The two magicats held onto each other tightly, tears of joy flowing from their eyes. Catra just stood there in a rare moment of allowed vulnerability taking in the affection of her mother not willing to let her go. She had a mom, she had a dad, she even had a little sister. She was home. Oh and she was also a princess…. Yeah that was going to have to be addressed at some point but right now all Catra and Cyra needed was to hug each other.
"My Cyra III." The queen smiled, wiping the tears away from her face. "Let us allow your sister her rest and go find your father. He will be as overjoyed as I to have you back." Cyra ushered her kitten down a corridor and guided her through a myriad of hallways until they arrived at the grand entrance of the throne room.
The throne room was easily the grandest room Catra had ever seen. Even Hordak's Sanctum which she had only seen on the rare occasions she as a Force Captain had been granted an audience with him paled in comparison. The stone carved walls were adorned with rubies and inlaid with ornate gold filigree depicting large cats standing vigil over the rubies as though to defend it from something. In the center of the room Leondus sat upon his throne reading over a scroll deep in thought.
"Behold " Cyra snarked in a way eerily similar to Catra's own brand of snarkiness that she had not known the queen possessed. "The fearsome roar of Leondus the Stalwart." Cyra gave a mock bow for the presentation earning a chuckle from Catra. At least I know where I get my killer sense of humor from. Catra thought to herself.
Leondus rolled his eyes and laughed as he put the scroll down. "I suppose the scout reports are a bit redundant considering we talked with the survivors first hand. Now then, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" He asked, smiling at Catra.
"I remember." Those two words were all Catra spoke, for that was all it took for the king to have sped across the room and hold Catra in a strong loving embrace.
"I dreamed of this day for so long." Leondus sobbed. "But never did I imagine that my dreams would become a reality. Come there is so much of our history for you to learn." Leondus hoisted Catra over his shoulder and began walking her towards that hall of the founders with a groaning Cyra shaking her head and followed.
As it turns out History was not Catra's subject. She could pay attention to the history of wars and battles, sure, she was fully invested when Leondus was explaining the fall of Purrrrsia and the sealing of The Malevolent One. But once he started droning on and on about the founders, the tribes, and the importance of respecting them. She had long since tuned out everything he said.
"I'll give you the abridged version later." Cyra whispered. "Just smile and nod to make him think you are listening." The queen winked at her daughter and Catra had to prevent herself from smirking less she let her dad in on the rise.
That was another thing the Magicat had to get used to, she had parents. If she was honest with herself it felt like a dream, but here they were in the people actually cared about her or at least that's what she assumed from all the hugging and crying. She felt warm inside when she looked at them. Leondus continuing his historical bluster and Cyra pretending to listen. She could not explain why but she just felt like this really was where she belonged.
"And that concludes the story of Halfmoon's founding." Leondus stated snapping Catra out of her thoughts.
"Um.. quite informative." Catra grinned trying to pretend like she heard anything the king had said. Her lie looked to work as her father smiled.
"There is so much we need to teach you …" the king lamented. "Where to even begin."
Cyra shook her head patting Leondus on the back."That should be obvious." She said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "We will start by showing Catra and her friends Halfmoon."
Catra yawned loudly interrupting her mother's thoughts. "Can it wait till morning? Learning I'm a freaking princess AND that I have parents AND that my entire childhood was stolen by an evil witch kiiinda exhausted me." She did not dare add that the history lesson doubled said fatigue. Or that she was standing on will power alone at the moment.
"Right…. first sleep, then we will show the girls Halfmoon." Cyra laughed and grabbed Catra by the hand. "Come we will go get your friends and I will show you to your rooms".
Returning to the dining hall Catra noticed Scorpia had already started chatting up the guards and friends m her expression they were having a nice time. Meanwhile Entrapta had apparently been badgering anything that moved with invasive questions.
"Please give the guards a break and follow me to your rooms." Cyra laughed and rounded the girls up.
