A/N: Final Word Count: Esti.(estimate) 15.3K Pre-A/N's. Whoa nelly this was exciting to write! Done within the span of about 6 hours straight, i had a blast writing this one (the fact it still has 1 part to go and is still this long should prove it).
I also hope you guys have a she-ra soundtrack of something of the music that plays in this episode cause listening to it and writing it myself got me so many tingles and goosebumps (the good kind ^^). Won't deny it might be a bit repetitive in some parts and emotional in others- actually i take that back, it WILL get emotional down the line as the reach the climax of the chapter, but for those of who you manage to power through it, you'll be rewarded with the answer to the ultimate question:
Who Or What Is Aroda!
With that all said, hope you all enjoy, and on to the show!
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The leader of the Horde worked tirelessly as he always did within his lab, messing with one of his newest of gadgets as he tore away at his own devices. Literally.
As the leader of the Horde, he was in charge of everything, everyone. He ran algorithms almost nobody on this simple-minded planet could comprehend, knew the secrets behind vast technology that was centuries ahead of this this time, almost as grand as the First Ones tech itself, and was in charge of maintaining order within the very walls of his citadel, including everyone.
From the young to the old, the dimwitted and the brightest, the weak and the strongest, they all had their parts here as their pawns, as their uses for him. He took joy out of those who proved themselves to be the best of the rest, those who outdid themselves among others of the same variety. And for those he shunned, he had nothing but disgust with, bridled rage that could never be quenched, as he was forced to allow their brief existence until it was time to dispose of them.
Such as one lone Force Captain by the name of Adora.
The girl showed promise, at first. Her philosophy of doing things "peacefully" was cute in its own way. The girl actually proved invaluable for about the first month as she managed to gather resources and outposts at a rate faster than they had previously, and there was a moment where he thought she showed promise as such.
That all went away the following two weeks after when resources began to slow among the vast outposts and the numerous settlements they had acquired started to demand more and more resources.
The girl refused to turn down these pleas or cries for help, wasting who knows how many valuable pieces of metal, how many soldiers, just to clean up the problem of the meager and the weak, eventually reaching a point where the number of acquired resources to the amount of outposts and settlements maintained were evenly balanced, as opposed to being overwhelmed with resources like they initially were. Honestly, even that he could put up with until the very end.
What he couldn't tolerate, not even a little, was her lack of loyalty. Like Shadow Weaver, she tried to smooth her way out of a situation. He gave her one simple test, a test to prove her loyalty by admitting the truth, and like the crone who raised her, she tried to worm her way out by only giving him half the truth, not the part where she was responsible for the woman's escape.
Having enough of her constant failures and her lies, he tossed her away. Now, he waited patiently, toying away with his lab work as the hour of her judgement drew near. Nothing about the girl was of value to him anymore. A soldier with a limited sense of loyalty was a burden and a liability to any and all future orders. How was he supposed to trust someone as close as a commander when the same person could lie about the results of a mission, lie about the resources and valuable obtained from said mission?
He couldn't. And that was no longer his worry. All he cared about for the time being was doing his own work with his own tolds with his own belongings as he continued to upgrade the devices and tools around him.
*CRAack*
"Ngh!" He hissed as he felt a sharp pain on the side of his abdomen, holding his left arm to the side of his right as he swiped the tool away in anger. In addition to traitors and useless soldiers, he also had to deal with his own faulty equipment breaking down on him at all times, like this stupid suit of armor that refused to work properly!
"Hordak, great!" He also had to deal with random and sudden appearances of his newest assistant, one who actually proved herself valuable to him time and again as she popped out of the overhead vent. "I've got a lot to cover for you today. I've integrated the First Ones tech from the Northern Reach to our portal machine, but we're still missing something." She explained as she displayed four monitors to him at once, holding two in her arms and in her hair.
"Luckily, I just picked up a signal. It's some sort of First Ones message. I don't know what these other words are, but this one's easy. It means "portal". It could be the missing something we're looking for." The eager scientist paused as she scanned the room. "By the way, have you seen Adora? We should send her out to collect it, ASAP." Oh, she just couldn't wait to get a start on the mission and the piece of tech. She knew Adora would have some fun with the mission, and it'd be a good time to test out another band for her condition.
"Adora is no longer a concern of yours." He hissed, walking away as she stared back to him. "She's being sent away to Beast Island."
"Beast Island?" Entrapta blinked. "Why? Does she have some sort of mission to do there?"
"On the contrary, she is being exiled there as punishment for her transgressions and her inability as a commander. I've tolerated her failures far longer than I should." He stated, walking away from the curious scientist.
Entrapta really didn't know what to say for once, and not in the fun kind of way where some mysterious new piece of technology did something she has no idea of what! Looking among her many screens with a small frown, she looked back to the leader of the Horde as she followed him along her hair. "I'm confused." Grabbing onto a large pipe, she cut him off as she displayed the newest readings of Adora's performance.
"As you can see the overall productivity of the Horde has increased by 600% since Adora took over as your second-in-command. Troop morale has also seen a marginal increase by 30% within the last month alone." She tried to explain as the leader refused to even acknowledge her graphs, blocking it from his view as he walked away. "And look at this chart!" She tried to insist again with the same results. "The evidence shows that First Ones tech has gotten us closer than ever to creating a working portal."
She remained baffled by Hordak's decision as she spoke her mind and her statistics. Adora was far too valuable as a soldier to simply banish for any reason, and a good friend. She was the one who got Entrapta a job here in the first place, she was the one who helped her test out the gadgets some of the other officers and soldiers were too scared to try out.
So what if over half of them resulted in an explosion or a nuclear meltdown on a weekly basis? That didn't stop the girl from trying to help her out from time to time when she was available, especially since her shadows helped to keep her safe.
"Adora has been incredibly successful at getting new tech for us." She continued, trying to block his path again as she walked in front of him. "And this latest signal is coming from here. The Crimson Waste." She exclaimed, pulling out a map. "We don't have a moment to spare. We need Adora."
"Ghhh! It is meaningless!" In fury, the leader of the Horde smacked the map out of the scientist's hand, glaring back at the argumentative scientist who grew a small look of anger. "I'm not going to squander troops on a lifeless wasteland. This discussion is over." Entrapta looked at the charts one more time before lowering her head in despair, leaving the chart behind as she took off. If Hordak wasn't going to listen to reason, then the least she could do is making something quickly to help her friend before she left.
At the sound of her moaning, seeing the mopey scientist leaving him at least, he turned back to the table as he eyed the chart with seething eyes.
He meant what he said about her being intolerable, a failure, useless. A girl like that who can't even travel for four days without her own magic affecting her is more useless than Shadow Weaver was. At least with that woman she knew how to balance out her orders and her powers at the same time! It almost disgusted him that he had to think of something that the first traitor excelled at in comparison!
... Then again, as he thought about it, he wouldn't waste anything valuable if she failed him as always...
...
...
"You honestly think I'd ever make a deal with you?" Catra sneered at the dying woman. She could be armless, legless, magicaless, and headless, and Catra still wouldn't trust the woman with her life, much less anything else!
"I believe you would know an opportunity when you see one, Catra." Shadow Weaver replied, her once boisterous, proud, snide, and witty demeanor hollowed out by the aching sore of her throat, the endless coughing from her lungs. With every wave of her magic that dissipated from her body, another wave of her own magic disappeared with it, as well as her very life. "You want information I have, I want your magic to heal me. Personally, you have more to gain than I do by this point."
"Hmm, let me see." She raised her head in a sarcastic manner as she tapped her chin. "I heal you... you leave without telling me anything... Nope. Don't see how that benefits me."
"Catra..." Glimmer mumbled, nudging her again. She was the one factor keeping Catra's emotions at bay, less the girl lash out of her and cause a scene, an audible one for Angella and Castaspella who were right outside the door without knowing where they were.
Never has the princess seen Catra this cold hearted towards anyone, especially to the people she usually hated on a daily basis around here. This was like a new type of hatred she's never witnessed within the girl before, one that felt like a common anger towards someone, and at the same time, felt like she was forcing herself to be angry with this woman.
"The magic I can help teach you, the information from the Horde," the list went on as Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes, "the information on Adora herself."
"Tch..." That did remain the one reason Catra continued to listen to the temptress.
