A/N: Hooftah, lordy lordy! This one was LOOOOONG and FUUUUUUUN to write!... well minus when it started eating into my work time and everything but you get the point XP. Anyway, not much to say here. There are some bits more rushed than others (least feels like it to me), especially during the later half (again just feels like it to me), but this is the result of my trying to shorten down and push in 6 minutes of the series into just 8k or so words for a chapter.
Clearly, I failed XP. And this was me trying to write a little less compared to usual so add that in to any scenes that aren't as detailed as they used to be.
For those wondering why i write so descriptively, look back to my danganronpa days. When you're writing a visual novel, you NEED to write more for the scenes when you're writing about a bunch of people standing around in one spot for several chapters...
Anyway, enjoy!
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"You want us to what?"
"You heard us, rats!" The behemoth of a man bellowed as he continued to talk.
This day was the first time Glimmer, Catra, and Bow found their day go from bad to worse to confusing, in that order.
The Bad: Bringing Catra to a village that worshipped her like a goddess. The minute the praises and compliments came from these people, Catra began doing anything and everything to gain as much praise and compliments as possible from these people. This was one of the best days of her life and the most welcoming towns she ever came across! Too bad that only lasted as long as her She-Ra form did because almost immediately she found herself hounded and practically hated by everyone that came across her. It's like they were completely unaware that Catra and She-Ra were one and the same!
The Worse: What followed after. Having been fed up by Catra's arrogance and attitude up to this point, Glimmer decided to try her hand at being the snobbish one for once and give Catra a taste of her own medicine. How did it go? Oh, about as well as she could expect it to be. And by that she means heartbreaking.
What she wanted to be a good bit of payback as well as a life lesson for Catra's ego ended up being a heart-wrenching realization on Glimmer's end of things. Catra wasn't being arrogant as she thought. She liked the praise, she wanted the attention, but for an entirely different reason. She thought the amount of attention and praise she was getting was a sign of compassion, a feeling she was never used to before in her life among the Horde. She was so enamored by the compassion she felt that she didn't want the feeling to go away, making it saddening for the both of them when the truth was finally known.
And finally, the Confusing: At present, visible by our two-and-a-half heroes from behind one of the many trees of Plumeria, there was what appeared to be a negotiation at hand. Nothing could explain why such a momentous event was occurring, nor why the Horde suddenly decided to negotiate in the first place. The Horde, up till now, has been attacking and decimating anything and everything they come across, whether people, the land itself, or anyone who disagrees with them. Now, they were like a completely different army by preforming this never-before-scene, at least within the Horde, known as negotiation.
And not one bit of it settled right in the pits of Catra's stomach.
"Ugh, what the heck is he doing here?" She groaned, recognizing the large behemoth-like man.
"You know him?" Glimmer asked curiously.
"Yeah, some all brawns-and-less-than-brains sorta guy I ran into yesterday." She replied. "He was trying to capture Swifty, that flying horse thing, when I came across him. Guy nearly ripped me in half too while I was saving it."
"But what's he doing all the way out here?" Bow asked, never taking his eyes off the meeting. There was no way he could look away from an entire group of villagers staring at an army of fifty soldiers lined up side by side behind the leader of their group.
"How should I know? He was way out on the other side of the forest he burned down when I met him."
"Can you hear what's going on from here?" Glimmer asked, seeing how they were incapable from hearing as well as her from sixty feet away. They couldn't risk being spotted while the Princess of Bright Moon was with them.
"Yeah, just keep it down..." Her ears twitched a little as she tried to get a proper hearing.
"Lord Hordak has decided to grace your kingdom with his everlasting mercy!" The large man continued. "Either you surrender your runestone to us and join the glorious might of the Horde, or your village will be the next thing we burn down!"
"B-But we have no desire for war!" Princess Perfuma stated. "All we want to do is live in peace. We are not a violent kingdom!"
"Be that as it may, your options are limited." He huffed. "Lord Hordak's mercy is not to be taken lightly, and you will NOT be given this opportunity again! Either your people can join the glory of the Horde, or be cut down like the rest of your remaining trees!"
Following this, everyone, the trio included, watched as a sudden plume of smoke rose passed the forest. Looks of concern and fear crossed the faces of the many villagers, all gasping and murmuring at the sight of the dark smoke. It was at that time dozens of leaves began to fall from the Hearts Blossom, the treasured runestone of the kingdom, as blackened tendrils began to crawl along the bark of it. The tendrils glowed with faint yellow streaks of light as the life of the tree drained slowly by the second, the surrounding plants beginning to pale and shrivel up as a result.
"Until you make your decision, your precious tree will be drained of every last bit of it's strength!" He announced.
"Please, we..." Perfuma looked lost in thought. What was she supposed to do in this kind of situation? The Horde were the enemies of everything the Rebellion fought against. Even if she was no longer part of the alliance, she couldn't turn her back on her past friends and allies. But she also couldn't endanger the life of her kingdom and her fellow people. There was no win in this situation! "...We need some time, please..."
Whether out of leniency or otherwise, the large man huffed once more as he punched his hand intimidatingly. "You have one hour to decide! When you've made your decision, you will come to the base in person, alone! Hopefully for your sake and that of your people, you choose wisely!" With his final threat, he nodded to the surrounding soldiers as they marched off back into the woods, in the same direction as the smoke stack.
With the coast clear, the three ran towards the group of concerned townspeople. What were they supposed to do in this situation? They couldn't risk being known as betrayers of the Rebellion like other kingdoms, but they had no means to fight back either. Everyone last one of them were harmless! They were so distraught in their thoughts that half of them barely paid any mind to Catra's return. Those that did however seemed less than happy to see her.
"Perfuma!" Glimmer called out as she ran up. "What's going on?"
"The Horde is offering us peace in exchange for joining with them." Perfuma replied. "Unless we comply they're going to drain our runestone of everything it has."
"You're not going to listen to them I hope!" Catra said with a low growl. Several more heads were turned at the sound of the familiar magicat.
"What other choice do we have?" One of the villagers asked. "Either we join them or we lose everything!"
"Did you forget everything they did to you though?" Bow reminded. "Everyone we've lost since the Horde arrived? The land they've scorched since coming?"
"We can't risk our lives when we have no chance of winning."
"So you're just going to let them boss you around until you fall in line?" Catra looked over the dozens of frowns and concerned looks of the villagers. Not one of them seemed the least bit hopeful or brave enough to fight.
"If we join with the Horde," Perfuma said softly, "then maybe we can live in peace. At least we won't have to be afraid for our lives then."
"You'll never not be afraid for your lives if you join them!" She retorted. More heads raised to her as she spoke. "You have to believe me on this. If you join them your lives are only going to get harder! You're never going to know peace working for them!"
"How are we supposed to believe you?" One of them grumbled. "You're not even the real She-Ra!"
"You couldn't even heal a tree when we needed it. How are we supposed to oppose them?"
"For all we know you're trying to trick us! Maybe you're still with the Horde!"