Cyra led the three to an offshoot of where Catra had found Kaita's room and opened the door to a large chamber with many beds, fountains , vanities and so on. The room was large, larger than anything Catra had in the Fright Zone. It put the force captain chambers to shame.
"I do hope you don't mind the cramped space." Cyra winced. "It's been so long since we had guests, many of our Envoy suits were repurposed so you three will need to share at least until we get your room ready my kitten."
Catra's cheeks flushed red at being called that so nonchalantly in front of her friends. "Um..sure yeah this is great.* She said awkwardly. Catra still was not sure how to process everything that had happened today but she had Scorpia and for as silly and naive as her friend could be Catra knew Scorpia was very emotionally intelligent and a perfect person to help her unpack everything.
Scorpia looked at the room and put her claws to her mouth as she let out a squeal. "Princess slumber party! Oh this is going to be the best! We can stay up braiding each other's hair, telling true stories and sharing our secret crushes!" The Scorpioni rambled on about all the party games the three could play.
"Ooooh I have never been to a slumber party before." Entrapta interrupted. " This will be a fascinating social experiment!"
The girls all entered the room scouting out where each of them would want to sleep. The princess each grabbed a bed and got comfortable in their new room. Catra found a bed with a mountain of pillows on it, she jumped right in and curled up purring in happiness. Entrapta took the bed closest to the air vents for quick access to the tunnels. And Scorpia found the biggest softest and fluffiest bed imaginable and flopped right onto it.
"The first Super Princess Trio slumber party has now begun." Scorpia started giggling.
"The Super what now?" Catra asked, having been blindsided by the name.
"The Super Princess Trio. " Scorpia reiterated. " You know there are three of us, we are all princesses, and I think we are all super Soo Super Princess Trio." Scorpia smiled proud of her naming.
"Oh what a cute name! I approve." Entrapta started already writing down Super Princess Trio into her datapad.
Catra was at a loss. The only reference to sleepovers that she had were the ones she had with Adora, Adora her best friend, Adora the one who left, Adora the one who chose a bunch of strangers over her, Adora the one she Lo-.
With a shake of her head Catra banished those thoughts away and focused on her current predicament. What the hell was she in for stuck in a slumber party with these two
"Okay let's start with the games." Scorpia clapped and grabbed a pillow. "First up is a….. pillow fight!" And with that Scorpia thwacked the pillow and Catra with no warning.
Catra let out a raspy yelp and dodged under the fluffy projectile."Oh is that how you want to play it Scorp? Well then I'll have you know I was the undisputed pillow fight champion in my barracks!" Catra smirked, grabbing a pillow and leaping at the Scorpioni girl.
Catra began a flurry of hits on Scorpia as her prey clawed desperately at a pillow to use as a shield. Catra was really getting into a battle frenzy, her Magicat instincts urging her to keep up the attack until she felt a chill go up her spine as if that same force was also warning her of danger. At the last moment Catra leaped up to see four pillows wrapped in purple prehensile hair sweep at her former location.
"Oh magicats instincts give them a sixth sense to avoid danger." The purplenete remarked retracting the pillows for another strike. "Let us see if multiple attacks can overload it.*
Well shit…. Catra thought as she backed further away from her roommates. Both Scorpia and Entrapta decided to tag team her and began their assault on the lone Magicat. Catra put up a good fight and got a fair number of hits in on the other two princess but in the end there was no winner the three were on the ground out of breath and laughing surrounded by the feather remains of pillows lost to the war.
"That is the most fun I have had in MONTHS!" Catra exclaimed while she tried to catch her breath.
"More than the Princess Prom?" Asked Scorpia who had just managed to get back on her feet."That was a fun party.. until we wrecked it..but until then I was having a lot of fun and the tiny foods were amazing!"
"Oh that was you guys who caused Snows Castle to explode. Entrapta stated in epiphany. "That was a dangerous thing to do, If not for Princess Frosta's ice magic a lot of people would have gotten hurt."
