The cold breeze was not enjoyable when they came to the Northern Reach, but it felt even worse when Scorpia felt it on their return. Inside the Horde's boat given to them for the expedition, she gazed outside the window, seeing a lonely figure standing on the deck.

Ever since they got into the boat, Catra only went into her cabin once for a quick moment and then remained in the open for the rest of their trip. She still had the same clothes - or rags at this point due to all the damage they suffered - she wore since the snow monster's fight. No doubts she must be feeling cold in that outfit, or so Scorpia thought.

In her mind, Scorpia pictured she was walking up to her friend with a blanket in her hands. giving her friend a sense of comfort after everything that happened. But she didn't. Her body seemed frozen in place, just staring at the back of her friend, who gazed into the horizon.

"Scorpia," Entrapta's voice called for her, making the Horde Captain turn her head, "If you are free, mind helping me a little bit?"

Entrapta had her mask on her face as she held a blowtorch and screwdriver on her hair. She was near a round-like object wide enough to reach Scorpia's torso. The object was something new to Scorpia, having no memory of such a thing being with them at all.

"Where did you get that?" She asked pointing at the round object.

"Oh," Entrapta lifted her mask to look at her friend, "This is a tech my robots brought before, you know, everything went South. It is possible this was the only thing there worth getting for Hordak, but since we were having fun there, and the data was amazing, I didn't say anything to end of our little field trip."

Entrapta smiled as she happily told Scorpia about the technology she got. Curious, Scorpia looked with more attention to the object. She could see some lines on it, First One's language if she had to bet, but outside of that and the peculiar design of it, there was nothing else that stood out for Scorpia in that object.

"Ok," she responded with positivity, "How can I help?"

"Great!" Entrapta said, "If you could just hold it for a little bit as I…"

Scorpia went near the object as she listened to her friend's explanation. A part of her was hoping this could take her mind out of the worries she felt for Catra, although even she knew this was too much to ask of herself at that moment.

The snow was thick enough that Glimmer could feel her leg being buried till her knees after each step. It was cold, wet, and heavy, becoming even worse the more she walked away from the Horde's base.

"Ugh… I hate this…" She groaned as she rubbed her arms to warm up.

"Hey, don't be like that," Bow was on her side, trying to act optimistic, "It could be a lot worse."

"It could also be a lot better…" Glimmer glared at her friend, who tried to mask his discomfort with a wry smile. He also knew she was right.

This was a loss, no doubts in their minds. This mission was simple. Observe the Horde activities their scouts spotted and then report back to Bright Moon. Queen's orders, but Glimmer knew better than that. Since they were already there, why not just stop the Horde? A thought she wanted to go back in time to not exist.

On top of that, their friend, Adora, was captured by the Horde while still being infected by the virus that First One's Disk sent. The princess couldn't stop worrying about what would happen from now on. If Glimmer were to fight against that She-Ra, she…

Noticing his friend's sorrow, Bow placed his hand on Glimmer's shoulder, grabbing the girl's attention as she looked at his face. "We will get her back, you know?" He told with such confidence that it seemed to be normal by this point.

Glimmer smiled back at her friend's words. It felt good to feel a little hope in those times, even if it meant that they would be in a riskier situation in the future as they fight for said hope. "You are right. As soon as we come back to Bright Moon, we are getting the princesses and busting Adora out!"

Her speech was mostly to motivate herself and keep those dark, insecure thoughts away from her mind, but a sneeze made her lose all of her concentration. After all, they were still in the middle of a snowstorm.

"But first, we need to get out of this freezing hell!" Glimmer shouted to the skies like she wanted to complain to whoever made this weather. Seeing her actions, Bow couldn't help but laugh as his friend was making a fool out of herself.

"Stop laughing!" She said in protest.

After seeing Bow wouldn't stop his laughter, Glimmer brought both hands to the snow and gather them on her palms, throwing them on Bow's face. When the cold hit him, the boy finally closed his mouth, much to Glimmer's enjoyment.

They both started to gather snow and throw it at each other, just as they did it during the simpler times they spent together as children. It was the only time during this mission they had a genuine smile on their faces.

"Well, well," they soon stopped when they heard a charismatic voice calling them in a tease, "Looks like someone is having fun," Seahawk said as he approached the childhood friends duo.

