Catra grips her arms tighter around the body that fades away. Her eyes shoot open to find Adora gone. Panic rises in her chest until she remembers that this is a dream. She runs her claws through her hair scraping at her scalp. She does her best to ground herself. "Shit just keeps getting weirder." She huffs.

Catra's eyes crack open at the sudden sound of a twig breaking. She turns her head and looks around at her surroundings. She sees the campfire has died out from burning all night and beyond that she eyes a body shifting. Once her eyes adjust and her night vision becomes focused, she sees Huntara stuffing a bag. She whisper yells in her direction "hey! Pssst."

The body stops moving momentarily but then finishes stuffing the item into her bag. She pulls the draw strings snuggly and tosses the sac over her shoulder. She moves quietly over to Catra's still tied up body and kneels, getting awkwardly close to her face. "What do you want kitty-cat?"

"Where are you going? Untie me and take me with you." Catra starts to rotate her body some so that Huntara has room to cut the ropes in a safe spot. She doesn't want her to cut off her tail or something. The thought alone sends shivers down her spine.

Huntara chuckles softly. She raises her hand to reach back for her knife, but when Catra looks away and is distracted trying to maneuver herself, Huntara grabs her knife and swings it towards the cat-girl's head. She uses the blunt end of the knife to hit Catra just behind her right ear. The taller woman hears an audible grunt as she swiftly knocks her unconscious.

She isn't sure if she's done the right thing or not, but she knows she has to go off on her own. Having an obnoxious, opinionated, little, angry cat wasn't going to make things easier for her here on out. It's time to finally cut all ties and leave the Horde. It's time to make something better for herself and being captured by princesses isn't in her game plan.

She grabs a large stick she had started to whittle last night and blows off the dust. The unmistakable replica of the stone from her homeland rests on top. It was a piece of home she's never been able to forget. She shoves down the dark memories and sets off on her trail. She gives one last glance back at the tied-up girl. Eh, she'll be alright. She has enough fire to burn this whole planet down. No way she's not going down without a fight, she thinks. Huntara turns her back and leaves camp

Catra opens her eyes and reaches for her head. She looks confused as she tries to remember how she got here. She's finally untied and the woods around her look much more vibrant than before. The air feels more charged with energy and she feels her tail bristle. Something around this place is creepy, she thinks. She tries to focus. She could've sworn she remembers hitting her head on something. As she continues to trap herself in thought, a golden light blinds her from somewhere close by. She hisses at the pain it brings her and clamps her eyes shut until it fades. When it does, she attempts to look around to find the source, and about thirty meters away she sees a golden silhouette with flowing hair. The form beckons her to come closer, so she obeys. Something about the being hypnotizes her. She's within a few feet from it and something about its' presence makes her shiver. She doesn't understand how or why, but she knows she can already trust this thing. She feels… peace and her curiosity gets the better of her.

She moves just in front of it, allowing herself room to flee if she needs to, but something tells her she doesn't. After a moment it reaches its' hand out and gently caresses the left side of Catra's face, placing it's palm over her heated cheek. Catra, still confused, leans into the gentle touch. The connection to the being brings instance comfort. It reminds her a lot of Adora… it clicks then, and Catra opens her eyes. When did I shut them, she thinks, then looks up into the face of the being. The outline is broader, but unmistakably Adora.

The Adora-like-being points her arm downwards towards Catra's right hip. The cat-girl waits to feel its' presence, but nothing comes. She looks down and realizes something is in her own hand. She raises it up in confusion from not knowing how it got to be in her possession. She shrieks in a high pitch and jumps away to her left – dropping said item in the process. She looks down at it disdainfully. The blue sword with a gold hilt lays there as the form of a larger Adora continues to point at it. Catra looks back to the golden figure and wants to refuse, but something inside of her is calling out. A part of her can sense what the Adora-being needs and she moves to reach down for the sword. She picks it up, momentarily bearing the weight, until she hands it over to the glowing person.

As soon at she takes hold of it the being raises it above her head. The bright light flashes again and Catra really wishes she could get a warning when weird glowing happens. She hisses as it burns her retina. As it fades, she looks back to see a more familiar figure. It's… "Adora?"

Adora's figure looks in her direction and steps closer. She leans her head down so that their foreheads are touching. After sheathing her sword to her back she cups her hands gently around Catra's neck lightly rubbing her thumb over her jaw.

Catra's heart starts to thrum in her chest. She closes her eyes and places her own hands around Adora's.

Catra jumps from her position on the ground, waking up and realizing she's still tied up. Her head pounds at the sudden movement and she groans at the pain.