Catra winced. She knew full well what she was doing but at the time she didn't really care. She was a Horde soldier. What did the lives of some princesses mean in her moment of glory? But now, now Catra could remember, she could remember bits and pieces of her life before she was taken. No names stuck out to her but she could see faces of regular people, and she began to wonder how many of these faces were erased when the horde attacked, and more sobering how many could here action and have taken if not for the princesses stopping by her?
"Can we not talk about the Prom…" Catra asked but her tone made it seem like more of a plea.
Catching Catra's discomfort about their past actions Scorpia nodded. "Yeah it's time for the next game anyway."
The three princesses spent the rest of the night telling jokes (although the ex-horde soldiers could only pretend to understand Entrapta's jokes), sharing funny stories, and playing truth or dare. Eventually the girls had passed out on the beds falling into a calming sleep.
The next morning Catra was awakens by a weight being thrusted onto her chest. She was instantly snapped awake and gave out a startled nya before she cod catch herself. Sitting on her chest was the little blonde Magicat from the previous night. Kaita, her little sister.
Right I have a little sister now.. Catra thought to herself. " Um hello?" The confused Magicat said as she glanced around and saw both of her friends had also received the wake up call.
"Mom wanted me to make sure you three were up early for the tour." Kaita explained. Though Catra could tell through the kid's body language something was making her apprehensive. Before Catra could speak the kitten had leaped off of her and scurried down the hall out of sight.
"Well that was strange…" Catra said aloud to herself more than the other two. The door to their room was suddenly opened again this time revealing the king and queen. "I guess it's time for the tour then huh."
In just a few moments the three princesses found themselves flanked by the king and queen as they began the tour of the city. As they exited the castle Catra for the first time truly took in the sight. The kingdom was sprawling with immaculate stonework, the carved districts all seamlessly melding together making one unified whole. Above it all floated a large orange Crystal with 8 lengths protruding out in the 8 compass directions.
"ooooh is that the Runestone? Entrapta asked, as she laid her inquisitive eyes on the rock.
"Ah yes The Catseye Sunstone." Leondus stated with pride. "The Catseye Sunstone not only provides the royal line with our magic but it also both lights and heats our kingdom with the illusion of the surface."
Leondus continued to explain more of Halfmoon's history with the stone to an ecstatic Entrapta but Catra was too focused on the stone to listen. She felt as though the rock was reaching for her wanting to make a connection, and if Catra was honest with herself she felt the same way. Catra was a little relieved when her parents belrook her out of her trance and began to show them Halfmoon in its entirety.
The first stop on the tour was the central square. The streets were lined with store fronts and bustling with Magicat buying, selling, and trading goods. Scorpia was the first to be swayed by the large assortment of baubles, trinkets, and everyday items never seen in the Fright Zone. Next was Entrapta who slipped away and was questioning any pedestrian and shopkeeper she could about the economic trade status of the self isolated kingdom though Catra had stopped listening once it was clear the girls babbling was going over her head. What Catra herself was far more interested in were her parents.
Leondus and Cyra were chatting up the locals as though they were all from the same barracks. Granted Catra knew she didn't have a clue of how the world outside of the Fright Zone but she knew enough that Royals were typically at the same rank as Hordak, yet here they were talking to what she would categorize as junior cadets or senior cadets at best as though it were nothing.
After chatting up the locals and giving the girls enough time to browse the wears, Cyra rounded up the three girls. "Okay onto our next spot." the magicat queen exclaimed, clasping her hands together and leading the three onward.
As the lighting of Halfmoon brightened from a deep orange of dawn to a bright blue of morning. Catra found herself being led to a corner of the city where the stone walkways turned to a soft dirt. she smelt the familiar fragrance of fish as they continued down the path. After a few minutes of walking the group a collection of rivers where magicats were hard at work hauling up nets full of deliciously smelling fish. A little ways away looked to be stalls filled to the brim with the freshest catches being cut up and ready to be served.
