Night descended over the kingdom as Princess Glimmer guided Sora and Adora through Bright Moon Castle. Ecstatic wouldn't be enough to describe the young Princess's feeling right now. "Oh man, oh man! I still can't believe that mom's letting you two stay here in Bright Moon! Not you so much Sora, more Adora because of, her whole 'For the Horde!' thing...no offense!"

Adora gave a sigh, "No problem, I think?"

"Wow, this is pretty cool. I've visiting plenty of castles before, but I never could stick around long enough to stay the night at any of them" Sora commented aloud, happily looking at anything and everything.

Glimmer skipped ahead and kept pace in front of Sora while facing him, "So you've really met Princesses out on other worlds?! Now that is amazing! You gotta tell me what they're like, like cool powers, what their subjects are like, the castles they live in, if they could even visit..." she continued to list off.

He thought to himself for a moment, "Well, a lot of them didn't have powers actually. That's not a very common thing really...althoooough, I can't help but feel that with this new adventure, things are gonna be pretty different." Sora hummed to himself, "So one of my favorite kingdoms to go visit is the underwater world of Atlantica. One of the princesses there is Ariel, she's a, or was, a mermaid. She turned herself into a human so she could marry a human prince she fell in love with. The last time I was there, I ended up doing a whole bunch of musicals, you know, singing and dancing. That was really fun!" Sora regaled them.

Glimmer looked at him starry eyes. "That. Is. So. Cool! And so dreamy and romantic!"

Adora thought about what he said, "But wait, how could you sing and dance underwater? That doesn't seem physically possible."

"Simple, my friends and I used magic to turn ourselves into underwater folk. I got turned into a merman" he explained as though it were so simple.

"You what?!" Adora asked.

"You what?!" Glimmer too, but her face was glowing red. "You can turn into a merman?! Can you do it now?!" At this point, she was positively glowing.

"Yeah, I can turn into a merman, but no, I can't do it now. It's actual Donald's magic that transforms us. I don't think I mentioned this before, but not only is Donald really good with his magic, he's the Royal Court's Wizard for another kingdom, and Goofy is their Captain of the Royal Guards. Hopefully if we find my friends, he could show off some of the things he can do...and maybe we can put on a show and sing some of our songs! I think we were really awesome last time!" Sora had to reel back his excitement. He always got like this when he thought about singing, Donald was even worse about it.

Adora crossed her arms at that. "Wait, I don't get it. What's the big deal about singing?"

"Because singing's fun!"

She blew at her hair, "But I mean, what is singing even? Isn't it just talking, but loud and weirdly?"

Glimmer and Sora looked at her with surprise, "Not knowing what a party is was one thing, but they don't even have singing in the Horde?!"

Sora looked at Glimmer in surprise, "She didn't know what partying was?!"

"No!"

Sora placed both of his hands on his cheeks and looked at Adora with a gasped look, mouth opened like a fish. He held it up for several moments before he got smacked on the shoulder. "Shut up!"

The three laughed together, Sora always enjoyed the small fun moments like these. With so many of them, it's like the fun never ended with how many people he meets and befriends. He noticed a group of three soldier guards huddled together and whispering to each other. It was hard to hear, but he did hear the name 'Adora.' He looked at her, it seems she heard them, too, as her good mood seemed to have dampened.

Sora smiled to himself as he thought of what to do next. He grabbed Adora's hand and led her back to the guards. "Hey, were you guys talking about Adora? Isn't she totally amazing?! She's also super nice, here let's introduce ourselves!"

His actions, as expected, took everyone present by surprise. Glimmer looked at them all quizzically, not quite catching what was happening or what was whispered. The guards looked bashful and embarrassed at having been caught talking poorly of the fledgling heroine, and said heroine was mortified at the situation and was doing everything she could to escape Sora's grasp.

"What, no! I'm not really amazing! We really don't have to talk if you guys aren't feeling up to it." She then whispered harshly, "Just what do you think you're doing?! This isn't helping me!"

He looked at her questioningly for a moment, as though it was one of the oddest things he's ever heard. "Don't be ridiculous! It's always fun making new friends." Sora looked to the guards, who still didn't know what they should do. "Hey, did you guys want to try being friends? Always more room for everyone to join in on the fun!"

Adora gritted her teeth, if he was gonna be ridicules about the whole thing, then so would she. She jumped on his back, slapped her hand across his mouth, crossed her legs around his midsection and kicked him. "So sorry about bothering you guys! We'll just go and leave you alone now. Won't happen again!" Then with all of her strength, she leaned and pulled him in the direction they were originally walking.

Sora's arms flailed as he barely kept his balance. "Hmhgfm Mggmff mmhmffm!" He managed to remove her hand before they went around the corner, "Sorry about her! She's still new at making friends and she's shy!"

Adora became as red as a tomato, "SORA!"

Princess Glimmer couldn't keep her fits of laughter to herself anymore, "Oh my gosh, you two are so funny together! This is way better than anything the jesters could come up with! If you guys weren't busy being legendary heroes, you'd make the the best comedy acts!"

