Royalty

by Nasha Rei-Kun

Lineage was a big part of Etheria and Naruto Uzumaki was forced into making one of his own. To protect his comrades, his friends, his family, and even people like Shadow Weaver and Hordak. Adora and Catra had a big part in it, too, despite all the pain and trials they'd go through. They were a big part of his 'royalty', in the end.

5. Year Long III

Got some real inspiration from Yu-Gi-Oh for the final battle.

Those familiar will know what this creature is.

Current Episode: Nine.

Inspirational Songs:

Strike Back by Back-On

With You by Back-On

Samurai Heart by SPYAIR

Butterfly cover by Yoru

~NRK~

They flew.

All the insanity of her recent 'universe' aside, Catra was flying without a machine, skiff, carrier, or anything.

'This is magic,' she considered, skin hissing as she and Rutadora shot off like a red comet. 'But it's all her,' Catra considered, minding the familiar. '...'

The more land they passed, the more Catra realized how much she kinda loved this situation.

She looked over the vast snowy areas, the blue ice had her looking at its shine, and just the bright moons in the sky made her feel like this must have been it.

This was the freedom the world could provide her if she was at the top.

'To have all of this under you…' The thought was almost worrying if she'd cared about its implications.

No, Catra just grinned at it all.

She wanted this, all of it.

These views, this power, these feelings.

She wanted them all.

~NRK~

Meanwhile with Naruto, the fox boy crossed his arms with a frown at their moving cart.

"I get you, I do, we need to speed this up," he said.

They'd left behind most of the other carts and bears, Naruto's advice on not bringing too many actually bearing weight he didn't expect.

So, they traveled 'light' with only Frosta, Naruto, a single bear, and eight of the other guards.

"If this spreads, they'll leave too quickly," that first guard from before frowned. "And more information from him tells us that they're planning something… Something big."

Frosta grimaced, hands in her lap. "What could it be? I don't… T-This seems so dangerous," she winced at her own tone.

At how scared and pathetic, it was-

A hand ruffled her hair, startling her before she looked to see Naruto's grin.

"We've got this, I'll make sure you don't get into too much trouble or danger. Your powers are gonna be super important here," he encouraged her.

Frosta's eyes widened and then shined before she leaned back with a huff and blush, muttering something.

"S-Stupid! I'm a Princess, show me some respect!" She shot back with a stutter.

Naruto blinked before chuckling sheepishly. "I mean, yeah, you're right. You've got a lot on your shoulders," he nodded sagely as she huffed. "But you're still a kid and I can't help it. Call it the 'rule' of being older. You have a lot of growing to do, can't let anyone get in the way of that."

The guard smiled at that while Frosta pouted.

"Come on, for now, let's talk about abilities, alright?"

"H-Huh?" She balked at him.

Hadn't he just said she was a 'kid'? Why was he… H-He did say she was important but she was sure he meant morale!

"Like, I'm pretty strong," Naruto declared. "Decently fast, too, I've recently got a wind magic spell and I've got a secret weapon," he admitted to her, Frosta perking up.

"Secret weapon?" She asked, her interest too difficult to hide. "L-Like what? Is it that R-Ra… That orb thing?" Frosta asked.

"No, that's a technique I have. I had to learn that over a long time," he grinned slyly as her eyes shined with excitement. "Hell, I'm surprised most of the Princesses don't have Techniques, at least, the ones I've… Uuuh, met on occasion."

"You've met the other Princesses?" One of the men asked in shock.

"That's ridiculous," a female guard whispered in awe. "W-Which ones?!"

"... Okay, well, Queen Angella, Glimmer, and Perfuma," Naruto admitted. 'Idiot, why did you tell them?!' Great job at keeping your cover, Uzumaki.

Seriously, WAY TO GO!

"R-Really?" Frosta asked in shock. "I… I-I haven't met the other Princesses in a… I-In a while," she admitted.

"I mean, from what I know about the Kingdom of Snows, you kinda got dropped into this situation. You had a lot to learn, I get it."

"How? H-How can you relate? I have to manage a w-whole KINGDOM and I'm only…" Frosta began to say before freezing at her complaining. "That's not… I-Ignore me, it's just stress."

"So? You should be open with your people, Frosta," Naruto said with a calm smile as she looked down with a grumble.

"If I do, they'll just see me as a kid," she shot back.

"... Frosta, this isn't some reverse-psychology thing, is it? I'm not that smart," he said slowly as she shot him a raised brow.

"What are… W-What's that?"

"... Um."

The guard smiled sadly. "Let me explain some concepts for you, ma'am," he said.

Going through a lesson on 'psychology' and then 'reverse psychology', Frosta's cheek twitched in confusion.

"Um… Right, that's… Those were words," she said slowly as Naruto snickered a bit. "N-No laughing at the Princess, that's a royal decree."

"Right," Naruto grinned as she pouted again. "Hehe, you'll get it, I'm sure. You just need to talk with your people more, they believe in you enough to not leave, Frosta, I'm sure they're just wondering how your rule will differ from those in the past."

"... There weren't many rulers for my kingdom. These lands are wide but they've been the wildest and most uncontrollable for a long time compared to all the other kingdoms. Many rulers did so for, at a minimum, a hundred years."

Naruto was surprised at that but then shot her a soft smile, the girl's downtrodden look telling of what she thought of this.

"Well… That's the past, that doesn't mean you have to follow the old ways if you think it's not worth it," Naruto grinned as she shot him a wide-eyed look. "Frosta, you're not going to rule like those before you, no one can. Not the person before you, not the person before them, and so on. Each of you are different, you're not the same people and shouldn't try to be."

"M-My people have prospered under those old ways, how can you say that?!" Why? Why tell her this?

Frosta was just a child as much as she despised considering it.

She had to follow those ways or she'd have no rule to begin with.

"Frosta, learn from them, take a couple things, work on them, but you're not supposed to BE them. How you rule your people is how you feel you should. I can bet that you've read of rituals and things you don't agree with from history, huh?"

She flinched.

"History is full of amazing people but everyone makes mistakes," Naruto said seriously. "Don't act like these people are perfect beings, gods, or any of that. You're similar to them in that you'll all make mistakes, it's a part of learning as a person much less a ruler."

Frosta swallowed at that. "M-Mistakes could cost my people everything."

"Then make sure those mistakes are only small. Do your best to lead them, not copy the people in the past."

The cart was silent as the girl looked down at her lap with a bit lip.

"... I…" She grimaced. "I can't… I don't…"

The guard stayed silent as Naruto nodded.

"Like I said, you'll get it, I promise. Hopefully, not to jinx you, it comes at a time where you can fix your mistakes and become a more amazing person."

~NRK~

Catra grimaced four hours later, blinking awake with a grunt.

"L-Lord, did I fall asleep?" She stuttered as Rutadora giggled. "And what about you? Did you sleep?"

"Nope! I don't need sleep. A-And I'm not really able to get low on energy since the world around me is so powerful!" The familiar said proudly while Catra balked.

'Oh shit, she's gonna HATE the Fright Zone,' that was the first thing that came to mind and set Catra's feelings on 'worry', involuntarily. "Whatever, are we close?"

"A second, mom!"

"I-I said I'm n-Whatever, hurry it up!"

In an instant, there was a 'pulse' of gold around them that Catra blinked at.

The feeling was like being scanned, oddly enough, and her eyes widened as a scope of the lands filled her mind.

'No way! She can even give mental visions?!' Too good.

Way too good!

Still, focusing, her eyes narrowed as she 'saw' it.

The village of Douo.

"Bring us down a mile off," Catra told her. "We can't just fly in, it'd look too suspicious."

Rutadora followed her command, the two of them descending before they were gliding above the snowy ground.

Several seconds later, Catra was running with narrowed eyes.

'If they went here, there's a chance that they still have guys stationed around,' possibly.

Chackles had left, seemingly, but if Naruto still found members of that magician cult, there was a chance she would as well.

The feeling of her hammer on her back settled her nerves despite how long she'd actually had it.

'It's still heavy,' but she could move a lot more easily compared to when she first got it.

Rutadora remained attached to her back before Catra frowned and slowed to a crawl near a series of large icy rocks.

"Alright, get off, you need to go back to normal," Catra commanded as Rutadora pulsed before doing as told, the girl latched onto her back. "Off of me, we need to go, come on."

She walked ahead without looking back, the crunching of snow behind her letting Catra know that Rutadora was in fact following.

"So, hmph!" The girl's snow crunching became uniform as Catra peeked back to see her giggling as she hopping in her own steps.

It annoyed her how much it kind of… made her proud, it was painfully weird for Catra.

"What?" She asked gruffly.

"Um, where do we go first?"

"The place where the dogs are, idiot," Catra said flatly as the girl tilted her head before the young woman winced. 'Crap, I didn't…'

"Okay!" Rutadora agreed without issue, alarming her.

'I…' Guilt clawed at her mind and she barely shook it away.

---

"... In the end, you're right, she's my familiar but she's clearly just a kid in both ways. She knows all that I know, Catra, but she doesn't get it. She doesn't have experience or even knowledge of why I do or say some of the things I do."

---

She didn't know any better, Catra was essentially dealing with a super-genius baby.

She swallowed. 'It's not like it'll matter, I'm only being a bit mean,' the girl wouldn't be around her enough to be affected… right?

As those worrying thoughts rammed about in her head, they made it to the village's gate and found two steel-faced guards there.

"Huh?" One of them uttered in sheer confusion as Catra came into view, her casual gait more than surprising for the man. "Ma'am? I… Did you walk through that tundra all on your own?!"

"Hmm?" Catra blinked before choking mentally. 'DAMMIT! I forgot!' Well, time to improvise-

The man sat Rutadora and balked. "Y-You and your child?!"

Catra's ear twitched at that while the familiar looked excited.

'... No… No-Dammit.'

"Y-Yeah, um, it's a serious situation for us but, thankfully, this kid here can use magic to keep us safe," Catra said with a nervous grin, patting the pleased familiar on the head. "She's good at keeping us going and I'm fast."

The two looked surprised. "Oh," the older of the two said in surprise. "Well, welcome to the town of Douo but… A fair warning," he looked around as she came closer. "There have been sightings of a phantom around these parts. Some magical being that slips in and out of sight. Many aren't leaving their homes."

Well, at least it was convenient. "Actually, I originally came here to look at the legendary Hounds of Snow," the name for their animals.

The younger guard grimaced. "Ma'am, with all due respect, that might not be safe."

Catra's eyes narrowed at that, the young woman crossing her arms. "Why?"

"That's where most of the sightings have been… Besides, our hounds are all unwell," the man said with a somber look that confused her.

"What's up with him?" She asked the older man.

"Aye, that kid grew up alongside one of our hounds and his is also sick. They're all sick," he told her, surprising her.

'All the hounds are… sick?' Something about that didn't seem right. "Crazy, when did that happen?" Catra asked like an 'idiot'.

She had a feeling she knew.

"Originally, it was when the 'phantom' appeared," the old man sighed. "Our people have taken several hits to their livelihoods since they went down… Though," he rubbed the back of his head with a bit of a chuckle. "We lucked out recently. There were a pair of magicians traveling our lands seeking to handle this phantom and they've been looking over our hounds. They say they've seen these symptoms before."

Catra smiled pleasantly. "Awesome, you think I can get close enough to look at 'em, still? I mean, we did travel a good bit to get here," she said curiously.

"Well, if you're lucky, ya should! Those guys only came two days ago but they're supposed to be finishing up soon. Said this was a three-day process."

Catra nodded before ushering Rutadora in with a smile and wave. "Thanks, guys," she said to them. 'Convenient,' she thought with narrowed eyes and perked ears. 'They might be with her-'

"I… I-I didn't think that many got married that young outside of our lands," the young guard said to the older one as Catra froze, red creeping up her neck. "A-And that girl can't be younger than four!"

"Aye, kids these days really are trying to start early, BOY," the older one said with an accusing tone.

"C-Come on! She's a single mother and your daughter isn't!"

"How do you know her man's not around?"

Rutadora tilted her head at Catra. "Hmm… Mom, are you alright?" She asked.

Catra's face remained bright red all the way to the kennels.

---

She'd calmed down by the time they reached the very center of the village to find their favored kennels but that didn't stop her mind from raging.

'Stupid guards!' Catra huffed as they made it past piles of bones and frozen meat in barrels. 'I'm not her mom and Naruto is not my husband!' She wanted to scream but it'd make it real.

The annoyance and embarrassment.

"Hmm?" Rutadora frowned at something, pulling on Catra's cloak and breaking her out of her reverie. "M-Mom, there's something weird here," she whispered.

Catra's head snapped up to see a large igloo composed of stone, logs, and bits of metal that latched the wooden bits together.

The building was pretty big, too, being almost as big as one of their Horde carriers in length.

"Where?" She asked the familiar who pulled on her arm and led her around to one of the four entrances around the building. 'If these guys are actually here, I can follow them,' Catra thought.

She knew her team would be waiting but, surely, these guys couldn't be going far, right?

As they made it to a closed door, the two raised their feline ears.

"... Hmm… That's the last of 'em," someone had said, a male voice. "This will do well for our finale, hun."

"I know!" A woman giggled as the sound of something heavy dropping reached the feline duo's ears. "Still, are we really going to just leave these here? There are so many, surely no one will mind if we take a few more."

"We have to get back before tomorrow night. We'd never make it."

"Even with our golems?"

Catra blinked in disbelief. 'Oh shit, there's no way,' these guys were planning on pulling something tomorrow night?! 'Four hours to get here from a halfway point but less than a day to reach the Ava Caves?' Assumably.

If they were unlucky? There were more of these caves and cults.

"..." She frowned before looking up at a smoke tower billowing out of the top of the building.

She pat Rutadora's shoulder before pointing up and making a flapping motion.

The girl latched onto her back before lifting her off the ground. They floated up above the building before Catra pulled a cloth out of her pocket and wrapped it around her face.

"Stay up here and protect me from the heat," she told the girl. "I don't want to take any chances and you're our best bet out of here," Catra said before hesitating.

Rutadora gasped at a head pat.

"Let me go."

She did as commanded, Catra dropping down into the chimney.

As she felt in, the young woman's fingers pressed against the inside of the warm chimney.

It didn't bug her and she sighed in relief at her last-minute idea.

'Probably should have double-checked first,' but it worked out.

