Good day to you, my lovely people! Welcome to chapter 8 of Fist of the Sky! However, before we get to the chapter proper, there's something I want to address. Creativity?
Creativity: Yes, boss?
Author: I believe some acknowledgements are in order.
Creativity: Oh, right! That! Gimme a sec… where is it…? It was right here just a minute ago! Ah, here we are! So, let's all give a round of applause to one WantedHuntsman, who left some of the best constructive criticism that we've seen on our stories!
Author: Indeed! And as thanks, we are going to address his review of chapter 7 right here! So, let us begin:
While I do agree that this particular version is Ferah's story, I don't want to completely discount the other characters. Besides, Ferah (and I for that matter) is still finding her feet in this story, so the beginning might be a bit 'original plot' heavy. As for the second part, that's a symptom of me wanting to keep to a certain proximity of the original story and feeling a certain rush to get to the parts envisioned (e.g. Ferah finally losing it and chewing out Plumeria) and I take full responsibility for that second part. In future, I'll probably go back and switch up the dialogue, even if it'll probably boil down to the same stuff.
Creativity: Thanks for setting us straight on that.
Author: Yes, many thanks. Before we go any further though, let's get our new tradition out of the way; our story recommendation!
We've opted to read stories and give our recommendations for reading options. However, since last I checked, this is the only She Ra DBZ crossover, I'll be recommending from the normal She Ra stories. This chapter's recommendation is 'The Invisible Line' by RustyRiley; It takes place post season 4 and so far contains stress, manipulation and has me eagerly anticipating the next chapter.
Now then, where did we leave off? Oh, yes!
After failing to heal the Heart Blossom of Plumeria and Ferah's loss of temper, the best friend squad has rallied and intends to take on the Horde camp to put an end to their operations in Plumeria. What will happen next? Find out during chapter 8 of Fist of the Sky!
"So, we're all clear on the plan?" Adora asked. Bow and Glimmer nodded while Ferah groaned.
"Yes, we're clear about the plan, Adora. We've been clear on it the last three times we went through it." Ferah answered through gritted teeth.
"Well, let's add a fourth time to it, just to be on the safe side." Glimmer suggested, drawing a furious glare from Ferah.
"Alright. Step one, steal four Horde uniforms so we can sneak into the camp under the guise of shift change. Step two, find the cause of Plumeria's dying plants and destroy it. Step three, try to escape or find some way to cause the Horde to retreat." Adora ran through again with military precision as they snuck their way around the border of the dying jungle, searching for a patrol they could steal the uniforms from.
"Why did you do that to me? Why?" Ferah hissed at Glimmer, who didn't even turn around.
"Because your attitude is getting real irritating." Glimmer replied matter-of-factly. Ferah glared at Glimmer.
"Am I going to have to speak to your mother regarding cruel or unusual punishment? Because cruel and unusual punishment doesn't sound like an 'alliance' thing." Ferah shot back. Glimmer looked back with a smug look.
"I'm not sure where you would've gotten that idea. The General's got some pretty interesting ideas for guards who draw her ire. Maybe she could make some recommendations to my mom." Glimmer countered with that same look. Ferah opened her mouth to respond, but Glimmer kept going.
"And hopefully whatever they decide to punish you with will curb this attitude you've copped." Glimmer added, causing Ferah to glance away, still a bit incensed but it drained away slowly and her tail drooped.
"Sorry about that. Guess I'm still mad at myself for losing it in front of Perfuma and the village." Ferah apologized again. Glimmer held up a finger at Ferah.
"I said we'd talk about that later. Besides, it wasn't like we weren't all thinking it." Glimmer replied with a hint of a grin. However, Adora's hand suddenly shooting up told them to be quiet and still. She then motioned forward, pointing out an approaching patrol of four Horde soldiers.