This was just like the tree all over again. One after the other people started throwing accusations and words at her from all sides, several faces angered and several filled with sorrow. While she didn't care as much, Catra still found herself getting stressed from the bombardment of comments and doubts being thrown at her. Nothing went silent until Perfuma lifted her head again, just as dismayed as the rest of the villagers.
"Maybe this is the answer the Universe has provided for us." When faith was all one had, even the most dreadful of options seemed the most necessary. "Perhaps this is the only path left for us to obtain something close to peace."
"But... Mmh..." How was she supposed to argue with these people? They were so blinded by their faith of the Universe and nothing she came up with would reach them. And she couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't sound insulting, especially after the annoyance she's gone through, that would turn them on her more.
"You need to listen to her!" Glimmer said taking a step forward. Catra was surprised to hear her support in all this after the last few minutes. "Catra's lived within the Horde since the day she was born! She knows how horrible and cruel they can be even to their own people! If you join them you're only going to suffer more than you are now!"
The people of Plumeria went silent as they all gathered their own thoughts to this. Another princess was speaking up for someone else, someone they shunned on a moment's notice. They couldn't tell if they should be inclined to believe her or more troubled by the turn of events. It still did little to ease their conscious either. If anything, they only felt more troubled at the thought of doubting a fellow princess.
"...You still don't understand..." Perfuma shook her head in response. Raising her arm in front of them, the three watched as a flower materialized in the palm of her hand. "I grow flowers. That's all my magics good for. Others weave quilts, some make pottery. We're not warriors, we have no means to fight back."
"Well then use your gifts to fight back!" Bow squeezed his fist with pride. "Just because your talents don't make you warriors doesn't mean you aren't one! What else do you have to lose anyway? It's like Glimmer said, you'd be throwing your lives away just by joining the Horde."
More silence followed this as Catra looked around. This was it. This was all the force they had to fight with. Against armed guards and a military base, with weaponry of who knows what, against a handful of villagers who didn't seem to know how to throw a punch, it would be a slaughter.
Gritting her teeth, Catra shook her head as she began walking away. "Just forget about them." Bow and Glimmer looked back in shock at the statement.
"But Catra-"
"But nothing!" She didn't give Glimmer three words before cutting her off. "If they'd rather be miserable and follow their stupid beliefs, then let them. This is just a waste of time. Let's just get out of here."
Something wasn't right. She knew Catra to be cold at times but she was being a little too forceful on the situation here. She usually preferred drawing out all the talk she could whenever something was going on, never cut through the middle of it like this. That was when she saw something, a strange miniscule look from the corner of Catra's eye as she turned her head back for just a sec, ever so slightly. It was brief, almost nothing, but strange for someone like her.
Against her better judgement, she gestured to Bow as the two followed along with her in the woods, leaving the town to sort itself out with their own dilemma. Perfuma was at a personal loss for what to do. Whatever her decision was at this point, she only knew she had less than an hour to decide...
...
"So, mind telling me what that was about?" Bow asked as they followed behind Catra. He knew she had every reason to be mad at the situation, given all that happened, but he figured she'd hate the Horde more than how the village treated her.
"What do you think?" Catra shrugged. "That town was getting annoying, so I left. Plain and simple."
"So... what's the plan then?" Glimmer asked.
"Beats me. Go home, destroy the base, your call princess. I'm just here because the Queen told me to."
"But what about the Horde then? Aren't you going to do something about it?"
"Who cares. If they wanna join them so badly then good for them. Long as I don't have to deal with them anymore I'm all for it."
This was starting to reach the point beyond weird. She just had the most stressful moment of her life, at least since Glimmer knew her, and all of a sudden she didn't seem to care about anything. What was this sudden change in personality? It's like everything that happened in the village didn't even phase her-
Glimmer suddenly stopped, Bow taking another step before noticing her pause.
"Catra..." Catra froze in her tracks, keeping her back to the two. "You... You still care about the villagers, don't you?"
"...Huh?" It was the same as last time. She didn't give her any face as she turned her head a little, still with the uncaring tone she's known her to have. Except this time Glimmer noticed how a little too forceful the non-caring attitude was.
"You left them there because you don't want them to fight, right?" She guessed. "You're worried they'll get hurt if they try to fight back."
"..."
"Catra... is that true?" Bow wouldn't be able to believe it if she told him herself. It sounded nothing like the Catra the two of them knew, and at the same time something sly enough for her to try.
"...Tch, are you for real?" She snorted. "Why the heck would I care for a bunch of idiots that think the Universe is going to solve everything? Did you forget everything they did to me after I changed back to normal? If they care more about She-Ra than they do me then their whole village can burn down for all I care."
"Then why are you heading towards the Horde base?" Catra blinked at this as she looked to the sky. Like Glimmer said, she was heading in the direction the smoke was coming from.
"Huh... look at that. Guess I took a wrong turn."
"Oh would you just knock it off!" Glimmer teleported in front of her. "Stop acting like you don't care about the villagers already! If you want to help them then just say so! We'll all go together!"
As sure she was that Catra cared for the villagers, it was impossible to tell from the look in her eyes. They had the same lack of glow or care that she had when she confronted her after she ran from the village the first time. Yet with everything she was doing up till now, it was impossible not to think she didn't care for the villagers.
At the same time, the annoyance coming from Glimmer was getting irritating. TIme after time, she kept insisting that Catra cared for the same people that treated her like a goddess one second and then an outcast the next. She never found a town so backwards with itself that it would change it's personality on a moment's notice. It was like the town had it's own split personality it didn't know about, or a contagious mood swing that every villager was infected with.
Whatever the case was, she wanted this mission to be over, and as it stood, there was only one obstacle keeping her from finishing it.
Looking off to the side, Catra exhaled deeply through her nose as she spoke. "If we just destroy the base, will you get off my back already?"
"Gladly." Well, not entirely gladly, but she would take any acceptance she could get from the girl. Rolling her eyes, Catra looked back between her and Bow as she replied.
"Fine then, just give me a minute to do something first." She directed. "Find a clearing with a good view of the base, and I'll track you there."
"What about you? Where are you going?" Bow asked as Catra began to take off.
"I just got to take care of something first. I'll be back in a few minutes!" She said before disappearing from view.
It was hard to get a read on the girl. She was She-Ra sometimes, Catra many others, she liked a group of people she met, she hated them the next, there was no end to the number of random things that made up Catra's personality.
But there was at least one thing Glimmer knew for sure now, something she could smile about.
Catra still cared about them.
...
"How much longer are we going to have to wait?" Bow asked peaking around the giant slab of metal.
It took them a few more minutes until the two finally came across the Horde base, and man was it defensive! All around it was a hard metal plated wall with mixes of concrete that surrounded the entire base on all sides, stretching up to at least the same size as the surrounding trees. All around it were guards on all four corners, with Bow counting several patrols that crossed one section at least every other minute.
The opportunities to infiltrate the base were pretty slim too. Night would definitely be out of the question. Aside from hearing better during the quiet night, there were several spotlights at various corners surrounding the wall. And that didn't take into account any and all security cameras they had lying around the walls either.