She slipped into the smoke more and was really surprised by how unbothered she was.

Stopping above a small fireplace, she wasn't even feeling it when she pushed her head down near the flames and peeked out.

What she saw, though, completely took her attention.

"I'm just saying," a man in a black cloak began, moving vials of what had to be wolf blood into a large metal container. "It's better this way, they won't matter once we're done. We've got all the blood and animals we need."

"The giant mammoths, the leopard worms," the woman in a black cloak listed off. "The ravine crocs, and frost sabers… It's hard to believe she'd want more than that," she said in confusion.

"I mean, she wants our world to have a finale, we're fine with what space we have."

"I guess."

'Those animals are all freaking terrifying!' Not that she knew of all of them but she knew a few.

And those ones alone made her skin crawl.

"Alright, there, unfortunately, they are all healed," the woman grunted with crossed arms as the man locked the container full of different kinds of blood and pulled its handle. "No traces even if she wasn't doing great at it."

"To be fair, magic phantoms are real in some aspects so it's not as bad as it could be," the cloaked man said. "Alright, let's go," he gestured to a doorway.

Watching them go, she focused.

'If Naruto's connected to her and can talk mentally…' Catra breathed out. 'Catty!'

---

Up above, Catty perked up on the roof. 'M-Mom?'

'I'm not-Dammit, forget that, they're going outside the door… That way,' Catra thought to her before an image of the door and direction reached the familiar. 'I'm gonna sneak out behind them, don't get seen but follow!'

The nature girl nodded before scuttling along the roof and moving to that particular door.

She waited before perking up as it was opened and revealed their two 'doctors'.

'I can see them!' She told Catra as she watched the two hurry to a large sled with a big box on the back manned by small… golems? 'T-They're gonna go on a sled!'

'Crap!' Catra uttered as she peeked through the door down below. 'Those aren't animals,' she realized. 'Right, magicians,' not good.

What could they do? What was the plan?

She wasn't supposed to be following these guys but… Her eyes narrowed as she looked to the large box on the sled, a giant tarp thrown over it.

Catra ran. 'Catty! Go back to the others!' She told the gasping familiar. 'You can't follow me! I'll try and sneak into these guys' hideout. You need to bring them to me!'

She was barely lucky enough that the two cloaked people were busy with adjusting their golem 'sled dogs' to sneak on, stealthy methods having her slipping under the tarp and flattening down against the top of it, looking like its normal shape under the covers.

'M-Mom?! I-Is this a good idea?!' Catty asked in worry.

'Probably not,' Catra said to herself. 'Look, it's fine, trust in… Trust in your mom, I've got this. You need to go back to Adora and tell her what's going on… You're a good kid, you can do it, now go.'

The familiar swallowed before nodding and taking off.

Oddly enough, Catra could feel her presence leaving.

'It was more than just him,' Catra considered as her 'ride' began to move. 'I'm connected to her, too, and…' Did she really just accept this?

All because she thought the familiar was useful? What kinda bastard was she?

~NRK~

Naruto nodded to Frosta and that original guard, the three going over plans.

"Let's reiterate," the man said, gesturing to a hand-drawn map in between them. "A possible upside to this location is that we can restock on supplies in a nearby town," he explained. "Not just that but the Ava Caves are next to one of our sacred lakes and as stated before, the lakes aren't useful from their origin. They're dangerously protected by some of the most powerful animals of our kingdom," he gestured to a book and flipped through its pages.

"Our Hinter Bears," Frosta stated. "These ones are the most powerful, they're not like our domesticated ones. They're physically ridiculous and have tough hides that spears just can't pierce."

Naruto nodded. 'My ax might be able to do it,' he thought with narrowed eyes.

"Next, the leopard worms," the guard continued, flipping to that page. "They're animals that attack from below and can spread a frosty breath. They're thankfully only found near the lakes due to not being as protected against the cold but don't let that fool you. They're still dangerous."

The fox boy's eyes narrowed at the next page.

"Finally, the most worrisome of them," Frosta grimaced. "T-They're the ravine crocs," she shivered. "They're some of the most brutal creatures in the Kingdom of Snows."

"Their scales are resistant to all forms of damage," the guard said with a frown. "Their jaws are said to be powerful enough to snap a building within them with ease. Some say they can get as big as thirty meters-long and a quarter of that wide. They're difficult but the thing is, they only live in or near the lakes. Their young are born underwater and spend over 80% of their lives in them. That said, they're not to be underestimated."

"I understand," Naruto said. "Still, this… What's the point? What do magician cults usually do?" He frowned.

"Usually, they seek to cause as much death and chaos during their final moments. It's some form of… validation or some such. It's basically an act that wants to be as well-known as possible. The thing is, these kinds of things have died out almost completely even before Princess Frosta's time of ruling. These usually happen in more populated lands so why here?"

'Likely to hide the real reason they came here,' Naruto considered. "Well, for now, we've just gotta get there rested and prepared."

They all nodded and, after putting their things away, the entire group sat at the edges of the cart.

Naruto hummed as he meditated, seated right next to Frosta.

He could see the Princess's Runestone and frowned softly at how agitated it was.

"It's fine, you know," he whispered to her, the girl jumping at his voice before grunting while gripping her skirt tightly. "Being scared is normal, Frosta."

"I-I can't be… My people need a fearless leader," she whispered weakly, face pale and not from the cold. "I can't… If I can't lead them, I'm usel-"

"You're not. You're young, you'll gain experience from this and become an amazing person. Just trust in us, alright?" He ruffled her hair again, hand still on her head when he stopped.

She looked up to lock with similar blue eyes.

"I know you can do it, you just need to believe in yourself, too."

~NRK~

Adora frowned four hours later, going through sword forms.

'I can't stop worrying,' she thought as Kyle and Rogelio spoke about something at length, drawing into the ground by the fire. "..."

"You alright?" Scorpia asked from beside her, the woman snuggled up in Adora's cloak. "You've been training non-stop, ya know?"

"I-I know, I just… I can't help but feel nervous," the blonde girl said nervously. "Something feels like it went wrong-"

"Y-Yo?! Guys!" Lonnie shot into the tent with Rutadora on her shoulder. "Catra's on her shit again!"

Adora paled at the worried-looking familiar.

Ten minutes later, post-explanation, Adora had one thing to say.

"CATRA, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

~NRK~

Catra felt a shiver run down her spine for the nth-teenth time. 'Uh-oh, thirty vouchers says that Adora's still pissed,' she considered with a nervous sweat running down her cheek. 'That's not important, though,' she thought with a glare as she peeked out the tarp to see her surroundings- 'What the hell?'

Her eyes widened.

A large lake hissing with steam greeted her as she looked around to see animals of ridiculous size and power that made her tail wilt.

'The sacred lake of rain, right?' The air was warmer here, so much warmer, and it sent up a harsh steam in several places… And was home to animals that'd likely eat her like she was an appetizer.

Giant reptiles, bears that made her feel like prey, and odd burrows didn't encourage her in the least.

'This is all by the lakes?!' It was unbelievable! 'And these guys all look strong enough to ruin a Horde camp's day without corruption… Actually,' Catra was confused.

Why weren't they attacking them?

"Thank the heavens for the golems," the male at the front said, gaining her attention. "These monsters are pretty cool when they won't try and eat you the first chance they get."

"I'm still not sure how that magician did it," the female said with a hum. "That lady brought him and he said that it was simple but the ravine crocs are resistant to magic, somewhat. How?"

"Wasn't it because of what we're doing?"

"Huh?"

Catra leaned in.

"Do you remember why we're getting all this blood?" He said as their golems flashed brightly.

Seconds afterward, Catra's eyes narrowed at the downward incline they'd gone into, the space around them going dark before brightening up with artificial light.

"Isn't it because they wanted it for their big project?" The cloaked woman asked.

"Well, yeah, but it was more than that… Okay, so, I heard, accidentally," he emphasized as the woman snickered. "That apparently the guy needs this for himself. I mean, you've seen him, that guy does not look healthy. I'm surprised he can walk much less work."

"Ugh, yeah, I see what you mean."

"So, I think that has a big part in how he's able to do this for us. He seems like he's used to messing with animals and… Well, the First Ones' Tech he's using seems like some kinda test tube."

Catra's jaw dropped. 'Wait, actual First Ones' Tech?!' This just got big!

No way!

Then, her ride stopped and Catra looked around with a frown.

The icy spires shooting up and around in an odd but organized manner, the large amount of odd boxes, and the… animals.

The numerous animals that seemed subdued by glowing energy particles and a floating ensignia.

'What the hell is this?' She thought before freezing at the two cloaked ones coming around to their cargo.

"Alright, that's two Ice Hounds of Douo Village," the man said as they undid the tarp and snapped it off, staring directly at their catch. "This is the last of 'em in the Land of Snows. I really wonder what we could have accomplished with the greatest animals from all the kingdoms. Like those giant skeletal monsters near the Crimson Waste."

"Or the Roc Harpies from the south of the Fright Zone?" The woman smirked as she came around with a whistle. "Still, just these guys alone, from our own nation, this ought to bring our lives to life tomorrow… And, in the meantime."

The man jumped before holding his ass. "Come on! Not in front of the animals!" He said as he walked off with her right behind him. "Fine… On the hour, every hour?"

"Oh, you know me too well!"

Leaving their cargo, they never noticed the slinking Catra unfurl from the top of it and shoot up onto the balls of her feet and palms.

She looked around. 'Yeah, they're going to kill me for this.'

~NRK~

"I'm going to wring her neck!" Adora roared as the group were encased by a ball of golden energy and flown to Catra's location via Rutadora for two hours already.

"Wow, I guess Catra really gets under her skin," Kyle whispered to the snickering Lonnie. "And Naruto does the same for Catra so in a checks and balances sort of way…"

"You think Adora can get under Naruto's skin," the dread-haired girl considered. "I mean, Catra gets on Adora's nerves because she keeps on basically running against protocol on her own selfish wants. Naruto gets on Catra's nerves because she thinks he's an idiot. A self-proclaimed one, at that."

Rogelio smirked as Kyle chuckled a bit.

"Ooh! So, how does it work between Naruto and Adora?!" Scorpia whispered with interest.

"Hmm," Kyle considered it, minding their blonde female leader. "If I had to say it, Adora might not 'annoy' him but she probably flusters him. I know she can get to him without trying, sometimes. D-Don't tell her I saw it but you know how she likes using Naruto as a podium sometimes?"

Lonnie and Rogelio snorted in unison as Scorpia's eyes shined in wonder.

"W-Well, Naruto blushes a lot at that, especially if she surprises him which is kind of ironic."

"I can imagine why," Lonnie snickered perversely. "One, Adora's not lacking in assets and she doesn't seem to realize she uses it on Naruto, a lot of the time."

Kyle blushed while Rogelio's thought bubble popped into existence, showing a '1-ton' weight over a grinning Adora's chest-

"No! Stop it!" The human boy waved the image away, wheezing in shock as Scorpia laughed.

His eyes went to her chest and his cheek began to twitch.

"Oh, I get it," the scorpion woman grinned. "Naru's really easy, that must be it!"

The way Lonnie nearly wheezed out of existence said she was onto something!

Adora, meanwhile, touched her sword's handle over her shoulder. 'Still, they'd get there in under a day's time?' That wasn't right.

How?

"Rutadora, can you get Naruto right now?" She whispered.

"No, I-I can't do two things at once. Stuff like this," the girl responded mentally.

A limitation. Well, they had been getting too many advantages, huh?

Just great.

"Can you get us there faster, somehow?"

"... I-I don't know, maybe?"

"What do you mean?" Adora blinked.

"Well, dad and me talked about a ton of stuff wind magic can do. He said that I could probably speed up with it but I'm not great at that kinda control," Rutadora explained, gaining the others' attention. "So, I don't know what'll happen…"

"There are times where we need to take chances, Ruta," Adora declared. "Do it. Everyone! Brace yourselves!" She ordered as the others balked. "We're getting experimental!"

"WHAT?!" The others said.

Then, the familiar's body glowed.

"GOING SUPER FAST… NOW!"

They nearly broke through the back of her transportation ball.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

~NRK~

Naruto perked up from his meditative sleep.

"H-Huh?" He blinked, looking around before noticing the weight on his arm. "... Hmm," Naruto's eyes softened at the sleeping Princess's form currently wrapped around his bicep. 'I figured,' he chuckled, glowing hand coming around to pat her hand gently.

"Thank you, for everything," a familiar voice said, Naruto's head turning to see the smiling guard from before. "I know… I can tell that you seem to understand her, somewhat," he said, pulling off his furred hood.

He had light-tan skin, dark blue hair in a wolf's tail…And cobalt blue eyes…

"... Why?" Naruto asked him with a soft frown as the man sighed. "You chose to be near her but she's clearly all alone," he stressed.

"I couldn't handle it…" He admitted. "The sheer colds that tore apart our lands, the blood on my hands, and the threat of the Horde, I couldn't handle it," the man, Frosta's FATHER, stated. "I didn't have the proper qualities to protect them but Frosta did."

"What?"

"Did you know, around the age of seven, Frosta's powers fully manifested in a way I couldn't imagine?" The former king said. "When she connected with her Runestone, she stopped the frigid frosts and winds, even for a moment, because she saw a caravan being labored by them. She had a power to protect them that I didn't and I had a choice to make."

"You should have stayed by her side," Naruto uttered without contempt, hate, or vitriol, the man's head dropping further. "Even if you had made her the ruler, you should have guided her."

"She would have inherited my mistakes… Frosta is a good girl, she's strong, she has great potential, she could have fixed what I couldn't."

"But she needs more than experience, she needs guidance, she needs friends, she needs HER PARENTS. Can you imagine what that's like?" Naruto whispered. "To be thrust into a situation where you have no idea what to do but so much responsibility? Something you didn't know about, couldn't really handle, and needed someone's help?"

"Yes… Yes I do."

"..." Naruto sighed before leaning back in his seat, glowing hand patting the relaxed Frosta's head some more. "You have a responsibility, you have a daughter who needs your help now more than ever before. You need to fix that."

"Even if I make a horrid mistake that costs her future?" The man asked.

"Like I told her earlier," Naruto said with a grin. "Lower that chance so it doesn't become a thing in the first place. You guys are stronger together than you'll ever be apart," he stated as the man sighed.

"I can't promise anything, Uzumaki, I'm a coward."