She didn't want to be here anymore than Shadow Weaver wanted to be here, and at first, it was a one way streak. Spending the last hour trying to sneak into the prison cell with Bow and Glimmer constantly stopping her at every turn, she finally got a chance to see the mad woman who tormented her all her life, who made her wish she was never born.
Here, she learned that Shadow Weaver was actually dying, and when she discovered she came here seeking Catra to heal her, she was absolutely ecstatic.
To think, the one simple woman, the dreaded Shadow Weaver, who went about her life making Catra miserable, would come groveling at Catra's own feet one day, begging and pleading for her help, and believing that for a second she would actually go through with it?! It sent Catra into a laughing riot the likes of which she's never felt before, finding the situation hysterical and poetic in some way. She was finally going to get her comeuppance for all the years of neglect and abuse, and Catra couldn't have been any happier even if she tried!
Then, she had to ruin it by mentioning Adora.
She knew something about Adora, more than Catra thought she knew herself. She knew Adora had some connection to the sword, she knew that she was supposed to take it originally unlike Catra, and she knew there was something special about her. On top of that, she also knew something that Catra didn't, something that was wrong with her that she refused to mention unless Catra healed her.
To sweeten the deal, she even offered to help Catra learn how to control She-Ra's magic, something that Light Hope had yet to do with the girl. She could understand why, seeing how she's barely mastered being She-Ra so far, but the least she could've done was teach her a few simple tricks here and there, none of which Light Hope said she was "ready for".
Even with that, Catra was extremely hesitant. She was dealing with Shadow Weaver, the master of manipulation, and the one who wouldn't give Catra the time of day if she ever asked. Now, she wanted Catra to help her of all people? There were so many literal thousands of reasons why she would argue against it that she knew they didn't have time for.
"Suppose I do help you. What then?" Catra asked, crossing her arms. "You tell us the information, then return to the Horde to your "favorite student"?"
"I can no longer go back to the Horde, Catra." Shadow Weaver informed. "Sense the Battle of Bright Moon, I have been imprisoned. I've been rotting in a cell, biding my time, until, eventually, Adora gave me the way out."
"If she was willing to help you get out, then why didn't she try to help heal you?" Glimmer asked curiously as Catra pondered. "She could've taken you anywhere the Horde occupied before they found out about your escape." Shadow Weaver remained silent at this as she lowered her head, a notion only Catra could understand as her eyes widened a little.
"...You used her, didn't you?" She assumed correctly. "You tricked her into helping you, and now she needs help because she's in trouble. I'm right, aren't I?"
"Whatever trouble she's in now is miniscule to the trouble we'll all be in if you don't let me help-! OUgh!" With another convulsion, more of the miasma-like mist spread away from Shadow Weaver, the woman coughing out even greater than she had before. This time, once the coughs subsided, the residual magic stayed behind.
"You're getting worse..." Glimmer commented, unaware as Catra lowered her ears at the sight. The magicat pulled out her sword, staring into the blade as she contemplated her options.
"If I help you, how do I know you won't try to run afterwards, or give me what I want?" The warrior asked, raising the sword to her.
"It's like I said, Catra." She hoarsely replied. "I have much more to lose than my own life if I don't help you... Hack..." She took a few moments to clear her throat, her eyes getting harder to stay open. "Whether or not you believe me remains your problem." Catra narrowed her eyes to her before looking at the sword again.
There were too many risks involved if she did end up helping her. She could end up trying to corrupt her or her friends, try to use her own magic against her, maybe even siphon Catra's power once she had the chance! She had nothing to play against her except for letting the woman die, and the moment Catra decided to help her, she lost her only advantage.
On the other hand, there was the mystery of Adora. She wouldn't deny she cared for Adora far less than she used to, given the history they've had within the last month, but she was also worried at the fear of the unknown. What was it about Adora that Shadow Weaver knew that Catra didn't? Was she just lying to her again, or was there something actually going on here that she couldn't explain? In her current condition, there would be no way she could explain everything without breaking out in a mad fit of coughs.
One way or another, she had no other options. It was either let Shadow Weaver die and let whatever was going to happen to Adora happen, or trust the mad woman for the first time since her life actually depended on Catra, and risk losing the only chance she had to learn more about her powers, Adora, and possibly Adora herself anyway?
"... Mmmh..." Her options were scarce, but not impossible. With the look of conviction, one Glimmer recognized as she stood back, she raised her sword to the sky. "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 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.
Below this skirt was the gift of a beautiful pair of pants that Catra always treasured, with small slits in the knees that allowed her to access the maximum amount of her agility without holding her back.
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.
Below her knees, the stars gathered as protective anklets formed along the sides of her legs, also stretched halfway up to her knees, though lowered on the inner sides of them. From the base of these anklets, the sword continued to offer its protection to her as it grew a shining force of gold sandals across her feet, thin enough for her to use her feet's claws and as sturdy enough as a tank's armor, despite how thin it was.
As the incredible transformation slowly came to an end, the last of her magnificent appearance didn't end with another piece of clothing, but her hair. Her hair flashed in a sea of warmth as it grew along her back, nearly doubling in size, as its color changed to that of one of a blazing fire, lighter along her head and stretching out into a slightly darker orange. It was as if she had the fires of the morning sun blazing from behind her head.
And from their magnificent glow, the red cape slowly formed from behind her, connecting between the two as it slowly descended down to Catra's thigh.
With this, her transformation had come to an end, and She-Ra had been formed.
With the blinding flash coming to a slow end, Shadow Weaver lowered her protective arm from her eyes, taking in Catra's appearance that Glimmer had only gazed at once before. She remembers how happy Catra was to see the new her, feeling the power radiating from the sword before the transformation even began. Catra knew she was getting better as her bond with the sword deepened, and the stronger her bond had become, the stronger She-Ra had been in turn.
And, no matter what the girl said, Glimmer and Bow knew that Catra was growing better as a person as well.
"There. I'm She-Ra. Happy now?" Catra scoffed, still unable to believe she was going to let this opportunity pass her by.
"I must admit, you play the look of a pretend She-Ra rather well." Wow. Not three seconds in and Catra already wanted to punch her in the face with her She-Ra strength because of her sarcastic compliment. "Though, the hair definitely isn't your color."
"Pft-" Glimmer had to force her hand over her mouth, unable to resist as the comment got a small chuckle out of her, even though it was from Shadow Weaver of all power. That left the magicat with a very brief blush before glaring back to Shadow Weaver.
"Fine. I'm She-Ra. Now what?" Catra asked wanting to get to the point.
"First, you must acknowledge who you are right now, Catra." She stated. "You are a Princess, so, you have a Runestone. Yours dwells there, within the sword." Catra eyed te mysterious stone itself as she spoke. "With it, you channel the elemental magic of Etheria. Let it flow through your sword and into you."
Catra and Glimmer shared an uneasy look of doubt over their faces before the magicat raised the sword in front of herself, closing her eyes as she focused.
"You must learn to concentrate. Focus your power." She instructed as Catra's brows twitched. She tried to drown out all other noise and distractions as she was directed, with barely a thought distracting her, or the twitch of her ears concerning her. "Achieve a peace within yourself, let your mind drift like the gentle winds.
"Ghhh..." She snapped her eyes open with an irritated look in her eyes. "It'll be easier to concentrate if you stopped distracting me!"
"I'm not distracting you, I'm trying to help you." She argued. "If you can't block out the sounds of one's voice, then how do you ever expect to help those you care about in the Rebellion?" Rolling her eyes, the magicat returned to her concentration as she closed her eyes again, trying to focus on anything that wasn't her. All through this, Glimmer watched with fascination, wondering if the girl could do it.
What exactly was she supposed to feel here? Emptiness? Fulness? Some over mumbo jumbo she didn't have time for? She tried to picture it as she instructed. Picturing the wind, picturing a calmness of something stupid like leaves blowing in the air? Maybe even some grass blowing in the distance? How was she supposed to know if she was supposed to concentrate on something specific or something generic?
"Feel as if your a tide," she ushered softly, "one calling the waves of the ocean towards you. Feel as you you are the one in command behind it, calling it back and for with the pull of her hands."
"Wouldn't I be pulling it in with my sword instead-" Catra interrupted as she opened her right eye partway.
"Focus!"
"Alright, geez!" She hissed back at the bossy sorceress. "Huff... Feel a wave... Feel a wave..."
