Hello, and welcome to the latest chapter of my She-Ra story. Not in the mood to mess around, so let's get right to it. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is produced by Dreamworks Animation Television, and both She-Ra and He-Man are owned by Mattel. Enjoy.

Chapter 4: First Encounter

(The Evergreen Forest: The Next Morning)

Warmth…

That's the first thing Adam felt as his senses started to return.

A strange, and yet somehow familiar warmth enveloping his entire body.

Cocooning him in a comforting aura that soothed his aching muscles and loosened his stiff joints.

But more than that, this… whatever it was, seemed to be having an even greater effect on his mind.

No, not his mind, his soul.

Yes, his soul.

It was as if someone or something was giving his very life essence a warm, snuggly hug.

He felt happy.

He felt at peace with the world.

He felt, dare I say it, loved.

But then he opened his eyes and suddenly all those good feelings disappeared.

For upon doing so, he found himself laying on his back in a dark, unfamiliar room, with a tall, unknown figure pointing a sword at his throat.

"GYAAAAAAAH!" the young Prince exclaimed as he scuttled backwards in a frantic attempt to escape; only to bang the back of his head against a large rock. "AAAHH! DAMN IT!"

"Oh, Jeez! I am so sorry!" said the figure, sounding genuinely concerned and equally as frantic. "Are you alright?"

"Like you care!" Adam exclaimed defensively as he staggered to his feet. "Sneaky little wretch, trying to kill me in my sleep."

"What? No! I wasn't trying to kill you. I was trying to heal you." The figure replied, still looking a bit blurry from his perspective.

"How? By cutting my throat with a sword? Yeah, that makes perfect sense." The young Prince said sarcastically, before getting a good look at the weapon in question. "Wait a minute, that's my sword!"

"Uh, No it's not. This is my sword."

"Like hell it is! Give me that!"

And with childish defiance, Adam snatched the sword from his captor's hand and started brandishing it about with reckless abandon.

"Now see here, whoever you are! I don't know how things are where you come from, but around here a man's weapon is his life! It is an extension of his body and more precious than gold! And you just can't… this isn't my sword."

Yes, as embarrassing as it was admit, the young Prince had made a grievous error. Upon closer inspection he realized that the weapon in question was in fact not his own; although it was oddly similar. The hilt appeared to be of an identical make, only it was gold instead of silver, with a small, oval shaped gem in the center. Likewise, the blade had an identical crystalline structure, but while his resembled a white diamond, this one was more akin to an aquamarine.

This was most definitely not his Sword of Power, but an incredible simulacrum.

"Oh… Eh, Heh-Heh, Oh boy…" Adam said awkwardly as his cheeks began to burn with embarrassment. "So… there seems to have been a mistake made here."

"You don't say." The other figure said sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, can I have my sword back now?"

"Yeah, sure." The young Prince replied, his cheeks still ablaze as he returned the peculiar weapon to its rightful owner.

It was at this moment that Adam finally got a good look at his mysterious captor and, to his immense surprise, the shadowy figure turned out to be a young girl; about the same age as himself, if her height was anything to go by. Her frame was lean yet muscular, again not unlike himself, with dirty blonde hair and soft blue eyes. Her clothes, although smudged and riddled with tears, suggested that she was connected to some kind of military, albeit one he was not familiar with; probably some small town farmer's militia or some such thing. At any rate, she was not what he had been expecting. Although with a face like that, she was far from unwelcome.

"Uh… you okay?" the mystery girl asked confusedly. "You kinda spaced out there for a second."

"Whuh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just… I'm a little confused about what's going on. Where am I? How did I get here? And why were you pointing that sword at me?"

"Well, for starters, you're in a cave." The girl answered as she gestured for him to look around. And upon doing so, the young Prince saw that she was telling the truth. "Specifically, you're in a cave that's deep in a forest and right next to a river. That's where I found you a little while ago. You were in pretty bad shape, so I dragged you in here so I could heal you with my sword."

"Okay, I understood most of that, but how the hell is a sword supposed to heal anybody?"

"Yeah… Light Hope wasn't really clear on the specifics. Honestly, I was just improvising, but I guess it worked since it looks like you're all better now. What happened to you anyway? How'd you end up in that river?"

"I'm a little hazy on the details myself." Adam admitted. "Last thing I remember, I was fighting Skeletor and his Outcasts on some bridge and then… nothing. That crazy freak must've hit me with a flash bomb or something, 'cause everything else is just a blur."

"Well you must've been in that river a while, because you were really messed up when I pulled you out."

Upon hearing this, Adam took a moment to examine himself and, sure enough, his clothing corroborated her story. His favorite vest was torn and tattered, and his once clean white shirt was now covered in his own blood. He was completely dry, somehow, but the young Prince attributed that to whatever sorcery the strange girl had used to heal him.

You know, it's funny. Most people would probably freak out or fall into despair upon learning how close they came to death. But not Adam. No, he was just happy to be alive. And of course, he was really happy to be in the presence of such a lovely young maiden.

"Yeah, well, what doesn't kill me only makes me more badass." The young Prince said jokingly, before switching back to serious mode. "But in all seriousness, thanks for saving my life."

"No problem. It's kinda what I do."

"Well be that as it may, I insist on taking you back home with me. I know my parents are gonna be just as grateful and they'll probably want to reward you."

"Thanks, but that's really not…"

"No, I insist. I never forget a favor. Besides, there'll probably be a big feast in your honor and from the looks of it, you could really use one."

The mystery girl opened her mouth, presumably to argue, but her stomach soon let out a low rumble that quickly settled the issue.

"Heh-heh… I guess I could use a good meal." She said, soundly slightly embarrassed, before she attempted to change the subject. "So… are your parents rich or something?"