"Oh, look Bow. Sleeping Beauty is awake." The sound of the girls voice right now is more than just irritating.

"Sleeping Beauty? Oh! You mean her." He laughs at himself awkwardly and Catra wants to roll her eyes, but the pain is preventing her.

Glimmer huffs, "yes I mean 'her,' Bow. You!" She kicked the bottom of Catra's feet causing her to recoil and grunt. "Where's the big buff lady? Did she run off to tell the Horde where we're keeping you? Answer me, Horde scum!"

"Aaaggghhhh! I don't know! Gah, why do you have the most annoying voice in the world?" She winces at the pain brought on by her yelling, but she gets extreme satisfaction from Glimmers guffaw. "I have no idea." Anger rises in her throat. "She left without me… this morning."

"Aww –"

"Bow! Not helping" Glimmer interjected.

"Sorry." His crestfallen voice matches his face Catra notices as she rolls to her back and stares up at the two. She sighs at the incompetence of these idiots. Her eyes are caught by a gleam from behind the sparkly one's back. She rotates her head and notices the shining gold from a familiar hilt attached to what looks like a bright blue blade. Her eyes shoot open wide. "Where did you get that?!" She points with her eyes as she shifts from the blade to Glimmer.

Upon realization at what Catra had meant, Glimmer became very protective. "None of your business, Horde solider. Now, get up. We need to get moving." She pushes a bit of royal air into her tone that sounds like a snooty-pompous ass.

"First, tell me where you got that sword." She glares at Glimmer, revealing what little patience she has on the subject.

"The Whispering Woods, now shut it. Get to your feet. We're going to Brightmoon." She turns to face the other guy, "mom is going to be so impressed!"

"Look," Catra draws their attention back to her. "I don't care about any of this, -"

"Ugh!" Glimmer groans. "My heat is going to start soon. We don't have time for this! I'm surprised my mom hasn't deployed the whole Army yet." Catra's eyes widen in concern.

"What army?" Bow says at the worst time possible. It gives Catra a confusing, yet not so surprising revelation.

"Wait!" Catra starts chuckling. "You guys don't even have an army?" She continues to cackle in her high pitched laughter. "Why have we not attacked the kingdom, yet?" She rolls onto her side in a fit of laughter, completely ignoring the fact that Glimmer mentions her heat.

"Bow! Not in front of the prisoner!" She leans her head back dramatically – Catra is surprised she didn't just hit her head on the hilt of the large blade – and the guy's face dissolves into a sheepish grin.

Catra sobers herself after remembering her weird ass vision, or whatever. Adora had the sword in her hands. She was a giant light person and then became herself again. Hm, seems pretty self-explanatory, she muses. So Adora is a giant golden lady? Now, that doesn't make sense. She tries her best to remember everything that's happened when it comes to the unconscious moments with the magical being. The sword has to be for Adora.

She's knocked out of her thoughts when the other two stop their bickering and direct their attention back to her. She gives them a blank stare and responds, "What?"

"You heard us, Horde soldier. Now get on your feet and start walking." Glimmer does her best intimidating voice, but Catra has heard worse, much worse. She's been intimidated by a witch of darkness her whole life. It'd be nice if I could go one day without thinking about the hag.

She rolls over onto her back from being previously seated in the dirt and looks up at the pair. "Oh, I just don't know if I can go on," she speaks dramatically and flops onto her side, "whoops guess I can't walk."

"Ughhh! You're insufferable. Bow, grab her please so we can get back." Glimmer is obviously frustrated, and it brings so much joy to Catra, she's just not sure why.

Bow dreads his newly appointed job and slowly steps towards the tied-up cat. "Alright, lets take this nice and slow." He reaches down to her foot to grab at her ankle and she sits up and hisses in his face. He falls backwards onto his butt and Catra laughs loudly. The fear in his eyes is what makes it worth it, she thinks.

Bow stands and brushes himself off and looks over his shoulder to Glimmer who takes pity on him. "Hey!" She yells it to get Catra's attention. "Do you want to get hit over the head again?" She glares and continues after receiving the most obnoxious eye roll from the cat-girl. "Ugh! Now, I know what my mother has to deal with. Just tie another rope to her and drag her, Bow." She turns to grab said rope and he moves to quickly tie her.

Catra may not fear these people, but she could definitely go without a concussion… She huffs and plants all her body weight down making it as difficult as she can for Bow to tie the rope. He finishes and they start dragging her. Her hair ruffles against the ground as she's pulled, thankfully, the grass is nice and even.