"Hey, that was not funny, it was embarrassing!"

Sora laughed it off and motioned for her to get off of him, "Come on, it was at least a little funny. Besides, I was only trying to help you talk to some new people, make some new friends."

She crossed her arms defensively, "Well, maybe I'm not ready for that level of socializing, ever think of that. Especially when those guys were, well, you know…"

That stopped Glimmer, "Wait, those guards were what?" She didn't like where this was going.

Sora continued on, "Well, I mean, from their prospective you were an enemy Horde Soldier just yesterday, now suddenly you're on their side. I can imagine it being kind of confusing and not the most comfortable thing for them."

Adora rubbed her arm, "Yeah, I shouldn't really expect more, should I?"

"That's why you gotta talk to people, so they know that not only are you not the bad guy, but also their friend and that you really wanna help them is all."

His words didn't really seem to make her feel much better. Glimmer took her hand, "Don't worry, Adora, we'll get there. In the meantime, you got me, Bow, and Sora to help you out."

"And Donald and Goofy when we find them!" Sora added.

The Princess nodded at that, "So relax a little. Things are only gonna get better from here on out...and for starters, it's time to show you to your new room!" she yelled before dragging her along the hallway with Sora following. They soon came to a stop at a door.

"Welcome to your new room!" Glimmer practically kicked the door down as she led Sora and Adora into the very spacious and luxurious room. "It's got everything a girl would need, you know, standard stuff such as: bathroom, vanity, crystal ball, bell pull, tea nook, more crystals, bed, desk, and of course waterfall. All standard really, nothing special."

Sora and Adora's jaws practically left a crack on the ground from where their jaws had dropped. Sora, in all of his adventures, had never seen something so, so, so...fancy! Poor Adora couldn't even figure out what half of the things she was just told were, let alone accept that this was her own room.

Sora was the first to snap out of it first, "Wow, I mean, whoa! But why the, and the ceiling is so high. Then there's the waterfall, why would you have that in here?!"

Adora tried to shake her head clear, "I don't know, wait, is the waterfall for bathing, like showering or something? Or do Princesses have something different?"

Glimmer gave a snort, "Ha ha, you're so funny Adora. I mean it, you and Sora gotta one day put a routine for everyone!" She wiped a tear from her eye. "Also you're right across the hall from me if you ever need anything."

Sora slapped himself in the face to finally get over the room. "Alrighty, so do I get a room too? Hopefully something more efficient instead?" he mumbled the last part to himself.

Princess Glimmer put a thoughtful finger to her chin, "Right, I had this room planned out since we decided that She-Ra would be the greatest thing to happen to us" she gave a little squeal, "Plus it's right across from my room." She cleared her throat as she noticed the two tilt their heads at her, "Right, I know I can think of something. There is always plenty of room in the castle, but not anymore in this wing however. Let's see the next closest wing would be, but no, the rooms are filled and lead too far. Hmm, how about…"

As Glimmer was trying to come up with a decision, Adora waved her arms in panic to get Sora's attention. When he looked her way, she desperately whispered to him, "Please don't leave me alone in here! This is way too much for me to handle by myself." Sora nodded and waited for the right moment to insert himself in Glimmer's dialog.

"Wait, I think I got it. Yup, I know, wait, no. How about-"

Sora interrupted, "Um, actually, I think I can figure something out pretty easily. Like you said, plenty of space everywhere, I can get myself taken care off."

The Princess scratched her cheek, "Um, are you sure? Might take a bit more thinking, but I'm sure I can get something figured out."

Sora waved her off, "Nah, if there is as much room as you say there is, I'm sure someone could easily point me to an empty room. I'm okay with the servants' quarters too, even."

Glimmer looked almost offended, "Well don't let it come to that! If my mom finds out you stayed in the servant's quarters, she'll yell my ear off again."

He reassured her as he laughed, "Don't worry, I won't let it come to that."

The young Princess gave a tired yawn, "So anything else you guys want to see? There's so much more of the castle left to see!"

Sora gave her a smile, "Nah, it sounds like you're pretty tired. The castle will be around tomorrow, I bet. We can finish the tour then, and Bow can be around too."

Glimmer gave another yawn, "Yeah, too much excitement all at once doesn't sound the best, plus the more the merrier. Good thinking Sora. I think it's about time for bed." She turned and headed for the door.

"But you know what?" Adora spoke up, stopping her from leaving, "You could hangout in here tonight. We all stay together, it'll be fun right? We can still hangout, sure, maybe share the bed, but it'll be fun." You can hear a bit of desperation in her voice.

Glimmer gave her back a bit of a stretch, "Maybe next time, but right now my bed is calling to me, and I can't ignore it. Sora will keep you company for now, though. G'night you two." And as with her namesake, the princess disappeared in a shower of glimmers.

Sora blinked once, twice, three times at the fact. "So wait, has she always been able to just teleport like that?"