"Pull in the wave." Shadow Weaver emphasized. "Don't just feel it."
"I'm trying..." She squeezed her eyes a little harder as the irritation grew around her.
"Push away your negativity, Catra." Shadow Weaver's voice lowered as she instructed, feeling like the earlier years when she was training her in the Horde. "If you allow your frustration to build, the energy you will produce will be destructive if you're not careful. There must be peace."
"Oh, thanks for that info." Catra grumbled. "On top of channeling my powers, you're saying I have to like you now?" Catra took it all back. This was impossible!
"You don't have to picture me the one you're healing, you fool." She retorted, watching the girl close her eyes for the third time by now as she tried again. "Picture me as someone you actually care about, somebody you would want to help."
"How can I when your stupid mask keeps blocking their face?" Catra shook a little as she tried to concentrate harder, gripping the sword's hilt with both her hands now.
"Concentrate, Catra!" She refused to let Catra fail now of all times, not when the girl had the potential of living up to her name. "If I die, you'll never know what's going on or the truth about Adora. If you truly considered her as a friend through all your life, then prove it to me, right now!"
"Ngggghhhh..." Catra screeched as she tried harder to concentrate. She was trying, she was willing to do it, she wanted to do it. She didn't care about this witch or her ways, but the least she could do is show a little more encouragement when she depended on her to SAVE HER LIFE IN THE FIRST PLACE!
She did what she could to follow along with her, to obey her instructions, not that there was a reason for it anymore. She never cared, she never tried to listen, she never acted like whatever Glimmer or Bow had with their families. She was an enemy to her, through and through, without any regard for the girl except for her usefulness. If it wasn't for the answers she had she wouldn't want to do this in the first place!
Continuing on her concentration, going on for ten seconds of silence, a reaction finally occurred.
As Catra kept her eyes closed, the remaining party watched with wonder as Catra's body started to glow with a golden light, one that radiated with energy as a small shine from the sword's rune stone grew. It was a dazzling light within the stone, one that slowly started to burn brightly as Catra twitched her mouth more frequently, one that seemed to grow by the second as Catra's aura started to flicker off and on more repetitively.
Come on, Catra. Glimmer encouraged in her mind, remaining silent as she watched with hope. She knew Catra was more capable of than Shadow Weaver would let on, whether or not the vile woman wanted to. She was brave, she was strong, she was determined. She had all the qualities that She-Ra needed, all the traits the world needed. She could get through this, she just knew it.
If only Catra was more aware of this herself.
"Gah-!" Catra gasped as she huffed, feeling as if she was holding her breath for over an hour. In response, the light aura that had grown around the girl was instantly snuffed out, practically bursting in a small stream of light that dissipated within a single second. Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes at the girl as she watched her sweat, the magicat looking briefly at the sword before looking a bit cross at the dying woman. "W-Wait, let me try again."
"I think you've done enough." She muttered, turning her head away from the sight that disgusted her.
"N-No! I can do it!" She complained, retaking her stance again as she held the sword before her. "Concentrate... Concen-"
"I said, enough!" Shadow Weaver hissed, taking the girl's attention again. "You're incapable of doing it." She coughed a little. "This was a waste of my time..."
"S-Shut up!" She growled, shaking her fist a little as she squeezed around the sword's hilt. "Just give me another chance and I can do it! Like-"
"Like, Adora?" She questioned as she interrupted. If it wasn't getting so much harder to breathe, she would've laughed at the statement. "You think a sword that was meant for someone else, someone talented, someone gifted, someone chosen, could ever be used by the likes of you?" She didn't take in any intimidation as Catra glared furiously at her, unaware as her own sandals started to glow, pulsating as her emotions were starting to counteract her bond.
"You're nothing more than a child playing hero, a child who never wanted to be a hero, a child who wishes she was gifted. A meager child who wishes she could be better than what she is, and a child who wishes every day to be just like Adora-"
"I said SHUT UP!" She growled. In her primal fury, the girl rushed to the side of the barrier, dropping down to one knee, before grabbing her former instructor by the throat as she pushed her arm through the barrier, pulling her as close to the invisible wall as she could without touching it.
"Catra!" Glimmer cried out, trying to pull Catra's empowered state with all her might from her shoulders. She couldn't risk teleporting the girl with the barrier currently attached to her, especially while she maintained her grip on the wicked sorceress on the other end.
"You're always going on about Adora, and I'm tired of hearing it!"
*shiiiim*
She had no idea, or care, as the sandals finally disappeared, leading to the anklets starting to glow next. ""Adora is stronger than me", "Adora is smarter than me", "Adora is faster than me", it never ends with you! I can be just as good as she is if you just gave me the chance!" The corner of her right eye began to seep with a single tear. She continued holding Shadow Weaver as tight as she could without harming her further. "Why is it so hard for you to do that!?"
"Ngh..." The teacher struggled to retrieve a response as she weakly held the girl's wrist against both her hands, trying to pry the tightening grip away from her throat. "You still haven't figured it out, have you?" She muttered. "Why the sword was meant for her, why all... of this is h-happening...?"
"What is that supposed to mean? Why can't you ever just be straight with me for a change instead of pretending like I don't exist?" There was almost a whimper to the tone as the girl asked this, the history of her past neglect starting to reach her again in the present. "You abused me, you hated me, you made me regret my life half the time, and you never bothered to say why. Why did you do all this to me when I didn't deserve it!?"
She mocked her constantly, she toyed with her. Day by day, she always looked down on Catra, whether she was within a few feet or miles away at a time. She always compared her to someone like Adora, someone she reminded always had a bright and better future ahead of her, and she finally had enough of it!
She came to her to ask for help. She's the one who wanted Catra to help her for a change, and even then she still couldn't give her the slightest hint of respect or understanding. It was beyond infuriating, beyond insulting. Right now she wanted to do nothing more than to crush the throat within her grasp, knowing it would've been so easy with her waning strength.
So why couldn't she?
And why was Shadow Weaver laughing?
"Y-You think... you didn't deserve it?"
...
"Iiiiis this your card?"
"For the last time, no!" Angella yelped, at her wits end as Bow revealed the last card of his now-empty deck of cards.
"That's impossible." Bow patted around himself to see if there were any cards remaining. "That was the last card, how could-" A small grin formed on the archer's mouth as he reached to the side of Angella's head, "Wait a minute," and pulled out a card from behind her ear, revealing the eight of diamonds, "is THIS your card?"
"Still, no."
"Really?" Bow was beside himself as he looked at the last card in his bundle. Maybe he truly was magical in some shape or form that he didn't know about? How else was she supposed to explain the factual disappearance of a card that vanished into his deck. "I could've sworn I had that trick patted down."
"Listen, Bow, we appreciate you... doing whatever it is you're trying to do." Castaspella commented, in the thought that he was attempting to cheer them up, as Angella rubbed her brow. "But we really don't have time for this. We need to assess the situation, determine what's to be done about Shadow Weaver."
"There's nothing that can be done, Castaspella." Angella deemed, crossing her arms. "She won't give us the information we're looking for, and we're not resorting to the Horde's method of cruelty to make her speak. And I refuse to let her anywhere near-"
"Catraaaa." A familiar-sounding steed called out as he walked through the hallways. Bow's let out a silent shriek at this as he shifted his eyes in the direction of the hallway behind him, the two women noticing Swift Wind as he explored through the castle. "Catra?"
"Swift Wind?" Angella questioned. The two adults looked at each other in confusion as Bow silently walked past them a little, standing in the way to the door as Swifty approached.
"Hey, Your Majesty." Swift Wind greeted with a casual smile. "Has anyone seen Catra around here?"
"Catra? She's supposed to be with you and Glimmer at the Beacon, isn't she?"
"The Beacon?" He tilted his head. "No way, I haven't seen her since she met with Glimmer and Bow after the Throne Room. I've been looking all over for her, I'm getting kind of worried."
"What's there to be worried about?" Castaspella asked.
"I don't know, but something is really bugging her right now. Her emotions are going all over the place and they've been zipping in and out of each other for, like, the last ten minutes alone. Something must be bothering her."
"Bothering her?" The queen turned her head to the side as she tried to think. "But what could-!" With a flash of the eyes, she quickly realized everything at the same time as Castaspella as the two women quickly turned around. There, they saw Bow with a nervous smile as they gazed at him with a stern look in their eyes.
