A/N: Final Word Count: 14.2k Pre-A/N's. What's up guys, here with another present chapter! Not much to say about this one, sorry for the small delay, but hopefully the large size helps to make up for it ^^ Will admit writings not at the best atm, with the sickness thing going around and people scrambling left and right, I've had my share of headaches (mostly of people acting way too over the top with this stuff), so writing might be choppy from here to there, especially since it's differing so much from the original content.
With that all said, hope you still enjoy ^^!
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"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Octavia yelled fiercely as she continued to squeeze on Adora's nine-year-old arm. The little blonde did everything she could to shake free of the officer's titan-like strength, nearing the edge of tears coming down her eyes as the squeeze continued to intensify.
It wasn't enough for her to escape the first time. After pulling off one of the most dangerous games she ever had with Catra, the two ended up getting caught by Octavia of all people, the woman getting a firm grip on the young blonde first as Catra made her own escape. Personally, the fact that Catra didn't come back for her is what bothered her the most.
She still couldn't figure out why Catra would just abandon her like that. Didn't they always say they would have each other's backs? To always look out for each other? She could've stayed behind, taken the possible punishment with Adora or helped her escape. Instead, she ran with her tail between her legs, apologizing as she ran out of the bay as fast as she could.
It didn't make any sense to the young girl, and for all she knew, it never would. Her only priority at this point was dealing with the octo-lady with a crushing grip on her arm, one who dragged her all the way back into the Cargo Bay after finding the little hiding spot Adora kept herself in.
"I-It was an accident, honest!" She sniffed, struggling in vain to escape the pain and the anger directed at her. "W-We were just playing around!"
"I don't care if you were field testing it you little brat!" Octavia yelled louder, squeezing even tighter and bringing Adora closer to tears. The girl had never felt such a sense of fear, guilt, stress, worry, and everything one could feel after going through what she did. It wasn't helping that the longer it went on for, the more Octavia seemed to be yelling, and the louder it got.
From instinct or from overall fear, Adora felt like her options were becoming limited. If she waited any longer, she didn't what would happen before she broke down, and if she managed to get through all the yelling, she was positive she was going to break her arm at this rate! She's never dealt with a broken bone in her life and she hoped she wouldn't ever have to. All she knew right now was that she had to escape this situation, and fast!
And, thanks to Catra's many teachings, she knew the perfect solution out of this grasp.
*CHOMP!*
"YEOW!" With a great, big breath, Adora bit Octavia's tentacle-like arm as hard as she could. The good news was that it definitely appeared to be effective as Octavia's grasp loosened. The bad news is, aside from the bad taste it left in her mouth, she already tried this once before not ten minutes ago, and Octavia had braced herself for the pain. "You really think that's going work on me twice, kid!?"
"Y-You're hurting me, let go!" Adora whimpered, shaking her arm as hard as she could. She regretted not taking the moment to escape when she had the chance.
"You think this is hurting you?" She growled. "Let me show you what hurting really is, brat!" With a mighty arm, she raised her tentacled-hand into the air, Adora's pupils shrinking at the sight of it, and covering her head with her free arm as she prepared for the inevitable onslaught.
*Crash!*
But the onslaught never came.
"Adora!" Instantly, Adora's eyes snapped open at the sound of Shadow Weaver's angelic-like voice calling out to her in worry.
"Mo- Shadow Weaver!" Adora cried out, rushing up to her and hugging her waist tightly. Never had her presence brought such relief to Adora as it had here, or the timely rescue from Octavia's wrath.
She couldn't keep the tears from flowing through the small slits of her eyelids as Shadow Weaver stroked her head. Looking back, she saw the state Octavia was in and the state the crates she was thrown into, no doubt the result of Shadow Weaver's life-saving magic at work as she engulfed the octogirl in her magic before blasting her away.
"Are you alright?" She asked, soothingly. Her glare intensified to the sound of Octavia pulling herself out of the rubble, rubbing her head from the impact. Noticing it herself, the young Adora quickly ran behind Shadow Weaver, hiding behind her legs as she peeked around. "You have some nerve attacking her like that. You have ten seconds to explain yourself. Now!"
"Tch, save your threats for someone who takes them seriously, witch." Octavia scoffed, brushing off her shoulders as she approached. "And maybe you should be asking the brat what she and her friend did before jumping to conclusions!"
"I thought I made it clear to everyone that any issues concerning her are to be brought to me directly?" She raised her hand threateningly as the gem of her mask glowed a little, doing nothing to scare the officer glaring back at her. "No exceptions."
"You want an exception? Why don't you try opening your eyes and smelling the smoke!" Without wasting time, she directed Shadow Weaver's attention towards the burning remains of metal across the room, the smoke still filling the air as soldiers and droids alike slowly began to put out the fire with extinguishers. "You think we started a bonfire or something? Your kid and that stupid cat took a skiff for a joyride and crashed it into another one!"
"You miserable wretch! Adora would never do such a thing."
"Oh yeah? Why don't you ask her yourself, then?" Octavia challenged, crossing her arms.
Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes at this as she gazed at the officer. She refused to believe such a thing, in any shape or form, that Adora was capable of pulling off such an act. It almost sickened her to imagine anyone desperate enough like Octavia to come up with a lie such as this!
"Adora." She said sternly, keeping her eyes on Octavia. "Go ahead and tell her."
"Huh?" Adora questioned the vague objective she was given.
"Go ahead and tell her, Adora." She repeated. "Tell her it was Catra and ONLY Catra, and you were trying to stop her. I trust you."
"... Um..." At the sound, Shadow Weaver's eyes slowly widened as she turned around, staring back at Adora as Octavia returned her own focus to her.
"Adora?"
"...We... I-It was an accident... Honest..." She mumbled, the guilt on her face keeping her from looking at the mother-figure of her life directly.
"Excuse me?" Already, Shadow Weaver's emotions were beginning to spike, as the mountaintop of disbelief slowly melted away one foot at a time into a steaming pool of boiling water.
"W-We... We were just playing, and..." She barely began her explanation before the tears formed in the corner of her eyes, knowing the amount of disappointment and anger Shadow Weaver must be feeling. "A-A-And... And Catra said she knew how to pilot a skiff, and... W-We were just going to take it for a small ride and... I-I-I'm sorry..."
"...You're sorry... YOU'RE SORRY!?" All at once, a newfound explosion of rage erupted out of Shadow Weaver as her hair spiraled out of control, her voice booming to such lengths that even surprised Octavia.
If Adora knew what kind of fierce grip Shadow Weaver had beforehand, she would've gladly remained in Octavia's grasp. Shadow Weaver's hand squeezing ever-so tightly against her right arm, it felt like her very bones were being pushed into each other, just inches away from snapping at the sheer pressure she applied. She could've sworn that everything past her wrist was turning blue, the oxygen coming to an immediate halt.
"O-OWWWW!" Adora screamed in pain, trying to yank her arm away from Shadow Weaver's terrifying and painful grasp. "Stop it, it hurts!"
"IT HURTS!? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, YOUNG LADY?! WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE?" Shadow Weaver shouted, her voice booming across the cargo hold and drawing multiple eyes.
For the first time in her life, she didn't care how harsh she was being towards the girl. This, all of this, was the single most stupidest thing she could ever picture Adora doing, and she actually did it! This was something she could easily see Catra doing, something she would need to correct in due time herself, but that wasn't what mattered to her right now. What mattered to her was the very fact Adora, her Adora, would be caught up in the mix behind it all!
"YOU WEREN'T JUST PLAYING A SIMPLE GAME HERE, ADORA! YOU WERE RISKING YOUR LIFE OUT OF MERE ENJOYMENT!"
"I-I'm sorry-!" Adora tried to cry, only for Shadow Weaver to lean in closer, practically screaming in Adora's ears.
"I DON'T CARE HOW SORRY YOU ARE! DO YOU HEAR ME!? WHAT YOU DID TODAY WAS BEYOND FOOLISH! WHAT IF SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED? WHAT IF YOU ENDED UP HURTING, OR EVEN KILLING SOMEONE BY MISTAKE? OR WORSE, WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF IT HAPPENED TO YOU? THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, ADORA!"