"Welcome to the fishery." Cyra began. "Here on these underground rivers and floodplains is where we get most of Halfmoon's fish and grains."
Catra would have liked to tell you she had restraint. She would like to have told you that but reality was not so kind to the girl. The moment Catra had seen the fish she found herself on all fours sprinting to the nets and leaping onto the piscan bounty.
What came next were shouts of surprise and annoyance mixed in with laughter. Catra popped her head out of the fish with a bass caught squarely in her mouth only to see her father laughing at her antics, her mother apologizing to the fishermen,and her friends looking at her as though she was the cutest thing ever. Catra couldn't tell which reaction humiliated her the most.
"I have never seen a grown Magicat give into instincts so fast." Cyra shook her head as she plucked Catra out of the fish by the scruff of her neck rendering the teen immobile. "At this rate I fear what you will do in the military and magic districts…."
"Military District? Is that where the weapons are!?." Catra purred and her eyes dilated and sparkled at the thought of what weaponry lay hidden from her.
"And you are not helping your case." Cyra deadpanned at the overgrown magikitten's excitement.
"Now now dear so long as you keep a good grip on her what harm could she do?" Leondus said comforting his queen. " Besides she needs to know of all the districts of Halfmoon and their people if she is to be the puuurrrrfect princess."
Both mother and daughter groaned loudly at the pun
"Please tell me that isn't normal." Catra groaned, still unable to move in the hold.
*Sadly that was restrained for him.." Cyra sighed
"Oh! purr as in a cat purring!" Scorpia explained and laughed. "Wow that's just...awful."
"Queen Cyra I would also like to see the military district." Entrapta added. "Since arriving here I have been getting powerful readings of first ones tech if you managed to incorporate it into your weaponry I need to see it." The Dryl princess then began to go off on all the possibilities such a union of ancient and modern tech could produce.
"Okay! Okay we will go to the military district next but be on your best behavior!" Cyra relented and began the walk still holding Catra by the scruff earning some looks and snickers from other magicats they passed by.
"So what do you think?* Asked a smiling Cyra. Taking in the expressions of the three. Entrapta was salivating at the mouth ready to tinker with what she could find, Scorpia looked ready to introduce herself to some of the soldiers, and Catra...well she was alertly picking up every bit of information she could use on this place.
The military district was not what Catra was expecting. Compared to what she was used to seeing in the Fright Zone this place was laughable. The barracks looked far too relaxing that she mistook them for a relaxation center, the weapons were rudimentary at best and the most advanced thing looked to be some sort of prototype blaster cannon. Then there was the feel of the place, all of the soldiers were friendly to each other. Catra did a double take at that last part in particular.
In the Fright Zone such blatant companionship with your fellow soldier was looked down upon if not outright quashed by a superior officer. But here, here it seemed normal like you expected to know the person next to you by name. It felt bizarre to look at but felt right.
"I think we have a long way to go before I consider this a real military district…" Catra answered. "The culture is better than I would have imagined but the weaponry, the training it looks like kids stuff. Like the drills those guys are doing over there is something we did as a warm up as kids in the horde just not as big and flashy. I am seriously going to need to revamp this if that is the best you got."
Leondus winced at the tear down of Halfmoons military system by the young girl and gulped knowing what was to happen as he looked to Cyra. Cyra looked more insulted than anything and Leondus knew best then to reason with his mate when she got like this and just hoped it would not end up being too brutal. Cyra put Catra down allowing the princess to move once more. The queen then motioned to a training hall separate from the others that was being guarded by two armored magicats armed with poleaxes.
"Tell ya what cub." Cyra said in a tone Catra was not accustomed with, all the flowery royal speak had vanished leaving someone Catra could very easily see herself being related to. "You and I will spar and if you can beat me I'll admit our army's need touching up and I'll even let you oversee the transition."