After about five minutes she finds herself contemplating everything that's happened. She was abandoned by Huntara. That lousy traitor. And she's still captured by these ridiculous people that are taking her to Brightmoon. She can't exactly escape, although these chumps are pretty much powerless against her. But the sword… I don't know why, but Adora needs that sword. She scrunches her nose. Thinking of the blonde again brings back some interesting things. She remembers her last dream… their last dream. Oh yeah! I forgot that was a thing. She huffs and rolls her eyes. I probably looked like such an idiot. Just throwing myself at her and smothering her with my … she groans again. Stupid feelings, stupid hormones.

Just then, her overly sensitive nose smelled something unfamiliar. It was sweet, but not really Catra's cup of tea. She looks down towards her feet noticing the pair walking in front and she becomes even more confused. "Hey!" She yells it and the two flinch, but they don't stop moving. "Which one of you morons smells weird? It's invading my nose and my personal space." She shudders and draws out the last part groaning like a child.

They both turn to her, but Glimmer is the one blushing like a madwoman. "Can you like not? For ten minutes, please!"

"Well, since you asked so sweetly." Catra showed her fangs on that one. She loves seeing the red cross Adora's cheeks. Making her feel embarrassed at any chance she gets is one of her favorite past times. This isn't as satisfying, but it is fun, nonetheless.

"Really?" She asks with a bit of hope and a lot of surprised confusion.

Catra cackles immediately. "C'mon Sparkles, that was too easy." She doesn't even finish her statement before Glimmer groans up to the heavens. Adora would've so laughed at that one.

"Glimmer, just ignore her," Bow says. "Look, we're not getting very far. Maybe, one of us should go ahead to get help from Brightmoon. It'll give us more time and I'm sure your mom would be happy to know you're okay."

Glimmer looks at Catra, and then back to Bow. "You need to hurry, Bow. I might beat her to a pulp before you even make it back." Her jaw tight with irritation doesn't go unnoticed by the feline.

He chuckles nervously knowing Glimmer's temper quite well. "I'll make it as fast as I can. Promise"

Promise, the word flickers through Catra's thoughts raising memories she'd thought were long gone to repetitive trauma and Shadow Weavers dark magic. A bit of sadness bubbles to the surface thinking of Adora. Ugh, I need to get the sword to Adora, or Adora to the sword. These idiots won't let it go without a fight, though. That's for sure. She looks over at the two hugging before Bow parts ways with them.

"Hm? Everyone keeps leaving." Catra sounds nonchalant and she can tell that even the sound of her voice is starting to grate on the other woman's nerves. Glimmer is clearly trying to calm herself before she explodes. "That scent of yours just drives people away, huh?" She normally would've looked at her claws to punctuate her lack of empathy for whoever was in the crosshairs of her attitude, but unfortunately, she's tied up.

What was also unfortunate was her miscalculation at how Glimmer is or is not able to contain her anger. "Aggggh!" The sparkly girl runs over and shoves Catra up against a tree. The scent of her heat is coming off her in waves as well as her clear aggravation. A growl starts from deep in her throat and Catra forces herself not to cower from the overbearing pheromones.

Catra snarls at the other girl and waits for the impending backlash of her big mouth. Instead, she's dropped onto her butt and her tail pinches between her body and the ground. She hisses in pain. She levels a glaring look over at the other who is curled in on herself.

Glimmer has dropped to her knees and grabs at her stomach. "Ughhhhh… No! This can't be happening now!"

Catra stares with narrowed eyes completely unaware of what she is witnessing. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Very funny, asshole." She groans again, "like you don't know. Just like a Horde soldier to torment people." Glimmer's scent is in full force now.

Catra can see beads of sweat form on the other's brow as she curls in on herself in pain. "Hey! I literally have no idea what's happening, so keep your virus carrying body over there. Got it?" She turns to sit perpendicular to Glimmer, ignoring her groans. "Probably some magical cancer or something."

Glimmer deadpans towards Catra. "You mean… you really don't know? What a heat is?"

Catra glares at her over her shoulder, feeling completely foolish at her outburst. "Right! Well, duh. I knew you were in heat, but you're seriously sweating everywhere. I was worried you were going to vomit on me." She rolls her eyes and turns back away from the other.

Glimmer rotates her body facing Catra again but sitting on her backside until the cramps pass. "What are you? A beta, right? Omega's go through heats. They're like a period, but 10 damn-times worse." She swallows thickly.

"I know what a stupid heat is, okay? Maybe you should go sit over there, or something. I don't – "

Catra's attention is caught by something else. She catches a hint of something in the air. She's not sure at first until her ear flicks catching the sound of the small noise.