"Even cowards can become better than who they are… And it's almost time to show it," Naruto said as their cart began to slow down. "We're here."

When they fully stopped, the former king hid his face once more and smacked against the wood.

"Wake up," he said to the group of guards and Frosta. "It's almost time. Shake off your woes and dreariness, we'll rest for the next six hours," he declared to them, jumping out the back as Frosta blinked awake.

"M-Mmm?" She mumbled, rubbing her face into his arm. "W-What?" Frosta asked before yawning behind her hand. "What's… ACK?!" She jumped back, utterly embarrassed, as Naruto snickered at her red face. "NOTHING!" Frosta squealed before hurrying out the back only to be helped out by 'that guard'. "T-Thank you!" She said quickly before running around to the front.

Naruto grinned for the former king who huffed.

"Yes, yes," the man said as the fox boy came out. "Cowardice is bad."

"A bit but drowning in it is worse," Naruto said before rubbing the back of his head. "Actually, what's your name, old man?"

The man blinked before staring him in the eyes.

"..."

"..."

"... 'Wunder'," he admitted as Naruto grinned. "It's 'Blue', for my guard duties."

"I won't tell a soul, Blue."

They walked to the front where Frosta blushed and looked away from the blonde.

Naruto just kept on grinning. "Alright, so, this is close to one of your lakes?" He asked, looking out at the town they were in. 'Damn, look at all those animals,' Naruto muttered, noting just how strong the creatures were from their vitality alone this far away. 'Can I beat most of these things?'

Maybe a couple, he's sure, but he had a feeling he'd need Sage Mode for all of them.

"Alright, ma'am," the driver rolled his shoulder. "This is it, the Ava Caves are right over there past the horizon," the guard pointed to the divide where the sky and land met. "It's taken over ten hours to reach here."

"I can see," Frosta rubbed at her eye quickly, their haggard bear slumped into the ground. "Get some rest, w-we need to be prepared for the morning," she declared into the early morning sky. 'Gain experience?' The girl didn't get what the blonde boy could mean.

Was he not only half a decade older than she? How could he know?

… What kind of life had he lived up to this point to have this odd 'wisdom'?

As the group moved further into the town, Naruto's senses piqued off of something in the far-off distance.

'Catty?' He blinked in confusion at the increase of energy from his familiar. 'What?' Naruto blinked.

What was she doing? Was she training?

Naruto frowned as he followed behind Frosta. 'Weird…' He thought.

---

They got situated right away, allowing Frosta to gawk at the blonde's ability to eat like a madman!

Naruto chuckled a bit as he swallowed one more large foot-wide bowl of broth and meat, plating his sixth bowl down and leaving the Princess shaking in shock.

"W-What are you?! Are you some sort of beast?!" She shrieked in disbelief as most of the guards laughed or barely stopped themselves from doing so. "Y-Your Princess demands an answer!" Frosta exclaimed with swirly eyes. "Where'd all the food go?!"

"... Into my stomach?" Naruto offered as all the guards laughed. "Look, it's not like I can just give ya the science of it. I'm just a guy who uses a lot of energy. To be fair, over the past twenty hours, I haven't eaten at all. That includes sleep, to be fair."

"TWENTY hours?!" Who was this weird boy?!

---

An hour later, Naruto nodded as he swung out with his ax, body glowing gold as he chopped down with one hand.

He spun back while slashing up before he finished it with another chop that dented the earth beneath his feet, hovering a foot above the ground.

At the side of his 'workout area', Frosta's eyes shone with the awe of a child as she followed each of the blonde's movements with fervor, Blue next to her.

"I-I never considered using a weapon before," Frosta whispered in awe as Naruto swung out and tossed up the cool winds. "A-And a Princess should know more about defending herself!" She said quickly to the arm-crossing Blue, her cheeks reddening.

With only the three of them out there and the others asleep, they found themselves here a bit near the back of the town.

"Yes, well… I've considered it," he began as she perked up. "But your control over your powers, madam, need more perfecting."

"Ugh," she whined as he smiled a bit.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, a spiral of icy winds dispersing around him as his head snapped up. "W-What?!" He wheezed as the two on the sidelines perked up.

"What's wrong?" Blue asked with a frown as he and Frosta hurried over. "Did something happen to your powers?"

"W-What? No, no, that's not… Crap," Naruto's head snapped in the direction of the sacred lakes. "I need to go and deal with the cult now," he told the two with a grimace, latching his weapon back onto his back.

"Wait, what, why?!" Frosta choked. "U-Uzumaki, we have a whole three hours left!" What was up?

Naruto grimaced before sighing. "Okay, look, I have a sensory ability," he told them, shocking the two. "And I came here with a group, my team and friends, and we were the ones looking for Chackles and not just me. The thing is, I can sense them, they're all either heading towards the cult or there already!" What the hell was Catra doing?! "I need to go now."

"B-But what about the plan?!" Frosta shot back. "What'll you do if there's a cave-in?!"

"... I'll find a way, I have to. I have people to protect, Frosta."

The girl was shocked before it all melted into determination.

"Then, take us with you," she compromised, getting a wide-eyed look from Naruto. "I-I'm a kid but I can help, Uzumaki… Please?" Frosta pleaded.

The young man winced before sighing. "Blue, please, look after her. I'll promise the both of you," Naruto said seriously as Frosta beamed. "I'm not letting you guys get hurt, count on it," he promised as he unraveled his scarf.

~NRK~

Catra, meanwhile, kept on sneaking. 'I don't even know how many hours later and I have no idea where the hell I am in this place,' she thought to herself with a frown. 'What's going on? It's like my fur's standing on end all over.'

She always had a bit of superstition in her despite how weird that sounded.

Yet, that was telling her that something crazy was up-

'Mom!'

Catra nearly yelled, body twitching painfully as she registered what had just happened.

'C-Catty?!' What the hell was she doing here?!

… Oh n-

"Catra, I'm going to KICK YOU!" The familiar shout of Adora had Catra sweating.

Whelp, she was boned.

'I still didn't find anything, though,' that was kind of ridiculous but considering the labyrinth of a place these caves were, she couldn't be blamed, could she? "Dammit, where is it-"

The roars and cries of animals rocked her surroundings, alarming her.

'What the hell?' Catra looked around in disbelief. 'What's going on?!'

Then, the area began to rumble, a powerful green glow shooting out of her peripheral and tinting nearly all the blue ice around her the same color.

'... That way,' her eyes narrowed before she slunk between glowing green ice and crystals up what had to be a ramp and then down a corridor.

The closer she was, she observed, the louder things got before they began to reach a crescendo of shrill barks, roars, and gurgles that nearly stunned her.

"I-It's so loud," she groaned in an icy patch above, gritting her teeth before removing earplugs from her pockets.

Stuffing them in did wonders, especially due to her ears' enhanced nature, so the only thing that quaked were her eyes as the place kept rumbling.

'Thank you, gun muffs!' She thought with narrowed eyes, each 'slink' cautious and controlled as she made it out of the previous cavern to find the source… 'What the hell are they doing?'

Catra's eyes widened in horror at all the assembled animals currently being sucked up by a ball of light that pulsed green.

All around the cavern, magicians in familiar cloaks dropped their arms and gasped.

"It's fine, for now, we'll rest before using the next set of animals!" One of them declared.

His cloak was black but bordered by crystal-like blue gems that shined green before it faded away. Being tall but thin, he spoke in a strong tone that allowed the 'normal cloaks' to rest.

"Feed yourselves and rest, tonight will be our grand departure!"

They all agreed in some fashion, Catra's hackles raising at the fact. 'These bastards,' she wanted to just attack, now… But she knew better even if a bit late.

Her team was around and if they were-

'Dad's nearby!' Catty told her and her hackles relaxed, the cat girl's eyes closing at that.

'I figured, he's one for coming at the perfect time, isn't he?' She thought back.

~NRK~

They snuck into the Ava Caves with huffs, relief, and a glare, in Adora's case.

"I'm gonna…" She growled quietly as Catty's wings shined softly. "Rutadora, how far is Naruto from here?"

The familiar nodded before closing her eyes and raising her arms.

A red pulse shot out, alarming the group before images beamed themselves into their heads.

Of Naruto, burning gold, hurrying towards them with two people with him-

"He's bringing the Princess?" Kyle asked quietly, looking outside nervously with Rogelio. "C-Can we go in more, please?!" He pleaded quickly.

Adora nodded, filing away Rutadora's newest skill. 'I mean, in a way, it adds up,' mental links between her, Naruto, and Catra.

Sensing. They were already passing on information, why wouldn't she be able to do this?

"From that distance," Adora told them, eyes closed as she focused on him.

On Naruto.

"He's not that far away, especially with how much he's enhancing himself," she frowned. "... Unfortunately, it's necessary. We need everyone and just him, those two, and Catra with us is ten people. Rutadora, how many people are here?"

The familiar's eyebrows scrunched together as the floor pulsed again.

"... T-Thirty people? I think?" The girl said unsurely. "One of them is really strong a-and mom's near him!" Rutadora said worriedly.

"I know, I know."

Adora kneeled to her level with a smile, patting her head. "You're doing us a big favor, thank you. I'm sure Naruto and Catra are grateful, too."

The girl nodded with wilted ears.

~NRK~

Naruto's eyes widened before they narrowed, goggles over his eyes even if his warm body denied any snow or sleet from getting closer.

'Dammit!' He carried Frosta while Blue kept his arms tight around the young man's neck, Naruto using his magic arm's 'extendy' abilities to the fullest to keep the two close as he shot across the land at insane speeds. 'Dammit! If those animals get in our way,' it'd likely be too late.

He could feel Catra's presence and it was near one of the toughest enemies within there.

He trusted in her abilities against physical opponents but magicians… Naruto didn't know.

And that's why he needed to speed this up!

"... Dammit," he'd burn it down a bit but he still had ten miles to get.

No time for hesitation!

"Sage Mode," the boy's eyes closed for a mere moment.

And made a connection.

Frosta had been utterly baffled by both Naruto's urgency and stamina.

So, you could imagine her shock and awe when he transformed and turned into a ten-foot-tall teenager!

"Bwah?!" She wheezed, easily held in one arm by the rather powerful teen. "W-What's going on?!"

"It's another part of why my team is after her," Naruto admitted, cross-shaped pupils blazing open and startling the Princess some more before she flushed at a feeling.

At warmth, at a connection with Naruto.

The space around just the two of them 'flashed', showing a pair of Runestones… A PRINCE?!

Her eyes shone at the feeling, body glowing. '... He's empowering me,' the feeling… Frosta held her chest.

Warm. It was so amazing and warm.

Was this what he felt like all the time? She could see where the wisdom came from.

This kind of warmth survived the world, hadn't it?

Blue was just shocked as Naruto shifted his altered arm to bring the man to his front with his daughter.

"Hold on, I'm going FASTER," the glowing blonde declared.

He took one last, ridiculous, step.

And then they were FLYING over large amounts of earth, snow, and ice, Frosta's jaw dropping as the air only rustled her hair a bit. Looking down was like seeing the world from the stars while the speed they went at made her feel so light.

Yet, the closer they got, the more worried the Princess became as she noted the animals even from this great a height. It really made one aware of how much presence those creatures had.

Still, Naruto skipped the entirety of them but still frowned at the agitated creatures behind him by the cave.

"I'm gonna have to deal with them," he told the two as he put them down by the cave entrance. "My team, my friends, are down that way… And, well," Naruto looked bashful. "Just, trust me when I say this, despite what it looks like, WE are trying to do some good."

A Hinter Bear roared, rocking the air with a shockwave aimed right at them.

Naruto batted it aside with one hand, eyes narrowed. "GO!" He turned and crouched low.

And soon after, the bear was sent flying with the large teen's feet flying into its gut.

Frosta's jaw dropped again before she was pulled further into the Ava Caves by Blue.

"Ma'am! This way!" He told her, quickly picking her up and running. "I'm sure he's aware of his abilities, we need to meet up with this group of his and stop this madness, I suppose," Blue said as Frosta swallowed before nodding.

"A-Alright," she said even as she cast a worried glance backward. "..."

"You're being very brave but, as he said, please trust in us."

She bit her lip and nodded.

~NRK~

Catra had followed him, that seemingly different magician from the others, with a frown.

Her mind kept thumping with 'something' as if to remind her of some fact or some such.

Something that had her becoming more and more nervous as she followed that odd cloaked man into another large cavern that held only one cage in it.

Her eyes widened at the shadowy beast within, its form impossible to make out due to the haze surrounding it but its green eyes, ones holding eight-pointed pupils, trembled as they looked down at the man.

"Hmph, it's time for you to come out," he said as Catra's body trembled.

Her eyes widened as the man's cloak's gems shined red.

---

"No magician worth their worth will allow their bodies to remain so unprotected," Shadow Weaver scoffed.

---

She'd almost been too late as eyes formed on each crystal.

Catra jumped out of the way.

And her previous location exploded into a green cloud.

"Shit!" She slid to a stop against the ground on her hands and feet, eyes narrowed and mouth hissing at the man as he turned to face her-

Black eyes trembled in disgust and horror as a half-human face greeted her, along with a shifting disfigurement of some kind of green meat.

She was immediately disgusted beyond understanding. "You disgusting bastard, what the hell did you do to yourself?" Catra's eyes glinted as she leaned back before unclipping her hammer. "Know what? Never mind, my hammer will fix it!"

She hefted the weapon in one hand before rushing the magician who grimaced before swinging out his hand.

Catra saw the haze of green and twitched her nose.

'Not poison, must be corruption,' she thought before jumping up and over it, the man grimacing. 'Thought I was too slow, did ya?!'

She got in close and swung out, the man gliding back while sending out more waves of green haze.

Catra lunged around them, circling the moving man with a smug look before darting in.

He crossed his arms, the gem on his cape glowing, before a shield of green expanded outward.

She jumped, spun, and swung with both her hands along with her entire body behind it.

The hammer 'BANGED' against the barrier, sending the man off his feet and bouncing against a wall with a wet gasp and a series of cracks.

"S-Strong?!" He looked offended, on the ground, as she walked over with a grin and her hammer propped onto her shoulder. "You'd get in the way of greatness?!" The man growled as he got to his feet.

"Greatness? Kiss my ass… Actually, that's too good for you," Catra snarked before cupping her chin with a hum. "Kiss my feet, idiot, you wouldn't know greatness if it bit you."

