CHAPTER XVII: A NEW PURPOSE
When Catra's eyes fluttered open she couldn't actually believe what she was seeing. The barrier, the magical wall that Sparkle's aunt had erected around her had vanished. She slowly outstretched a hand through the air, tentatively at first, as if she was expecting to get shock again. However, nothing happened. She was free! Free to … free to … do what?
As the question came to her mind, Catra began to wonder what could have been off her life from that moment on. Suddenly, her train of thoughts was interrupted by something big, warm and quite heavy shifting beside her. Catra looked over her shoulder and her eyes fell upon Scorpia's sleeping face. She seemed so… content…
Idiot… only Scorpia could do something as stupid as trying and actually succeeding in pushing through a freaking magic wall just to comfort her. Not that would have ever admitted that the Scorpion princess had actually given her any comfort…
But nightmares hadn't come back this time.
"What should I do?" Catra whispered to herself.
"You should run away" a voice inside her head suggested.
And indeed, for an instant Catra thought about leaving everything behind. She knew Prime was too strong for Sparkles, Adora and the others. They would have never been able to defeat him. But Catra wasn't one to run or hide.
"Join him then…"
Catra remembered Double Trouble's words, that the best way to survive was to always choose the winning side. If she gave Horde Prime what he wanted… without resisting him… maybe he would have taken her as one of his soldiers! Maybe even as his right hand and then-
"I'll wipe your mind and make you the perfect soldier…. obedient… loyal. And once I'm done with you, I'll do the same with all of my little brother's subjects. After all, I cannot risk any of them trying to do what you did to him, am I right?"
The feline shook her head violently as the tyrant's words came back to her mind. Lonnie, Kyle, Rogelio, everyone in the Horde… Prime would have made them his new puppets. They would have obeyed his every order, the would have followed him and even died in the name of his endless conquest… devoid of conscience… without a choice.
But Catra?
Catra had a choice…
To run or to fight for who only now she understood were her people…
What else was there to try?
Winning for herself?
She tried to do it, it didn't feel good as she expected it would. The sad thing was, Catra had spent her whole life trying to win for herself, eighteen long years thrown away, hating, pushing everyone away. But it still taught her a valuable lesson…
She wasn't that kind of a person.
Sure, now that she had done what she had done, almost all of Etheria must have thought about her as some kind of heartless monster. It was okay though, Catra knew she deserved it, she came to accept it slowly, but she did.
But now?
Now it was time to turn the page, time for another Catra to steal the spotlight… maybe it wasn't even a completely new person, just one the girl had buried deep down in her quest for something that in that moment, as she took one last look at Scorpia before leaving… she realized wasn't worth anything.
That night… Catra choose to finally fight back.
The feline quietly stood up from her bed, making sure not to wake the scorpion princess. What she was about to do may have costed her her own life, but now it was too late to turn back, and if she actually died? She wasn't going to let anyone she cared for die alongside her.
Catra silently opened her room's door and shut it behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed a guard a mere foot away from her, just outside the chamber, but as a few seconds went by she realized the soldier had fallen asleep. Catra tsked quietly as she began to tip toe down the castle's corridors. If anything like that happened in the Horde while she was still second in command? She would have taken the culprit and…
And…
Catra shook her head, groaning. That wasn't who she truly was… not anymore.
After a few minutes of exploring, she finally managed to find the palace's exit. Good. As she took the first step outside, Catra took a long, deep breath and let the fresh night air fill her lungs. It felt heavenly. First she had been stuck on Horde Prime's ship, then in queen Sparkle's castle. It was the first time in a while she felt so alive and…
Free…
And ready.
A part of her kept screaming at her that what she was about to do was the most stupid thing she had ever even thought about doing, that she should have taken the easy way instead. But Catra quickly silenced that small part of her. She had been picking the easy way for way too long now, and it never truly ended well for her. No… there was truly no turning back now… she was going to do it.
She was going to save the Horde.