The fact he kept bothering them with a pointless card trick, the reason he wasn't with Glimmer or Catra at the moment, and the fact Swift Wind stated how Catra was feeling a flux of emotions at the moment without being with either her or Glimmer.
With this in mind, Bow gulped. "I-If it makes you feel any better," he stuttered holding up another card, "I found your card..."
...
"Of course I didn't deserve it!" Catra grumbled, unable to figure out how or what she should be feeling at this point. "What makes you think I-!"
"Catra!" It was with the voice of the Queen's shouting and the door opening that Catra finally looked away from the door at long last, the queen, the head sorceress, and her noble steed rushing into the room with an anxious Bow following behind them. "Get away from her." It was with the sound of the queen's voice that Catra finally let go, felt compelled to let go, as she pulled Catra away from the barrier. "I told you you were not supposed to come in here. Any of you." She stated, giving a stern gaze at her own daughter who looked away with a sense of guilt.
With her throat clearing once more, letting out a fit of coughs as her airways cleared up for the most part, the witch of darkness gasped for breath, feeling her life force draining away more after this little event, as even more haze dispersed from her body. "You really think you didn't deserve... what I did, huh?"
"Of course not!" Catra hissed, being held back more firmly by the queen as she waved a fist. "I was just a kid! Everything you said I deserved I didn't deserve. I probably wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for you!"
"Then where's Adora?" She asked simply. Catra seemed rather profound at the mere question, confused for herself as her subconscious made her lower her ears at this. "Why isn't she with you, right here, right now, hm? Did you ever bother to think for a minute what she must be going through right now in the Horde, how much you've tormented her with your very existence?"
"That is enough-!" Angella tried to put a stop to the madness as she stepped forward, only to be cut off by Catra herself as she stepped in front of her and keeping her eyes on Shadow Weaver.
"Since day one, you've been- ough. You've been using her, to make your life easier, whether or not you were aware of it, before I even became involved in your life. She clung to your side... huff... She clung to your side, wanting a friend, all while you just wanted an easier life, and when she finally realized that, many years later... It tore her heart to pieces."
"Now, she suffers within... Within the Horde." It was becoming harder and harder to talk as her breathing became more painful by the minute. "Every day, she pushes herself, trying... Trying to make up for your betrayal, trying to prove herself in a world that punishes her decency."
"Tch, I... I wouldn't have taken advantage of her if-"
"While you continue to live your life in p-peace," she interrupted, uncaringly, "she pushes herself to the brink of exhaustion, as her newfound powers take a toll on her body... like you could never know. Within the Horde... She's unwanted by Hordak, unwanted for her kindness. Yet, despite all the putdowns, all the petty insults, all the comments that you can't even put up with yourself, she pushes past it. She pushes herself in ways you can hardly dream of, Catra, all because of how she once cared for you."
"B-But..." Her hands started to tremble as she tried to find the right words. All Adora was going through, all that was happening because of her, weighed down on the guilt the magicat was already feeling. And to top off her overflowing sense of guilt, Shadow Weaver continued to taunt the girl, remarking how she's going through what Shadow Weaver is doing to her right now within the last several months, when Catra couldn't even handle one lesson from the sorceress.
"And you still think you deserve a chance to be the hero? To take the destiny from someone who wasn't even a part of our world?" It was with that final hiss that Catra flinched, her mouth gaping open a small bit at the curious mention.
"Not of our..." Glimmer mumbled, trying to process all of what Shadow Weaver was saying as well. "What do you mean she's not a part of our world?"
Before she could answer, another wave of coughs and magic oozed from the waning Shadow Weaver, this time beginning to solidify into small gooey masses around the floor of the barrier. At least several splotches lied within the rune stone, the essence of her life force draining away faster by the explanation.
"I-I can't... Explain... Much longer... But face it... Catra... There's a reason that... She was the one destined... destined for greatness. And you..." She hacked again, struggling to keep her eyes halfway open. "You took that away... away from her..." The cat remained silent as her eyes started to water, gritting her teeth in anger as tried to hold back the rush of emotions.
"You... were the worst thing... to ever happen to her..." And it was then that the witch finally collapsed to her side, chest heaving heavily as she struggled to remain alive.
And with the final squeeze of her sword, Catra finally broke.
"Nghhhhh!" With a cry-filled growl, tears streaming from the corner of her eyes, Catra rushed. Not towards the woman who was already on death's bed, but out of the room, squeezing the sword tightly as she ran.
"Catra!" Swift Wind cried out worriedly, taking off after his dear friend as she ran down the hallways.
As the remaining four watched them leave, Angella gave a small look of anger back to both, Shadow Weaver, and her daughter. "This is exactly why I told you I didn't want Catra in here! I'm very disappointed in you, Glimmer!"
"But mom, she needed my help!" Glimmer argued, refusing to back down in her firm belief for her friend. "Catra knew what could happen coming in here, we all did, and she still insisted on it! She asked her to trust her, and we did. We still do!"
"Trusting your friend has nothing to do with doing what's right, and you should know that yourself!" She was angry, which was clear. She was angry at the betrayal by her own daughter's hand, angry that she became involved in the reason Catra is in the state she currently was, while knowing that Shadow Weaver was going to toy with the girl's heart like she expected.
Glimmer still didn't care. It's not that she didn't care how Catra was feeling right now, how she was likely going to feel by the end of all this, oh no. She didn't care that her mother ordered her to keep her out of the room, not when she knew she did something that was right. She was there for her like she should have been, both her and Bow were.
If she was going to yell at her for disobeying her mother then fine, she was up for that. But she refused to let her mother be mad at all three of them, Catra included, when they were trying to help their dear friend in the first place.
"Your Majesty, just let us explain-"
"And don't think you're off any better than she is." Castaspella cut off Bow, placing her hands at her hips in authority. "That little stunt with the cards, trying to stall us for as long as possible? You didn't think to take the initiative and tell us about the plan at any point? Especially when the girl has an obvious hatred for the woman who tormented her?"
"Catra wouldn't have listened to us even if she wasn't willing to fight us over it." Bow shot back, always quick, always precise with his target. "She would've hated us, possibly all of us, and the bond with her sword would've worsened regardless. Besides, she needed our support, and there wasn't any way we were going to turn her down!"
"So letting a dangerous warrior within several feet of someone she'd likely cut in half was your idea of helping her?!" Did Bow, or any of them, really not see the biggest issue here? The girl was aggressive in any way, shape, or form, and when it came to the one previously known as Light Spinner, she had every reason to be. But if she had actually gone through with it, enemy or not, she would've been held accountable and in trouble for her deeds, and they should've known that!
Which is why Bow still felt like they had to help her. He knows what it was like to keep things bottled up for too long or to keep them secret. With Shadow Weaver around, Catra felt vulnerable. She felt vulnerable every time she took it upon herself to open up about her past, specifically the parts she was uncomfortable with. If she didn't get it off her chest now, she would've felt entire levels of resentment for any of them, herself included, for the rest of her life.
This was the argument that currently plagued the room as everyone began yelling at one another, blaming one another about what they should have and shouldn't have done. They were all on the same side, the same family, and it mattered not. None of them would back down from their viewpoints and were determined to make themselves heard to the other by the end of this conversation.
Shadow Weaver grew a small grin at the sight.
It was like puppets on a string as she listened to them banter, friends and family yelling at one another for reasons she actually couldn't explain for once, yelling at each other despite the fact they loved one another. For the first time in her life, she actually didn't intend for this. She didn't intend to give any of them the harshness they currently had, including Catra for a change, as she taught the magicat how to focus her magic.
The fact that this was happening outside of her control, happened for unintentional reasons they couldn't explain, was what made it all the more humorous to the dying woman.
At least now she could look forward to some entertainment before she passed on...
...
"Ghhhh!" Catra hissed as she continued to run through the castle angrily with tears of her eyes, finally passing the main entrance of the grand structure.
"Catra, wait!" Swift Wind yelled from behind as he ran to her. With the magicat already reaching the bottom of the steps, heading off towards the forest, Swift Wind took to the air, racing past the cat until he could finally cut her off before she entered. "Catra, listen to me-"
"Get out of my way." She ordered, trying to get around the horse who kept blocking her every turn.
