A/N: Fun cat fact of the day: Why do cats hate water? Because apparently the oils of their fur build up and absorb water much faster and larger than humans do, and because of it it makes them colder!
Why am I mentioning this?
...no reason...
ENJOY!
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"Ahhhhh~" Adora breathed in the fresh air as the ship sailed across the sea. She was fortunate Shadow-Weaver could provide them with one of the finer sea vessels for this mission, at least compared to that other run down vessel that sounded like a vehicle breaking down every five seconds.
This would be Adora's first full-fledged mission since the incidents of Thaymor, the first one she felt fully prepared for and was ready for the unexpected compared to last time. She wasn't going to let anyone get the better of her or catch her off guard. She was going to recruit the princess of Salineas, or she was going to crush her along with the Sea Gate that guarded her kingdom.
Violence was still a subject she wasn't prepared to deal with when the time came for it. She was hoping to resolve most if not all the issues she could without resorting to such methods, except for anyone from the Rebellion. They took her best friend, through whatever methods of their evil cunning and sorcery. And there was no way she was going to forgive or trust any of them until she could get to the bottom of this.
What troubled her most about the ordeal was Catra. She didn't know what sort of manipulations they pulled on her, and half the time she questioned if they actually did manipulate her themselves or not. Just seeing everything that was going on in Thaymor, mixed with Catra's surprising concern to rescue a small child she likely didn't know for long, it was just too weird. She always knew Catra had good in her, but with how straightforward she was being with it, it just left a strange felling in Adora's chest, a strong uncertainty that almost hurt to think about.
And that didn't include the troubling words she had to give Adora, the memory still fresh in her head as if it was yesterday.
"But... But how am I supposed to know you're telling the truth? How do I know this isn't some elaborate trick? I mean why would you even work for them willingly to begin with?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Catra's face brightened as she said this. "Adora, this is our chance to get everything we wanted! The Rebellion's queen is going to give me a Kingdom, they won't have a choice. We can have our own land where we call the shots, we can do whatever we want, rule whoever we want!"
What kind of trickery did the princess use? Did they even use trickery at all? The way Catra spoke to her, the way she seemed so willing to join them just to get what she wanted. Was she actually under their control at all? Was she doing this for herself like everyone else said?
"You enjoying yourself there?" A voice spoke up from behind her. Looking back, she snapped out of her thoughts as she smiled back to the other Force Captain, one specifically assigned to assist her by Shadow-Weaver.
"Oh, hey Scorpia." She greeted as Scorpia leaned on the ship's rail next to her. She smiled as she looked out into the vast ocean, feeling the breeze blowing through her hair and the sound of the birds who flew through the sky.
"Oh, I just love boats. Don't you?" Scorpia commented as she leaned against the rail next to her. "Wind in your hair, ocean on every side, miles and miles from the nearest dry land, watery death awaiting at the slightest mishap."
"Heh, yeah... would prefer to avoid the latter of that but I know what you mean." The glory and excitement she felt was a little smaller now due to her commentary, though it didn't ruin her fun.
It was at the time Scorpia noticed a slight solemn look on the other captain, a quietness as she stared out into the ocean. "Everything all right, Adora?"
"Huh?" She snapped out of her look as she was addressed. "Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about-"
"Catra?" Scorpia answered for her, earning a small nod. "You guys must've been pretty good friends, huh?"
"Mhhm," she nodded again, "we grew up together through most of our lives. Every day we would dream of getting out of the Fright Zone and being able to see the open world. Fighting alongside the Horde, fighting the princesses that corrupted everything. It was... nice..."
"Must've been pretty close then." Scorpia's stinger wagged a little with glee. "Most people I meet usually don't have nice things to say about her."
"Yeah, I'm more than aware of it." She remarked, remembering how openly Lonnie talked down about her. "It's not that I don't understand either. Catra was... a little blunt towards everyone else, and she got annoyed pretty easily. But she was a really nice and sincere person when I first met her. She was shy, innocent, she actually cared about others no matter how scared she got."
"I'm betting it didn't last that long though?" She was a little regretful at her question as she saw the small frown growing on Adora's face.
"No. Just... one day she just... changed. She became cold, distant to everyone else." She found it a little saddening to think about. Remembering the usual brightful cheery face just switch to an uncaring cold expression out of nowhere. "She didn't even care about who needed help unless I got involved in it myself. She didn't want anything to do with anyone else from that point on. And she wouldn't even tell me what was wrong or what changed... Sometimes I wonder what she would be like at all if we weren't friends, if she never met me to begin with. Maybe her life would've turned out better without me..."
"...Well that's dumb." Adora was caught off guard at the blatant feedback from the smiling Scorpia. "You think she'd be better off without you? Based on what you told me, I think she owes you a lot more than you're willing to admit. You were there for her when she was distant to everyone else, and you think it's your fault that she turned out like this?" She turned around as she continued, leaning against the rail backwards. "I don't know what happened either. Maybe it was your fault or maybe it wasn't. But you at least took it upon yourself to stick by her side to make up for whatever mistakes you could've made. If you ask me, she couldn't ask for a better friend."
Adora really didn't know what to say as she smiled warmly to this. She didn't think someone as rough-looking and tough like Scorpia would be as sentimental as this. She practically knew the exact thing to say when she needed to hear it most. It actually reminded her of Catra a little bit, seeing how tough she on the was on the outside yet sincere on the inside.
"Heh... thanks Scorpia." Adora smiled back.
"No problem... so when are we going to Salineas?"
"What do you mean? We're already on our way, aren't we?"
"Nope. We've been going off course for the last ten minutes." She announced.
"And... why didn't you tell me this earlier?"