"The ways of culture elude you."

"Yeah, yeah, 'culture'. You're full of it, you know that?"

The man's finger twitched and her eyes narrowed,

The magician's melty-face shifted into that of a rhino's with a glowing horn.

His haze waves were pulled together at Catra's position, crushing the ground with a hiss.

"Hmph, foolish children don't know better-AH!" The man began to gloat only for a pair of feet to slam into his human face half, sending him flying as Catra landed.

"Are you an idiot?" She asked him in disbelief. "You honestly think I wouldn't know about gas traps? You dumbass!" Catra taunted before lunging at the scrambling man again. 'It's a good thing we did simulation training.'

It'd been another of Naruto's 'specific' regimens, enhancing their reaction times.

Catra knew about gas traps, of course she did, she worked with the Horde but she hadn't expected the man to pull them in like that.

Any slower and she might have been tagged.

'Another 1 for Naru,' she'd been keeping a tally if you'd believe it.

At present, Naruto was winning against her and Adora at 3-1-1.

Her opponent just grimaced, holding his face with a growl and glowing green eyes that gave Catra pause.

"If you guys wanna die so badly, do it by yourselves, idiot. Keep the rest of us out of it," she told him with a frown.

"The world will know truth when we revel in the darkness!" The man declared as his cloak flared out and glowed green, the glowing crystals around them brightening before energy shot off of them and into his back. "You think you can handle us, GIRL?!"

Catra's eyebrows shot up before she grimaced and rushed him. 'Crap! Get him! Get him!' She told herself.

"FACE MY TRUTH!" The man shouted before glowing. "COME WITH US TO THE WORLD BEYOND!"

Catra's eyes widened too late, the light from the man's body growing stronger.

And then he exploded.

The explosion rocked the cavern and covered her in heat and light. "D-DAMMIT!" She cursed.

She messed up-!

"D-Dammit, Catra!" Came a familiar voice as Catra blinked behind her raised arms, hammer on the ground. "I-I'm gonna kick you… SO HARD for this!"

The cat girl balked at Adora's side, her fellow Captain grimaced as her barrier flickered and cracked… No, wait, that wasn't all?

Catra's eyes widened in shock. 'What the hell did she do to her?' She wondered.

Looking at the flowing black shadow-like marks running down Adora's cheeks, one could be forgiven for thinking she was using some kind of magic.

Forming a tiara of shadows around her forehead, Adora's eyes flashed yellow before her sword glowed.

The barrier solidified as the explosion pelted it more and more before it all began to die down.

The light, the heavy scent of magic, and the rumbling, it all fell away save for the last.

Adora frowned as she kept her barrier active. 'It's like my mind's so clear… To magic,' it was an odd sensation, to all of a sudden recognize magic as another 'sense' made her feel weird.

It wasn't like the feeling of Shadow Weaver's presence, no, magic was a whole different thing.

'And this enhancement… It allows me to feel it!'

Catra's eyes remained transfixed on the grin forming on Adora's face, the cat girl's expression becoming nervous.

Still, with the barrier still up and the explosion over with, they could finally see the 'results'.

And Catra grimaced at the… The plaster on the wall that had formerly been a human, well, assumedly a human.

"The guy I fought," Catra began slowly, frowning as Adora's expression flinched as if snapped out of a trance. "... He had a mutated face," she told her slowly.

Adora rubbed her forehead. "Y-Yeah? That's certainly not normal," she muttered, eyes half-lidded. 'I might have gotten a bit drowsy off of that,' definitely not something she should do often.

Even if the trade-off was all that power.

Her eyes widened before they closed and she sighed, the barrier still up. "... Dammit, Catra, why?" She reprimanded her fellow disciple, her sister-in-arms.

"I needed to make a last-second decision. Besides, we'd have never gotten here as fast if it wasn't for me, right?" Catra debated.

"Naruto was coming with an entire group of warriors, we would have made it!"

"No, we wouldn't have," she countered as she and Adora locked eyes. "They were planning something tonight. It's still morning, Adora, we couldn't let these guys get that much time. Even now, there's some weirdass magic going on in another room!"

Adora frowned at that and Catra flinched at the glow in her eyes. "You shouldn't have run ahead," she warned one more time before sighing. "I… I-I understand?" Adora ran her hand through her hair before nodding. "You're right in this regard but you dying would have been an alternative we wouldn't have been happy with."

Catra flinched at the reminder. "D-Dammit… I'm sorry, alright? I didn't think he would… I should have realized he'd be willing to do some crazy stuff like this," in the grand scheme of things?

That was probably true. She should have realized that people who'd be willing to die and bring everyone else with them weren't gonna be too worried about their own lives.

"Come on, we need to go and stop that-" She began to say, eyes going to the doorway into the room., only to be cut off by the sound of cracking metal.

Then, the sound of something bursting with numerous clangs and pings of dropping bars.

The two froze before slowly turning around to see a shifting being's shaking form.

"Oh… I-I kinda forgot about… That thing."

That vague appearance pretty much fell away, the dark haze coming off its shoulders.

"A minotaur?" Adora uttered as she looked at it. "W-What? No, that's not a minota-"

Its black scaly-hide made one think of a lizardman but it was so aggressive, so much more angular and thick with powerful eyeridges.

It was a seemingly twenty-foot-tall humanoid in shape with a long tail, a white underbelly, and double-jointed legs.

And then it roared.

The force nearly had Adora reproducing her barrier. "I-It's so strong!" She grit her teeth as she and Catra shielded their faces with their arms, hair flying back with their headdresses/hair bands snapping or flying off.

The shout caused the cavern to rumble again before it settled, leaving the shadowy reptilian to stare at them with quickly clockwise-thinning pupils.

Its form rushed them, each of its large steps sending tremors through the ground before it turned and crossed its arms.

Gunfire rained down on them before large cubes of ice climbed up its legs.

"Hit it hard!" Lonnie declared as Rogelio nodded and rushed forward before taking a knee, the large gun on his shoulder lighting up. "FIRE!"

It did, releasing a yellow laser beam that slammed into the black creature's chest and sent it careening into the icy walls of the cavern, causing more large ice blocks and rock to fall around them…

And then they all stopped, a familiar Princess's arms raised and her form glowing blue as the cavern's environment froze before returning to normal with a similar glow.

Crystals reset, the ground renewed itself, and the falling shards fit back into the roof.

In less than ten seconds, the entire area was back to normal save for the explosive crater that creature had found itself in.

Frosta blinked, looking down at her hands in shock as she stopped. "I-It's so easy," she said in disbelief. "W-What did Uzumaki do to my powers?!" The girl balked.

"W-Where's dad?!" Catty asked urgently.

"Dad?!"

Blue wheezed at his flinch, the near involuntary callback blocked in his throat.

"She means Naruto!" Kyle told Frosta who blinked. "Um… Oh! Well, you know him as 'Uzumaki' but his full name is 'Naruto Uzumaki'," he explained to her, the Princess's head tilting.

"W-What's wrong with his name?!"

"It's an acquired taste,' he chuckled nervously. "But she's right, where is he-?"

The area rumbled, the sounds of muffled roars gaining the group's worried attention.

"That should be him," Blue said, confusing the group as Catra and Adora hurried over. "The animals above were agitated, he stayed behind in some powerful form to deal with them. He said he'd meet us here."

"He's using Sage Mode up?!" Lonnie wheezed, all of a sudden not comfortable while the others weren't far behind. "Dude?!"

"Yes, he called it that… Is that bad?"

"Sage Mode has a time limit," Catra explained as the man froze. "Five minutes."

"I-It took us almost three minutes to get here," Kyle said. "We ran as fast as we could and, thankfully, we could hear Catra's fight but…"

"Less than two minutes… If he's not done before another minute passes, we might be screwed," Lonnie said. "Naruto's our best hope of getting out of here without problems."

The room rumbled as a familiar shadowy creature removed itself from the hole in the wall.

"And this guy doesn't look like the type to go down easy."

Adora and Catra readied themselves at the front of the group. "The more time we waste here, the more chances they'll box us in!" Adora called out before focusing. "... You guys need to go," she told them as shadows began to coil in from every nook and cranny that they could.

The gathering of darkness slipped further and further into her weapon before it buzzed at a high-frequency, Adora's eyes rimmed by similar shadows.

"Y-Yo, what the fuck?!" Catra cursed as Adora held her blade aloft and shot her a look.

The way the cat girl flinched back had Adora frowning before she looked down at her free hand.

It clenched and the dark tiara around her head buzzed as well.

"It's something, Catra," she said, voice distorted and getting a worried look from her friend. "The enhancement spell, it was a COPY of Shadow Weaver's manipulation powers. It bolstered my shadow and gave me increased strength and ACTUAL MAGIC. The deeper I go, the more I can pull but I can't handle it," Adora grimaced, one eye closed, as the group balked at her sharp canines. "I-It's similar to Naruto's power, with the strength we need, this won't last!" Her eyes flashed black.

That black beast crouched low, steam slipping from its jaws.

Her eyes narrowed before she began to walk towards it with narrowed eyes. 'This is what I wanted,' she thought with a single breath. 'Time to prove it!'

The creature lunged at her.

Adora braced her weapon in front of her.

The wall of shadows that shot out deflected the reptilian monster with a single command.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" Her weapon flickered with that shadowy power.

It trembled even now, the monster's body bouncing off her shield before its fists reared back.

They punched and the blow rocked the cavern.

"What are you guys still doing here?!" Adora shouted at the gawking group who flinched. "GO!"

"Adora, I…" Catra's tail went limp as Adora looked back at her.

She grinned.

"I've got this," she told her before facing the creature again. "I'll meet up with you guys after this guy is done with!"

Tighten your stance.

Her feet crushed the ground beneath them.

Expand your senses.

She could smell it, taste it, feel it.

MAGIC.

---

"Again, hmm? Adora, what's stopping you from just… trying?" Shadow Weaver asked her with a hum and raised brow.

Adora rubbed the back of her head, visiting her mentor to ask 'that question' again. "I know, it's just…" She looked down at her weapon. "You don't say anything about the third spell and say I just need to use it, eventually. I just don't know when that'd be."

Odd. Usually, Adora knew she was always prepared to train her abilities and try out things.

She'd wanted this sword. She'd been given one with her master's blessing so why…

Why did she hesitate?

Shadow Weaver noticed, putting down a book and getting up. "You're hesitant… Why? Is it not to your specification? We can get that change," the sorceress said, confused.

"... I don't know what's wrong with me but I don't want to use it, not yet… Something tells me this is a last resort," Adora said to her. "M-Maybe I'm just being stupid, I'm acting like this is some secret weapon or-"

"Adora."

The young woman froze as Shadow Weaver glided forward, hands folded by her waist.

"When the time comes for you to use it," the woman began, reaching out and cupping her cheek. "Remember these three rules."

"Tighten your nerves."

Adora shivered.

"Expand your mind."

Her eyes looked up at her teacher's soft gaze.

"And when you do those two things, there's just one more," Shadow Weaver said with a nod, hand coming up to pat the young woman's head. "Just… Let go."

---

"... Alright," Adora's shield rebuffed the monster one last time before coalescing back into her blade. "Let's go."

The darkness sheathed her and the moment the monster's fist came back around and down, she slipped in and swung.

The trail of shadows propelled her weapon and herself.

So, seconds later, she skid to a stop behind the creature with a gasp as something thick and wet fell at her side.

Her eyes snapped behind her at the roaring creature holding onto its stump of a right arm, its eyes dilated to impossible-to-see points that turned on her.

Just her… Adora grinned, those shadows coiling further around her as she did.

"Right here, you big idiot," she taunted as it ran at her.

Her eyes flickered to the entrance before she nodded.

Alright, time to prove herself.

~NRK~

Naruto grimaced as the humongous crocodile just kept going!

'I'm not gonna make it like this!' He grimaced.

These creatures weren't small fry like the corrupted spider had been and they were somehow TOUGHER just by being themselves!

With the Hinter Bears and Leopard Worms defeated, he'd only had these two crocs left but he knew he was running out of time.

"... Sorry about this," he declared as he held his ax out before it began to 'shear' with the power of his wind. "I didn't want to hurt you, just knock you out," Naruto told the narrow-eyed creature. "This doesn't need to happen…" His eyes widened as his growing aura dropped, the young man standing up in shock.

At the smaller, normal-adult-sized-crocodile-sized baby ravine crocs peeking out of the waters.

"... Alright then," he rubbed the back of his head before turning around and just… leaving.

They didn't follow, of course they didn't.

He was the one encroaching on their space, their nest.

Naruto hurried towards the Ava Caves with a frown, still, deactivated Sage Mode as he reached the entrance.

He expanded his senses and sighed in relief at all lives being accounted for- "What the hell is going on with Adora?" Naruto uttered in shock, shooting into the cave before sliding down a series of slopes. "ADORA!"

~NRK~

Catra sent the last two magicians careening into the wall with a growl. "SHUT THIS DOWN!" She shouted at the last one currently held at pincer point by Scorpia.

"Yeah, guy, don't make me use these things!" The woman declared at the grimacing man.

"H-Hahahaha! It's too late, you buffoons!" He growled at them with a laugh. "The ritual has already started and, now, it will finish sooner than normal due to your interference!"

Kyle's eyes widened. "What?!" He wheezed as Rogelio growled.

Lonnie kissed her teeth before holding up a stun baton and coming forward. "I'm gonna keep hitting you in the balls with this," she shook the stun baton, getting a flinch out of the man. "Unless you tell us what the hell you're talking about…"

"Tsk… The ritual was always a volatile one, it's either to be completed or it will finish prematurely. It's not meant to be stopped! The only reason you beat us was because we tired ourselves out-BZZZZZTTTT!"

Scorpia dropped the man with a nervous look at the magic circle, his stunned form twitching on the ground. "Uh, guys, what do we do?" She asked the group.

Frosta looked around with a grimace. "W-What can we…" She looked down at her glowing hands.

Use them… Just seal the area up and stop this all from exploding.

She froze as the group grew more antsy.

"So, what? We just… We leave it here?" Lonnie asked nervously as the ball of light began to grow. "Guys!"

"I know! But, right now, what can we do?!" Catra grimaced as Catty looked worried, her hand finding itself in Catra's without thought. "..." The young woman gripped it back as they looked at the ball.

