I know this chapter is kind of short, but I have a lot of work to do this afternoon and I'm already tired. I hope that doesn't show in this chapter, haha. Enjoy!
Noticing Adam: The Uprising Chapter 17
King Randor saw the look of determination in Adora's eyes and knew she was up to something. He may not have raised Adora himself, but he knew that look well: Marlena got it whenever she was about to scheme to get her own way with something, good or bad. Come hail or high water, when she had that countenance, she was going to get whatever she wanted. To see Adora with that look now unnerved him. "All right, Adora," he said, grabbing her attention. He didn't feel as though he could ignore it, not with Adam in jeopardy if she did anything unwise inadvertently. "What are you planning on doing?"
Adora turned a startled gaze to her father. Before she could say anything, he interrupted her.
"Don't say 'nothing' either. I know that look."
Pursing her lips together in what might be consider insolence, she turned to look at Teela. King Randor didn't know what his daughter was expecting to get from his captain, but she quickly learned her mistake. Teela merely stared at her. Sighing, Adora looked back at him. "I'm going to give myself up. I can't bear for Adam to be in the Fright Zone with Hordak. I should have been the one to go with Hordak and Skeletor, not him."
"What?" everyone except Randor exclaimed. Despite their earlier words, he had a feeling that was what she wanted to do, and he refused to allow it. Before he could tell her exactly that, Teela made her sentiments known.
"Were you listening to what we just told you?" Teela cried. "You excused me of not thinking earlier. Well, I suggest you start taking your own advice and listen to us. If Hordak captures you, it's going to make things infinitely worse for everyone, including Adam."
"Well, what are we supposed to do?" she cried. "Just wait until Adam decides to grace us with his presence?"
King Randor shook his head and said, "Well, first of all, we're going to go back to Etheria, not just sit here."
Everyone in the room turned to the king with shocked expressions. It was obvious no one had expected him to say that. "Why are you so surprised?" he asked everyone.
"Father," Adora replied, stepping closer to him, "I'm going back to Etheria. Probably Teela will be, too, but you don't have to. There's no reason. You came to help us beat Adam's amnesia. He now remembers us, so…"
The king hurried to interrupt and explain. "Don't you see? That's exactly why I have to go back to Etheria!"
When he saw no comprehension in his daughter's eyes, much less Teela's, he sighed. "We must protect Adam's secret. He doesn't want the Horde to know that he remembers who he really is. If the King of Eternia suddenly loses interest in his son right after Skeletor and Hordak take him back, they're going to get suspicious as to why. No, I have to show the same level of interest and concern or they're going to figure it out."
He saw comprehension and understanding in everyone's eyes finally, so he continued, "Besides, I want to go. I want to be there for my son. I can barely stand to be apart from either of you right now. I know Adam will be at the Fright Zone, but at least I'm closer than I would be if I remained on Eternia. It's feasible for me to get to him in time if something happened."
He looked back at his wife and added, "Of course, I wish Marlena could come along, as well."
"Someone has to keep Eternia running smoothly," she said, giving voice to what they all knew already.
He nodded, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her lightly. "I promise I'll find a way to help Adam and we'll come back quickly. I refuse to allow Adam to stay with the Horde longer than absolutely necessary."
"I know that, Randor," she replied.
He then looked back at Adora to add, "And, that also means I have to make sure others don't make things worse by acting a little irrationally."
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"I've had plenty of experience acting that way recently. Do you know what happened as a result almost every single time no matter how noble or good my intentions were?"
Her expression cleared. She must have known what he was going to say, but he said it anyway. "Adam got hurt every time. I know you don't want to make that mistake. Something tells me that it would be just as unbearable for you to endure it as it was for me, if not more."
He watched his daughter's eyes fill with tears. He let go of Marlena and went to her. "I'm sorry to suggest that something awful might happen to your brother, but I want you to see how horrible it would be for you to make a mistake right now. As it stands, Adam is not in any danger. The Horde genuinely believes he's under their spell. Only we could mess that up at this moment."
She nodded quickly as she tightened her arms around him. He could only imagine what she must be feeling and thinking at that moment, because she wasn't sharing.