"Yeah, I guess. Princesses, what can you say?" she said with a shrug. Adora's shoulders then dropped and she looked very uncomfortable.

Sora moved and sat her down on the bed before joining her. "So what's up. You don't like being alone?" he asked, referring her trying to get both him and Glimmer to stay over.

Adora felt comfortable enough to at least share a small bit about herself, "It's just...in all my memories, I've never slept alone. There would be at least always half a dozen of us in bunks. I mean here and there during training exercise we would have to camp out all alone and forage for food, but those were single nights, and I knew what I was getting myself into. This, all of this, is just way too different."

"Man, this would be real different compared to before, I'm sorry" Sora empathized with her.

"...I don't suppose...you could stay here tonight, could you?" she asked nervously.

He gave an enthusiastic nod, "Sure I can. It'll be just like a sleepover. Or if you're ready for bed, we can save the games for tomorrow night."

"I think tonight I'm ready for bed. The past couple of days have been really exhausting." Adora kicked her shoes off before looking at the overstuffed bed. "Great, just how am I supposed to do this?"

Sora gave a shrug, "I don't know, just lay on it? That's what most people do."

She scrunched up her face, "Okay, let's do this." She crawled on the bed towards the center, each step she would sink in far deeper than she'd expect. Once in the middle, she tossed herself on her back successfully. "Alright, that wasn't so bad!"

Sora had to suppress a chuckle, "I mean, it's a bed, what were you expecting it to do?"

Adora did let out a laugh, "I don't know, right? I mean, it's not as though Princesses and rebels are weird alien creatures that sleep any differently!" As soon as those words left her lips, she sunk at least another foot deeper into the mattress. "Okay! Too deep, too deep, aboard! ABOARD!" She panicked as she struggled to get out of bed.

"Okay, yeah!" Sora agreed with her, "That looks way too fluffy!" He gave her his hand to pull her out, with her grip though, he almost got pulled in too. He was able to right her again and pull her to the edge of the bed.

Adora took a few deep breaths, "That was terrifying!"

"Look, here, all we have to do is flatten it." Sora started to pound and smooth out the mattress. His efforts didn't really do much.

Adora was quick to join in. "Come on, flatten. Flatten already you stupid thing!" She was far more fierce and tougher than Sora was.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Not too hard or else-!" It was too late. Adora's pounding and hitting had eventually made the the seams tear and feathers were sent all around. "Or else that."

Adora blinked in confusing, "Did I just kill a bed?"

"Well...yeah, kind of."

She let out another sigh, "It's just one thing after another when I'm involved it seems. What do we do now? Go to Glimmer? She said if we needed anything-"

Sora didn't let her finish her train of thoughts, knowing where it's going, "Let's not do that yet. She's pretty tired, too. Besides, we can work with this. Feathers, I say we leave that till morning. For now-" Sora grabbed all the huge pillows off the bed and threw them to the floor. He then grabbed the thick top cover and threw that down on top of the bundle. Lastly, he grabbed and placed the silky bed sheet. "Ta-da! Makeshift bed!"

Adora smiled, now this looked like a luxury bed by her standards.

Adora grogerly opened her eyes as the morning sunlight hit her face from where she laid down. Even so, she felt rather well rested. It took her a moment to acclimate to her surroundings, she almost panicked in the unfamiliar room, before remembering the events that led her here. No wonder she felt so rested, after everything that happened, she slept like a rock. She hadn't done that since first few days of boot camp.

She then remembered about her bunkmate that always shared the same bed with her since childhood. Before she thought of anything else, she was wracked with depression, Catra, her bunkmate and best friend, choose to side with the Horde instead of her. Her best friend didn't choose her, after everything they went through together.

She felt her eyes well up before she sucked it back up. Catra made her choice, and so did she. All she can do next time they meet is to try even harder to convince her to join her side.

Shaking her head out of it, she looked for her new bunkmate, but she didn't see any sign of his spiky brown hair or large shoes. What were up with those anyway? She saw his feet, they were a little bigger than hers, sure, but not nearly large enough to warrant shoes that big. Maybe some sort combat superiority element to have shoes that large she didn't know about. Could help grip to the ground for stronger swings possibly?

Wait, wait, she's getting sidetracked. Sora isn't in the room. Did he leave already? She would have definitely preferred having him or someone around right now. This whole situation has had her feeling completely out of her elements and too vulnerable, and a friend would have come a long way in making her feel better.

"What was I expecting? Someone to hold my hand the entire time?" She walked up to the vanity and looked herself in the mirror, "Come on Adora, you can handle this. You're She-Ra now, a legendary warrior meant to kick all sorts of ass. Are you gonna let being so far away from home make you pathetic? 'Oh boo-hoo, Adora is all alone outside the Freight Zone.' Cry me a river!"

Feeling fully and utterly pumped, she went and pulled her shoes on, splashed water on her face, and walked out her bedroom door with her back straight and head up. She took several long steps, feeling full of herself before she found herself almost walking right into the Queen. She almost tripped over herself as she stopped herself from smacking into her. Immediately she felt all of the confidence she built up wilt away and die under Queen Angella's intense gaze.