"Oh, because the scary lady in red told me to follow your directions all the way through. She even joked about how she would "declaw me" if I spoke once out of line too!" There was something about the way she said that with a clear smile on her face that made it a little unsettling.
It was nice to find a new friend in another Force Captain, possibly someone else she could trust while trying to piece together what was going on around here... even if a little clumsy.
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"Welcome aboard the Dragon's Daughter Three!" Sea Hawk announced several minutes after they set off.
These were the moments he cherished the most. Excitement, adventure, and entertainment! The three E's, at least according to him! Out here a man like him could be anything he wanted to be! He could be vigilant, he could be a coward, he could be a notorious thug, he could be a righteous hero! Out here away from the rest of civilization among the populace where their laws and legislations ruled the land was nothing for a man like him.
Here, he was a man who was free, along with his new temporary crew that consisted of Catra, Glimmer, and Bow!
Sure, he might've lost a game of arm-wrestling to the cat who seemed a little less than comfortable looking off the sides of the ship, but that didn't matter to him anymore! Here one could turn their life around with just a simple victory, a climactic fight against the legions and various creatures of the dark abyss below them. And it was here he knew he would reclaim his honor!
"Do I even wanna ask what happened to the first two?" Catra asked with a moan, not taking her uneasy eyes off the surrounding ocean.
"Tragically, they went down in flames." He mourned.
"How did that happen?" Bow asked, eyes alight with stars for the fourth time since meeting this man. Whatever reasoning Sea Hawk had had to be a glorious tale of heroism and terror!
"I set them on fire." There wasn't a care in his voice at the reply. Groaning, Catra shook off his brash enthusiasm as she walked towards the other side of the ship. With gusto, he stood at the very bow of the ship, pointing directly to the sea of opportunities. "Now, onward to adventure!"
"Bet he's not exactly what you expected, huh Catra?... Catra?" Glimmer looked back when she noticed a distinct lack of snarkiness in return.
...
The sword. This one simple object she stared at into her hands. Each and everyday she would think about how her entire life changed the moment she touched this stupid blade. Made by the First Ones, the supposed settlers of Etheria and the ones who created advanced technology. This was supposedly one of their crowning achievements of advanced history, and now it was completely within Catra's grasp.
Man was it a piece of garbage!
Every time she needed to use it, every chance that came when it felt the most necessary, the stupid sword wouldn't answer her calls no matter how dire it was. Whether she was saving an entire village from the oppression of the Horde, fighting against a behemoth-sized man with muscles twice the size of his own head, it never answered her calls when she needed it most. Not even after her long harrowing journey with an old hag did it answer her call, not at first anyway.
To this day she's only ever gotten the sword to answer her call twice, and one of them was completely by accident. Was she missing something? Did it work at specific times of the day or once every few days? Given the two or so days between her first time using it and last time using it, it seemed the most plausible. But she felt a strange power coming from the blade at all times, like it was telling her she could use it whenever!
Whatever the case may be, she took a stance with a deep breath, holding the blade before her as she begun swing it in rhythm along with her quiet voice. "For the Honor of Grayskull... For the Honor of Grayskull... For the Honor of Grayskull..."
Practicing just swinging a sword like this was a bit embarrassing but what other choice did she have? She didn't know what was needed to activate the sword on command and until she did the sword would be useless as any other sword. She needed to find a way to get it working when she really needed it, something that would get the sword work every time she asked for it. Maybe she just had to feel a certain way about it? Maybe she needed to feel a specific amount of joy, sadness, anything to get the blade working?
*poof*
"Hey Catra, what are you do-IIIIHHH!" Glimmer jumped as she teleported in front of her. Both she and Catra nearly had a heart attack as Catra stopped the swing just inches away from the tip of her nose.
"Ugh, what do you want, Pinky?" Catra grumbled, turning around as she continued her practicing.
"Well, if you don't plan on stabbing me for asking," she sighed briefly before walking over to her right side, "I wanted to know what you were doing or if you were okay."
"I'm fine." She replied without skipping a swing. Glimmer watched for a bit as Catra continued to swing her sword, chanting the infamous line with every swing.
"You still can't get the sword to work right, can you?"
"No, I just like walking off in a random direction to swing a sword for no reason." She retorted sarcastically. Honestly, given Catra's personality, Glimmer wouldn't be surprised if that truly was the reason. Just going off on her own to swing a sword to blow off some steam. It seemed to match pretty well with her personality now that she thought about it. "Was that all you came here for?"
"No, actually. I just wanted to know if you wanted to talk."
"About what?"
"Well... anything, really."
Catra took a short break from the swinging as she turned to her at this. "What do you mean?"
"I mean about you." She clarified. "Catra, you've been with us for awhile now and we barely know a thing about you."
"Yeah, consider yourself lucky to know what much." She mumbled.
"And I really want to know what your life was like just in case..."
"In case of what?" It was one of the few times Glimmer went silent when speaking to her.
"...In case of another mishap like at Plumeria." She was met with a small scowl from Catra's face as she went straight back to practicing. She knew she was still harboring confusing feelings from that day, most of which resulted in anger now whenever it was mentioned. She knew it wasn't all bad at the end of it, seeing how unsure Catra was when she was cheered for again by the end of everything, but it wasn't something easy to bring up. "I don't want to rush into things again thinking you were just being egotistical because of all the things you did. I don't want to assume something about your life by accident to regret it later."
She couldn't tell if a single word was getting to her as Catra continued to practice with the sword, not that she would blame her either. She knew there was some small miniscule growth from Catra's character, seeing how she didn't threaten Glimmer or anyone else to leave her alone the minute they approached her within the last few days, yet she never seemed to move passed that either. She kept things to herself in almost all conversations unless someone was talking to her directly about something, and half the time she ignored them anyway.
"Please, just tell me something?" She continued to plead.
