Chapter 15: A Night to Change All (Part 2)
Before Adora and Brittni had entered into the Whispering Woods, a certain duo had also entered the woods with the intention of finding First One's Technology…
"Ugh, Bow! We've been traveling for hours. Where are we?!" Glimmer groaned as she trudged on alongside Bow, with her arms folded, and her eyes narrowed. Her companion, Bow was lightly tapping on his trackerpad, trying to get it to function correctly. Bow was a dark skinned, well muscled, young man that served as a master archery marksman for the Rebellion. His apparel consisted of blue pants, white boots with a gold trim, a golden pauldron on his left shoulder, and a white crop top with a golden v-shaped chest plate that exposed his midriff. Emblazoned on his top and boots was a heart, which was his family's crest. He sported a dark brown faded haircut, and wielded a collapsible, compound bow; (hence the name,) with an arsenal of trick arrows. These arrows served various functions from lethal and non-lethal attacks, explosions, nets for incapacitation, ropes for climbing, and electrified ones to nullify robots. His trick arrows made him an incredibly skillful and versatile fighter of the Rebellion.
"Sorry, Glimmer. I don't know what's going on with this thing. It's getting major interference. Last I checked, we were going the right way, though." Bow replied, not completely sure of himself. Glimmer groaned again. The two were silent as they walked along. Glimmer still had a scowl on her face. Bow looked at her with concern as he knew that Glimmer wasn't usually this irritable.
"Glimmer, are you okay?" Bow attempted to pry.
"I'm fine, Bow." Glimmer answered, quickly and snappy. Bow was taken aback by her snappiness and reacted accordingly, raising his head and looking away. After a few moments Glimmer stopped and sat atop a fallen over log, putting her chin in her hands and letting out a big sigh. Bow slowly followed Glimmer and sat down beside her. He didn't say anything, wanting to let her speak when she was ready. After a few minutes, she finally broke the silence.
"I'm sorry, Bow… The siege of Elberon was a total failure. I mean, yeah, we did manage to thin the Horde quite a bit, but we lost a good amount of our own…" Glimmer said, quietly with a lowered head. She then raised her voice a bit, and raised her head up, "and they still took the Mayor and captured Elberon!" Glimmer yelled, starting to cry. Bow wrapped his arms around Glimmer and pulled her close, letting her cry into his chest.
"It's okay, Glimmer. You did your best." Bow said, reassuredly. Glimmer wiped her eyes and pulled away from Bow's embrace.
"Well, what if my best isn't good enough, Bow?" Glimmer said, standing up. She paced around in front of him and continued, "I did do my best, and the Horde still won. What does that say about me?" Glimmer said as she stopped and eyed Bow with a look of desperation.
"Glimmer, you're still learning to fully control your powers. You need to give yourself time. Besides, it's not like that battle was completely up to you. You can't blame yourself." Bow said, reassuringly.
"But we had the advantage, Bow! We knew they were coming. We prepared. We still lost… I have to…" Glimmer said, pausing for a few moments. Her voice got lower, "I need to get stronger. I need more power." Bow was getting rather uncomfortable with everything that Glimmer was saying. He stood up, walked over to Glimmer and put his hands on her shoulders. They both gazed into one another's eyes.
"Glimmer…" Bow started, sympathetically, "I don't know exactly what you went through at Elberon, but you need to take it easy. I know that it's hard. There have been situations I've been in where I couldn't help, no matter what I did. That's just what happens, sometimes. But that's how we learn, that's how we get better and stronger. Just give yourself time. I know how powerful you are now, and I can only see your powers getting even more strong." Bow said confidently with a smile. Bow's words touched Glimmer. Her scowl slowly curved into a smile. She took a deep breath and let all of her anxiety out.
"Thank you, Bow…" Glimmer said, gratefully. They then both hugged. When they pulled away from the embrace, Glimmer continued, "okay, let's go find that First One's Tech!" Bow grinned.
"Yeah! Best Friend's Duo!" Bow said, pumping a fist into the sky. Glimmer walked passed him.
"Yeah, we're not calling ourselves that." Glimmer said, callously. Bow chuckled, and they were both off.
Meanwhile, Brittni begins her sojourn to find Adora in the Whispering Woods...
Before taking her first step into the Whispering Woods, a wave of anxiety engulfed Brittni. So many thoughts pervaded her thoughts. What if Hordak finds out? What creatures dwelled in the Whispering Woods? Is this some kind of an ambush? All these thoughts caused her to hesitate. She took one step into the woods, but quickly pulled back, causing her to groan. She put her hands on her head and shook it. She took a deep breath, and gave herself an audible peptalk.
