Chapter 3:
Shenanigans and Searches

"Another win for the Horde!" Despara declared as she removed her red contact lenses and put them in their carrying case; she washed off her war paint, and let off a sigh of delight.

Without the mask, she looked kind of cute. Once she had reached age 15, she'd had her hair cut short so that it didn't become a liability in battle. Her training over the years had also given her a more muscular build, which only added to both her beauty and her fear factor. Plenty of the male cadets admired her, but they also feared and respected her.

It had been a long day, but a fruitful one as well. Despara felt exceptionally proud, spreading the message of the Horde...striking fear into the hearts of her enemies...and generally doing whatever it took to make her father proud.

"Yo, Despara," called a familiar voice from nearby. Entering the washroom was Catra, her longtime friend and sister figure.

"Hey, Catra," greeted Despara. "Good work on that last battle!"

Catra chuckled as she sauntered over to her friend. "Ah, I was pretty good, yeah," she nodded. "But you? Ya took over Elberon! Now THAT took cunning."

Despara just smiled. "I was just happy to do it for the Horde," she replied.

Catra chuckled. "Yeah, right; more like you did it for 'daddy dearest'."

Despara gave a sheepish smile. "Please, Catra. My father being our leader has nothing to do with it." she insisted.

"Suuuure," smirked Catra. "Anyways, once again, congratulations on conquering Elberon."

"Thanks," said Despara. "This way, I'll be helping to spread the Horde's message further across the planet."

"I'll let the cadets know, and they'll probably throw you a victory party," Catra smirked. "Kyle's been sneaking stuff from the other conquered villages so he could make you a congratulatory cake."

Despara's stomach growled. "Whoof, could go for a cake right now," she said. "Any flavor would be fine."

Just then, Catra's walkie-talkie began beeping. With a groan, she picked it up and answered. "...yes?"

"Ey, Catra, it's Lonnie," said a voice on the other line.

"What is it, Lonnie?" inquired Catra. "Something wrong?"

"Get to the meeting room, and bring Despara," Lonnie responded. "This concerns her, too."

And then the line went dead. Catra looked over to Despara, and the latter did the same to her, both of them worried.

They soon made it to the meeting room, where Lonnie and several others were waiting.

"Good, you've arrived," said Lonnie. "...BECAUSE NOW, WE CAN CONGRATULATE YOU!"

"Ba...da-dada-dan-dan-daaaaaah~!" Kyle exclaimed, as he and Rogelio brought out a big square cake. On the top, it read in purple frosting, CONGRATULATIONS, DESPARA!

Despara smiled and giggled at the display; Catra rolled her eyes at the over-the-top gesture with a small smile.

"There's our numero uno force captain," Rogelio smirked. He was a reptilian humanoid with yellow eyes, and scaly, lime-colored skin. "The conqueror of Elberon!"

"And as such, even a conqueror needs a cake," chimed in Kyle. He was a lanky young man with dirty brown hair and green irises.

"Aw, guys, you shouldn't have...!" Despara said modestly.

"Maybe," smirked Lonnie. "But we WANTED to!"

Despara couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well? C'mon then," smiled Catra as she gave Despara a knife. "Troop leader gets first slice."

"Hoo-yeah!" Despara smiled as she grabbed the knife.

"Better eat up fast before Shadow Weaver comes skulking around," Lonnie advised. "Don't worry, I know where to stash it."

And on that note, Despara began cutting the cake.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN BRIGHT MOON…

As Glimmer reawakened, she saw that she was lying atop the recharge port in Castle Bright Moon—not to mention, Orko had fallen asleep watching over her.

But how long had it been since they'd left Elberon? A day? A week?

...on second thought, it wasn't important. Glimmer reached her hand out and shook Orko lightly, just enough to wake him up.

"Mm—guh? What? Whozat?" the little wizard snorted as he was jostled awake. "Oh! Glimmer...you're okay!" he exclaimed, floating over and giving her a hug.

"I'm fine," chuckled Glimmer before she looked around. "Um, where are we? The last I remember...we were fighting the Horde."

"And nothing else?" Orko asked.

"...everything after I had Despara in my sights is a total blur," replied Glimmer.

Orko sighed. So she hadn't remembered his fantastic display of magical skill that he'd done to save her from Leech.

