Icarus
It took an hour to fix the drift drive, and another hour to reconfigure the navigation. For a while, they considered jumping to Etheria immediately, made possible by the Starstone, said to be the most powerful artifact in the galaxy, but after consulting Captain Moonshadow, Bina decided to stick with the old plan. They will fly to Icarus and make the final decision on how they should get to Etheria. Bina already knew that after discovering that there was a Starstone on Etheria, she had lost any chance of persuading her kids to turn back from their path. This confirmed all the theories they had heard from the devil and demon cursed leech, let it dry to a crisp. She could see Itel's eyes light up at the thought of her greatest wish coming true... The greatest, except perhaps for her relationship with Eti to deepen, but now it was complicated because of Rosie.
On the other hand, she wasn't sure if she wanted to turn back. This Etheria seemed like a friendly and, most importantly, safe place. Here they may find solace from their eternal struggle with the whole world. Itel will learn to trust others, Lilka will not want to fight with everyone, Alatar will start to establish relationships with others outside their pack. Only Eti can be a problem, if her assumptions turn out to be true ... Although even then, if she really survived, it doesn't have to end badly, with a bit of luck nothing bad will happen, after all, even Eti is not that murderous machine, even though she is conditioned to try to kill "fallen sisters" as soon as she sees them... Okay, she does throw herself at random people's throats sometimes, but in this case even she should remember, it won't be a complete stranger... Maybe? Their fates certainly turned out so differently. But most importantly, they'll be far from that bastard Antares
This, however, is a problem of the future, albeit a very near one. For now, she had to get to Icarus and get information about Etheria. She also had the impression that her passengers were not very eager to reach their destination. It didn't surprise her that Rechiza, Arkan-tar, and Doctor Quin were suddenly very reserved. They were scholars after all, albeit very unusual. However, Dilayla also seemed to be quite withdrawn and reluctant to talk, especially around Wrongdak. Did she resent him for what happened to the inhabitants of the monastery? She shouldn't hold a grudge against him for that, something similar had been done to her planet by Horde soldiers once, and she didn't mind befriending the white-skinned alien. But who could know what was really going on in the other person's head?
When the mercenary became gloomy, the grim elf became… well, drunk. The fact that she was drinking with Ireanis didn't reflect well on her. Only that the silver-haired elf got drunk happily, and the dark sorceress seemed to become more and more bitter and immersed in unpleasant memories. There was a strange resignation about her now, as if some strange fatalism had seized her. She respected this woman, though she sensed a very dark past in her , and would not want her to go downhill. But it wasn't up to her at all.
What surprised her the most was Lady Cala, both the combat prowess she had shown in the monastery and the determination she had shown on this journey. She never doubted that the stories about Etheria she had learned in the family archives were true, though everyone claimed otherwise. Well, it turned out that the truth was on her side. The young woman clearly deserved Rosie's adoration.
That's right, Rosie. The deaf girl practically became a crew member of her ship. She hardly spoke to the others of he companions, except for Dilayla and Miss Daisy. Bina seriously considered adopting Rosie. She was practically no trouble at all, polite and helpful, and she could fight better than most seasoned warriors she knew, and she knew the Shadows of Tarak, whom even the Vescas thought were mad. But where did an ordinary intern learn all this? The story Dilayla told her was puzzling, and she didn't like being surrounded by riddles, one Eti was enough for her. That's right Eti and Rosie. The growing bond between the girls was evident, and given the feline girl's preferences, her ward would expect something from Rosie, and did Rosie share such preferences? And of course there was Itel. The elven solarian has experienced enough tragedy in her short life, and now she will be heartbroken even more. She should talk to her and comfort her somehow, but how, she didn't know what love was, she slept with men and women, like all Jantar clones, but she had never been in a relationship. But he has to do something
They jumped out of the Drift near Icarus. The planet had two continents, the smaller but better developed Icarus and the twice as large but poor Dedalus . Even from orbit you could see the difference, because it was night and the bigger brother was much less illuminated by city lights. Apparently, the larger continent was much more ravaged by the Horde. In addition, there were many islands here, and the temperature was above the Golarion average . They had learned so much from the Wrongdak and the spire they had hacked .
They waited until morning before deciding to make contact. She went to her communicator and sent a message.
"This is Deadly Sword of Burning Fury, please allow us to land." She frowned a bit as she said the ship's name.
There was no response for a long time, so she assumed they didn't have a spacecraft arrival warning and management system here. Quite careless, but it's even better for them, because they will stay on the planet unofficially, which she and Captain Moonshadow were very keen on.
They contacted the pirate, trying to choose the most suitable place to land. They chose two old Horde landing sites, located close to each other on Dedalus , relatively close to the largest surviving city, Clytaimestra . There seemed to be a few towns here and some valley scorched by Horde Prime bombs . They all agreed that it was far enough away from major centers of power that no one would notice them, yet close enough to civilization that they could get information and buy some goods, although they still had plenty of supplies, even ice cream left over, though she's been giving double doses for the last few days. She already had some idea of the cover they would assume once they reached Etheria. Only Alatar and Eti will moan.
