A/N: She-ra and the Princess of power were made by J. Michael Straczynski and Larry DiTillio, I only take credit for my own added character's and storylines. Similarly, any references will be attributed to their original creators when they pop up.
Recommended story: A New Weird by corantus
An enjoyable one-shot. The tag sums it up rather neatly, 3k of Catra and Adora cuddling. Short but definitely well written that explores them as children in the Horde.
BTW, I also have an A03 account where I'm also publishing, if you prefer reading it there~.
Enjoy!
Chapter 6 ~ Fragile Snowflake II
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Content Warning! Implied depression, BPD, suicidal thoughts and other similar themes (if you squint you eyes). If any of the above is something you are not comfortable with, then you might want to skip this fic.
There's also LGBT, but what are you doing here if that's a surprise?
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Rubbing her eyes one final time, Catra walks through the hallway towards the meticulous sound of Entrapta's constant typing against the keyboard.
"You're hours nearly up." She states, leaning onto one of the nearby pillars, carefully hugging her stomach.
"Almost done!" Entrapta grins, eyes focusing on a dozen different screens as her hair holds a half-written notebook. "I got all the data a few minutes ago! Now I'm trying to re-establish a connection with the robots in the canyon!"
"Oh? How's that going?"
"Progress is... minimal."
Catra raises an eyebrow, eyes darting towards the screen as she tries to differentiate Entrapta's data. "And with minimal you mean negative?" Her lips twitch into a smirk as she points towards the robot count. "I know that number has gone down since I was last here."
"...Progress is the variation of the norm... even if it takes a step backwards!" Catra smirk turns mischievous when Entrapta's face lights up in an embarrassed blush. It's surprisingly endearing, she muses fondly.
"Uh-huh. Sure it is."
Entrapta huffs, crossing her arms as her hair punches her shoulder with a lack of force.
But Catra flinches, letting out a hiss as she uses her good arm to pull her right one closer to her stomach in a protective manner.
"Catra?" Entrapta eyes widened in alarm, hastily scanning her arm with worry.
"It's fine." Catra replies instantly. "You just... startled me." She grimaces, shifting her weight as she leans her back on the wall.
"Are you sure? Your hand seems to be... abnormally veined."
"Entrapta," She sighs tiredly. "It's nothing. Drop it."
Entrapta blinks bewilderedly, slowly dropping her notebook as she turns to look at her expectantly.
"...That... was not what I meant."
"...Are you going to let me check your arm now?" Entrapta continues unphased.
"Fine."
She flinches back when Entrapta puts her hand over it, grimacing as she ignores the sudden burning sensation from the touch.
"I need to cut the sleeve." Entrapta frowns, somehow managing to gently push her down as her hair gently moves her hand.
Tilting her head, Catra slides down the wall, staring at the faintly frowning contraception in curiosity. "What's that?"
"Hmm? Oh, it's designed to cancel out pain. This size should last for around a... oh, maybe a minute? So I won't use it just yet. " Leaning forward, she studies the now sleeveless arm with growing distress. "...Ah. Your arm also seems abnormally veined. I admit to finding myself... concerned."
"Yes, well, I have got violet veins on my arm." Her lips twitch when Entrapta sends her something aching to a glare.
"...It appears to be harmless. No apparent swelling or deformity, thought the similarities to varicose are worrying..." Raising her head, her eyes narrowed worriedly. "And you can move it?"
Just to prove her point, Catra moves her arm without as much as a hitch. Entrapta is quick to lose herself to thought, a frown etching her features as it slowly shifts to bemusement.
"It seems... but only... contact from the artefact... catalyst or symptom... doesn't make sense." Her mumbling stops as her eyes meet her own mismatched pair. "Do you feel any pain now or only at touch?"
"Er... maybe both?" Catra offers awkwardly. "Maybe."
"What?"
"I mean..." Her other hand's claw starts to scratch the line between the flooring blocks, biting her lip as she ponders how to explain this. "I didn't notice it was hurting?" She finally offers tentatively.
"What?"
"Look." Catra sighs, pondering how to explain any of this without having to actually explain. "It's a little bit... When I was younger I just... kind of needed to ignore specific pain, you know? At some point, It just became a habit. Like that one soldier that lost his arm. Eventually, he learnt how to work with only one. It's not that important."