"Alright, let's do this. Me and Ferah will knock them out, then we steal the uniforms." Adora whispered to them. She and Ferah crept ahead until Adora was ahead of the patrol while Ferah was behind. On Adora's signal, Ferah zipped forward and delivered twin neck chops to the two rear soldiers, causing them to crumple to the ground without so much as a gasp. However, the armor made enough noise for the two soldiers in front to take notice. However, when they spun around to see what was happening, Adora leapt out of hiding and pulled the shorter one into a chokehold, distracting the final soldier long enough for Ferah to knock them out with a final neck chop. With the guards subdued, they stripped them of their armor and left them unconscious on the outskirts of the jungle while they retreated further in and busied themselves with climbing into their disguises. Soon everyone was ready, though with a few gripes. Well, mainly one, and from a single source.
"Couldn't we have found someone a little bigger? The helmet and the chest plate are too tight." Ferah complained quietly as they made their way to the Horde camp entrance.
"Well, that was the largest they had and we're on a time crunch, so you'll just have to deal. It won't take long." Glimmer hissed back.
"You don't have armor that you can feel your ribs denting! Oh, and you don't have a tail that you had to stuff into this junk! Do you have any idea how sensitive this thing is? It's gonna be chaffing by the time I get out of this tin can!" Ferah continued, only for Glimmer to smack her upside the helmet.
"Stow the complaints, we're almost there! And try not to give away how uncomfortable you are in the armor. If they catch on, we're gonna be in real deep trouble!" Glimmer hissed again. Ferah rolled her eyes under the helmet but complied with Glimmer's orders. She was right about things ending badly if they got caught.
"Alright, how far away are we?" Ferah asked Adora.
"We're about at the entrance, so now we head in for the shift change. Get ready." Adora ordered. They all got ready as Adora began to count down.
"Three… two… one… go!" Adora hissed as they strode into the camp like they were supposed to be there. They immediately went over to the building that Adora had singled out as most likely to be housing whatever was poisoning the Heart Blossom, with Ferah doing the absolute upmost best she could muster to not fidget or walk funny with the way her tail was scrunched up in her armor. It was damn near unbearable.
"I hate this armor, I hate it, I hate it, ihateitihateitihateit…" Ferah ranted to herself in her mind as she walked perfectly normally. As they were walking though, she noticed something else that had her mildly infuriated. Specifically, it was a lizard man, who just so happened to be wearing armor that was designed to accommodate his tail.
"Oh, come on! He gets armor that doesn't crush his tail and cause it to chafe and cramp!? Why couldn't we have knocked out him?!" Ferah screamed in her head. The cosmic injustice however was soon distracted from as they were now arriving in front of the building that Adora had guessed to contain the source of Plumeria's woes.
"Shift change!" Adora announced to the guards, who immediately looked relieved.
"Finally!" One exclaimed.
"I know, right? I swear, these guard shifts get longer every single time!" The other complained as they walked off. Once they were out of sight, the group of four slipped inside the building, and what a sight they suddenly beheld.
Situated before them was a massive machine with several large tubes that were pumping some sort of milky green liquid into the ground. Ferah hissed angrily when she saw it. All of them removed their helmets as they looked at the terrible machine.
"The Horde really is poisoning the land." Glimmer murmured in a horrified voice.
"Well, now we know what to break." Ferah snarled as she cracked her knuckles.
"Hey!"
All of them jumped and spun around to see a Horde soldier standing behind them, weapon leveled at their faces, though it was currently uncharged.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded. Ferah immediately glanced to Adora, who took the question in stride.
"Uh, I believe the question is what are you doing here? We have security clearance. Password: 5-echo-niner." Adora replied in a commanding, and slightly condescending tone. Perfect for the situation they were in.
"We haven't used that password in months…" The Horde soldier muttered before slamming her hand on a button on the wall. Alarms immediately started blaring. The soldier's weapon began charging, but Ferah lunged forward, hitting the Horde soldier straight across the cheek with a straight right punch that sent her spinning to the ground, completely out cold.
"Wow, nice punch!" Bow complimented.
"Thanks, but not the time!" Ferah replied, slightly hysterically.