By this point most of the soldiers were making their way over to the pointed out training hall to grab seats for what was about to happen.
"And I'm gonna assume there is a catch if I lose?" Catra rebudled. She was still a little sore from The crash but her enhanced healing had revitalized her enough for a simple sparring match. After all, how hard could it be to defeat a queen?
"Well WHEN you lose you will be signed up for training until I deem you properly trained." Cyra answered.
Catra glared and nearly snarled at the insinuation. "Oh you think I'll be an easy win huh? Well then bring it on!"
The two women marched into the training hall to begin the sparring match with the growing entourage of soldiers following them.
"What just happened?" Asked a confused and somewhat worried Scorpia who was racing to the hall with the king and Entrapta.
"Catra insulted the military training…" Leondus sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. "Cyra crafts the training regimes personally, and tests the highest ranking soldiers in combat. Catra just called her work child's play."
"Oh.. that is not good.. how strong is she? Is Wildcat going to be okay?" Scorpia shook Leondus for answers.
Leondus laughed. "She will be fine, we just got our girl back. The only thing that Cyra will bruse of Catra is her ego."
In the training hall the two magicats got into their respective corners and sized each other up. Cyra started to remove her royal cloak revealing that under her royal garb she was very well toned and muscular she was not bulky by any stretch of the imagination but her lean figure was all muscle. The sight was enough to make the young Magicat gawk not expecting a magical queen to have any physical might.
"You may make the first move kitten." Cyra stated as she folded up her cloak not even looking at her daughter.
This riled Catra up even more then she already was and lunged at Cyra starting off with a flurry of quick slashes with her claws. Cyra casually sidestepped and hopped out of the range of Catra's assault deftly avoiding the younger girl's strikes without dropping the folded cloak.
Catra couldn't believe what was happening, growing up she was always the quickest, she was the most nimble and had the best balance. But here she couldn't land a solid hit no not even a graze on the queen. It infuriated her to no end so much so that she started striking more wildly for any attempt to get an attack to connect.
This wild flurry proved to be to Catra's detriment as Cyra had no issue weaving in and out of the attack range and landing a few weak jabs whenever Catra left herself open.
"Let me guess." Cyra smirked as she dodged the punches and kicks with great ease. "You were the fastest cadet in the Horde, no one could beat you in terms of speed mobility and flexibility."
The attacks continued to get more erratic as Catra's frustration was building. "But here's the thing kitten, we magicats are the fastest and most nimble race on Etheria. and if I were to rate your performance right now you are about as slow as and clumsy in your attacks as a kid." Cyra then flipped over Catra and kicked her square in the butt knocking her down and keeping a foot on Catra"s back to keep her pinned.
The crowd cheered at their Queen's victory as Catra grumbled in humiliation at her defeat. "How the heck are you so strong!?" She asked
"Well seeing as I am the final test before any soldiers are allowed to go to active duty or be royal guards and that I am the one who designed the combat and training drills I would say it came with the territory." Cyra answered as she picked Catra up off the ground and dusted her off. "My apologies if I went too rough on you I get a little heated when someone questions my training." The queen scratched the back of her head.
Catra was too embarrassed to know what to say. She had inadvertently mocked her mother's training program for her soldiers and had been publicly humiliated for her troubles. "I didn't mean to disrespect your training." She grumbled tail lashing back and forth and cheeks a bright crimson. "It just looked so basic like really why are adults doing a simple wall climb?"
Cyra sighed "The training may look basic but it is not what you do it's how you do it. If you look closely at that wall you should see what I am talking about."
Catra followed her mother's orders and properly looked at the climbing wall and gasped. On closer inspection She noticed the wall was drenched in some sort of viscous oil, the soldiers weren't climbing at all, they were using their claws to remain latched on at different heights. Catra looked at her own claws and shuddered at the thought of putting them through such a rigorous test of endurance.