"Er- yes. Yes, it is. You just compared it to losing an arm."
"I- what? No, I didn't-"
"However, while concerning, the veins do seem to be slowly dissipating, which makes me assume your body is fighting against... it..." Entrapta suddenly stills, head snapping towards her in a violent movement.
"What?"
"Have you still got the artefacts?"
Catra blinks, nodding slowly. "Yeah?"
"Give it to me, I rather not take risks with it."
Catra frons bewilderedly. "That's kind of pointless now, don't you think?"
"It is?"
"I mean, it's off right now." She points out slowly.
"...How do you know that?"
"Well, I'm not feeling anything from it for one."
"You're... not feeling anything."
"Yeah, you know, like when my fur is rubbed the wrong way, only that's it's also covered with saltwater." Catra nods, smiling as she takes in Entrapta's gobsmacked expression.
"I... fine. But we are running tests the moment we return back to my lab.
"It's not that-"
"My. Lab. Tests"
"...Fine."
Using the bandage Entrapta gave her, she starts wrapping her arm, wary as to not place too much pressure on any of the disturbing veins that now lay on her.
"I suppose I won't be needing this." Entrapta sighs, returning it to the wall's shelf.
"I'm surprised the Horde had something magical in nature. Usually, everyone's too wary to even touch those things." And that was in far-out regions much like this one. Or maybe Entrapta had brought it? Hordak knew she had enough strange contraception both technological and magical in nature.
"Oh, I doubt it's the Hordes. I mean, this used to be an alliance base."
Catra hums, scanning the room with far more interest. "Oh? How do you know that?"
"Room design. It's similar to the first alliance's outposts, albeit clearly modified by the Horde for increased protection from the climate when it became colder."
Her ears twitch at the growing sound through the halls. Placing one of the bandage's ends in her mouth, she awkwardly starts a knot as the door's open.
"I thought you said we were swapping, Scorpia." She clicks her tongue as the knot doesn't quite hold the bandages in place. Not bothering to look up, she starts untying them while Scorpia makes an affirmative noise.
"Oh, yeah, about that..." Scorpia smiles sheepishly as she turns towards Entrapta. "Could you check her? I think she's okay, but she jumped from one of the boxes and- I- er, didn't quite catch her in time..."
"Of course!" Entrapta interrupts the awkward mumbling. "Oh! I've been wanting to take her samples for months! I'll be done in a few minutes!" The woman grins, running towards the door with a bag in one of her hair-hands. "Ah! Keep an eye on the screen! It's almost finished!" The door closes softly, leaving the two alone with the soft sound of the computers humming.
"So... interesting weather we have." She comments after a moment of silence.
"Scorpia." Catra sighs, testing the knot for the third time. "We're in a winter wasteland, anything but snow would be a surprise.
"Oh. Yes, yes, I know that. It's er- just that, well, it's just us... two." Scorpia stresses the last words. She shifts nervously, eyes not quite meeting her own as she walks around the spread-out machinery. "Er... what happened before-"
Catra tenses, eyes sharpening as they dart towards Scorpia wearily.
"...I'm guessing that wasn't the first time it happened?"
"She's a traitor." Catra hisses. "That's all there is to it."
"Right, right. It's just... er- before she turned, I meant. She didn't seem with it but... you know I won't say anything, right, Wildcat?"
Frowning, Catra studies Scorpia wearily.
"If...?"
"Huh?"
Catra sighs. "You won't say anything if?"
"I won't- huh? Wait, no!" Scorpia waves her pincers clumsily, eyes wide as her expression shifts towards panic. "I won't say anything, really!"
"Right..." Catra feels tired. Rolling her shoulder as she tests her arms movement. The faint blank lack of pain working as an odd counter for the growing irritation. "Look, that isn't how this works-"
"Do you think I'd use it against you?" Scorpia cuts her sentence, eyes focusing on her with an unusual amount of intensity.
"..." She wanted to say yes, that obviously she would. How couldn't she, when everyone in the Horde did the same? It was the reason her squad, most squads at that, fell apart. When suspicion outgrew trust. When everyone could and would do anything to push you down to increase their own chance to survive.
Even Adora had done that. Not quite directly, but never having commented when Shadow Waver did it for her.
