Cold Escort of the Flaming Soul Prince
Deku is seen walking through the path of the Whispering Woods with Adora, Glimmer, Bow, and Ochaco as they have just left the Bright Moon kingdom for a mission that was given to them by Queen Angella.
"Okay, this is big! We have to make a very good impression on the Fire Prince!" Glimmer stated strongly.
"No need to remind me, Glimmer. This is gonna be the start of the new Fire Kingdom since the old one was destroyed." Bow said, feeling both excited and freaking out at the same time.
"Was it destroy by the Horde?" Adora asked.
"No, this was LONG before the Horde showed up and it wasn't any invasion from the other kingdoms or attacked by bandits. But it was destroyed from within." Bow mentioned.
"What do you mean by that?" Adora confused, not understanding what he meant by that.
"I think Grandma Razz told me about this once during our little traveling trip. How the Fire Kingdom used to be large and strong until the Fire Princess ended all." Izuku recalled that story from his adopted grandma.
"Wait, so an Etherian princess really destroyed her own kingdom?" Adora asked shock, surprised to hear that there might actually have been an evil princess.
"But then what did happen to the Fire Princess and the Fire Kingdom?" Deku asked curiously.
"We're not entirely sure ourselves, we only heard little about her from legends." Glimmer shrugged.
"At first, it says that she used to be a kind ruler with a burning passion for her people. But then that burning passion soon turned into an obsession for power that she wanted to make her magic stronger, it ended up pushing away all the people around her including her friends, family, and her subject." Bow explained about the legend of the Fire Princess.
"And then there was a big explosion that engulfed the entire kingdom, everything was wiped out into nothing but ashes." Glimmer finished that story.
"That's awful!" Ochaco felt bad about what happened back then.
"So, one princess decided to throw it all away just for more power. Sounds like someone I know." Adora said, feeling chills upon thinking about Shadow Weaver.
"But why would the princess become obese with power if she was a kind ruler?" Deku asked.
"I don't know, we only know about this through the legends of the stories that we were told." Glimmer shrugged, she's not sure about the story as well.
"Well, I'm glad to know that is one Etheria princess I don't get to meet." Adora commented.
"I don't know, Adora. I feel like there is more to this story than what we know so far and I get the feeling that there may have been more of the Fire Princess about wanting to gain more power than craving for it." Deku believed, he just knows it somehow through his instincts.
"How can you tell?" Adora asked.
"Grandma Razz told me this a few times that not every story you hear is accurate, that there may be some missing details that most have gotten and mix in some other things in the story." Izuku mentioned what Razz told him before.
Adora remembers the first time she met Madam Razz when she was still having trouble about being the new She-Ra and leaving the Horde for good. Sure, Madam Razz was certainly weird and talks funny though she does have her own way of showing things that could help out a lot and giving good advice too.
"So, our mission is to help out with the recently built Fire Kingdom, right?" Adora asked.
"That's right, the kingdom was rebuild around 60 years ago by one man who wanted to bring back the once mighty kingdom that was known as the powerhouse amongst the other kingdoms." Glimmer explained.
"After he and the people were able to establish the kingdom, the man's son took on the role into becoming the King of the Fire Kingdom." Bow added.
"But that would mean that the man and the son had fire magic to command just like the Fire Princess." Deku realized shock.
"Yeah, my parents were very shocked when they met the King and saw his fire magic being so powerful. I think I remember feeling the heatwave from my room when they were at the courtroom." Glimmer tried to remember that time.
"Anyway, the Fire King was able to get the other kingdoms to acknowledge that the Fire Kingdom is back and him being the king along with his own son being the one to become the crown prince." Glimmer mentioned.
"Wait, this son isn't a prince yet?" Izuku asked surprise.
"From what mom told me, the son wanted him to be ready when the time was right, and he just turned 16 not too long ago. So, guess he's ready." Glimmer answered.
"But from what your mom told us, this prince went out to give himself some last-minute training before he is crowned prince and suddenly was attacked by the Hordes." Bow mentioned.
"Don't you hate it when the Hordes attack you when you last expected?" Glimmer angered by this.
"Yeah, I'm starting to see that myself." Adora commented.
"Okay, according to the distress signal we receive, the Fire Prince should be around at the border of the Whispering Woods." Ochaco informed as she looks at the tablet seeing the digital map and the dot where the signal is.
"Then we better get moving and protect the Fire Prince right away!" Glimmer stepped ahead of the group.
"Think about how much help we can get from the Fire Kingdom once we help with the prince and show them that the Allies is a great idea to join!" Glimmer believed.
"But wait, you're having a prince join the "Princess Alliance" once we meet him?" Bow asked.