Another factor they had to take into account was was what sort of security measures, if any, they had to deal with. There might've been tripwires somewhere around the walls they didn't know about, or there could be simple sensors that went off whenever something unauthorized moved around it.
Not to mention the soldiers themselves that filled the entirety of the base. There was no telling if the fifty they saw at the village was all they had or merely a fraction of whatever army was in there. There might as well have been a thousand soldiers stationed inside if they were daring enough to make a base anywhere this close to another kingdom capitol. That or they were brave enough to build something this menacing this close as a sign of intimidation.
This was a base fitting for anyone in the Horde, and most likely going to be their last mission if anything went wrong in this place.
*shuffle*
Bow quickly drew his bow and arrow as Glimmer gathered magic into her hands, hearing a strange noise coming from one of the trees behind them.
"Relax, it's just me." Shaking her hair free of any twigs and leaves that got caught, Glimmer and Bow sighed in relief as they saw Catra appear before them.
"Phew, almost thought it was a patrol." Bow commented wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Where were you?" Glimmer asked as Catra brushed herself off.
"I was just taking a look around, that's all. Also I got my hands on this." The two watched as Catra dropped an entire suit of Horde Armor in front of them, just like the ones the guards had.
"Where did you find that?"
"From a guard who's going to regret going to the bathroom by himself around here." She replied with a cheeky grin. "Pretty sure he's not going to return to base anytime soon butt naked either."
"Too much information..." The princess mumbled rolling her eyes. "But why did you waste time getting a suit anyway? Can't you just sneak in or something? You still have your Horde outfit and all, so even if you get spotted, no ones going to raise questions immediately."
"Well, there's kinda a funny story about that." Catra muttered, scratching the back of her head. "Long story short... someone kind of has it out for me, because nearly everyone in the Horde knows I've defected by now. And there's kinda a big bounty on my head."
"Already?" Bow couldn't tell if he should be surprised or confused. "How did you get yourself wanted this quickly? I mean I know the Horde is orderly and all that, but wouldn't it have to be someone really high up to do it this fast?"
"You have no idea." It was at times like these that Catra loathed Shadow-Weaver more than usual. If there was something a way to make Catra suffer, Shadow-Weaver would immediately exploit it. In this case, it was ensuring she had zero chance to return to the Horde or a chance to use her momentary absence to her advantage such as this. "Look, the point is, I'm more likely to get shot on sight than either of you two are. So any chance of using me like that isn't happening."
"But there's only one suit." Bow pointed out. "How are we going to get ourselves inside?"
"I can't just teleport us without knowing what's on the other side and where." Glimmer added.
"Yeeeah... about that..." A slight tinge of nervousness crossed the two as Catra scratched her chin. "I already have an idea for that bit, buuuut you're probably not going to like it that much..." It's almost like they instantly knew what she was thinking. They didn't hear the plan yet, they had no idea what it involved, yet somehow the two knew it was going to put the two of them into an uncomfortable situation.
"...What do we have to do?"
...
"I found these soldiers wandering around the base, sir!" A disguised Catra saluted wearing the soldier suit.
There were too many issues with this plan, and over half of them revolved around Catra herself. The biggest of the problems? Her hair was sticking out. While she managed to get her head through the helmet just fine, there was too much hair that squeezed out the back of her helmet, resulting in a tight fit alone. That didn't take into account the cat tail she still had showing through the opening she hat to cut in the back of her pants. Save for the cat ears, you would instantly know who she was if you saw her face.
Secondly, they were her prisoners. Here stood Bow and Glimmer with their wrists tied in the sturdiest vines Catra could find on hand. If it wasn't for the brown tint to them, there would be no way these could pass off as ropes. It didn't help that they were also holding the ropes themselves at the ends to break out in case something went wrong.
Taking a look at the three of them, the two guards glanced at one another, weapons still firmly held in their grasp.
"...Who are you?" The left guard asked, instantly sending shivers down Catra's spine and worry between Glimmer and Bow.
"Err... I said I have prisoners here, sir!" She repeated.
This won't end well. Glimmer gulped silently to herself.
"You Horde, scum!" Bow yelled back to her. "You'll never get away with this! The Rebellion is going to wipe the floor with you!"
"Pipe down, maggot!"
*WHACK!*
"Ow!" Bow would've rubbed his newly bruised head if he could.
"Must be one of those annoying tracker guys in the woods." The right guard said tilting his head. There was some relief among the trio even though Glimmer and Bow tried to hide it. They couldn't risk any weird looks around here, at least until they got inside. "Heard there was some hassle from them down in the Whispering Woods or something."
"That still doesn't explain who you are!" The left guard stepped forward in front of Catra. "Take off your helmet and identify yourself!" He didn't bother waiting for a response as he walked over to remove the helmet himself.
Catra had no choice but to comply with the orders as she tried to think of a plan. The minute they saw her face the alarms would be raised and they would definitely find themselves going into the base- in shackles and with Catra trapped in a box. That didn't even provide the fact if she was alive or not. On top of all that, Glimmer was the princess of Bright Moon. If the Horde got her hands on her, there was no telling what the Horde could order from her mother and-
A thought suddenly came to her.
*thump*
"Ow!" The guard yelped hopping on one foot as he rubbed his stomped one. He glared back to the annoying girl who had the guts to do that as she did.
"This is completely unacceptable!" Glimmer shouted. "Don't you despicable loafs have any idea who I am?! I am the princess of Bright Moon! And I demand that you let me go or else!"
"G-Glimmer!" Bow stammered, catching onto the plan.
"Wait a minute, that's the Queen's daughter?" The same guard stepped over to get a closer look. Grabbing her chin tightly he tilted it in all angles, getting a proper examination of the so-called princess. "Well I'll be, this really is the princess!"
"Hmph!" Glimmer huffed pulling her chin away. "About time you ingrates realized who I am! Now I demand that you let me go or else!"
"Yeah, it's definitely her."
"She's a little pudgier than I thought she'd be." The other guard commented.
"PFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTT!" It took everything Catra could manage to keep from bursting out into laughter, finding herself bending over as Glimmer's face burned red. There was never a moment like this when Catra wanted to cry so loudly with laughter, finding this one simple comment to be the most hilarious thing she ever heard. "Yeah- pfffft... she could stand to lose a few pounds couldn't she!"
*BAM*
"Oof-!" Catra nearly lost her breath as she doubled over, feeling the surprisingly painful elbow that was Glimmer's jabbed straight into her stomach.
"And she's a fighter." The same guard added.
"I noticed..." Catra coughed out, shakily getting back to her feet.
"Take them right on in and bring them to the stationary cells. The Captain's going to want to see them for himself." The previous guard ordered, opening the door and allowing the three through. All of them felt awash with relief as they made their way through. The easy part ended for these three.
Now the hard part begins.
There were several facilities located across the base, with dozens of soldiers patrolling the place, the other half of them just standing around and chatting. Anything they did up to this point would be seen by everybody, and that didn't include the cameras either.
"What's the plan?" Glimmer whispered over. "Should we head straight to the facility or what?"
