Post by zimraphel on Oct 10, 2008 20:14:12 GMT -5
Disclaimer: Okay, this is the legal part. This is a crossover, got it? Blackstar and MOTU are not owned by me. Also, do not get up in my face because He-Man is the POV character, or because certain protagonists are not running around in furry underwear spouting crappy one-liners. If you want that version, go write your own fan fic. Yes, people say bad words in this version. People die nasty, horrible deaths. Deal with it. Okay, end of rant. Let the fan ficcage resume.
Screams echoed through her head and came pouring from her throat as she bolted up from the pillows. The night-serpent....and the other....
Panting, the Sorceress doubled over and tried to breathe, to dispel her panic. It wasn't him, she told herself again and again. He's safe in his bed. It wasn't him. He's safe. But there was a night-serpent, or had been. That part of the dream had been real.
An inquisitive knock at the door roused her from her thoughts; she lifted her eyes to find one of the servants timidly peering inside. Was she all right? Did she need anything? She shook her head and said she was fine, knowing it was a lie. The man softly withdrew, leaving her alone with her deception and her fear. She might have been able to smile and quell the trembling in her voice long enough to deceive him, yet her body wouldn't obey her long enough that she might deceive herself. If she hadn't believed in the threat of the night-serpents before, she did now. She had felt one die, she had felt....
She didn't quite understand what she had felt, only that she was afraid now. And you'll be afraid, too. She spoke not to herself, but to one who was miles away and still oblivious to all that was happening. A tear rolled down her cheek. She couldn't wait any longer. She had to send for him. I'm so sorry....
Tense and battle-ready, He-Man stood in the torchlit main hall of Castle Greyskull, Battlecat a silent, solid presence beside him. Outside it was barely dawn; the Sorceress' call had awakened Adam from a deep slumber--and a vague yet pleasant dream about Teela. He should have resented the intrusion, but as he became enmeshed in the Sorceress' unmistakable panic, adrenaline quickly erased the memory of sleep.
The Sorceress was not seated in her usual place, but standing before him, strangely fragile-looking in the white-feathered cloak and falcon headdress that were part of her regalia. He watched her stare at the floor between them, twisting her fingers together, and could only wonder why she hadn't yet spoken.
Finally, he had to ask, "Are you all right?"
"I am fine." But when she looked at him, her eyes were haunted. "Something has happened."
Before he could open his mouth to ask, she squeezed her eyes shut (was it really that bad?) and began to speak.
"Eons ago, before humans ever existed in Eternia, before there was even a Castle Greyskull, the Ancient Ones did battle with a primordial darkness called the na'dante--that is an Ancient word meaning night-serpents. They are a race of beings who devour light and life wherever they find it, yet they are not inherently evil. They do not possess enough intelligence to be able to distinguish between good and evil; when the Ancients tried to communicate with them, they found to their sorrow that they could not. The na'dante exist to feed and their hunger made them a threat to life in all worlds, all dimensions. The Ancients defeated them, yet chose not to erase them from existence; it was not for them to decide which races had the right to live or die. Instead they sealed the na'dante away in a separate dimension where they could do no harm."
He-Man felt he could now guess at the rest of the tale. "They've broken free, haven't they?"
"The dimensional barrier which sealed them away was meant to be one of infinite strength," the Sorceress answered, "yet it has grown weak in places, weak enough that one na'dani has slipped through into a dimension of the living."
At that moment he understood her terror and knew what she was about to call on him to do. "Where is it now?"
"The na'dante have not yet reached Eternia." She stared straight at him, her dark eyes boring into his. "But they will, they will, and when they do, it will be terrible."
"Where are they now, Sorceress?"
"When the barrier was breached it opened into Sagar. A na'dani escaped into that world; it was killed but a few hours ago, but I do not know what damage it may have wrought before its life was ended."
"So then these creatures can be stopped."
"They are not invincible," she told him, "but the only way to stop one is to kill it and that is not as easy a task as it sounds. The na'dani that was killed was done so by a power not unlike yours, yet the hand which wielded that power may not have survived. I-I do not know." As her voice broke, she turned her head away. "I felt something and then there was... a scream."
Battlecat chuffed and shifted slightly in place. He-Man knew how much it hurt Cringer to see his friends in pain; when they wept, he huddled in a corner or under a table, put his paws over his face and whimpered. And it was Cringer, buried somewhere within his warrior counterpart, who now responded to the Sorceress with his soft sounds and slightly swaying body.