"Mmmmh..." What was she supposed to do here? She was trapped on a boat surrounded by water with nowhere else to go. For a moment she wondered if this was all planned or if she was just being paranoid about everything? What would be the point of it anyway if she just told her something about herself? Would there be any benefit to it?
...Wait a minute.
"Tell you what, Pinky. If you do something for me, I'll tell you one thing about myself of your choice." She already regretted it as she saw the lights grow behind Glimmer's eyes.
"Really?!" This was great! She could tell she was definitely getting closer to them as a friend! Step one down, ninety-nine to go! At least she hoped so because she was just as quickly startled as Catra shoved the sword in her face.
"ONE. THING." She emphasized. "Help me figure out how to get this stupid sword to work."
"Oh..." She rubbed her chin as she looked over the sword.
To be honest, she didn't have a single clue about the sword, not anymore than Catra did at least. From what little she did know about it, it was a sword created by the First Ones, and, according to her mother, it was supposed to be powerful too. The First Ones were supposed to be an advanced race, seeing how they created the technologies and the ruins that the kingdoms continued to study to this day. For such an advanced society you'd think they'd have an easier method of using the sword and calling on She-Ra.
Sure, nobody she knew made the sword. Who knows what was going through the minds of the First Ones when they first developed the sword? Maybe She-Ra wasn't a single person? Maybe that was just the names of all the warriors back then, She-Ra being a title one had to obtain through heroism or right?
Whatever the reasoning was, there wasn't a single bit of evidence or past knowledge that could help her figure out how to use the sword anymore than Catra could. But she wasn't about to give up her one chance to get to know something about her friend!
"Um... Hmm,..." She looked all over the sword from the tip of it's blade to the bottom of it's hilt. "Maybe it needs something to trigger it?"
"Like what?" Catra said with a slight growl. She would prefer if Glimmer didn't state the obvious or the things she's already tried.
"I don't know, like... mmh... Ok for starters, what did you do the first two times it worked?"
"How should I know? They were both random." She crossed her arms leaning against the rails of the ship. "The first time around you guys were in trouble and the sword practically nagged me to help you."
"And the second time?"
"I don't know, you guys were getting talked down to by your mom?" She shrugged. While it wasn't entirely the true case at that time, she'd prefer keeping the situation professional around here. She didn't want to go on with some emotional sappy episode about how she was "true to her feelings" or some garbage. Especially since it didn't work the last dozen times she tried it. "I mean you guys weren't in trouble, so I don't think that has anything to do with it."
"But you might've been worried about us?" Glimmer suggested. She was a little intrigued as she saw the faintest of blushes on Catra's face.
"I-I was just worried cause if you guys got into trouble then there was no telling what would happen to me!"
"Uh huh, suuuuuuuure." She smirked.
"Keep it up and I'm not telling you anything."
"Sorry." Taking one more glance over the entire sword, she was struck with a possible realization as she handed it over to Catra. "But maybe that's the key to using it?"
"What do you mean?" Catra tried to contain her curiosity and hope for this.
"Well just think about it. The last dozen or so times you tried to use it, you were using it by yourself when you were alone and trying to defend yourself, right?"
"Yeaah...?"
"So, maybe try thinking of defending someone else for a change?" Her suggestion was met with a strange, unsure, skepticism from Catra as she looked at the jewel of her sword. Come to think of it, practically every time she did try to use it was whenever she was by herself, and half those times when she was with someone else or surrounded by a dozen other people. It was like that too when she defeated that force captain who was sucking the energy out of Plumeria's Hearts Blossom, even if there was a town she was trying to fight for. She wanted to use the sword to defeat her enemies or when she prioritized someone else for whatever reason.
She never really considered it was just a matter of when she was trying to defend someone else.
"So... just think of defending someone else or something?"
"I don't know, maybe?" Glimmer was just as sure of it as Catra was, which is to say not at all. "Just try it and see if it works.
"Huff, fine..." She puffed, standing her ground again as she raised the sword above her head. If that really was the method to getting the sword to work, then she was willing to try anything around here, no matter how humiliating it might be. Swallowing the little bit of pride she was forfeiting, she took a deep breath as she cleared her mind of everything that didn't have to do with defending people. "For the Honor of Gr-NGGGHHHH!" All at once, Catra's entire body shivered violently as goosebumps spread across her entire body.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?!" What just happened? Did Glimmer's suggestion actually make things worse? Oh gosh, what is she going to tell her mom if she ended up breaking She-Ra?!
"Aggghhh!" Catra garbled as she dropped to her knees. She was squeezing her ears for dear life as if they were going to pop off if she let go. "So...HORRIBLE..."
"Horrible?"
"-I am, I am!"
"Huh?" It was at that time of silence that she finally picked up on the sound of a strange singing.
It was horrible for sure, no doubt, but by the way Catra was acting, she was behaving like someone was running a saw blade through her ear drums. On the other side of the ship, jumping from point to point with Bow admiring each and every one of his leaps, Sea Hawk gazed upon the scenery with his cutlass as he sang his triumphant song. Like many other qualities to him, the entire song was about Sea Hawk himself, no doubt boasting about his greatness once again.
"If you want to ride on the waves of deepest blue,
Through perilous winds, Then I got you~"
"You're kidding, right?" Glimmer questioned looking back to the trembling Catra. "I mean it's not the best song I ever heard, but it doesn't sound that bad. It's actually kinda catchy-"
"No, not that!" Catra hissed, pointing off into whatever direction the source of her pain was coming from. "Whatever's making that atrocious scratching noise!"
