Chapter 7
The Horde ship was long gone by the time Adora found the crash site, the bright dawn sunlight revealing nothing but a deep furrow that had been ploughed into the Badlands. Adora wasn't surprised - Scorpia had said that she'd only disabled the ship. Presumably once her venom had worn off, Catra or the troopers with her had managed to get it skyworthy again. As Swift Wind circled downwards towards the ground, Adora could see the faint track of the ship's repulsor jets traced across the dusty soil – once it had been airborne it had been turned in a wide semicircle. The ship's trail led straight back towards the Fright Zone… but that didn't mean Catra had been on it.
Sliding off Swift Wind's back as the alicorn landed, Adora circled the crash site slowly, looking for tracks. Scorpia's were plain enough – large, deep prints leading towards the Whispering Woods in a jagged, zig-zagging line. The tracks Adora was looking for would be smaller and lighter… and there was no sign of them. Maybe Catra had gone back to the Fright Zone after all, but it wasn't like her to give up so easily – she must have known that Entrapta was still alive. Maybe she regretted what she'd done? As much as Adora wanted to believe that, she doubted it was true. She was just about to make a second, wider circle around the area when Swift Wind called her.
"Adora? I think I found something." The alicorn was standing by Scorpia's tracks, head down so that he could snuff at them like a hound. "The scent's gone," he explained as Adora came over to join him. "But look at the footprints."
At first, all Adora could see was the clear sole-print of standard-issue Horde boots, right down to the familiar insignia in the heel. This must have been where Scorpia had landed after jumping from the ship. But as Adora looked closer, she realised something was odd – the heel mark was clear, but the toe was blurred, as if that part of the sole had worn away… or someone else had stepped on that part of the print. Someone who carried all their weight on their toes.
Wordlessly following Scorpia's trail, Adora saw that the next print was the same – clear heel, blurred toe. So was the next one, and the next. And then on the fifth print Adora saw claw marks within the toe. Catra had obviously been following Scorpia's trail by stepping in each of her footprints, leaving little trace of her own. Scorpia's prints were spaced too widely for Adora to do the same – Scorpia had a longer stride and had been sprinting at top speed – but it would have been easy for Catra to jump from one footprint to the next.
Rather than follow the erratic path Scorpia had taken, Adora headed straight for the point where the trail reached the Whispering Woods. Swift Wind followed, occasionally shying as they crossed a dark splotch of dried blood. But once at the woods, the trail abruptly ended in dense undergrowth. Frowning, Adora pushed her way through and into the woods proper. Given Scorpia's size and the speed she'd been travelling at, Adora would have expected her to have torn a path through any plants or shrubs in her way. Crouching to look more closely at a bush that would have been directly in front of Scorpia as she entered the woods, Adora started as she saw that it was damaged… but the broken branches were almost totally concealed by a thick cover of new growth. Although large areas of the Whispering Woods were still in ruins where Horde vehicles had smashed their way through frozen trees and torn massive gouges in the soil, the areas that hadn't been as badly affected by the cold were as fertile and active as ever. If Adora wanted to follow the trail any further, she would have to rely on finding footprints – and that was much harder on the forest floor than it was on the bare earth of the Badlands.
Sighing, Adora got back to her feet and looked around herself for any clues to which direction Scorpia had taken. She already knew it would be no good trying to track Catra – who would probably have taken to the trees the moment she got into the forest… though hadn't Scorpia said that she'd broken one of Catra's arms? Despite everything, Adora still felt a sharp twist of concern at the thought. Catra would have a hard time finding someone to set her arm in the Whispering Woods.
"So… what now?" Swift Wind's voice behind her made Adora jump to her feet – she'd forgotten that the alicorn was there.
"I don't know," Adora admitted, half to herself. "If Catra was following Scorpia then obviously she didn't catch up with them before we found her."
"Huh. I thought that we came out here to see if Scorpia's story about running from the ship with Entrapta panned out," Swift Wind commented, scratching behind one ear with a rear hoof. "We're looking for Catra now? In the unlikely event that we find her, what do we do with her?"