Shaking as they entered the atmosphere, Alatar apologized embarrassed, though it wasn't his fault. The landing site was surrounded by a young forest, Mister Ilemshaw and Dragonkin taking great care not to burn it with their engines. As soon as they landed, she ordered the side exit open, and they all went outside. It was already afternoon, but still warm. She took a deep breath of fresh air. They were surrounded by the emerald, slightly shimmering green of the local plants. The surroundings looked so pleasant to me that Lilka assumed a fighting stance, Eti began to wag her tail, Alatar gripped the Datapad tightly , and Itel summoned the moonblade and cast hostile glances around. Her lovely children. Rosie, of course, looked around in amazement. She beamed and her joy spread to the others, even Itel relaxed a bit.
"Okay friends, let's do it like this, I, Arkan-tar, Rechiza and Lady Cala will go to the nearest Bar to ask about various things..." she was saying, but Eti interrupted her.
"I have an idea. Sell Stinka, maybe we'll get a bag of crisps. It's a profitable exchange."
She gave her a reproachful look.
"You better watch out that I don't sell you. It is said that cat skin gloves are very fashionable everywhere in the galaxy. she asked her ward, who put her ears down.
"I don't see any reason to scold Miss Eti. She didn't offend me with her words, she even made me smile." she said in a conciliatory tone, but the feline girl only blushed.
"Okay, now that we've all been nice to each other and apologized." Saying this, she looked eloquently at the feline ward. "Just don't kill anyone, don't set fire to anything, cause a riot, or do anything like last time?" she asked seriously.
Eti thought for a moment and said.
"Last time we saved Wrongdak and Emily, should we stop helping our fellow humans in need this time? All right, but then don't blame anyone when some beautiful woman gets eaten by a dragon! With mayonnaise. We will not save her!" the feline girl explained in an absolutely serious tone.
"These stories of dragons eating virgins are as offensive as they are ambiguous." Alatar muttered, resentment in his voice.
"Oh, that's right Mr. Wrongdak." she asked the colorfully dressed clone, who had been listening to the whole discussion with consternation. "I trust you and Emily and I believe you won't lie to me, will you watch the kids?" She asked smiling ingratiatingly. She preferred not to entrust this important matter to Ireanis and her new drinking buddy, and Mr. Ilemshaw's reach was limited. Wrongdak looked a little scared. She wasn't surprised.
Itel watched as Bina and the others drove off towards the city. She counted to a hundred, then turned to her friends.
"So, are we going to look around?" asked the elf, smiling happily. Wrongdak looked at her in amazement and disbelief.
"But, it's the complete opposite of what Bina asked you to do." said the clone incredulously. Emily chirped agreeing, but the solarian put on the most innocent smile she could and said.
"But we're going to do something completely different. We just want to explore the area to see if there's enough wood for a bonfire and where there's water to put it out."
The alien immediately smiled happily.
"I like bonfires. When I lived with my Skittermander friends, we would often make bonfires... Several times they ended in fire, once when Alatar's relative had the flu, another time when Wydne threw a power cell into the bonfire. Yes, you will definitely need water to extinguish the fire." He nodded approvingly, though Emily was eyeing her skeptically with that purple eye of hers.
It was so easy it was shamefull she thought with satisfaction
"Oh, I'll make a bonfire! We'll bake sausages, we'll sing ancient orcish war songs like "Row, row, row your boat" and "Hey Wyverns . It will be fun." cried Lila. Itel thought about explaining to the red-haired girl that it was a hoax, but changed her mind. Maybe they will make a bonfire in the evening, or Lilka will forget everything.
"It's Eti and... Rosie are coming with me to search the area, and Mr. Wrongdak, Lilka and Alatar... will take care of everything." she said, trying to hide her sadness with a smile. Rosie jumped happily, and Eti nodded and asked.
"So when do we go?" asked the feline girl.
"Now!" said the elf and they set off together into the wilderness.
"But you'll agree that the crooked face was almost as bad as the Swarm." Eti said through the communicator. Itel snorted.
"What do you know about Swarm?"
"You know, quite a lot, as in any subject. After all, I am absolutely perfect, amazing and unique ..." Eti paused for a moment and added. "After all, you know what was done to me." her friend said in a surprisingly serious and emotional voice. She couldn't remember ever hearing it from her. Something had changed in Eti, but Itel had no idea what. She only had the feeling that rainy days were coming, or worse, stormy days. Now it was a double problem because they had a mission ahead of them and they needed to focus and couldn't let anything distract them.