"The scratching noise...?" Looking more closely, she finally realized what the source of Catra's true pain and suffering was. Alongside Sea Hawk as he continued to sing, there was Bow, always present at his side with a violin in his hands. Personally she found that more debatable than the singing itself. Bow might not have been the world's best musician or anything but the music he was playing was anything far from horrible. It wasn't even close to being considered bad! "That's just a violin, Catra. Haven't you seen or heard one before?"
"Do you think I'd be pulling at my ears like this if I had?!" She continued to growl, slamming the side of her head against the wooden ship so her ear was pinned on one side while using the other two hands to squeeze the other. "Hurry up and tell them to turn that racket off, Pudgey!"
"Mmmmh!" Glimmer marched over with a small blush as she grumbled.
Oh how she wished it didn't stick with her. Oh why oh why did that one stupid guard from Plumeria have to make that one single comment about her size? Ever since they came back from Plumeria, Catra came up with the incredibly funny name, to her at least, "Pudgey" whenever Glimmer annoyed her more often than not.
Half the time, she was never annoying her.
She used it whenever they were eating meals together, they used it whenever they passed each other in the halls when she was grounded for the last week, and she used it just to get a reaction half the time she was minding her own business in her own room. She never thought a day would come when she actually preferred being called Pinky but here it was.
"Hey guys." Glimmer greeted as they paused their song.
"Oh, hey Glimmer. Something wrong?" Bow asked curiously.
"Nope!" Glimmer shook her head with a smile. "Catra just wanted me to ask you guys if you could play your music louder."
"WHAT?!" She grinned as she heard Catra's shout.
"In that case, who am I to deny a fair maiden of my wonderful vocals!" Sea Hawk decreed as he took a deep breath.
"I am Sea Hawk, I am I am,
I am Sea Hawk, I am I am~!"
As expected, along with Sea Hawk's catchy tune, Bow did everything in his power to increase the volume of his beloved instrument, the very one Sea Hawk had carrying around his ship for situations such as this. While he wasn't as enthusiastic about playing an instrument for just the fun of it, if Catra liked his music so much, then he would play like his life depended on it!
Neither of them were aware of the smirk Glimmer was giving back as she looked off into Catra's direction. At this point the cat was slamming her head against the floor in a vain attempt to pass out, trying to do anything to drown out the noise, including drowning just to do it.
Maybe next time you'll think about calling me Pudgey!
"I'M DROWNING YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!"
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Crooked shaggy rocks. Broken ships and debris scattered all around them. Torn apart sails that look like they've been here for years.
"Something's wrong..." Glimmer muttered checking over the map from the Crow's Nest. "According to the map, we're way off-course."
For the last half hour, following the wonderful music Sea Hawk and Bow displayed for ten minutes straight, the crew had worked around to make sure everything was maintained and kept in working order as they sailed. Unsurprisingly, Catra didn't want anything to do with Glimmer other than cut her into little ribbons on the next possible chance she got. So, knowing she would never be able to pull it off without someone noticing, she decided to spend her time keeping the lookout atop the Crow's Nest, unsure if Catra would follow through with any of her threats.
And for awhile, things were going great! Granted she heard Bow crying his eyes out for two minutes when Catra suddenly bashed the violin on the ground, and partly over Sea Hawk's head, but the three seemed to quickly get over the issues as they set up a table along the ship using several boxes and clothes they could gather. From there, the trio spent a dozen or so minutes having several different rematches in a glorious game of arm-wrestling.
From her point of view, it appeared that nothing quite like a game of arm-wrestling could make one forget about their past arguments. Or, the more likely case, they were having too much fun trying to best each other in a display of strength.
Chances were the latter.
Teleporting from the Crow's Next, she reappeared next to the rest of the crew as they were finishing their next match, the victor being Catra once again.
"Ha! That's three in a row!" She cheered.
"Ghhh best 4 out of 7!" Sea Hawk grumbled with demand.
"No! No more arm-wrestling!" Glimmer stated slamming her hands on the table.
'Tch, typical..." Catra groaned internally. "I start having fun and you have to ruin it."
"Just forget about your fun for a second! I spotted a ship graveyard over in the distance and we're heading straight for it. Is anyone worried about this?"
*crash!*
"Ah!" The rest of the crew sprang to her feet as Glimmer let out a scream. "What was that?!"
"Ah ha! We're here!" His moustache glistened as Sea Hawk stood upon the makeshift table with one foot. "We're here!"
*CRASH!*
"Ahh!" The group screamed in unison as they were tossed several feet around the ship in all directions.
The boat was suddenly flung in the air as the crew found themselves flung several yards into the air, feeling and seeing a massive fin smack into the right of their ship. With haste in his veins and pride in his heart, Sea Hawk quickly stepped up to the rails of the ship again, staring down the terrifying abomination that swam around them.
"The Serpent of the Sea! I knew he'd be lurking in these waters!" As he continued to mumble whatever idiocies he had to say, Catra stared back at the sword itself, looking once more into her reflection.
"I need to think about defending everyone..." She mumbled looking around.
Let's see... Everyone's in peril... The ship needs to be saved... And those two are going to die... Compared to what one should feel when they had such thoughts, Catra felt a wave of glee as these thoughts entered her head, her heart calming as she held out the sword.
"For the Honor of Grayskull!"
All around her lights of a dazzling displayed danced across the scenery as her entire body shimmered with a sparkling glow, save for her eyes that remained pure light. With the humming of her sword, she brought the sword to her face along with her illuminated hand, crossing them side by side until they formed an X in front of her.
With a silent breath, she began pulling the sword and claw against each other on opposite ends, scraping her claws against the mighty blade which danced with a sparkling light. As she did, little by little her outfit changed into a majestic white color, growing little by little along her body as she pulled the blade away from her claw. By the time her claw reached the end of her sword, her entire outfit had finished changing, now sporting a white colored vest with a yellow light image bursting from the center of a light-blue gem, along with a white colored short skirt across her waist.
