FicWad

Chapter Three
"Grounded"

Duncan awoke after a quick sleep. He had been up most of the night, tossing and turning, thinking of what was to happen today. And this was a day he had been looking forward to for a long time. He would once more get to see the Sorceress of Grayskull - something he had longed to do once more.
He dressed quickly and shaved. Duncan paused for the briefest of moments during his shave and wondered for yet another day if he should go for that mustache. He decided against it and made for the stables. Duncan saddled up his horse, Rusher, and was off in a flashing, northbound for the Evergreen Forest.
He immediately recalled their first meeting, nearly two years ago, when Keldor was raiding Castle Grayskull. Duncan felt like, in that moment, that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And ever since, he had had trouble finding a woman that could match the loveliness that was the Sorceress of Grayskull.
At last, as the noon sun began to ride high in the sky, he arrived at the edge of plains that surrounded Castle Grayskull. He paused, his heart thudding a little. Rusher nickered and the two were off once more, and reached the jawbridge of the castle. As soon as they neared it, the jawbridge came down like a huge mouth coming open to devour him into the darkness within.
Duncan hitched Rusher up to an out-cropping of rocks and entered carefully. He was in a very tall foyer, and he was suddenly reminded of the past once more. He continued forth, through a pair of huge, wooden doors and into the throne room.
And there she was, sitting upon her skull-like throne. She smiled smoothly as he entered the chamber, and stood, her feathered outfit ruffling silently around her.
"Commander," she addressed.
"My lady," he replied, and bowed. He had to tear his gaze off from her beautiful blue eyes.
"Rise, soldier of Eternos and speak of why you came to Castle Grayskull," she said to him in that sweet and light voice that he had only heard his dreams since their last meeting.
He stood up and smiled at her, his heart pounding. A small PANG went through his stomach and any trace of appetite was gone. She was beautiful, and her eyes were . . . mature. Wise. There was nothing like her outside of these walls.
"I have come in the name of King Randor of Eternos."
She smiled and stepped closer. "Do you, Commander? Or shall I call you Duncan?"
"Yes, please. Duncan."
"Then, Duncan, what business has the king have here?"
"Yesterday evening, a ship crashed in our kingdom. The passenger is of an unknown race and the craft she traveled in is unlike any we've seen before. There is concern, of course, that she is part of the Horde. She received minor injuries and while the crash seemed accidental (like most crashes), we are weary to trust her."
The Sorceress nodded, and Duncan was pleased with the judgement in her expression. "You are worried that she will work in the same manner as Hordak did in the old stories?"
"Yes."
She turned away from Duncan, in deep thought. "I do not believe she is part of the Horde," she told him. "No, in fact I am sure of it. She is not part of the Horde. This traveler came upon Eternia by accident. Take the traveler to the Elders and they shall uncover her origins and will cast away any doubts you may have."
The Sorceress looked back to Duncan once more and stared very deep into his eyes. He was stunned by the strength he saw within her gentle blues. I love you, his mind and heart cried out, and his body seemed to respond in its way, by-and-by.
As if reading his mind - and for what he knew, she did - the Sorceress of Grayskull stepped ever so closer to him. The smile left her and she gazed at the handsome young man with an intense expression.
"Return here in three days, Duncan," she told him in a quiet voice. "Return here at the dawn of the day and we shall speak of many tales that need to be told."
"Why?" he asked, though never too certain as to why he would.
She came closer and the Sorceress very gently pressed her lips to his. It was a small kiss and Duncan's body felt stunned by the event. It lasted only a second and the Sorceress drew back.
"Many tales," she repeated. "Many tales that need to be told."
Duncan nodded numbly. "I . . . yes. Three days, at dawn."
She smiled in a way that melted Duncan's heart. He left her then, with a fond 'good journey' and rode south towards Eternos.

*

Randor knocked on the door. There was a brief pause, and then it opened. Captain Marlena Glenn stood beyond the threshold, wearing a modest skirt. The doctors had given her a clean bill of health and she was assigned some quarters. Randor, after hearing this, cleared up his schedule for the afternoon and went to see her.
"King Randor, isn't it?" asked Marlena.
"Yes, my lady. I hope the clothes are comfortable."
"Very, though it feels like a while since I've worn a skirt." She noted the king's somewhat embarrassed look. "Sorry. The nurse told me you wanted to show me around? Take me back to my ship?"
"Yes, of course. Right this way, my lady."
Marlena was charmed by Randor, and found herself liking the way he called her 'my lady' like she was an ambassador or delegate. Of course, in a way, she was sort of an ambassador - as the only one from Earth being on Eternia.
She still doubted throughout the morning and last evening before slept took her. These people - how could they speak English if they were really aliens? They all looked human, at that. What if what she saw out the window was a backdrop or screen or something?
But Marlena kept these doubts to herself as she and Randor walked down a number of long corridors and down a few staircases.
She had noticed some strange things, though - things that didn't make much sense. Most of the men - the ones that looked military with their weapons and armor - all worn belts with furs that went from their hips down to their thighs. It was enough of an oddity for Marlena to speak up about it.
"King Randor," she addressed.
"Yes, my lady?"
"What are these furs that are worn around the waists of the - I'm assuming - soldiers?"
Randor grinned. "During a males coming of age when he is fifteen, the father or male guardian of the boy takes him into the woods. It is there that the son and father spend three days and two nights, discussing things that sons and fathers discuss. During this time, the father and the son live off the land. To eat, they must kill an animal. It is the first kill of the boy's life and to honor both the animal and the boy's coming-of-age, a belt is fashioned.
"It is customary for those involved in military or civil services to wear their belts while on duty. Most others keep their belts in their homes, which is not shameful at all. It is all traditional, dating back to the First Age, when Man began to come together in tribes and kingdoms, and the customers began to emerge. It's more ceremonial than anything, really."
Marlena nodded, liking this bit of history - even if it was just about furry pants. "I see," she replied. "Very interesting."
Soon, they arrived at a large set of doors. Randor pressed a few keys - all of which had strange characters that Marlena had never seen before. Could it be that Eternians and humans speak the same language, but don't have the written language? It seemed so implausible, but it stood out to her as the most obvious fact.
The doors slid open, and Marlena caught her first look at the Star Raider. She gasped at the sight. It was now in two pieces, with huge piles of debris around them both. A huge, wielded, and gaping hole was at the cockpit, apparently where she was dragged out.
To her horror . . . it was irreparable. It was so very obvious. She was stuck on this other world - if it was another world!
"Oh God," she muttered.
Randor considered what she said, finding it an odd statement. He passed on from it and stood and watched Marlena as she ran her thin fingers across the crumbled metal of the hull. It was done and over - the ship had been spent.
"From what we can gather, most of the damage it received occurred during your crash. Not during your travels."
Marlena nodded and continued to inspect the wreckage of her once state-of-the-art vessel. She couldn't dwell on this. There had to be a way to fix it, her mind denied. There had to be. And to find out how, she needed to find out just what kind of world she was on.
Marlena turned to Randor fully. "Can you tell me more about Eternia?" she asked.
"Of course."