"O-oh, Your Majesty, sorry about that. About almost walking into you, you here the middle of the hallway, or er. Hmm." Adora suddenly bowed, remembering that proper formalities should still be met, even as She-Ra. "Good morning Queen Angella! Fine morning it is today, isn't it? What brings you here?" She wanted to smack herself at how stupid she was acting.

The Queen's gaze lingered on her a moment longer before looking at the mural just to the side of them. "Often, when I feel the weight of the day and all of my burdens slow me down, I come here." An illuminate glow radiated from her hand and shed light on the mural's depiction. It was a regal looking man with a large staff in hand.

"Who is that?"

"King Micah...my husband."

"Oh, that's right. Most people have mothers and fathers. He must be Glimmer's dad, I haven't seen him around yet."

Angella's eyes narrowed as the Queen's gaze returned to Adora, this time looking much colder. "My love was one of the very first casualties of the Horde."

She felt her blood turn into ice as those words left the Queen's lips. She had no idea that this happened. What in the world was she supposed to say?"

"I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Adora." She was now realizing how tall the regal woman was as she loomed over her. "My daughter has much confidence in you, she believes that you will aid us in our time of need." Queen Angella bent down to match eye level with her, "She has vouched for you and your friend, despite your background, so I'm willing to give you a chance. Do not disappoint her, and most importantly, do not disappoint me." With that, the turned around and strode off.

Adora wasn't too sure why, but she wanted to find a nice, isolated spot and roll herself into a fetal position. This must be what Catra always felt like after a tongue lashing from Shadow Weaver. Feeling chills run down her body, she turned around and headed back to her room. She opened the door and looked inside, hoping for some kind of clue of what she should do next. There were none. Closing the door, she looked at another door right behind her. Glimmer's room.

She tiptoed to the door and carefully opened it and poked her head inside. Adora whispered quietly, "Glimmer, are you awake?"

No response.

She tried whispering much louder, "Glimmer! Glimmer!" She heard a snort before she saw movement on the Princess's floating bed. She was still asleep it seems.

Looking down both ends of the hallway and seeing nobody, Adora let herself inside the room. Looking at the floating stepping stones, she quietly hopped from one small platform to the next. Reaching the top, she looked at the sleeping girl and contemplated on her next move. Taking a silent deep breathe, Adora gave her a light tap on the shoulders and breathed out her name, "Glimmer."

Nothing. Had this been one of her former fellow cadets or Catra, she may have shoved them completely out of bed and gave out some stern words. Now, she felt so nervous and intimidated. Hugging her arms together, Adora settled for waiting the smaller girl to wake up on her own.

"So we are still heading in the right direction, right?" Bow asked as he and a guard moved a fallen tree log out of the way of the wagon's path.

"Pretty sure. Like I said the last three times, we flew through the area, so things look pretty different down here on ground side" Sora answered as he and another guard pulled the wagon through.

Early in the morning, Sora was approached by some guards and informed him that the cart was prepared and tried to have him point on the map where the crash site was. Sora couldn't figure out where on the map it was, and instead he insisted on joining to help collect the Gummi parts as well as lead the group. It was on their way out of Bright Moon that Sora was met by Bow. He had spent a lot of time in the Whispering Woods while growing up and considered one of the more knowledge people when it came to navigating through the constantly changing forest.

"And you said it was at a some half buried castle?" the armored woman next to him asked.

"Yeah-uh."

"That no one's ever seen or heard of?" the other guard continued.

"How am I supposed to know?! I just landed here from space!" Sora complained, "You're trying to make it sound as though I'm crazy, aren't you?!"

Bow tried to defuse the situation, "Hey, hey, calm down everyone. Tensions are a little high, sure, we've been at this for a few hours now. No need to turn a pond into an ocean." His words helped a little. "Sora, these woods might not be the most explored, I'll admit, but I'm sure we would have known there was a castle around here." Sora pouted at that as the guards looked a bit smug, "Although, if it is half buried, that would be a real good explanation of why we don't know about it. I mean Princess Glimmer and I found an untouched temple when we first met Adora." Sora stuck his tongue out at the two women who grumbled to themselves.

"I bet if we find Madame Razz, we'll be able to find that castle in no time" Sora suggested.

"Madame Razz?"

"The crazy old lady Adora and I met."

Bow scratched his head at that, "Yeah, that's not really helping your case, man."

Sora held his arms up, "Hey, she was the nut job, not me." The woman next to him gave him a glare. Sora realized he was making her pull the wagon along by herself. "Sorry."

Bow motioned for everyone to halt. "Why don't we stop here for now. Sora, what if you and me go on ahead to try to find this Razz? Make our lives a little easier."

"Don't you mean 'you and I?'" Sora wiggled his eyebrows.

Bow narrowed his eyes at him, before he yelped, "I said make our lives easier!"

"Sorry, bad joke."