=)=)=)
Adam stood between Hordak and Skeletor feeling completely disconcerted. He had a number of emotions circling in his mind right now and he knew a few were coming from his sister. The two most prominent from her were anger and worry. As for him, it was nervousness.
Hordak, Skeletor, and he stood on the ground floor watching the Horde Troopers practice drills and other tactical procedures. He had assumed everything would be relatively normal like the last time they had done something similar, but that was before the main doors opened and more Troopers came inside. Along with them, they brought in a group of people. Adam knew immediately that they were to be slaves.
"Ah, they've brought a good gathering this time," Hordak said with much delight. He turned to Adam and suggested, "Let's evaluate them a little closer to decide where they should go."
Adam was completely flabbergasted. In his fake memories, he had no recollection of ever helping Hordak determine where their new slaves would go, and he really didn't want to help him with that now. How could he, the Champion of Eternia, help a villain assign innocent people their means of torture? Regardless, he knew he had signed up for this, so he had to act the part. "O-okay, Mighty One," he stammered. He had tried to keep a steady voice, but unfortunately, it hadn't worked.
Hordak glanced over at him and replied, "No need to be nervous, Adam. I think you are ready for this. As a matter of fact, I think you might be getting a promotion instead of Catra, but that's based on what you do from this point forward."
Swallowing roughly, Adam turned to the detainees and asked, "What are their options?"
Hordak motioned for him to step closer to what Adam assumed were members of the Rebellion. Skeletor followed and chuckled softly as they observed the battered and bruised prisoners. It was obvious now that they were closer that these men had been in a skirmish with the troopers and had lost most horribly. Adam scratched the back of his neck warily as he scrutinized each person's face carefully. He didn't recognize anyone, thankfully, but that didn't make what he was now about to do any easier.
"I think they'll be worthy of anything you assign them to do," Hordak finally answered. "These are members of the Rebellion and they should pay dearly for taking Adora away from me…us."
Letting out a shaky breath, Adam looked at the first person. He looked strong and in good health. He knew what a villain would say. They would want to break his spirit and tire him out so he wouldn't be a future threat: they would want to send him to the Etherian Mines. Of course, he didn't want to do that to the man. The mines were dark, filthy, and dangerous. The Horde didn't take any precautions to protect its slave laborers, so he might be sending the man to his death…but what else could he choose? Hordak was expecting him to be ruthless, like a typical Hordesman. If he chose anything else, not only would Hordak grow suspicious, he would probably send them where he wanted them anyway. What he said now probably wouldn't make any difference for the man.
Decided on his course of action, he looked at Hordak questioningly and asked, "The Etherian Mines?"
"Very good, Adam," he replied, nodding in agreement. "That's normally what I would say, as well; however, we are now out of sparring opponents here in the Fright Zone. I think this one would do nicely for you, don't you think?"
Adam was surprised at the suggestion. It seemed very much to be a preferable option for the man until he glanced at the prisoner's face: he seemed terrified and he hadn't shown such fear when the mines had been suggested earlier. Adam looked back at Hordak to gauge his reaction and saw his sinister grin. At that moment, Adam wanted to insist on the mines, but he knew he couldn't. He shrugged lightly and replied, "Whatever your lordship deems best."
Hordak nodded and looked at a nearby Horde Trooper. "Take him to the dungeon. He is Adam's sparring partner for now until we need a new one."
Those words sent a chill up Adam's spine. Hordak's words made it seem like a new one would be needed in a relatively short period of time. Did they spar to the death or something crazy like that? He didn't remember anything of the sort in his memories, so he decided to take a chance and question Hordak on it. "So…you think I've progressed far enough to have a sparring partner?"
"Yes," he replied, almost proudly, "earlier when we were sparring, you almost took my head off. I think it is time that you actually took out those frustrations on an appropriate host. I think you will enjoy it much more, not to mention it's time we get into our new lessons."
"New lessons?"
