Work Text:
BRIGHTMOON:
“Double trouble, have you seen our children?“
“Oh kitten, don’t worry. I’m sure they’re around here somewhere.” Double trouble said to catra with a smirk. Catra sighed audibly. Adora, Bow, Glimmer, Scorpia, Perfuma, And Entrapta had been looking all day for their children.
“If you kidnapped them, I’m going to kill you.”
“I did nothing of the sort, dearie. I’m sure you will find them in no time.” Double trouble said slyly. Of course they knew where the kids were, they gave the kids the map after all. They would be fine.
THE WHISPERING WOODS:
Nova glanced around nervously. The group of kids had been wandering for a good two hours now, and the “treasure map” that Mx. double Trouble gave them had only led them in circles. “Are you sure this is such a good idea, Finn?” She spoke up, so the kid at the front of the group could hear.
“Stop being such a baby, Nova. We’re eight, we can handle anything!” They called behind them, their blond hair a mess with leaves tangled in it. “I’m sure we are getting close, we just made it past the turtle rock landmark.” Nobody wanted to mention the fact that they had passed it four times already, so they pressed on. Nova and Faun, always the careful ones of the group, Gave exasperated glances towards each other. The two were starting to grow tired of the fearless attitude of the other three kids. Mage was showing Finn his new toy bow and arrow as they walked, and Aether was distracted naming every different form of plant life they encountered. Double Trouble had given them the map this morning, while their parents were in an important meeting. They said that it would “Lead them to something truly special” with a theatrical wave of their lanky arm. Faun didn’t want to go, and Nova wanted to wait until their parents were out of the meeting to ask if they could go. But Finn, always the headstrong one, had insisted that they leave immediately.
“Um, guys, does it look like it’s getting dark outside? Because I think it is and we should back.” Faun said, her claws tapping the nearby trees nervously.
“Actually it should only be midday, so it should be getting brighter” Aether said, his short purple hair suddenly appearing in front of her. Jeez, he could move fast when he wanted to. With his skull-like visage half the time Faun thinks he’s a ghost. And with how skinny he was, he might just be one.
The whole Hordak issue had been resolved, after time. It turns out he genuinely wanted to be a better person for Entrapta. After a few long years of community service and jail time, he was released. But most still didn’t trust him. His son, however, was completely different. Most people really liked him, even if he could be scarily intense for an eight year old.
Mage looked over his shoulder and laughed at the trio trailing him and Finn. When standing together, the group looked so funny. Nova and Aether, both fairly small for their age and with short purple hair, however Aether was much skinnier. And Faun towered over them by almost a full foot, and had long and straight shock-white hair. Sure, if Finn and himself were also there it would’ve been even more eclectic, what with his own shoulder length pink hair and Finn’s tail and fur. But it still looked dumb. “What’cha laughing at?” Finn asked
“Yeah, what are you laughing at?” Nova said, with no small amount of challenge in her tone.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Mage said with a chuckle. The group continued on, the argument devolving into childish jabs, which, judging the age group, seemed appropriate...
“Ok, now I actually think it might be getting dark. We should really head back. Like, now. Like, we really need to go back, like, right now because our parents are probably panicking and I don’t wanna get in trouble and we’re gonna be grounded for soooo long and this is really really really really really bad.” Faun said in one breath, panicked. She stopped walking for a moment to catch her breath. It had been an hour or two, and the day was starting to wear on the children. Mage had tripped and scratched his knee, which led to the funny sight of Faun carrying him on her shoulder. One of the kids, however, was not to be deterred.
”Oh, come on, guys. We’re almost there, anyways. We’ll be perfectly fiiiiiine. It’s not getting dark, it’s probably not even dinner time yet. And our parents are fine! My moms would sneak out all the tiiiiiiiiime.” Finn said in an overly whiny voice, ignoring Nova trying to comfort Faun after her freak out.
“Yes, but your parents were also horde members at this age, and up to their late teens. The horde did not have worrying parents that would punish their young for making impulsive and self-destructive decisions.” Aether said matter-of-factly.
“Okay, and? Your dad ran the hoOOOOOOOOAH!” Finn’s sentence devolved into yelling as they tripped on a rock. Stupid outside always ruining my stupid fur... they thought, lying face down in the patch of mud they fell into. However, the rest of the group didn’t find much humor in the incident, as they were staring at what lay beyond the cat-human hybrid. In a small clearing, lay a perfectly intact horde skiff. It was slightly rusty, and covered in moss, but still functional looking. Aether ran towards it, getting THAT look on his face as he immediately pulled a panel off the side and began messing with the wiring inside.
“This is, this is wonderful! And to believe that my father designed these! This is brilliant technology!” Aether begins. He continues on his obsessing over the skiff, as the rest of the group gathers behind him.
“Well, my friends! We have arrived!” Finn shouts grandly, waving their hand to the skiff. “And now, we have our ride home! Walking means nothing when Mx. Double Trouble has bestowed upon us a most glorious gift!” Finn was only partially sure they had used the words right. They had learned them a few weeks ago while watching Double Trouble perform. It was funny. And it seemed to have confused the rest of the group.
