Alex's boots sink into the mud left behind from the heavy rain, sopping wet through. Every step feels disgusting, and her feet are not appreciative of this mud bath, no matter how sore or damaged they've gotten.
Kelly and Nia are trailing behind them, Esme on Kelly's back happily blabbering away about each plant or rock they pass as though they are any different from the thousands they have already passed.
Alex is a little ways ahead, Kelex hovering by her side as they try and find a way around the slope they had all fallen down to get back in the direction they came, where they had seen the guards of some sort take Kara and Lena.
She has her guesses for who they are and what they may want but doesn't want to put any decisive labels on them, just in case they are someone different, someone worse.
They've been walking for a couple of days now, searching for another way back, praying that they're walking in the right direction. She thinks they might just be able to find Kara and Lena because it's obvious that they have been taken back to the accommodation, there's nowhere else they could go unless the pods took them back to a city.
They owe it to them to try though, so they are heading back there and praying that they'll be there. The only problem they're having with their plan is that they don't have one. They have zero clue what they are going to do when they get there, they have a child with them for Rao's sake, and there isn't a lot they can do.
It would be a bad idea to try and continue on without them anyway, without Kara and Lena to help ground them and guide them through sticky situations they would struggle, and it would reduce their chances of making it all the way to Kandor significantly.
They haven't heard a peep from the people that took Kara and Lena, not since they marched out of view. She was hoping they would for the first day or so but then she realised how selfish that would be to want to be caught after Kara and Lena gave themselves up to protect them back at the trees.
They have all noticed something odd as they walk back in the direction they came from originally; there is a much higher number of plants from The Scarlet Jungle around. They can still avoid them fairly easily but there is a distinct side effect that seems to have come with them.
There's an increased number of locust-like bugs surrounding them and while for the most part, they are staying away from them, if bugs follow the plants, then other animals may follow them too. That is not something they want to find out first hand though, so they want to get a hustle on.
Alex spots more red plants up ahead, grouped quite close together so she decides to stop and wait for the others to catch up with her. Unlike most of the ones they have seen, these ones don't have palm tree-looking leaves, these have much smaller leaves and look slightly spikey, similar to that of a rose bush, minus the roses. They are also much taller, but spindlier, like they are still young plants, barely more than seedlings, even if they are more than a metre tall.
As soon as they reach her side, she points at the plants with a sigh. "We'll have to go around them, they are way too close together for my liking."
"I agree," Kelly states, looking over Alex's shoulder at them and huffing since this means that they will have to walk even further, even if it is only by a little bit.
Nia decides that she really isn't feeling up to those extra steps, she's already doing way more than the recommended ten thousand a day and isn't really interested in furthering that. "I think we could probably –"
"No!" Alex and Kelly cut her off at the same time, both pitching her with matching glares.
"Alright, I was just saying." Nia sulks, holding her hands up in surrender.
Kelly moves on to a softer look while Alex keeps her glare firmly in place. "We know, none of us wants to keep walking right now but we can't afford any more injuries now, especially none like that you got on your hand, that was nasty."
"I know, I know. Mother knows best and all that jazz." Nia shrugs and walks past them both, taking a right to try and avoid the dangerous plants.
Turns out, they really aren't a lucky bunch because Nia barely makes it two steps before she is stopped by an impromptu rustling coming from some of the thicker foliage around them.
All of them find themselves frozen, waiting for the penny to drop. Then another rustling comes from the other side of them, pinning them between the two rustling bushes with nowhere to go, the plants from The Scarlet Jungle blocking their path forward.
They back up as much as they can, not turning their backs to the bushes but don't get too far since something begins to emerge from between the leaves, showing itself and the danger it presents.
None have them have ever tried to envision an emu crossed with a horse before and none of them have ever tried to envision an emu crossed with a horse that also has multiple rows of dagger teeth. That's a big nope from The Superfriends.
Kelly breaks the silence as they stare into the eyes of the beast. "I really wish Kara and Lena had left us that sword."
More emerge beside the first one, making a group of four, all staring right at them, watching them. A tingling runs down their spines, a hot sweat builds on the backs of their necks and their veins run cold. These creatures are not friendly, that's easy enough to tell.
Esme is the first one to break out of the spell they've fallen under, not at all enchanted by these strange animals, so she lets out an almighty scream when they step towards them, eyes dark and full of danger.