"Look, you can't let anything that woman says get to you, all right?" He tried to calm down, feeling the torrent of emotions still building behind Catra's heart. "Nothing she says is true, you got that?"
"I don't care about that, Swifty!" She retorted, much to his surprise.
"You don't?"
"No." It wasn't to say she wasn't bothered by anything the woman told her, the way she berated her, treated her, as if nothing had changed. It just wasn't the focus of her mind right now. "I'm going to see Light Hope, and if you're not going to stop me from that, then take me there. Now!"
"Light Hope?" He was questioning everything the girl was doing right now. Storming out of the castle, eyes still filled with tears and anger, the emotions he couldn't get a clear grasp on, the very ones Catra wasn't sure about herself. The girl felt like a total mystery to her all of a sudden, as if he just met her for the first time. "But why?"
"To get some answers!" There was only one person within this world she knew couldn't lie to her, a being that was capable of giving her the answers she so desperately needed.
...
The flight to the Beacon, the Crystal Castle, went without any further roadblocks as Swift Wind took her to her desired destination in less than three minutes. The moment his hooves touched the door, the magicat rushed to the Beacon, activating the secret entrance as she descended into the cold steel hallways, leaving a worried friend behind.
She was still angry, still upset, still confused, as she ran through the halls. She kept her eyes peeled in every intersection in case she passed her, ears open to hear her, as she ran to the inner sanctum of the castle, where she knew the woman would be waiting for her.
"Light Hope!" Catra shouted out, looking in every direction as she walked to the center of the room. "Light Hope, get out here! I need you-!"
"Greetings, Catra." Ten feet into her brief search, the familiar form of Light Hope appeared behind her, greeting her as she made her way to the center of the room. "I was not expecting you for training today, or this early. But it shows an improvement to your dedica-"
"Who is she!?" Catra practically roared as she asked. Light Hope remained silent for a few moments, processing the girl's state, before turning around.
"Is something the matter?" She asked as she materialized a monitor to her right with the First Ones data recorded over it. "My analysis shows you've broken 7% of your bond within the last half-hour. Did something happen?"
"Who is she?" She repeated, stomping closer to the tall figure.
"She?"
"Adora!" She clarified. "Who is she?"
"Adora? She is your past, is she not? A friend from when-"
"Stop giving me that garbage!" In her anger, the cat threw the sword through Light Hope's holographic feet, the woman watching the sword skid away before looking back to the angry teen. "You know what I'm talking about! Who is she, really? What is she? Why was she so special that she deserved the sword in the first place?!"
"..." The woman remained silent, intentionally as Catra came to realize.
"ANSWER ME!"
Once again, the woman remained silent for a few seconds, blinking until she finally gave a response. "I am sorry, but I am unable to authorize your request."
"Unable to? Don't give me that, I know you can!" She spoke with such determination that Light Hope has never experienced before. She glared brazenly at the tall figure as she stood right in front of her, looking her dead in the eye.
"I am sorry, Catra, but, again, I am not authorized to answer question. I am only authorized to answer specific questions of She-Ra by a designated She-Ra, not one founded by the Founder's Initiative-"
"You're lying." Every second that passed went on to boil Catra's blood more and more. "You've answered them before about the others, about Mara. Don't think you can get away with lying to me right now because it's not going to happen. I don't care if you think I deserve to know or not, I need to know!"
"You misunderstand, Catra. I am not withholding the information out of conveniency. I am doing it to keep you from feeling worse."
"Worse? Worse!? I just had my ruthless instructor appear to me out of nowhere a few hours ago and scold me after she asked me to heal her in the first place! I'm already feeling worse!" It was evident by the way the girl continued to squeeze her fist, the refusal to drop her anger since the moment of her arrival. "I demand to know who or what Adora really is, right now!"
"I am sorry, but I refuse to comply." She calmly stated, turning around as she walked away. "It is for your own wellbeing."
"Either tell me who she is or you can forget about this whole She-Ra nonsense for good!" She threatened, causing Light Hope to pause in her track with the same emotionless stare. Processing the girl's reaction, turning back to her, she gave no indication that she was bluffing, the anger within the girl almost doubling as time passed. "And you know I will!"
"..." She wouldn't put it past someone like Catra, not with the statistics she knew about her. Catra was dead serious about her sake of knowledge, for the information that she had come to know. Even now, as she glanced away from her, her attention had drawn to the monitor she displayed earlier. There, she could see the bond continuing to break by .1% every second, already going down by a full two-percent so far.
The girl had proven the severity of her request, the desperate action she took to get here and the threat she had made. She had every intention of leaving the sword behind forever and returning to the Rebellion without it, unless Light Hope gave her what she wanted.
Staring at the girl for another few seconds, she disappeared, rematerializing and almost startling the girl as she appeared behind her. "Very well." She stated. "Please state the nature of your question."
"My question is everything about Adora." Catra replied, finally calming down as the bond with her sword finally stabilized. "Who is she? What is she? Where did she come from?" Her eyes and ears lowered at the few realizations Shadow Weaver hinted at herself. "She... She isn't from Etheria, is she?"
"That is correct." She nodded. Raising her hand to the air, Catra let out a small gasp as monitors and screens began to spread around them. Above them, past them, reforming and reshaping the very environment itself into an entirely new place, a completely different realm.
Here, everything was different to the magicat. The sky was luscious pink with light-hearted clouds, the ground a mix of violet and green, spread evenly across the ground as far as her eyes could see. Along the various open plains, she saw crystals. Large ones, sturdy ones, all grown around her as if they were the trees of a forest, broken spires that were never damaged.
But what really drew her eye, what caught her attention the most, was the center of it all. A large purple vortex, one that pulsated with energy, the likes of which she's never known, standing ahead of her. Within the open air it swirled, cackling with power as electricity danced around it, as if it was signaling the start of things to come or to end.
It was all breathtaking and terrifying to the girl at the same time.
"This is the portal that Adora came through, the reason she exists within your world." Light Hope explained. The two watched as the portal began to close, losing its energy and its power to project. When it disappeared completely, Catra nearly jumped as a familiar figure walked through her from behind, one she knew of as Hordak, as the sounds of an infant's cry sang throughout the air.
"The Horde stole her, turned her into a soldier for their war." The brief existence of their scenery began to fade as quickly as it came, returning Catra's view to the Crystal Castle. Returning to the palace, Catra walked over to her sword, slowly descending to her knees as she held it in her hands again. "So, I watched and waited for the day I could unite her with the sword."
Catra took in all the information at a once, her ears lowering in despair. "All of She-Ra's powers, all her strength, everything she can do, it... it..."
"The First Ones came from beyond the stars." She continued. "They made the sword so that it would only respond to one of their own kind." Catra didn't need any further detail in that point.
"Adora's... A First One?" She didn't know how to react to that addition. How was one supposed to know how to act when you realize your friend is from an ancient civilization from over a thousand years ago? She was practically an alien in every way! "Then why did it react to me? You said it yourself I wasn't supposed to find the sword! So why-"
"But there was one obstacle I could not foresee." She interrupted, her directness already firing down Catra's question with an answer. "That obstacle was-"
"Me." Catra said for herself, slowly rising to her feet as she tightened her hand around the hilt.
"The sword is to react when a First One is within close proximity of the blade. It is only then that the blade will reveal itself. Because of this, we assumed the sword would have been safe until Adora came upon it. But we were wrong." Pulling up another display, she found a recording, a brief one, of the very event that started all of this.
The moment when Catra fell out of the skiff, with Adora calling out her name in fear.
"Adora was near, but-" Catra trailed off.
"Catra! Tree!" Adora quickly yelled as she took control of the skiff again. Apparently Catra had been so caught up in her thoughts she didn't even register the tree they nearly crashed into. Luckily thanks to Adora's quick reaction she managed to divert the direction directly upwards, just seconds away from crashing head on into the large tree itself.
Despite preventing the crash, and possibly saving their lives, Catra still found herself a little irritated at the idea of Adora messing up her plan. "I got it, I got it. Just give me back the-"
*Whack!*
"Ahhhhhh-!" The few feet of space Catra traveled to shove Adora out of the way was the only few feet necessary to place Catra on the receiving end of a heavily large branch that smacked into her face, bashing her straight in the head and throwing her off the skiff from nearly a hundred feet in the air. There wasn't enough time for Adora to grab for her friend by the time she processed what just happened,
"Catra!" Adora cried out in fear, doing whatever she could to pilot the skiff again.