"I'm s-sorryyyeh...eheheh..." Adora started to cry as her ears rung from the sound of Shadow Weaver's screaming. Not once, ever, had she used this tone of voice with the girl, even when she got into the occasional prank. She's seen this anger plenty of times, for sure, but never directed at her personally. She didn't realize how much worse the screaming was from the receiving end of it!
"IF YOU WERE TRULY SORRY, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT TO BEGIN WITH, WOULD YOU?" None of the anger subsided as she continued to glare at Adora in fury. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT DEATH IS, CHILD?! IT DOESN'T GIVE YOU SECOND CHANCES, YOU DON'T GET TO RESTART! ALL IT IS IS EMPTINESS AND DARKNESS! AND YOU WOULD'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING IT RIGHT NOW IF YOU WEREN'T SO LUCKY!"
"Ehhehehehhhh!" Adora continued to cry harder, not even caring anymore about Shadow Weaver's "No Crying" Rule.
"H-Hey, take it easy, Shadow Weaver." Octavia was actually starting to feel a little sorry for the girl she was just about to hit moments ago. Most of the children were disciplined accordingly to the crime around here when they were Adora's age, but they never had to suffer the true wrath of one's anger to the point where Shadow Weaver was bringing it. "Nobody got hurt-"
"I WANT YOU TO GO TO YOUR ROOM AND AWAIT MY ARRIVAL! NOW, ADORA!" She ordered sternly. With a firm shove, she finally released the girl's arm, Adora frantically rubbing it soothingly from the pain she felt over it. She mark she squeezed was still darkened from the force of the grip, an experience she never wanted to repeat again. She wasted no time sobbing her eyes out as she ran out of the facility, leaving behind an erupting Shadow Weaver and Octavia behind.
Waiting for the girl to finally vacate the room, she finally let out a sigh as her hair dropped around her. "Why must children be so difficult?"
"Well, you know, they're not like robots or anything, Shadow Weaver." Octavia replied, walking to her side. "You can't just program them to do something repeatedly. They're unpredictable at the best and worst of times. All you can really do is prepare for any eventuality."
"That "eventuality" nearly got her killed today. Am I being too easy on her or too hard? Or not hard enough?"
This really was a new experience for Shadow Weaver. Not once has she ever had to deal with such a momentous tragedy such as this, one that could've cost Adora her very life. She's scolded her on a handful of occasions throughout the years, mostly due to a certain pest's hand at getting her involved, but even this was pushing it too far.
"Can I trust you to deal with the other one, later?" She asked Octavia.
The tentacled girl gave her a nod as she looked back to the fire. "Yeah, the other brat's mine when I get my hands on her. This is going to take a mountain of paperwork to explain."
"I don't envy your job at times. But I repeat; if something like this happens again-"
"Yeah, yeah, keep your mask on, I'll tell it to you directly." Octavia truly showed no fear to the shadowy witch. It was almost commendable on a certain level to Shadow Weaver. "But don't expect me to be so lenient the next time something like this happens."
"Trust me, Octavia," Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes as she headed towards the exit, "there won't be a next time..."
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*clink*
"There." Adora tossed the badge against the ground to Shadow Weaver's legs. The witch looked at the badge in curiosity as Adora crossed her arms. "I got the dumb badge. Now what do you need?"
"Oh, this takes me back." Shadow Weaver reminisced, grazing her fingertips along the smooth edge of the badge. "I remember how hard you always trained just to prove yourself to me. Ah, such sweet memories."
"Yeah, touching, such as the time you made me run for two hours straight for a stupid record." She snarled, kneeling down in front of her. She wanted to look her in the eye so she could see all the pain and frustration through Adora's eyes. "Now quit wasting my time and tell me what else you need."
Shadow Weaver's eyes narrowed a little, not out of disregard or hate, but curiosity. "My, such a rush we're in today. You barely took the time to deal with your hair today by the looks of it." She commented, noticing the dozen or so strands sticking in front of her face. "Whatever could've caused this?"
"N-Nothing! Now tell me what else you need right now!" Adora lied as she tried to rush the conversation. She needed any information she could get, and soon.
The stress of being a commander was starting to takes its toll on the poor Force Captain. With paperwork that doubled by the day, alliances with various regions that were slowly starting to fall apart, and outposts beginning to fall left and right thanks to the Rebellion's recent advances, nothing was going right for her. Everything she worked so hard to accomplish, all the territories she wanted to unite under the Horde, was now collapsing in on itself.
Who was she supposed to blame over this? How was she supposed to blame someone else over this? Many of the territories they've recently lost over the last few days were the result of negligence of surveillance over the captured territories, thanks to Adora placing too much trust in the people she invited to join the Horde. Add that to the resources that were starting to spread too thin amongst the outposts, it was no wonder that they were beginning to fall one by one.
The fact they were losing the territories wasn't as troubling to Adora as the fact they were facing betrayals on all sides. The biggest issue that came to her was her lack of competence to Lord Hordak this was starting to show.
The leader of the Horde was reaching his limits with Adora's failure. Failing and allowing herself to be captured in Dryl, her failure to obtain valuable resources from the Beacon, and her failure to maintain an alliance with the Kingdom of Snows of all things. Everything she had done so far she had failed in, in his eyes, and she was starting to wear out her welcome in her manner of handling things.
Hordak gave her one last chance to prove herself before he would toss her away like a useless piece of garbage, secluding a nice comfortable cell right alongside her former mentors. If she failed him one more time, that would be the end of it, no matter how large or small the task at hand was. That's why he held his breath for the Force Captain to do something as simple as banish Shadow Weaver to Beast Island in the next two days, whether or not she could extract useful information from his former right hand.
And Adora couldn't allow that, not when she knew Shadow Weaver could still prove useful to them.
"Patience, child." Shadow Weaver shushed, closing her palm around the badge. "I'm not done yet."
"Done with wha- Ah!" Letting out a small yelp, Adora's left arm was grabbed by the aforementioned witch of darkness as she began fiddling with the sleeve along her shoulder. "What are you doing? Stop it!" She tried to order, attempting to pull away from the mentor without hurting her, less she lose her chances of getting any information out of her.
"Hold still..." Shadow Weaver ordered, fidgeting with her shoulder as the Force Captain shook. Whatever she was doing didn't take any longer than six seconds before the mentor was satisfied, finally leaning back against the walls when she was finally satisfied. "There we are."
Adora blinked to her in confusion before looking back to her shoulder. She was a little surprised to see a new silver badge around her shoulder, not that she needed it any longer since she was a Force Captain. "You... You had me get this thing just so you could put it on me?"
"Consider it a late promotion on my part." Shadow Weaver said, swaying her hand to the side. "I just wanted to make sure I tied up any loose ends I had left before being sent to Beast Island."
"You had me waste all that time just to put a dumb badge on me? I could've put it on myself if you had just told me that's what you wanted!"
"But then I wouldn't know for myself if you would actually put it on or not." She retorted. "And I just wanted to get a good look at you with it on before I go."
Adora felt a strange fascination of the badge, now that it was finally on her. It's not like it was enchanted with some bizarre trickery, knowing that Shadow Weaver was out of magic. It was just the fact it was finally on her that somehow made her feel a bit relieved, for some reason.
"I remember you would often beg me to give you back the badge for the next several months, after." She lamented. "I still recall that little badge you tried to make for yourself after a while to pass it off as the promotional badge. Do you remember?"
"Heh, yeah." The memory of it did actually make her chuckle a little as she shifted her eyes away. "I remember trying to use the metal of a broken droid the kids and I destroyed in one of our training lessons. I had to bend the metals repeatedly with my fingers just to get it close to the shape of the badge. That ended up being stupid after I cut my finger."
"It wouldn't have worked for very long anyway, my dear. The metal would've rusted within weeks without the proper coating. Everyone would've known you faked your way into being promoted. Not to mention the trouble you would've been in if any instructors found out."
