Noticing Adam: The Uprising Chapter 18
Randor didn't know what to do as he held He-Man and Adora tightly in his arms.
He knew something horrible had occurred, but unfortunately, no one had been able to get exactly what that was out of He-Man yet. His son simply continued to cry onto his sister's shoulder and cling to her tightly. They stayed that way for several minutes before his cries finally tempered off.
When all sounds ceased except for He-Man's harsh breathing, Randor pulled back and whispered, "Talk to me, Adam. Tell me what happened."
He-Man's shoulders tensed—he was so rigid that Randor thought he might snap in two at any second. He remained silent.
"Son, please," Randor begged. "Adora and I can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong." He paused for a moment as he looked around and added, "And, we can't stay here right now. We're out in the open and who knows when some Hordesmen might show up."
That made He-Man pop his head up. He rubbed at his red and tear-streaked eyes and got to his feet rapidly. "You're right," he said very worriedly. He looked in the direction of the Fright Zone and visibly shivered. "We should go!"
Randor raised his brow questioningly as he got to his feet, as well. He studied He-Man's face and for the first time ever, he saw true fear there. Since when did He-Man ever show signs of fearing the Horde? He frowned and questioned him again. "Adam, what's happened?"
He-Man shook his head and answered hurriedly, "No time for that, now. We must head to the Whispering Woods." He grabbed his father and Adora by their upper arms and started pulling them along.
The king looked at his daughter to see her reaction to her brother's actions and he could see that she was just as surprised as he was. But he decided not to address that right now. If it would make Adam feel better to find safety in the Whispering Woods, then he wouldn't delay that. They rushed across the plain that they had run through earlier and within minutes, they ended up at the spot where they had arrived on the planet. The supplies they had brought along with them was still sitting on the ground.
As soon as He-Man saw the items, he let go of their arms, turned around to look at Teela and Cringer for a moment (Randor assumed it was to make sure they had followed them), and picked up the boxes scattered on the ground. He then continued to head for the forest and did not falter in his rapid pace once. It was obvious he was determined to get there.
Several minutes later when they were finally surrounded by trees, Randor walked closely behind He-Man and touched his shoulder lightly. "He-Man, can we rest for a moment? We're in the Whispering Woods now, so we're quite safe."
He-Man took a deep breath, nodded, and sat the boxes down. He looked back at everyone for a moment before he began to walk away.
"Adam!" everyone exclaimed. Not a single person remained silent.
He-Man turned around and looked at them. "Yeah?" he questioned softly.
Everyone approached him, but Teela was the first to speak. "I think it's time you told us what happened, He-Man. Was your cover blown and you had to escape?"
He-Man squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. It was obvious he was trying not to cry. It almost looked like he was trying to shut out whatever memory Teela's question had conjured.
"Adam," the king stated to try to get him to say something.
He-Man tilted his head to the ground miserably and whispered, "No, my cover wasn't blown. They have no idea…no idea at all." His face then crumpled and he started breathing in and out slowly to stop himself from getting emotional again.
Randor wanted nothing more than to hold his son in his arms again at that moment, but he knew it would look awkward for the King of Eternia to be embracing He-Man in such a way if someone saw them. To solve this problem, he asked, "Can you change back into Adam now, son?"
He-Man practically jumped out of his skin. He was clearly startled at the king's request, but no one understood why.
"Adam?" questioned Adora, Teela, and Cringer simultaneously.
He-Man responded by swallowing roughly and stepping back. "No…no, I can't turn back into Adam right now." A few tears slipped down his cheeks as he shook his head continuously. "I just can't."
Adora and Randor turned their astonished expressions onto one another. It was clear no one understood what was happening.
Randor walked in front of He-Man and gripped both of his shoulders. He stared deeply into He-Man's eyes and commanded, "Why? Tell me why you're so nervous right now, son. Tell me why you won't turn back into your true self? Tell me."
He-Man started shaking uncontrollably and even more tears started to fall. "I can't."
Adora walked beside him and reached out for the Sword of Power. She held it in her hands for a moment and asked, "What do you mean you can't? Your sword is right here." She held it out to him.
Visibly swallowing, he took a step back and begged beseechingly, "Please don't ask me to do it. Please. I just can't handle it right now."
"Handle what?" Teela asked anxiously.
In response, he brought his hands up and buried his face in them. Then, after he uncovered it, he breathed slowly to calm himself down like he had done earlier. He wiped at his eyes and whispered, "I can't talk about it right now." He held his head low, but then he suddenly looked up. "Okay, okay," he then stated; "I'll turn back into Adam, but I won't promise to stay that way long. I'll just show you…and you'll understand."
He moved back to Adora and took his sword from her. Looking around the woods for a moment to make sure they were truly alone, he lifted it in the air and whispered, "Let the power return."
What they saw made them gasp and their skin crawl. "ADAM!" they all shouted.
Adam looked down at himself and held his hands outward. "Do you see why?" he cried. He was covered in blood; his entire outfit had been splattered with great quantities of it.