"... M-Maybe I can keep it here?" The familiar offered as Blue choked and Kyle wheezed.

"Catty! That thing will become a monster, y-you can't just take that on your own!" He said with a look of horror and concern on his face.

The room vibrated as the ball pulsed.

"I-I can just hold it here until dad gets here, he's coming!" She said. "A-And he, me, we'd hate it if you guys all got hurt!"

Frosta froze, eyes snapping to the younger-than-even-her girl in the room.

"Look, no matter what," Catra kneeled down and held her shoulders. "That's not happening. We can just fight that thing."

"B-But it's too powerful! I-If you guys get hurt… I can't let you guys die if I can do something!"

The Princess's eyes dilated.

---

Frosta swallowed at that. "M-Mistakes could cost my people everything."

"Then make sure those mistakes are only small. Do your best to lead them, not copy the people in the past."

---

"Like I said, you'll get it, I promise. Hopefully, not to jinx you, it comes at a time where you can fix your mistakes and become a more amazing person."

---

"No, no, no, look at me," Catra lifted the ear-wilting girl's head to lock gaze with miserable eyes. '... Dammit.'

Catty was in her arms in seconds, shocking her. "M-Mom-"

"Don't be an idiot, not me, Adora, your dad, or the others want you down here alone. Hell, your pops would never look me in the eyes again," she muttered. "So, this is a team effort," Catra declared while standing up. "Kyle, how much dynamite do we have?"

"H-Huh!? Catra?! T-That'll bring this whole place down on us!" Kyle choked as she shook her head. "H… Oh no," he said with a pale face as he grinned nervously. "... This is gonna go horribly, isn't it?"

"If we're lucky."

"... Rogelio and Scorpia brought all our stock," he explained as the young lizard man nodded, backpack shown. "Thirty bundles, 90 lbs."

"Good. Put 'em all around the room," Catra said. "We got detonators, yeah?"

"Yep," Lonnie groaned. "This is gonna suck, isn't it?" She asked reluctantly as she took the explosives out of Rogelio's backpack while Kyle did the same for Scorpia. "Well, it's par for the course, I guess."

Kyle, she, Scorpia, and Rogelio worked with the items and placed them around the room, connecting them with long cables before pulling out a trio of detonators with glowing green lights.

"Alright, let's go," Catra said as they backed out of the room slowly. "... Catty, can you put up some kind of barrier? Something to keep whatever's in there, in there?"

The small girl pouted before shaking her head. "I-I don't have that kind of control, mom."

"It's fine, we'll just-"

"I-I can do it!" Frosta exclaimed, swallowing with a determined expression. "Y-You just need a heavy wall… Right?" She asked Catra who blinked before rubbing the back of her head.

"I mean, yeah, but can you do it? Will your ice be enough?" She asked, unsurely.

Frosta's hands twitched before Blue held her shoulders. "It will be, she's strong," he said simply as Frosta nodded quickly before taking a deep breath. "It's a bit nerve-wracking, I bet," he admitted as her eyebrow twitched. "But it's sadly part of the job."

Frosta blinked at his solemn smile.

"You can do it, Frosta, just focus. A leader isn't made in a day nor is she great at the same time but you can just do your best."

The Princess considered his words before nodding. "Alright," she whispered before holding up her hands.

Her form glowed as she closed her eyes.

---

Naruto blinked at a feeling in his chest.

A full connection, huh?

He kept sliding even as he held his hand to his torso.

"..." He closed his eyes. 'I can feel you, Frosta, focus. I'm right here.'

---

She lifted her arms along with 'him'.

That astral form of Naruto.

They flexed out their hands before their eyes snapped open.

Ice erupted around the room and the magic circle, the suddenness and sheer amount getting a jump out of Catra and the others.

"W-Whoa," Kyle whispered, looking at Frosta as flakes of frost rained down past them. "Even at her age, she is a Princess," he admitted. "A powerful one at that, no wonder they want her as their ruler."

Frosta's cheeks reddened at that… But she grinned all the same, that astral image of Naruto chuckling before vanishing as she lowered her hands.

"U-Um, yeah, I hope you don't mind all the ice!" She said to the group as 'Blue' smiled. "I hope magic on my level doesn't get in the way," Frosta grinned 'smugly'.

Catra's eyebrow twitched as the man chuckled.

"Let's just thank our stars," he said.

---

Adora slid under a swinging arm before cleaving off the fingers of the creature's hand.

She grinned, running between its legs before performing one quick rotation and jumping away from an awkward punch, the creature hitting its knees as she grinned wildly again.

~NRK~

Shadow Weaver chuckled from her office at the Horde Empire.

"She's using it," she said to herself, the gem at the top of her mask flashing brightly. 'And I was right, she has an affinity for magic,' it'd been something she built into that weapon.

To curb Naruto's influence on Adora had been the original idea. No matter their current 'status', Shadow Weaver needed Adora to be 'pure'. To worry for her own wants and desires instead of Naruto's own.

"..."

Her eyes narrowed at the thought of her newest student, leaning back in her seat with a frown and her cheek on her fist.

Despite everything she'd planned, she had made a grave mistake.

She'd not enforced Naruto's own stipulations against him and that'd been such a critical hole in their deal.

In a normal one, with a student who knew she resented them, Shadow Weaver would have expected some… Foul play, maybe even some mischief.

---

"Yo, master," Naruto began as he read over a book on spellcrafting. "So, this thing, spell-making," he'd said without looking up.

Shadow Weaver had flinched at his call, body frozen in front of him in disbelief. "What?" She responded in shock.

"I was just looking at this thing and it said that I'll need four parts and stuff. I don't really get two of them. 'Crystallization' and 'Abstraction'?"

Shadow Weaver just stared at him in bafflement before realizing what she was doing and sobering up instantly the moment his eyes went to her for… TUTELAGE.

As his master magician…

"... Hmph, they're both intangible concepts," she'd begun, rather slowly much to her chagrin. "Crystallization means to contain the concept within a ritual. Spell words, arrays, or even actions. What are the actions you will take to enact it, sort of things."

Naruto perked up with a sort of gleam in his eye that bugged her.

It was the sight of a student with ideas, excited ideas, ones that were nurtured with impunity by….

---

She closed her eyes as an emotion welled within her being that she had to stamp down.

Damn him, making her feel like this.

What was wrong with her? She had Adora and even Catra, painful as it was to admit it, so why did she… care?

'Damn him,' she thought softly. 'Damn that stupid boy.'

~NRK~

Adora hacked off the opposing arm of the beast with a grin.

More. She was STRONGER.

She finally had the power to fend off her enemies.

She hacked at open jaws.

Blood spilled across her bicep, her uniform coloring with the dark red blood of the creature.

Its wails were ignored as she slipped beneath its legs once more before she hacked at its thighs.

The creature dropped onto its face, ichor spilling against the icy floor.

She grinned again and swung down at its legs.

Remove them, make sure it can't move.

She wasn't done.

She walked around it with a smile, hand running up its back before slowly being encased by shadowy power.

"You won't touch them, not EVER," she whispered to it.

The magic crushed the space around it, the creature crunching into the icy floor.

"Do NOT touch my team."

It cracked. Something cracked.

And it threw more bodily liquid against the floor.

"And if you think about so much as getting up and trying to touch what's mine," Adora said, hand gripping the reptilian's head so it could, with what sight it still had, see her deep frown. "Well, you won't."

Her blade sunk into its head through the eyehole, the creature's inability to even scream to her s-satisfaction-

Her eyes flickered as she released it and stumbled back, shadowy powers peeling off her and causing her to drop backwards onto her rear as her sword fell from her grip.

Adora gasped as she held her face, fingers sliding against unmarred skin… Before they felt something around her eyes.

"W-What?" She whispered breathily, looking to the side at her blade and then the icy wall near her.

The sight of black marks bordering her eyes had her touching them again, the odd feeling of not skin but… Some other texture greeted her.

'What happened to me?' She tried to turn her head but couldn't.

She didn't want to look at it… Adora couldn't.

Then, her shoulders were grabbed and she jumped, head snapping to the side of her reflection to see a worried Naruto kneeling by her.

"Adora, what happened?" He asked her calmly, looking from her to the dead creature. 'Did… Did she do that?' Naruto thought in shock, eyes snapping to the still-pale Adora.

Then, his gaze went to the marks around her eyes and her 'shadow-sparking' sword.

"... I-I killed it," Adora said but the look of confusion on her face made it more like she was reading from a script. "I-I… I killed it… I ended its life-"

"It's fine," Naruto said softly, gripping her shoulders gently and locking gaze with her trembling eyes, the young woman looking away with a look akin to shame. 'What the hell happened?'

As he helped Adora to her feet, they looked at her 'clean' weapon.

Naruto frowned as she slowly walked over to it before picking it up.

The blood on her uniform sleeves, cloak, and cheek hadn't seemed to register and Naruto sighed before coming over and standing by her, his fellow 'Force' looking up at him and her reflection.

The words didn't need to be said as he threw his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into his touch.

Adora turned and just allowed her body to press against his, head still down on his shoulder and her free hand coming around his waist.

Naruto sighed one more time before patting her back. "Come on, let's go and find the others. We still have a job to do-" He tried to say but came up short.

As a familiar group of people slipped into the room with his name on their lips before their words also stopped as they gawked at the dead creature.

Wunder hid his daughter's sight the instant he'd even stepped into the room while Kyle hit his rear with a pale face.

Catra wheezed while shielding Catty's eyes involuntarily, looking at Naruto's frowning visage and the still-hiding-her-form Adora.

Their eyes met and Naruto shook his head with a grimace as her nose scrunched in before she covered it.

"Let's go," Naruto said as he led Adora over. "What's going on?" He asked, diverting their attention.

Rogelio grimaced as he rubbed Kyle's back, shooting the downtrodden Adora a look of worry.

Lonnie just took a deep breath, accepted what had likely happened, and nodded while showing her detonator. "We rigged the room, covered it up in super-thick ice, and were heading to grab Adora. We're gonna blow up this place as much as we can," she said, eyes softening at Adora's expression. "Come on, Captain, let's get the hell out of here."

"W-What's happening?" Frosta asked, eyes still covered by her father.

"Ma'am, please, let's just leave," he told her softly, the girl stilling in confusion as her nose twitch- "Don't address it, it's not something that needs to be considered anymore," Blue said as he turned her around and uncovered her eyes, the girl covering her mouth.

'What is that?' The smell made her want to gag, her face turning green as she shivered at whatever was behind her. "..." Her eyes went to Naruto as he walked ahead with the downtrodden Adora. "... Is she okay?" She asked.

The fox boy ran his magic arm's hand through his hair before shaking his head. "No, Frosta, she's not. I'll have to talk to her later after we get away from this place," Naruto smiled solemnly for her, ruffling her hair. "Let's leave. Catty," his familiar perked up.

"Y-Yeah, dad?" The small spirit asked, holding onto Catra's shielding hand gently.

"Expand a shield over us," he asked her.

She did as asked while Catra came forward towards Adora.

"Yo… Hey, Adora, it's fine," she said, taking her hand off her nose and hugging her friend with it as she reached for her fellow Force Captain's familiar pendant. "Let's get out of here," Catra muttered as she pressed the bottom of the pendant.

Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio did the same seconds before on their detonators.

~NRK~

They all reappeared in that small training ground, the sounds of the beginning explosions leaving their ears not even seconds later.

"...?" Adora looked up and around, blinking in confusion. "W-Where are we?"

"Wow, that's just…" Lonnie looked more concerned all of a sudden. "Look, Captain Adora, you need to talk with your fellow Force Members. Seriously," she told her as the female blonde flinched. "Easy, we're fine, we're out, ain't nothing coming out of that place-"

And, as if to mock her, the ground rumbled, confusing the group.

"W-What?" Kyle jumped as all eyes went to the Ava Caves mountain, the sight of it still visible from their current location. "W-What's going on?!"

Naruto's eyes widened as Rogelio's pupils dilated and his scales flexed.

"CRAP," the blonde uttered.

And, seconds later, a tower of green light shot into the sky, overtaking the mountain and lighting up the night.

"Dammit! What NOW?!" Catra shouted as the light show began to die down. "PLEASE tell me that was like a last-minute self-destruct sequence!" She exclaimed nervously as the group watched in worry.

Frosta swallowed as something piqued off her senses. "N-No! I-It didn't stop it!" She screamed.

And as if summoned, something sprouted from the top of the mountain.

Its shadow being large enough to be seen from here didn't inspire confidence.

"... I'm going," Naruto declared with narrowed eyes, fastening his apprentice scarf back around his neck as the others choked. "I've got one minute of Sage Mode left, I'll have to handle that thing in that amount of time."

"N-Naruto, you can't be serious!" Kyle shouted. "LOOK at that thing! If it's this visible from here, t-that thing has to be half as big as the mountain! That's BIGGER than the spider from last time!"

"Not by much and what will we do?" Naruto shot back, the other boy flinching and getting a wince out of him. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask it like that but the fact remains, we can't let that thing run rampant. Besides, I can sense it from here," his eyes narrowed. "It's not as strong as it could be, it's basically wounded already and is leaking power at a crazy rate. It's not that bad."

Even from there, the group could see what he meant, large glowing green pockets seemed to come from all over the damn thing, the color slipping down its form.

"D-Dad, you can't fight that thing alone!" Catty shouted at him, getting a frown out of the former shinobi.

"I know what you're saying but you guys need to move everyone away from here and prepare," he uttered, adjusting his scarf over his mouth. "It's coming this way."

There was another rumble as the winds picked up out of nowhere, 'that thing' beginning to emerge from the top of the mountain.

"I-It wasn't all there…" Blue realized with a pale face. "T-That was just the top of it… I-It's length is literally the size of the mountain."

"W-We won't be able to move everyone in time!" Frosta told the blonde as he grimaced. "We need to stop it before it gets away from the Ava Caves!"

"Tch…" Naruto's eyes locked onto the- "Wait, is it coming literally here?" He blinked in surprise as the group blinked.

Watching that large winding shadow heading their way, they balked as it was aimed right AT them.

"... D-Did it recognize Frosta's magic?!" Blue choked as the Princess flinched before grimacing.

"Naruto!" She called. "We have to get away from here. No matter what, I won't allow that thing near my people! We have to stop it!"