And so, he proceeded to explain the whole chain of events. As Glimmer listened, she gradually began feeling lower than a centipede's heels.

"We lost Elberon?!" she exclaimed, shocked.

"...'fraid so." Orko replied sadly.

This definitely soured Glimmer's mood. Two weeks' worth of staking out Elberon...and for nothing!

"I—I could have done something!" she fumed. "I SHOULD have done something! I should've stayed to fight!"

"There was nothing we could have done!" Orko protested. "They were too much for all of us!"

"Orko is right, Glimmer," said a powerful feminine voice, drawing the attention of both parties involved. "Better to fall back and fight another day, than to be captured."

In the doorway stood Queen Angella, ruler of Bright Moon and Glimmer's mother. She was a loving woman, but also very strict when it came to ruling her kingdom, and raising her family.

"I had believed Elberon was safe from the Horde...but I see that I was wrong," Angella sighed.

"I think we should warn the neighboring villages, in case the Horde leads attacks on them as well," Orko spoke up.

"Indeed," nodded Queen Angella. "Also, can either of you tell me about this girl that led the attack?"

"She was blonde...with short hair, and red eyes," Orko described. "Plus she was riding this giant mantis thing!"

Angella rubbed her chin in contemplation. "This is the first I've heard of such a commander..." she mused. "What was her name?"

"She called herself 'Despara'," replied Orko.

Queen Angella had a look of deep thought on her face, as she tried to deduce what was going on.

"Not to mention, we barely made it out of there," Glimmer finished. "And we lost Elberon."

"I see..." sighed Angella. "In the meantime, Glimmer, you're to be confined to the castle until further notice."

"WHAT?!" sputtered Glimmer. As Orko tried to calm Glimmer down, she simply pushed past him, as though he were a stuffed toy.

"It's too dangerous for you to go anywhere other than the castle," replied Angella. "You'll be assigned someone to protect you as well."

"Are you kidding me?" Glimmer asked. "I get jumped once, and now I'm basically grounded?"

"You could have been killed, Glimmer! Did you forget that you are this kingdom's future?!" Angella shouted. "As the Princess, you need to be kept safe!"

"I'm not some helpless little girl! I can fight!" Glimmer exclaimed. "You can't just keep me in the castle for the rest of my life! Besides, I've got Orko for backup!"

"And what if something happens to disable Orko?" Queen Angella responded. "Glimmer, I'm TRYING to keep you safe! We lost your father years ago, and I will NOT lose you, too!"

"You always use that excuse!" retorted Glimmer.

"Because it's STILL TRUE!" Angella snapped. "I sent you out there to keep you both safe, and that didn't work!"

"If you actually allowed me to fight, you'd know you don't have to worry about me!" Glimmer bellowed.

As mother and daughter began really getting into it, Orko immediately ducked into his hat and robe, and huddled on the floor.

"I think I'd better step out and wait until things cool off..." he said to himself. "Orko from the magic lands, lend to me a helping hand. I want no part in this fight, so make sure I'm out of sight!"

In a sprinkle of magical energy, he turned invisible and made his way out of the chamber.

That Despara girl...could SHE be the next one to wield the sword's power? he thought to himself as he paced through the hall. It seems so unlikely...and yet…

He pulled out a small book, showing an old drawing of She-Ra. It showed a woman with piercing blue eyes, flowing golden locks of hair, and a muscular build.

"Hmm...if this girl had longer hair...blue eyes...it could be her!" Orko muttered. "But how could I prove this? And more importantly, how would I get her to turn against the Horde?"

He groaned, rubbing the sides of his head. "Sometimes, it's just not easy being a wizard from another dimension..." he sighed.

BACK IN THE FRIGHT ZONE…

The little party had eventually come to an end, and the cadets had gone off to their bunks to drift off, with Catra and Despara being the last two to do so.

As Despara slept, she dreamt. Of what, I hear you asking?

Well...it was a series of flashes of bizarre visions.

She kept seeing herself in some sort of armor, wielding a blade. She saw familiar faces like Catra and her father, but others were unfamiliar—and yet, strangely familiar at the same time.

A baby being stolen by a mysterious figure as its parents cried out...a star-filled sky...a tiny pair of eyes, glowing in the darkness...and that mighty sword, gleaming, as a mysterious individual in armor approached her.