"Right. Adora, what do we do?" Bow asked hurriedly. They could hear the thundering of dozens of armored boots running their way.
"Run!" Adora shouted before they all bolted out the front door, making a run for the entrance. Unfortunately, there were already Horde soldiers with charged weapons in their way. They made ran to the left and leapt behind cover, dodging the blasts from their weapons.
"Why are we running?! We need to take out that machine!" Ferah shouted over the din of the shouting soldiers.
"I'd rather live to take another shot at it, but that's just me!" Adora replied as she lobbed a few pieces of junk at the Horde soldiers, knocking a couple of them down before they made another run for it, ducking behind new cover.
"How many of those guys can we handle?!" Adora asked as she frantically looked for a way out.
"For me? Between one and… hah… zero." Bow replied between gasps for breath.
"I'll take all of them! Just… ah… give me a minute!" Glimmer responded. Ferah wasn't having any of it.
"Let me handle the brunt of it! As soon as I get out of this walking cage!" Ferah shouted before letting out a roar as a silver aura erupted around her, causing the armor to burst from her body, leaving her in her travel clothes. Her tail wriggled as soon as the air touched it.
"Oh, man does it feel good to be out of that thing! My tail must have like… three cramps!" Ferah exclaimed before she took up her fighting stance. Soon enough though, they were surrounded on all sides by Horde soldiers. Glimmer summoned her magic, Bow started glancing about nervously while Adora clenched her fists. Ferah frowned as she looked around. She needed to get the attention of the Horde soldiers and keep it if the others were gonna stand a chance.
Seeing an opening, Ferah suddenly shot forward, delivering a straight punch that sent one of the soldiers flying backwards into the wall. However, she was already on the move, delivering punches, kicks, chops, elbows and knees to any Horde soldier within range, dancing between them and striking as she went. Immediately, weapons were firing as they tried to home in on her, giving Adora, Bow and Glimmer an opening to strike themselves. Adora immediately lashed out with her fists and grabbed one of the soldiers by the arm and twisted them around before kicking them into another soldier. Bow did his best punch, but he was clearly better suited to archery. Not that there was a problem for long, since he managed to find one of the Horde's stun weapons and began using that to take down Horde soldiers.
Glimmer had immediately seized the opportunity and was launching bursts of magic at the enemy, focusing in on ones that were attacking Ferah from a distance since Ferah had no options for range (aside from throwing one Horde soldier at another) and despite the immense strength Ferah possessed that the others were now seeing in practice, it was clear she wasn't invincible. She'd knocked down and knocked out more than a few of the guards, but whatever that boost she was getting from that aura, it wasn't rendering her invincible. She'd taken more than a few shots and the results showed. She was slower, wincing if she moved in a specific way.
"We're not gonna be able to hold out much longer!" Glimmer called out. Ferah snarled as she bent out of the way of a bunch before she hooked her arm around the offending appendage and socked its owner in the face before booting them out of the way. Glimmer was right. They didn't have the room to keep this up. She needed to clear some room to regroup with the others.
"GyaaAHH!" Ferah shouted before pushed her strength even higher and leapt into the air, funneling that energy into her right arm as she began to descend towards the ground! The moment her fist came into contact with the ground, the earth began to shake, and a rippling pulse rushed outward from the strike, sending the Horde soldiers tumbling! Ferah took this opportunity to run back to the group.
"Not to sound ungrateful, considering all the Horde butt you've already kicked, but can you kick more butt?!" Glimmer asked as Ferah took up her standard battle stance.
"Normally yes, but I underestimated how much those things would hurt, and I've overused my boost ability as it is, trying to cut back on the damage I take from those baton things! We're gonna need a tactical retreat!" Ferah called back.
"Tactical retreat to where?! We've got our backs against the wall, you and Glimmer are already running out of steam and I can't exactly bust out my own magic trick without cover!" Adora responded slightly hysterically as her eyes darted about. The soldiers were all approaching slowly, weapons charged and ready to fire.