"I guess so." She chuckled, staring back to Shadow Weaver. It was rather fortunate in the end that the metal did cut her finger by the looks of it. If she had actually made a perfect replica of the badge without the coating and someone found out, there was no way she could explain her way out of it. Faking one's promotion was considered a great felony in the Horde's ranks, and-
Adora shook her head as she returned with her still-resentful expression. "All right, now tell me what else you need." She refused to think of any sort of memories related to Shadow Weaver that would be considered remotely happy.
"Adora, I'm surprised with how much of a hurry you're in today. It's almost like you want my information as soon as possible."
"Of course I want the information as soon as possible." She grumbled. "Or did you forget if you don't give me something, you'll be sent to Beast Island in two days?"
"Oh, I'm touched," her attempts to caress Adora's cheek was met with an immediate slap away, "you actually care about me. Don't you, Adora?"
"No, I don't care about you!" Shadow Weaver would have to compliment the assurance of her tone matching the anger in her eyes. "I care about the information you have that can help us win the war!"
"Really, now?" Her casual tone and unmistakable sarcasm was starting to irritate Adora as she rubbed her chin. "And why ever could that be? I thought with the great job you were doing, you wouldn't need any of my help?"
"I-I don't! I... I'm just doing my job as Hordak ordered me. That's all." One of the few things precious to Shadow Weaver was the way she could always tell when Adora was lying. For example, the fact she shifted her gaze away from her for a moment. "Besides, I would think you would to avoid going to Beast Island. Once you give me what I want, I can give it to Lord Hordak, and then I can convince him not to send you to it."
"Hmhmhm... Hmhmhmhm!" Shadow Weaver had to cover her mask where her mouth would be, failing to hold back the laughter that was escaping through her lips.
"What's so funny?!"
"I'm sorry, Adora, but what you're claiming is too precious for me to ignore." She brushed a few strands of hair from Adora's eyes as the Force Captain tried to understand what she was getting at. "You think with the information I can provide, Hordak will finally respect you enough to listen to you? If that was the case, this conversation wouldn't be happening in the first place, would it?"
"Egh." Adora gritted her teeth as she tried to ignore her verbal taunting and nitpicking.
One of the key things Shadow Weaver would always prove to be a master at was manipulating a conversation in any way to her favor. From picking out the smallest details in a lie to flatout pressing the right questions against a person, she would always get the information out of someone whenever she wanted to.
And that's what made her the most dangerous without her magic.
"If earning his respect was as easy as that, you would've talked him out of sending me to Beast Island by now, wouldn't you? You wouldn't need my help unless you were truly desperate, and I can't imagine why that would be..." That was the other thing that made Shadow Weaver so fearful to Adora- whenever she spoke in a knowing tone.
"Look, are you going to give me the other thing you asked for or not? Cause right now, this is a waste of time, and I'm losing my patience." Adora warned, knowing there was a limit to how far Shadow Weaver would push.
Luckily, it would appear that small gamble would pay off as Shadow Weaver lt out a sigh. "Very well, then." She submitted. "The second thing I need from you is from the next sector over."
"The Hospital Wing?"
"Yes. Ask Dr. Ivy at the front desk for a package from me, and she'll give you the item herself."
"Why don't you just tell me what or where the item is and let me get it?" She didn't feel like it was a good idea to allow someone else to access anything associated with Shadow Weaver.
"Hmhm, and where would the fun in that be?" Like before, she gave Adora another wave of the hand, telling her to leave like before. There was so much she wanted to argue about right now, like all the ridiculous tasks she was making her do, but with time being of the essence, she had very little choice.
As much as it sickened her to realize, she was currently the one caught in whatever game Shadow Weaver was playing at, and she didn't have a choice other than to play along until she gave Adora what she wanted. Whatever happened after that was none of Adora's concern, though she would ensure Shadow Weaver would remain in the Fright Zone. Not out of sympathy or anything, just so she could extract more information from the monster.
It was during her walk out of the prison sector that she turned back to the badge on her arm. She still couldn't figure out why Shadow Weaver wanted to give it to her after all this time. It was useless, tacky, and disgusted Adora to no end. She refused to trust anything Shadow Weaver did, no matter how... admittedly, touching, some of the events were. She was trying to get under Adora's skin, that was it.
And as long as she kept that in mind, she knew she would come out on top after all of this.
...Hopefully...
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...
The typical sounds of chatter, some complaining, and an aromatic smell was the first thing to greet Adora as she stepped through the Hospital Wing's doors, as they always did when they entered. Throughout her life, a majority of her ailments or injures from training were treated by Shadow Weaver directly, the witch preferring to use her own methods of healing Adora over theirs.
They weren't all bad or anything. Occasionally she would have a spell that would cure a blaster burn within minutes what would take the wing's doctors hours to fix. At others, she would personally bandage cuts and bruises with herbal remedies she learned from her time in Mystacor. It was moments like this where Shadow Weaver was sort of a mixed bag in terms of personality.
While she wished for Adora's safety, and treated her injuries as they appeared, she would often berate the girl for obtaining the injuries in the first place. She would mock and comment that such injuries shouldn't have occurred in the first place, regardless of reason. The confusing part was, no matter how many times she did, she also showed a sense of care and nurturing when it came to treating her wounds, often with a calming sense in her voice like a mother should have.
Not that she saw her, as such.
It still irritated her when she thought about the times she would chastise her over her injuries. With such comments like, "you should be more attentive of your enemies", or "never leave your back expose on the battlefield", and so forth. It may be advice, it may have been with teasing, either way it was still pretty annoying.
"Hey, Adora!" A familiar voice greeted from behind.
"Huh- Oh. Hi, Kyle." Adora greeted back with a small wave. If there was one place you could expect to see Kyle in once every couple of months, it would be the infirmary around here. Like usual, he was being escorted with Rogelio's help, the lizard helping the unlucky soldier walk with Kyle's arm around his neck. "Training accident, again?"
"No, stair accident." He chuckled anxiously. "There was a dozen soldiers hauling off some stuff in wheelbarrows, and didn't see them when I was making my way up the stairs. Thankfully, it's just a minor sprain. Nurse says I should be up and running in two days."
"Well just be a little more careful from now on, Kyle." Adora said, giving a small wave goodbye as the two made their way for the door. "You don't want to end up in here again, do you?"
"Hah, like I haven't heard that one before... Ow..." It hurt his pride worse to suddenly realize what people meant by the joke now than the fact he bumped his same foot into the doorway before leaving. With a small roll of her eyes, Adora strolled her way over to the front desk of the infirmary, being greeted by the very doctor she came here to see.
"Oh, hello, commander." Dr. Ivy greeted with a two-finger salute. "What can I help you with today? Have another fever you need help with or something?"
"Nah, I've gotten plenty of help from Entrapta with that. I was actually-"
"Yeah, she's been a big help around here lately!" The mid-twenty's doctor interrupted, smiling around the room. Adora couldn't help herself as she followed her gaze, her brief smile slowly dwindling as she saw the various robots and machines that were assisting the doctors. "Thanks to her, it's been easier to treat the soldiers that have been flooding in and out of here."
"The soldiers?" Adora felt a twinge of worry as to the possible cause behind this.
"Mhhm. Lately, we've been losing more and more of our outposts on the borders of our territories. We still have plenty of ground over Etheria, but people have been coming in almost by the hour at this rate. Usually it was just a handful of people in between every several days."
"I... I see..." There was that salty feeling in her throat again, the one telling her to be worried and afraid. Every hour that passed her felt like a timer ticking down on a bomb she had to defuse. Everywhere she looked, she heard another horrible story about a group of people they lost or another accident involving their own territories.
Why was it turning out like this? They were supposed to be on the right side, right? They kept the main focus of their anger towards Bright Moon for sure. There was no way they would ever go easy on the home of the Rebellion if they had the chance. So why was everyone else attacking them whenever her back was turned?