Bow and Glimmer stopped their actions as their cheeks turned red due to the shame it was to be seen by the other member of this mission, even more since that man was an adult.

Glimmer cleared her throat to recompose herself, "Well… I hope what you made us wait for was worth it. I want to get out of here as fast as possible."

After waking up from their defeat, Bow and Glimmer were devastated and wanted to make haste to Bright Moon as quickly as possible, but Seahawk told them to wait a while and vanished from their sights. Since he was their captain, they were stranded as they waited for him to appear again.

"If my little adventure made my crew happy, then I say this was a success!" Seahawk said with sparkles in his eyes, full of conviction of his actions.

Unfortunately, the ones who heard him did not share his enthusiasm, giving him a serious glare as they felt the cold on their skin. Seahawk could sense the mood was not as joyful as when the two rebels were before he showed up, clearing his throat as he prepared his next words.

"W-Well, good thing this was not what my plan was for," Seahawk brought his hand to his back and pulled something out of his jacket. "Here," he said as the object was exposed to Bow and Glimmer, whose breaths were taken away by the sight of it.

"Is that… the sword?!" Both of them exclaimed as they couldn't believe their eyes.

The Sword of Protection - the First Ones' weapon that allowed Adora to fight as the mythical princess-warrior She-Ra - was with them.

"Aaaaand…" Entrapta was waiting for the blowtorch's flame to die out, "We are done!" She said taking off her mask.

Following her signal, Scorpia leaned the round-shaped object on the wall. It didn't take too much time, and she was confused as to what exactly Entrapta was doing on it, but it left Scorpia strangely tired.

"Phew," Escorpia sighted stretching her muscles, "Good work!"

"Thanks," Entrapta responded with her tools still in her hands, "but I still have so much work to do."

"Oh, if you want, I can help," Escorpia proposed, hoping her friend would say 'yes'.

"Hmm," Entrapta thought for a moment. "No, this is more delicate. Gonna need to write some codes for chips I will craft," she turned her back to Escorpia. "Someone being just there would be a distraction."

Entrapta was returning to her cabin, but she soon stopped as she felt something wrong. Looking back, she saw Scorpia frown as she feared. Words were not her strongest quality, but she did her best to say, "You were a great help now, tho."

Feeling better - and maybe even a little surprised - Scorpia smiled at Entrapta, who returned with the same expression. "Bye!" She waved her hands before closing the door to her cabin. Soon, sounds of drills and flames were heard coming from the door. Scorpia got that as a signal that her friend wouldn't leave her room until they docked back at Fright Zone.

Now, she was back at the starting position: staring through the window, looking at her best friend.

It just was a couple of minutes, maybe even an hour or so, that Scorpia was helping Entrapta, and Catra remained still on her position on the deck. Her fur was pushed back by the wind, giving her an even more wild image than before.

No, that would be a lie that Scorpia knew. That image of Catra moving, dashing between the rebels in a series of attacks, couldn't be overwritten. It was the picture of an animal hunting down its prey, nothing stopping until its fangs shank on them.

However, Scorpia shook that image off her mind. That was still her friend out there, and she must be freezing herself. Picking up the blanket laid on a chair, she headed outside with a newfound motivation.

The weather was not like Scorpia thought it would be. It was worse. The cold wind seemed to be razors slashing her body the more she walked into the deck, but it was not an excuse to stop. As Scorpia got neared, Catra's ears twitched, although she did not turn around to see the person who was approaching.

Scorpia stood just a few steps away from Catra respecting her personal space. She gathered her breath as her body got used to the weather. After some time preparing, she said with her usual positive tone, "How are you doing, wild cat?"

Catra showed no reaction to her companion's call, still looking ahead in a trance-like gaze. Some seconds passed before Scorpia opened her mouth again, "Listen, crazy idea. I found this blanket and thought to myself 'Hey, Catra said she wanted a blanket just like this!' and then, well…" She was trying to not be negative, but the other person was not showing even the slightest interest in giving her any attention. It was hard to maintain a conversation like this.

"Anyway, I will just leave this here in case, you know, need something to warm up or something," Scorpia placed the blanket on the ground, but the wind was too strong for it to be still. After a few failed attempts of getting the blanket to stay in place, she gave up.