"Give me a sec!" Ferah shouted back before she funneled more energy into her left arm and swung it backwards against the building, knocking a hole in it for them to retreat through. Ferah kicked down the next wall and they leapt through it and made another run for it. Unfortunately, they didn't get very far before they found themselves surrounded once again.
"Oh, come on!" Ferah complained loudly before she bent out of the way of an attempt to bash her head in with a melee weapon of some kind spiked bludgeon before knocking away the offending party with her elbow. Another strike aimed at her head, but this time she avoided it with a backbend, dropping to dirt and kicking upward with both legs before rolling backwards and onto her feet.
"You're doing better now that you're actually being careful!" Glimmer commented.
"Oh, give me a break! This is literally my second real fight ever and my first one ended by magic intervention before it even really started!" Ferah shot back as she dodged another strike and retaliate with a side kick.
"So, I'm more battlefield experienced than you? Oh, I am totally gonna lord this over you if we make it out of this!" Glimmer responded as she blasted another soldier with her magic.
"When! When we get out of this! And didn't the extent of your battle strategy during the meeting only go so far as 'show up, kick butt and leave'?" Adora asked as she threw a piece of light machinery at another soldier.
"I didn't have time to prepare a better plan, okay?!" Glimmer argued back as she blasted a soldier that was trying to sneak up on Bow.
"I don't know, even when you know about an attack, you don't really think up much strategy beyond 'meet them head-on'." Bow pointed out as he blasted another Horde soldier with their own weapon.
"Traitor!" Glimmer shouted before she got clipped by another blast and dropped to her knees. Ferah noticed and immediately rushed to Glimmer's aid, though she soon found herself on the receiving end of several blasts from the Horde's weapons and was on her knees too, grimacing in pain as she glared out of one eye since the other one was shut from the pain.
"Okay, we got our princess and our brute down! Any ideas?" Bow asked desperately. If the situation wasn't so dire, Ferah probably would have given Bow a piece of her mind for being referred to as a 'brute', but the aforementioned situation was getting in the way of that somewhat.
"Just give me a few seconds. I'll be ready to take em…" Ferah ground out as she got to her feet and powered up again. Unfortunately, it seemed that the bruises and very mild burns were taking umbrage with that action and protested, and she fell back to one knee.
"Alright, let's tag em and ship em back to the Fright Zone!" One of them shouted as they began closing in. Glimmer managed to summon her magic and Ferah forced herself to her feet and took up her standard combat stance, though she opted against powering up this time. She could manage without it.
However, just as the Horde soldiers began to close in, the ground started to rumble and shake.
"Uh, Ferah? Is that you?" Adora asked.
"Not that I'm aware of, no." Ferah replied as her tail began flicking in nervousness. Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, green vines began to creep over the wall before they shoved a large section of it down, allowing a tidal wave of the green vines to rush into the Horde camp! However, what was most surprising (from a certain point of view) was Princess Perfuma, stood tall atop the vines as the rest of Plumeria's citizens (sans the children of course) rushed into the Horde camp, armed with… large leaves, rugs and… wait, was that pottery?! Why were they fighting with pottery?!
Well, it didn't matter much to Ferah. They were actually doing a decent job of taking on the Horde, likely due to the element of surprise and Perfuma's plant wave being not only remarkably destructive, but incredibly distracting.
"I always said that the universe would pay the Horde back for their crimes against Etheria, and I say that day is today!" Perfuma declared from atop the plant wave. Ferah began grinning like a madman before she spun the nearest Horde soldier around and socked them in the face before she let out a battle cry of her own and leapt atop the plant wave, running along it before she leapt into the air and descended on an unsuspecting soldier to introduce them to the ball of her right foot, knocking them to the ground and unconscious.
"I've never felt so alive!" Perfuma announced gleefully as she hurtled by on her plant wave, steamrolling over a few soldiers. Ferah almost felt a little sorry for them for how outclassed they were at this point.