But this is Scorpia, and Catra's torn. After all, people only look out for themselves. And one can only afford kindness when they want something in return, even more so in the Horde. She'd know, she wasn't any different. But…
But she also knows Scorpia.
An odd lump grows in her throat, her mouth moving without any sound escaping her lips. She can't meet Scorpia's gaze, head lowering as something strange wells inside her. She doesn't know. She doesn't.
She doesn't know, she doesn't, doesn't, doesn't-
Catra recoils as the computer starts beeping as a completed file finishes innocently on the screen.
"Wildcat? Barely forcing down the stupid urge to cry, Catra blinks repeatedly, vision blurred as her gaze meets Scorpia's. "I-"
"Aha!" Entrapta squeals in delight as she skips towards the computer. "All done! Oh! This is wonderful!" Tilting her head she scans the messy desk. "Now where did I put-"
"I won't tell anyone," Scorpia whispers quietly, pincer placed on her hand in a reassuring manner. "I won't Wildcat, that's a promise."
"Are you both okay?" Entrapta asks, at some point having moved next to them.
"Peachy." Catra masks a smile, instantly standing as she stretches her arms. "I need to check the rest of the rooms." She declares with forced calmness. "Scorpia, bring Adora here. Entrapta, if that's everything then start packing. The sooner we leave, the better."
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"Can we leave?" Scorpia asks hopefully as she places an unconscious Adora on the floor. "Please say we can leave?
"What happened?" Catra frowns, grip on Adora's sword tightening as the lights flicker a second time. "Why did the power just go out?"
"So... turns out that when we were drilling through the ice, we might have unleashed these creatures. Which... are now obsessively trying to destroy us." She offers thoughtfully, staring at the displayed screen with fascination. "Oh! Aren't they adorable!
Catra slowly blinks, staring at the creature displayed on the screen incredulously. Its scales are an obsidian black, a faint, dark violet radiating from under them. Its glowing red eyes are something eerie, almost insect-like. That being said, they aren't quite as terrifying compared to the sharp fangs. Her instincts scream that they needed to. That she'd be torn apart in moments.
And it was outside.
"Right, okay, no. What is that?" Catra twitches, fingers drumming a faint rhythm on the hilt of Adora's sword as something aching to fear grasps her. Beside her, Scorpia lets out a soft whimper.
"Ah... I have no idea." She sounds almost offended at the idea. "They seem to be a reptile-like creature, but I'm noting some distinctions, particularly its lack of parietal eyes. Huh, I wonder... if..."
Entrapta's eyes dart between Catra and behind her, repeating the motion as a gobsmacked expression crosses her features. Frowning at the sudden silence, she turns around to-
She blinks once. And then twice.
Arrow boy holds sparkles tightly, eyes closed and seemingly waiting for death. Bird-brain expression is rather similar, holding them just as tightly if a little protectively. As for sparkles...
Her expression is almost enough to stop Catra's growing migraine. Eyes a reflection of her own 'I'm so done with this' exasperation.
Rubbing her templates, she sends them a slightly irritated look, making a note to just follow her instincts next time even if it requires Entrapta giving her a hurt/pitiful look for not staying for data.
"Why," She takes a deep breath, looking at the ceiling as if waiting for some form of message. "are you princesses incapable of doing anything reasonable. The door is. Right. There."
Something akin to sympathy crosses Sparkle's expression before quickly masking it with a scowl. Tapping her friend's shoulder before she points towards them.
"Looks sparkles. I enjoy our games, truly, I do. But we are a little busy here. So if you could book your visit and come back later that'd be really appreciated."
"I-" Sparkles splutters, shaking her head as she sends Catra a frustrated glare. "Excuse me? You the one causing this! Hand over the disc and we'll be out of your hair."
Catra's lips twitch. "What? Didn't enjoy She-ra v.2?
"You know what? I didn't! Now if you could please destroy the disc so we can get out of here alive-" The building shakes, all eyes darting towards the newly dented wall.
Sparkles waves her hands towards the wall as if making a point.
"Uh-huh. I didn't like that wall any-"
The stiffing silence that had filled the room was interrupted at the building's sudden trembling, parts of the ceiling falling onto the floor as everyone ducked under cover.
"Entrapta?" Catra calls, grimacing as she pulls Adora next to the pillar with her.