Almost twenty minutes of searching in the forest, Sora and Bow came across a hut built into a large tree. Just near the front door, an elderly woman was sweeping dirt and debris out of her home.

"Hi Razz!" Sora approached her.

The old woman turned around and pointed her broom at him threatening, "Who are you, what do you want?! I'm not interested in any magazines!"

Sora blinked in confusion, "Um, it's me, Sora. We met yesterday. We fought Horde Soldiers, you, me and Adora."

Razz gave him a queer look.

"We also helped Ado-errr, we helped Mara with some of her issues in her heart. After you two went berry picking."

"Ah, yes, that's right! You're the boy with the smart noggin."

Sora leaned towards Bow, "She called me smart."

"Coming from a coo coo head, that doesn't mean much" he retorted.

"You're just jelly cause you haven't been called smart lately, I bet."

"No!" he crossed his arms, 'He must never know.'

"Yes, yes, Sora was your name. You're looking for your friends, any luck?" Razz asked.

"Nothing yet, but it's only been a day, so I still got high hopes I'll find them soon." Razz nodded. "I don't suppose you could point to us where's that castle place was? The place where I met you and Mara?"

Bow blinked as he realized something, "Wait, who's Mara?"

"I'll explain later."

Madame Razz tapped her chin in thought, "Hmm, I don't recall any castle, but I do remember that garden where the best berries grow. Do you mean there?"

Sora clapped and pointed, "Yeah, that's the place. Could you tell us?"

Razz gasped in horror, "I'll never tell you where. You want to know so you can have all the berries to yourself, don't you?!"

"What, no! My friends have a cart nearby so we-"

"-Can take all the berries, I won't let you. Broom, attack!" Razz started swinging her broom at him, hitting Sora multiple times over the head. Bow openly pointed and laughed at him before Razz turned her ire on him, "Don't think I'll let you get away with all the berries!"

"Come on, Razz. Don't you remember, we're friends." Sora pleaded as Razz started hitting him again. "I'd never take anything from you, especially not without your permission. I won't take your berries, I promise. I left some of my stuff behind because it was too much to carry. That's why we brought a wagon."

His words hit home as Razz put her broom down. She let out a sigh, "You're right, Broom, I'm not being a very good friend, am I? A good friend should be happy to share." Razz gave Sora a soft pat on his arm, "If you promise to keep being a good friend to my Mara, I'll tell you where. You better share those berries with Mara, cause if I find out…" she left the threat in the air.

Sora gave her a broad smile, "Not that I'm going to collect berries, but if I do pick some, I'll definitely share with Mara."

Bow mouthed to himself 'Who the heck is Mara.'

"Good, good, very good. Then you just want to go that way, you should find it in no time."

Glimmer gave a yawn as her hand reached her eyes to rub, her hands felt a lot rougher than usual. She noticed she had her gloves on before looking down at the rest of herself. "Did I fall asleep with my clothes on?" She rolled over, debating on whether or not she should get up. That's when a symbol she learned to fear her whole life took up her vision.

"THE HORDE!" she screamed as she tried to scramble away. It was only when she was halfway to the ground she remembered that her bed was suspended high in the air. It was also after she hit the ground she remembered that she had teleporting abilities that are practically first nature to her. "Oww~."

Glimmer blinked again, "Wait, Horde? Horde!" she shouted again.

"Glimmer, are you okay?!" Adora looked down at her on her bed.

She blinked twice as she began to remember the events of the past couple of day. It was almost like a dream she nearly forgot about. "Adora, is that you? What are you doing in here?!"

"Yeah...sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. You said that if I needed anything, well..." Adora left it there.

Glimmer rubbed her lower back from the fall before appearing right next to her. "No, it's okay. It's not your fault. I was so tired after everything, I was out like a rock, brain had some catching up to do after I woke up." She tried to laugh it off.

Adora did not look like she was in a laughing mood. "Hey, you're in here, did you need something? Is everything okay?"

She let out a deep moan, "Auugh, I ran into your mom, and I'm pretty sure she hates me. I woke up alone and Sora was gone and I got scared because all of this is sooo, Auugh!"

"What, no! My mom loves you!"

"No, she loves She-Ra. Adora on the other hand is a Horde Soldier, and I think she made it very clear she's keeping her eye on me."

Glimmer's head swayed side to side, "Err, mom can be intense sometimes...wait, Sora was gone? What's that supposed to mean...did he stay with you last night?!" Her face began to turn a beet red.

Adora did understand where she was heading towards, she continued, "Yeah, I asked him to stay with me last night. I've never slept alone before, I tried asking you, too."

The Princess instantly deflated at that, "Oh...Oh! I'm so sorry. Last night I didn't realize."

Adora let out a depressing sigh, "For the Horde or not, I'm a soldier. I'm supposed to be tough, tactical, strong, but ever since all...this! I've been so out of my element that it feels like I need everybody to hold my hand through it. This suck."