"You are correct on the weaponry however." Cyra said giving Catra at least some semblance of victory after that sad excuse of a battle. "If you have any ideas on weapon upgrades I'm sure we can find the time to hear them out."
"Oh have already thought of a bunch of ways to improve the weaponry!" Entrapta shouted as she fiddled with one of the bladed staves.
"You may take that with still have some more districts to show you. " Leondus hurried the princesses along to the next part of the kingdom.
"Now for one of the most wonderous districts we have." Leondus boasted. "Welcome to the Magic District."
Mystical energies covered the buildings as far as the eye could see. Spells of illusion and lights filled the lanes and animated the signs of storefronts. The streets were bustling with magicats old and young alike practicing spells and enchantments.
Where the military district filled Catra with a somewhat pleasant familiarity of her time in the Horde the next district did the opposite. From the exact moment they entered the new area's threshold all of Catra's fur was on end, she was as vigilant as she had ever been looking in all directions for possible threats. She may be a princess now but Catra remained the same in at least one regard; She hated magic.
Scorpia was already mesmerised by the lights and sounds of the aspiring mages just standing there watching them practice. Entrapta was cataloging every spell she had seen cast and was comparing and contrasting the differences in magic application between the magic study of Halfmoon and Mysticore. Catra just sulked her ears as flat as they could go and her tail wrapped around her leg for a slight comfort in her wary state.
"Is something wrong Catra?" Leondus asked as he noticed Catra's body language of apprehension.
"Let's just say magic and I have a long history of pain together and leave it at that." Grumbled Catra in response. "Can we skip this one?"
Leondus and Cyra gave each other somber looks as they tried to parse what the Horde had done to cause such trepidation in their eldest daughter. "No" Leondus broke the silence. "You are a Magicat. Magic is in the name, it is a part of you."
The king waved his hand and performed a spell creating a small glowing orb. The act of spellcasting caused Catra to leap back defensively, all of her fur going on end and to memories of all the times Shadow Weaver had used magic to punish her were brought to the forefront of her mind.
"Keep that thing away from me!" Catra shouted in a panic, her voice drawing curious bystanders over forming a crowd.
"You are safe my dear." The king spoke in a soothing voice in an attempt to quell the girl's fears. "Magic can be dangerous this is true, but it is but a tool of a sorcerer, and like any tool it is the wielder who chooses how that power is to be used."
Leondus then touched the ball of mystical energy. Catra looked at it cautiously waiting for it to spark or explode or something but it did not.
"Here see for yourself." Leondus smiled and gently swatted the ball of light at Catra.
Catra yelped as the orb got closer and closer to her. She attempted to flee but she found herself frozen in both apprehension and awe as the ball drifted closer to ball stopped only a few inches away from Catra, the traumatized Magikitten took a deep breath, closed her eyes and grabbed onto the glowing sphere.
The magic felt strange in Catra's hands. It felt warm, soft, and almost alive in a way. For the first time in her life Catra did not feel the pain she had often associated with all manors of magic. Catra was broken from her trance by the sounds of a giggle, she flicked her ears around to locate the source only to find herself surrounded by the curious subjects of Halfmoon.
"Is that her?" "Wow a Scorpioni too." "Hey isn't that Entrapta?" The raising wave of voices started to wane on Catra. As much as she liked being recognized , Catra did not want all this attention
Thankfully Cyra quickly noticed and had the crowds disperse. "Get going about your business leave these three alone there will be a royal degree later tonight to explain everything." There were noticeable signs and grumbles of disappointment but Catra didn't care, she was just happy not to be crowded and looked back to the flickering ball of light.
"It's a simple light construct." Explained her father. "It's a very basic level magic spell, I could teach you if you would like."
