Amazonian Awakening

Arrival

All Kara could see as her pod broke through the atmosphere was water, dark stormy water, and rain all around her. Her pod was going to crash into that huge body of water and she had no control at all. She was panicking, screaming at the fast-approaching water, finally, she just gave up and closed her eyes and braced for the impact.

She felt the pod shudder and opened her eyes. The sky was clear and blue and there was a beautiful mass of green where moments before there had been black water. She passed over a small city, dotted with buildings, both large and small, almost all of which were light in color and connected by an intricate design of pathways. The ship's nose rose of its own accord as it got closer to the land and she grabbed her seatbelt, attempting to brace herself for the impact she was certain was coming when suddenly the ship slowed and slid slowly to a stop as if by magic.

Kara pushed the button to open the hatch, standing to look around. She looked back towards the city she had passed over and noticed a large group of people approaching her on odd four-legged mounts. She immediately noticed they were all female, and she assumed the strange-looking items they carried were weapons of some sort. The leader was a tall blonde haired woman wearing an intricate-looking gold headpiece that looked like a crown, or some mark of leadership and set of gold armor. The cut-out across the woman's chest reminded her of the Nightwing legends her father had taught her about on Krypton. At the thought of her father, Kara found herself suddenly shaking, and felt tears running down her cheeks.

The group of women slowed to a halt and the one with the crown dismounted and approached Kara, the young Kryptonian found herself backing away, suddenly frightened. She almost turned to run, when the woman spoke, "Calm down little one, we don't mean to frighten you."

Kara shook her head, unable to believe that she could understand this strange language, Greek, the computer had taught her. She watched the woman approaching her, biting her lower lip to keep herself from crying anymore, and wrapped her arms around herself to hide her shaking. She closed her eyes, "I am Kara Zor-El, daughter of Zor-El and Alura, and I am here to protect my cousin."

The tall woman smiled at her, "You answer in our language but are not from our island?"

"I am from Krypton, a planet far away, a planet now gone." Kara tried to get the last out, but in her mind, she could see her world, falling apart, exploding. "They are all gone, me and Kal, we were the only ones to escape." The tears started to flow again, she tried to wipe them from her eyes, but couldn't. She started to shake, and hug herself tightly again.

Hippolyta, Queen of Amazons stopped approaching the child, she held her arms open, her heartbreaking at the sight of the scared little girl, "Come, Little One."

The calmness of the woman's voice, and hearing the name her Aunt Astra had used for her so many times was enough to convince the frightened girl to give in. She shuffled into the woman's arms and allowed herself to be embraced. The fur on the woman's cape felt so soft and she nuzzled into it, cushioning her head and hiding her tears from the other women. The other Amazon's including Hippolyta's shield-bearer and lover, Myrinna dismounted and surrounded their Queen, each taking a moment to touch the little girl's shoulder and greet her in kind. Kara felt a warmness in her chest, a feeling of belonging and let herself be picked up by the Amazon Queen.

"Are you hungry, Little One? You must be tired from such a long journey?" Hippolyta asked quietly into her ear.

Kara nodded, she had not been held like this since she was 4 or 5 cycles old and had forgotten how it felt to be completely protected by an adult.

"Have you ever ridden a horse?" Hippolyta smiled.

"A horse?" Kara pondered.

Hippolyta took Kara by the hand and led her to the large grey stallion she was riding. "This is Atlas." She made a show of stroking the large horse's mane and neck. Then she pulled an apple out of her saddlebag and placed it in Kara's hand. Then she mimed holding up her hand, palm first and placing it under Atlas's mouth.