Finally, she brought her empty hand to her face. She held it there as a golden light enveloped both her wrists, forming a beautifully golden set of bracelets. As a final piece, slowly pulling her hand away from her face as her helmet changed to a golden color, the spikes on the end growing several inches longer as they curved out against her form, just as golden pads stretched from the shoulders.
With this, her transformation had come to an end, and She-Ra had been formed.
The rest of the crew were taken back by the appearance of this golden light. Having seen it only twice to this date, even Glimmer and Bow were surprised to see Catra had finally transformed into She-Ra again, the warrior princess that the Rebellion had needed and longed for for so long.
Just like the rest of them, Catra looked over herself with shock, one that was quickly replaced by an overwhelming waterfall of glee. She couldn't help the excitement building up in her, seeing how she finally cracked the code. After so many headaches, so many annoyances through her life, she finally discovered a power and the means to finally summon it!
"Catra..." Bow stuttered to speak. "You... You finally transf-
"Yahoooooo!" Any comments from the peanut gallery fell on deaf ears as Catra quickly rushed the giant monster before her. With no care about the others she passed and little concern for her own safety, she leapt to the air with sword in hand, continuing to grin as the ferocious demon of the beast clashed it's teeth against her mighty sword. She didn't even care when she was plunged into the murky depths below into the freezing cold waters. This was her moment! And she was having a blast!
"Is that... normal, for her?" Sea Hawk asked, unable to take his eyes off the sight as the two disappeared into the water.
"Believe it or not, it's a bit unusual for us too." Bow commented. "This is probably the third time we've seen her do it." He smiled back to Glimmer who continued to look in amazement. "Can you believe it? She finally got it to work!"
"Did she take my advice?" Glimmer questioned.
"Pfffft!" Catra spat out the sea water as she rose to the surface again. "I got him-! Err wait-! Whoa!" She let out another yelp as she was dragged under again.
"So your friend... doesn't need help?" Sea Hawk asked slightly disappointed.
"Nope! I think she's just fine." Bow answered chipperly, unaware of the captain's dismay.
Why did no one tell them this? Why did no one warn him he was going to be traveling with a fellow hero of all things? All the glory, all the riveting details that he was going to have the young ones tell about himself were all dashed away by the sudden reveal of the hero before them.
If they had told him that earlier, he would've gladly turned down the offer beforehand! Why would he want to travel alongside a fellow hero who was going to hog all the glory for themselves? Sure, he wasn't one to usually turn down the young ones when they requested it, whether or not they beat him in arm-wrestling, but why was he needed if another fellow hero was in their midst? Was he needed for anything for that matter?
After waiting another several seconds, the three watched as air bubbles rose violently, followed by a still-excited Catra who was still grinning.
"Ok, now I got him!" She announced swimming to the ship. "I can barely feel the water like this." Just one of the many perks she had to look forward to with being She-Ra, she supposed.
"Awesome job, Catra!" Bow congratulated. "Now hurry up and get on the boat!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, I'm coming." She wondered what other perks she had to look forward to as She-Ra. With her already superb agility heightened to greater lengths, the vast amount of strength her new form obtained, and her defenses increased to the point where she could barely feel the water, there was no telling how much She-Ra benefitted her. "Just give me a min-"
...
...
"Alright, everyone, settle down, settle down." Shadow-Weaver directed with as much kindness as she could. It was hard to forcefully switch her personalities on a dime. "I want everyone in bed by the time I reach the door." The kids gathered around the bunkroom as they turned in for the day, all dressed in matching white shirt and grey pant PJs. After another long grueling day of education and training, like most five year olds went through on a daily basis, the kids were all finally washed up and ready to settle in for bed.
"Can you tell us a story before bed?" A smiling five-year-old Adora asked running up to Shadow-Weaver.
"Well..."
"Please! Please! Please!" The kids around her began to beg in unison. Normally she would've been more than happy to silence the little pests that practically ordered her to tell a story like this. But when the request came from the adorable angel that stood happily before her, how was she to say no?
"Huff, I spoil you too much." She said, softly patting Adora's head. No one was unaware of Shadow-Weaver's favoritism towards Adora, and everyone was too smart to point it out. "All right, one story children, and then it's off to bed." The kids all around her cheered in tandem as they gathered around the floor in front of her and on the edges of the bunkbeds, the right hand of Lord Hordak pulling up a chair as she turned to the only child she cared about. "Adora sweetie, would you like to sit on my lap again?"
"Huh! Come on, you wanna sit in the front?" Adora asked the girl behind her.
As usual, Adora's face brightened at the chance as Shadow-Weaver always allowed her to. But her excitement quickly faded as she looked back to the smaller child behind her, one that made Shadow-Weaver's blood boil to a burning point.
A small, miniscule, rodent seen no more as mere vermin, who went by the name of Catra. Ever since Adora came across the young child, she's been nothing more than a distraction to her. Whether it was training in the gyms or playground yards, studying across the numerous classes that taught her mechanics and how to fight, or simply to eat lunch day by day, she was the one and only thing Adora ever talked about. Not to mention the severely unneeded attention she gave the girl.
She couldn't understand why Adora was so drawn to this little pest. She was always the sheepish one in her classes, she was the one that was rightfully picked on by almost everyone within the Fright Zone, and, fitting her qualities, she was considered a scaredy cat when it came to anything dangerous. The only times she ever got the bravery or courage to do something was when someone else was in need of help, and that alone was a rarity around here when the kids picked on each other for helping one another.
Like always, the quiet girl fearfully shook her head, hiding behind Adora as the other kids stared and looked at them. Shadow-Weaver's hatred for the young girl was known by all and felt only to a few. And while Adora knew of Shadow-Weaver's harshness to her, she didn't really see it as any different to her harshness towards everyone else. To her, it was just Shadow-Weaver being Shadow-Weaver, completely unaware of how personally she despised Catra.