Catra blinked and held in a laugh at the thought. Never in her life did she ever even dream about learning magic. Catra looked at the delicate shining orb just taking in the beautiful glow. If there was more magic like this, magic that didn't hurt her she was interested in learning it. Catra nodded and gave her dad a soft smile before quickly returning to her brooding to save face but it was too late as Scorpia saw the smile and gave Catra one of her powerful hugs.
"Argh Scorpia cut it out!* Catra shouted and flailed in the grip.
"Sorry Wildcat" Scorpia apologized and dropped her. "It is SO rare to see you smile I couldn't resist!"
Catra dusted herself off and turned to the king and queen still holding onto the small orb of light. "I want to learn this.. it was nice…" said Catra trying not to sound too excited or pleading.
"I would be delighted." Leondus stroked a hand gently through Catra's Mane. *We will see if you have the aptitude to be a Claw-some sorceress."
And just like that the moment was over and Catra pushed him away with a groan. Then noticed for the first time someone was missing.
"Hey wait a sec… where's the kitten? Why didn't she come with you guys?' Catra questioned.
"Oh Kaita she decided to stay home." Cyra answered. "I would have imagined this tour would have bored her to tears."
Catra nodded and started to look around the strange district for a non scary magical trinket to entertain herself with. It only took a few minutes to find something and Catra walked away with a small floating orb that changed color.
"We are almost finished onto the next are!" Leondus exclaimed. The girls followed the king to see a sort of industrial zone. All over the place citizens were crafting all master of items armor and weapons.
"Wow it's so busy, what is this place?" Scorpia asked, enthralled by all the different things going on at once.
Cyra smiled. "This is the Crafters sanctum. In here is housed every business that does hands on work in their crafts of creation. No matter how many times I come here I always find some fun new contraption built.
They make it through the sanctum only needing to stop Entrapta 47 times from touching, modifying, and destroying something. Sometimes all three at once.
"And now we saved the most Important district for last to round out our tour.* Leondus revealed once they had all exited the Carter's Sanctum. That surprised Catra after every area they had gone through she could not think of any other notable structures that would stand out to signal importance. It must be hidden by magic or deeper underground. Catra thought to herself.
"And here we are." Leondus announced motioning over an isolated walled up area of buildings.
All of the buildings looked somewhat similar to each other with slight differences. The area looked to be the most strategically defended spot of the entire kingdom. Catra could even since some magic wards that made her fur stand on end.
"I don't see it." Catra said, confused. "What makes this place so important? Why does it have so many protective measures?"
"Catra this district houses the most vital and important thing in all of Halfmoon." Cyra answered the Ex-Force Captain.
"But what IS that?!" Catra grumbled, still unable to see the answer.
"The people." Answered both Cyra and Leondus.
Catra blinked as she took in the answer.
"The most important thing to any kingdom is its people Catra." Leondus continued sounding far more serious than he ever had before. "This is the residential district, the living quarters for all the citizens of Halfmoon as such we made sure it was as protected as possible."
Catra looked closer over the buildings and finally started to see the civilians and more so young children playing without a care in the world. It made here feel sheepish to not have noticed them before having it pointed out. But either way this district had her attention
"Any building can be rebuilt and weapon reforged but no life can be replaced." Cyra said causing Catra to jolt up. The queen simply looked at her daughter giving a small laugh. "Do you see their importance now Catra?"
Catra nodded quietly. Each child she saw was another mirror to her past few in the horde. She could see each of them forced to do drills and fight their squadmates all the while never knowing love. Catra hated the Horde, she despised what it took from her but she was also in a way thankful for it. She understood what the outcome would be if Halfmoon ever fell, she knew what fate would await these kids and it was one Catra would fight fang and claw to prevent.
Catra took one last look over the residential district and made a promise. "I promise.." she spoke steadfastly. "I will never let the Horde ruin another child of Halfmoon, so long as I draw breath I will protect them." Catra felt both a claw and a tendral on her shoulders. She didn't need to look back to know she did not stand alone in her promise.