Though the situation seemed to require some sort of response, He-Man wasn't sure what to say or do. As Adam, he'd always found himself too awkward to act at such moments. Not even the power of Greyskull could entirely suppress that flaw, or his feelings about it. "What do you need me to do?" he finally managed to ask, and meant it in more than one way.
When her face once again lifted to meet his, he saw her eyes were dry. She hadn't been crying, a thing for which he was profoundly grateful. Relieved. Not because her tears embarrassed him, but because it somehow violated the sanctity of the universe when so great a lady wept.
She took a moment to answer, and when she spoke her voice was distant and chill. "You must go through the Portal to Sagar. There you must find the dimensional rift and seal it."
Moments passed as he absorbed this information, accepting it, planning his route of action. But then something occurred to him. "You said that the dimensional barrier was weak in several places."
"All weaknesses can be repaired through the main breach," she replied. "However, this is something you cannot accomplish alone. Powerful as your sword is, it is not sufficient to mend the weaving of the Ancients. When you step through the Portal, your first task will be to find the sword that killed the na'dani; it is a vessel of power much like yours and you will need its strength. You must find it, and its wielder if you can. If that one is dead, then you must shape the power of both swords to your will. It will be no easy task and I will not be able to help you across so vast a distance."
He-Man forced himself to remain optimistic. "How do I find this person, the one who killed the na'dani?"
"The Portal will deliver you to a place near where the na'dani was slain; I do not know the geography of Sagar well enough to be more precise. I am sorry."
"That's all right. We'll manage."
For the first time that day, the ghost of a smile appeared on the Sorceress' lips. "If alive, the one you seek will likely still be somewhere nearby."
"Does he--she?--have a name?"
"You mean a given name? I cannot say, but I do know that the Ancients had a word for what this person is: Eledhrin. It is an Old High Sagarese word meaning 'Keeper of the Sword'. In ages past, when our two peoples were still allies, the Eledhrin was a man named Ril Emleth Nir. But that was three thousand years ago."
He-Man repeated the word once to himself so he would remember. Already he was beginning to feel the first twinges of impatience--Adam again, who always preferred to be doing rather than listening. But on this occasion, He-Man had to admit to himself that he, too, felt a certain urgency to be on his way, to be acting rather than waiting.
However, before he and Battlecat could leave, the Sorceress informed them that it was autumn, not spring, where they were going. "This much I can tell you," she said. "I felt the chill in the air, and the tang of leaves turning."
In a small room adjacent to the main hall, He-Man found a long-sleeved tunic, leather jerkin and trousers neatly folded on a chair. Working quickly, he changed into the clothes, replacing the scabbard with the Sword of Power when he was finished. Thick leather gloves and a sturdy cloak also lay waiting for him, and a leather pouch containing food, a bedroll and tinder box; he and Battlecat would need them if they couldn't find shelter by nightfall. Stuffing the cloak and gloves into the pouch, he closed it and shouldered it as he returned to the main hall.
"You take forever," grumbled Battlecat.
"Just needed a few supplies, that's all."
Battlecat sniffed at the pouch without much interest. Unlike his human companion, his needs were relatively few.
When they were ready, the Sorceress opened the Portal for them.
The Portal took root in the center of the floor, a sliver of pulsating golden light that lengthened and broadened with each heartbeat; the Sorceress had once explained that the light he saw was the fabric from which the universe had been woven. He could not now peer through that fabric to the other side; the light was opaque, almost too intense for human eyes as it slowly spread outward to enfold him in its warm glow.
As he stepped into the light, all sensation of being slid away from him. No longer could he feel Battlecat's presence beside him, though they had gone in together and he knew from experience that they would emerge together on the other side. By now, he had become accustomed to the momentary separation, and to the idea that in stepping forward he was actually moving instantaneously across vast tracts of the universe.
In stepping forward he also lost sensation of the ground beneath him. His body instinctively braced itself for the sudden long drop which never came; within a heartbeat he was once again firmly planted on solid ground, on the other side of the Portal that even now was receding behind him. Sunspots swam behind his closed eyelids, and he swayed a little as his body tried to decide which way was vertical. He drew a deep breath and waited for the disorientation to pass.
In all, the transition through the Portal had been a relatively smooth one.