"What else would we do?" Catra muttered as the three of them marched straight into it's direction. "The minute we blow that thing to kingdom come, the sooner the villagers will forget about joining them. Just keep your heads low to avoid any atten-
"Hey!" Catra and co froze in their tracks as Catra picked up the familiar sound of someone's shout. She only knew one stubborn moron with a voice that heavy. She found herself forcefully turned around as the caller turned her by the shoulder, the large behemoth man seeing his reflection in her visor. "What are you doing?"
"O-Oh! Captain! Sir!" Catra saluted, trying to make her voice sound more rough to keep him from recognizing it. "I was just taking these prisoners to the stationary cell, just like the guy at the front gate told me."
"Is that so?" He raised a brow of suspicion. "Have we met somewhere before? You look kind of familiar to me." Bow and Glimmer watched as dozens of other guards started to surround the three of them.
"Heh, don't we all with these helmets on?" She tried to joke.
"I suppose we do... but I swear I've seen you somewhere before..." He looked closer into the visor of Catra's helmet. If it wasn't for the fact her hair was pushed behind her, giving it a somewhat longer flowing look, he'd be able to tell in a heartbeat.
"Uhh maybe we met on another mission at some point? I get transferred around a lot, so we probably bumped into each other before."
"A transfer?" Catra swallowed some of the saliva building up in her throat, realizing she made a mistake. "Why wasn't I told anything about a transfer around here? And where's your paperwork, soldier?" Something was definitely off about all this.
"Oh, b-because umm... I was dropped off a short ways away!" She quickly lied. "I had the paperwork with me too when I found these spies trying to get closer to our base." The large man looked passed her to look at the two so-called spies, both of them giving him a nervous smile, then back to her. "Unfortunately I lost my paperwork in the scuffle we had, but thankfully I managed to capture them both before they could get away."
"You don't say." There was stress being built up with each passing second. On top of the fact guards continued to approach the scene unfolding, they were running out of time. Each minute they waste was another one towards the one-hour deadline. "All right then, I guess that makes sense..."
"Thank g- I mean thank you, great Captain!" Catra gave another quick salute. There was one thing he still needed to check.
"But before you go please tell me. Why are you heading to the Siphoning Station?"
"Huh? O-Oh! Haha, I wasn't taking them to the Siphoning Station! I was just, err... going to check the coast to make sure it's clear! You never know how many spies might be lying around." A large wide grin grew over his face at this answer.
"Oh I think I have a very keen idea on all the spies around here." He replied lowering himself towards her head. "You wanna know how I know?"
"H... How?" He didn't bother with a verbal reply right away. Instead, Catra found herself shocked as the behemoth immediately slapped her helmet off without a second thought.
"Because no moron around here calls it the Siphoning Station!"
What else could she do other than give a nervous smile?
"Oh... crap..."
...
...
With each passing second dozens and dozens of more leaves continued to fall from the great Hearts Blossom. Princess Perfuma frowned as she placed her hand on the mighty tree. Several dozen villagers watched, all wondering what her judgement would bring them.
What am I to do? That's the question she asked herself without end. She knew the Horde was cruel, vicious. She didn't know what life could await them if she decided to ally with the Horde. Not to mention the fact they were practically being forced into this, and every second passed meant another second the tree drew closer to death.
But at the same time she couldn't just decide for herself. This was going to be a decision that would affect her entire kingdom, not just herself. She needed to consider every person she ruled over, every man, woman, and child that turned to her and the Universe for answers. She couldn't just think of what she wanted for herself, she needed to think of what was best for them, most practical. She just couldn't figure out an answer.
Please... give us a sign...
"Hey, Perfuma." One of the villagers approached her with a paper in hand. "I just got a message from that cat lady a few minutes ago. I think you might wanna read it." She accepted the letter with curiosity, reading over the message as if Catra herself was saying it herself.
Hey Flowey,
I know I didn't end up being the hero you guys wanted, and I really don't care what it means to be one. But you guys can't join the Horde! That's no way for your people to live! All you'll be doing is subjecting them to a fate worse than the alternative. If you need to, I recommend heading to Bright Moon, maybe the Queen will help you out or something. I don't know, I just know you'll be better off there.
We've gone up to the base camp in an attempt to stop them ourselves and destroy whatever's killing your forest. I might not be a hero, but I don't have to be one in order to fight back. I just wanted to let you guys know I'm sorry in case we-
Perfuma skimmed over several words that appeared to be hastily scribbled out.
Whatever you choose, I wish you luck. Hopefully whatever you choose will work out for you.
-Catra
P.S.: Even if you didn't mean it, thanks for making me think everyone cared for me. I appreciate it.
Looking back towards the giant plume of smoke, everything came to Perfuma at once. That smoke was a result of what the Horde stood for. They brought destruction and fire everywhere they went, everything they touched. This wasn't a life she wanted anyone to be a part of, even if it meant accepting them just to survive!
She couldn't allow that same fate to befall her people!
"She's still trying." She spoke to everyone. "Even after we were so negative to her, she's still risking her life to save all of us... Glimmer was right! This our home, we can't let her do this alone!" She directed herself to the rest of the crowd, filling with determination and a fire in her eyes.
"Everyone, She-Ra and our friends from Bright Moon are risking their lives to protect us from the Horde. We need to help them!"
"But what can we do?" One of the villagers frowned upon the statement. "We're not fighters, we're not heroes of any kind."
"But neither is Catra!" The Princess stated. "We treated her horribly even though she was just trying to help. She proved you don't need to be a hero just to do something right!" Many heads nodded in agreement, several nodding to each other, others filling their veins fill with courage and hope. "Get the warchimes, we march!" Perfuma smiled proudly as the crowd rally with cheer.
They finally had their answer.
...
...
*WHAM!*
"Ugh!" Catra grunted as she was thrown to the ground again.
If this day could get any worse that would be the biggest surprise in Catra's life. No sooner had the helmet been thrown from Catra's head did the three of them find themselves fighting for their lives. Thankful they didn't tie their hands for this situation, Glimmer quickly teleported with Bow in her hands, distancing themselves several yards as they drew the attention of the surrounding soldiers. Catra already had her hands full with the giant that smiled before her, she didn't need any other soldiers to play with.
Almost immediately the two found themselves fighting for their lives upon teleporting back, Bow quickly ducking out of the way of an incoming punch, tossing the attacker aside into several other goons that followed them. Pulling out his weapons he fired several large arrows at several groups of guards heading straight for them, immobilizing several of them in a stick sap as the other several were trapped within a large net. While the sap may have worked, the net proved ineffective as they pulled and cut their way through the ropes, charging straight for archer.
Glimmer drew forth as much energy as she could to blast the guards that came one after the other, teleporting again just two feet away as another tried to strike her from behind with the electric baton. Following up, she blocked another incoming blow as she grabbed the baton with both her hands. Seeing another soldier rush up to her from behind, she quickly threw herself to the ground before the guard to hit her, accidentally striking the other guard with his weapon and knocking him out cold. Without a second thought, Glimmer hastily blasted the last attacker away, jumping back to her feet as more guards continued to approach.