Thinking for a few seconds after seeing her friend's shyness, Adora smiled back to Shadow-Weaver as she shook her head. "Umm I think I'm good tonight. Thanks though!" She replied, sitting at the edge of the group of children with Catra sitting next to her. There was a brief moment of silence as Shadow-Weaver's hatred seethed, bottling up whatever rage she was filling so as to not scar the children for life.
"Fine." She said with a small hiss. Catra could already feel the anger from the witch suffocating her, knowing she just made things worse. Deciding to move forward, the children watch with excitement as Shadow-Weaver began using her magic. She manipulated the shadows within the palms of her hands as she put on a personal display, showing shadowy versions of everything she was depicting. "I believe you children know this one."
"Once, many eons ago, this world was ruled by terrible creatures of power, the ones you know today as the evil princesses."
"Booooo!" Many of the children exclaimed, just as Shadow-Weaver expected.
"They used their evil magics to spread chaos across the lands, ravaging anything and everything they came across. They burned down cities, set fires to homes, devoured the flesh of little children like yourselves." She didn't skim on a single detail. She could feel the fear coming from some of the children surrounding her. "No amount of armies could stop them, no technology was advanced enough to fight them, and no amount of hiding could avoid them. There was no avoiding the princesses forever. You either submitted to their eternal rule, or you faced horrible death!"
Adora smiled as she patted Catra's back soothingly, hearing the young girl gulp quietly.
"But then, passed the stars and beyond the moons, a lone warrior came down from the heavens. One who stood for honor, decency, and unity throughout all the cosmos. You know him today as Lord Hordak."
"Yaaaaa!" Like with the boos, the entire room filled with cheer from almost everybody at the mention of his name, seeing a heroic-looking shadowy figure being displayed by Shadow-Weaver.
"He saw all the corruption, all the lies and turmoil that the evil princesses spread. Together with a select few heroes, he began his war across Etheria, slaying monster after monster, princess after princess, until finally, he came across the last one where he rules today. Many of his friends and allies had fallen by the time he reached the last princess. But with their sacrifices in his heart, and their courage living on in his blood, he finally struck down the mighty princess, and claimed the land you know as the Fright Zone."
"But why are there more princesses then if he killed them all?" Another random girl asked, clearly never hearing this story before.
"Because just like vermin and rats, the princesses always find a way to return." Shadow-Weaver explained. "They continue to hide in the shadows, even to this day. Waiting, plotting, organizing everything around them so that one day they could strike back against the Horde!" As opposed to fear as many of the children would have felt, the kids instead displayed simple smiles of pride and respect. "That's why each and every one of you has an important role within the Horde. One day, you too will find yourselves fighting against these creatures of darkness. And, if you work hard enough, you may earn the Honor to work alongside Lord Hordak himself!"
"Yaaaaa!" The children all cried out in cheer again as several rings of applause burst throughout the small gathering,.
What an amazing story! It was full of heroism and evil monsters, just like the children were always told about! They knew Lord Hordak was a wonderful being, and each and every one of them felt proud to be living within the Horde, knowing the sacrifices and effort Hordak went through for their safety and livelihoods. Each of them owed Lord Hordak their lives and not one of them planned to let him down!
Sure the days may be hard from time to time. And yes there were days a kid wondered if learning how to fully customize a shock baton from scratch was the best way to spend their childhood. But they would have nothing if not for Hordak's generosity and wisdom, they would be suffering if they didn't have him watching over them! The fact of the matter is, they wanted to prove themselves to Lord Hordak, they felt like they needed to in order to feel fulfilled and give their life meaning! They would happily die for Lord Hordak, and some of them were ready to even now after hearing such a great story!
"...Are all the princesses really that evil?" All heads turned the speaker of the question, including Adora. No one had ever said such a horrible thought, such a questionable thing to say. It was safe to say Catra's fear was overwhelming, feeling the intense gaze of everyone she spoke in front of now. "I-I mean... isn't there like, I dunno... A nice one or two?"
This right here. This little rodent summed up every single reason she was detested by Shadow-Weaver. She didn't know her place, she didn't fall in line without questioning others. She didn't take everything and accepted it as it already was. She just asked whatever questions she had to ask like she owned the entire place.
At least that's how the other children saw it.
"You don't think Hordak's story is true?!" One of the boys asked while gasping.
"N-No, not like that! Just that... you know... Maybe there's a princess out there who might be nice. I mean if there's plenty of bad people out there too, isn't it possible that one's good... maybe...?" She wondered, second guessing a little as she tried to reiterate. To Shadow-Weaver's surprise, many heads looked around the room with the same look of curiosity. Was there actually any good princesses out there? Was one of them actually good and helpful?
Without any hesitation, the magicat suddenly screamed as she was pulled off her feet by magic, pulled over with immense speed as Shadow-Weaver grabbed her by the throat.
"Such insolence!" Shadow-Weaver shouted angrily, scaring the children not even half as close to how much she was scaring Catra. "You would dare question the honor and duty of Lord Hordak himself?! Do you not appreciate all that he has given you- no. Sacrificed for you?!"
"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorryyyyy!" Catra cried as she flailed around her feet. This was the absolute terror Catra feared most. The anger within her eyes, the hair spiraling out of control, the magic that went berserk throughout the room. This was the definition of true terror. "I-I didn't mean it, I'm sorryyyyyy!"
"You would be nothing more than a rat from the gutter in any other kingdom, and you would dare to question the righteousness of Hordak's Horde?" Almost every fiber of her being was redirected towards the small figure pulling at her robe down below. It took all of her power to change her persona to someone softer, trying desperately not to take it out on the lone figure that she cared about.