"I… don't know," Adora repeated with a sigh. "Ask her for her side of the story I guess."
"Oh, right." Swift Wind's whickering snort told her exactly what he thought of that idea. "I'm sure it was all a big misunderstanding."
Adora glared at him, but the alicorn gazed back at her with the same sceptical look he'd given her back in the Crystal Castle when she'd told him the best thing she could do was stay with Light Hope. "There has to be a reason she stabbed Entrapta," she said eventually. "I know Catra. She wouldn't do something like that, not without a good reason."
"Have you considered that maybe the reason is exactly what Scorpia said it was?" Swift Wind countered. "Hordak ordered Catra to kill Entrapta, so that's what she tried to do. That's the simplest answer after all, and those are usually the right ones."
"Yes, but…" There were several moments of awkward silence as Adora tried to think of a follow-up that made sense. "But I thought…"
"I know you're not a bad person Catra, you don't belong with the Horde!"
Those words seemed to mock Adora now. She had believed them wholeheartedly at the time, and still clung to them even after Catra had hurled her sword into the chasm and left her hanging there. And later, while the antiseptic wash burned as the healers applied it to the deep slashes running down her back, Adora had told herself that what she'd said was still true – Catra was angry with her specifically and her actions stemmed from her feelings of betrayal. That didn't make her evil. But there was no way Adora could justify attempting to murder Entrapta. Not when it appeared that Entrapta had either been Catra's prisoner or ally.
"Hey, it's okay," Swift Wind's voice was gentle as the alicorn stepped forwards to put a wing around her. "I know you and Catra were friends, and that she means a lot to you. But at some point you have to accept that either she's changed, or maybe you didn't know her quite as well as you thought."
"I don't want to leave, what don't you understand about that? I'm not afraid of Shadow Weaver any more, and I'm a better Force Captain than you would have ever been!"
"You always said you didn't care about things like that."
"Well I was lying, obviously!"
Despite the warm feathers around her, the memory still made Adora shiver as she remembered the hate she'd seen in Catra's eyes even through her tears. She'd never known Catra felt that way, so maybe Swift Wind was right. If Catra really was the better Force Captain that she'd claimed to be, then of course she'd have done exactly as Hordak ordered. Especially if she considered Entrapta as no more than a tool to be used then discarded. Maybe Catra had given up on friends after Adora had abandoned her – and could she blame her for that?
"You're right," Adora sighed eventually, leaning against Swift Wind's warm flank. "I just… I just feel like maybe it's-"
"If you finish that sentence with 'my fault', then I will kick you right in the head," the alicorn interrupted, stamping one forehoof for emphasis. "You are not to blame for Catra's terrible decisions. If Hordak had ordered you to murder someone in cold blood, what would you have done?"
There was another pause as Adora considered that, then laughed humourlessly. "I'd probably have defected a lot sooner," she admitted. "I guess Catra was right when she said she made a better Force Captain than I would have been."
"Well, good for her," Swift Wind replied. "Come on, we should head back to check on your friend. And also make sure the queen hasn't chopped Scorpia's head off yet."
"Don't joke about that!" Adora gasped, swinging herself up onto the alicorn's back. The action had gotten a lot easier with practice, and a lot less undignified for both of them. Trotting back out into the Badlands where there was no forest canopy to break through, Swift Wind launched himself back into the sky, turning in a semicircle that mirrored the one the Horde ship had left, and headed back towards Brightmoon.
oOo
Despite the looming threat of imminent execution, Scorpia actually felt a lot better. She'd been allowed to wash before being given fresh clothes, not prisoner fatigues since Brightmoon didn't appear to have those, just a sleeveless tunic and leggings. Then she'd been taken to the dungeons, which were carved out of the mountain beneath the palace itself and actually had windows. Sure, the window was a narrow slit that Scorpia couldn't even fit a claw through, but it still let in light and fresh air. And the cot was actually more comfortable than the cadet bunks back in the Fright Zone, so she'd gotten a good night's sleep. A guard had brought her food the next morning – well after Scorpia's internal alarm had woken her up for morning duties in the Fright Zone that she no longer had to worry about – and that had been better than standard Fright Zone rations too. Fresh bread, tea and a bowl of thick oatmeal with dried fruit. Apparently prisoners in Bright Moon ate better than lower-ranking Horde soldiers.