"I don't know. They've all disappeared! It shouldn't be-"
Both women still, eyes meeting before their gaze slowly moves downwards. Swallowing thickly, she moves her foot slightly only to still, spine stiffening as the faintest of cracking sounds from underneath... It feels like a blade to her throat.
"Get out! The whole place is about to-!"
The floor fractures, nothing but darkness and ice to greet her from underneath. And for the smallest of instances, she feels everything still, horror overtaking her as what's about to pass truly grips her.
"CATRA!"
Time flows and gravity greets her. And her body falls as the darkness and fear drown her.
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Eyelids flutter open, inhaling sharply as her surroundings move in a blurry movement.
Breathing erratically, panic wells her as, for a moment, her body refuses to respond.
And then she flinches, chest heaving as feeling starts to return to her. Her eyes dart erratically as they travel throughout the dark. Feeling the strain, she can faintly make out the outline of her surroundings.
Resisting the urge to stand, she gently moves her body, slowly moving her shoulders, limbs and then her fingers, her neck, her waist, and finally starts to stand.
Nothing broken, she thinks in relief, rolling her shoulders with a grimace as she scans her surroundings, that's going to bruise, though.
It's a little embarrassing, she thinks, but it takes her a moment to realise she's drenched from head to toe. A small river barely a meter in width and barely reaching her ankle, travelling at a lacklustre speed past her.
Crouching, her fingers slowly trace the floor, tilting her head as she double-checks her surroundings.
Her first realisation is that she is standing on stone, not ice like she'd initially concluded. Her second is that only smooth ice lays above, three or so meters above her head, not a pleasant thought, she concludes, since it means I've been dragged through a cave system.
The final one is more concerning since her touch with the stone brings her a faint amount of warmth.
She moves next to the wall, squinting her eyes as her hands trace the curved wall. It's like a pipe system, she realises, faintly fascinated, seemingly perfectly symmetrical to her eye.
Reptile-like creatures, she ponders, might leave near-perfect circumferent paths.
...Do they emit heat?
Food for thought, but I'd rather feed after leaving. Which brings her short to her next thought.
From the lecture Entrapta had excitedly spurred during their trip, Catra could assume that the snake-like creatures emitted heat to melt their way through the ice. That meant they tunnelled their way under the ice, most likely building their own home -she had yet to figure out whether she'd like to find it- but it also meant they left water, and had dug sufficiently enough under their outpost that the quantity of water had been enough to drag her through this cave system.
So did she follow the flow of the water, or did she go in the opposite direction?
She, like a significant number of their soldiers, was prone to seasickness. Because those nightmare made coffins called ships wouldn't recognise the meaning of balanced even if it slapped them on the face. She felt like throwing up from just the memory. Unfortunately, it also meant she hadn't spent as much time listening to Entrapta as she usually would have.
She wanted to say follow the counterflow. But that would likely mean she would have to fight through those creatures -which was doable- with little mobility for acrobatics -not so doable- and with the possibility of them causing a cave system on top of... her...
She stills as a horrifying thought crossing her mind. If the myths held any factual evidence, then the creatures had inhabited this place for centuries.
So why was there only one path?
It could be that the myths were wrong, and they'd just arrived. Or Sparkles was right, and the crystal/triangle/She-ra off switch had given them new abilities. Or...
Catra swallowed thickly. Or the river froze at a sufficient speed that the recently formed caves took little time to disappear.
"Right." She whispers tiredly, hand reaching for her pocket. "You win Sparkles, congratulations on... your..."
Her hand searches her other pockets for the off-switch.
It's gone.
...
Of course, it's gone! When has she ever had the luxury of luck?
Letting out a heavy breath, she forces herself into calmness.
That complicates the answer. Following the creatures is the sure solution she doesn't know in which direction they would have dug through!
The wrong direction could mean being frozen alive.
Okay, no. Think Catra. The flow of water doesn't mean anything. It would go towards the lower side, which on solid stone means nothing. She can't tell the difference in heat right now, but maybe the difference is noticeable if I start walking towards one side?
Catra sneezes.
Oh, right, her clothes are wet. For a moment, she bites her lip torn between the two ideas.
And then she takes her coat off, grimacing as she feels the horrible wetness of her fur. After a moment, she lets out a soft grown and continues.
Great! She thinks sarcastically. I'm lost in an underground river, there's a limited amount of time before it closes off, deadly serpent-like creatures the size of three tanks and in nothing but my under where.
