Chapter Six - "Beach Troubles"
Adam paced anxiously in front of the docking pad, feet tapping against the concrete in anticipation. Shouldn't she have been here by now? Why isn't she here yet? Where is she? Come on, come on. Watched pots never boil, but I don't care. I'm watching anyways and such ran through the young man's mind.
Teela, who had just wrapped her training exercise, noticed her best friend's pacing and went to investigate.
"Adam? Are you okay?" she asked, smiling curiously.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just waiting."
"Who are you waiting for?"
"My girlfriend."
Teela made a sound like "Wha" and then proceeded to shudder, wink, twitch, and blink. "Your WHAT!?"
"Kathryn, you remember. The girl I was dancing with at the party. The one with the (SIGH) blond-brown hair and the sea green eyes."
Teela was a cold reminder of reality. "No. Who is she?"
"She's the daughter of one of Rio-Blast's friends. She lives in the farmlands. Really sweet thing. You'd like her."
Teela sighed heavily. "Yeah, sure. Bet I would." The tone was not a pleasant one, by any means. "A commoner, though. Really? It doesn't seem like your usual fare."
"It's not, I guess. But it doesn't really matter, does it? My Dad, I mean, he courted an alien."
"Ah, okay. But, uh, why is she coming here? I mean, you're leaving for the Harmony Sea at 1 bell."
"I know. She's coming with me."
Teela nearly choked. "Are you serious? I mean, you've guess have known each for, what, four days - three?"
"Yeah, but we've spent HOURS on the comm-line, Teela. She's something special . . . that's for sure."
Teela took in the sight of that big, stupid grin on Adam's face. She had seen that grin only once before and that was in the cold of the Ice Mountains, and it had been right after their kiss. A strange bit of jealously filled her and she didn't know what to do with it. Teela clamped it down - none of that mattered. None of it. What happened in the Ice Mountains had been a mistake - a fairly big one.
He's happy now. He's in love . . . with another girl.
"Something the matter, Teela?"
"Huh? Oh . . . uh . . . nothing. Have you seen He-Man?"
"Actually, I did," Adam lied. "He's taking some time of meditation inside Grayskull. Asked not to be disturbed for a few days."
"Oh. Um, okay."
Adam immediately registered a fair amount of disappointment from her and part of him really felt for her. However, those feelings were quickly dashed as the sound of an approaching Wind Raider filled the air.
"Here she is!" Adam exclaimed, smile broadening.
Teela turned to leave. "I'll see you later."
Adam grabbed her arm - Teela grunted. "No wait! I want you to meet her."
"But, I . . . okay."
The Wind Raider landed. Rio-Blast hopped out, carrying a duffel bag. Kathryn was right behind him, carrying a second one.
"Thank you, Jonas," said Kathryn to Rio-Blast.
"Ma'am, it was a pleasure."
Kathryn turned to Adam. "HI!"
Adam threw his arms around her, lifting her up and kissing her. "HI! I missed you!"
"I missed you too!"
Adam sent her back down, then waved his hand to Teela. "This Teela. Teela, this is Kathryn."
Kathryn grinned nicely to Teela and extended her hand. Teela shook it and returned the grin. "Hi, Teela," Kathryn introduced. "I've heard so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Same here."
"Is it true that you're the one responsible for naming Adam's tiger?"
Teela blinked. "Uh, yeah. I think so. It was a long time ago."
"Well, Cringer is a remarkable name! It fits, though I hardly believed so when I first met him. I can't wait to spend a few weeks at sea with the cat. Of course, Adam, too."
At that, Adam came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Got that right." He kissed her head. Kathryn blushed a little and huddled in his arms for a second before pulling away.
"Now, Adam tells me that you're the Captain of the Royal Guard. Is that correct?"
"Yes, it is," Teela answered.
"I wanted to thank you, then, for keeping such a powerful control over your troops. During the battles with the Snake-Men last year, I lost my mother. I would have lost my whole family - and my own life as well - if it wasn't for you troops. Thank you."
Teela had no idea what to say. "You're . . . I mean, it was all part of the job. Although, I'm not sure if I was in direct command of the troops at that time. That might have been during my injury."
"Still, you were the one that trained the troops. I owe you thanks for that."
"Well, then . . . it was my duty."
Kathryn smiled widely at her. "And a good duty you did."
"Okay, honey, where do you want these?"
Adam lifted the duffel bags. Rio-Blast had since made himself useful by refueling the Wind-Raider. The group started to walk into the Palace.
"Um, that's a good question."
"I'll just take them to where my luggage is. Ready to meet the folks?"
Kathryn stopped dead in her tracks. "You mean . . . the King and the Queen?"
"Uh, I just call them Mom and Dad, but sure."
"I'm . . . I'm a little nervous."
Teela waved her hand. "Don't worry about it, Kathryn. You'll be surprised by just how nice they are."
That seemed to encourage Kathryn a little. Teela was actually surprised at what she had just said, but found herself liking Kathryn all the same. Which she didn't even understand why she felt like she shouldn't . . . it all didn't make much sense to poor Teela.