"Okay, Brittni. You can do this. You've been through the Whispering Woods before. ...Of course, you also had over eighty other soldiers, and several tanks backing you up. And it wasn't in the middle of the night. And you weren't directed here by some disembodied voice." Brittni shook her head, waved her arms out in front, and rebuked herself, "wait, okay, that's not very inspiring… Let's try this again. Okay, you were directed here by some disembodied voice. But that voice knows something. How could it have known that Adora was out here, otherwise? Yeah, I'm doing the right thing, I have to be." Brittni said, gaining more confidence, "and, yeah! I'm one of the Observation Twins. I have a greater advantage than anyone else in the Fright Zone! Yeah!" And with that, Brittni ran into the Whispering Woods, with borrowed confidence. As Brittni ran in, she took a look around, admiring the landscape. She realized how the simulations that she had participated in at the Fright Zone didn't quite capture the majesty of this mystical forest. The grass was a cyan green, the trees exhibited purple bark. The overall aura of the forest was rather calming; especially considering the anxiety that Brittni had felt about even entering the forest. As she walked through, she continued to observe all of the surroundings. Even though it was night, the forest seemed to emanate some kind of resplendence that helped Brittni notice every feature of the forest, perfectly There were oversized fruits, and a variety of vegetation that Brittni had never seen before.
"What is this place… It's so… amazing." Brittni said to herself as she passed through. She stopped at a particular plant and knelt down to pluck it. It looked like an oversized, purple blueberry.
"So… a purpleberry?" Brittni asked no one in particular as she chuckled at her own joke, "man, I bet there are a lot of natural remedies I can make from the vegetation here… but, I need to focus on finding Adora. Brittni took a bite of the purpleberry, enjoying its juicy taste. As she munched on the fruit she continued walking, she started hearing a distant, faint voice. She shuddered, pulled out the shock baton from her bag, and brandished it in front of her. Cautiously, Brittni started walking towards the voice, it slowly becoming more audible.
"Brittni…" Brittni shuddered upon hearing yet another disembodied voice call out to her. She moved closer, hearing it more clearly, "Brittni… please help us, Brittni." Brittni stopped dead in her tracks. She looked around but all she could see was the trees and bushes rustling from the wind.
"Who's there?! Show yourself!" Brittni demanded, charging up the shock baton to be ready to fire.
"Brittni, why are you staying with the Horde…? Why…?" the voice seemed to inquire.
"What are you talking about? Why am I staying with the Horde?! Because the Horde is doing the right thing!" Brittni yelled. She then put her free hand to her head and groaned, "wait, why am I even arguing with you?! Who are you?!"
"You argue because deep down you're confused… You don't know what's right and wrong…" the voice accused.
"Shut up! That's not true! The Horde is my family, my home!" Brittni snapped, still looking around for the source of the voice.
"Is that why you asked why the Horde and Rebellion are fighting...?" the voice challenged. Brittni shut her eyes and started growling.
"How did-? No, shut up!" Brittni yelled, seemingly losing strength as she fell to her knees.
"Don't deny your feelings, Brittni... You will have to face the truth, one way or another..." The voice said, sounding more ferocious. Brittni gave an angry vociferation in reply.
"Grrr…I said shut up!" Brittni yelled as she fired the energy blast function on the baton. The green energy flew from the baton at a tree about 12 feet away, blowing a hole in it. The tree splintered. Most of the bark that was splintered became scorched with glowing green plasma.
"Whoa, hey!" A voice, familiar to Brittni shouted in protest. Brittni opened her eyes and saw that the voice was Adora. Adora had dove away from Brittni's energy blast. She was on her stomach, looking up at Brittni, wide-eyed and alarmed at Brittni's actions. Adora looked Brittni up and down, "what the heck is a ninja doing here in the Whispering Woods? Are you a rebel soldier?!" Brittni's eyes grew in surprise, then narrowed upon hearing Adora's inquiry.
"Ugh! Enough with the ninja!" Brittni said, annoyed. She then pulled down her mask, revealing her face to Adora. Adora squinted her eyes to get a better look.
"...Brittni? Is that you?" Adora asked as she picked herself up and walked towards Brittni. She wrapped Brittni in a hug. Brittni smiled, embracing Adora with great force. Brittni felt relieved and comforted at both finding Adora and being around a familiar face in general. Adora was surprised but welcoming towards the tight embrace Brittni was giving her. They both broke away. Adora put her hands on her hips.
"Brittni… I'm happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" Adora asked, her tone becoming more serious. Brittni cocked her eyebrow.
"You know, I could ask the same of you." Brittni replied. Adora's mouth opened, but she said nothing, just letting a breath of air out.