"Yeah, it's just what I said." Glimmer pointed out.
"But he's a princess, not a princess." Bow confused, scratching his head a little.
"Bow, you and Deku are part of the alliance of neither of you are princesses, or have you forgotten about that?" Glimmer rolled her eyes.
"Okay, okay, that was a little harsh, you know." Bow said.
"Glimmer, I know you want to recruit more allies for the Etheria Princess Alliance, but you have to be calm and have some courage in your heart. You'll be able to do wonderful things as long as you have those." Deku said with a hand on Glimmer's shoulder.
"Oh, thanks for that." Glimmer smiled.
"Okay Best Friend Squad, let's go help a fiery prince!" Glimmer excited and ran forward.
"We really need to think of a better name than the horrible one Bow came up with!" Ochaco said.
"What…? But it's a great name!" Bow proclaimed, feeling hurt from that.
"I'm sorry, but it's really not." Adora shook her head.
Everyone ran towards the very edge of the Whispering Woods, the border where they will find the Fire Prince though they can tell that something odd is going on here.
"Is it just me, or is there cold breeze in the air?" Ochaco asked, rubbing her arms for a little warmth.
"No, I feel it too. Colder than usual." Deku noticed this too.
"The wind is carrying this cold feeling, coming from that way." Deku pointed the way, and they ran into the direction of the cold air.
A moment of running later, and then they stumble upon something very unexpected they were not prepared for.
"Guys, is that a giant ice wall?" Bow asked shock.
"But how and why is there ice? The Whispering Woods never get the weather of the winter season like snow!" Glimmer confused by this as well.
"I don't think this was done natural." Adora looked a little closer, feeling something about this ice was done recently.
"Think it was the Horde attack?" Bow asked worry.
"Try asking them!" Ochaco gasped.
She points to the couple of dozens of Horde soldiers having been defeated and most of their bodies covered in ice, none can move, and they are shivering from the intense cold that is coursing through their bodies.
"Whoa, whatever did this must've really been powerful." Bow shocked.
"Someone with ice powers?" Adora guessed.
"But the only ones I know with ice power would be the Ice Princess herself, but she hasn't left her kingdom in… ever!" Glimmer mentioned.
Deku can tell that something else is going on and there aren't any people here, none except for one.
"Fire Prince! We are warriors of the Bright Moon, we got your distress signal and came to help you. We are also part of the Great Rebellion army!" Izuku called out the loudest he could.
There wasn't a response for a moment until a voice spoke out.
"Shouting out yourself would've also alerted the enemies and have them attack you but doing it knowing that there aren't any enemies and want to show you really are allies." A young man revealed himself.
"Are you the Fire Prince?" Glimmer asked.
"I am, my name is Shoto, the Fire Prince of the Fire Kingdom." Shoto introduced himself.
Shoto is a moderately tall and rather muscular young man who is well-built for his age. He has short hair that doesn't pass his neck, and wears bangs, parted twice to avoid obscuring his vision. His hair is evenly split between white on his right side and crimson red on his left. He also possesses heterochromia iridum, which causes his left eye's iris to appear turquoise, while his right is a brownish dark gray. His eyes, in shape, are quite thin and reserved. Additionally, he has a large burn scar on the left side of his face, which reaches from his hairline to halfway down his cheek. He wears a dark blue jacket with elbow-length sleeves, its collar high and joined in the center by a gray neckpiece, baggy pants of the same color, a metal-plated combat vest and white boots, their soles and a thin line running down the center of each of them a darker pale gray. He also sports a brown utility belt around his waist, with little metal capsules containing medical supplies hanging off the front.
"It's an honor to meet you, and glad that you aren't hurt." Deku bowed to Shoto.
"The Hordes almost caught me off guard with their surprise attack, but I was able to fend them off unharmed." Shoto explained.
"And did this attack happen to have something to do with that giant ice?" Adora asked, pointing at the ice with her thumb.
"No, I believe that was your doing, am I right?" Deku asked.
This shocks his four friends and Shoto's eyes widen with surprise by this too.
"Wait just a minute, Deku! You can't seriously be thinking that Shoto, the FIRE Prince from the FIRE Kingdom have done such a powerful ice attack like this!" Glimmer pointed out while gesturing to the giant ice wall.
"No, he's actually right." Shoto vouched for Deku.
"WHAAT?!" Glimmer gasped.
Shoto holds out his right hand and frosty breeze forms around the arm and ice starts to cover that arm into a gauntlet with claws.
This shocked the four friends again that they are witnessing something crazy that they feel like they should wake up from the dream, but they quickly realize they aren't dreaming at all.
"A-And the fire magic?" Bow asked.