Catra almost wished she was dealing with the masses or the single one because this guy was proving himself way more cautious than the last time they fought. Every time she attempted to get close to him he already blocked whatever attack she had to throw, grabbing her and throwing her into the distance. While she managed to land gracefully on her feet the fist couple times, mixed in with the injuries she started sustaining from his counters, she found herself getting more and more thrown off her balance. Eventually she struggled just to get to her feet before the man charged straight at her, much less keep herself from landing harshly after each throw.
There wasn't even enough time for her to get her sword out and call upon it's power. Every moment of peace she found was immediately dashed away with another swipe of the big man's hands. She couldn't afford to get caught by him like last time, remembering the dreadful state she found herself in when he almost ripped her in half. And unlike before, she didn't see any chance of someone saving her this time around. With Bow and Glimmer stuck fighting their own battles, there was no chance for a rescue.
She was completely on her own.
"Nice to see you still have some energy in you, freak!" The man taunted. "I was afraid this was going to get boring!"
"Huff... huff... are you kidding?" She panted, wiping her mouth against her wrist. "I'm just getting warmed up." There wasn't any part of her the man found intimidating like this. As of now, she was nothing more than a belt he was too eager to skin! Cracking his knuckles, Catra prepared herself as he stomped his way over.
"I'm really going to enjoy making you look like what you did to my face!" He implied, reminding her of the scars she left him with the first time.
"No thanks, your face is ugly enough." She couldn't tell if he chuckled at her pathetic taunt or the situation itself. He had every reason not to fear her at this point.
"Nice knowing ya, fre-"
*Whaaaaooooooooooooooooooo!*
Everyone across the base looked to the sky as they heard the strange sound of a horn going off. Looking back to the source of the sound, everyone gasped with surprise as the walls began to crumble away, making way for hundreds of large powerful green vines that pushed their way through. Atop of them, Catra's jaw dropped as she saw a smiling Perfuma riding the wave of vines herself, chuckling as the vines continued to push their way through as dozens of villagers raided the base.
"I always said the Universes will repay the Horde one day! Well I guess that day is today!" With a squeal of delight, she struck several incoming Horde guards, effortlessly pushing them away as the raid went on. Bow and Glimmer smiled to one another before continuing their assault on the guards.
Catra could only watch in amazement as the villagers cried out in cheer for Etheria, each donning whatever items and weapons they could carry along. Practically every villager from the women and men, right down to the small children, carried their items with them as they attacked the incoming guards.
Several of the villagers ensnared the guards with the thickest quilts they could find, pinning them to the ground before subduing them. Another one of the villagers she saw encased an entire guards head in a vase as he threw himself at one, tackling him to the ground. No matter how feeble these villagers are, they made do with what they had as they fought back against the oncoming soldiers. Fighting back, and, shockingly to her, winning.
Perhaps her favorite moment of the fight was watching as the familiar five-year-old girl kicked one of the guard's shin, the guard briefly hopping on his foot in pain, then turning his direction to the girl himself. Despite the fact he was heavily armed and much taller in comparison to her, he found himself getting confused as the girl smirked back crossing his arms. As if answering the reason behind this, he found himself lifted from behind by the scruff of his neck, recognizing the large muscular man who was one of the first people Catra armed wrestle.
Growling at the frightened guard, he tossed the guard straight over one of the large twenty-foot walls, his screams fading over the distance as he flew passed everything. Smiling to each other from their victory, the two nodded to each other triumphantly as they gave each other a quick high-five, the little girl jumping in the air to reach his hand.
"I... did not see this coming... " All of this was happening right in front of Catra, and she still couldn't believe it. Thankfully, or not, she didn't need to worry about this for much longer. By the time she could so much as think of the man she was fighting, she found herself getting slammed away by the man's massive arms, hurdling her straight ahead and through the walls behind her.
*CRASH!*
"Ngh..." Her back was sore. Her legs were sore. Her arms were sore. Everything right down to her tail was sore as she picked herself up off the ground, knees shaking, as she rose to her feet. Looking around her eyes widened at the sight of the massive room she was now in.
All of it housed a massive generator she saw in the center of this mighty building, the center of the very base itself! Several massive long, wide, cables connected to the sides and tops of the great machine. All around it a dozen empty vats of strange growing fluid slowly oozed into the containers, no doubt being the actual energy of the Hearts Blossom itself. She was standing in the room with the very core of today's problems.
And the only thing keeping her from destroying the blasted machine was the large hulking man who pulled himself out of the hole in the wall he created with her.
"I gotta admit shrimpy, I didn't think you'd actually get the town to fight for ya." He commented.
"Believe it or not, neither did I." Catra replied. If there was one thing that could turn the fight in her favor as of now, it was the massive sword she pulled from her back, one that grew the man's curiosity. "Guess it just goes to show how unpredictable life can be."
"Oooh, what's that there? You gonna cut me with it?" He welcomed the challenge by the looks of it.
"A nice idea to go along with," she grinned, "but I'm just gonna even the playing field." Raising her sword to the sky, she prepared herself as she was about to topple the behemoth's strength with just five simple words. "For the Honor Of Greyskull!"
"..."
"...I HATE THIS STUPID SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD!" Catra hissed with as much gusto as she could, flailing the sword violently. Every time! Every single stupid time she needed the sword like this and it wouldn't work! Was it because she was too exhausted as it was? Did she need more energy to call upon the swords power in the first place? Or was it on some form of cool down she didn't know about?
She failed to notice the large man standing over her until it was too late.
"Hahaha, that was pretty entertaining for a freak!" Before she could react she found the large man toppling over her, pinning her to the ground and squeezing her neck with all his might as he crushed her airwaves.
"A...k...eh..." No amount of force she could muster could push off the large man's grip no matter how hard she tried.
This was worse far than last time. At least if he ripped her in air it would've been quick! Here, her lungs struggled to inhale any form of oxygen, her nose failing to get a single molecule of air as the flow was cut off. On top of it, every second of pain made her cry out even more, already increasing the amount of stress and desperation of air that she needed.
"As much fun as it's been, I got a bounty to collect with your name on it!" Somehow he increased the pressure constricting her neck. "If it makes you feel any better, you'll always be the girl I remembered who turned my life from upside down!" Opening one of her eyes to this, she hissed angrily as she showed her teeth.
"R-Right back at ya... bub..."
"Huh?"
*skreeee*
"Ahhh!" The large man yelped as he instinctively covered one of his cut legs with one of his hands. He failed to remember how Catra's claws were far worse on her feet than her hands themselves. The girl was thankful that he failed to pin both her legs to the ground, feeling her left leg free to roam and claw around, like the inner thigh of the large man's left leg. That was the opening she needed from this.
"Haaaaaaa!" With one mighty roar, with every last bit of energy she had, she pulled both her legs out from under him and pushed straight into the man's stomach, raising him to the air. No sooner had she done this did she send him flying behind backwards, shooting him backwards and upside down as he crashed into the heavy machine, breaking through it and cutting off several of the large wires and vats that sustained it.