Were there more traitors than she realized? Were people everywhere supporting the Rebellion without her knowing? Gosh, what was she supposed to do if they had traitors in their own midst?! Aside from Frosta, obviously. That was one line of thinking she didn't want to remember.
"-ere?"
Adora's brow rose a little as she turned back to the doctor, realizing she was speaking to her. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I said, what are you doing here?" She asked, filing her blue nails on the side.
"Oh, right! Um, this might sound a little weird, but did Shadow Weaver leave a package here at any point? Like, for me, perhaps?" She couldn't tell if there was confusion on the doctor's end as she leaned her head back in response. "I know it sounds a little strange, but, maybe it's not like a package? It could be an item, or-"
'Oh, no, we have a package for you." Ivy smiled as she hopped from her chair. She walked over to the filing cabinet along the wall as she dug through the top drawer. "I was wondering when you were going to come for it."
"Come for it?" She sounded like she was expecting her this whole time. If Shadow Weaver was behind it, maybe it was?
"Yeah, we've been holding onto it for several years now." With a squee of delight, the doctor pulled a small item out from behind a row of files, giving the item a good brush with her thumbs before blowing a small cloud of dust from it. "Hack-oough." She waved the air in front of her as she cleared her sinuses of the small dust before returning to Adora with the possession in hand. "Here you go."
"T-Thanks." Adora took the offered item in wonder of what the hospital could've kept after all these years, however long it was. To her surprise, clearing off the excess dust over the frame itself, it turned out to be a picture, one framed with a golden edge. Not another unfortunately baby picture that would cause further embarrassment, thankfully, but one that left her with mild confusion.
Based off the picture, it must've been about two to three years ago before all of this happened. She could see herself smiling at the camera with a cheeky grin, showing off her pearly white teeth, as she lied in the hospital bed, saluting the camera. Next to her, she saw Shadow Weaver sitting by her side, looking the same way in a calm, meaningful, position as she had her hands placed firmly in her lap. She didn't make any show of excitement or anything, but didn't seem to mind the fact that she was having her picture taken, if her posture was anything to go by.
What really stood out to her was the large cast Adora had around her leg. Looking closely, she could also see some bandages appearing just from under the tip of her shirt, as if she had been in an accident. What bothered her through this picture is why she could barely remember it. She didn't appear to have any head injuries if the picture indicated anything. She also realized her head was a little fuzzy, but was definitely screaming at her that she knew what this picture was from.
"What... is this?" Adora asked, turning the frame around to see if there was anything else about the picture.
"You don't remember?" Dr. Ivy asked looking over her shoulder with her arms crossed. "This was when you got into that accident about three years back. I guess I'm not totally surprised, you were on pain medications through most of it."
"Pain medication?" It was starting to ring a bell as the answer lied on the tip of her tongue.
"Yeah. They said you and your friend got into an accident when you were training unauthorized some time during the evening. You broke your leg and bruised up your ribs pretty bad."
"Broke my...!" NOW it was finally coming to her. The week she spent in the infirmary, the accident that caused it. It was hard to remember the exact week of her recovery, but she could remember it little bit little when she went by everything that lead up to it.
It was an excruciating experience, to say the least.
...
...
"Nghhh..." A twelve-year-old Adora groaned in pain as she lightly touched her stomach. It hurt to move around too much, if she could at all with her leg in a cast and on a sling. It took over half a day to make the pain stop when she so much as breathed. And don't get her started on when she tried to eat or drink something. The slightest churn of her stomach caused her entire torso to ache with pain, nearly making Adora squeeze her stomach in pain, which would, in turn, cause more pain overall.
To think, all of this happened because she wanted to prepare herself for the Terrain Exam, one that would've pit her against the entire training field where she had to cross the entire pathway without touching the ground. Sure, it didn't sound too difficult on paper, unless you added the fact they would be suspended fifty feet above the air and required to cross around steel pipes to get to the other side!
Suffice to say, Adora had a small fear of heights, specifically ones requiring her to stretch a good half-mile on foot to pass her exams. It would've been one thing to require the test ran on foot like this, but there would be no harnesses for the duration the exam, with the students' only salvation of surviving being a large net along the ground that would've caught them if they fell.
To help her with this, Catra offered her own assistance in the endeavor, willing to help her friend get through the course. Aside from the fact it was to pay back the way she assisted her in her written exams, again, it was also to keep them together. If Adora ended up failing this exam, she would have to retake the entire course again, separating the two with two-to-four weeks worth of work from each other, and they would never share in the same class again. That was something Catra could not allow!
Man, would she gladly take it all back after the incident that followed.
Because of Catra's neglectfulness when it came to people other than Adora, she was less keen on assisting other people or paying them back for favors they did for her. In the case that caused Adora's incident, she refused to help Kyle with his janitorial duties and maintenance work within the same training facility the exam would be held in. If she had, she would've gotten the warning that the equipment, the pipes that they traversed across, were faulty, and were loose to the touch.
From that, it was a waiting game for either of the two to get into an accident, and, if not for Adora's timely intervention, the victim would've been Catra. Instead, thanks to Adora's quick speed and courage, she managed to push Catra off of the faulty platforming pipe that was about to crumble, taking her place as the unwitting victim who fell several stories through the air, crashing into nearly a dozen pipes that fell with her before landing harshly against the ground.
Between the impact of the ground and the added weight of all the pipes falling on her simultaneously, Adora ended up where she was now. With several bruised ribs and a broken leg, and several days worth of pain she was trying to get through, even with pain relievers, which weren't as effective as the ones meant for official soldiers.
Through what moments of consciousness she managed to shrug off the pain for a few hours, she lamented how much of this she deserved. They were basically breaking and entering a restricted training facility, using equipment without permission, and basically destroyed a portion of the training field after an entire pillar's worth of pipes broke apart.
It reminded her of the last time she did something so dangerous, except this time, she paid for half of the price. The other half would be the fact she was in no state to take the field exam, much less any physical exams, for the next few weeks to a month. Worse, despite how bad she already felt about everything, there would be no doubt, that a certain someone was about to take it worse.
"Adora." The young pre-teen opened her eyes just a little, more than enough to see Shadow Weaver staring down at her.
"Sh-Shadow Weaver." She gritted speaking through her teeth, clenching the pillow her head was lying on to barely ignore any portion of the pain. She hadn't seen her mentor for nearly two days since the incident, and she had more than enough time to lash out in anger for what she did.
"You seem to be doing... okay." She commented. She couldn't tell if it was the minor pain relievers through her body, but she could've sworn Shadow Weaver was speaking calmly to her.
"Ye-Yeah, like I could go another mile or two- Ngh.." Man, even a joke was starting to make her feel sore. And she still had another week before the minor pain relievers would legitimately work!
Shadow Weaver watched her grovel a bit, the girl barely touching her own stomach for any sort of soothingness. Watching her, she saw the witch float around the bed itself, slowly over to the IV bag that was Adora's main source of nutrients for the time being. She started to get nervous as she saw her reaching for the bag with both her arms.
"What are you doing?" She asked nervously. Already, the memories of the last time she nearly got herself killed was already flashing in her mind. This time, the terror set in as she came closer to it than she had before, the anger that rose from Shadow Weaver's veins.
"I told you the last time you endangered your own life not to do anything stupid, and here we are again." Shadow Weaver commented as she began to pull the feeding tube from the bag, pulling away the bag itself. "And you didn't listen."
"I-I'm sorry, Shadow Weaver!" Adora teared up a little as the fear continued to surmount. What could she possibly be doing with the bag? Was she going to just take it away, poison her, what?! "I-I was just training for the exam, we weren't goofing around this time!"
"And I told you the last time you wanted to train you were to warn me first, remember?" She added, finally replacing the bag with another one. This one had more of a blue hue to it, a small but noticeable different one at that. "But you didn't listen."
Adora's heart began to beat faster and faster as she watched the bluish liquid beginning to pull through the tube, trailing up towards Adora's elbow where the needle was. She feared the worst, the worst of the worst. Was she going to kill her? Make her pay more than she already has? There could be no end to the details that would follow, with only the ending having one possible outcome.