And with these visions came a mysterious voice: Adora...you do not know of your true destiny...you MUST find the Sword...Adora...

Suddenly, Despara shot awake in the middle of the night, her body drenched in a cold sweat and her heart pounding in her chest.

"Wh—what WAS that?!" she exclaimed, breathless.

Glancing down at her hands, Despara could see that they were trembling like leaves in the wind. What did this dream mean? Who was that mysterious voice? And frankly, why did she call her by that name—Adora?

"OK, Despara...just calm yourself down..." she muttered to herself. "You're just nervous from that weird dream. Dreams are crazy, who can figure them?"

Despara peeked up at the top bunk, seeing that Catra was still asleep, curled up like an actual cat as she hugged her pillow like a teddy bear.

Despara snickered at that. She decided that she'd get some water, calm herself down, and then go back to bed.

And so, Despara carefully made her way out of bed and began quietly making their way to the kitchen area of the barracks.

Tiptoeing ever-so-quietly, so as to not wake up General Grizzlor, Despara slipped into the kitchen area and tried to find a flashlight so she didn't risk waking anyone (which she would have if she'd just tried turning on the kitchen lights).

Once she obtained the flashlight, she tiptoed over, nearly stepping on a loose floorboard, but managed to avoid it as she arrived at the sink.

So far...so good... she thought to herself.

Despara finally got over to the sink and carefully opened up the cupboard above her.

After retrieving the cup, she turned the faucet on slowly and let it fill up.

Once her cup was filled, Despara took it and began taking a sip. See? All you needed was a nice, cool drink of wa—

"I didn't expect to see you up this late, Despara," said a raspy voice. "Is there something troubling you, child?"

Despara nearly choked on her water as it shot from her nose; she turned around and saw Shadow Weaver standing in the kitchen behind her.

"Er, just some dreams I had," responded Despara. "Very odd things, like giant, flying bisons and people who could bend the air. I just needed a drink of water to calm my nerves before I get back to sleep."

"I see," Shadow Weaver replied. "Well, if this ever gets to be more of a problem, then you know where to find me."

"In Horror Hall; yes, I remember," Despara nodded. She definitely remembered where the place was from a past excursion during her younger years, which involved pasta sauce.

As Shadow Weaver walked away, Despara let out a breath she had no idea she had been holding in. Something about Shadow Weaver honestly scared her. She and Catra had grown up under her watch numerous times, and so both had a distinct fear from the mysterious magic user.

Naturally, as long as Hordak and his Generals kept her in line, Shadow Weaver was generally harmless; she mostly kept to herself, unless Hordak summoned her before him.

...besides, Despara preferred her old nanny, Shakra, anyway. She was kind, nurturing, and sweet—plus, the fact she wasn't creepy beyond all reason really helped things.

With that in her mind, she finished off the last of her water and washed the glass off and dried it before putting it back into the cupboard and heading back to her quarters. Besides, tomorrow was a training session for the rookies.

BACK AT BRIGHT MOON...

Orko's spell of invisibility had worn off, and he was practicing some card tricks by himself. Sure, it was the lowest form of party trick, but it helped him concentrate and think, especially when he was facing a difficult problem.

Okay, so I need someone to help me get to this girl and see if the sword responds to her, he thought. If it does, we would need to confine her to join our side. And to do that, it may take a little perspective...hmm...but who would I get to help me?

"I wonder if Bow is busy with anything..." Orko said to himself as he headed off to find the archer...right before Glimmer came stomping down the hallway, utterly ticked off.

"...uh-oh..." Orko gulped. When Glimmer was in a bad mood, there was no telling what she might do.

"I'm not five anymore, I can take care of myself!" the princess of BrightMoon fumed. "That leech guy just got a lucky hit in!"

"I see you're still steamed..." Orko commented, rather matter-of-factly.

"Of course I'm steamed!" Glimmer exclaimed. "Mom just doesn't get it! I can actually help if she let me! I just need something to prove it to her!"

Orko rubbed his chin. "Hmm...what if we found the wielder of the sword?" he asked.

"Yeah, right. You've tried to find them for years, Orko," Glimmer said. "Where would this oh-so-powerful-warrior even be? And who, even?"

"...maybe the blonde girl," Orko responded.