A pair of doors splashed open, and King Randor, Queen Marlena and Orko all stood in waiting for them. Adam dropped the duffel bags and swung his arms open wide.
"Mother, father, I'd like to introduce you to the talk of Eternos - Kathryn, daughter of Roman!"
Randor and Marlena immediately stepped forward. "Kathryn, hello. Splendid to meet you. Adam's told us so much about you," Marlena said to her.
"And I see he hasn't been exaggerating!" Randor followed and bowed to her. "It is a pleasure to meet you. Tell me, do you have time for wine before you head off to the docks?"
"We both want to know all about you," Marlena told her.
"Uh, yeah. Sure," Kathryn replied. Her eyes darted to Adam, then Teela - the second was hanging back a little.
"Hey! Aren't you gonna introduce me!?" asked Orko, part of his cloak tapping like a foot.
Adam chuckled. "This is Orko, the royal jester and a good friend. This Kathryn, my new lady."
"Hiya!"
"Hello Orko."
The two shook hands - however, when Kathryn shook Orko's hand, there was an audible 'POP' and the whole arm came off. Kathryn's eyes widened, she gasped, and the whole thing fell to the floor. When she looked up at Orko, he was gazing curiously at the fallen appendage.
"Huh!" the Trollian observed. "I was wondering where that got to!"
His arm - his real arm - appeared in his sleeve. Orko then looked up at Kathryn . . . and began to laugh. She joined in, and very soon, the whole room was in an up-roar.
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Hours later . . .
On the eastern coast, a Wind-Raider containing King Randor, Queen Marlena, Cringer, Kathryn, and Prince Adam made the port-city of Wavebreak on the eastern coast of the Fertile Plains. Surrounding it were three Talon Fighters to escort the Wind-Raider, along with two Sky Sleds. Teela was on one and Roboto was on the other.
They landed on a pier, where they were greeted by the Mayor of Wavebreak, a heavyset man by the name of Morrison.
"Good to have the King of Eternos and his family here for a visit! And to have his son and party depart from this port is quite the honor!" he rattled on and on.
"Very pleased to meet you, Mayor Morrison," King Randor told him, giving him the good ol' royal greeting.
After that was all done with, the group walked over to the ship. It was a large, wooden thing that sat at the end of a long dock. The sails were furled up in the masts, which sat perpendicular to the poles that held them up. The ship was busy, full of people hauling supplies and boxes, double-checking the hull, and
"She's a beauty of a ship," noted Randor. He then turned to Kathryn. "When I was Adam's age, I went on an expedition quite like this. Although, it was a different place, it still takes my back to those good ol' days on the high seas. Fond memories."
"I hope to have some of the same, your highness. Part of me was afraid I'd never see the ocean," Kathryn returned.
Randor grinned fondly. It was at that moment the Captain came down the walk from the ship to the dock.
"King Randor, Queen Marlena," he said with a quick bow to the both. He turned then to Prince Adam. "Prince Adam. And you must be Kathryn? Good to meet you both. Roboto, I'm assuming, and that is the tiger Cringer. It will be enjoyable to have you all aboard. I am Captain Staad. We will be departing in about thirty minutes."
Adam, Kathryn, Cringer, and Roboto said their good byes to King Randor, Queen Marlena, and Teela. Once aboard, they met the crew and began to unpack. They quickly made themselves at home. Half an hour later, the sails were unfurled and the ship went out to sea.
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Far and away from Eternos . . . in the chambers of a place unseen by the kingdoms of Men in ages . . . a meeting of great importance is taking place. Though it shall have very little impact of the events of today, this meeting's manifestation shall have ripples as far as Eternos . . . and beyond.
Pelicor, the warrior-commander of the Pelicon Army, ruffled his wings. The tall, lean Pelicon snapped his beak in anxious impatience. For years, he has served as the leader of the Pelicon Army. Long had they maintained the peace and isolation of their people - and only recently had it received it's greatest threat.
The doors of the Great Hall opened, then, and Pelicor walked in. Tanis, leader of the High Command, stood up and straightened his wings.
"Warrior-Commander Pelicor, what news do you bring us?"
"Lord Tanis, there is trouble. Our eastern rim has come under attack by the Lobsterites. We have held them off, but their technology . . . it's far greater than we thought. We suspect they have an alliance."
"This is not the first we have heard such rumors, Pelicor. Who do suspect?"
"I do not know. We know of many other peoples, but very few of them know of us. The Avions swore that they would no longer interact with us. However . . . there are two possibilities."
"And what are those possibilities?"
Pelicor snapped his beak. "The Mer-Men of Ocean of Gnarl. And, though I find it unlikely, the Men of Eternos."
Tanis made a loud 'coo' noise, which filled the Great Hall. "The Mer-Men have no gripe with us. Eternos . . . possible. They have been connected with the recent, bizarre events of late."
"What do you want to do, Lord Tanis?" asked Pelicor.