Glimmer had a small smile as she put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, even by our standards all of this is crazy and new. Also we're friends now. Friends help each other out when they really need it."

Adora couldn't stop her own smile, "Yeah...that's what Sora kept saying yesterday, too. Thanks Glimmer."

"So Sora was gone this morning? When and where do you think he went?"

She gave a shrug, "I'm not sure, like you I was out like a rock." Adora gave her a playful jab on the shoulder, "It's like you said, all of this has been real crazy!"

"...So hey, I don't think I mentioned this last night, but our weekly meeting with the Rebellion Generals is today. We can join in and make a good impression on everyone else. That will help I'm sure. Besides, we have official invitations from mom. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't some faith in you, right?"

Adora looked a little bit more hopeful. "You think?"

"Yeah I do! So until then, let get breakfast. I'm starving!"

As Sora and his party returned to Bright Moon from the Whispering Woods, everyone parted ways for them. All of them in some sort of shock or awe as they watched them pass by with the wagon. They were even unimpeded when they reached the castle gates. The guard's jaws only dropped as they watch them go by their posts.

"So you said the courtyard I can use is where?" Sora asked a miserable looking Bow.

"We just keep going straight, we'll see it soon. It's divided into four sections, the Westside is the one you can use." Bow's voice was deadpan.

"Oh come on, Bow. Let's see that smile! I'm gonna get you to smile, I'm gonna get you to smile!" Sora made silly faces to try to get him to crack a smile. Bow barely batted an eye. "Hey, how was I supposed to know to all that would happen?!"

"...I got set on fire."

"Wasn't my fault!"

"OH MY GOD! BOW, SORA, WHAT HAPPENED?!" Up on one of the balconies Glimmer and Adora looked down at them in disbelief. Sora and Bow looked beat up, Bow in particular was covered in soot, the two guards trailed behind them looking exhausted, and a giant decapitated robot insect head had it's pincers clamped down of the wagon! Wires trailed behind as it leaked some sort of oil and iccor mix behind them.

"Mission complete! Got all the Gummi pieces from the crash site! We may have ran into a small issue though."

"SMALL?!" Bow shouted.

Glimmer grabbed hold of Adora before teleporting themselves down next to them. Adora looked at the disgusting, yet familiar head. "Wait, is that the-?"

"-Yes!"

"From when we-?" Glimmer tried.

"-Still yes! It came back for revenge!" Bow almost cried out.

Sora waved it off, "We're fine~!"

"How are you still not freaked out by this?!" Bow shouted.

"We're fine~!" he waved it off again.

He shook his head in disbelief, "Just what have you fought off before landing here?"

Sora burst out laughing for ten full seconds before shaking his head, "Oh man, so, soooo much worse than this." He started chuckling again. The trio and the nearby guards didn't know whether to be amazed or horrified at that.

"Just what happened?!" Glimmer asked again.

Sora and Bow looked to each other. Bow did not look like he was at all interested in retelling the story. "Well, it started when we found the castle..."

~Flashback~

"Wow, a castle!" Bow exclaimed.

~End Flashback~

"The Gummi Ship was just how we left it…"

~Flashback~

"Wow, a real spaceship!"

~End Flashback~

"And then…"

~Flashback~

"We're all gonna die!" As the giant robot bug loomed over Sora, Bow, and the two guards.

~End Flashback~

"So we…"

~Flashback~

"Kill it with fire!" Sora yelled as he casted balls of fire in the machine's direction.

~ End Flashback~

"So after that…"

~FlashBack~

An exhausted and scorched Bow stood next to Sora as the Keyblade Wielder heroically posed with his fists on his hips. "Alright Mister Bow...Let's. Go. Home!"

~End FlashBack~

"..."

"..."

"...Wow. You are terrible at retelling stories."

"Fine then! You tell them what happened!"

The two girls looked to Bow expectantly. He rolled his eyes, "Fine. So, after that coo coo lady gave us the right directions…"

~Flashback...but for real this time!~

Bow and the two guards couldn't believe their eyes. It was just as Sora and Adora said, a once huge now half buried castle stood in the middle of the forest.

"See, told you so" Sora rubbed in.

Bow held his hands up defensively, "Hey, first of all, never took sides. If anything I defended the possibility of this place being here."

"I know, but…" Sora turned around and stuck his tongue out at the guards. The moment their back was turned, one of the women stuck her tongue out in retaliation.

"And I'm guessing that those brightly colored chunks are your ship?"

"Yeah-uh"

Bow couldn't help but get a little excited, "Wow, a real spaceship. I never ever dreamed of seeing one...not quite what I was expecting though." He eyed the oddly bright colors.

"Yeah, I thought the same thing, too, when I first saw it. Had a lot of fun flying that thing."

"Hey! Do you think it's possible that we could fly it once it's all put together?!"

Sora scratched his head, "Well, I wouldn't say it's impossible, but Donald gets real finicky when it comes to flying the Gummi Ship."

Bow tapped his chin in thought, "So hey, which one was Donald again? The tall one or the short one?"