Glimmer stopped walking and slowly turned to look at him. The second Orko saw her looking back, he immediately realized that he should've picked a better time to tell her.

"You know what? I shouldn't have said anything." Orko replied quickly, covering his eyes.

"Are you KIDDING me?!" Glimmer exclaimed as she started approaching Orko.

"It's just, she looks exactly like the warrior that wields the sword!" the Trollan tried to back up his suggestion as he floated back from Glimmer. "If her eyes were blue and her hair were a little longer, it would be uncanny! A-all we'd have to do is get her to come to us alone and test the sword, and then convince her to leave the Horde!"

"EASIER SAID THAN DONE!" shouted Glimmer, the force of her voice nearly blowing Orko back; he had to cover his head to keep his hat from flying off.

"...I know..." he replied, downtrodden.

"Besides, there's too many variables!" Glimmer continued. "Who would help us? How would we get her to come to us alone? Who would help us? Would she even believe us? How do we convince her? Who would help us? What if she's not the warrior? What if things go wrong? Oh, and most importantly—WHO WOULD HELP US?!"

"Alright, it's a bad idea," Orko sighed. "You made your point..."

"This needs to be thought-out!" said Glimmer, her voice less loud than it had previously been. "Who in their right mind would help us to lure that girl?!"

"Yo!" shouted a familiar voice, getting Glimmer's attention. She ran to the window and saw Bow and Kowl standing outside in the light of the setting sun. In case I haven't told you about Kowl already, I'll gladly rectify that immediately.

Kowl is one of the last remaining Know-It-Owls on Etheria; his body is mostly yellow, and on the sides of his head he has two large wings with multicolored patterns within them. He wears a purple tunic with a blue scarf.

"Kowl and I heard you screaming your head off, and figured we'd see what was going on!" Bow shouted.

"Orko has a very strange plan, claiming that the blonde girl that attacked Elberon might be the warrior who's supposed to wield the Sword of Protection!" replied Glimmer.

"...get down here, and let the poor guy explain," Bow replied. "He's probably scared stiff from all that browbeating!"

Glimmer glanced at Orko, who was shaking like a leaf so much that his hat nearly fell off of his head. "Are we done...?" he managed to ask, his voice trembling.

Glimmer sighed. "Come on. Let's tell Bow and Kowl your plan."

And off they went.

THE NEXT DAY in the FRIGHT ZONE...

Despara, Catra, and the cadets were eating lunch together in the mess hall. It had been quite the training session, and the cadets had shown much promise.

"...you know what?" asked Despara. "I'm gonna head out tonight and check on Elberon. Y'know, monitor progress?"

"That's a good idea," replied Catra. "But you know what would make it a BETTER idea?"

"What?" inquired Despara.

Catra pulled out a set of keys. "Cruisin' on down there in your brand-new skiff, that's what!" she replied.

Despara couldn't help the big grin that spread across her face.

"How about we take a ride on out there tonight?" suggested Catra. "We can sneak out when everyone's asleep."

"Catra, I love the way ya think," said Despara, and the two of them high-fived.

"Despara!" called Shadow Weaver, her voice making the two co-captains freeze.

Despara snapped to attention, turned around, and saluted. "Shadow Weaver."

"You did rather well today," Shadow Weaver said, her hair floating behind her. "You completed the novice training course coaching in record time."

"Uh, well, that wasn't just me you know," Despara replied. "Catra did, too."

Shadow Weaver's gaze turned to Catra. "Ah, yes. How someone as unmotivated as YOU completed the course in time, I'll never know." she scoffed.

"What can I say?" Catra shrugged. "I'm just full of surprises."

She always got particularly snippy whenever she heard that Shadow Weaver would be involved in supervising the training sessions. You see, Shadow Weaver was always trying to get in good with Hordak by supervising the troops, especially during training.

But frankly, nobody really liked or trusted her. She was pretty damn scary in general, and rumor was that if you were unlucky enough to see her true, uncloaked face, the very sight would transform you into a stone statue!

"Shadow Weaver, if I may?" Despara spoke up. "I'm aware that Catra may not be the most...well, motivated, but she is one of the best fighters I know. I'd be lucky to have her at my side on any day of the year."