With the liquid reaching mere inches away from her arm, she closed her eyes and braced herself for the worst of it. Besides squeezing her arm harshly in times of anger, not once had Shadow Weaver ever incorporated a form of physical punishment towards Adora. She never raised a hand, she never threatened her, she never felt the need to use magic against her. No matter how badly Adora messed up, she would never willingly hurt her.
And now, all that was about to change.
"Now, here we are." Adora jumped a little as she felt a soothing hand over her forehead, brushing the hair out of her face. She opened her eyes a little as she felt Shadow Weaver sitting by her sitting by her side along the bed, continuing to do nothing more than patting Adora's head softly. Any minute now, the pain would finally set in, and that would be the end of her, she was sure of it!
That's when she felt a little off.
Off in that the pain never came as the liquid was fed through the tube. Off in that Shadow Weaver hasn't shouted at her over the ordeal. Off in that, the longer she waited for pain to come, the less she began to feel. Opening her eyes slowly, she didn't notice anything bad happening to her, and Shadow Weaver's eyes didn't seem any angrier like last time. When she finally felt it was safe to lower her guard a little, she noticed that the pain in her stomach was starting to disappear.
"How are you feeling?" There was no presence of anger in her voice. For once, Adora couldn't feel any sense behind it either, some build up of what would eventually lead to anger. Confused, she leaned forward a bit, a feat she never would've accomplished earlier with the pain around her stomach, and saw the IV bag again.
"It... It doesn't hurt." Adora mumbled to herself, feeling along her stomach gently. By this point, she became aware as the bed she was lying on was leaned upwards, allow her to sit more comfortably.
"Why would it?" Her mentor asked casually, throwing a comforting arm around Adora's neck. "Most of our other soldiers don't usually complain about it."
"Soldiers?" It took Adora a moment to put the pieces together, the drugs in her system, while effective, having a small side-effect of making her a little lightheaded. "You... You gave me the soldiers' pain relievers?"
"What did you think it was? Poison?" If it was Shadow Weaver's attempt at humor, it was the first for Adora.
Man, was it unsettling.
Whatever attempts it was to cheer the girl up went without merit as Adora continued to display a small frown on her face, looking off to the side. "I'm sorry for everything, Shadow Weaver. Really." She felt a small tug on her opposite shoulder as Shadow Weaver gently pulled her closer.
"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear." She stated. "You had me worried, I'll admit, but I'm relieved to see you're okay." This went beyond the motherly-appearance she was trying to maintain. A portion of her overall worry was the fact she could've lost such a valuable asset to her future, someone she depended upon to rise through the Horde herself. For a moment, she thought all of that was dashed away in a single instant when she heard about the accident from one of the Horde guards.
"I," she looked up to her mentor-figure with regretful eyes, "I swear, we weren't goofing off or anything. I needed the training to take part for the Terrain Exam tomorrow, honest!" She leaned her head a little into Shadow Weaver's side. "I just wanted to make sure I aced it, like you're always telling me too."
"Yes," the witch turned her head a little at the thought, "I suppose I hold my share of the responsibility for this." She looked back. "I want you to excel at all that you do, but I didn't think you would willingly throw your life away for the sake of doing so."
"Well, it was more than that." Adora felt a bit of peace in her mind, or that might've been the pain relievers, at the soothing voice coming from Shadow Weaver's lips. "I needed to improve my overall score after the written portion went so poorly, and Catra offered to help, and-!" Immediately, her eyes shot open at the realization. "Catra!" She gasped. "Where is she?"
"Catra?" Shadow Weaver feigned ignorance at the question.
"I haven't seen her since the accident, she hasn't visited me once."
"Ah, yes, Catra. Who knows what became of her? She hasn't been seen since the accident."
"Maybe she feels guilty over what happened?" Adora suggested. It was an unnecessary thought as Shadow Weaver already knows of the girl's fate. Why wouldn't she when she had a hand to play in it for all this time?
Shadow Weaver was distraught at the sight of Adora's state when she discovered her in the training facility, thanks to Kyle informing the guards about the minor breaking-and-entering, and was devastated at first sight when she thought she was worse than she appeared. She never expected to see her Adora in such a state, a state of pain and anguish. But the one thing that really defined the moment for her was the cause behind all of this: Catra.
The girl was apologizing profusely left and right to everyone who gathered, unable to believe that all of this was happening, and that she was the one who caused it. Whether it was from the fact they were trespassing, the fact she didn't keep her promise to help Kyle, which would've lead to her discovering about the faulty equipment, or the fact that Adora sacrificed herself to save Catra from a possibly worse fate, the girl felt guilty all the same, like it was all her fault this had happened.
For once, Shadow Weaver wholeheartedly agreed.
From the moment the room was clear, she dragged the young preteen to her chambers. There, she made her realize. Made her realize the mistake of betraying her, breaking the one promise she trusted her with to make sure Adora was safe. She made sure for the last two days she would remember this day so she would never screw up again, never think of raising a hand against her or Adora for as long as she lived. Even if that reminder had to be inflicted through pain.
It wasn't until now that Shadow Weaver decided to take a "break" from the reminding in order to check on Adora's current condition. With the magicat still locked away within the room, nobody has seen her since, not that many were really caring over her whereabouts once the rumors started to spread that she caused Adora's accident. It was a time for Shadow Weaver to make sure Catra learned for once about pushing the witch too far, and she had plenty of time to do it while Adora was recuperating.
"She could be hiding somewhere out of guilt." Adora continued, never turning away from the first person to comfort her in several days.
"I... wouldn't worry about her if I were you." Shadow Weaver tried to pass off. Just mentioning her name was enough to make bile rise to her throat. "Wherever she is, I'm sure she's fine."
"Do... Do you know where she is?"
"Adora-"
"Shadow Weaver, please!" Adora begged, small tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "She's my best friend, and I know her! I'm sure wherever she is right now, she's scared and lonely. I remember the look on her face after I fell, she was so frightened, so sad. I want her to know I'm alright, that I don't blame her for anything!"
"..." Shadow Weaver continued to stare into Adora's pleading eyes as she begged her. She was so distraught over the idea that she could be suffering emotionally from all of this, someone that most of the Horde looked down upon.
"Please tell me you'll find her! Please- Ngh!" Shadow Weaver raised a hand to her as Adora clutched her stomach in pain again. No matter how strong the pain relievers were, if Adora continued to feel as stressed as she did now, she would burn through them within minutes, maybe seconds. It would also mean she would go through her pain reliever too fast if her heart rate kept increasing.
"...I'll see what I can do." She replied, gently stroking Adora's cheek with the back of her palm. To both their relief, physically and emotionally, Adora finally gave a weak smile to this as she lied back on her raised bed, leaning a little closer into Shadow Weaver's side.
"Thanks, Mo- I mean, Shadow Weaver." It was almost cute, admittedly, as Shadow Weaver noticed Adora almost called her "mom", or "mother", again. Just as soon as the smile came did it begin to disappear soon after as she remembered the rest of her dilemma. "Still, I'm sorry for everything I messed up."
"Messed up?" There was genuine curiosity behind her voice. "What do you mean, my dear?" Comforting her, she raised the blankets a little higher to Adora's chest, trying to keep her warm.
"Well, you know. The Terrain Exam." She revealed, the exam being the third-most worrying thing after Catra's absence and Shadow Weaver's anger towards her once they met again. "Aside from breaking half the equipment, I won't be able to take the dumb test now because of this." She moaned resting the side of her head against her. "I'm going to fail because of this now and I'll be weeks behind."
There was a case of irony behind it when she thought about it, at least as much as she could given her current state. To think, all of this started because she didn't want to fail her exam in the first place. Now, she was going to fail with 'flying colors', because she couldn't even take the test at this point.