And I still don't know which direction to...
Wait. Wait, wait, wait.
The water is flowing. But the water was ice, melted ice, and it's now flowing. She turns towards the opposite direction of the current, a smirk adorning her lip. It's melted because they were going through it, which means that this would be the direction less likely to kill me. She starts walking, holding her wet clothes under one arm hoping it dries before she reaches the surface.
Or at least I hope there's a way to the surface. After all, it was snowing heavily, and for all, she knows the only way up was the way that would have killed her.
It all comes down to probability and chance, she decides in resignation, somewhat appalled when she realises she's practically had a mini-Entrapta in her head the past ten minutes.
She bites her lip, her own thoughts dragged to the last seconds in the outpost. They would have survived, wouldn't they?
But she can only guess that the recently melted water below had been what broke her fall. It would explain why her entire side was in agony, like thousands of needles stabbing her in relentless motions. If not...
Scorpia has a fair amount of exoskeleton surrounding her body, and Entrapta's hair is much more robust than one would assume... they... they would have survived the fall, wouldn't they?
...Or maybe they hadn't fallen at all. Guilt swallows her with the knowledge that the creatures were after the artefact, which while the most likely reason the outpost had fallen, could also mean that she was the only one that had fallen...
They're alive, she half concludes, half prays.
She just needs to get out of here, without the water freezing and trapping her, or monsters eating her, or Hordak knows what else could happen.
She thought that was unlikely. The day couldn't get any worse than this.
A sound echoes through the halls, sharp and distorted, and Catra only has a moment to curse before a bright light causes her to hiss as she turns her head from the sudden change.
Of course. Why does she even tempt these things? She swears to Hordak that if she gets eaten here by those stupid snakes she'll-
"Catra?"
...
She'd like the snakes, please.
"Why," Catra half hisses, half whines. "is it always you?"
Adora blinks, half-delirious as she tilts her head incredulous. "What happened to your clothes?" Are the words to pass her her lips before promptly falling, leaving a moderately hysterical Catra to wallow in her own pity.
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Adora's head hurts, not unlike the times she'd gotten drunk.
Not that she got drunk often, and even then she stopped when tipsy. After all, alcohol was mostly distributed when they either repelled an attack or took back their own land. Leaving rather high chances of having to fight when drunk. Something that, surprisingly, didn't increase one's chances of survival
But that summarised a day in the rebellion, where procedures and protocol were a foreign concept, except etiquette and politics were very much not.
For one, she couldn't get away with punching jerks.
For another, she couldn't tell the alliance they were terrible at their job because that'd be rude. And yes, she loved her friends dearly, but... they had no concept of military leadership whatsoever, no idea how to lead an army, and quite literally relied on overwhelming the Horde with magic.
Not that she was claiming they were useless. Far from it, since they had lasted for decades against the Horde, but... urgh, there were times when she really wanted to slam her head against the table. And then there were the times they played make-believe over maps with dolls. As if the tiara wasn't bad enough.
Adora groans. Vaguely remembering that she was supposed to be on an icy island in the middle of nowhere -which explained the cold- to retake an outpost that had belonged to the rebellion -which explained the bruises- a decade ago.
She shivers before tightening her grip on the source of heat. It wasn't cold as it was just... kind of breezy. Blinking, her senses start returning as she's greeted by pitch dark. Huh, why was it so-
"About time you woke up." Her warmth -was she being carried?- huffs irately. Actually, she kind of sounded like-
"Catra?"
"Oh good. You're not brain dead."
"I..." What? Er- okay, she sometimes lost track of things, but how the hell had she lost track of this?
She remembers fighting Catra on the bridge... had they fallen? Urgh, her head hurt. "What happened?"
Catra huffs, shifting her weight slightly as she continues to carry her.
"Actually, where are we?"
"Under ice. Can you keep quiet now? I'm a little bit occupied."
"Er... what? Thinking?"
"Yes. And making sure nothing sneaks up to us."
"...What?"
"You know? Oversized snakes that are going to bury us alive."
"Oh! That!" After a moment of silence, Adora deflates."What snakes?"
"Size of a tank could swallow us whole, brought the entire outpost down? We're in one of their tunnels, and if they catch up to us we're kind of dead, so if you could let me listen..." She trails off, and Adora can practically imagine her long ears twitching as if trying to hear better.