"If you say so, Despara," Shadow Weaver replied dismissively as she left. "I can only hope that her lack of determination doesn't slow you down."

Catra was about to flip her the bird, but Despara stopped her. "She's not worth the effort."

"Yeah, sure," shrugged Catra, relenting. "...but she's gonna get hers."

SEVERAL HOURS LATER...

Eventually, sunset came, and by then, Despara and Catra snuck out. The two girls climbed down from the roof and made their way to a flat-bottomed skiff vehicle hidden behind a building.

Despara jumped in the driver's seat, and Catra climbed in behind her. Despara started the engine and the skiff hovered above the ground. They quietly soared away from the buildings and into the desert surrounding the Fright Zone.

"Not bad, for a Daddy's Girl," commented Catra. "I can't believe we actually jacked a skiff!"

"Borrowed," Despara corrected her. "Please don't make me regret this!"

"Re-lax, wouldja?" asked Catra, before she noticed the slow speed. "Ugh...you skiff-drive like Shadow Weaver. Lemme take a whack at it. I got the need for speed!"

Catra tried to grab the wheel as Despara tried to stop her. "What? Hey! No! Stop it!" insisted the blonde. "You already talked me into taking this thing out! I don't wanna risk wrecking it and getting either of us in more trouble!"

Catra rolled her eyes. "Ugh! C'mon, ya big chicken! What's one little joy ride gonna hurt when no-one's here to see it happen?" she asked.

Their hair whipped behind them as they zipped across the desert. The taste of freedom energized Catra, and she spurred the skiff on even faster.

Suddenly, Despara noticed that they were going a little too fast. "...uh, Catra? You might wanna slow down!" she urged.

"Alright, alright; if you're sooo scared—" Catra rolled her eyes as she pushed on the brake...only to find that it wasn't responding. "...so, update...the brakes don't work."

Despara's left eye twitched. "...'WHAT'S ONE LITTLE JOYRIDE GONNA HURT', HUH?!" she shouted.

Catra desperately looked for a way to stop the skiff. "Keep your hair on, Despara! I'll fix it!" she assured, probably trying to convince herself, as well as her friend.

Despara rolled her eyes. "Oh, really?! Like when you said you'd fix my hair last year...and I ended up getting half my hair shaved off?" she retorted.

"Hey, the side shave looked great!" Catra insisted as the skiff now drove into the Whispering Woods.

"A side shave NEVER looks great, and you KNOW that!" retorted Despara. "I looked like I lost a fight with a weed whacker!"

"Well, that's just YOUR opinion!"

"Yeah, and the opinion of everyone else in the—Catra! Tree! TREE!" Despara yelled.

This time, Catra looked up—to see a massive tree in their path. She tried to steer away from it, but the skiff was going too fast. Despara grabbed the rudder and pulled up hard. The skiff rocketed upward just before hitting the tree and spiraled crazily through the maze of the tree's coiled limbs.

Then…

WHOMP!

A branch hit Despara, and the force of the impact sent her flying arse over teakettle off the skiff, and into the Whispering Woods.

"DESPARA!" screamed Catra, reaching out for her sister-figure.

BACK IN BRIGHTMOON...

Glimmer, Bow, and Orko had just left Razz's hut, having gotten no further than when they had started.

"Okay...so at least we know what the sword looks like..." said Bow. "That's gotta be something, right?"

"So we know what it looks like, whoopie," Orko responded dryly. "That doesn't exactly help if we have NO WAY of tracking it!"

"Well, Madam Razz said it's lost in a forest," said Glimmer. "If we can figure out which forest, we could find it!"

"Okay...so how many forests are there on the planet?" Bow asked.

"Many, but there are some very important ones..." replied Glimmer.

"Well, we have to whittle it down to at least THREE," Orko replied. "Because every day that this search goes on, the Horde gets a little closer to winning. And personally, every day I can't find it, I get a little closer to developing an ulcer."

Bow rubbed his chin. "Hmm...there's the Whispering Woods," he suggested. "Maybe that could be it?"

"Fine...then we'll search there," Orko groaned, as he rubbed his temples. "Ugh...I wonder if the ancient sorcerers ever had to deal with this..."

"I'm sure they did, pumpkin," responded Glimmer.

"...probably not at THIS rate," Orko muttered to himself as they went off into the woods.