Then again, from what Scorpia had seen there didn't seem to be that many prisoners to begin with. When she'd been marched down to the cells, all of the ones she'd passed had been open. The cell she'd been locked in was at the very end of the corridor, and once the heavy wooden door had closed behind her the only sounds Scorpia had been able to hear were the ones that drifted in through the window. She was standing by that window now, looking out onto the shallow waters that surrounded the peaks that the castle and city had been built on. Scorpia couldn't quite see the Moonstone from this angle, but she could see its light glimmering on the gentle waves.
Large bodies of water weren't something Scorpia had been familiar with before the Horde. When she'd looked out her window as a child, most of what she'd seen had been glittering sand and wind-faceted stone. That was why she'd loved going to sea so much – there was something strangely peaceful and comforting in the endless undulation of the tides.
Earlier, more out of habit than anything else, Scorpia had looked about herself to analyse how easy it would be to break out of the cell. Obviously the window was out of the question, so she'd checked the door instead. There was a shuttered grille at eye level which she could probably pry apart given time, but like the window her claw couldn't fit through even if the entire grille was removed. And the wood itself was dense and strong – ironwood probably – and gouging at it with the tips of her claws had only scraped it. No, her best bet would be to try and overpower the guards when they opened the door. There was always the possibility of breaking the cot apart to fashion some makeshift weapons, but Scorpia discarded that idea almost immediately – even in chains her claws were better weapons than a couple of lengths of wood. Besides, then she would have to sleep on the floor.
In any case, it wasn't like she was planning to escape anyway. Scorpia had already come to terms with her fate, and to be fair to Queen Angella it wasn't like she was innocent of any of the crimes she'd been accused of. And if Adora got her way, at least Scorpia would know that Entrapta was okay before she was executed. Though that thought did have some troubling implications – what would happen to the princess of Dryl if and when the Rebellion found out that she'd been working for the Horde? Scorpia decided that she'd have to make sure that both Adora and Angella believed that Entrapta had been under duress, and hope that the technician didn't contradict that story herself.
A knock at the door snapped Scorpia from her reverie as she turned to face it, expecting the shutter to snap open to reveal a masked guard. It didn't – instead the knock was repeated, as if the person behind the door was waiting for her to open it. They'd be waiting for some time then.
"Uhhhh… hello?" Scorpia called eventually. "I'd get the door, but the bolts are on your side."
Finally, the shutter over the grille slid open to reveal Adora's face. "Sorry," the former Force Captain apologised. "I didn't want to just open this thing in case that was rude. Like going into someone's bedroom without being invited, that's rude here."
"Well this isn't really a bedroom and I don't think that would apply to prisoners anyway," Scorpia replied. "Or maybe it does, who knows in Brightmoon. Did Entrapta wake up?"
"Not yet, Bow's with her though," Adora told her. "He'll come and get me once she does. The healers said she isn't any worse though."
"Good." There was a long, awkward pause which Scorpia finally broke once she could no longer stand it. "So… is this an interrogation?"
"No, I just…" Adora's words broke off into a deep sigh as she leaned her head against the grille. "I just wanted to talk?" she offered lamely.
Scorpia shrugged, leaning back against the wall. "Weird, but okay then," she replied. Scorpia was going to comment that chatting with prisoners wasn't really something people did in the Fright Zone, but then she remembered she had done exactly that with Entrapta while she was still ostensibly Catra's prisoner. Maybe it wasn't that weird after all.
"Look, I don't want to see you get executed," Adora explained. "It's not right, not after you saved Entrapta. I know you're loyal to the Horde – well, at least you were – but if there's anything you can tell Angella that could help the Rebellion, that could save your life. I know how you feel," Adora added. "Like you're betraying everything you believe in. But after what happened to Entrapta, do you still care?"