"... I wouldn't be so sure about that." Digging through the confines of her robe's sleeves as Adora turned back to her, she pulled out a small digital pad, one that many of the officers and Force Captains within the Fright Zone were assigned for their duties. "It's funny when you think of how many uses security cameras have."
"Cameras?" Adora questioned as she watched the screen Shadow Weaver was fumbling with. She didn't even know the training facility had any security cameras. And she's been all over the room for years in her training, that's how well they were hidden!
In a matter of seconds, she brought up a detailed recording of the incident that put her here in the first place. It displayed the two from an angle, specifically from the back-left of where Catra was standing. It showed the very scene of Catra's pipe starting to break away before the girl was aware of it, and Adora's heroic rescue as she pushed her away to safety before falling herself.
Adora eyed the screen in surprise as it kept replaying the footage repeatedly, on a ten-second loop from the moment of Catra's slow descent to the scene of her falling thereafter.
"Your instructor's examined the video and I spoke to him in length about the aftermath." Shadow Weaver said as she handed the device to Adora. "While there were some misgivings about using the equipment after hours, he was convinced by your heroic rescue that you deserved more than enough credit to pass the exam."
"So... I'm not going to fail?" Was she truly understanding her correctly or was the medication making her more light-headed than she thought? It was the sight of Shadow Weaver's nodding that finally brought a warm smile to the girl's face as Adora threw her arms around her. "I don't know what to say. Thank you, Shadow Weaver." All of her fears were melting away with her emotions. Thanks to Shadow Weaver, she had absolutely nothing to fear right now.
All the same, Shadow Weaver would be lying if she said she didn't feel a small amount of warmth herself, glad she could brighten Adora's mood a little with the announcement and news.
If she wanted to continue helping Adora in her recovery, the next step would be to keep the girl from being any more stressed out than she already was. To do that, as much as she hated it, she knew she would have to release Catra from her confines for the time being. She knew she wouldn't be foolish enough to tell Adora what happened, not after all the pain she inflicted through her magic. Even if she did, with the medication through Adora's mind, chances were she wouldn't understand much of what Catra was saying, and by that point, she'd drag her back to her chambers for another "session".
*click*
The two lifted their heads as they heard the sound of the camera going off. At the foot of the bed, they saw Dr. Ivy with a camera in her hands, smiling at the two as the film developed.
"Well, about time we got a smile out of her." She said, looking through the picture in her device. "I haven't seen her smile since the moment we brought her in here. Then again, she was in a bit of pain despite the relievers we gave her."
"They were ineffective with the injuries she sustained, doctor." Shadow Weaver commented. "You know that as well as I do."
Dr. Ivy shrugged to this. "Yeah, but without official orders from the higher ups, you know we couldn't give her the strong stuff unless she was an official soldier. So sorry about that."
"Heh, that's okay." Adora smiled back. "Thanks for taking care of me for the last few days."
"And the next few days by the X-rays we got back." She added, looking through some pictures she pulled out of her doctor's coat. "You won't be in any condition to do any physical exercise for another week or two at the very least." She explained, much to Adora's dismay.
"Ugh, that's going to be a lot of physical tests I'll have to make up for."
"I'm sure you'll pass through them just fine, my dear." Shadow Weaver replied, continuing to ease the girl's mind as she stroked her head. "I'll be sure to have your friends bring any studies and tests you'll miss out on for awhile, too, so you won't be overburdened when you're released from here."
"Thanks, Shadow Weaver." It was times like this she truly admired the near-mother figure of her life. Every time Adora was in a bad spot, regardless of who put her there, Shadow Weaver was always the one to bring comfort to her in the end after Catra. Looking back to the doctor fumbling with the camera, another thought came to her mind. "Hey, do you mind taking another picture of us?"
"Sure!" Ivy replied, preparing the camera as Adora gave a small salute with her smile.
She wanted to remember this day as a true member of the Horde, and a day that Shadow Weaver brought her the most comfort. What she thought was going to be one of the most harrowing experiences of her life ended up being one of the most pleasant memories she would have, though, sadly they wouldn't be as fluid while the medication ran through her. She wanted to remember how it felt to have a seemingly-awful experience end up being the best of her life, and how Shadow Weaver made it all better.
She was never more grateful to Shadow Weaver in her life than that very day for everything she's done for her...
...
...
"Here." Adora said, handing the picture frame to the weakened Shadow Weaver again.
"Ah, thank you, Adora." The witch's soft reply still did nothing to quell Adora's anger as she examined the picture. "I remember that day so fondly. The day you truly represented what it meant to be Horde, to stand united beside everyone."
"I never didn't feel that way." Adora muttered. She no longer had the look of contempt on her face that she once wore, nor a smile in place of it. All she had was an awkward look on her face between nervousness and wonder. "I always saw the Horde as my family."
"Hmph, I guess you did." She chuckled. "You were one of the best and brightest of the Horde soldiers. I knew it from the day I met you, you were destined for something greater. And look at you now." There was a small blush on Adora's face as she scratched her head.
It felt rather awkward to be complimented by the very person she put away to begin with, one she still couldn't get a clear grasp on. Was she still planning to manipulate her at some point, or was she trying to send her down memory lane in the hopes she would release her herself? She knew herself better than to let someone like Shadow Weaver go free, and she was sure Shadow Weaver did, too.
So what was the point of all of this?
"Well, I, eh... S-Suppose, I have you to... thank, for that." She admitted, kneeling down to her again. "You taught me everything I know, after all."
"Nonsense, Adora. All I did was teach you what to do. How you managed with that knowledge was all on your own." She stated, holding the picture close to her chest. It was an interesting sight to Adora as she did so, almost as if she actually treasured the picture frame, and what was in it. She could've sworn she was actually smiling peacefully as she lied against the cell's walls.
"Um, right." She let out a small cough to clear her throat, finally ready to receive the much-needed info. "So, about the information now?"
"..." Shadow Weaver just stared at her with calming eyes, as if telling Adora something in her own confusing way.
It took Adora a moment to realize, but as the silence dulled the air, she was starting to understand what was holding the witch's tongue, the reason she held the picture so dearly. Eyes widening a litte, her pupils began to burn with anger as she came to understand the truth behind all of this. "... No..." She stood up at attention.
"Adora-"
"NO!" She shouted, cutting her off. "I did everything you asked me! I got the stupid badge and that dumb picture for you! And you said you'd give me the information I needed!"
"...I never did say I would give you the information you wanted, Adora." She couldn't be serious, could she? The callus tone she was using, the lack of fear that something could happen to her if she refused, it was all there, and Adora still couldn't believe it.
"Yes you did! You promised you'd help me!"
"And when did I say, exactly, that I would give you the information in exchange for a few items?"
"Before! Before, when you said-... You said that..." As she tried to remember, fear and turmoil eroded Adora's mind as she began to realize.
Not once did Shadow Weaver ever say she would give her the information. All she had been doing was agreeing or disagreeing to everything she said. But not once, were there any words of acceptance, of promise, of helping her.
"Y-You... You can't be serious..." Her fingers began to twitch a little as the reality set in around her. "You... You said you would-"
"I said I would help you, Adora." Shadow Weaver clarified. "But I never said in the way you would want."
"Then... How are you going to help me?" Was there another method to all of this? Was she actually going to provide her with a different means of gaining Hordak's trust? Maybe getting more powerful?
"With advice." Those two words never meant anything less to the world to Adora than this moment right here. "Take it from me, and learn from this, Adora; trust no one but yourself, and expect nothing in return. That will be the only way you survive being a Force Captain."
"...That's... it...?" She couldn't believe it. None of it. All of it. For the one fleeting moment of hope that she felt before this revelation, she actually thought she was going to give her words of wisdom, information that would keep her in the Fright Zone.
"That's it." She confirmed.
"...So... after all that work... you just... you just used me to get a stupid picture out of it?"
"I wanted something to bring with me to Beast Island, Adora." She reiterated. "You could give Hordak information that would turn the entire war in his favor, and I would still be sent to Beast Island. His trust in you was lacking, and for good reason. You're not capable of doing what it takes to be Horde, and you know this as well as I do." For better or worse, a part of her almost did. Already, the memories from today's events alone came flashing into her mind, the peacefulness she displayed coming back to bite her.