Still blinking away sunspots, He-Man opened his eyes to survey his new surroundings. He and Battlecat were now standing in the middle of a lonely, windswept field under a pearl-grey sky. Off to the right, hills climbed the horizon, while perhaps two or three hundred yards straight ahead, the edge of a forest beckoned to them with a kaleidoscope of dazzling autumnal reds, golds and oranges. For a long time He-Man stood, a brisk wind biting at his face and hands, trying to decide which way he and Battlecat were to go.
Screams echoed through her head and came pouring from her throat as she bolted up from the pillows. The night-serpent....and the other....
Panting, the Sorceress doubled over and tried to breathe, to dispel her panic. It wasn't him, she told herself again and again. He's safe in his bed. It wasn't him. He's safe. But there was a night-serpent, or had been. That part of the dream had been real.
An inquisitive knock at the door roused her from her thoughts; she lifted her eyes to find one of the servants timidly peering inside. Was she all right? Did she need anything? She shook her head and said she was fine, knowing it was a lie. The man softly withdrew, leaving her alone with her deception and her fear. She might have been able to smile and quell the trembling in her voice long enough to deceive him, yet her body wouldn't obey her long enough that she might deceive herself. If she hadn't believed in the threat of the night-serpents before, she did now. She had felt one die, she had felt....
She didn't quite understand what she had felt, only that she was afraid now. And you'll be afraid, too. She spoke not to herself, but to one who was miles away and still oblivious to all that was happening. A tear rolled down her cheek. She couldn't wait any longer. She had to send for him. I'm so sorry....
Tense and battle-ready, He-Man stood in the torchlit main hall of Castle Greyskull, Battlecat a silent, solid presence beside him. Outside it was barely dawn; the Sorceress' call had awakened Adam from a deep slumber--and a vague yet pleasant dream about Teela. He should have resented the intrusion, but as he became enmeshed in the Sorceress' unmistakable panic, adrenaline quickly erased the memory of sleep.
The Sorceress was not seated in her usual place, but standing before him, strangely fragile-looking in the white-feathered cloak and falcon headdress that were part of her regalia. He watched her stare at the floor between them, twisting her fingers together, and could only wonder why she hadn't yet spoken.
Finally, he had to ask, "Are you all right?"
"I am fine." But when she looked at him, her eyes were haunted. "Something has happened."
Before he could open his mouth to ask, she squeezed her eyes shut (was it really that bad?) and began to speak.
"Eons ago, before humans ever existed in Eternia, before there was even a Castle Greyskull, the Ancient Ones did battle with a primordial darkness called the na'dante--that is an Ancient word meaning night-serpents. They are a race of beings who devour light and life wherever they find it, yet they are not inherently evil. They do not possess enough intelligence to be able to distinguish between good and evil; when the Ancients tried to communicate with them, they found to their sorrow that they could not. The na'dante exist to feed and their hunger made them a threat to life in all worlds, all dimensions. The Ancients defeated them, yet chose not to erase them from existence; it was not for them to decide which races had the right to live or die. Instead they sealed the na'dante away in a separate dimension where they could do no harm."
He-Man felt he could now guess at the rest of the tale. "They've broken free, haven't they?"
"The dimensional barrier which sealed them away was meant to be one of infinite strength," the Sorceress answered, "yet it has grown weak in places, weak enough that one na'dani has slipped through into a dimension of the living."
At that moment he understood her terror and knew what she was about to call on him to do. "Where is it now?"
"The na'dante have not yet reached Eternia." She stared straight at him, her dark eyes boring into his. "But they will, they will, and when they do, it will be terrible."
"Where are they now, Sorceress?"
"When the barrier was breached it opened into Sagar. A na'dani escaped into that world; it was killed but a few hours ago, but I do not know what damage it may have wrought before its life was ended."
"So then these creatures can be stopped."
"They are not invincible," she told him, "but the only way to stop one is to kill it and that is not as easy a task as it sounds. The na'dani that was killed was done so by a power not unlike yours, yet the hand which wielded that power may not have survived. I-I do not know." As her voice broke, she turned her head away. "I felt something and then there was... a scream."
Battlecat chuffed and shifted slightly in place. He-Man knew how much it hurt Cringer to see his friends in pain; when they wept, he huddled in a corner or under a table, put his paws over his face and whimpered. And it was Cringer, buried somewhere within his warrior counterpart, who now responded to the Sorceress with his soft sounds and slightly swaying body.
Though the situation seemed to require some sort of response, He-Man wasn't sure what to say or do. As Adam, he'd always found himself too awkward to act at such moments. Not even the power of Greyskull could entirely suppress that flaw, or his feelings about it. "What do you need me to do?" he finally managed to ask, and meant it in more than one way.