"The short one, why?"

"Why else?! So I can be super nice to him when we first meet so maybe I can convince him to let me fly!" Bow got a giddy, "I mean, imagine all the advance technology on that thing. I may have not mentioned it before, but I am a total tech nut!"

Sora got a laugh out of that, thinking back to how he first met Tron. "Yeah, I tried to figure that kind of stuff out, but I'm really terrible at it." He looked around the crash site, "Well, think we should get at it?"

Bow and the two guards agreed and got straight to work. Sora made sure to let them know to let him handle the larger chunks of the ship, as to make sure the pieces don't fall apart any further. They were mostly done with only about a dozen pieces left when a shaking caused them to halt.

"...What was that?" one of the guards asked.

The other guard answered "Don't know, but I got a bad feeling about this."

Sora slapped his face, "Great, something big is guaranteed to happen now."

Bow immediately thought of the very first thing he, Glimmer and Adora encountered next to the First Ones' temple. "Hey Sora, I don't suppose you and Adora saw any kind of monster when you were here last?"

"No, why?"

Heavy thumping was felt as a giant, six eyed insectoid came bursting out the ground and let out a high pitched roar.

"That's why!" Bow quickly pulled out his name sake and shot forth an arrow. Close to impact, the arrowhead exploded and launched a sticky substance that covered its mouth. The bug monster stopped its charge as it tried to pry its mouth open and resorted to using the ground and nearby trees to try to tear the sticky solution off.

"Okay, that should buy us a few precious moments so we can get the heck out of here!"

Sora gaped at the boy, "What?! No way are we leaving without the Gummi pieces!"

"We'll try to grab them another day! I've seen this thing before and it is gonna tear us apart!" Bow argued.

Sora hardly needed a moment to think about it. "Alright, here's the plan: while I fight and distract this thing, you guys finish grabbing the rest of the parts and get out of here. I'll follow you guys after."

"By yourself?!"

"He's crazy!"

"Dude, there is no way you can fight this thing off by yourself." Bow's words fell on deaf ears.

"Alright, so we agree on the plan? Break!" Sora turned around, summoned his Keyblade, and ran head first towards the giant bug as it was finally breaking free from its restraints.

Bow and the guards looked to each other, hoping an answer will come along and tell them what to do next. None of them were leaders and the only plan given seemed too crazy to follow. Bow gave out a high pitched whine.

"Okay, fine! You guys heard the plan! Finish grabbing everything, I'm gonna give Sora supporting fire!" He turned on his heels as the two women went to grab what's left of the ship. He instantly saw Sora on the creature's back, almost riding it like a beast of burden, before striking down on its back. The monster let out a squeal.

"Suppressing fire!" Bow launched one arrow after another, each one delivering a different payload then the last. The first arrow burst into finely knotted rope that tangled two of it four left legs that made it stumble, but not fall.

Sora used his momentum to jump off it's back and land in front of his face to deliver a powerful strike to it head. As its maw opened to bite down, his second arrow launched the same sticky substance as before, though his aim was not as true as before, only partially covering its face and hardly his jaw. This gave Sora enough edge to avoid its large bite before landing three more strikes to its head.

Bow's third arrow launched and released a light yellow liquid that coated the creature's left side and followed up with a flaming arrow. The arrow missed and struck uselessly at it's armored leg. Understanding Bow's attempt, Sora circled around after striking under its chin before launching a large fireball at its side.

"Fira!"

Instantly the liquid lit up and an explosion followed, knocking the creature down onto its side, and created a backdraft that showered them in hot embers. Sora was able to quickly shrug it off, but Bow quickly got burnt by it all and had to stop before dropping to the ground and roll around.

"Bow!" Sora was quick to notice his friend. With one more look at the creature he threw his Keyblade at it like buzzing saw blade that cracked its underside. He was soon standing over Bow. "Hang on, Cure!" A bell shaped flower bloomed over his head and showered the young man in green energy, stopping the burning sensation and quickly healed away the pain and injury.

Bow blinked quickly in surprise, realizing he wasn't being burnt anymore. "Whoa, you can do magic?! You never mentioned that!"

"Yup, yup, a wizard taught me! Let's get back to it!" he hurried along as the bug monster began to get back up. Its side where the explosion was set off was heavily cracked and broken, but instead of seeing nasty bug guts, they were met with the sight of mechanical parts and live wires.

"Wait, that thing is a machine?!" Bow yelled, the thoughts of wanting to study the thing almost finished crossing his mind before he shook himself out of it.

"Wait, a machine?! I got an idea, watch this! Thunder!" Sora thrusted his Keyblade in the air...nothing happened. "Umm, I said Thunder!" Nothing happened still. Realization was now rearing its head at him, "Aw man! Don't tell me I've got relearn most of my magic all over again!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Bow panicked.

"Yada yada, stuff happened. Now I'm back to square one. So that means I'm gonna go back there and start smacking it around some more!"