Kelly grips Esme's legs tighter, keeping her pressed to her back. She's glad that she's between Esme and the animals, glad that there is some kind of a barrier between them and her.
This is one of the reasons they had wanted to leave Esme with J'onn, to keep her out of situations like this, but they had naively decided that they could protect her, keep her away from anything that could put her in harm's way, she sees now that was nothing more than a fantasy, a lie they told themselves to keep their daughter with them, unwilling to part for a little while could cost them a lot longer.
There's nothing they could realistically do in this situation, they have knives and Alex has a gun, but these are not like animals on Earth, they have no idea if they would even have the chance to get their weapons free before they were already on them – killing them even.
If they survive this, they need to come up with a plan, they need to figure out how to keep Esme safe and stand by that plan, everything needs to be done to keep her safe and what they're doing right now doesn't fit into that plan.
Apparently, the enemy of scary bird horses is little girls with a good set of lungs because they recoil at the noise, rushing back into the bushes, and right through the scarlet ones, trampling them enough to create a path for them to use to continue on their trip without any more detours.
All three women let out their held breaths, Esme still screaming with her eyes firmly shut so she doesn't even know that they're gone until she runs out of breath and Kelly is lowering her down to the ground and crouching in front of her, Alex rushing to join her too.
"You're ok, we've got you." Alex pulls Esme into their embrace, holding their precious little girl between them. One shared look between the parents tells Kelly that Alex had the same realisations as she did when those animals were coming towards them.
Kelly pressed frantic kisses to the crown of Esme's head, aware that all three of them are crying now. "You are so brave, you scared them away and made it all better. You're our hero." She whispers into Esme's ear, desperately trying to calm both herself and Esme.
Nia watches them, still quaking in her boots and every breath she takes is a struggle, her body trying to fight its way out of panic mode. Alex notices over both Esme and Kelly's shoulders, so she extends an arm outward, offering her a space in their group cuddle.
"You guys make me soft." She mumbles as she sinks into the embrace of the Olsen-Danvers clan.
They stay like that for a couple of minutes, basking in their heightened adrenaline and relief, giving their rapidly beating hearts a chance to slow down to a more stable level and only once they have all calmed themselves, do they part, ready to start again on their adventure.
The group starts off again, Nia carrying Esme this time and Kelly taking the remote to bring Kelex along with them so Alex can keep her hands free, her gun and knife sheathed at her side, her hands ready to grab them at any moment.
They manage to shimmy through the gaps in the plants thanks to the animals stampeding through them, so they don't have to take a detour and the encounter did end up having some bright sides.
And so they keep on trudging on forward and had mutually decided to take a short break when they get to a relatively safe-looking clearing, if they find any, so they can take a load off and discuss their options, starting with what they can do to keep Esme safe.
All of them keep their eyes peeled, Esme especially since Nia bestowed the task on her as the chief look out but they don't find a clearing before they hear the sound of rushing water. Their spirits are lifted right away with it, knowing that they are getting closer to their goal.
Once they get the source of the sound in sight, none of them could stop their smiles from forming, knowing that they've found the stream and little waterfall that they had stopped at just a day after they had left the accommodation. That means that they are less than a day away from getting to where they think their abducted teammates are and they are one step closer to being back together.
They step out towards the water, breathing in their small victory and even Alex lets her shoulders drop a little and her hands fall away from her holster.
That's a bad idea.
Right as they are fully out of the trees, they find themselves surrounded, the same guards as before around them, more joining them until they have nowhere to go.
Alex knows she can't fight all of these people, not without risking the others, so she holds her hands up, accepting their fate, for now, they will have to go along with these people. She tries her best to understand them with her limited knowledge of Kryptonese. She does know enough to make conversation, but she has to admit that she's rusty.
She definitely doesn't miss the weapon in her face and the order to drop all of her weapons and her pack though, so she makes her movements slow and clear, complying right away which then leads the others to follow in her footsteps, doing the same.
Nia has to put Esme down so that she can take off her own pack, just as she watched the others do just seconds ago. She was expecting Esme to stay with her or maybe just take a little step to the side to get to Kelly since she is right beside her but instead she runs right for Alex at full speed.
All of them freeze, waiting for a reaction from the guards but there is none other than a brief tightening of their grips on their weapons.