"I know how you feel," Catra said, blue and yellow eyes wide in what might have been genuine sincerity as Entrapta's blood dripped slowly from her right hand. "Like there's something cold clawing at your guts. Like you're the biggest piece of shit in Etheria."
"…it's not that simple," Scorpia replied eventually. "I think it's safe to say that I'm not in the Horde any more but I don't know if I can just turn around and help the Rebellion after everything they did."
"I'm pretty sure they weren't responsible for whatever you were told they did," Adora said, her voice gentle. "I grew up hearing about Rebellion atrocities just like you did, and now I know that those stories were either not telling the whole truth, or outright lies." She hesitated for a moment, then met Scorpia's gaze as she went on. "Shadow Weaver told me what happened to your mom at the parley before the first battle of Brightmoon. That the Rebellion attacked the Horde representatives and your mom even though she was just there to mediate. Is that really what happened though? Was it Shadow Weaver who told you that?"
"No," Scorpia's eyes dropped to the floor as she replied, her voice catching. "Shadow Weaver never told me that. My mom did. Shadow Weaver took me to see her after the attack." Her eyes glossy with tears; claw shaking in Scorpia's grip as the child tried not to look at the blackened, necrotic gouge across her mother's lower back where her tail had once been. "So I know that part's true."
"Oh." There was no disguising the disappointment in Adora's voice, but Scorpia couldn't bring herself to resent her for it. It wasn't like Shadow Weaver was known for being truthful after all, and Scorpia knew – from observation anyway – how much the witch had messed with Catra's head. "I'm sorry; I didn't think that was something the Rebellion would do… I guess the Horde had to be right about something, huh?" Adora added with a dull chuckle.
"Hey, it's not like Queen Angella was there." Bizarrely, Scorpia felt the need to comfort her erstwhile comrade.
"So she might not have known?" From the way Adora's eyes brightened, it was clear she was latching on to that slim hope.
"Ehhhhh…" Scorpia hesitated, then moved over to stand on the other side of the door. From her limited line of sight through the grille she couldn't spot any guards, but she dropped her voice to a whisper all the same. "Look, it wasn't just any Rebellion soldiers behind the attack. My mom told me it was King Micah himself. And he was also the one who injured her."
"King Micah?" Adora repeated, blue eyes wide in shock.
"Not so loud!" Scorpia hissed. "If Queen Angella knew I'd told you that, she'd have my head off right now. She's always denied it; she said it was the vilest slander and that it was the Horde who attacked at the parley. But that's not what my mom told me." Seeing the conflict and anguish in Adora's expression, Scorpia wavered for a few moments as she struggled with her own doubts, then spoke again. "I guess it's possible that Angella didn't know about it," she admitted grudgingly. "I mean, she has always denied it so furiously – I don't know if she could fake that kind of outrage? But it still happened. I don't care about betraying the Horde after what happened, but helping the Rebellion still feels like betraying my mom."
"I can understand that," Adora sighed. "But do you think your mom would rather have you alive and helping the Rebellion, or executed?"
"That… is a good question," Scorpia replied. "Do you think Queen Angella would let me write to her?"
"As long as she was sure you weren't trying to send any intel back to the Horde then I think she…" Adora didn't finish the sentence – she was interrupted by the sound of running footsteps.
"Adora!" Bow's voice echoed along the corridor, sending a momentary chill along Scorpia's spine before she realised he sounded happy rather than worried. As Adora stepped back from the cell door, Scorpia pressed her face to the grille to get a better view of the hallway. She caught sight of the archer as he neared her cell, then stopped to get his breath back, leaning on the wall with one arm. "Entrapta's awake – not really with it, but awake."
Adora's expression showed the same relief that Scorpia felt as she looked back towards the cell. "I have to go; I'll come back later to let you know how Entrapta's doing." Without waiting for a response, the blonde girl set off along the corridor at a jog. Bow made a small sound of protest, then pushed himself away from the wall and followed her at a considerably slower pace.
As their footsteps faded to silence, Scorpia realised that Adora had left the shutter over the grille open. Given that it meant she could hear sounds from the hallway more clearly, she didn't really mind.