"Wait, hold on!" He stopped Sora before he could take his third step. "I have an idea, if you can distract it long enough, I could get underneath and gunk up its systems with one of my foam arrows. Think you can do that?"

Sora gave him a thumbs up before running at the insectoid machine. Unfortunately the fiery explosion had burned away the rope binding two of its legs, returning its full mobility. It let out a loud, angry screech as it began to swing its frontal legs at Sora. With well timed parries and dodges, Sora made several counter strikes at its head and neck. The machine eventually made an opening and struck out with its head and pincers, Sora got caught and had to hold both his arms out to catch the sharp blades and hold them off before he managed to shove himself out of the way. Sora rolled over on the ground before he looked up just in time to get bash into the air and into a downed temple column.

Throughout the engagement, Bow made sure to stay as directly behind the insectoid as possible as he crept closer. He had managed to make it underneath the machine and took aim just as it knocked Sora away. Watching Sora soar through the air, he quickly noticed that the giant was looking directly at him. He let out a panicked yelp as he let his arrow fly fruitlessly and hopped away in time as a leg tried to step on him. He did his best to ignore the irony of a giant bug trying to squash a puny human as he evaded the many legs while trying to take aim. Bow found his moment and shot his foam arrow. Success. The machine almost halted for a moment as foam filled its insides. While its movements were at a crawl, it still made an attempt to stab at him with its legs. Bow easily moved away and shot another foam arrow into its exposed belly.

Sora returned to the fight and watched as the insectoid began to freeze up and sparks flew from its head and joints. "Okay, time to end this for good!" Sora spun his Keyblade before dashing forward and with one swift stroke, decapitated the head off. Bow got away as the massive body collapsed in a heavy heap.

Bow let out a heavy sigh, "*Phew* I can't believe we actually got through that alive and won!" He wiped his forehead of sweat.

Sora stretched his sore back, "Hmm, man, that was a fun challenge, huh? Think we'll run into another one of those things?"

"Man, I hope not! You really found that fun?"

"Heh, it could have been way worse. It could have been just you or me by ourselves fighting it with no help. Thanks for the help, good teamwork."

Bow rubbed the back of his neck, "Nah, I'm sure you could have won this thing by yourself sooner or later. I got worried when that thing hit you, but you seem pretty okay. My arrows were so-so useful."

Sora looked surprise before shaking his head, "No way! If it wasn't for your arrows, we'd never make it explode the way it did. And if it wasn't for that foam, there would be no way I'd slice its head off like that so easily! You helped a lot."

Bow smiled before getting a little excited, "Yeah, that was so cool how you just went *ZING* and cut it clean off!...Yeah, I guess we did make a pretty good team there."

The two guards began to approach with the wagon now that the danger had passed. "You two good?" Sora asked.

"Yes, no trouble with us."

"I also double checked the area. We've collected all the pieces of your ship in this area."

"Neat!"

"Alright, so do we rest up, or do we head back?" Bow asked the group.

"Well, I'm not feeling too bad. If everyone's up for it, I'd love to get back and get some grub. Eggs are sounding pretty good to me!" Sora answered.

The guards didn't move to argue. "Guess we head back then."

"If you want to rest up on the wagon, you'll get no complaints from me" Sora threw out there.

"Yeah, maybe."

Sora looked to the decapitated head, "Think we can bring this back as a souvenir?"

"Yeah, no. That thing is way too big!"

Sora climbed on top of the head and played with the pincers, "'Come on, Bow, take me with you to show off to everyone! It would make me real happy!'" Sora said in a silly voice, but Sora must have triggered something, because the pincers clamped down hard and bit into the wagon, leaving a deep dent. "Oops."

Sora tried to pry it, but it seemed jammed and refused to open. He looked up at the group before blinking. A big silly smile broke out on his face, "Souveniiiirrrr?!"

The three of them looked at Sora with disbelief before letting out an exhausted sigh. Where all that energy and enthusiasm came from, they'll probably never find out.

~End Flashback~

Princess Glimmer and Adora looked at them with jaws hanging. Glimmer shook off her stupor, "And you all thought it was still an okay idea to drag that thing's head through Bright Moon and scare everyone?!"

Bow pointed at Sora with his thumb, "Well, he said if he tried any harder to pry it open, he'd have broken the whole cart."

"Hey, it's not my fault that this thing is clamped down so hard!"

"No, but it's your fault it clamped down in the first place!"

Sora opened his mouth to retort again, but couldn't think of anything, "Yeah, no. You're right. My bad. Total accident, that's all I can say."

Both Sora and Bow's stomachs made themselves known at that moment. "Whelp, I'm up for food. Anyone else?"

"Best idea I've heard all morning."

Glimmer sighed, "Well, we're on our way their now."

"To breakfast!" Sora and Bow stuck their fist up together. Adora and slowly Glimmer joined them, too.

"Then the War Council."

"Then War Council!" they all remained in position for a moment longer. Sora and Bow's stomach growled again.

"Okay, I'm done playing now. Let's eat!"

(A/N: HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS!)