...
"You hear about the outpost near Leafless?" She overheard a guard saying from around the corner. Her curiosity got the better of her as she stepped carefully over to the edge, listening in on whatever information they had.
"Yeah," the other guard replied, "whole town just up and attacked the outpost with the Rebellion's help." Adora's eyes widened in shock at the announcement before she rolled them, shaking her head in dismay as she continued to listen. "Can't say I'm too surprised, really. The Rebellion's been pushing back more and more thanks to She-Ra's help."
"Man, wish we had her on our team." The other shrugged. "Least then we'd have some capable people around here."
...
"But where is all of this from?" Scorpia asked back, taking a broken sheet of metal from the pile. It didn't last more than two seconds before crumbling from the lightest touch of her hands. "Did Hordak ask you guys to gather this from the dump or something?"
"Nah, this is from the stronghold near Turnwall."
"Turnwall?"
"Didn't you hear? The Rebellion tore it down yesterday. Nearly all the soldiers stationed there were captured on the spot thanks to Turnwall's help."
"B-But Turnwall's been allied with us since Entrapta joined us!" Adora couldn't believe what she was hearing, or that it was actually happening. "Why would they suddenly attack us?"
"Beats me. Rumor has it they were always aiding the Rebellion in secret. They were just waiting for an opportunity to attack. But I'm just going by what one of the survivors told me. We probably would've been more aware of their plans if we pushed in a little harder."
...
Shadow Weaver could already tell from the look of despair on Adora's face. All the faults, all the tragedies that have occurred because of her kindness. She could be thinking of all of them, or a few of them, and it would hurt all the same. She didn't have the same capacity of cruelty that she had for Catra, she couldn't show her darker side to the rest of the world when they had done nothing to her in return.
She was not fit to be a commander.
"This wasn't anything personal, I assure you." She tried to soothe as Adora started to squeeze her fingers. "I just wanted to have a memory with me wherever I went, even when my time comes on the island."
"Ngh..." The Force Captain lowered her head as the anger began to well up inside her, a geyser that was waiting to be unleashed. "Ghh... AAAGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
*THUD!*
She ignored the small yelp Shadow Weaver let out. In one swift motion, drawing her shadows to her arms, she rose the mentor that taught her so much, the one that used her time and again, grabbing her by the collar of her uniform, and slammed her against the metallic wall. She was on no position to pull or push her away from the enraged girl, not when her hands were still restrained from the large bindings on the wall.
"Now you listen to ME!" She screamed, the darkness rising along the veins of her neck as her anger burst. "You're going to tell me exactly what I want to know, and you're going to tell me right NOW! I've had enough of your games and your stupid errands, and I don't want to hear anything else from your mouth unless it helps me!"
Wow. Anger. Threats. Maybe she did have what it took to be a Horde? Then again, she thought the same thing about Catra at one time, and look how that turned out? It was actually more amusing for Shadow Weaver to see Adora try to be aggressive like this, to think she still had all the cards in her hand compared to her captive.
With a gentle hand, a gentle voice, her eyes softened on Adora as she gently grabbed her right shadowy hand. "Come now, Adora. What would you do if I refused?"
"What do you think!?" With a growl, the blond pulled back her right hand, forming it into a massive shadowy fist the size of Shadow Weaver's mask. "Do you think I'm playing around still?"
"Playing around? No." She cooed, stroking a solid finger along Adora's face to her chin. "I just don't think you have it in you. To hurt anyone who cares for you, to hurt the one who raised you since you were a baby," her eyes narrowed further as she saw Adora's expression slowly waver, "to harm the one you've come to see as a mother."
"I-I-" Adora stuttered as her fist started to shake. "I did this before-!"
"You did it to an enemy." She reminded. "One you had nothing but hatred for. Face it, Adora. I know you can't do it, Hordak knows you couldn't do it, and you know you couldn't do it. It's not in you."
She... She was wrong! She was going to prove her wrong! She wanted to prove her wrong.
To prove all of them wrong! She was capable of getting information out of her, she was capable of earning Lord Hordak's respect, and she wasn't a failure. She had no attachments to this woman, not when she used her all her life. Right now, she was a prisoner, a prisoner of the Horde, because she was a dangerous threat and an enemy!
An enemy that groomed her since the day she was found, an enemy that took her time and patience raising Adora to be the appropriate soldier, the perfect tool. She wanted her for her own ends, to obtain power through the ranks of the Horde and to command a legion of soldiers, even if it meant using Adora as the head of everything.
Deep down, Adora knew she never wanted anything to do with her, never wanted anything close to a daughter. All she wanted was a tool, one that was loyal beyond reason, who would heed her beck and call.
Well now, things were on the opposite ends. She didn't look at Shadow Weaver as a mentor, never as a mother figure, of her life, and she wouldn't start now. She just had to push away all her past feelings for her, all the memories, all the love she thought she had for her. With her own two hands, she had a chance to turn everything around, and all it required from her was to get her hands dirty for the first time in her life, from her perspective.
"Ghh... Gahhhhhhhh!"
*WHAM!*
"..."
"..."
"..." The Force Captain slowly pulled back her slammed fist from the wall as her head as lowered, just inches away from the side of Shadow Weaver's head. For whatever reason, for whatever triviality, she couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to hurt Shadow Weaver, no matter how much she hated her. Like everything else, it was amusing to Shadow Weaver. "I don't care anymore." Adora said, dropping the mentor as her shadows retracted.
Shadow Weaver rubbed her shoulder a little as she looked back up. Adora was doing everything in her power to keep her face from being seen. "Go ahead and go to your stupid island. I don't even care anymore." With her words spoke, she started to sulk a little as she made her way to the door, ready to put Shadow Weaver, and her past, behind her.
"Adora, wait." Shadow Weaver pleaded just as Adora reached for the door panel. "I ask of you to take pity on an old, powerless, woman, one last time. I know I used you again, and I have nothing to show for it. But, if anything I've ever done for you meant anything, then I beg you. I want to see my old Sorcerer's Guild badge one last time."
"... You think you're in any position to ask anything more of me?" Adora muttered, shoulders quivering as she refused to look back.
"It's the last that I will ever ask of you, my dear. This time, you know what I want, and why I want it. Do this, and I will give you a piece of information in return."
"Right, information." Adora hugged herself as she refused to look back. "That's what I expected last time, and you lied to me. And you expect me to believe you now?"
"Heh, look who's finally learning." She chuckled. "I could say I mean it, and it probably wouldn't mean anything. The decision is ultimately yours. Just consider it my last request, if you could."
"...I've given you more than enough here. You're on your own." Without another word, the Force Captain left, the forcefield doors closing behind her.
There was no way to determine how things would go for Shadow Weaver from this moment forward. Everything now relied on Adora, as it always did, to determine what would happen to her. She had no tools, no followers, and right now, no one who depended on her for anything. All she had now, was a picture frame.
One she remembered was held against her chest before Adora grabbed her.
One she now saw cracked a few feet away.
Reaching for it, the sorcerer of darkness held the cracked frame within her hands, eyeing it curiously. As much as she hated to admit it, a small part of her would miss this. Miss the way Adora clung to her day and night, the way she was the one who depended on her to survive, and, somewhat embarrassing to her, the way she smiled warmly to her every day.
It would be a lie to say the girl didn't have an impact on her in the slightest. She was charmed by her innocence, her willingness to do anything she could for Shadow Weaver, and her dedication to the Horde. While never a mother herself, she would be remiss if she didn't think of her as a daughter just a little bit.
Now, that same daughter would determine what happened to her.
...
...
"Mmmh..." Adora groaned internally as she traveled down the hallways.
She couldn't believe it. She just could not believe it! Actually, no. She could believe it. She could believe that she couldn't believe it. She could believe the fact that she believed Shadow Weaver would actually help her for a moment, that after doing all these favors for her, she would pay her back with some sort of information.