"Okay, you got me there… there's just something I have to do here." Adora said, looking towards the ground and rubbing her left shoulder with her right hand, "I'll explain, but I really want to know why you're here." Adora said, looking intently at Brittni. Brittni gazed back and started walking towards a small boulder.
"Would you believe that this is actually where I'm supposed to be?" Brittni asked, distantly as she sat upon the boulder, turning her gaze towards Brittni. Adora tilted her head and folded her arms.
"What do you mean?" Adora inquired. Brittni sighed.
"This is a long story, you might want to sit down." Brittni suggested. Adora nodded and walked over to Brittni, taking a seat beside her, and turning towards her. Brittni sighed.
"You know, I've told this story twice, and it never becomes any more believable…" Brittni started. Adora put her hand on Brittni's shoulder and smiled. Brittni put her hand on Adora's hand and smiled back, "okay, in a nutshell, this is what happened…" Brittni went on to give a brief overview of her experience with the crystal ball. Brittni gave details regarding the photo album, the Monumental Room, and what the crystal ball told Brittni about this night. Adora's eyes became widened, and her mouth was slightly agape. For quite a few moments after Brittni ended her speaking, neither girls said anything. Brittni looked away from Adora.
"If you don't believe me, I-" Brittni began before Adora interrupted her.
"I believe you, Brittni." Adora said, confidently. Brittni raised her head up and looked at Adora with boosted confidence. Adora continued, "I believe you because there is a reason I'm her… You see, earlier today, Catra and I… well, we 'borrowed' a skif." Adora said, while rubbing the back of her neck. Brittni's eyes shone in amazement.
"Adora… you… I mean, YOU stole something? I feel like I need to write this down…" Brittni said, chuckling.
"Yeah, I know, I didn't even know I had it in me. I figured it was a good way to comfort Catra." Adora said, joining in the chuckle. Hearing Catra's name alarmed Brittni, which reminded her of what the crystal ball said about Catra. Quickly, Brittni interjected.
"Wait, Adora. You said something about comforting Catra. What was she upset about?" Brittni inquired. Adora eyed Brittni in surprise.
"Well… they told us about the invasion of Thaymore, and I was promoted to Force Captain. But Shadow Weaver told me I couldn't take my team. I'm not sure if Catra was jealous about the promotion or not being able to join me at Thaymore… I don't know. Why do you ask?"
"I ask because the crystal ball told me that I needed to watch over you and Catra." Brittni said. Adora blinked her eyes a couple of times.
"Watch over us? Catra and I are fine. She's the fastest, strongest, most tenacious soldier the Horde has to offer… and I've just become Force Captain." Adora said, confidently.
"Oh, I know. It's just… the crystal ball has been right about everything so far. But, anyway, go ahead." Brittni said, shoving that thought out of her head. Adora nodded and continued.
"So anyway, we were flying the skif and started fighting over who got to drive it. In the middle of driving it. So… we kinda…"
"Crashed." Brittni finished Adora's statement, while winking, "I saw the damaged skif in the vehicle bay." Adora eyed Britni with astonishment.
"Okay, you really live up to the title, 'Observation Twin'." Adora said, chuckling. Brittni grinned. Adora continued, "so, after we crashed, I got separated from Catra. I was looking for her and I saw this… this sword. It was shining. But, I mean, not just shining, it was like-" Brittni interrupted.
"An effulgent, radiant glow?" Brittni chuckled, then added, "what, did it speak to you, too?" Brittni joked. But Adora was not joking. Adora looked at Brittni as though her hair was on fire. Brittni returned the surprised gaze. Adora shuddered a bit then spoke.
"How did you know that it talked?" Adora inquired. Brittni looked at Adora intently.
"The same thing happened to me with the crystal ball…" Brittni said, methodically, looking away for a moment then turning back to Adora, "this has to be related." Adora nodded.
"Well, let's go find that sword. Maybe your little crystal ball thing is the one speaking from the sword." Adora suggested, as she stood up from the boulder. Brittni nodded, and got up as well. The duo made their way deeper into the forest. Adora lead the way, trying to retrace her steps. After a little while they both became frustrated.
"I swear that we were going the right way…" Adora muttered with an annoyed expression. Brittni looked around, analyzing the surroundings. That tree with the vine crawling up it, that bush with four purpleberries, those blades of grass that are pointing to the West. They had passed through this before...
"Adora, I don't know how, but we've walked through this same trail at least three times…" Brittni muttered, gazing analytically at the flora surrounding them. Adora turned back to Brittni.
"You're sure?" Adora inquired. Brittni nodded her head, assuredly.