*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT*
"Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The main screamed out in pain as his whole body sparked with electricity. Catra coughed rubbing her throat, rolling back to her stomach as she saw this. The machine began to hum louder and louder with life as Catra gazed at the giant man who sizzled without control. In a few short seconds following this, Catra saw a bright flash, covering her head and her eyes as the machine finally came crumbling down with a thunderous, while small, explosion.
...
*BOOM!*
"Ah-!" Perfuma's entire being brightened as she felt a strange wave of energy course through her. Looking around herself, her slightly paled skin returned full with life as magic surged through her veins. Testing the limits of these powers, she laughed joyously to herself as her magic danced around her in a colorful display.
All along the ground leading up to the Hearts Blossom, the once darkened roots of evil became brimming with pure life, cutting off the flow of energy being drained as the vines choked from the beautiful array of flowers that danced across them. All of this lead to the very heart of the Hearts Blossom where the runestone brimmed with a powerful pink light, the various twigs and branches bursting with life as the leaves restored by the thousands per second, until eventually the entire top of the tree was pink and beautiful once more.
As for the soldiers around her, they were helpless to fight back as the princess quickly ensnared any of the remaining soldiers still standing around, those lucky two to three who managed to escape running for their lives as the base filled with vegetation and flowers. Nobody cared as they saw them take off in the skiffs that flew over them. There was too much joy and cheer among everyone, including Bow and Glimmer, as they raised their hands to the sky victoriously.
The war had been won.
...
She didn't need the extra sensitive hearing to get a load of the excitement coming from outside. Covered in bruises and scrapes from head to toe, with a severe pain she rubbed in her right arm, Catra still managed to find a way to smile. Her very first mission had ended, exceeding the expectations and plans ushered by the Queen.
Her first mission and day had finally been over, and everything was a success.
"Heh heh heh..."
So why did she still hear the large man chuckling? Glaringly, she walked her way back to him, seeing the sorry state the man was left in. He was covered in bruises and burns all across his body, the smell of burnt skin and hot steam still coming fresh off of him. He was covered in multiple cables from head to toe. Those that weren't broken over him tangled around his arms, legs, and neck, immobilizing him in his entirety. There was no chance of him escaping on his own, and that was if he had any energy left to do so.
So what was he smiling about?!
"What's so funny?" Catra demanded to know. This was her victory along with the Rebellion's. She did not want anyone else to feel like they won in this moment who wasn't on her side.
"Heh heh... you are... freak..." He mumbled. If it wasn't for the fact he already appeared to be in fresh pain and misery she would've gladly clawed his face at that. "You did... exactly... as she predicted... right down to the very detail..."
"Her?" Did he mean Adora? Someone else? Was she the one who ordered all of this to happen? Because Catra was gone? Every question related to her was too important to ignore! Regardless of his pain, she quickly lifted him towards her face by the collar of his shirt, the man cackling in laughter and pain at the same time. "Who's her? What are you talking about? Tell me!" She hissed as she got another bout of laughter, smelling the man's rancid breath as he did.
"Heh... who do you think..." Leaning his head just a bit, he whispered one name into her ears before passing out. "Shadow-Weaver." Her pupils instantly shrank as she dropped the large man, feeling a chill of death spread across her entire body.
Was the entire point of this to deliver that one message? If so, it definitely worked! It was only now that Catra realized how vulnerable she was without Adora around. Without her, Shadow-Weaver could target her. All of this was nothing but a greeting card from her, informing her of her current status. There was no Adora, and no protection against anything she could do.
She could feel her entire body grow cold at the thought, holding herself as her body shivered. Before she had nothing to fear. With Adora around, Shadow-Weaver would barely lay a hand on the girl without Adora's interference and pleading. Now, no matter how far away she was, she was open to any form of attack from Shadow-Weaver, any form of torture she could inflict from afar. Just thinking about it brought back memories of last time-
"Nghhh!" She squeezed her eyes shut and head between her hands. She couldn't allow herself to remember that day, refusing to recount every detail that happened. It was the one memory in her mind she begged wouldn't resurface, she wished with all her being. Shaking her head, she pushed these thoughts as deeply away as she could, forcing herself to back to the group outside. This wasn't a moment she was supposed to be dreading.
There was a victory to celebrate.
...
"Ha ha ha!" Perfuma smiled with glee as she watched the parading villagers. Never has she felt such happiness before, such a grand reason to celebrate. "The day is ours!"
"Mhhm." She turned to see a grinning Catra with her hands at her side. "Guess you guys had a bit more fight in you than you thought, huh?"
"Ooooh, c'mere you!"
"Erk-!" Catra found herself suffocating as she was crushed into the huggable Princess's chest. She found the sheer embarrassment overpowering the pain she felt at the moment, trying her best to push the princess off of her who interpreted this as a hug in return. It was a hilarious sight to see as Bow and Glimmer found the two again. "Please tell me this hugging stuff isn't going to be a thing..." She muttered finally pulling herself free. "Anyway, I hope you guys learned about the whole "Universe providing the answers" thing."
"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.
"Well you know, learn to do things for yourself." Catra grinned. "Don't wait for answers to come for you cause the Universe will never answer."
"Are you kidding me? If anything you've restored all our faith in the Universe!" Catra's expression, tail, arms, and ears dropped all at once at this.
"Excuse me?"
"Don't you get it? You were the Universe's answer we needed!" She said perkily. "It's because of you our village was saved, you inspired us to save ourselves! We owe our thanks to you and to the Universe for sending you to us!"
"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!" Catra growled loudly with a new height of annoyance filling her body. It was this stupid thing called "faith" Catra found ridiculous beyond all reason. It's what made these villagers stupid to her in the first place and most likely the thing that caused them to go furious at the thought that Catra wasn't She-Ra after all.
"Just let it go, Catra." Sensing the anger flowing from the cat, Bow rolled his eyes as he pushed her away, keeping her from attacking the next thing that spoke. Laughing at the scene, the two remaining allies stepped towards one another brightly.
"Sorry about her," Glimmer apologized, "but we're all extremely thankful for your help and assistance."
"Please, if there's any way to repay you, please tell me!" She practically begged. She refused to let these people go without any way to pay them back!
"Come join the Rebellion and help me reform the Princess Alliance."
"Um, are you sure?" Her request was met with just a speck of hesitation, which was far better than Glimmer expected. "Didn't that go horribly the first time?"
"It went horribly for our parents. But we have a chance to do it right. We're clearly stronger together." She showed the numerous townsfolk who were still celebrating, some of which began to run passed her for something. "Think what all the princesses united could do!"
Taking a moment, Perfuma returned Glimmer's suggestion with a curious smile. "Would I get to hit more people with flowers?"
"Absolutely."
"Then our answer is yes!" The final victory of the day had been claimed by Glimmer. Today was a great example of what the princesses would be capable of. This was just two of the princesses who united for one short battle on a Horde base. Picturing what they would be capable of with the rest of them united filled her with excitement! One that overlooked the small look of concern growing back on Perfuma's face. "Oh, but..."
"What?"