He nodded. "Yes, so far all you have learned is combat to defend yourself or how to injure in order to maintain prisoners. Sometimes, it will not be possible to take prisoners. Sometimes, we might not even want any. You must learn to eliminate opposition speedily, son. That should actually be your top priority on the battlefield. We may not be at war now, Adam, but we might be someday. Those Rebels are becoming more and more obstinate every day, so I want you to be prepared."
Adam could barely control his reactions. He knew very well what Hordak was referring to now. Eliminating the opposition quickly? He meant killing them. There was no other way to look at his words. Was Hordak going to expect him to kill his new training partner?
Not knowing exactly what the Horde leader was referring to, he heard Hordak mumble, "Don't worry, though. We'll build our way up to that."
"Up to murder?" he questioned himself quietly and almost in a panic. Then, he wondered if keeping up this ruse had been such a good idea after all. But, maybe, it was because of this. Maybe he could somehow find a way to free the prisoner before they sparred.
As the next supposed recidivist approached, Adam wondered if Adora had ever stood where he was now and determined the fate of Hordak's prisoners. Had she ever sparred to eliminate the opposition quickly?
=)=)=)
Several hours later, Adora stepped out of the dimensional gate. Almost immediately, she turned her gaze to the west and frowned. She wasn't sure why, but her anxiety was almost overwhelming now that she was on Etheria. She had already felt the emotion while on Eternia but not to such an explosive degree. She wondered if Adam was also feeling anxious and that's why the feeling was so strong.
King Randor, Teela, and Cringer saw her expression as soon as they joined her on the planet. They set down the few supplies they were bringing with them and stared at her.
"Adora?" questioned King Randor. The worry was clear in his voice. He walked over to her and touched her shoulder gently. "Is something wrong?"
At her father's touch, she jumped almost a foot in the air. She turned startled eyes to him and exclaimed, "I'm sorry. I just…something's wrong."
Teela walked beside her and showing much concern asked, "What do you mean something's wrong?"
"I don't know!" she answered. She shook her head and kept her eyes focused on the direction of the Fright Zone. Then, she gasped. "No," she stated abruptly. "No, no, no!"
They all watched in shock as Adora suddenly took off running. "ADORA!" they screamed simultaneously. They had no idea where she was going or why, but they quickly took off after her, leaving the supplies where they were.
They ran a good ten yards until they stopped to see what Adora was doing now that she was in a clearing. In the distance, they saw someone walking towards them. At first, they couldn't tell who it was, but as the person got closer, they knew.
He-Man.
"What's Adam doing here and as He-Man?" gasped Teela. "What happened?"
"I don't know," King Randor replied hurriedly.
Just as they were about to take off running again, they stopped when they saw Adora reach her brother. Almost instantly, He-Man dropped to his knees and Adora did the same. She threw her arms around him and they could see He-Man drop his head to her shoulder.
"Oh, no!" Teela exclaimed but not before Cringer took off running to get to his master. Soon, they were all sprinting across the plain.
When they finally reached the siblings, they could see Adora rocking He-Man gently. "What happened?" they could hear her asking repeatedly.
All He-Man could do was cry. No, he was more doing more than crying: he was sobbing.
Teela brought a hand up to her eyes and wiped her tears away, as the king did the same. They didn't know what was wrong, but they knew that whatever elicited such a reaction from He-Man had to be monumental.
Randor bent down beside both of his children and wrapped his arms around them. "Adam," he whispered, joining in on Adora's pleas. "Tell us what happened."
Only more sobs were heard for a long time.
=)=)=)
Yes, I know, I'm evil for the jump in time like that, BUT don't worry. You will probably see what happened to He-Man in the next chapter. And, no, it might not be what it looks like, or maybe it is, LOL. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Oh, by the way, as a sidenote, I'm also currently writing a She-Ra fic. It does have Adam in it, too, but it will have more Etherian characters in it than this fic currently does (though that one does have Randor, Marlena, Teela, and the others in it, too. I could have put it on this page if I wanted to, I guess. LOL It's barely underway, so it might be vaguely similar to this story but it will depart greatly.) Anyway, I'm just pointing it out in case anyone wants to check it out. It's called "The Sacrifice".