"Kryp sem urvish, sokao zhgamem bah kryp."
The line is stated with no malice and Alex actually believes the guard, even if she doesn't understand why. "They said, 'We want peace, please return with us.'" Alex translates for the others.
"I think we should listen to them." Kelly hisses to both Alex and Nia, keeping her eye on Esme, who is clinging to Alex's legs.
Both of the other women agree with her right away, so Alex responds to the group with her limited Kryptonese knowledge. "Zhi. Yes. Yes. Zhi."
While the weapons aren't dropped or put away, they are lowered to the ground and a few of the guards come forward to take their belongings and to point them in the direction they are to walk in.
"Mommy, what's happening?" Esme whimpers, clinging to Alex's hand.
The question and the grip encourage Alex to pick her up, holding her to her chest protectively. "I'm not entirely sure but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that they're going to take us to wherever they took your aunts."
Esme nods and buries her face into Alex's neck, an obvious attempt at hiding from the scary-looking strangers.
The strange thing is that the guards or soldiers, whatever they are, appear to notice that Esme is scared and make an attempt at making her feel safer because one of them steps towards them slowly, taking something out of one of their own bags and offering it to the little girl.
Alex checks to see what they are holding out to her daughter, wary until she recognises it from a description she's heard hundreds of times from her own kid sister. There in a little wooden box sits lots of square little pink sugar-coated candies that from what Kara has said, they taste like pure magic and nothing on Earth will ever make her as happy as those candies.
"Hey, why don't you try one of those? I think those might be Aunt Kara's favourites, so you'll probably like them." Alex encourages her slightly and with a nervous hand Esme reaches over and takes one very carefully from the box.
She pops it right into her mouth, utterly overjoyed by the taste flooding over her tongue. "Mommy, it's good!"
"It is? What do we say to the nice guard?" Alex reacts, smiling at Esme coming out of her shell again.
"Thank you." Esme beams at the guard, who seems to get the message, even with the language barrier because they nod to her, offering her the box to keep.
Of course, Esme takes it, tucking into her gift right away. The interaction puts them all at ease, a level of trust and rapport now forming. It's an unspoken mutual pact that nobody is going to fight, and they are all just interested in getting on with what needs to be done.
Esme only gets through about half a dozen of her treats before she has to put them away because they arrive at a group of pods. They recognise the general look of them from Kara's pod, but they are clearly modified or a slightly different model since they are big enough for multiple people.
They are taken to a different pod each, but they do allow Esme to stay with Alex, a sign that these people do have morals of some sort. Each pod takes off as soon as the passengers are all ready and heading right in the direction of the accommodation, just as they had predicted so none of them are shocked that when they land, they are right where they started a few days ago.
What they are shocked by, is the greeting party waiting at the door. Standing there with big smiles and open arms are Kara and Lena, closely backed up by Astra.
Alex is the only one that recognises Astra, the others never had the chance to have met her before, and she has to remind herself that she hasn't killed her yet and she doesn't know what she is going to do to her in the future, so she is in the clear on that front.
Kara and Lena pull them all in for hugs and they spend a little while just standing there, all huddled together, checking each other over for non-existent injuries.
Once their reintroductions are done, they all head inside and Astra leads them into the library, no guards present with them.
"My name is Astra In-Ze, and I am Kara's aunt. Thank you for accompanying my guards so freely." Astra holds out her hand for a handshake, just as she has learnt from Lena.
Kelly takes it first, then Esme copies her which makes Astra smile brightly at her. Nia and Alex follow suit and make their own introductions.
"Your daughter is beautiful, she reminds me so much of Kara when she was young," Astra states gently, wrapping her arm around Kara's shoulder for a brief moment.
Alex clears her throat. "Thank you, but I really need to know what's going on before I lose my mind, I'm a bit lost at what's going on."
"Well, that's what we are trying to figure out but we had to get them to bring you here so they would trust us, and Astra is helping us navigate that," Lena explains, taking up vigil at Kara's other side.
"Why do we need them to trust us?" Kelly asks, Nia nodding along at her side.
"They would likely ask for you to be…" Astra pauses, not wanting to say anything to scare the little girl that reminds her so much of her niece, "removed if they don't."
Alex sighs, running a hand over her forehead. "I see."