And then things got even better when a burst of yellow light from an abandoned section of the camp shone forth and She Ra appeared in all her heroic glory, effortlessly ploughing through the soldiers as she made a beeline for the poisoning machine. As much as Ferah wanted to contribute to that little endeavour, she knew she was better off out here, knocking out the guards.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ferah could see Glimmer messing with one of the Horde soldiers, teleporting around him and causing him to accidentally hit his fellow troops before she finally knocked him out with a magic burst to the face. Then she noticed another soldier rushing towards Glimmer from behind.
Not having any of that, Ferah took off at a run and jumped forward, clearing the distance between herself and Glimmer in a matter of moments, just in time to deliver a straight right kick to the jaw of Glimmer's would-be attacker.
"Thanks for the sa… Look out!" Glimmer shouted before launching a magic blast at a soldier that had been aiming their weapon at Ferah from behind.
"Nice shot!" Ferah complimented before she went after a few soldiers that were clumsily attempting to climb atop Perfuma's plant wave and started putting a stop to it through a wide assortment of means. Grabbing and tossing, sucker punching, kicking, using other soldiers to beat them off and a few others. Eventually there was a loud boom and suddenly the ground was awash with a soft, bluish green light. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened.
By this point, Perfuma had dismounted her plant wave and it seemed that whatever She Ra had done to the machine was giving Perfuma a boost of her own. Ferah watched in awe as Perfuma sent a wave of plant life travelling through the poisonous veins that snaked across the ground, erasing them from existence and restoring the Heart Blossom in just a matter of seconds. Ferah was actually taken aback by the display of magic. And that wasn't even the end of it. Immediately, nature began reclaiming the Horde base and very familiar flower chains were materializing around the Horde soldiers as they ran away. Ferah wasn't sure if that was an accident or intentional on Perfuma's part. And if it was the later, Ferah couldn't help but wonder if it was a final insult, or just a force of habit.
She Ra emerged from the building, a victorious grin on her face. Perfuma immediately rushed over after she finished waving goodbye to the fleeing Horde soldiers (seriously?!) and wrapped She Ra in a bone-crushing hug. Or rather, it would have been bone-crushing if it hadn't been She Ra she was hugging.
"I can't believe it! We did it! We were able to run the Horde off!" Perfuma exclaimed with glee, practically hopping in place. All four members of the group were smiling as the citizens of Plumeria gathered.
"Thank you so much! Without your bravery, we would never have been inspired to stand up to the Horde ourselves." Perfuma thanked them profusely. Seeing no better opportunity, Ferah stepped forward and looked Perfuma in the eye before lowering her head.
"Princess Perfuma, I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. It was out of line and I can't apologize enough for it." Ferah apologized. Perfuma was slightly taken aback, but she waved Ferah down with a gentle smile.
"Oh, the apology wasn't necessary. After all, it wasn't like you were wrong." Perfuma replied in a slightly quiet voice.
"Still, I shouldn't have blown up like that. It was poor form on my part, and it wasn't fair when you were in the middle of a crisis." Ferah continued to apologize only for Glimmer to grab her shoulder and give her a look that said 'stop it, you're fine' before turning to Perfuma.
"Princess Perfuma, I would like to formally invite you to join the Princess Alliance. If we want to save Etheria, we all need to stand together against the Horde." Glimmer announced to Perfuma, who looked equal parts confirmed and skeptical.
"I'm not sure... The last alliance failed horribly, didn't it?" She pointed out. Ferah just held up her hands and gestured around her.
"And look at what all of us accomplished here together." Ferah argued back. Perfuma stroked her chin thoughtfully as she considered.
"Besides, that was our parents who screwed up. We have a chance to do it better this time! Together, all of the princesses can stop the Horde and save Etheria!" Glimmer continued to press. Perfuma still looked to be on the fence before she posed a question.
"Can I hit more people with flowers?" She asked. It took every ounce of Ferah's remaining willpower to not snort with laughter.
"Yes. Yes, you absolutely can." Glimmer replied with a confident smirk on her face. How she was able to say that with a straight face was beyond Ferah at the moment.