Shoto let out a sigh of disapproval and slightly anger though he knew that he has to show proof to these Rebels or else they may find him suspicious.
Shoto holds out his left hand and it glows for a second until fire bursts out from the hand and wrist.
"No way! Fire and Ice… At the same time!" Glimmer gasped.
"Is that normal, Glimmer?" Adora asked, freaking out a little too.
"No! Never has there been an elemental princess, or prince in this case, to possess two elemental powers at once in the history of Etheria!" Glimmer explained in a panicking tone.
"And yet, Prince Shoto is living proof." Deku said.
"I know he is! That's the freaky unimaginable part!" Glimmer yelled at Deku. She quickly realizes that she is very close to his face, causing them to blush a little. Adora notice this and felt a little jealous though she doesn't know why.
"Sorry, I'm just in shock and all." Glimmer calmed herself down.
"I get the reaction sometimes, mostly from those outside of the Fire Kingdom." Shoto said.
"I'm really sorry in advance when I ask you this… How exactly did you get two powers?" Glimmer asked.
"Apology accepted. As for your question, how about we walk while we talk. Don't wanna stick around in case any more Horde soldiers come here." Shoto walked ahead.
The group can see that Shoto has a point, they don't know if there are any more Horde soldiers coming to attack him and they need to do their best to get moving so that they don't get attack like that themselves.
"So, about your powers?" Glimmer asked.
"I inherited the fire from my father, and I inherited the ice power from my mother, the Ice Queen of the Frost Kingdom." Shoto revealed.
"As in Rei the Ice Mother?" Glimmer shocked.
"That's what people keep calling her, even my bastard of a father says it's a fitting name for her." Shoto said with anger in his eyes.
"Ouch, sounds like you and your dad don't get along." Bow flinched from how Shoto just badmouthed his own dad.
"In more ways than one." Shoto commented.
"It's still a surprise that the Ice Queen would actually marry someone from outside of the Frost Kingdom. I heard those people are strict with their rules and traditions." Deku remembered that when he and Razz visited that kingdom years ago.
"That's normally the case, and my father didn't have any intentions to marry my mom since he wanted to marry someone within the Fire Kingdom, but strange things has happened between them, and they ended up having kids with me as the second youngest." Shoto explained.
"But it wasn't a happy family for long." Deku could tell that this story was about to get darker.
"Yes, after I was born. Dad just let mom raise me for a while until I started showing signs of developing my magic and imagine his surprise when I did both fire and ice." Shoto looked at both of his hands, they felt slightly and stop.
"He put me through some training that would help me get used to having both of my powers, but after that… It was painful and too much for a little kid to bare." Shoto said with a slightly soft growl.
Deku and others didn't say a word as they can see Shoto getting a little angry from the memories of his past and the things he went through, it must've been truly painful for them along with the pain to even talk about his past.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Deku said.
"It's fine, somehow… Talking about it makes me feel better." Shoto said.
"So, how hard was this training session your dad put you through?" Bow asked.
"…Like he's been trying to kill me every day to break my limits." Shoto answered, shocking Bow.
"My mom tried to talk some sense into my father though it doesn't always work out, they would fight until one day things have gotten worse and she has never left her ice castle since." Shoto clutched his hands.
"I hated my father since then, I wanted to leave him and run away to the Frost Kingdom to live with my mother." Shoto said while they walk up a very tall hill.
"But I realize I couldn't because mom got scared of me, thinking that I look more like my father." Shoto explained.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you." Deku said, feeling bad for Shoto that he had to go through such a rough childhood.
"What's done is done, so I decided to become the new prince of the Fire Kingdom to show my dad that I can run the kingdom without using his fire." Shoto determined with a little revenge in mind.
"Are you sure that is wise? Doing that will only make you half as strong, and pushing away the part that has always been you since day one." Deku stated.
"What? Are you saying I should forgive my father and use his power?" Shoto asked angrily.
"No, that's what he's saying." Adora said, getting between the two boys.
"I think what he's getting at that you should stop thinking about your dad and the fire you have is his and instead, focus on yourself and the powers that is yours." Adora advised.
Shoto stood in silence on what Adora said and look over at Deku who seem to be concerned for the guy he just met, feeling something that he hadn't experienced in a long time.
"We go that way, next." Shoto said as he walked in the next direction.
KO a new chapter is done and hope you all enjoy it!
Deku and the Best Friend Squad are on a new mission and that is to help the Fire Prince, Shoto, to get back to the Fire Kingdom where he will be officially crown the Fire Prince though it looks like he has some issues to work out though he may find himself making good friends along the way.
KO comment, favorite, and follow through of how this story will go!