When her face once again lifted to meet his, he saw her eyes were dry. She hadn't been crying, a thing for which he was profoundly grateful. Relieved. Not because her tears embarrassed him, but because it somehow violated the sanctity of the universe when so great a lady wept.
She took a moment to answer, and when she spoke her voice was distant and chill. "You must go through the Portal to Sagar. There you must find the dimensional rift and seal it."
Moments passed as he absorbed this information, accepting it, planning his route of action. But then something occurred to him. "You said that the dimensional barrier was weak in several places."
"All weaknesses can be repaired through the main breach," she replied. "However, this is something you cannot accomplish alone. Powerful as your sword is, it is not sufficient to mend the weaving of the Ancients. When you step through the Portal, your first task will be to find the sword that killed the na'dani; it is a vessel of power much like yours and you will need its strength. You must find it, and its wielder if you can. If that one is dead, then you must shape the power of both swords to your will. It will be no easy task and I will not be able to help you across so vast a distance."
He-Man forced himself to remain optimistic. "How do I find this person, the one who killed the na'dani?"
"The Portal will deliver you to a place near where the na'dani was slain; I do not know the geography of Sagar well enough to be more precise. I am sorry."
"That's all right. We'll manage."
For the first time that day, the ghost of a smile appeared on the Sorceress' lips. "If alive, the one you seek will likely still be somewhere nearby."
"Does he--she?--have a name?"
"You mean a given name? I cannot say, but I do know that the Ancients had a word for what this person is: Eledhrin. It is an Old High Sagarese word meaning 'Keeper of the Sword'. In ages past, when our two peoples were still allies, the Eledhrin was a man named Ril Emleth Nir. But that was three thousand years ago."
He-Man repeated the word once to himself so he would remember. Already he was beginning to feel the first twinges of impatience--Adam again, who always preferred to be doing rather than listening. But on this occasion, He-Man had to admit to himself that he, too, felt a certain urgency to be on his way, to be acting rather than waiting.
However, before he and Battlecat could leave, the Sorceress informed them that it was autumn, not spring, where they were going. "This much I can tell you," she said. "I felt the chill in the air, and the tang of leaves turning."
In a small room adjacent to the main hall, He-Man found a long-sleeved tunic, leather jerkin and trousers neatly folded on a chair. Working quickly, he changed into the clothes, replacing the scabbard with the Sword of Power when he was finished. Thick leather gloves and a sturdy cloak also lay waiting for him, and a leather pouch containing food, a bedroll and tinder box; he and Battlecat would need them if they couldn't find shelter by nightfall. Stuffing the cloak and gloves into the pouch, he closed it and shouldered it as he returned to the main hall.
"You take forever," grumbled Battlecat.
"Just needed a few supplies, that's all."
Battlecat sniffed at the pouch without much interest. Unlike his human companion, his needs were relatively few.
When they were ready, the Sorceress opened the Portal for them.
The Portal took root in the center of the floor, a sliver of pulsating golden light that lengthened and broadened with each heartbeat; the Sorceress had once explained that the light he saw was the fabric from which the universe had been woven. He could not now peer through that fabric to the other side; the light was opaque, almost too intense for human eyes as it slowly spread outward to enfold him in its warm glow.
As he stepped into the light, all sensation of being slid away from him. No longer could he feel Battlecat's presence beside him, though they had gone in together and he knew from experience that they would emerge together on the other side. By now, he had become accustomed to the momentary separation, and to the idea that in stepping forward he was actually moving instantaneously across vast tracts of the universe.
In stepping forward he also lost sensation of the ground beneath him. His body instinctively braced itself for the sudden long drop which never came; within a heartbeat he was once again firmly planted on solid ground, on the other side of the Portal that even now was receding behind him. Sunspots swam behind his closed eyelids, and he swayed a little as his body tried to decide which way was vertical. He drew a deep breath and waited for the disorientation to pass.
In all, the transition through the Portal had been a relatively smooth one.
Still blinking away sunspots, He-Man opened his eyes to survey his new surroundings. He and Battlecat were now standing in the middle of a lonely, windswept field under a pearl-grey sky. Off to the right, hills climbed the horizon, while perhaps two or three hundred yards straight ahead, the edge of a forest beckoned to them with a kaleidoscope of dazzling autumnal reds, golds and oranges. For a long time He-Man stood, a brisk wind biting at his face and hands, trying to decide which way he and Battlecat were to go.