"I mean, I personally prefer to hit them the old fashioned way, but you do you." Ferah lightly jabbed, to which Glimmer gave her a punch in the shoulder. Ferah wanted to respond with an elbow to the ribs, but she opted not to since she wasn't sure how much control she was exerting and didn't want to send Glimmer to the ground, Horde armor or no.
"Alright, I'm in." Perfuma decided, shaking hands with Glimmer.
"Alright, that's fantastic. Now, can we get back to the village? I'm still feeling a bit sore from all those blasts. Kinda reminds me of my first meditation session under the waterfall." Ferah muttered. Perfuma's eyes lit up.
"You meditate?! I love meditating!" Perfuma exclaimed.
"Oh yeah, we didn't get around to the rest of the introductions since you guys were all distracted with She Ra. Ferah's a martial artist. Also, she's kind of scarily strong." Bow told Perfuma, who once again was a little bit preoccupied, and had been since the mention of meditation, though she at least snapped out of it this time.
"Sorry, I kind of fuzzed out when you mentioned meditation." Perfuma admitted, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.
"Well, we can talk all about meditation when we get back to the village. I should be less sore by then. I heal fast." Ferah muttered as the group began the long trek back to the village. It was going to be a long discussion, Ferah could tell. However, she had a feeling that this one was going to be a more pleasant one than she'd witnessed or partaken in since arriving in Plumeria.
Shadow Weaver was in a bad mood. To many within the Fright Zone, that was merely her default setting and one could be forgiven for that assumption, as it was very close to the truth. However, this was a very special occasion. She'd just left her quarters post a very pointed conversation with Force Captain Catra regarding an individual who should have been wearing the Force Captain badge instead of the insufferable furball, but she still had one other issue to deal with, regarding a new factor in the ongoing war for Etheria. A factor that concerned one of Hordak's most prized operatives, considering he was supposed to have taken care of that factor a year and a half ago. However, it seemed that his job had been left unfinished, and while he was still technically fit for active duty, he was widely considered to have had a few screws knocked loose in a timeframe that lined up with when the factor was supposedly taken care of.
The dark sorceress was not looking forward to dealing with Hordak's famed Bloody Fist, but she knew that Hordak would be breathing down her neck if he learned how she learned of this little factor. Thus, the only solution was to deal with it quietly. Besides, the so called Bloody Fist would probably prefer to be informed of the situation by Shadow Weaver instead of Hordak, who would likely do so in the middle of a public humiliation, potentially followed by a torture session to ensure that the error was not repeated.
Soon enough, Shadow Weaver reached the personal training grounds of the Bloody Fist and entered the access code before stepping inside. Training against three large and very dangerous Horde robots was a man dressed in baggy black pants and sandals, held up with blood-red rope. He wore no shirt instead having a long, thick scarf wrapped around his neck that hung down over his chest and shoulders.
"Veran. Still in top form, I see." Shadow Weaver greeted as the machines returned to their resting states. The man, identified as Veran, turned and gazed lazily at Shadow Weaver.
"Sorceress. What brings you from your chambers to speak to this lowly warrior?" Veran greeted in turn, his voice thick with condescension. Shadow Weaver ignored the bait, knowing that Veran's lust for battle and blood was best kept aimed at the rest of Etheria and not squandered on in-fighting.
"I received a scouting report and a few video clips from a now former Horde camp situated near Plumeria." Shadow Weaver began, only for Veran to snort.
"I told Hordak he should have just let me go and clear out those weaklings. They don't have anything resembling a standing army and I can handle a princess on my own. Instead, he insists on using his toys and machines." Veran complained. Shadow Weaver would have warned him against speaking out against Hordak that way, but she couldn't care less about Veran's ultimate fate. His obsession with battle and death would be the end of him one day, and Shadow Weaver just hoped she had an opportunity to laugh at him to his face before he was swept away in death's cold embrace.