“Wait, no. I’m not going to get on that!” Faun shreiked after seeing Finn and Mage climb up onto the skiff, Finn placing their hands on the control stick of the vehicle dramatically. (They only barely reached the stick, and had to awkwardly hold their hands above their head to fully turn it.)
“Don’t worry, we won’t die if we drive slowly.” Aether said blankly. “Yet of course, where would the fun be if we took it slowly?” He said with a wicked grin spreading across his face, and a tone that implied “And if nobody died...” He then climbed onto the skiff after the other two. Faun was visibly panicking.
“Guys, don’t be mean. Driving that could be faster, but if not all of us want to do it then we shouldn’t do it.” Nova said to comfort Faun. “I’m only going if Faun is okay with going.” Her talk appeared to have worked, as Faun was awkwardly trying to climb up. Nova walked over to the skiff, before hopping up herself. She grabbed one of Faun’s claws as best she could with her small hands and whispered comfortingly to her. “It’s gonna be okay, we’ll be fine.” She said quietly, attempting to make her feel better.
“What’cha holding hands and whispering about?” Finn asked bluntly, wiggling their eyebrows and smiling. That got a laugh out of everyone except Nova and Faun, who separated, blushing.
“Ok, joking aside, how are we sure this is safe?” Mage asked, still chuckling. “Sure, your moms did it, but we’re only eight.”
“Yes we’re eight. We can do anything, we’re practically adults!” Finn says, gaining odd looks from his friends. “Plus, I’m pretty sure my moms were idiots back then.” That gained a bit more odd looks, and even some laughs. “Thank goodness my moms didn’t hear that, or else I’d get in lots of trouble“ Finn thought.
“Are you sure we even have enough fuel to get us home in this thing?” Aether asked, although his tone implied that he didn’t care.
“Well, not exactly, but that is a problem for the future best friends squad.” Finn said, grinning like a madman and reaching for the control stick. That got some weird looks.
“We can’t be called that!” Nova and Faun yelled at the same time. Finn and Mage glared at them. “What? I’m just saying that we need a different name. Our parents are the best friends squaaAAAAAAAAAA...” Nova tried to continue, but Finn interrupted by gunning the skiff as fast as possible. Finn was surprisingly good at steering it, and once flown above the tree line they could see brightmoon castle. Which was disappointingly close by.
BRIGHTMOON:
After ages of searching, Swiftwind actually found something. He yelled and pointed it out to Adora and Catra, who were riding on his back. It was surprising, actually. That Catra had agreed to ride on him. And that Catra appeared more worried than Adora. They had been arguing about it for the last few minutes. It was kind of humorous actually. Catra panicking about Finn getting hurt, before looking down and then panicking about how high up they were. Adora trying to comfort her and tell her that everything was goin to be okay, that Finn is resilient and will be fine. “Hey guys! There’s a horde skiff down there!” Swiftwind said after breaking out of his revelry.
“Excuse me, but what?” Catra said exasperated.
“Um, well, I see it now that you point it out, but why is there a Horde skiff. The horde was defeated close to ten years ago, and I thought we salvaged all of their tech!” Adora said, equally confused. Then they heard the yelling coming the skiff. It was unmistakable.
“SLOW DOWN BEFORE WE ALL DIE, FINN!” Came a high pitched female voice, that Adora assumed to come from Faun, Scorpia and Perfuma’s adorable child. Well, at least they new that the most adaptable one of the kids was driving the stupid thing.
“Swiftwind! Fly us down there, NOW!” Catra yelled, panic in her eyes. “I am NOT letting Finn crash that stupid thing and kill everyone’s kids!”
“Okay, okay! Sheesh, someone’s being protective today.” Swiftwind said, gliding down to the skiff. As they reached it and flew up next to it, the kids looked over and their faces fell...
Swiftwind and his riders guided the kids home, and after they disembarked the skiff several worried princesses came running over to them. There was a lot of crying, admonishing, and scolding, but in the end most of the parents were just glad their kids were safe.
“Yeah, I’m grounded for a month now.” Finn said sheepishly as they talked over dinner. All of their parents were staying at the castle that night, because of how late the kids had come back.
“Eesh, me and Nova are grounded for two weeks.” Mage said, patting his friend on the shoulder to try and comfort them.
“How do all of you have so harsh punishments?” Faun asked, almost dumbfounded. This always happened, of course. Finn would get the worst of it, then the twins, then Faun. No one knew if Aether even got in trouble, he always just shrugged when asked about his punishment. “I’m only grounded until my birthday.”
“Wait, isn’t your birthday in two days?” Finn asked, surprised.
“Yes... I hope you can all still come to my party.” Faun replied. They continued talking about it, saying what they might be getting Faun for her birthday as vaguely as possible, and what they would be doing when they were grounded. All in all, it was a fun day....