"Keep your eyes open, Warrior-Commander."
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Days came and went as the ship 'DiTillo' sailed upon the clear waters of the Harmony Sea. Called so because of his peaceful waters and serving as the 'peaceful' boundary of the Dark and Light Hemispheres, the Harmony Sea has been a peaceful route for many of the years.
During the course of that first week at sea, the DiTillo sailed along the eastern coast of the Fertile Plains. The mission of the expedition was to uncover more about the southern most areas of the Fertile Plains continent. While most of it had been fully explored (for the most part), the bottom 1/4 of the continent was mostly filled with high mountains and dense vegetation. By bringing Roboto and the archeologist Melaktha, the goal was to catalogue as much information about the coast as possible for future study. Virtually no one had done an intensive investigation into the tip of the Fertile Plains, which was the final destination of the voyage before heading home.
The job of cataloguing had been going quite well, with everyone learning at least something. Meanwhile, Adam and Kathryn were learning more about each other. Later, when they would think back to the greatest of their relationship, they would both remember this time.
Together, they would talk for hours about anything and everything. From family to growing up differently. Stories about the war, stories about the dangers, stories about love and friendship. Thoughts on the Ancients and the Elders, and the unknown future of the war. Adam found that the perspective of a 'commoner' was far different than he would ever had expected. Kathryn felt the same way.
In the moments that weren't filled with talk, the pair found themselves comforted by each other. They would lay out under the stars with nothing but the wooden deck on their back, staring up at the night sky. Other times, they would enjoy 'make-out sessions' in the empty galley in the middle of the day.
More often than not, both were just happy to be with the other on such a long voyage together. The future for Adam and Kathryn was bright . . . brighter than it would ever be in real life, but they didn't care. Though neither said (they silently felt that the relationship was too young to say such a thing) it, they both loved each other.
On the seventh day, the last day of the first week, the DiTillo came to the peak of the continent, where the Harmony Sea met the Ocean of Gnarl. After a day of collecting samples and exploring the outer areas of dense forest that sat beyond a beautiful beach, the crew decided on some R&R.
Though Cringer found that the sand was far more enjoyable than the water, Adam and Kathryn disagreed. They made the best of the waves. As the waves came in, Adam and Kathryn allowed themselves to be joyously lifted up, splashed and drenched. They held hands as the water pushed and pulled around them, the wonderful waves a fine break from the week of work.
After spending the morning in the water, both Adam and Kathryn laid themselves down on the beach, gazing up at the clear, blue sky - the smell of seawater carried on the wind.
"This is paradise," Kathryn sighed giddily.
"Tell me about it," Adam returned and put his arm around her. Cringer, not far away, stretched in his dreams. Silence filled the beach save for the crashing of the surf.
Then . . . something happened. Cringer lifted his head, yanked out of sleep by one of his powerful senses - either smell or hearing or both.
"Something's . . . wrong," Cringer said then.
"What are you talking about?" asked Adam. He sat up and then looked to the sky.
"What are those?" wondered Kathryn. She was gripping Adam's arm.
"I'm not sure."
Dark objects had appeared in the western sky, flying towards the ship in a flock. As they got closer, Adam began to see that they were far more than birds. They looked like men! Adam was half-convinced they were Avions, until they got closer. They were circling around the ship and now Adam could see that they were indeed not Avions.
No. These people were completely white, with huge wings on their backs. Adam heard shouting from one of the newcomers down to Captain Staad. All across the deck of the DiTillo, the crew were scrambling, some grabbing weapons, others arming cannons. Captain Staad something back.
As soon as he did, the newcomers dove down onto the deck of the ship. There was fighting, but then everything began quickly clouded in a green mist.
"Adam . . . what's happening?"
"I'm not sure," Adam replied. He looked to Cringer and gave him a look to confirm his worry. "Cringer?"
Cringer just pointed to the ship, which meant that Sword of Power was indeed trapped on board. Not that it would do any good with Kathryn here.
Just then, several newcomers came flying out from the green mist that had enveloped the DiTillo. Adam stood in front of Kathryn, protecting her from the on-coming threat.
The newcomers landed and Adam got his first, good look at them. They were tall, lean by still very muscular. Their eyes were like a mans, but they had long beaks that hung a little on the bottom. Their bodies were covered in white down feathers, with two huge wings were on their backs. Arms were long, but tough. Each one held a weapon.
"I am Prince Adam of Eternos!" shouted Adam. "I demand in the name of the king to know what is going on here!"
The leader, who was indeed Pelicor, snapped his beak, then replied: "How dare Eternos aide our enemies!"
Two small spheres dropped to the ground, releasing a green mist all around them. Adam and Kathryn suddenly began to sway, sleepiness taking over their senses. As soon as they hid the sand, Adam looked to see where Cringer had gotten to. To Adam, the tiger had vanished.
"A good victory, Pelicor," said one of the Pelicons.
"A swift one, at least," Pelicor replied, then proceeded to order everyone rounded up.