She was going to give them a chance to do better…
To be better…
A chance to understand what they truly wanted to do with their lives without having anyone doing their choices for them…
And Catra wasn't going to let anyone stand in her w-
"So, where are we going?"
Catra yelped so loudly that it would have had to be a miracle if none of Bright Moon guards had heard her. She spun around, her claws shining under the moon light, ready to strike. She scoffed in both disbelief and annoyance as her eyes focused on who had managed to sneak up on her. Catra pulled her claws back in and crossed her arms.
"What are you doing here Scorpia?" The feline pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, trying to avoid the scorpion princess' glance…
And her stupid, goofy, determined smile.
"Uh, well, when I woke up and didn't see you, I thought you had slipped outside the room quietly to not wake me up. Oh, by the way, that was very considerate of you so, yeah, thanks wildca-" Scorpia kept rambling on until the cat girl interrupted her.
"Scorpia…" Catra sighed heavily.
"W-what is it?" Scorpia asked, chuckling nervously.
"I didn't wake you up because I didn't want you to follow me."
The two stared at each other silently for a few moments.
"Did… did I do something wrong? I thought… I thought… I mean, when we hugged and stuff that-"
"No! It's not that…" Catra groaned loudly, stupid sentimental Scorpia, "I can't let you come because I don't want you to get hurt."
A warm smile grew on the scorpion princess. However, it only lasted a few moments before a concerned look took its place.
"Then… what you're going to do is… is gonna be dangerous for you?"
Catra hesitated, she didn't have time for this. Horde Prime might have already reached the Fright Zone for what she knew.
"Yes, it will."
"Well, then I have to come with you." Scorpia declared taking a step forward.
"Scorpia… I might come face to face with Prime… I know I don't stand a chance against him but I have to do this. And I have to do this al-"
"Horde Prime?! B-but… that means… wait… Glimmer said Bright Moon's spies have spotted a couple of ships heading towards the Fright Zone… are you going there?" Scorpia asked in a bewildered tone of voice.
Catra shrugged and averted her gaze.
"Why would you do that?"
"Prime will brainwash all of them… there'll be nothing left of who they were before and… gah! I don't even know why I'm doing this…" Catra threw her arms in the air, a light blush on her cheeks.
"Oh… oh, Catra. I think you do." Scorpia said, smiling warmly and putting her pincer on the cat girl's shoulder. "But still, you don't have to do this alone. I know what you're thinking… that… that maybe this is the first good thing you think you're doing in a long time and… it's yours… it really is Catra. But I can't simply let my best friend go there without back up. And I know you care about me but… this is my choice."
"Ugh… why must you be so stubborn?" Catra groaned, however, a slight smile tugged on her lips.
"Hey, you know me, that's one of my best qualities!" Scorpia joked, earning a chuckle from the feline. "Oh! That and the fact that when I left the Fright Zone, I snatched a skiff…"
Ohoho… Scorpia committing a crime against the Horde?
"Well well well, you're not such a goodie two shoes, are you?" Catra grinned mockingly.
The two of them started to walk, leaving the palace's grounds behind them. The Whispering Woods become nearer and nearer until both the princess and the former commander found themselves at its gates. Scorpia took a step forwards and pulled the skiff out from a bush where she had hidden it the first time she came to Bright Moon.
"How did you get here? The forest seems to have re grown after I froze it… didn't you get lost?" Catra asked.
"Oh, I wish I knew… I just… I kept thinking about saving Entrapta and… I just got here. Lucky shot, huh?" Scorpia snickered as she readied the skiff.
"I… guess…" Catra wasn't completely satisfied with the explanation, but there wasn't time to think about it.
It was time to go.
And if someone hadn't called her name just before she jumped on the skiff alongside Scorpia, she would have disappeared into the woods that instant.
"Catra!"
Hi guys! So here ends chapter seventeen, with a big cliffhanger obviously. But don't worry! In two days the continuation will be published! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, the story so far, thank you for all your appreciation and have a good day! Bye!