Only now did she realize how literal Shadow Weaver's words were.
"I-I can't... Explain... Much longer... But face it... Catra... There's a reason that... She was the one destined... destined for greatness. And you..." She hacked again, struggling to keep her eyes halfway open. "You took that away... away from her..." The cat remained silent as her eyes started to water, gritting her teeth in anger as tried to hold back the rush of emotions.
"You... were the worst thing... to ever happen to her..."
"I... I got to the sword before she did..." She waved the sword a little. "Like she was supposed to..."
"If it is any consolation, you should feel honored." Light Hope tried to motivate, as much as an emotionless machine could when emotions were only hardwired to be there. "It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance that someone gets to be a part of the She-Ra lineage through the Initiative."
"... So, that's it...?" It was with these words, these few words that Catra's anger started to rise once again, the magicat angrily staring back at the hologram. "THAT'S IT!?"
"You are upset. I do not understand. You are experiencing anger?"
"Of course I'm angry!" She yelled. "That's the reason behind all of this?! Because she was just born differently than me? That's why she got all the special treatment?!"
"Treatment?" She wouldn't understand. Of course she wouldn't understand. How would Catra expect a soulless machine to possibly comprehend? In fairness, it wasn't as if she was referring to just being She-Ra, either. Catra had a jealousy, an anger, at Adora's history that wasn't there before. The very same Light Hope was trying to keep her from.
It didn't make any sense to Catra. This was the big reveal then behind the scenes? The very reason she was considered Shadow Weaver's favorite? Because she was a First One? Because she was a single person found on a different planet that shouldn't have even been brought here in the first place!?
IT WASN'T FAIR!
She could put up with it, sure. She could try to ignore it. The way Shadow Weaver fawned over Adora since day one, the way she got to experience what it was like to have a family around here. The way she was always treated nicely, treated better, than the rest of them, because she was just "born different". She didn't show any skills she excelled at in the beginning, she was just a baby, after all. And Catra was just fine with that, fine with how she came to be.
What was angering her about it? Everything else! She had to put up with Shadow Weaver's constant abuse all her life, had to deal with the way she ignored her, purposely ignored her, all the times she shoved her away forcefully, just because of a stupid explanation such as someone's birth?! That didn't mean anything to Catra!
How would she have known that it meant she was special? Why didn't she give everyone else the same amount of chances that she gave her? Why couldn't she give so much as a single chance to someone like Catra? At the very least she could've told her the reason behind this, regardless of how young Catra was at the time, at any point in the past. And did she? NO!
All that pain, all the times she suffered, was because of one simple reason: a birth. A birth that meant someone else was destined for greatness, to be treated like they were destined for greatness in a land where the weak were mocked and ridiculed like Catra.
It became more unfair the longer Catra thought about it, the longer it rested within her mind. And the more it dwelled within the recesses of it, the further Light Hope felt her bond lowering.
"Catra, temper yourself." Light Hope warned, looking across the displays.
"Don't tell me how to act, all right? I have every reason to be angry right now!" She shouted. "I thought it was just because she was gifted or something, because of the way she was better than me at everything, but it wasn't, was it?" She scratched furiously at her own head in rage, speaking her mind in an instant as the anger surfaced the words. "You said she was from a different planet, right? Somewhere else? Then make another portal thing and send her back!"
"I am afraid that is impossible, even if I wanted to." She replied calmly. "When Mara cut us off from the rest of the universe, she destroyed our portal capabilities." Her tone depend a little bit as she went on. "Attempting to open a new one now would have devastating consequences." For the moment, the single instance that Catra turned her head away in anger, she missed it. With the last two words spoken, she missed as Light Hope glitched a little, her entire body burning red as if corrupted.
"T-... Mara..." Catra whispered to herself as she heard this. "She was from another world too, wasn't she? The same place Adora was from? How did she do it? Why did she do it?"
"It is irrelevant." Light Hope answered, walking towards the angry girl. "This is She-Ra's home now. Adora's home. And yours. As She-Ra you must-"
"You're not listening!" Catra's anger knew no end as she shouted again. "I had to put up with all of it, all my life, because I thought there was something wrong with me! Because I was the one who was messing up all the time! Now you're telling me it was all a lie? That I was just born "unlucky"!?"
"You are behaving erratically. You are letting your past determine your present, She-Ra. As I've told you, it is an honor-"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT HONOR! I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF IT!" She fumed as tears of anger swelled in her eyes. "My past is my present! Don't you understand? Nothing's changed. I'm still the one falling behind in the end, I'm the one who's being treated like a burden, and the one who still isn't respected after all I've done! I haven't changed anything, and now I'm stuck with someone else's life, just because of an accident?! I don't want to be She-Ra anymore!"
"That is no longer your decision to make." Light Hope replied, emotionless, firmless. "It is a destiny you have stolen. Now, you must see it through." Catra opened her mouth at the statement, spiteful at everything unfolding around her. She was torn, she was in pieces, she was shattered. She felt as angry as she did when she discovered the truth of the sword the first time, now bursting with the fury of a volcano and clouded in a storm of emotions behind it.
And now, she had enough.
Without another word, without a care for anything in this moment, she turned around and walked away.
"Catra? Catra?" Light Hope tried to stop as the girl stormed off. "Where are you going?" There was no reply. There wasn't a gesture, there wasn't a response, there was nothing. There was only the image of a lowly girl who loathed her life for some stupid reason, marching away as her tail dangled behind her in angher.
There was only one worry coming to Light Hope's mind as her constantly-expressionless face watched her. "It is happening again..."
...
...
"Catra?" Swift Wind called out, trying to locate the girl in the everchanging forest. He had so many questions to ask her as she brushed past him after leaving the Beacon. What was with the range of emotions she was feeling? Why did she look so pained in every emotion?
She wouldn't say. All she told him was to leave her alone before walking away in the forest on her own, and he proudly did.
For about ten minutes.
She didn't really say how long she wanted to be alone, and it's not like he could just ignore her forever with how she was feeling. From anger, confusion, despair, regret, jealousy, and back to anger again in an endless loop. This is what Swift Wind has been feeling coming off of her from the moment she left the Beacon, and the longer it went on, the emptier it felt like she was becoming.
"Catraaaa." He looked beyond the sides of a tree, up and down and all around. It would've been easier to explore for her from above if the landscape wasn't constantly shifting, and if the tree's leaves didn't get in the way of his search. "Catraaa- oh!" He perked up as he finally found the girl, seeing her curled up atop a large flat boulder. "There you are, I've been wondering where you were." He was glad his momentary terror was over as he approached, standing at the girl's side on the rock.
"What'cha doin'?" He asked curiously, staring from the girl to the night's sky. "You planet gazing again? Can I join?" He didn't get any sort of response as he took it upon himself to sit down. He smiled looking up at the various planets. "Wow, look at 'em all up there. Must be at least seven right now." He rubbed the tip of his neck with a wing. "Do you know any of them? I don't. I mean, I've tried reading through a book about the planets, but," he chuckled a bit as he held up a hoof, "I kind of keep tearing out the pages by accident."
"..." She said nothing.
"...Catra?" He prodded as he laid a gentle wing on the girl's shoulder tip. "Hey, are you okay? What's wrong?"
"... Everything." She muttered. "Nothing... I don't know anymore, all right."
"Everything and nothing?" He shot her a confused look at the repetition. "I don't get it. What does that mean?"
"It means I don't know, all right?" She snapped back a little, a brush of anger from everything she was still holding in. "... It has to do with Adora, maybe. It's... I can't explain it."
"Explain what? Catra, you know you can trust me. I'm your noble steed! Remember?" He tried to shoot her a smile as the magicat kept her head lowered.
"It's not about trusting you or anyone else, Swifty, it's just... I... I don't know how I'm supposed to feel right now, okay?" She couldn't get a grip on her emotions, they were moving around her heart so fast. Whenever she came close to gripping one, two more bumped into her hand and knocked the other away before escaping her grasp.
The horse tried to assist the girl with her spiraling emotions, trying to find the root cause of all of it. "Could it be... because of Shadow Weaver?"
"It's like I said, I don't know..." The girl shifted her eyes away along with her head. "Probably... Fine, we'll say it is. Happy?"