"She didn't mean it." Adora assured with small pleading eyes. "It was just the slip of the tongue. Right, Catra?" Without saying a word, Catra nodded repeatedly like her life depended on it.
Mostly because it did.
This stupid cat was one of the few things she would decimate on a whim. People like her, things like her, were what ruined the Horde around here. They were a plague that gave false ideals and unnecessary hope to the other children and citizens of the Fright Zone. With people like these around, their entire kingdom could come crumbling down.
With a growl in her tone, she dropped the child where she stood, brushing passed the terrified Catra who quickly ran into Adora's comforting arms.
"Consider any and all future story times officially cancelled!" She announced, half the room filling with whining and moaning. As the door automatically opened, she shot one last look to the cat girl as she left. "If any of you have a complaint to make about all of this, you can thank your fellow cadet for the trouble she's caused." And without another word, she left, leaving the hefty automatic doors to shut loudly with the amplified silence in the room.
All eyes turned to the two girls as they glared with unbridled rage. Because of her, their story time was forever over! Thanks to her Shadow-Weaver was definitely going to make their lives harder! That one stupid girl who continued to cry into Adora's comforting hands ruined the best days they ever had to look forward to, all because she was a little too curious about the world. They would all make sure she paid for this later, through whatever means and whatever excuse they had.
The only one who had any compassion still for the young girl was Adora. She knew she couldn't blame Catra. It was just a story after all, and it's not like none of them ever had the same question pop up into their minds. She was just the first to speak about it openly. If anything, she was more proud of her for being so brave enough to actually ask something everyone else was too afraid of saying!
But that did little to ease the minds of her fellow cadets. They were all enraged, they were all fuming, At least like this for the time being, Catra didn't have anything to fear.
She just hoped nothing bad could happen to her comforting friend...
...
...
FREEZING! That's the immediate sensation that was sent all throughout Catra's body as she snapped back to reality.
Where the heck am I?! Catra hastily looked around in a panic as she felt a strange floaty sensation. Everything around her had a dark blue hue to her surroundings. What just happened to her? Normally when she had these stupid visions pop up she came back to reality wherever she stood. Looking around her, she felt a strange floaty sensation as she saw her outfit. She turned back to normal, her She-Ra transformation apparently having worn off much sooner than her second time around.
"Agghhhh!" Catra nearly choked as she opened her mouth. Seeing the dozens of air bubbles that escaped her lungs as she clamped her throat tight quickly sent an overwhelming fear through her mind. Dark blue hues, a strange freezing sensation throughout her person, air that floated directly above her? There was only one place this girl could possibly be.
I'm in the ocean! She screamed to herself. Without a second thought she quickly swam to the surface with all her might, rushing to get back to the fresh clear air as her body shivered. Of all the stupid times for this thing to give me a vision! She didn't know how long she had been down here. Did she just sink all the way down while the visions played out? Why of all the times did this stupid sword have to give her a vision while she was underwater?
Better yet, why the heck did it have to turn off her She-Ra form at any point while she was doing it?! How much air did she have left? How much did she waste while she was stuck as She-Ra earlier? There were too many questions and not enough time to answer them! With every stroke and kick of her body her senses dimmed little by little. Whatever amount of oxygen she had left was running out with every movement.
I-I can see the surface! That was the only bright side to all this, literally in this case. She must've been fifty or so yards away from the top, yet however close she got the farther it felt like she was. Come on! Come on! She kept shouting to herself. Fifty yards became forty yards. Forty became thirty. And so on and so forth. She was almost there, she could see the surface coming closer to her by the second! She had ten yards left!
Then it happened.
Her body betrayed her as it suddenly convulsed against her will. No matter how hard she tried to fight back, her body opened up all the airwaves her body contained. All at once her lungs instantly filled with water, her body's weight increasing as she struggled just to stay afloat where she was now. Paralysis spread through her entire body, lights were fading in the corner of her eyes. She couldn't fight back as everything slowly came to an end.
Finally, everything stopped around her. She couldn't move. She could barely think. She couldn't even register what was going on. All she knew was that her body had given out, and she was slowly descending downward to the ocean once more. Of all the ways she could possibly die on this adventure, why did it have to be like this? She should've stayed at the castle like she wanted, she knew something bad would happen on this trip.
Not until a shadowy figure splashed into the water from above her, barely seeing it through the corner of her eye. While she lacked any sensation of touch, she felt herself slowly moving upwards again as an arm wrapped around her. Something was moving her, someone else had came to save her. One figure at present came to mind as she blearily saw the darkened figure that dove in to save her.
Adora...? Was she hallucinating? Was it really her? She couldn't tell what was going on at this moment as more and more lights continued to fade around her. It was almost at it's final bit of light when the two finally reached the surface at long last.
*splash!*
"I got her!" She could hear Bow shouting. Immediately she began coughing out the water that filled her lungs, little by little, just as Glimmer quickly reappeared in the water at their side. Grabbing the two of them, she used all the magic she could muster as she teleported the three again, reappearing several feet above the ship itself before they landed on it with a solid thud. Like a fish out of water, Catra flopped around as her body collapsed, this time emptying it's contents of all the water that filled her body as air returned little by little to her.
"Hack-! OUgh-ough!" She coughed violently, cupfulls of water pouring out of her mouth one at a time. She felt a hand patting her back as it tried to help her breathe out the water, recognizing the firm palm of it to be none other than Sea Hawk himself.
Her entire body was still soaked, she was freezing beyond compare. Somehow she felt colder as the air breezed around her body, her skin tingling at each sensation. Her hair itself was drenched like the rest of her body, soaking passed her face as she felt live flow into her at long last. She couldn't believe she had actually made it, despite the improbable odds. Here she was, alive and well.