Perfuma rubbed her shoulder with a sense of guilt coming off her. "Mmh... is there a way we could repay Catra? I feel terrible for the way we treated her after all this. Perhaps a feast? Another festival? Something to let her know she's appreciated?" Looking passed her, Glimmer just smiled back as she stared off to the distance.
"Nah, I don't think that'll be necessary." Turning around, her expression matched Glimmer's look of joy as she saw the scene.
Before the two of them the princesses watched as Catra stood in the middle of a large open crowd. She wasn't in her She-Ra form, she wasn't showing off in any way, shape, or form, and nobody seemed to care as she looked around herself with confusion and unease. All the while Bow stood from the side with a proud smile on his face.
All around her the people cheered on her again, all thankful to her assistance and guidance in helping them find the strength to fight back against the Horde. They were just like they were before, all smiling and cheering on her despite knowing who she truly was this time around. They didn't care she wasn't the She-Ra from the past, they didn't care how intimidating she looked up close. She was accepted by all the people around her once again, even as she let out another sneeze.
For Catra herself, she didn't know what to feel this time around. The last time she wanted to be accept and accepted being accepted, it ended horribly for her. They were vicious to her, loathed her from the sight of it, and didn't want anything to do with her. And how were they now?
The same way they once were! They were happy to see her, they wanted to see her after all the help she's given regardless of her selfish desire out of all of this. She found several of the kids playing around her, one clinging on each arm with the familiar five-year-old on the right arm, and a small baby behind her playfully reaching for her wriggling tail. It was a weird sensation to be admired like this again, unsure of whether she should accept the feeling of pride and warmth once again.
All she did was look back to a smiling Glimmer, shrugging to her with a questionable expression.
"I think she already knows."
...
...
Play.
Stop.
Rewind.
Repeat.
This is what Adora did for the last half hour of the two minute clip on the monitor.
"This... This can't be real..." She stuttered in denial, all to Shadow-Weaver's unknowing glee as she stood at her side. "Play it again!"
"Adora, I'm afraid no matter how many times you repeat it, the video will never change."
"B-But this is impossible!" Small stands of hair dangled in front of her face, Adora paying no mind as she saw through the tiny, unimportant, strands. "We... We offered them peace! Assistance! We gave them a chance to join us!"
She had no idea what she was supposed to be feeling at this rate. Anger? Sadness? Confusion? The one emotion she couldn't feel from this was happiness. Happiness and peace. How could she feel something? How could this something be happening?
She thought the rest of Etheria all desired the same thing; peace and order. She thought if the Horde reached out to any of them they would've welcomed the chance to end the conflict and the violence. She even gave the princesses the decency of chance for peace, and their response was violence! It was too awful for words, too shameful for action. She just stood there, seeing the proof right in front of her that she never wanted to see.
The very proof Shadow-Weaver promised to show her, unaware of the numerous arrangements she made to pull all this off.
"And do you see how they replied to our generous offer?" Shadow-Weaver questioned replaying the video once again. "They wage war against us. Not just the princesses, not mere soldiers, everyone. The men, the women, even those poor children. All of them are forced to wage war against their wills, the very people you said we shouldn't harm."
"This... This can't..." Adora lowered her head, staring at the console in front of her.
"Adora, my dear," she soothed, holding her shoulder in comfort, "do you understand now? Why we must continue to fight for the sake of Etheria? Why we must make sacrifices for the greater good? You asked me to show you proof, my dear, and here it is."
"...Eggghhhhh!"
*BAM*
There was no concern showing in Shadow-Weaver's eyes. Instead, they were filled with joy, and pride at the harsh growl Adora let out. Seeing her anger erupting before her, seeing her slam her fist into the console itself. It didn't matter that her knuckle blackened a little to this, it didn't matter she broke the console's buttons where she slammed it. The small dent her fist made into the machine was all the proof she personally needed to see if her plan worked.
"...Yes, Shadow-Weaver..." Adora replied directly without emotion. "I understand it all now." Without another word, Adora stormed through the doors of Shadow-Weaver's chambers, unable to keep herself from lashing out at whatever Shadow-Weaver had to say next. Waiting a few seconds to make sure she left, she turned her attention to the other monitor in her chamber, watching it come to life as it displayed an image. The person on the other end was blackened, save for his red glowing eyes and the small pet that sat in his lap.
This, was Lord Hordak.
"Well?"
"Everything went exactly as I detailed it, Lord Hordak." Shadow-Weaver assured, nodding.
"I hope for your sake that your efforts bare fruit." The disdain in his voice echoed through her mind and her blackened heart. "We just discarded a valuable source of energy for this one girl."
"I promise you, Lord Hordak, the results will be worth what little we have to give up in exchange for it, I promise."
"I don't want your promises, Shadow-Weaver, I want results!" The pet in his lap hissed as if displaying the master's anger. "Make sure to report to me the results of your next little expenditure. I hope I have to give up less than I did this time for the both of you..."
"Yes, Lord Hordak." Without so much as a blink, Hordak cut communications from the monitor as the entire screen went dark. There was no telling if he had a means to see her at this moment and anger built up in her hands, nagging to herself all the annoying things she just tolerated within the last few minutes. She hated everything about their leader, everything that spewed from his mouth. The Horde deserved someone more fitting for the role, someone who could truly snuff out the light from this world.
Someone like her precious Adora.
Deciding to take a moment to herself, she returned to the fountain behind her. Peering into it, she smiled at the scene it displayed, smiling at the last person she thought she would ever be thankful to.
"Oh, dear, dear, Catra..." She brushed a small wave of the water as she watched the pitiful citizens continue to cheer for that disgusting excuse of a creature. "You make this all too easy for me." With another grin, she empowered the fountain as the scene shifted to a view of Adora, one she was more than happy to watch all day. "Who would've thought the farther you were, the more useful you were to me."
She relished the sight of the anger stamped on Adora's face, Adora herself still fuming from everything she came across recently.
She wasn't fazed as the tears streaked from her face, it didn't change the look of anger that contorted on Adora's expression. All that was there was a newfound hatred for the princesses and everything they corrupt. The princesses who could shift the emotions and thoughts of their fellow citizens with nary a thought. Every last one of them that forced them to do the unthinkable and attack towns for missions that are absolutely necessary.
The very princesses that took her best friend away from her. "Sacrifice is necessary." She told herself coldly. It didn't feel any better. It hurt to say such things, it was painful to think of such thoughts. But if the princesses were as evil as Shadow-Weaver showed her, then there was no avoiding the conflict and discord this war would bring. She would burden that pain all her life from this moment onward, and carry it to her grave.
Unaware of a small darkness that was planted in her heart, one seeping with the negativity of all dark thoughts that plagued her...
...
...
"Ugh... dumb... stupid... queen..." Catra mumbled to herself as she made her way back to the bedroom.
Well that was a nice hour of talking her ear off she didn't need. As shocking as it was, the Queen was less than thrilled to hear about how Catra suggested and insisted on a mission to stop the Horde from sucking the life out of the Hearts Blossom and potentially preventing a compromising alliance between the kingdom of Plumeria and the Horde. While she was relieved to hear that everything worked out in the end, she was less than happy about the idea of her daughter being used as a fake prisoner without any sort of disguise to hide her identity.