"No," he replied quickly, "because you're not happy. Catra, what about her is making you so angry?"
"What about her?" From zero to exploding, her anger burst out as she gave a small glare back at him. "Try everything!" The magicat hopped from the boulder as she she began to pace around, Swift Wind following her to the ground.
"Every day of my life, that woman made me miserable. You get that? She made me miserable! Made me an outcast! Because of her, everyone picked on me when they could, I was bossed around a lot more by the instructors, everyone treated me like I was the enemy, and so on! And you know what I did next?" She paused, turning to him for a response.
The winged horse shifted his eyes to each side as he tried to think of a rational answer, one that wouldn't cause her to explode. "Um... you got... mad?"
"I put up with it!" She still exploded. "I put up with it because of the way she treated Adora! I didn't want to tear Adora away from the person she liked so much, and I wanted to feel the same way Adora felt for a change! To know what it was like to have like a... a..." Groaning, the feline squeezed at her head. "I don't even know how to describe it."
"And I thought, you know, maybe I had to earn it. Like Adora did. Okay? So every day I kept pushing myself trying to surpass Adora, trying to be better at her at something, and it still didn't work! There was a moment where I thought I actually did surpass her at something, and instead of being proud about it, she just scoffed and tossed me aside! She hated me for all my life..." She squeezed her claws into her palms as her eyes started to water. "And I still put up with it for some reason."
"But why is it bothering you now?" He asked, walking to the girl's side as she turned away from him.
"Because now I find out there was a reason behind it, a reason that makes me realize how much of my life I wasted!" She stomped her way over to the nearby boulder as she clenched her fist. With a pull, she slammed her fist into the sturdy rock ahead of her, butting the tip of her head as she pressed her fist and head there.
"It was because she was born differently. That's it! I wasted my life being jealous over something I couldn't control in the first place! She got to have a nice and easy life because she wasn't Etherian while I had to work my way up the ladder by pushing myself everyday, and Shadow Weaver still wouldn't acknowledge me, even once!"
"And now, because I screwed up some destiny she was supposed to have, something is happening to Adora that only she knows, Shadow Weaver is dying, I'm realizing how pointless it all was, and I... And I don't know how to feel anymore..." Her face hardened with anger as tears began to drip down her cheeks. "It's not fair..." That was the crux of the matter as Swift Wind came to realize.
Fairness. Life was fair to some, and unfair to others, and despite knowing that, Catra was feeling the fair and unfair moments of her life slamming down on her heart all at the same time.
To the girl who got everything.
To the girl who wanted what she got.
And the woman who balanced the admiration she had between them unevenly.
To Catra, it was all unfair. It was unrelenting. It was burdening her heart as she felt all these moments clouding her mind, all these new details she had never known about before, clashing against each other in a state of war. A war where Catra felt like the victim on both sides.
"Catra..." Swift Wind muttered softly as his own ears lowered, feeling her sadness. Trotting up from behind the girl, he gave her all the comfort her could at the time as he comfortingly nudged his head against the back of her neck. He felt a small prick of warmth coming from Catra at the gesture that lasted briefly, knowing she felt some piece of comfort from all of this. "Do you... want to let Shadow Weaver die?"
"I-" She stopped as quickly as she answered, mouth hanging open as she prepared for a response. "I don't know, okay? I hate her after all she's done, for all the stupid reasons she treated Adora better than me, and... And the way she..." She shook her head of the thoughts covered over by the storm in her mind. "I don't know." It would've been easier to just let her die, to Catra. To walk away without a worry, with the idea in mind that it wouldn't have been her own fault.
But now, she had that stupid guilt back, all because Shadow Weaver knew she could possibly save her. "And it doesn't matter if I did or not. I already tried to save her one, and I messed up."
"So try again."
"I did, and she turned me down, like she always does."
"Then try it, again." He walked a little closer to her side so his eyes could meet hers. "Catra, she keeps putting you down because she knows it'll get you to stop. She wants to stop you, she knows it'll stop you from ever trying again. That's why you can't listen to her."
"And how am I supposed to come up with a way to heal her, huh?" She irked, looking him dead in the eyes. "She says I need to feel at peace, that I need to feel some calmness and junk to do it. But how am I supposed to do any of that when she's at the front of my mind? Even if I want to save her, I keep getting so angry at her and everything she's done to me. What am I supposed to think about to get passed that?!"
"Think about proving her wrong!" All at once, the torrent of emotions in Catra's mind cleared and dissipated from the storm. There was an emptiness inside of her, one that was forming an emotion she had yet to understand, one her mind couldn't complete until she heard what he had to say. "Catra, you said it yourself. She's always the one turning you away, putting you down, and denying your effort. And every time you do it, that gives her more power to work with to put you down again.
"Y... Yeah...?" She wanted to know where he was getting at here.
"Then push past it and prove her wrong. Prove to her that you're not the failure she expects you to be, prove to her that can be the hero she doubts in." She turned to her sword again, eyeing the rune stone that twinkled lightly in the moonlight. "If you let her die now, you'll just prove to her and yourself that she was right about everything, that you deserved the way she treated you." She looked up at that, a slight cut of pain in her eyes at the comment.
He knew it was a bit hurtful, but also that she needed to hear it to make his point. "Don't let her die being right about everything, Catra. Not for her sake, but for yours. Please." It wasn't for Shadow Weaver's sake he was concerned about. It was Catra's.
He knew if she let this go, if she died without trying as hard as she could, then it would swell within her for the rest of her life. All the emotions he felt at that moment were ones he never wanted to feel again, ones he never wanted her to feel again. To be torn apart by ones duty and one's history, the pain he felt coming from the girl, was unbearable. Dreadful.
And Catra had suffered enough in her life.
...
...
"Uuuuunnghhh..." Shadow Weaver moaned in pain as the energy that depleted around her continued to dissipate. The streaks and haze that were pouring from the woman were beginning to diminish, with less and less energy remaining in the girl, and more of her life nearing its end.
There wasn't anything the others could do except to be by the woman's side. Glimmer sitting on her side the closest to the barrier, Bow watching the woman in empathy at the pain she was in as he squatted a few feet away, and both women, Angella and Castaspella, looking down at her with mixed feelings of the woman's approaching demise.
"Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" Glimmer asked, looking back to her mom and aunt. Regrettably, the two women could only shake their head at this.
"Without knowing the exact corruption afflicting her, she could still die." Castaspella answered. Shadow Weaver was as cruel and corrupt as they came, yet it was just as unbearable to watch someone slowly die in agony.
"Even if we did, it would take too much time to prepare a spell." Angella added. "And in the state she's in now, we may end up speeding up her end than saving her from it." Glimmer looked back to the dying woman in dismay.
Nobody deserved to die like this, not even an enemy. She would never forgive Shadow Weaver for all she's done, for all she did to her and to Catra, and at the same time, she refused to look down at the grieving woman with anger in her eyes. The only thing she could do right now was wish the best for her, hoping it would be over soon, one way or another.
*WHAM!*
Another way came.
(A/N: For Full dramatic affect, it is highly recommend listening to the theme that plays here in the background from the episode while reading until instructed)
All heads, those that could move, turned to the door again at the sound of the large crash, all to find a familiar figure staring back at them with a stern look in her eyes.
"Catra?" Glimmer and Bow said in unison.
The magicat didn't say anything or give any of them her direct attention. Instead, she walked. She walked straight ahead without any intention of stopping for them, walking past a surprised immortal and head sorceress who knew what she was doing.
"Catra, no-!"
"Mom, stop!" Teleporting from Shadow Weaver's side, Glimmer reappeared to her mother's side, pulling back her arms as she looked pleading into her pupils. "Just trust her... please?" She begged. The queen obviously had misgivings about whatever Catra was about to do, what she assumed she may do. But in the condition the feeble Shadow Weaver was in, the way she gasped to so much as breathe, she decided to trust her.
Catra, and her Daughter.
The warrior princess stopped briefly as she came to the edge of the barrier, carrying the sword over a shoulder as she looked down to the heaving woman. The person who tormented her all her life, the one who could be gone from this world in a matter of minutes of Catra gave it the chance. She wouldn't have to see her again, think about her, or know that she continued to walk the planet anymore if she let this slight, if she got her vengeance.
And for the first time since thinking about it, she couldn't allow it.