Still, Scorpia couldn't leave her friend like that in the open. With her pincers, she placed the blanket with care on Catra's shoulders making her best to not disturb her friend. Seeing the blanket was not slipping away, she smiled to herself. Even if Catra did not want her to, Scorpia felt relief knowing her friend was safe against this heavy weather.

Then she turned around, her duty fulfilled. Scorpia did not want to stay out any longer. The cold was a toll on her body, breathing on her claws and using them to rub her body to warm herself in whatever way she could till she was inside. She was tough, it was something she was proud of, but against a natural enemy, there was no chance of winning.

But Scorpia's steps came to a halt as something was embracing her. A soft fabric was placed on her back, feeling warmer than her sorry attempt to maintain body heat. However, that was not the only sensation she felt. There was another thing right by her side that made her look down.

Her eyes caught sight of a small feline girl on half of the blanket using her hands to fix half blanket on Scorpia's shoulders. The girl seemed satisfied with her actions and locked her blue-and-yellow eyes with Scorpia's. "Thanks," Catra said with a straight face, "I was feeling a bit cold there."

Scorpia stared at her friend with wide-open eyes, maybe her jaw also dropped to the ground by her friend's action. After all, it did leave her stunned for some seconds, even a few minutes wouldn't be a stretch if you told her.

"C'mon, don't make a big deal out of it," Catra smirked and gave a light punch on Scorpia's torso. It was weak, nothing that the princess would even notice in normal circumstances, but that time it seemed to shock her entire body as she realized that moment was real. That Catra said 'thank you' to her.

"W-well, it was the nicest thing to do and… huh… you do seem cold, but not cold as in your personality, more like, huh… so…" Scorpia couldn't think of anything to say, her mind was hazy and was making her speak the first things that appeared. Her embarrassment was also not helping Scorpia to think straight.

"Ha, whatever," Catra snickered seeing Scorpia trying to say something, "Wanna head in?" She pointed to the open door with a head nod, "This weather has better chances to kill us than any rebel."

"Oh," Scorpia reacted with instinct, "Sure."

Hearing her response, Catra started walking as Scorpia took some time to move her feet, still shocked by how her friend was acting. Her eyes were not leaving Catra as if they were searching for something that would explain the current situation.

"By the way," her friend's words make her body jolt, afraid of being caught by her rude stare, "Do you… still have those games? I kinda need something to pass time."

"Y-yeah, they are in my cabin and- What?!" Scorpia was responding normally, but her words stopped once she realized, making a shout leave her mouth: this was everything but normal.

This was Catra, Scorpia had no doubts about it, but it didn't make sense. She knew her friend, the one who got angry easily, never stopped complaining, always nagging about something when things weren't going her way. She didn't want to be rude, Scorpia knew there was good in Catra the more she got to know her, but this was not time that good would come out, she thought.

"Hey, what is the deal?" Catra covered her ears due to Scorpia's shout, but her eyes were brought to the claw that was pressed against her forehead, "What are you doing?"

"Just checking if you are all right," Scorpia said, trying to see if Catra got a fever or any disease while she stood in the cold.

"Knock it off," Catra bashed the claw away, "There is nothing wrong with me. Stop being weird."

Scorpia looked at her claw in disbelief. She expected Catra to slap it with force, but her touch was gentle. It left her more confused than before. Controlling her strength was not something that Catra was good at, Scorpia knew that from experience.

But before Scorpia could ask how her friend was feeling, her breath was taken away by the sight she saw.

"Seriously, there is no need to worry," Catra's voice was gentle, clear amidst the strong, cold wind that passed between them, however, it was her expression, even with bruises and cuts from the previous battle with the rebels and the monster, that made Scorpia's mind blank.

"In fact," a genuine, warm, joyful smile was shinning on Catra's face as her half-closed eyes looked at Scorpia, "Never felt better."

The Dragon's Daughter Five was exactly like its predecessors. A small-sailing ship that was swift enough to travel great distances even with the bad wind current of the cold North. Glimmer leaned over the mast's flagpole with her arms crossed. Her finger was tapping her arm in impatience as she glanced at Bow, "So? Anything yet?" She asked for the fourth time.