At that moment, Adam dropped his sword to the ground and fell to his knees. He sat there and simply ceased to move. To Randor, it looked like his son had retreated into himself. Walking to him speedily, he pulled Adam into his arms. He didn't care that the blood might get on him. Right now, he only wanted to comfort his son. Whatever Adam had been through, he knew it was horrific and far beyond anything his child had ever experienced before. He held him tightly and whispered, "Let's get you to camp. We'll clean you up and get you out of these clothes."
Adam shook his head and replied, "I can't. Hordak doesn't know I'm gone, so I should get back. I just…I had to see you. I didn't know if you had come back from Eternia yet, but I had hoped…" Abruptly, he turned around, but Randor grabbed his arm.
"You're not going anywhere," the king replied firmly, "not until I know that you're okay! I wouldn't be able to handle this otherwise! And, Adam…" When the prince turned around to look back at him, he continued, "I will always follow you when you're in trouble. I'll never be too far away, so never worry that I won't be there. I will be. I promise you."
Adam threw himself into his father's arms again and hugged him tightly. He didn't sob this time, but Randor could feel the hot tears against his neck. "Come on," he whispered softly, "let's go to camp."
=)=)=)
Adora walked into the tent after handing Adam's Horde ensemble to Teela. Earlier, the captain had felt the need to do something productive and she wanted to help Adam, so she had volunteered to wash his outfit to try to get the stains out. Adora really knew, though, that Teela merely wanted to remain active so her worry wouldn't consume her. She knew that it wouldn't work, but she allowed the captain to try anyway.
Walking farther into the tent, Adora knew she was going to be disappointed. While she had been gone, she hoped that her father had managed to wiggle some information out of her brother about what had happened at the Fright Zone, but as soon as she saw them, she knew that hadn't happened.
Adam was fast asleep on her bed and their father was nestled in a chair beside him, watching him intently. It was so reminiscent of earlier occasions on Eternia when Adam had been hurt recently. She didn't know if she should be grateful for the fact that her brother wasn't hurt physically this time or not. Sometimes mental wounds were more lasting and severe, and she had a feeling this could be one of those occasions.
Despite already knowing what the answer would be, she dragged a chair beside her father, sat down, and asked, "Did you get anything out of him?"
When the king shook his head, he whispered without looking at her and keeping his eyes on his son, "He's tight-lipped about the whole thing. He didn't utter a word." Finally, he dragged his eyes away from Adam to look at her. "Whatever happened, Adora, it devastated him. With all that blood on his clothes…I'm afraid my mind is running rampant with possibilities about what might have occurred. I want to run to the Fright Zone and strangle Hordak for putting him through whatever caused this."
Adora reached out and grabbed his hand to squeeze it. She mumbled, "I knew Adam shouldn't have gone. I knew he would be exposed to things that would upset him severely. I just never expected anything like this to occur. I don't know what happened, but it had to be bad. In all the years I stayed with Hordak, never once did I wind up with blood all over me. I can't imagine what they did to cause this to happen."
Randor brought his hand up to wipe away a single tear that fell down his cheek. "Obviously, someone got hurt or died," he replied. "How it occurred is the big question here."
Adam groaned before Adora could even think of a response. Quickly, they looked at the bed and saw him beginning to thrash a bit. Then, they grew concerned as they watched Adam's movements become erratic and continuous. "Adam?" the king called as he reached out to touch him.
As soon as his hand made contact, Adam yelled out, "Oh, Ancients, no! Please don't do this! He's just protecting his son…No! He's just being a father! Please!"
Randor immediately flew out of his seat and sat on the edge of the bed. "Adam," he said loudly, obviously hoping to wake him. Adora didn't expect what happened next at all.
Adam suddenly pushed the king frantically and his father hit the ground hard. "NO!" the prince yelled. "Oh, Ancients! Please, you must help him!"
"Father, are you all right?" Adora exclaimed as she avoided her brother's flailing arms and pulled King Randor away from the bed so he could stand.
When he turned back, he exclaimed worriedly, "I'm fine, but Adam's going to hurt himself!" He approached the bed again and yelled loudly, "ADAM!"
It didn't work. He continued to thrash about and his head smacked the headboard of the bed a couple of times during his frantic movements, but he seemed oblivious to it.
Frowning deeply, Randor turned to Adora and cried, "I have to help him!" He approached the bed again and tried to hold onto Adam's arms to stop his actions. Unfortunately, this only caused him to fight and yell even more. Eventually, Randor gave up and threw himself completely on top of Adam to hold him down. Almost instantly there was a pause, and Adam suddenly hugged him.
The king looked up to see if his son was awake. Adora looked, too, and saw that he wasn't.
"I'm so sorry," Adam then cried. He pulled his father tighter to him, still locked in his nightmare or flashback—Adora wasn't sure which—and continued his words. "I'm so, so sorry!"
It took several minutes for Adam to eventually calm down. Randor and Adora had to whisper comforting words to him continuously to make it happen. When he finally quieted, they threw worried glances to one another as Randor got off of him carefully.
=)=)=)
I'm not sure if I liked how this chapter turned out, so let me know what you think. Also, someone PMed me and said the site is not sending out notifications again. *sighs* If you see this, I posted another chapter of "Teela's Visitor" last night, so don't miss that. Thanks!