First off I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who read/faved/commented on my previous She-Ra story 'Eyes of a Stranger'. I was really proud of it myself so I'm glad that many of you felt the same way.
Anyway, since my previous She-Ra story was really dark and angsty I decided to make this one more light-hearted and this particular idea was one that just kept tumbling around in my head until I knew for a fact that I had to write to down. So here we are!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I in no way own She-Ra or any of the Princesses of Power
If You Give a Cat a Mouse
Sparks flew as Catra's claws collided with Adora's sword.
Although the sword remained undamaged, it was evidently clear to Adora that Catra was no light hitter.
It was also clear to Adora that this was not how she thought her day was going to go.
Adora, in the guise of She Ra, had previously ventured into the decaying remains of the Whispering Woods. It had been two months since the Horde's attempted conquest over Bright Moon and the reunification of the Princess Alliance. The past 60 days had been spent on a plethora of activities that included celebrating their victory, repairing the physical damage caused to kingdom and surveying the damage done to the Whispering Woods. Over the past few weeks however, several Bright Moon guards had reported seeing another ancient temple deep within the woods. Though nothing could be proven conclusively, the possibility of finding more First One's technology, and uncovering more about the First One's, persuaded Queen Angella to investigate further.
Initially, Adora had only planned to survey the area before assembling backup. But before she knew it, her sword started to pull her forward, as if it suddenly sensed the temple's essence. Just as she was wondering when this one player version of 'follow the leader' would continue, Adora felt her sword go completely still in her hands. She turned and found herself facing a giant bush that had somehow avoided being destroyed by the Horde. As Adora peeked through the shrubbery, she saw a tall, blue temple only ten feet away from her location. Several vines had circled around the structure, the surrounding nature trying desperately to reclaim it as one of its own.
It was near identical to the one where Adora had met Light Hope for the first time and where Catra had transitioned fully to the dark-side.
Shaking the unpleasant memories from her mind, Adora began to walk towards the entrance. But she had only taken a few steps when she heard a familiar voice say some very familiar words.
"Hey Adora."
And before you could even say 'For the Honor of GreySkull' she and Catra became entangled in an all out brawl just outside the temple's entrance. Although Adora possessed the almighty strength and power of the legendary She-Ra, Catra's speed and agility made her a highly potent foe. Catra initially tried using her claws against the Amazon warrior, but quickly found this tactic to be ineffective. She pulled out a battle staff from her belt and pressed the small button, causing the small contraption to extend exponentially.
After attacking and dodging each other's attacks, Adora's sword and Catra's battle staff struck each other at the same time. Their faces were now only a few inches from one another.
"It doesn't have to be like this Catra," Adora begged, the desperation slowly filling her eyes. "We can work together to bring peace to Etheria. The Catra I knew would've jumped at the opportunity to make that happen."
"The Catra you knew is dead Adora!" Catra snarled. "She died the day you put on that stupid costume and decided that I wasn't good enough anymore!"
Catra's words tore a hole in Adora's heart and nearly caused a tear to roll down her cheek.
"No she's not. Deep down I know you're still the true, loyal friend I've always known. This isn't the way you want it to be and you know it!"
"Oh what you're my psychiatrist now?"
"I'm your best friend Catra."
"NOT ANYMORE!"
With lightening speed, Catra jumped back and kicked her feet squarely into Adora's chest. Caught completely off guard, Adora flew back into an adjacent tree and collapsed to the ground in a heap. Adora crawled onto all fours and took several staggering breaths, desperately trying to reclaim the air into her lungs.
The sound of footsteps coming towards her made the blonde's head snap upwards. Catra stood over her with pure, unfiltered anger polluting her eyes.
"Now shut up and fight."
Adora's face fell when she noticed her sword had fallen where she couldn't reach it, at least without Catra landing a hit on her.
But just before she could open her mouth to plead once more with her childhood friend, a sudden squeaking noise filled the air. The sound came closer and closer towards the pair until it finally broke out of the bushes.
A small, grey mouse ran into the clearing before it stopped to nibble on the lush, green grass.
Instinctively, Catra's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates and her mouth peeled back to reveal her razor, sharp fangs. Her ancestral urges caused her heart to beat faster and faster with each passing second. But just as she was about to chase after the small rodent, the intellectual side of her brain kicked into overdrive and convinced her that she should deal with the Princess of Power while she had a golden opportunity to do so.
But when she turned back to face Adora, the blonde was grinning ear to ear and a mischievous twinkle appeared in her eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Catra asked, trying desperately to maintain an intimidating expression.
"Oh nothing," Adora replied, her grin still prevalent. "I'm just amazed at how controlled you are around that mouse. I mean…the Catra I knew would be running after it like there was no tomorrow."
"Sh-shut up," Catra stuttered. "That was one time. ONE TIME!"
Adora shrugged. "Oh I know but I'll never forget how you described it to me afterwards. How'd it go again? Oh yes…I felt my legs and arms moving faster than I thought possible. I don't know what came over me but I just felt like I had to catch that mouse before it escaped. I never felt so alive!"
Catra's hands began to tremble as she glanced back towards the rodent. Much to her surprise, it was still in the exact same spot as before. The animal was staring up at her, unsure if the cat humanoid was a real threat or not.
Catra felt like she was nearly going to have a heart attack based on how hard her heart was beating. She kept glancing back between Adora and the mouse as her brain battled her business over her pleasure.
"No! I can't do it!" Catra thought. "Adora's literally right where I want her, I'm probably never gonna get another chance like this!"