Well not exactly well, more on freezing like never before followed by a dizziness from nearly drowning.
But alive.
"Are you okay?!" Glimmer kneeled to her side quickly as she helped pat her back.
"Ack-! Ough...I'm...ough... I'm fine..." Catra rasped, her voice a little sore from the salt water she forcefully inhaled. Looking around her various things began to dawn on her.
First off, these visions were a world renowned pain at this point. After her experience a minute ago, she could officially state that when and if these visions appeared were unpredictable. During the few times she's had said visions within the last week before this mission, she had the fortune of them not popping up unexpectedly or inconvenient times. At most, she probably found herself having a vision once or twice in the hallways for several seconds.
Now she was realizing that it didn't matter what she was doing or where she was when these visions occurred, and that could prove very problematic in the future.
Secondly, her She-Ra form went off way too early compared to last time. There officially had to be some bug with this stupid sword at this point because the second time she went She-Ra, she found herself in her state for nearly a full day, twenty-four hours to be exact. Here, she lasted maybe several minutes before it wore off, and that's not including whenever it passed off while she was having a vision.
Lastly she realized...
"Y-You guys... saved me?" For whatever reason to her, this apparently warranted the two to smile back to her.
"Of course we saved you," Glimmer said brightly, "we're a team!"
"Yeah! The Best Friend Squad sticks together!" Bow declared.
"...Ok I'm throwing myself overboard if you call us that again..." It was strangely humorous hearing that from Catra. Unlike most of the times, there was always a small hiss to her tone whenever something annoyed her. Here, she just spoke a bit more commonly than usual, like she was purposely making a joke.
True, they wouldn't put it passed her if she would actually do it, but all the same it was a nice change of pace.
At the same time, Catra didn't really know what to make of it. Why did they bother to help her? Why did they look concerned when she saw them? At the Fright Zone she would've easily drowned as the others watched on and laughed, less Adora saved her. Here, these people who meant nothing to her dove head first to save her from a watery grave, despite everything she said about them and thought about them. Whatever miniscule chance of positivity she could've come up with was swept away as another thought occurred to her.
It was just the stupid sword... She told herself. It was clear their intention was just for the sword, why else would they try to save her? They didn't care about her, it's not like they wanted to save her. They just wanted the sword in case they could unlock it's powers for the next person who wields it. That was the only reason they saved her, it must be the only reason they saved her.
...Right?
"Well done, lads!" Sea Hawk cheered pumping his fists. "Clearly the lessons I've taught you have brought us a great victory today-!"
"Oh would you just knock it off!" Glimmer yelled as Bow helped Catra to her feet, her body still a little numb.
"I'm sorry?"
"We're trying to save Etheria and all you care about is whether or not we're impressed with you. Catra almost drowned today just because you were trying to boast your own ego!"
"W-Well... I wasn't aware she had any conditions or anything... but uhh..." This wasn't exactly the turn he wanted things to take. First the cat girl transforms into some heroic figure with an outfit and transformation then immediately charges at the first thing that endangers them? How was he supposed to know she had some sort of swimming condition? It's not like he asked her to charge the giant monster herself anyway.
And it's not like he didn't feel guilty about it either. Like Glimmer said, someone almost died because he wanted to show off. He never meant to put the lads in any dangers, not the likes of children who looked up to him! This was something completely on him that would take time to get over, and longer than that to possibly earn forgiveness.
"I need this mission to go right or my mom will never give me another!" She continued to rant pulling her hair, forgetting Catra's senses despite them still being partially numbed.
Yeah, that's what I thought... Just the mission... It was weirder saying this time around. She couldn't explain it, she didn't know why, but for a moment thinking those thoughts actually made her a little sad... why?
"Come on, we'll get you some warm towels." Bow said with her arm around his neck, helping her walk away.
"Whatever..."
"Just get us to Salineas. You've wasted enough of our time." Glimmer ordered, still a little angry.
Strange thing was, regardless of all that happened, Catra was still a little bummed out. Not of her botched "heroics", not due to the fact her stupid She-Ra thing messed her up in several different ways, and not because of her recent questioning, but something else entirely. She hated to remind herself of it, she hated how she nearly forgot all about it, and right now drowning seemed like a slightly better alternative to the latter. She knew there was no avoiding it though after everything that's happened.
She had to answer a single question from Glimmer...
...
...
...
A/N: Another funtastical chapter complete! (side note: Funtastical's an actual word? Cause spell check doesn't catch it :O!).
You know I was contemplating to myself how I can show my appreciation to the fanbase of both the series and MY series, and as opposed to sending each reviewing 1 Million dollars, cause let's face it, who the heck wants THAT of all things XP, I decided to make the next chapter a little interactive for everyone! How? Simple!
You guys get to choose what's the one question you want to ask about Catra's past ^^! I kid you not, originally going through this I fully intended for Glimmer to ask a specific question, but seeing the nice and awesome feedback I keep getting from fans, I think I'll treat them to a chance to ask the magicat herself practically.
Now the question can be about anything or ANYONE (hint hint) except Shadow-Weaver, mostly because she's the one person she never mentions. But it can only be ONE question. Now I have to go to work for the entire day, so you guys should have plenty of time to decide on the one question you have- and I only accept the question from people who REVIEW FIRST XP Sorry but i just love the feedback I keep getting, so keep the question at the end of your reviews if able. If you dont want to ask and just want to review, that's just as fine ^^
By tomorrow I'll tally up any questions I get and answer either the most-asked question of the bunch, or whichever question seems the most interesting in the event of a tie ^^
With that said, hope you all enjoyed today's episode/part cause I know I did! I had a heck of a fun time with the latter half of this myself ^_^!
As always leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!