"No, and you hurrying me is not helping," The boy was clutch down on the ship's deck as he was examining the sword with a screwdriver and tweezers in his hands. Some sparks were flying from the sword's jewel, turned red from its usual sapphire color, but Bow's eyes were protected by goggles he wore.

Hearing the same answer as the other times, Glimmer groaned in response. She was the commander of this mission, but she was feeling useless since her options were limited now that they were sailing back to Bright Moon. Without anything productive to do, all she had was asking the same questions over again, "Are you sure this was not a trap?" She directed to the captain of the ship.

"Yes, m'dear, like I said it before," Seahawk was at the steering wheel, focused on dodging the small bits of ice on the water, "When I came in the storage and found Adora, I noticed the sword was laid there under some boxes. Luckily, it didn't seem Scorpia had noticed it with all… the complicated stuff she was feeling at the time."

"But, but… It doesn't make sense," Glimmer said, trying to understand the situation, "They caught Adora, but left the sword, the only way they could use She-Ra against the Rebellion. Why even take her prisoner then?"

Too scared to fight against your little hero again?

During their fight, Glimmer did not forget the words that left Catra's mouth when she was driven into a corner. It was obvious the Horde had a plan for She-Ra, but leaving the sword behind contradicted that. Her suspicion grew once she realized that and thought the sword Seahawk gave them was a fluke, however-

"Done," Bow stand up, putting away his tools as he grabbed the sword and his tracker pad, then walked up to Glimmer, who was anxiously waiting for his report.

"And?" She asked, not knowing what answer she wanted to hear.

"The sword is really the Sword of Protection," Bow gave a clear answer, but Glimmer wasn't convinced.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, everything checks out," Bow gave the sword to Glimmer, who held it almost instantly to inspect the weapon herself, "I couldn't find a way to open it, the infected patterns are similar to the Dryl's incident, and my Pad is, when it works, reacting to it. This is really it."

Bow was very earnest with his tests, Glimmer saw him spending hours analyzing the sword using his technology knowledge, something she with her bare eyes could never compare to. She sighed as her body slid down the pole until she sat on the ground.

"It makes even less sense…" If the Horde had Adora and the sword, Glimmer knew what to expect from them and how to plan for it. With the sword in the Rebellion and Adora in the Horde, there were no scenarios that she could think of.

"Maybe they forgot the sword, who knows?" Bow sat down on Glimmer's side, trying to relieve his friend's burdens.

Would Catra really forget the sword, Glimmer thought for a while. Catra was cunning, she knew how to push the right buttons on people to make them suffer. For her to forget the sword, something really big must have happened, and Glimmer was not thinking about the monster.

"Yeah, maybe you are right," With no other answer in sight, Glimmer agreed with Bow and a wry smile appeared on their faces. Strangely, a part of her was happy knowing the sword was real. The thought of not having to fight her missing friend on the battlefield put her mind at ease.

It was then that her face was illuminated by a flashing light that caught her attention. "By the way, is your pad is being weird again," Glimmer pointed at Bow's Tracker Pad that was flickering on his hand.

"Oh no, not again!" Bow was hitting the pad with weak taps, hoping this would work as everything else he did fail to fix his invention ever since the Best Friend Squad adventure in Alwyn messed around with its circuits or broke it somehow.

After some taps, the pad returned to its normal display. Bow sighed in relief thinking it was over, but a notification ping made his eyebrows frown, "Ah, c'mon!"

"What is wrong?" Glimmer asked, sneaking her head to see the pad.

"It should be nothing, but I think it is reacting to the sword twice," Bow said in defeat seeing that there are two white dots away from each other on the pad's screen. His finger was pointing at the farthest dot, "See this? It is saying that the sword is there, but according to the coordinates, the sword should only be here, with us," His finger moved to the other white dot.

"Huh," Glimmer reacted nonchalantly, "Weird."

"Yeah, but like I said," Bow said moving his hand to the top of the pad, "But like I said, it should be nothing." The pad turns off, making the screen go black.

While the ship continued its journey on the cold waters, none of its crew managed to get a sight of the strange occurrence on the land. From the ground, a pile of snow slowly raised. It twisted itself, going left and right like it was searching for something till it found a direction to follow, moving towards it with a steady speed.

As it was dragging itself on the ground, the pile lost some snow - revealing a pair of giant, red eyes before disappearing into the ground.