"We both know you can listen and talk."
This time it's Adora's turn to huff when Catra shows no interest in answering, shivering again at the low temperature before she realises-
"Catra, are you naked?" She doesn't squeak, even if the sound is somewhat similar. She doesn't think about it either. She'd rather just... nope. No, nope, definitely not.
Thank the First one's it's cold.
"It's called underwear, genius. And for the record? You're just as dressed as I am."
"Okay..." She'd rather not think on this entire... well, thing. "Why are we naked?"
"Because wet clothes are the fastest way to get hypothermia, and like an idiot, you didn't bring a waterproof coat."
"...She-ra can negate that amount of cold... can you hand me my sword? I can use it for light." And it had clothes.
"Haven't got it."
Adora's faint contentment is crushed by sheer terror. Sudden dread overtaking her as her mouth dries.
"...What?"
"Adora, we're in the middle of an underground river with pathways that get replaced by ice in an hour. For all I know, it's probably somewhere frozen underground with Entrapta's weird artefact which I won't be using again." Catra snaps, movement becoming slightly agitated as she continues walking.
"Wh- no! I need to find-" Adora grimaces, a migraine forming as she suddenly feels dizzy.
"You hit your head, so how about you worry about this after we're out of the ice?"
"No! You don't get it, without the sword I can't-"
"-be She-ra? Yeah, I kind of noticed that." Catra sighs as she tries to hide her exhaustion.
Adora notices, her thoughts halted by the realisation that Catra's still carrying her. "...Are you okay? How long have you been carrying me?"
"Peachy. And... I don't know, about an hour?"
If nothing else, that explains why she's so chatty. Catra always had uniquely noticeable tells. And her sarcasm often made an appearance when she was exhausted. It also got them into trouble, but right now she's just grateful that Catras isn't at her throat. Literally, that is.
But she's not quite sure where that leaves them. It's always been difficult to tell what's going through Catras head. She can tell when something changes or when something bothers hers, or the tiny signs there are to know, but the particular chain of thoughts that go through her head? Not so much.
"Look," Catra interrupts the silence. "Chances are your tiara giving glowstick is still on the surface. If not it's probably just under. Yes?"
"...yeah." She nods, burying her face in Catras nape as she attempts to bury her growing panic. "I can walk by myself." She says, attempting to distract herself as she ignores the throbbing in her head.
"You mean crash yourself."
"I meant not." She murmurs, feeling her head spin as she starts to feel nauseous.
"Adora? You better not fall asleep on me." Catra hisses threateningly. But Adora can hear a faint trace of worry in her voice. "I swear to Hordak if you drool on-"
Adora doesn't make out the last part, consciousness fading as her eyes close fully.
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It's relief that floods her when she finds a large, cave-like structure at the end of one of the icy tunnels. A faint trace of light illuminating it as if indicating its presence for her. As desperate as she is to check on Adora, she also realises that she'd get the two of them killed if she didn't find some refuge first.
The tunnels are almost a natural maze, occasionally meeting every few minutes as she continues walking through them, hoping for some indication of raised ground that would take her towards the surface, or more importantly, to somewhere where it'd be safe to breathe.
There has to be an opening somewhere or they'd both would have died from asphyxiation -assuming those creatures are biological, and not technological as Entrapta had claimed- minutes after falling. Of course, she admitted worriedly, It's entirely possible that the cave gets blocked off by the growing ice if I'm not careful, but-
Adora groans softly, a faint trace of blood still dripping down Catra back as she's still in the land of dreams.
She also still salivates asleep. Catra's eye twitches, gently placing her down on the floor next to one of the cave's walls -and dear Hordak, Catra never thought she'd be so grateful to see a rock made cave- before she quickly scans the area.
It's a fairly large cavern, stalagmites and stalactites decorating it in a rather breathtaking manner made of both segments and ice. And for a moment, she stares completely mesmerised, wondering how the ice can give off a faint amount of light and heat.
Concentrate.
Her pulse is fine, as is her breathing. The bleeding originates from a cut just above her ear, and while she's weary at the amount of blood spilt, she's also fairly certain it's a concussion and not some more severe head injury. Namely one where Catra shouldn't move her.