At this, Adam had himself a good laugh.

"What's so funny?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Heh-Heh-Heh… Oh come on, you know."

"Know what?"

Suddenly, Adam ceased his levity and adopted a much more bewildered expression.

"You do know who I am… right?"

"Should I?"

"I'm Adam. Prince of Eternia. Guardian of the Secrets of Castle Grayskull. Defender of the weak and downtrodden. Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Not really." She replied, sounding just as perplexed as he did. "What's a prince?"

"What's a pri… What's a prince?" Adam parroted in exasperation. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Ugh… Okay, you know what a King and Queen are, don't you?"

The strange girl nodded in reply.

"Alright, now we're getting somewhere. Okay, it's like this. My parents are the King and Queen of Eternia, and as their son, I'm next in line for the throne."

"Oh, so you're like a Princess."

At this, Adam's left eye began to twitch.

"Yeah, kinda."

"Sorry, I didn't know it was possible for a boy to be a Princesses."

"I didn't know it was possible not to know that!"

"Hey, don't yell at me, alright. I'm having a really tough week. First I had to travel across the Crimson Waste. And then I had to fight Catra on top of this weird tower, that hit me with this flash of light and sent me to this weird forest. And then I…"

"Oh…" the young Prince interrupted as all the pieces finally came together in his mind. "You're from another planet, aren't you?"

The stranger said nothing, but the surprised expression on her face told him that he was correct.

"I knew it." He said, trying not to sound smug. "The uniform alone should've tipped me off."

"Wait a minute, you sound like you've been through this before." The girl replied confusedly.

"Oh yeah, this sort of thing happens all the time. Why? Have you never met someone from another planet before?"

"Up until recently, I didn't think there were any other planets."

"Really? That's weird. But anyway, Eternia revolves around a star that's at the exact center of the known universe, so a lot of lost explorers and whatnot tend to washup here by accident. That's how my parents met actually."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, but that's another story. Anyway, I know we just met, but I am the Prince of this World, and as such I am honor bound to help those in trouble. Especially if they've already helped me and are as good-looking as you. So, if you want, I can take you back to the Palace, and perhaps my parents can help you find a place to stay. Somewhere much nicer than this damp old cave."

"That's… uh… very kind of you." The stranger said awkwardly. "But I really need to be getting back home. So if you could help me with that instead…"

Suddenly, Adam got a very unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach; and judging by the expression on the stranger's face, it showed.

"What's wrong?" she asked concernedly.

"I'm sorry. It's just… that may not be possible." He answered regretfully. "What I mean is… Eternia is rather… isolated. We know about other worlds because of our many visitors, but we can't go to them ourselves. We have no spaceships. No teleporters. No interstellar communicators. And although we can see the stars in our nighttime sky, we are further away from them than they are from each other. Coming here is almost always a one-way trip."

"So you're saying I'm stuck here? Forever?"

"That's… one way of looking at it. But you know… the ancient scriptures call Eternia the Oasis at the Center of the Universe. Don't think of it as being stranded. Think of it as… a reward. Yeah, that's it. A paradise at the end of a long journey."

Adam immediately ceased his shallow prattle when he saw that it wasn't helping. In fact, it seemed to only make his new friend feel worse.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I was only trying to…"

"I know what you were trying to do!" the stranger said harshly as she clenched her fists; fighting back tears in her eyes. "But you don't understand! I'm supposed to be the Defender of Etheria. I'm supposed to defeat the Horde and restore balance to my world. But if what you say is true, then Etheria is doomed. Without me, the rebellion will fail. I… I let everyone down."

Although he was severely lacking in context, the young Prince understood enough of the stranger's words to empathize with her. After all, he himself was the sworn protector of his own world.

"Hey, come on now, don't cry." He said, putting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Maybe… Maybe I jumped the gun a little on this one. Where exactly is this… 'Etheria'? What Star System is it in?"

"Well… that's kinda hard to explain." The stranger answered, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You see, it's in a place called Despondos that exists outside the rest of the universe."

"You mean like another dimension?"

"Yeah, that's the word Light Hope used. Another dimension. Why?"

"Because that changes everything!" Adam said excitedly, before calming himself enough to explain. "Eternia might not have anything to offer in terms of space travel, but we've no shortage of magic users who can move between dimensions. And one of them just happens to live in my castle."

"You're kidding."

"I assure you, I would never toy with the emotions of a maiden in destress. Especially not one as breathtaking as yourself."

Normally, such a cheesy come-on would've resulted in either a blow to the stomach or a swift kick to the crotch. However, in this case the strange girl was apparently so overwhelmed with gratitude that instead of giving in to her baser instincts she embraced the young Prince in a tight but welcome hug.

"Thank you." She said before pulling away from the embrace.

"Don't mention it. By the way, I never got your name."

"It's Adora."

"Oh, well then it's nice to meet you, Adora." Adam replied warmly, before setting his sights on the mouth of the cave. "Now on to business. From the looks of those trees, I'd say we're somewhere in the Evergreen Forest."

"Is that good?"

"Are you kidding? It's a hell of a lot better than good. It means we're within spitting distance of the Capital. All we have to do is climb up on Battle Cat and we'll be there in…"

Just then, a disturbing realization dawned on the young Prince.

Battle Cat, his oldest friend and loyal steed was nowhere to be found.

And even worse, neither was his trusty Sword of Power.

"Uh-oh." He said in what was quite possibly the greatest underreaction in the history of Eternia.

"What's wrong?" asked Adora.

To which Adam replied.

"Things just got a lot more complicated."

End Notes:

Happy Labor Day!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review.

Peace.