They were in a ghost town, the ruins of some peaceful settlement whose inhabitants had been displaced, or rather murdered by the Horde. Now only the rain played among the ruins, but there was no one to hear it. She wanted to accidentally find a way to the nearest city, but she had the impression that she led her friends to a place they would never want to go again. First these ravaged planets, then the accursed monastery, and now the ruins where only the wind sang to the dead. It was weird here. She still had the feeling that someone was watching them, from among the shadows, some sinister, dark entities following them all the way through the town. She had suspicions whose doing it could be, could the lousy witch couldn't leave Eti alone for a moment. Or maybe it was just her paranoid delusions… Maybe seriously, because of these worries, she was already going insane?
Suddenly Rosie came over to her and hugged her tightly. She stiffened at first, but then relaxed and asked.
"Rosie, why did you do that?" she asked without breaking away from the hug.
Rosie shrugged, pulled away, and replied.
"Because you were sad and you looked like you needed someone to be close and show that they understood you too. This settlement… She made you so depressed, so I figured you needed someone to hug you. If this made you angry…"
She replied with a deep sigh.
"It's not that Rosie ... why are you always so nice to everyone, it would be easier for everyone if you were a mean bitch."
Rosie turned her head and said.
"Not true. Do you remember the first time we met Eti? I hit her very hard then!"
There was such sincerity in the girl's light blue eyes that Itel realized that the situation was hopeless. She already knew why Eti liked her so much, a deaf girl. Then they heard Eti calling them.
"Hey, I found something absolutely amazing here, come over immediately."
Without waiting for further explanations, they ran to where, according to the datapad, the feline girl was supposed to be.
Hey, it's just a girl. Normal girl. You've seen the girls before, we're girls. You are a girl." Itel said with suppressed resignation. She did not add that "you sleep with girls"
They were in a hut on the outskirts of an abandoned settlement. They stood by the window and watched some young, probably human, woman. She had blonde hair and fair skin. She was muscular and athletic. Pretty, though not as beautiful as Lady Cala. She was lying on the grass dreamily staring at the sky dotted with single clouds.
"Think Itel. We have Stinka ... And we all know how terrible she is and we all dream of throwing her off the ship." the feline girl explained, as if explaining something obvious, but Rosie cut her off.
"But she is nice and good to everyone, only you have some prejudices against her." The white-haired girl looked genuinely indignant
"Sparklepaw, if she's so great, then tell me why she tried to kill you." Eti said in a serious tone.
"She didn't try to kill me! I hurt her very badly" Rosie said
"If you don't believe me, ask Itel, she doesn't like any of you." Eti pointed to the Solarian , who felt herself blush. "Eti, someday you'll get shot in the head for talking like that, Itel thought angrily.
Rosie looked at her with those big eyes that now looked like two blue lakes.
"I understand that you don't like me ... - the deaf girl apologized with a sense of guilt painted on her innocent face." She covered her face with her hand and spoke slowly.
"It's not that I don't like you… it's just… it's just that." She tried to explain, but honestly, she didn't know what to say.
"Because it's about you and ... Where is Eti? " Rosie suddenly asked, looking around in surprise. Itel swore in Elfi, because her friend of course took the opportunity and went away ... But where ... This puzzle solved itself as soon as she looked out the window ... Eti just stood behind the blond woman and asked.
"Hey blonde, there's this thing..."
She felt much better now. After a whole day and night away from others. Out here in the wild, no one wanted anything from her, no one demanded that she be She- Ra, the liberator and hero of the galaxy. Now she was just Adora again , just herself. The map Zei gave her was very accurate, and she learned a lot from Bow about surviving in the wild. Though Catra and Scorpia fared better. She spent the night in the tent, warming herself in the flames of the fire, on which she cooked the broth. Much less meat was eaten on Etheri, except in places like the Crimson Wastes and the Realms of Snow, and she enjoyed a delicate but hearty soup of lentils and bread. She slept so well that she overslept, so she decided to take a shortcut that she didn't like very much, but she didn't want to keep Scorpia and Perfuma waiting for her.
The journey through the abandoned town turned out not to be as depressing as she had expected. She heard that the inhabitants evacuated themselves and settled in the capital or other settlements ... Besides, she must have gotten used to such a sight. She'd seen so many ruins on Etheria and in former Prime's Empire that she seemed numb... She knew she should worry about it, but instead she felt a surge of confidence. It was thanks to her and her friends that thousands of settlements were saved from a similar fate. She had no reason to feel guilty.
She stopped on a green hill and decided to rest for a while in the warm rays of the sun ... The sun was unknown on Etheria and many inhabitants of her planet treated it with a great deal of distrust. But not her and Catra. Sometimes they lay cuddled together, sometimes naked and warmed themselves in its gold rays. She missed her beloved. her girlfriend, soon to be wife. What she wouldn't give for Catra to be here with her… Suddenly she felt a gentle brush of her tail on her cheek. Full of irrational hope, he jumped to his feet and turned sharply. Instead, Catra saw someone else.