Without slowing down, without showing a sense of fear, the girl crossed the threshold of the barrier, a small strip of electricity scratching at her armor, being powerless to stop the girl from entering the barrier now that her mind was set on something. With a heavy heart, Catra kneeled to the ground, looking at Shadow Weaver's mask one more time, one that had the scratches that Catra cherished, as she began.
Placing the sword in both her hands, she held it upside down over Shadow Weaver, almost looking like she intended to stab the lady at first. Here, she concentrated. She focused all of her attention, all of her might, all the magic from the rune stone, each and every way that Shadow Weaver instructed, ignoring all other thoughts as best she could as a flicker of aura began to grow around her.
It wasn't enough. She tried her hardest, she tried to picture everything as instructed, feeling a bit of it working. But every time she came to the final blockade, the final thing holding her back, she kept picturing Shadow Weaver in her mind, the woman she wished to forget about, the one she didn't want to save.
Not entirely, at least.
That's when she felt it. Opening an eye, still concentrating with the flickering aura around her, she saw Shadow Weaver's weak right hand, gently touching the side of her hand, as much as she could, as she let out another cough, another wave of energy.
"Let..." She rasped. "Let yourself... feel... your fear," she instructed, possibly for the last time, "then move... past it." There was another cough that followed it, an actual sense of worry from the cat's mind as she saw the state she was in, and the way Shadow Weaver struggled to help her in this one moment, despite it all. "You are... greater... than your fear." With the last word, her hand fell to her side, the last few minutes of her life starting to fade away, saying all that she could in the end.
It was enough.
With this, Catra focused further, pressed harder, as she called upon the sword's energy. She saw the image again of Shadow Weaver in her mind, haunting her, like always. And it was there, within that darkness, that she saw herself, lifting the sword to her. Wielding it in one arm, she unleashed it, blasting away at the creature that plagued her all her life, and watched it disintegrate before her. From its death, from the disappearing, she saw it. A warmth, a light, connected to a destiny she never asked for, or a life she never wanted.
She embraced it.
Her body glowed with a magnificent light all across her body as her aura fully manifested around her. Her aura radiated with a tender warmth, one that spread throughout the entire room as the rest of her friends and allies felt it wash over them. From within the very heart of the rune stone, a powerful light of pure light illuminated, bursting from the tip of her sword as it filled Catra with an unknown energy, a radiance that was beyond any source of measure.
It was a power Catra had never felt before, one she was content with for a change. With a small gasp to herself, the warrior released the sword as it levitated on its own, a brief gust of wind blowing Catra's orange hair back as its power continued to grow.
"Wow..." Glimmer mumbled, at a loss for words like the rest of them were. They had never seen such a brilliant display of magic before, much less one taught to someone inexperienced so quickly. It was a miracle in every sense of the word to witness it. In its truest form, its brightest form.
In the form of Catra.
With her eyes glowing with a serene light of color, the warrior watched on as the power began to amplify itself, burning brightly like the sun, like a star that had never been seen before. Catra remained focused on her task- the task to save Shadow Weaver. With her arms spread in each direction, the girl waited, waiting for a signal, a feeling that told her when it was finally time to. It wasn't until she had a final thought to herself that she knew it was time.
Please, don't die... On that thought, the girl knew it was time. Looking deeply into Shadow Weaver's closing eyes, the girl brought her hands to the side of the woman's face. Gently, caressing, she actually begged to herself, her desire, to save her life for a change. And for once, it wasn't out of a petty selfishness to prove her right or wrong.
She did it for herself.
Radiating with the pulsating aura, Shadow Weaver's terrible stature began to take life as she gasped. Her entire body lit up like Catra's as her eyes widened in full for the first time in hours. With her first long breath, she felt it. Her body healing itself, the pain diminishing over the course. Her body was actually being healed, by Catra of all people, like she gambled upon.
Thus, it finally came to an end.
(A/N: End theme)
With another brilliant flash, the room illuminated as Catra was blasted a few feet outside of the barrier, returning to her normal state as she gasped for breath herself.
"Catra!" Bow and Glimmer cried out, running to their friend's side as they leaned her up.
"Huff... Huff... Never... doing that... again..." She gasped, her two friends smiling to her with pride and glad that she was okay. She felt like she just ran a marathon, hiked up three entire mountains, swam across a river, all under the course of five seconds. As great as the magical experience felt to her, she wouldn't mind taking a month before trying something like that again.
Or a year, for that matter.
Looking back, the three friends and family saw Shadow Weaver slowly rising up again, the once-feeble witch breathing heavily to herself as her lungs filled with air again, her body continuing to glow with a white light for a few more seconds as her life returned to her from the brink of death.
Seeing how the woman was fine for the moment, the mother made her way back to the children, helping each of them up with a stern look in her eyes. "The next time any of you do something so reckless, you will be grounded for a year. Understand?" Her seemingly-upset mood quickly changed into a warm smile as she embraced the trio soon after. "But I'm glad you're all right. All of you." It was warm, very warm, to Catra as she felt this.
The warmth of the queen's embrace with her friends, the knowledge that she did it despite Shadow Weaver's doubts, and the detail that, for the first time, she proved the witch wrong about her with her own two hands. And as much as she wanted to feel this moment for awhile, she couldn't.
Nudging the queen away gently, the girl walked past them, sword still gripped in her hand, as she made her way over to Shadow Weaver's cell, staring down at the healed witch.
"Well done, my dear." She heard her say. This was it. She finally did it. For the first time in her life, she actually acknowledged one of Catra's achievements.
Catra didn't know what to say about the feeling filling her heart right now as she closed her eyes. It felt so light for the first time, a lightness she partly knew was her bond with the sword strengthening again to what it once was, a lightness that felt as if Shadow Weaver was stroking her cheek, insisting on how proud she was. It was everything she wanted in her life, everything she worked to strive for. It felt... felt...
Meaningless to her, now.
Opening her eyes again, the cat refused to address the acknowledgement as she lifted her sword a little in the witch's direction, the others gathering behind her for both their safety.
"Alright, talk." Catra ordered. "I kept up my end of the bargain, now yours. Tell me what's wrong with Adora."
"Hmmm... talk?" Shadow Weaver questioned, looking around the room and to herself. "Whyever would I do that, now?" The expressions around the room dropped with mixed results, save for Catra's who was not in the mood. "I'm perfectly healed now, I can't go back to the Horde. If this is your idea of a cell, I could get used to spending the rest of my life like this." Her eyes narrowed as she gazed into Catra's. "Why should I hold up my end of the bargain?"
"Because we had a deal." She stated, firm and simple. There was a silence that hung in the air as the two kept their eyes on one another. For a change of pace, Shadow Weaver was surprised as Catra didn't turn away from her, didn't even twitch. She actually found it quite amusing, personally.
"... And you'd be right." She agreed, relaxing the faces of everyone who started to worry. "A deal is a deal. What is it you wish to know, first?"
"What's wrong with her?" Catra didn't give the others a chance to so much as come up with the first plan of questionings as she took over. "What's happening to her that you felt you needed to come here for?"
With a bit of a sigh, she replied, "Very well. I suppose there's no delaying the inevitable answer."
This was it. The moment Catra had been waiting for as she sheathed her sword again. All that struggling, all that waiting, all those emotions, were about to pay off. The witch had no intention to hide the truth, knowing that they had to prepare for the future ahead of them. Still, she regretted the fact that it was with her own two hands that she was partly to blame for all of this, and now relied on the hands of another to fix her mistakes.
"Tell me, Catra, have you ever heard of the Spell of Obtainment..."
...
...
...
A/N: Hmm let's see... what's the most suspenseful way I can end the chapter? Catra contemplating if she should heal or not?... Nah. Catra taking off to see light hope? Meh, sounds a little dull... I know! I'll reveal what Aroda is and hold off on possible explanations until the next episode ^^! Man, I can be no eviler than that!
Lol, i did say you would find out what/who she is, just not explain how or why she came to be XP But I 110% promise that'll be explained to you all in the next chapter/final part (obvs), so stay tuned for more ^^ Hope you all also kept the music on standby like I suggested for maximum feel effects cause if you didn't feel anything with the music, then shame on you for not letting your sensitive side out XP Lol jk.
Anyway! Hope you all enjoyed this long and heavy chapter! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!