"Don't forget who you're talking to." Brittni said with a wink. Adora scratched the back of her head.
"Right, I know... I just... this place is so weird. Where the heck are we-" Adora began saying before she and Brittni heard a voice. Adora and Brittni looked at each other then towards the voice. They both crouched down and began creeping towards it. Combing through brush and shrubbery, they began seeing a shimmer of light emitting through the gaps of the trees and vegetation. Creeping closer, the two found themselves on the edge of a big open space in the woods. In the middle of the open space, entangled by vines was what Adora had been looking for: The Sword. Adora was about to make a move towards it but was stopped by Brittni grabbing her shoulder. Adora looked back at Brittni.
"Brittni, what're you-" Adora started before being shushed by Brittni.
"Shhh… I hear someone." Brittni cautioned. The two listened. The voices they were hearing slowly became more audible.
"Bow, just let me lead the way, okay?" A very familiar voice to Brittni said. Brittni's heart sank as she heard the voice. She didn't want to believe it, but she knew whom that voice belonged to.
"The light came from the edge of the forest." Another, more masculine voice said that Brittni didn't recognize.
"Yes, you saw the light. It's this way!" That familiar voice said. Brittni was ninety nine percent sure she knew exactly whom it was, and her anxiety began raising up all the way to her forehead.
"The trackpad says otherwise." The masculine voice argued.
"It's this way!" The familiar voice snapped. Adora was so stunned by hearing the voices, she had forgotten to go back into the cover of the shrubbery. To the dismay of Brittni, and the surprise of Adora, the source of the voices were revealed. To the far left of the two Horde soldiers walked in two Rebellion soldiers: Glimmer and Bow. The four locked eyes with each other and simultaneously gasped.
"Horde soldiers!" Glimmer shouted
"And one of them's a ninja!" Bow chimed in. The two rebel soldiers then started yelling at the two Horde soldiers. Adora broke the gaze with the two rebels and dashed towards the sword with the speed of a rabbit being chased by a fox.
"Wait! Adora, don't!" Brittni protested, holding her left arm stretched out towards Adora. Adora didn't listen, however, and continued her stride towards the sword. The two rebels made the sword their goal, manifesting the goal with their movement towards it. Brittni already knew what was going to happen. Glimmer teleported to the sword and clutched it. Adora, just a couple feet away shielded her eyes with her arms from the purple luminescence from Glimmer's teleport. Adora quickly got over the brightness and threw herself at Glimmer, only for Glimmer to teleport, with the sword, away. Adora ended up only tackling the ground with an 'Oof!' Glimmer recklessly teleported near Brittni, with her back turned towards her. Brittni took this opportunity to finish what Adora started when Adora attempted to tackle Glimmer. Brittni dove at Glimmer, wrapping her arms around Glimmer's waste and tackling her to the ground.
"Oof! Hey!" Glimmer screamed as the sword flew from her hands.
"Adora! Get the sword!" Brittni yelled to Adora as Glimmer struggled with crawling towards the sword. Adora started picking herself up only for Bow to take a shot at her with one of his arrows. Brittni took notice and gasped.
"Adora! Look out!" Brittni yelled. Adora looked over at Bow as he fired off his arrow. Adora moved a foot away thinking she was avoiding the arrow. Adora gasped, however, when she saw the arrow broke apart, mid-air, and a net launched out of it, encasing Adora once it struck her.
"No! Argh!" Adora shrieked as got caught in the net.
"Adora! Oof! Agh!" Brittni screamed as Glimmer used her heel to kick Brittni. Brittni loosened her grip to hold her own stomach and Glimmer used her heel again to push Brittni off. Glimmer teleported to the sword again and grabbed it. Bow nocked another arrow in his bow, aiming it at Brittni.
"Don't move, ninja! I don't want to hurt you!" Bow said as he steadied his aim. Glimmer also brandished the sword at Adora. Brittni picked herself up and looked closely at the arrow. Suddenly, Brittni received a flashback to the Monumental Room.
"Ah, That is an explosive arrow. The Rebellion seems to have some kind of master archer that's technologically sound in their ranks." Brittni remembered Shadow Weaver describing the arrow. Brittni smirked.
"That's an explosive arrow, isn't it?" Brittni shouted at Bow. Bow's countenance changed to complete disorientation, and his pull loosened on his bow.
