin, "we'll see then. First off, I must free my warriors so that these Eternians will feel the full force of evil against them." A moment had passed and Adora watched from where she stood. The 'friendly' reunion she had expected between Hordak and Skeletor ended with Skeletor conjuring up a magic spell to free his own warriors from beneath the throne room.
She watched as half a dozen figures filled the circle of Horde troopers. "What happened?" one of them had asked, rubbing his head.
"King Hiss entombed you into the Mountain," Skeletor answered.
The rest of the Eternian warriors noticed they were surrounded by troopers and warriors some had never seen before. "What is this?" Evil Lyn demanded, gesturing towards the surrounding forces.
"Evil Lyn, you remember Hordak don't you?" Skeletor answered.
Hordak stepped towards the evil sorceress. She glared at the horde ruler with question. She had yet to know his motives, since his fallout with Skeletor; she could use Hordak and Skeletor's rivalry to her advantage. Nodding to Hordak she approached Skeletor. "So then, are we going to join forces against the Masters?" she asked.
"Yes. Though I don't know why Horde Prime bothered, you, Hordak, have no more advantage than we do." Skeletor said.
"That's what you think Skeletor. My group of warriors are much more useful than you ever were."
"And why do you think they are so special, Hordak?"
Hordak laughed. "Horde warriors step forward," Hordak ordered. The five warriors did as commanded. Skeletor's men seemed a little surprised when three horde warriors stepped out from practically nowhere. Skeletor glanced at each warrior.
"I ask again Hordak, why do you think they're so..." he trailed off when he saw Adora. "Hordak, is that who I think it is?"
Adora looked from Skeletor to Hordak, a look of 'what is he talking about' played before her face. Hordak cleared his throat and approached Skeletor. "Yes, that is Force Captain Adora. I'm sure you've heard of her from Horde Prime."
Skeletor smiled, "so it seems. Now, Hordak, how do you propose we stop the Masters?" he asked.
"I was planning on using the tactic divide and conquer. Get them in small groups and take them by surprise." Hordak said.
"Yes, that could work especially with your warriors giving us an extra edge to use against them."
"Do they routinely do perimeter patrols?" Adora asked all business.
"Yes, once the sun reaches its' midpoint they pass the borders of Grayskull. Though it varies in the direction they come and go from, but they always manage to pass this tunnel, here," he said, using his staff to create a three dimensional image.
"Grayskull," Shadow Weaver said, eyeing Hordak about their little speech from the other day. Hordak considered what she had warned, if only for a moment.
"I'll form a scouting group to check out the Masters on perimeter." Shadow Weaver breathed a sigh of relief. 'At least he wouldn't send her on a simple scouting mission,' she thought.
"Adora, I want you along with Shadow Weaver and Catra to it check it out," Hordak ordered, grinning at Shadow Weaver.
The witch shook her head at his arrogance. He was challenging her. Usually she would accept, but the stake was too high to risk. "Wait Hordak, I don't exactly trust your warriors," Skeletor said.
"Your confidence doesn't concern me. Horde Prime sent me here, you should be thankful he still considers you apart of the horde."
"I refuse to send your warriors alone without guidance from someone that knows this planet and the Masters. I will send some of my own warriors along to make sure your warriors don't screw up. Tri-Clops, Beastman, you two will assist Hordak's men on their scouting mission." "As long as I am here, Skeletor you will avid by my command." "You forget, Hordak that I know these modern lands and I know more intell about our enemy than you. You need my assistance in this matter, so take it," Skeletor said.
"Fine, but I warn my warriors that if your men try anything to jeopardize this mission they will turn their sights on them." "The same goes for mine."
Hordak gave a chuckle. "For once we agree on something, Skeletor." Skeletor returned the laugh, "so it seems."
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Next chapter more stuff...