"Freaking… Dammit, you're right, I get it," Naruto sighed before looking at the others. "You guys need to go."

"It's kinda crazy!" Scorpia said nervously. "W-What exactly is that thing?"

Naruto frowned. "A dragon," he said as they all wheezed. "And it's pouring that corruption stuff along the way…" Naruto's eyes closed as his magic expanded. 'Come on, I need wings!' He told his body, flooding energy towards his back.

His magic 'flinched' but that was it, the boy grimacing before noticing something… different.

'Huh?'

---

He stared at Frosta's glowing Runestone, the gem sprouting a small connection to him.

"... It's connected to me," Naruto realized, head snapping around.

The Runestones could connect… Or maybe it was just his but if it wasn't.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he raised his hands out. "You guys? Don't freak out," he hoped this worked.

~NRK~

Angella flinched in her chair, Glimmer shooting her a similar look of shock.

"What?" The Queen shot up from their dining table with her daughter before she walked out. "Come, Glimmer."

The young woman hurried out of her seat after her, the two of them clasping hands before they twinkled away.

---

They reappeared in Glimmer's room. "N-Naruto?!" The girl squeaked.

I'm sorry I wasn't sure if this would work. His voice reached them from…

It didn't feel like their minds but a connection, something deeper.

"You're reaching us through your magic, aren't you?" Angella asked him.

Yeah, things just got way too real, though! I'm sorry to cut this short but I need you guys to connect yourselves and your Runestone to me, ASAP.

The two looked alarmed. "W-What happened?" The girl asked in concern.

Then, the two were pulled into 'another world'.

---

They jumped as they floated in an odd white space, Naruto's form in front of them… with Frosta.

"W-What?!" Glimmer balked as the young Princess looked around in alarm before holding onto Naruto's arm. "Naruto, what's going on?!"

The young man grimaced before waving out his hand to the side.

A 'screen' formed there, the royalty of Bright Moon looking confused for all of two seconds before they paled.

"No…" Angella said in horror at the approaching disaster. "What is that thing?"

"Unfortunately, a stupid idea by a stupid cult that we thought we just dealt with," the blonde grimaced.

"I-It's chasing me," Frosta admitted, the two other Runestone-bearers wincing at her pale face. "Naruto needs us to connect to him! I-I don't know what'll happen but he noticed something."

"Catty… Um, okay, so just know this-"

"Dad!" A voice said as a small girl latched onto his back. "Dad, it's getting closer!"

"DAD?!" The Bright Moon duo exclaimed in shock as Naruto groaned.

"Listen, now's not the time, I'll explain later!" He said quickly. "Right now, it's like this."

He explained what Catty had said to him when they spoke about his powers, the blonde making it quick as that mental vision of the approaching calamity kept things urgent.

"I figured I got it, now," he said. "I'm not at full power because I need you guys' help or I need to connect to more sources of energy. I don't know, right now, my Runestone is almost empty and that thing is going to need Sage Mode."

Angella frowned at the frightful creature. "What do we do?" She asked.

"... Open your hearts to mine," Naruto requested of them with a bow, Catty following suit on his back. "Connect your magic with my own."

Glimmer's eyes softened before they hardened. "Alright!" She declared with a soft pale glow. "W-Whoa?! Uh, this is it?" She asked slowly as Frosta blinked before focusing inward as well.

She glowed, too. "Y-Yeah, I think so!" She said as Naruto stood to his full height.

Angella blinked at them before frowning as she focused inward.

Her form flickered, it glowed, and it tensed… before the glow fell away, the woman's eyes looking down and away from him.

Naruto stared at her for a moment… Before nodding. "Alright, this'll do, thanks for trying, ma'am," he grinned as the woman's head fell a bit.

"I'm… I'm sorry, I…"

"Mom?" Glimmer asked. "M-Mom, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

"She's fine, Glimmer, trust in your mom," Naruto nodded even as Angella felt her expression wilt further. "It's fine, I get it," he slapped his fist into his palm, form glowing a vibrant gold. "I understand, don't worry," he chuckled with a swipe at his nose. "Maybe you'll be able to do it after we talk some more. Now, as for Perfuma-"

"I'm here!" The Plant Princess cheered into existence as he chuckled. "I understood the universe's call-WHAT is that?" She began to say before it all dropped at the mental vision. "YIKES!"

"Yeah, uh, I need you to connect with me-"

Her form glowed as she grinned sheepishly while Angella's head fell further.

"... Alright, thank you and the universe," Naruto snickered before the group began to fade away, Naruto's Runestone appearing in between all of them. "I'll return this kindness, I promise," he said with an outstretched fist.

The gem glowed as his eyes did.

"It's not a lot, you already burned through a lot of power," Perfuma said with a worried tone. "... Frosta, right?" She smiled for the ice girl, the second-youngest there looking bashful.

"I-I'll meet you all, one day, probably at next year's Ball!" Frosta declared with as much confidence as she could muster. "We'll win and then I can… I can try ruling more in my way."

Naruto ruffled her hair. "Yep!" He agreed as Glimmer smiled.

"Alright, I'll tell Bow everything! Go out there and win, Naruto!" She cheered him on.

And vanished.

Angella sighed sadly. "I must seem so unhelpful," she told him.

"Opening our hearts is a lot easier when we've not dealt with as much as those before us," Naruto said kindly. "Thanks for being around, you help even if not directly like this," he smiled as the woman did so in return.

She vanished.

Perfuma smiled sadly at the monster. "I really hope we can stop all of this, i-it's so… sad," she frowned. "That animal isn't natural, is it?"

Naruto, Frosta, and Catty shook their heads.

"I figured."

She vanished.

Naruto closed his eyes as his Runestone shined.

---

He returned to the world of the conscious, the royal cart he, Frosta, and Blue had rode in earlier taking him, the girl, Catty, and Blue away from the others.

"Alright," he declared as he stood up and looked out the back of the cart to see the creature following them. "Time to go," Naruto grinned at the group, ruffling Catty and Frosta's hair. "Frosta, Toru," he shot the two a smile as he stepped outside. "I'll be back."

He hopped out gently.

And transformed on the next step.

A second later, he was shooting high into the sky like a golden comet, glowing form visible even from afar.

And finally allowing him to see the beast of the mountain.

The skies rumbled with a green light as the mountain-long dark green serpent's eyes locked onto him.

Bearing 'pre-made' wounds that leaked green fluid, it bore claw-like marks down its length with a large angular reptilian head with sharp ridges and four bat wings coming off its top like horns.

With the rest of the body held up by sickly green clouds, one could see all the different animal limbs that sat haphazardly throughout its sides.

All in all, it was a 'dragon' mostly in frame but that was all.

Those eight-pointed-shaped pupils weren't those of a dragon.

Naruto's form stilled in front of it before he held out his hand.

His body glowed before lighting up the skies in a golden hue, golden wings flaring out from his back as he grinned with his ax in his hand.

~NRK~

They all winced at the CRACK that rang out seconds later, the large serpent's form flailing about in the sky before another blow sent its head careening downward.

"Dammit, is he STRONG enough?" Lonnie asked in disbelief as more heavy blows rained down on the dragon's head.

The animal swung its head back and that small golden figure flew around it.

Adora watched with flickering eyes, a black tint forming over them and her mind filled with magical information.

'H-He's got maybe a minute's worth left right now,' she guessed connecting with the Princesses gave him an energy boost. "That thing reeks of magical energy b-but Naruto was right, it's leaking it out so much that I don't think it'll last for another five minutes."

"But Naruto only has ONE," Catra grimaced as Rogelio hissed. "This isn't good. I… We can't do anything," she uttered with clenched hands. 'All over again,' for the second time in under half a year.

Naruto was the one carrying their asses through this. Without him, there was a high chance that they would have died by now.

'It's only been three months,' she told herself but the feeling of weakness didn't go away. 'How could I have helped?' Catra beat down the feeling of self-hatred and patheticness.

"Naruto's going to need to make it use up energy," Kyle considered with a frown before pressing a finger to his ear. "Naruto?"

-Working… ON IT!-

There was a crack to one of the limbs on the beast, the unnatural animal curling around and opening its mouth.

Green light built within it and Kyle wheezed before his eyes widened.

"Naruto, you need to make it keep using up energy!" He shouted before the attack shot out.

~NRK~

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he shot up long before the beam had released, making sure he was slow enough for the dragon's head to trail before it released.

He sped up, shooting around the beam of light as it tore into the sky.

"Heh," he grinned, turning a knob on his earpiece. "Its power dropped pretty harshly at that. Maybe five percent?" Naruto guessed as the dragon growled at him, eyes glowing.

He shot around with a single powerful flap of his wings, cross-shaped pupils locking onto the beast's glowing-again mouth.

"Come on, you big bastard, TAKE THE SHOT!" He taunted it, ax in hand.

It did and Naruto grinned once more as it flowed behind him, the leaking of magic and corruption in the creature's side exacerbated.

His eyes narrowed at his own energy.

'I'm still behind by a lot, I've got 45 seconds and this thing doesn't,' apparently, he should be able to fly around on his own power but the drawback of Sage Mode would knock him out.

He'd be at this thing's mercy and definitely be dead.

He closed his eyes before taking a deep breath.

Sage Mode fell away, leaving him flapping more than he had before.

~NRK~

"W-What's he doing?" Frosta asked, worriedly.

They'd ascended a hill of ice with Frosta and Catty's powers working in tandem and were audience to the blonde's recent 'best' decision.

"... He can't hold that form for long," Blue realized as Naruto darted around with more difficulty, flying form using more harsh stops, jagged fly arounds, and extra stumbles. "It likely has some form of backlash, Frosta, he's conserving his energy."

The Princess's eyes snapped to the blonde's flying form before another form floated past her. "C-Catty, wait! It's dangerous up there!" She barely grabbed the other girl's arm, stopping her.

"Dad's in trouble!" The familiar struggled against Frosta's weight for only a second before lifting her up with her. "I have to go!"

"You can't! If Naruto wanted you in danger, he'd have taken you!"

"Not if he doesn't know if I can help!"

The two struggled, Frosta hesitant to use her powers on the younger girl-

And then the sky glowed green.

Their pupils shrank.

Wunder paled as they shot off. "NO?!"

~NRK~

"What is it doing?" Lonnie asked as her skin dropped in color.

The dragon had stilled its attacks, only having let off three of those 'beams' from before.

"Adora!"

"It's at 60%!" Adora guessed. 'What's it doing?' Her eyes twitched around.

At the glowing sky, the dragon's wings and limbs glowing as they cast some kind of 'sheen' over it.

If one looked around, Adora was sure the color extended even further beyond the miles upon miles it took to reach here. It likely was visible even from the border.

"G-Guys, that can't be good!" Catra shouted, tail bristling and body quaking. "I-It's like it's everywhere."

Rogelio nodded with a nervous look about.

Kyle's eyes looked around. "... Light… Its presence is spreading all around…?!" His eyes shrunk before he looked back just in time to pale.

As the dragon reappeared behind the startled blonde.

"MOVE!" He shouted into the earpiece.

~NRK~

The glowing light from behind him made Naruto's skin crawl.

He shot up barely, hissing a bit as he stumbled a bit before righting himself a bit away-

It was behind him again. "Bastard!" Naruto growled before shooting off. "It can TELEPORT now?!" He hissed out, looking down at his hissing shins.

His shoes and lower pants legs were gone, revealing the wounded feet and shins within.

"Just what I needed."

~NRK~

"It's figuring out its powers," Kyle realized with a wheeze. "Adora!"

"I-It's at half power!" She told them. "That move, it was costly!" Adora grimaced. "But now it can teleport without wasting too much. Maybe a percent drops every time it does it!

Catra grimaced as she used a pair of binoculars. 'There has to be a way we-What the hell ARE THEY DOING?!' She freaked out as she saw Frosta and Catty heading towards the fight?! "Oh, fuck me."

~NRK~

Now holding onto Frosta's waist and flying them into the madness, Catty swallowed at her sudden second-doubts.

"W-We shouldn't have come here!" Frosta wigged out and the familiar swallowed.

"W-We just need to get to dad," she shot back weakly.

"Catty, we're in DANGER!"

She knew that, all of a sudden, this was a bad idea.

And that never became more apparent as when the dragon stopped chasing her creator-

"Oh, bloody hell," she whimpered as its form froze.

And then vanished, the feeling of heat on her back sending a rigid shiver up her wings as green light shined over them.

"GODDAMMIT!"

A golden comet swiped them up before shooting away with a grimace.

"WHY ARE YOU TWO HERE?!" Naruto shouted at them, in his transformed state once more, six-foot golden wings shifting around as they blurred around the dragon.

The two girls flinched in his arms before Catty sniffled and wilted.

"I-I thought you were in danger," the familiar admitted. "I-I brought Frosta by accident, I-I'm sorry."

Naruto groaned at that as he stopped in the air, prepared for the dragon's next assault with a frown.

"You girls shouldn't have come, this just became a bad time," Naruto said as his eyes narrowed at the dragon's glowing pores. "It was originally looking for Frosta, Catty, it's now locked on."

The familiar paled as the Princess grimaced before sighing.

"W-What can we do now?" She asked him.

Then, the creature's 'pores' formed something-Wrong.

Not 'something' but 'some THINGS'!

The oily-looking green liquid solidified into smaller serpents, their features broad and vague with their only discerning traits being long pairs of wings and large obscene mouths.

"Oh crap!"

~NRK~

"Why is she there?!" Adora wheezed as the trio began flying around, Naruto's form streaking across the sky before being blocked off by the large dragon.

His only option had his feet slamming into its snout and sending the monster's head careening back before the blonde flew around past it.

"It seems like her being a kid is more than we imagined," Lonnie groaned. "Dammit, Naruto can't be looking after them! He needs to focus and he's running out of his Princess Boost!"

Catra growled, closing her eyes as she prepared to give Catty a piece of her mind before she stopped.

'Wait…'

---

"L-Lord, did I fall asleep?" She stuttered as Rutadora giggled. "And what about you? Did you sleep?"

"Nope! I don't need sleep. A-And I'm not really able to get low on energy since the world around me is so powerful!" The familiar said proudly while Catra balked.

---

Her eyes widened before she held her forehead and focused. 'Catty! CATTY!'

~NRK~

The familiar flinched before her animal feature wilted. 'H-Hey, mom-'

"Not now! Catty, you need to power Naruto up," Catra told her, the familiar's eyes widening.