"Be that as it may, the footage I found may be of some interest to you." Shadow Weaver continued before levitating up a screen for him to look at. It was looping footage of an adolescent who was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt cut to show her midriff with a sleeveless light-blue tunic that was open at the front, with two long strips of midnight-blue cloth to wrap around her arms, pants were baggier and also light-blue, with black boots and a blue sash. However, what stuck out the most was the long, brown tail that waved about in the air as she decimated waves of soldiers with her bare hands.
Veran watched the screen disinterestedly until he saw the martial arts employed, the ease of the practiced movements, and especially the silvery aura. Shadow Weaver couldn't tell if Veran was giddy beyond belief, or so furious that she should consider beating a hasty retreat before he lashed out. And then, he started to laugh.
It started out as mild giggles before building to a chuckle, then finally he was full own howling.
"So THAT'S why she was so eager to throw her life away! She had an apprentice! I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner!" Veran cackled. Now Shadow Weaver truly was questioning the man's sanity.
"Well, I understand now why you brought this to me, but I can't help but wonder why I'm hearing this from you, and not Lord Hordak. I assume that you haven't told him yet. And, from that I can surmise that you are going against his direct orders to continue hunting down your… protégé… Am I correct?" Veran assessed. Shadow Weaver was grinding her teeth behind her mask, and she knew that Veran could tell.
"Are you going to help me with this or not?" the sorceress asked. Veran grinned.
"Oh, I'm more than willing to help clean up this mess, since you've roped me into it by proxy. However, I am going to request a favor from you." Veran replied. Shadow Weaver frowned.
"I am not going to assist you in hunting down that fabled beast you've become obsessed with." Shadow Weaver told him flatly. Veran rolled his eyes.
"Oh, I don't want your help with that, though I haven't given up on that ambition. No, I want to speak to you regarding a potential endorsement of that taskforce idea I suggested some time ago." Veran corrected. Shadow Weaver's frown deepened to a scowl.
"And I told you before, we can't spare the cadets considering the last time you handled training. It's not good for morale if whole squads are killed during a single training exercise." Shadow Weaver growled at him. Veran turned around and began walking back to the center of the room.
"Then I suppose you are on your own to deal with this apprentice, the rumors of the returned She Ra, and Hordak's fury at you going behind his back. You know how quickly whispers waft through the air to the wrong ears." Veran replied light-heartedly. Shadow Weaver sucked her teeth at Veran's flippancy and decided to approach this a little more diplomatically.
"If you can guarantee me that you can establish this taskforce without any of them dying during training, I will be more than happy to endorse your taskforce." Shadow Weaver began before deciding to amend that statement.
"Actually, I'd say alive and still fit for active duty. Anything that goes on in the interim is none of my concern." Shadow Weaver decided. Veran eyed her a bit before he huffed.
"I would have assumed that one as knowledgeable as yourself would know that there are no guarantees in this world, but I give my word that I will do everything within my power to ensure that any cadets left in my charge survive to the end of training and can continue to fight." Veran agreed, though he was clearly unhappy about it.
"Excellent. Make amendments to the documents you brought before me originally regarding the mortality rate and training intensity and I'll prepare them for presentation to Lord Hordak." Shadow Weaver instructed Veran, who broke out in a slightly unhinged grin.
"I believe we have a deal." Veran all but whispered as Shadow Weaver exited the training hall. She still couldn't help but feel the deal she'd made was Faustian in nature, but she didn't care. Besides, if this worked, the Horde would have another weapon at its disposal; one potentially able to match a princess in battle.
And that's the end of chapter 8! Man, this one was actually a blast to write, especially the ending bit.
Creativity: I think this is the first time we've ever cut from the Ferah or Charra's perspective.
Author: Yeah, I think you're right. Funny how that works out.
Anyway, Veran has re-entered the picture for the first time since chapter 4, we've concluded the Plumeria episode, we've got the possibility of Ferah and Perfuma becoming 'meditation buddies' and a new sinister plot brewing in the background…
Creativity: Anything left to add?
Author: Not really, actually. I think we'll bring this to a close for now.
So, I hope you all enjoyed, please review and we'll see you next time!