She followed him into another room. This one was small, and had a number of tables coming out from the walls and each table had a small keypad on it. They neared the first one and Randor tapped a few keys.
Much to Marlena's shock, a hologram appeared above the table. A faint memory of watching Star Wars with her 8th grade boyfriend came back to her. She smiled at this memory, because he actually refused to make out with her until the movie was over. Realizing, though, that she was in presence of an apparent king - a handsome king, at that - she blushed a little. Randor, luckily, didn't notice.
"This is Eternia," introduced Randor, his hand waving towards the holographic globe.
On one half of the globe, there was a huge continent that was shaped like an hourglass. The top looked mountainous, leading up all the up the north pole. The middle - which was quite small - apparently had a huge forest. The bottom half looked flat, with the exception of areas.
There was looked like a dessert coming from the bottom half the continent and it led thinly across to another continent. At the halfway point in the dessert, there was a black line encircled the entire globe at that longitude line.
The other continent was big, but not as big as the other. Yet, despite that, there was a certain vastness to it. There was more on this continent - three separate mountain ranges, a few barren plains, and forest or two.
"This side is the Light Hemisphere," explained Randor as Marlena soaked in the visual before her. He was pointing at the hourglass half of the black line. "There is where Eternos is located."
A red dot began to blink in the middle of the northeastern quarter of the bottom of the hourglass. "The Light Hemisphere is where most of the forces of good is located. There are exceptions, of course, but most of those that want peace are on this side of Eternia. However . . ."
The other half of the globe turned, facing the other half of Eternia. "This is the Dark Hemisphere. Evil dwells here, in this dark place. There is very little good on this half of the planet, and those that war reside here."
From Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings, Marlena thought with wonder. Hemispheres devoted to good and evil? It was strange - so very strange. But at the same time, there was a certain amount of pure sincerity coming from Randor. And there was so much she couldn't explain.
"King Randor," came the voice of Commander Duncan from the doorway.
Randor turned to his friend and smiled. "Duncan, come on in."
"Lady Marlena," addressed Duncan, but not without the grace that Randor said it with.
Marlena smiled, not sure what to say. Apparently it didn't matter as Duncan spoke right to Randor.
"The Sorceress said that the Horde are not involved," Duncan assured him. "She says we should meet with the Council of Elders."
Randor smiled a little and clasped Duncan on the shoulder. "Excellent. Thank you, Duncan."
Duncan returned his kings smile and then nodded to Marlena. He left the room. Randor gazed at Duncan as he walked out.
"What is it?" asked Marlena, a little curious.
"I've known Duncan for years. There's something about him today that I can't quite figure out. He seems different, like he's distracted." Randor trailed off, then turned back to Marlena. "My apologies, my lady."
"No problem."
"I must speak with you," Randor told her.
"Haven't we already been doing that?"
"Yes, but of matters that I do not like," he returned honestly. "Eternia has had visitors from both the depths of space and other realms since the First Age. It is nothing new to us. But, there is enemy from the stars that has threatened Eternia twice now. They call themselves the Horde."
"That's what that man, Duncan, that's what he mentioned?"
"Yes. The Horde is a vicious enemy, and in the past, used certain subtleties in attempts to conquer this world," Randor went on to explain. "We have reason to fear them and reason to believe they are not done with Eternia. And though I would trust you, and I do, yes - there is no one way to be completely sure that you are not involved with them."
Marlena nodded. "I understand, trust me. If a ship came crashing down on Earth, there would be a lot of mistrust."
Randor blinked in understanding and then continued. "There is a way to make sure, my lady, and that is to take you to the Council of Elders. They are the most powerful beings on Eternia, and can confirm that you do not have Horde allegiances."
"Who was that Sorceress Duncan mentioned?" wondered Marlena.
"A wise woman who fought against the Horde years ago," Randor answered. "This must all be so confusing for you."
"It is," Marlena replied with incredible honesty.
Randor touched her hand. "Well, I hope it becomes easier for you during your stay."
Marlena wondered at that, thinking about this whole situation. Was it just like a vacation? Stay for a few days - weeks, maybe - then leave? But after seeing her ship . . . there was no way leaving was possible. She was here, on this other world and for the first time since her arrival did Marlena actually realize that she may not be leaving.