'C-Can I do that?!'

"I don't know… But sometimes it's do or DIE and that's not far off right now. Naruto needs to keep up, he can't do that while protecting you two and just running!"

The young man-in-question grimaced before he flipped above a corruption clone and kicked out at another, hissing as his offending foot sizzled a bit.

"Dad?!" Catty trembled.

"I'm fine," Naruto lied as he kept going. "I've got 20 seconds left, you two… And I'm gonna have to use every bit of it to try and end this," he declared as he vanished in a burst of speed and wind magic.

He reappeared far from the dragon, setting Catty and Frosta aside with the former holding onto the latter in the air.

He shot them a grin and thumbs-up. "I'll make a miracle, you two, you need to go," Naruto turned.

Catty opened her mouth but hesitated. 'D-Dad doesn't want me to be here,' her expression dropped.

Frosta blinked at her and then Naruto's back. "... Naruto," she called out as he looked back at her. "You can't do this alone, you know that. You told me that, didn't you? Trust in others?"

"I did and I won't go back on my words, you're helping me a ton as is, Frosta," he grinned as she flushed before muttering.

"But Catty also wants to help, you're not gonna survive like this…"

"I know, I wish there was a way but you two are better 'safe' than the opposite."

Catty swallowed before hurrying forward and pressing into his back.

"Hon-?"

"I-I can try!" The familiar said as a green glow emanated from the dragon's mouth. "Mom wants us to sync energy! If we can, you can win!" She declared, form glowing gold and red.

Naruto's eyes softened at that. "I didn't think of that," he admitted as his eyes snapped to the dragon's charging attack. "... Alright," Naruto smiled as he dropped his transformation.

He slipped out of her grip before turning around and holding out his fists.

"Catty, Frosta, bump fists with me," he said, back to the attack. "I don't know if we'll be able to do it but we can try. You're right, Frosta, I should trust in you guys more," Naruto grinned.

Holding the Princess with one arm, the two girls reached out.

The dragon fired.

And their fists met.

The green beam nearly hit them as Naruto grinned with his eyes closed.

His wings flexed out.

~NRK~

Adora covered her eyes in shock at Naruto's growing 'presence'.

"What?" She uttered in shock as Catra grinned next to her, the sky shining gold. "C-Catra?"

"Heh, my idea worked," the cat girl grinned as the light show expanded. "And now Naruto's gonna put that big lizard in its place."

And so as it was declared, so it would be.

The dragon's form shot back and down, the large creature crushing the earth beneath it.

The ground beneath their feet rumbled as harsh winds flew past.

"Whoa!" Lonnie and Kyle balked before Rogelio moved ahead of them with Scorpia, the two blocking the harsh winds. "Geez!"

"Well, he's got some… OMPH! In him!" The scorpion woman said with another grunt as more winds rushed past them before finally dying down. "Whew! Ya think he's gonna just keep beating on it? Because that seems rough."

"Naruto's more aware of stuff like that, I'd bet," Kyle said as Rogelio nodded. "And remember the copies-!"

There were a series of explosions above them, Kyle blinking in shock before looking up at an array of icy explosions caused by a single trailing gold comet.

"Heh, he seems to get it," Lonnie smirked as he grinned.

~NRK~

Naruto flew around with a look back at the destroyed copies.

"Alright," he said as he stopped mid-air with one single flap.

Icy winds exploded outward, the blonde blinking in shock before rubbing the back of his head and looking behind him.

"Frosta, we might need to get more control after this," he said to the Princess who currently sported glowing eyes and a sheepish grin.

"U-Um, yeah, I will!" She told him, their minds linked in a way that nearly stunned her. "... I don't get it, wouldn't you be safer outside of the Horde?" Frosta asked him.

Naruto blinked before crossing his arms. "It's not that simple, sadly. Also, remember, when Chackles comes looking, I don't want this repeating over anywhere else I go," he said with a smile as the Princess flinched. 'Get me?'

'Y-Yeah!'

'I do, dad!' Naruto heard from within him with a grin.

"Alright, let's end this," he said with a frown as he stared down at the dragon's twitching, leaking, form. "This is gonna take so much time to purify," Naruto frowned as he reached out his hand.

His ax shot into it from afar, the blonde holding onto his weapon with his other hand sliding down its length.

It grew in size, more and more, before he hefted it over his shoulder, the human-sized ax gleaming with golden power.

"Frosta!"

"YEAH!" The Princess grinned with a raised hand.

The weapon's head glowed with dark blue magic before being covered by a layer of nearly impossible to see ice.

"Let's end this!" The three announced in unison as the dragon began to lift itself into the air. "No you don't!"

They launched at it in a blaze of gold, a true descending comet of magical energy.

Naruto reared back as he flew in close.

"Trinity Magic!" Frosta cheered with a bright grin.

"Frost-Element TOUGEN!"

Naruto swung at the energy gathered in the monster's mouth before releasing all of it.

Every inch of magic he could muster between himself, Catty, and Frosta.

~NRK~

Glimmer and Angella perked up, eyes wide as they snapped to a window.

Glimmer grinned with excitement. "He did it!" She whispered as they sat in the throne room, Angella smiling for her with a nod.

"He did," she uttered back.

~NRK~

The golden sky had easily paled in comparison to the power currently shooting high into the sky.

A torrent of blue magic that likely couldn't be matched by any single being that seemed to keep going.

And yet no winds greeted them as the power seemed to suck in the ice of its surroundings and pull it into this singular attack.

So, they just stood there in awe as the tower of energy finally began to die down.

Adora stared at it, the light still coloring her face. '... It'd be kind of hard to follow up on that,' she considered, looking down at her sword with a frown. "..."

Her grip tightened while Catra crossed her arms.

'This is power that could truly rule the world,' and to think it all resided in the hands of one person.

In the hands of a boy who likely deserved it more than anyone else.

Her eyes glinted in the leftover energy before it all fell away.

And, in its absence?

Moonlight that colored the world gold, what the hell, huh?

~NRK~

They rode to the three's location as soon as it was available.

With Blue coming back around to pick them up, that'd been pretty fast.

So, you can imagine their surprise after they traveled 2/3s of the way there and found… grass.

Green grass, slight warmth, and an atmosphere that didn't make sense.

"What?" Kyle blinked in shock like the rest of them, looking behind them like he'd seen a ghost. "I-It just starts out of nowhere?"

Rogelio hummed with a nod, raising his hand up to the golden light with closed eyes.

"Hmm."

"What is this?" Blue asked in shock as their bear even looked confused, sniffing the air as it trotted along happily. "What did he do?"

"Well, knowing that knucklehead?" Catra grinned as Adora smiled. "Probably something he has no idea about."

They traveled for a bit more, the bear doing its part in finding the three with Rogelio.

When they found them against a large gray stone, the three seemed asleep as they sat there with the girls slumped against Naruto's sides, the young man's head down.

"Naruto?" Adora called out, jumping out with the others to check on the three. "Rutadora?" She called out again, kneeling by their sides with Catra and Rogelio.

"What's up with them?" Lonnie asked, frowning as Kyle looked around again.

Rogelio hummed before checking the girls first, lifting eyelids, feeling their pulses, and checking their mouths for breath.

When it all came back positive, he grunted to the others as he did the same for the blonde.

He looked a bit nervous at the slowness of his heart but the lizard boy continued on, checking his eyelid, reflex of the knee, pulse, and chest.

By the end of it, he looked confused before pulling out a notebook and writing in it.

Showing it to the others a moment later.

Comas.

"Again?" The others asked sans Blue who let out a breath.

"A coma?" He asked with a frown as the lizard boy nodded.

"Rogelio started learning a lot of medical knowledge," Kyle explained to the man who looked surprised. "E-Even with where we're from, it's important to know how to mend wounds and check on our comrades, s-sir."

The guard frowned softly, looking confused. "... Come," he gestured to the cart. "Let's take them back to the town," he told them before gently picking up Frosta.

With Adora handling Catty, Rogelio hefted Naruto over his shoulder with Catra, the group moving back to the cart.

Kyle looked behind them.

'Where'd the dragon go?' He wondered with a look around at all the stone that littered the warm field of grass.

With them loaded in, they went back, passing that 'divide' all over again.

"It's like the air's full of magic over there," Catra told the others. "Naruto's along with the Princess's."

"But why this outcome?" Kyle wondered.

"... Ah," Adora looked up from her bang-pushing on Catty's head. "Despite all the other pools of it, there's no corruption there. Naruto probably used Frosta's ice, Catty's perfect acclimation skills & fire magic, and his own purification powers to make that area happen. Likely, there was just so much of it that the effect was strong enough to create whatever that zone is."

Scorpia looked back at it, shivering in the cold with a groan. "Please, someone take us back to somewhere warm," she whined.

~NRK~

The first day after their return had been tense but curious, the people of the town accepting their presence there as they focused on the unconscious trio.

It'd been on the second day that they'd decided to return to the castle a couple days later, after the rest of the guards arrived and were rested.

~NRK~

Day five, Catra stared outside the medical bay window of Frosta's castle.

"Five whole days and just some glowing?" She muttered, eyes going to Catty and Naruto, the two sleeping in the same cot with the latter glowing a soft gold.

It'd been something that occurred a day or so back, the activity that had set their hearts at ease but still left them concerned as there hadn't been anything other than that.

In that time, the group had been given a pair of rooms for them to rest in but they really hadn't used them, only staying in the medical bay from the moment of their arrival.

Next to her, sitting in a chair, Adora stared at her weapon.

"You ever gonna wake up from your craziness, too?" Catra asked the blonde young woman.

Adora jumped, looking at her in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I just… Dammit, the third spell in this thing, Catra, I-I don't know if I ever want to use it again," she admitted as her fellow Captain frowned.

"I can't imagine why," she added softly but sarcastically. "It's like you turned into a whole different person… You looked so crazy back there, Adora," Catra told her as the blonde looked down in thought.

"I just wanted to keep up," she admitted as Catra blinked. "To be able to keep up with Naruto and everyone else, to never let what happened that day happen again but… I-I can't say I believe this will work…"

"... Then have Naruto do it for you, duh."

"What?"

Catra smirked at her. "Obvious, much? Just have Naruto enchant your blade when he's good enough. Purification-users would be better than shadow-users."

Adora's eyes widened as they snapped back to her weapon, her reflection in it clear and allowing her to see her determined expression.

"I guess that'd work," she nodded before smiling. "Thanks, Catra, I mean it."

Catra hummed loudly and obviously while looking away with red cheeks. "I guess."

Adora chuckled before the sound of someone groaning got their attention.

Their heads snapped around to see Frosta moaning in her sleep, the Ice Princess blinking slowly as Adora got up and walked over.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" She asked quietly.

"M-Mmm? What happened?" The girl asked with another moan, holding her head. "W-Was I asleep?"

"In a coma."

Frosta's eyes snapped open in disbelief. "WHAT?!" She said before shivering. "W-What happened?" Frosta asked, looking down at the thick medical garb she was wearing. "T-That dream…"

Explaining the situation they'd been in for five whole days, Frosta's eyes went to Naruto with a small sigh.

"I-I just know we were all dreaming or something," she told the two, Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio entering the room with food. "Naruto told us we'd wake up first and he'd be last."

"Why?" Catra asked.

"H-He said that it was better for us to wake up first," Frosta pouted as Adora smiled.

"That sounds like Naruto," she said.

Getting their food, Adora shared hers with the actually pretty hungry Princess, the girl eating most of it with an embarrassed stomach growl at the end of it all.

"A-Ahem!" Frosta burned as Adora chuckled. "Ermm, w-we did use a lot of energy," she attempted as Blue came into the room.

He took one look in and nodded. "More food it is," he said to someone outside as the Princess turned bright red.

Still, minutes later, she ate two whole trays worth of food before being satisfied, embarrassment long since passing as she just stared at her hands.

"I guess syncing with Naruto of all people would leave you with an appetite," Catra rolled her eyes. "God, next thing you know he'll be passing on whisker marks."

Frosta pouted before feeling her cheeks, much to Kyle and Lonnie's amusement.

"Mmm…"

With her awake, though, things progressed in a curious direction.

"So, Naruto can contact the other Princesses… In a way, it makes sense," Kyle said with a spoon in his mouth.

"He did it with Perfuma," Lonnie said. "But since they're 'connected'? He can just do it without the whole nature thing?" She asked with a hum. "I don't know, it just seems like a whole buncha stuff I don't get."

"I don't really get it myself," Frosta admitted. "But Naruto can connect us… I-I didn't think a boy could have a Runestone but I know Peekablue is considered a Prince, too, so…"

"Who?" Adora asked.

"Oh, um, he's from a town by the shore, they have fish that are hard to find here."

"Mmm," Rogelio made a pleased sound, eyes closed as he licked his lips, Frosta smirking at him.

"Their tuna is some of the best in the world!" She said as he nodded. "Well, back on Naruto stuff, what are you guys gonna do now? I mean, when we were connected and stuff, Naruto allowed me to see so many of his memories and thoughts. Are you going to stay?"

The Horde team was surprised but now they grew curious.

"Well, for one, where's Scorpia?" Catra asked with a raised brow at the weakly chuckling Kyle.

"She didn't wake up," he admitted. "The cold isn't nice to her, remember? Especially because her shells can get way colder than her skin does."

"Well, that's convenient."

"Right, I forgot about Scorpia," Adora placed a knuckle to her chin. "... Well, right now, it's been a week and some change already, you'd know. We're supposed to be here for another three weeks."

"And even if we dealt with that cult, we don't know if there are more of those guys around," Catra added. "Who knows how many villages had a 'phantom' in them?"

"Well, I can lend my men to the cause," Frosta said with a stern nod. "I… I won't forgive her for what she tried to do to my kingdom, to my people, I want to stop her."

"Glad to have your help," Lonnie said. "And, remember, our Boy Wonder is currently down. I don't like the idea of looking for more of these guys too deeply with small numbers."

"That's true," Kyle considered. "Well, we can consider several things about our situation, can't we?" He offered as Rogelio removed a notebook from his pocket and flipped to the first page. "Lonnie, me, and Lio were putting things down into a list."

Receiving it, Adora looked down the first page. "... Are you sure about this, Kyle?"