On another note, she really can't let anyone know that she might still have... sympathies for a traitor. She'd be executed on the spot, and Catra likes her head attached to her neck, thank you very much.
Rubbing her temples -something that seems to be becoming a tic- she leans in one of the large stalactites... stalagmites... whatever, staring at the ceiling half dead with exhaustion.
Urgh. It's not fair. Why does this always have to happen to her? Would it kill Adora to stay out of her business? Honestly, Adora, it's not like anyone uses this place.
Blinking in surprise, her eyes dart towards the pillar behind her, standing tiredly as the fingers trace the deep engravement.
Agnes x LS
It looks old, she thinks idly, staring at the writing as she wonders if the people that wrote it ever made it out. Or maybe they left some sort of clue? Catra doesn't particularly like grasping straws, but she's not picky when her life is on the li-
Her ears twitch, her head snaps towards the entrance as her mismatched eyes meet a lilac coloured pair.
"Sparkles?" She blinks startled. More because she looks about to drop dead than her sudden appearance.
"Anyone else." She mutters in a near winning tone. "Literally, I would have rather met anyone else."
"Well, excuse you, I got here first so that's my sentence."
She opened her mouth to retort, only to still when she finally spots Adora sleeping form laying on the floor.
"She's alive, you welcome, no you don't have to thank me." Catra snarks, happily taking the opening.
"Er- no, otstudita you. Literally, none of this would have happened if you hadn't used the disc-
"-which wouldn't have happened had you minded your own business-"
"-Only because you took this land."
"For the love of-!" Catra lets out an irritated sound. "It's an ice-coated tiny island with nothing but snow and ice! Why does everyone care about it!"
"I do not! I wouldn't have come anywhere near the demonic, scaly, d'yaviga infected island if I had the choice. So how about you play with your slithering fiernz'ya while I take care of Adora?"
"Excuse you? This is my cave, find your own." Catra flips her off before she rubs her entire face, hoping that she's finally cracked and hallucinating.
Of course, she is unfortunately entirely -yes, entirely- sane.
To make things worse, she notes the slightly smaller entrance of the cave, noting the slightly taller ice made ground.
"Welcome to Catra's princess orphanage!" She mutters under her breath. "Because of course, I find the two princesses that aren't mine."
She bites her lip, blocking out her misery as her eyes dart towards sparkles.
I can work with this, she hopes, eyes heavy with exhaustion as they dart between her two unwanted companions. Somehow.
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Sparkles princesses lesson on being educated:
D'yaviga/D'yavigo - Meaning devil friend. From the word дьявол, which sounds like d'yavol, and amiga. Ergo: d'yav + iga. Extra note: Amiga and Amigo mean friend in different pronouns, with amiga being female and amigo being male.
Otstudita/Otstudito - Meaning cursed apostate. Some world-building, but religion used to be a big thing until not that long ago. With the war, worship towards the First ones decreased, but it's still one of the bigger insults. It's from the word отступник, which sounds like otstupnik, and maldita. Ergo: otstu + dita. Extra note: In Spanish, female pronouns tend to finish in an a, and male pronouns with o. I can't think of any exceptions at the top of my head for this, but the probably are some.
Fiernz'ya - Meaning friends in hell. Usually referred to people of great dislike. It's from the word, друзья, which sounds like druz'ya, and infierno, which means hell.
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First and foremost, a huge thank you to Hubris Plus that kindly went through the mess's that I call drafts.
And when I said Whiteout had passed 5k, I meant 7 or 8, not reaching 15. There seems to be a difference between what I plan and what I write. Most noticeably, the fact that the story hijacks what I write.
So sorry if it wasn't up to what you expected, but I did find it important, either foreshadowing, exploring characters or simply to build up the story as it progresses.
On another note; d'yaviga/d'yavigo, otstudita/otstudito & fiernz'ya are all invented words, so don't bother searching them up. And yes, my reaction of not swearing was to invent my own swears. My logic makes sense. Lol, not.
It's a combination of Russian and Spanish. I won't bother you with the essay explanation since it is going to eventually come up, but long story short is that throughout the millennia, languages merged and changed up to the current point we're in now.
But anyway, if you felt I should have written something differently, be it personality and/or displays of different states of mentality, please leave a comment! Any advice is welcome and appreciated!
Anyways, Ill See you next time! Ciao!
~ Sapphire and Emeralds