Catra took one last look at the grey mouse.
"I don't need it"
"I don't need it"
"I don't need it"
Deciding that there was nothing else worth any value, the mouse started to scurry out of the clearing.
"I NEED IT!"
Catra jumped onto all fours and began running after the small, grey creature. The mouse made a loud squeak as it tried in vain to escape the murderous predator. After giving chase for a few seconds, the furry rodent made a sharp right turn and dashed into the Whispering Woods.
When Catra made her way to where she thought the mouse was, she soon found that it had completely vanished. Whereas most people would be unable to locate an animal like that again, Catra's enhanced senses, including those of hearing and smelling, made her able to pinpoint exactly where her prey was hiding. Turning almost a complete 180 degrees, Catra slowly crawled over to several long blades of grass. Using her claws to push several blades to one side, Catra smiled wider than she thought possible when she saw her quarry nibbling on several berries. Up till now, the small animal hadn't noticed Catra's presence. But when it turned its head in the opposite direction, the animal's eyes shot wide open and squeaked so loud that Catra almost had to cover her ears.
The prey and predator leapt out of the grass at an almost unnatural rate. The mouse squeaked rapidly as it tried to run straight into a jagged hole within a damaged tree. But Catra had already foreseen her target's path and with one swift motion leapt into the air with all of her might.
Like on ancestral auto-pilot, Catra landed on the ground on all fours, used her claws to catch the rodent's tail and flip it into the air before catching it in her mouth. Although it squirmed in vain, Catra sunk her fangs deeper into the animal's body, and shook her head rapidly from one side to another until the animal's movements ceased.
Feeling like she was on cloud nine, Catra, with the animal still in her mouth, fell back onto the grass and began rolling around in pure bliss. She could've stayed in this state for hours before a sudden voice entered her ears.
"Uh…Commander?"
Snapping her head rapidly to the left, Catra saw a dozen Horde soldiers standing only a few feet away. Although their faces were covered by helmets, Catra could tell by their body language, and how their weapons were in a state somewhere between raised and lowered, that they were utterly unsure of how to take this situation.
As Catra's high began to wear off, she suddenly remembered everything that happened previously. Glancing back to the tree, that she had kicked Adora into, Catra saw the blonde warrior and her sword were nowhere in sight.
Realizing that she was still carrying a dead animal in her mouth, Catra immediately jumped to her feet and spat out the carcass before going into full commander mode.
"Search the temple top to bottom! I think She-Ra's in there for the same reasons we are! Find anything of note and bring it to me!"
Catra's squad remained in place, as if they were expecting an explanation of why their commander was hunting small animals instead of leading the troops.
"NOW!"
Several soldiers immediately descended into the temple, not wanting to evoke more of Catra's infamous rage.
As Catra stepped back, she soon ran into her familiar squad members, Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio. They all wore differing poker faces, desperately trying not to let a smile, laugh or even a giggle escape them.
Catra narrowed her eyes, extended her index claw to its fullest length and pointed it at the trio.
"If you ever mention this again I will scratch your eyes out in your sleep."
The trio simply nodded, knowing that Catra was more than capable of performing such a task with such sharp claws and a short fuse.
After about 20 minutes, the rest of the Horde soldiers came back out of the temple. Aside from several metal spiders, the temple seemed devoid of anything of interest, except for a small piece of paper that had been found in what appeared to be the main chamber.
Catra ripped the note out of the soldier's hand and quietly read it.
"Hey Catra, thanks for letting me go this time. I definitely didn't want to hurt you back there so I'm glad that mouse allowed me time to grab the entire tech stock in here. Also I think I hear the horde coming this way but I think you can find that out for yourself. Hope you don't mind if I bring this up again in battle again. It just makes my day every time. :)"
Catra shredded the note with her claws and glared at her squadron. Realizing they had blown their chances of acquiring more First One's technology, Catra ordered everyone to return to the Horde Base immediately. But just as she was about to follow suit, Catra's foot kicked over the dead mouse carcass. She was simply going to ignore it before an idea popped into her head that made her smile evilly.
XXXXXXX
After returning the tech to Queen Angella, Adora had retired to her room to get some much needed shut-eye. She woke up in the usual way: rolling out of bed, doing a few light stretches and getting dressed.
Usually, her boots would be the last thing Adora would put on before heading out for breakfast. But when she slipt her foot into her right boot, she felt an odd, squishy sensation instead of the familiar sole her foot was accustomed to.
Puzzled, Adora slipt her foot out, turned her boot upside down and gave it a little shake. A small, grey and bloodied mouse plopped onto the floor. Adora screamed and jumped back in pure shock. She stayed on her bed, taking several shallow breaths, for what felt like an hour before she slowly peered her head over the bed. Upon closer inspection, Adora could've sworn that it was the same mouse she had seen yesterday. Realizing that her left boot was still standing, Adora tentatively reached out and picked it up before giving it a light shake. Something distinctively different could be heard jiggling around. With much hesitation, Adora slowly turned her boot over and shook the obstruction out.
But thankfully, instead of another dead mouse, a small wadded up ball of paper dropped out. Adora raised an eyebrow, picked up the wad, unscrambled it and read the message.
Hey Adora don't you remember?
If you give a Cat a Mouse, she tends to bring it back.
;p
XXXXXXX
Well hope you all enjoyed my story! Maybe got a chuckle, a laugh or even just a smile to make your day better.
Thanks again for the views!
Peace!