"Yeah," he frowned. "From what Catra said, there's a magician among them who'll likely end up with something stronger than that dragon. Likely, there's a high chance that that dragon wasn't the r-real idea behind that monster. It was too broken, too unfinished. I think that whatever is gonna come from them, they'll be getting more animals and that means we have to go to a couple places to find the most dangerous or unique ones."

"It's true," Lonnie said. "The thing is… Well, another one of those big targets is near another Princess, the Sea Princess, Mermista. She's the daughter of the old king Triton who retired a couple years back and he's known to KEEP those powerful sea creatures as pets."

"One after the other, my God, what's next?" Catra asked in disbelief while Frosta nodded rapidly.

"T-That's crazy! You're gonna go and see all the Princesses?" She asked.

"... Hmph," Rogelio shook his head nervously before pointing at Naruto. "Hmph."

"Naruto seems to get the most benefit out of this," Kyle said. "If he meets the Princesses, he gets access to more of his potential or something. Right now, we need Naruto to get stronger if Chackles comes up too early when she hears of this."

Those who hadn't been brainstorming about it froze as the three nodded seriously.

"I-It's only a matter of time, guys."

"Shit," Catra cursed quietly, tapping her noggin with a grimace. "Crap, crap! What do we do about that?"

"... We need to tell… Shadow Weaver," Adora considered before coming upon a realization. "You guys remember that Naruto's still suffering from three months back, right?" She asked them as the others perked up.

"Oh, of course," Lonnie nodded. "If we get that lug back up to 100%-"

"It'll be more in our favor," Kyle smiled. "Um, still, how would we…"

"I'm going to ask Shadow Weaver to let me in on this place's, Mystacor's, location. She's been teaching Naruto how to get past some barrier they have and how to sense it. I want to see if I can't help him speed that up by doing some reading."

"Well, count us in."

"Thanks, guys."

Frosta was just left staring in awe and wonder at the chatting, smiling, group of teenagers.

Her eyes went to the unconscious Naruto. 'They all like him so much,' Frosta dreamed of a day where her own people could give her such… respect.

To consider her so important, to see her as their greatest hope.

To care about her.

~NRK~

Six hours later, Catty awoke.

"H-Huh?" She swallowed, looking around in confusion as Catra nodded to her, seated by Naruto's bed. "M-Mom?"

Catra processed it before shrugging. "Yeah?" She asked.

"W-What happened? The last thing I remember is dad and us connecting our magic…"

"Ah, so that's really what happened," Catra considered, her hammer on the ground against the wall with the rest of the group's stuff. "You guys were in a coma, kid, it's been a week since the fight."

Catty's tail shot up with her ears as she fumbled. "WHAT?!" She freaked.

Catra smirked.

"T-Then, um, what happened?"

Explaining the entire situation to her, Catra nodded as the girl's wings folded, feathers ruffled and quickly attended to by the older feline.

Blushing as the Captain smoothed out her feathers or picked out odd ones, Catty kicked her feet in her lap.

'Hmph,' Catra had tried to not think about it but this was probably what it looked like, huh? 'I don't want to deal with this,' she wasn't mother material.

Catra had never even considered having children before, she was sure even Naruto hadn't, so this situation wasn't something she could just adapt to.

And… If you held her down in rope at gunpoint, she might have to admit that she wasn't… Catra was pretty sure she really wasn't mother material.

Not on some 'she couldn't think she could do it' bullshit but actually realizing that she had issues that wouldn't bode well with a child of her own. She didn't have the capabilities to look after someone else when she still had her own issues.

Like running off and almost getting herself killed. 'I… I really fucked up, didn't I?' Catra considered as her fingers stopped moving, Catty turning around to look at her in confusion. 'If Adora hadn't been there, I'd have died.'

It wasn't wrong to say that Catra understood what a life meant, usually, she was sure she did.

But looking back at this first mission as a Captain, it put things into perspective.

'I'd leave a kid motherless,' she considered. 'A team down a leader and without instruction… The mission might have failed, I'd be to blame, and I might have even led them to their deaths-'

"Mom?" Catty whispered as Catra's narrowed eyes widened in shock, looking away from her. "I-Is everything alright?"

"..." It wasn't.

Catra realized that, all of a sudden, Naruto had been right. She simply didn't factor her actions' effect on others into the situation too much. She just ran in and that made her realize, likely for the first time ever.

She had a problem.

"... No, i-it isn't," Catra admitted, heart thumping powerfully and her face scrunching up, her cheeks throbbing as if she'd been hit. "... I messed up, Catty, Lord I messed up."

The girl gasped a bit in Catra's arms as she held her close.

She let out a hiss at herself. 'I can't do that again,' but that made her worried.

How did she fix this? What could she do?

She didn't know.

Then, she blinked as her ears perked up and her eyes went to the door where a familiar Ice Princess and Force Captain were.

"Hey, Adora, Frosta, what's up?"

"..." Adora nodded before leading Frosta over and taking a seat to sit in front of Catra, Frosta sitting on her former cot. "We were just talking about the current situation. So far, no other traces have been found about Chackles's group. Thankfully, those pools of corruption as well were isolated enough that whatever effect they're having isn't a lot. We just need Naruto to be awake so we can deal with them."

Catra nodded at that, releasing Catty a bit. "Well… It sounds like other things aren't mucking up," she chuckled humorlessly as Adora fiddled with her fingers. "I'm such a mess, Adora, I almost messed up so bad I'm starting to realize that Shadow Weaver knew a few things right about me."

"Don't say that. You did your best to help the situation… O-Okay, sure, I do want to kick you still," Catra grinned nervously as Adora took a deep breath. "But you being there urged us ahead of time, Catra. If we hadn't, we might have actually all died."

Catra balked at that before remembering an important fact.

"What?" Frosta asked nervously.

"That thing wasn't finished," Catra explained as the Princess nodded nervously. "It was apparently half-mature once all the animals were thrown in. It was so strong and it wasn't even complete," she frowned as Catty looked down in thought.

"D-Dad already had a hard time with his time limit," the familiar said. "I-If it had been stronger w-we might not be here," she shivered as Adora frowned.

"And that other monster was… I think it was some kind of prototype," she explained. "It had similar enough features to the dragon. If that's true, there are likely more of those things around and/or under Chackles's control. We need to get strong enough to deal with them," Adora explained. "... There was an idea I had, you know? Naruto has demonstrated that his form of meditation has so many benefits, I wanted to see if we couldn't learn it."

"Huh? Wait, I thought that same thing," Catra said as Adora smiled. "Let me guess, the mission in Plumeria?"

"Got it in one and, well, I was also speaking to Frosta about some things."

"If you all would like to adapt some of the material of some of the animals, it'd be fine," Frosta smiled with a small bow. "Thank you for saving my kingdom even if you're from the Horde," she smirked.

"Right, that's known now," Catra rubbed the back of her head. "Like, how? I mean, what could ya do for us?"

"We have lots of old animal bones from those creatures we use for a lot of our spears and even some construction."

~NRK~

The following day, Naruto's glowing had come to a stop.

And he opened his eyes.

He hummed as Frosta cheered.

"Okay, so, I know everything that's gone on in the room," Naruto said before groaning into a sit-up position. "Mmm… I could still hear you guys while we were asleep but I had to focus on making sure the girls woke up first."

Lonnie grinned while Adora smiled in relief.

Blue nodded with a smile as Frosta came over.

"You have a lot to learn about!" The Princess said.

~NRK~

And instantly grew curious as the blonde ate slowly but with no lacking appetite like before.

His friends just shook their heads. "We got used to it," they said to the jaw-dropped cooks currently bringing in more soup and meat.

By the end, ten bowls and three large bones later, Naruto and the others sat in Frosta's chambers, the Princess smiling as they all sat on large pillows.

Naruto rolled his shoulders as Catty sat on them. "So, what's actually happening?"

They explained the situation with the guards, the search, the corruption pools, his 'purified area', and even their new materials.

Naruto had one thing to say. "Can you guys smith stuff?" He asked Frosta who tilted her head before nodding.

"Well, usually, we use carving methods for our weapons," Blue said. "We do have smithies, mind you, we usually just use them for construction efforts and not weaponry."

"Well, how about some new equipment?" Kyle offered. "I mean, do you have an idea?"

"Forearm guards might be good," Lonnie suggested. "Or, actually, vests," she snapped her fingers in realization.

"Oh, we've never considered that before," Frosta blinked, looking to Blue for confirmation.

The man cupped his chin. "It's true, usually, we only saw it as weapon materials… I'll tell our carvers, maybe this will even birth a new form of defense in the Kingdom of Snows," he smiled before getting up, bowing, and leaving the room. "Take your time."

"Alright, yeah, that'd be good," Catra said, legs crossed in her seat, hands clasped around her ankles. "And when's the next word of the search?" She asked.

"Not for another week," Frosta admitted. "It's not easy to rush there, with no immediate threat. For now, we're going at a brisk pace and trying our best to check the surrounding caves."

Catra could see that, it was bound to be long and dirty work.

"Gotcha, my bad."

"S-Still! It seems like we're not getting anything," the Princess said quickly. "So, for now, we can all rest easy."

The group hummed before Naruto got up with a smile.

"Hey, Frosta, you wanna do some training?" He offered with a grin, tail curling up a bit as his new wings shifted.

~NRK~

Another harsh swing carved into the brimming blue ices before Naruto swung back around with his other hand.

Training on a tall platform of ice and magic, he slashed at a large wall of blue ice that had been made outside of Frosta's castle.

Far off, Adora followed his example with her weapon, slashing at half-a-foot-thick icy spires with glowing black marks by her eyes.

The blade flashed black before she carved through the ice with some resistance but more power than she was usually capable of.

'Don't get out of control,' she told herself with a breathless gasp, solidifying her stance. "AGAIN!" Adora told herself as she spun while slashing with her weapon.

Catra, meanwhile, scaled, jumped, skirted, and hopped around and on ice spires, eyes narrowed as she latched in with her claws before reaching the tip of one.

She landed on it with a hiss of breath, the cold seeping into her attire as she wiped some sweat off her brow. 'I need better control,' she thought as she jumped off before removing her hammer off her back and rearing back. "GOT IT!"

She smashed it through a crudely-shaped ice crystal in the middle of a spire, slipping through the hole before falling towards more icy spikes.

On the ground, Frosta wiped her brow as she held out her hands with closed eyes.

"Mmm… HA!" She shouted before flexing her fingers.

Another explosive burst of ice rushed out.

Across from her, Catty balled up her fists as they burned with flames.

"Towers of Flames!" She shouted before bringing her flaming fists down into the ground.

Short human-sized towers shot out at Frosta's own attack, the two forces crashing against one another before they erupted into another tower of steam like many before them.

"A-Again!"

"Okay!"

Kyle wiped his brown as he dropped from his icy pull-up bar, Rogelio's nostrils flaring as he kept going despite the cold.

Finally, behind them, Lonnie went through a series of ice obstacles before taking shots at balanced pieces of ice.

Their training was vast and intriguing but then it led to the 'outcome'.

~NRK~

Naruto sighed in relief as he, Kyle, Rogelio, and Catty descended into the super-warm waters of the communal baths.

With towels around their waist, one around her entire body in Catty's case, the four had relaxed.

"U-Um, actually," Kyle perked up with a blush, shooting Naruto a nervous grin. "Naruto, there's something different about these waters-"

"Ah, there you are," came a familiar female voice from behind them, Naruto blinking in confusion as he turned his head to find Frosta settling into the waters next to him, dressed like Catty. "I-I was wondering if you guys went in or not. These waters are great, huh?!"

"Frosta?" Naruto said in a completely confused tone, Rogelio smirking beside the throat-clearing Kyle. "Frosta, what are you doing here?"

There were three more splashes ahead of them.

"Oh, these are communal baths, Naruto," the Princess smiled as a commotion took place. "Boys or girls can come here at any time!"

"WHAT?!" Naruto and two familiar young women uttered in horror.

The blonde froze with a glowing red face, Lonnie's familiar chuckling coming from across the way.

"F-Frosta, it'd have been nice to know this… A-Ahead of time," Naruto pleaded.

The girl tilted her head. "Ohhhh, s-sorry! I just kinda… Right, Horde, you guys don't know some of our customs and stuff!"

Naruto wanted to die right then and there as splashes were heard-

"C-Catra get your tail away from me-!" Naruto yelped as he was pulled below the waters. "DBummit!"

His eyebrow twitched before he blushed and hid his gaze with a hand.

Catra smirked as she swam around him with a blush and a grin, prodding his side.

She was rewarded with a full-body spasm that had her repeating her actions by sliding her hands up his armpits.

The blonde trembled.

Up above the waves, Lonnie leaned back with crossed arms and a knowing grin as Adora burned-up. "Ten vouchers says she's teasing him below the waters."

"T-That's not a fair bet!" Kyle yelped. "She already pulled him down!"

"HAH!"

Adora was just burning up. 'I-I'm naked beneath this towel!' And weren't those two below-

She dropped in while Lonnie laughed.

~NRK~

I know how this is rushed, narratively, before anyone says something. I just lost myself in the flow.

Won't happen again but this is what we're left with, I hope it's good enough.

I really liked the idea of Frosta being connected to Naruto on a little sister level and that's going to sport a VERY big change in the future I think people will actually really like for how out there it is.

Secondly, Adora's new weapon comes with more 'ups' than she wants to take. Those who are aware of Shadow Weaver's powers origin understand why it's so drastic on her. There's some fun to have there but I'm only slightly sure on where that will go… Though, one spoiler: Dual-Wielding is in her wheelhouse in the future.

Thirdly, our other big focus-character, Catra realizes she has PROBLEMS. It's something I know canon!Catra doesn't get until way further down the line but I think this works within the context of the story.

Catra became a Captain early on Naruto's recommendation, the same Naruto she feels similar odd feelings about like Adora and who's had a big effect on her and the others' emotional development.

Naruto who has now 'given her a child' and put more things into perspective.

Considering all of this new context, I think it'd really bring Catra's understanding of her own issues to the forefront especially because of that one talk Naruto and she had far back.

With all this thrown into her face, I don't think anyone would be surprised that she finally kinda gets it.

That said, there have been more hints of a different change in Catra's overall motives throughout the story. I know this one will probably be pretty exciting but controversial. I hope I can pull it off.

Whelp, that's it for now, the next arc will be the last one before we hit 'canon'.

Hope this works out.

~NRK Out~