Glimmer's brow furrows as she looks at the cat sniffing the air. "Hey, what is – "

"Sshhh. Shut it." Catra's harsh in her tone, but she needs silence. She turns towards the approaching breeze. She catches a hint of something, and her eyes blow wide open. "Sparkles." She says the name with a grave seriousness that throws off the other woman. "Untie me. Right. Now."

A laugh tumbles from Glimmer's mouth and she winces in pain that it causes her abdomen. "Why the hell would I do that, Horde scum?"

A few magical animals leap out of one side of the tree line and sprint past them. Both women furrow their brows in confusion and look towards the direction they came.

Catra whips her head back around to glare at Glimmer. She moves so fast she nearly falls over. "Untie me right now, you idiot! Before they get here! Now, move dammit!"

"Who?" Glimmer asks with confusion, incredulity, and anger.

The pair hear a deep laugh come from the direction the animals had fled from.

"Smell the air you dumbass! It's a pack of alphas. Now fucking untie me!" Catra's glare is furious and grave. Glimmer understands the potential dangers her statement would bring upon them, if she were correct.

And by the scent wafting into her nose, Glimmer's eyes widen in terror. She can't move. She can hardly breath, until Catra's name-calling and fidgeting brings her back to reality. Glimmer scrambles over to the other woman and starts working on freeing Catra. Their best bet is to work as a team. "Shit!" Glimmer starts to lose her composure as her fear addled brain fumbles with the knots.

"Use the sword, dumbass!"

Glimmer reaches behind herself at the utter brilliance of that idea and uses it to slice away the rope. But it's in vein. They rise to run off in the opposite direction.

The scent of the alphas is now pungent as the pack makes their way through the trees, inching closer to the pair.

The two hadn't gotten far before Catra senses they're coming from all around them. More are approaching from the directions their running in. It's a fucking trap! Her hand extends out crossing over Glimmer's chest and she halts Glimmer in her path. Catra looks left, then right and ultimately decides to leap upwards. She extends her claws and traverses up the tree.

Glimmer's eyes widen in horror realizing now more than ever that you can't trust a Horde soldier to save your damn life. The gut-wrenching betrayal she feels, after having released the cat who left her, rips through her core and the anger just bubbles. Sharp hot tears reach the edges of her eyes as she clenches her jaw tightly.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" The deep voice that sounds like gravel startles Glimmer and her legs tremble. Fear, that's what she feels, nothing else. She turns and looks around the immediate area to realize there's roughly 8 alphas in this group. She trembles as she breathes heavily. She could run, but they would chase her, and catch her easily. It would take too much of her stamina that she's already lacking from not being fully charged with magic. So she freezes in place, trying to determine an open opportunity to either strike or flee.

The group crowds around her and they inch closer releasing grunts and haughty laughs. The top alpha of the group speaks. Glimmer can tell he's this groups primary alpha with how cocky and arrogant he is. He takes a deep inhale through his nose. "Hmmm, something smells good." He disgustingly licks his lips like it's his given right to take what isn't his. "The name's Tongue-Lashor. You can probably guess what for, but in case it isn't clear..." He slithers his disgusting tongue out quickly flicking it rapidly, like there's something respectable about harassing someone. He moves closer to her, tauntingly slow as he tries to make this agonizingly slow – this show of dominance. This disgusting power trip that he so clearly is getting off on. He approaches Glimmer and inhales again. He reaches out his hand to cup the woman's face.

"Yano, boys. I'm glad we made that move from the Waste. Wouldn't have come across such a prize." He lowers his voice as he directs his words to Glimmer. "Now, are you gonna make this easy, or –"

From out of nowhere Catra leaps from the treetops slashing her claws through the flesh of the alpha's face and throat. An ugly gurgling scream comes from his lips as she slices through the flesh of his arteries. The blood fills his airway and she watches, only for a moment, as he drowns in his own fluids.

"Who the fuck wants to fight me next?" She lifts her eyes to the group after just having taken out their supposedly strong leader in as little as a whip of his stupid tongue. She flares as much intimidation as she can through her blazing eyes.

Don't get her wrong. Catra isn't interested in the sparkly princess in the least, as far as her heat goes, but no one that disgustingly arrogant and abusive with their alpha status deserves to live.

A flash of Adora crosses her mind just briefly – curious about what kind of alpha she's growing into. And then, another flash of a large glowing Adora appears in her mind as well.

A/N

This chapter was a pain. It just took forever to get through. I still hope you liked it though. Til' next time.