It didn't really help that Catra refused to let Glimmer herself plead a case to support her.
Because of all this, she had to stand through one of the most boring lectures she's ever had to ignore in her life, unable to sit a single time during the long speech the Queen seemed to like making everyone listen to. At least that's how Catra saw it. She didn't gather much from her hour long struggle of forcefully ignoring the queen, something about "think before you act", or "never drag my daughter into a base filled with Horde soldiers that would know her on a moment's notice" or something else. Whatever she was yapping about, it was long, tedious, and boring enough to make Catra wanna pull her ears out. At least by the end of the day she could return to a peaceful solitude known as slumber, the one thing where nothing bad happened save for potential nightmares.
That is until she finally pulled open the doors to her room and found a surprised-looking Glimmer and Bow staring all over the place.
"Sheesh, did you and the bed have an argument or something?" Glimmer asked looking at all the feathers around her.
"Oh yeah, forgot to mention. Might've murdered my bed last night." She replied casually scratching her ears.
That was the one detail she had forgotten after everything she went through today. Before she snuck into Glimmer's room for a potential sleeping buddy, as revolting as the thought made her, she attempted to get some understanding of sleeping by herself on possibly the world's most plushiest bed she's ever had the misfortune to come across. While it was disturbing to look at and made her question how it was going to feel, she did have to give it respect for how soft and comfortable it felt to her as she lied on top of it.
...For about three seconds. A single second afterwards, she found the bed attempting to practically devour her, sinking her whole body into the plushy cotton with barely her tail sticking out. With instincts kicking in and the bed refusing to acknowledge who the one in charge of this bedroom was, she mercilessly tore the bed limb to limb, shred to shred in this case, ignoring the hundreds to thousands of feathers that scattered across the air in the ensuing combat. By the end of it all there was nothing more than a single bed frame that stood before her, thousands of feathers scattered across the entire room. Some were even thrown into the empty bathtub and the potted plants from the ceiling.
"To be fair, it was in self-defense. Better question now, what are you two doing in here?"
"Well, since you've never slept in a room by yourself before, Bow and I thought we'd throw a sleepover, then you won't feel so alone." Glimmer answered cheerfully. Around the two she noticed several sleeping bags and pillows the two apparently brought.
"And... we're doing this why?"
"Well, you know... to celebrate and stuff! After all, we did achieve a great victory today!"
"And Glimmer got grounded for going against her mother's wishes." Bow added.
"F-For one week," Glimmer quickly interjected, "which is three weeks less than usual! And she'll consider reforming the princess alliance, so that's another plus for us!" The enthusiasm was shared by two of the three occupants, with the latter looking less than caring about it. "So, we decided on a victory party, via sleepover!"
"And we can do it tomorrow too if you want!"
"Uhhhh huh... Later." Catra muttered as she turned away.
"Oh Catra, come on," Glimmer whined grabbing her arm, "we're just trying to show a little appreciation." Despite every bone telling her to run away, she couldn't help but look back at this.
"Appreciation...?"
"Well yeah!" Bow smiled walking over with a firm pillow in hand and another he was holding behind his back. "We don't care if you don't consider us friends yet or anything, we still appreciate everything you're doing for us." Catra took the pillow he offered with uncertainty.
She wasn't a stranger to appreciation, heck she gave it herself when she felt someone deserved it. Even if she's only counted up to several times in her life on one hand. But after the events of today it felt a little weird to hear that by two of the newest allies she's made within the last few days. Sighing to herself with a roll of her eyes and droop of her ears, she finally resigned herself to whatever fate this sleepover business had to offer. "Fine, fine, I'll try this whole sleepover thing." She replied to the others' delight as she took a pillow. "Just keep it down, I'm a light sleeper."
"Caaaaan do!"
*whomp*
"Ha!"
"..." The same look of excitement on Bow's face wasn't shared with the magicat he struck with a pillow.
*whack!*
"Ow!" He yelped rubbing his head again. He could still feel the other one she gave him during the mission resurfacing. "What was that for?"
"Well what did you expect? You attacked me!" Catra hissed a little.
"Catra, he was just having a pillow fight." The glittery princess said, showing her own pillow.
"A... Pillow fight?" This concept was never mentioned in the Horde. While there were times kids would play around using their imagination with various things they could find, not once did anyone think of using a pillow, and not just because it wasn't allowed.
"Yeah, you know, a pillow fight? You just hit each other with pillows and all that. It's a great way to tire yourself out before bed."
She reexamined the strange softness in her hand. This? This was supposed to be used as a weapon of play? How? How was there supposed to be any enjoyment to be had by hitting anyone-
She quickly looked back. "So wait, I can hit you guys with this as many times and as hard as I want to, and I can't get into trouble?" A bead of sweat slowly dripped from the back of Glimmer's head.
"W-Well, I wouldn't exactly put it like that but uhh..." There was no longer any room for talk as the two saw the grin growing on her face. History would look back on this day and regard it as one of the bloodiest (featheriest) battles ever sustained through the annals of human history, that lasted for many many nights and several more sleepovers.
It was a weird way to sum up the day for herself. She went from being worshipped and praised to hated and loathed to worshipped and praised again. It felt like it lacked any luster or meaning though when she was praised by the same people who despised her the first time around. She didn't mind it of course, but there was just some emptiness to it compared to the first time, some feeling keeping her from understanding if this was the same kind of praise she delighted in as a sign of comfort.
There was one thing she knew for sure though, as she chuckled alongside Bow and Glimmer, the three of them using their specialties to make the Pillow fight more interesting by the minute. She had a lack of understanding of what it meant when other praised her that weren't these two, but she could understand a bit of appreciation when it came from her allies. Going through all this just to try to ease her a little, to make her stay at the castle a little more manageable. She had to admit coming from these two...
It felt nice to be cared for.
...
...
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A/N: And by golly I can't remember the last time I wrote so much in 24 hours... actually I can! It was one of my rwby chapters I had to split into two parts (which I regretted cause the first one without the 2nd part came with significant backlash... one of the reasons im posting this all at once instead of 2 separate parts). You think this is scary? THE OTHER ONE NEARLY HAD 20K! And that was in 10 hours!
It's clear I had a really fun time with that one ^^.
Lol, anyway, thanks again for the huge amount of feedback and support folks! Another shoutout to Nightmaster003 as I have this wonderful intro to play at the beginning of my episodes now ^^ I know its not as fitting and someone actually did answer my question on that at one point, but I really am considering placing the intro at the beginning of all chapters maybe... idk, i'm still debating with myself.
Also this is probably the last friday I make a post unless I do miraculously get done with my other school work over this. I keep getting distracted by this on fridays so from now on, unless finished early again, fridays are a no-go-for-posts day.
Coming up next we'll be finding ourselves with a very fun seafaring adventure, as well as, as im sure 99% of you are excited to see, another confrontation between Catra and Adora...
Anyway, thanks for everything guys and remember to leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed! See you soon! And by that I mean either sunday or monday as the weekends are usually the busiest/longest hours of my job.