Perhaps that was Adora's fault in the end for trusting her. Once a traitor, always a traitor. She used her since day one, she wanted her to rule the Horde and guide her through Shadow Weaver's own agenda, and despite the fact she was on the brink of death, seeing how she was going to Beast Island in two days, she still preferred to use her than to save her own skin. All those memories of her meant nothing to her former mentor, she could see that now.
And you know what? Fine! If Shadow Weaver would prefer to go to Beast Island, then that was her decision, not Adora's, and she was just fine with that! It almost sickened her to think she wanted to believe in Shadow Weaver again, that she had change over these last couple months. If Shadow Weaver preferred having a pawn instead of a daughter, or an ally, then that was her decision!
*boom!*
The Force Captain felt her heart shake as roughly as the ground as a small explosion went off from the room two doors behind her. There was a sizable stack of smoke billowing out of it as she rushed to the room, hearing a familiar coughing sound emanating from the lab.
"Ack-ough!" With the smoke clearing out and the air becoming clear, Adora could see the ever-present Entrapta waving the air in front of her face. Her face was partly covered in soot, save for the eyes where she had a pair of goggles hanging. "Hoof! That was a smaller explosion than I expected!" She commented to herself, examining the broken mechanical parts as she inputted the data in a track pad with her hair.
"Entrapta?" Adora called out, examining the room's equipment. Most of the stuff appeared to be fine,a few things knocked over, others shaken off the shelves but still whole.
"Oh, hi Adora!" Entrapta greeted chipper as always, returning to her experimenting as she donned the goggles once more.
"What were you doing in here?"
"Oh, I was trying to build a substitute battery for one of the sockets to Hordak's portal technology." She replied, examining a very small screw-like part for a second before tossing it away. "I just need make a circuit that will last long enough to stabilize the portal for more than ten seconds, and then I'll be good to go!"
"Uh-huh. Sounds like you two are having some fun, huh?" She envied the scientist as she gave a solemn smile from behind, watching her friend fiddle with her device with sparks going off from her front.
"Oh yeah, the best! Did you know he actually discovered over seventeen mathematical mistakes based on our theories of Quantum Physics?!" She couldn't believe the numerous foundations he pointed out, or the fundamental ways he corrected them so easily!
"Yeah, that's... pretty impressive." It was hard for her to sound so enthusiastic about something she, or anyone, could barely grasp on.
"I'll say! Oh, can you hand me the Stability Analyser behind you?"
"Oh, sure." Okay, so she didn't have any clue on what Entrapta was doing with Hordak aside from portal technology. Fine. She could at least help her in doing whatever it was related to that. She turned around to the small shelf above the table she was leaning against. For such a specific thing, it really didn't narrow down the list of options she had. Everything looked whacky and sophisticated. She could've been asking for any one of these things! "Uh..."
"Oh, the round thing that looks like the internal battery to a skiff." She added, taking a brief pause to clarify. "It should be green I think?'
"Oh, I see it." She replied, reaching up for the device that looked like a mix between a football and a blender, as confusing as that sounded.
*dink*
"Huh?" Pulling the device from the shelf, her attention shifted to the small thumb-sized flat object that fell in front of it. Holding the device at her side, it took her a moment to realize what she was looking at, holding it up to her face. "You have a... Force Captain's badge?"
"Thanks!" Ignoring her questionable comment, the scientist swiftly pulled the large device from her side with her hair, returning to her work and her back to Adora.
"Where did you get this, Entrapta?" Something felt a little off to her, almost concerning.
"What? Oh, the badge? Hordak gave that to me after I met him for the first time and helped him with his device." She replied, leaning away from her device briefly as a small bit of smoke plumed for a few seconds. "He said it would help me get access from the science labs if I ever needed anything."
"He... Gave you... Made you a Force Captain... After meeting with him just once?" Adora's heart felt hollow at the notion.
Was she really being serious? Her? After one meeting? She's barely been here for over two months now, and she already had his attention, and enough respect to warrant a promotion? Adora's been here since infancy, she worked day in and out to prove her dedication to the Horde, and wasn't even given a badge from Hordak directly.
She didn't even GET her badge straight from Lord Hordak. It was more like a gift from Shadow Weaver of all people!
"Yeah, but I don't really want it." She casually smiled as she tweaked some of the wires and screws in the breaker she was messing with. "I'm just happy enough to be a scientist here. Though, he did say if I continued to impress him, he'd make me the Chief Scientist of my own Division. Can you believe that!?" She squealed at the mere thought as she squeezed her fist.
She would have her own staff, which would probably just be her own robots, her own equipment, and near-unlimited access to the possible experiments and inventions she could make! It was like she died and gone to heaven, it felt too good to be true!
All the same, Adora's eyes became hollow at the same announcement.
She... She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Entrapta, the princess that just joined them, was being gifted title and access to anything her heart could contend, and after knowing Hordak directly for just a few short weeks, and he practically treasured her like a newly discovered piece of technology. She had her brains and hair no more gifts, while Adora specialized in nearly all fields to a moderate extent, had magic in the form of shadows, and built ties with villages and regions all over Etheria.
And he was revolted by her.
All those years she spent training, all that time she proved her loyalty to the Horde, and what did she get out of it? A cursed magic that made her body ill, a loss of respect over the coming days, and a true leader who barely tolerated her presence by this point, and was considered a complete, utter, failure in his eyes.
She didn't care so much over the promotions or the badges. Her only wish was to be respected for her services, to be seen as useful to the people who raised her all their life, and she felt like nothing. Less than nothing at this rate. She was failing to show anything for all of her time and energy, and was a blemish to the likes of Hordak who she always aspired and looked up to.
Now? Entrapta was the one who caught his eye, in possibly the shortest amount of time possible. She didn't care about the fancy promotions all the same, she didn't even seem to realize what a great honor it was to be noticed by Hordak. She was completely oblivious to all of it, and all of the respect she gathered from this detail.
And Adora... she felt hatred over it. So much hatred as the shadows grew along the right side of her neck in her veins. She had a creeping terror of irritability, of disdain, for this scientist that she considered a friend, one who driveled on with her comments of science and experiments thinking Adora actually cared about that. Her cluelessness to social interactions, her inability to truly cherish what Adora always dreamed of in being seen as useful to the Horde... she hated all of it.
And it wasn't until the last few seconds that she realized- all behind Entrapta, she had a swarm of shadows she summoned subconsciously, taking the forms of spikes, tendrils, monster-like jaws, sprawling all around her, and ready to rend the very creature that stood between her and Hordak's respect.
"Hmm?" Entrapta looked back as her sixth sense told her something was up. All she saw was a vacated room and a missing friend, with no shadow in sight. "Adora?" She spoke up, switching her glances to each side of the room before shrugging, going back to work.
Outside the room, pressed against the wall next to the doorway, was a panting, sweating, Adora. She was squeezing her trembling hand as she forced her shadows to return, shocked and appalled by everything that did and nearly happened.
She was going to hurt Entrapta. Her emotions had reached their tipping point, and her mind was ready to hurt Entrapta because Hordak seemed to favor her, respected her. This was no longer an issue of trying to maintain her position and her duties as a commander. This became a matter of life and death that involved the people she cared about.
She was losing control of her emotions, she was feeling her shadows taking over whenever she felt herself tipping towards the edge of insanity and outrage. She needed to get this fixed, she needed to find some way to earn Hordak's respect before she snapped and hurt the people she cared about.
She needed someone like Shadow Weaver, now more than ever...
...
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A/N: And another chapter complete! It gets me giddy to think that (hopefully), the story will reach its end in the next chapter, and that we'll be at the last episode of the season- which i still can not say appropriately since its practically half a season and all that XP
But hey, still looking forward to it ^^ I mean, it's not like it's some heartwrenching conclusion we're about to meet with, right? Let me just check the last few minutes of the episode ^^...O_O...T_T...XO... Welp, we're boned...
Hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review, and dear god brace yourselves for the conclusion next chp...