"How did you..?" Bow uttered in perplexity. Brittni quickly reached behind into her side pack and quickly whipped out the shock baton. Bow took notice and tightened his pull on the bow. Almost simultaneously, both Brittni and Bow fired their weapons. The green ball of energy flew at Bow's arrow, striking it, and causing a massive explosion that was rather close to both Bow and Glimmer. The explosion knocked Bow backwards and Glimmer forwards. As Glimmer fell forwards, the sword she was wielding cut the net that was entangling Adora. Adora started climbing out of the net, struggling as she maneuvered about. Brittni ran over towards Adora, holding her hand out. Adora grabbed Brittni's helping hand, and stood up.
"Wow, great job, Brittni!" Adora said excitedly as she went in to high five Brittni. Brittni slapped Adora's hand. Adora looked over at Bow then inquired, "how did you know that was an explosive arrow?" Brittni scratched the back of her neck.
"It's a long story, but we don't have time. Let's grab the sword and-" Brittni began before being interrupted by a certain purple sparkle.
"And what?" Glimmer said as she picked herself up. Brittni began raising her shock baton at Glimmer until Glimmer began generating a ball of that purple sparkly energy and threw it on the ground causing an explosive flash that blinded Brittni and Adora. Adora was rubbing her eyes and traipsed in place. Brittni did the same but also accidentally fired off the baton's energy blast that struck a tree, causing a branch to break off. The branch ended up falling upon Brittni's head. Brittni immediately lost consciousness, falling backward. Adora's sight came back and she gasped upon seeing Brittni being knocked out.
"Brittni!" Adora screamed. She then looked over at Glimmer who was reaching down to grab the sword. Adora dove at Glimmer while Glimmer's back was turned towards Adora. Adora then turned towards the sword and started crawling towards it. Glimmer got up and grabbed Adora's legs, slowing Adora's movement. Bow then ran at both of them and jumped on top of them. All three of them fought as they crept closer and closer to the sword.
"Get off!" Adora yelled as her hand was inches away from the sword. Exerting all of her effort, Adora reached just enough and touched the sword. Once she did, a flash of blue glimmering light emerged from the sword. The light had some kind of physical force to it, as it knocked Glimmer and Bow back. After a few moments, Bow slowly raised himself up, groaning while holding his head. When he came to, he shook his head and looked over at Adora. What he beheld was beyond astonishing. Adora was being levitated in the air by the beam of light that was radiating from the sword. She seemed to just float weightlessly.
"Uh… Glimmer?" Bow said as he looked over at Glimmer while picking himself up. Glimmer pushed herself up then looked over at Adora and gasped. The two rebels made a circle around Adora to see the front of her. Her eyes were rapidly moving and her mouth was agape.
"What the heck is happening to her?" Glimmer inquired. Bow stood back, cautious of what the sword could potentially do. Glimmer, however, started walking towards it.
"Glimmer, wait!" Bow protested, holding his hand up to try and stop her from moving forward. Glimmer's approach stopped, however, when the sword's light began fading, and Adora's levitation slowly faded. Adora slowly lowered to the ground until she was on her back. Glimmer looked back at Bow who just shrugged his shoulders.
"Quick, Bow, let's tie her up." Glimmer suggested. Bow nodded, pulling rope from his satchel. Brittni groaned as she started lifting herself up and rubbing her head. The two rebels gasped and looked over at Brittni. Brittni shook her head and looked over at Adora laying on her back.
"What did you do to her?!" Brittni demanded as she squared herself up in a battle pose.
"We didn't do anything! Unlike you Horde invaders!" Glimmer snapped.
"We're not invaders, you crazy murderer!" Brittni snapped back, pointing at Glimmer. Glimmer was taken aback and growled.
"The only murderers are Horde soldiers like you and her!" Glimmer yelled. Bow let down the rope and nocked an arrow onto his bow, aiming at Brittni. Brittni pulled out her shock baton.
"You really wanna try this again, arrow boy?" Brittni taunted, igniting the shock baton. Bow fired the arrow. Brittni simply moved out of the way.
"Oh, c'mon! I didn't even need my observation powers to dodge that one!" Brittni said with a cocky tone. Brittni's arrogance got the best of her, however. When the arrow flew passed Brittni, Glimmer teleported behind Brittni and grabbed the arrow, midair, and jabbed it into Brittni's side. Brittni choked out a gasp and looked to the right, seeing Glimmer's face twisted into an evil smile.
"Sweet dreams…" Glimmer said, nefariously. Brittni's eyes slowly closed and she collapsed into Glimmer's arms. Glimmer gently let her down.
"Tranquilizer arrows. Good work, Bow." Glimmer said giving Bow a thumbs up. Bow winked at Glimmer.
"Alright, let's get these two restrained and get them back to Bright Moon…" Glimmer said with a chuckle. Bow picked up the rope and walked towards Adora. Glimmer then muttered silently to herself, "and then we'll see what the Horde will do to get you back…"
