A/N
Okay I said I was going to edit this and then post it, but then I added another 2k words lol. And it continues, onward!
Catra wakes with a squeaky yelp. She was just about to be crushed by something in her dream. Wonder what happens if get hurt during those, she inquires. She reaches down her arms and pats over her head for any injuries. That was just too weird.
A flurry of magic fritzes into the room and Catra's hackles raise at the intrusion. Catra grunts, "do you mind?"
"What are you complaining about? You're a prisoner. You don't get privacy." Glimmer crosses her arms as Bow gives her a disapproving glare.
At least someone notices her maltreatment, Catra thinks. The feline rolls her eyes and shifts away from them. "What do you want, Glitter?"
Glimmer groans at her name being incorrect for the thousandth time. "That's it! I tried being nice Bow, but I can't. She's infuriating." The sparkly woman gesticulates wildly with her hands and the sight out of the corner of Catra's eyes is pleasing.
"C'mon Glimmer, you aren't exactly being friendly either," Arrow Boy says.
He's really on the ball today with having Catra's back. She snickers and turns to face them fully. "What do you want, Sparkles?"
"It's not about what I want, okay? I was trying to be nice. You said you wanted to help us, and we need more information about your," she gestures to Catra vaguely, "situation."
"My 'situation?'" Catra's eyes narrow in suspicion.
"Yes! Y'ano, your whole potential magic thing. We need to learn more about it and Bow recently told me where we might be able to get said information." She turns to face him admonishing him slightly.
"I'm sorry, okay?" He throws his hands up in with frustration. He didn't mean to keep it a secret from Glimmer. It just wasn't something he was trying to focus on. You know with a whole war raging on and all. "It's just a lot of family drama and I didn't want to…" He sighs as he gives up trying to placate Glimmer, and he turns to Catra, "they have a huge collection of artifacts. They're historians and they can probably tell us something about you being a chimera. Glimmer is hoping we also might be able to learn more about She-Ra."
Catra's ears lay back somewhat against her head. The idea of learning more about herself could prove to be beneficial, at least she'd be able to walk around and stretch her legs. "Okay."
Glimmer turns to her, "okay? You want to go? I didn't think it'd be so simple, honestly." She makes a moue and sharply points at her. "Okay, what are you up to?"
"What is it with you and ulterior motives? Trust issues much?" Catra raises to her feet and her tail lightly flicks behind her.
"Well clearly you have some agenda, otherwise why would you be going? I seem to remember a certain cat being tied up and drug through the woods by Bow, just to be infuriating." Glimmer glares at Catra.
"Oh, shucks. You caught me." Catra dramatically throws her body onto the bed and her arm on her forehead. "How ever will I escape, now?"
Glimmer doesn't even react before she teleports into the magical prison to sock Catra with a pillow to the face. She immediately teleports out with a more than smug smile on her own.
Catra sits up seething. She does her best to let that shit go and turns back to the pair.
Bow snickers at their antics.
"You're right," Catra says and the pair immediately turn their attention to her. "It is selfish for me to go. I want to know what I am. I've never known anything about myself or where I've come from." She stares into Glimmer's eyes, "I want to know what this all means." She's surprised at how easily that lie rolls off her tongue, or at least she tells herself it was a lie. Suddenly she thinks of bright blue eyes boring into her as well.
"Plus," Bow says in a tone to raise the positivity. "It'll be a great chance for us all to get to know each other better! Catra, you want us to trust you so you can see Adora soon, maybe this is just what we need?"
His optimism makes Catra gag, but she also feels weirdly comforted by his candidness. It's a rarity to come by in today's day and age. "Right," her face looks like she was the cat who caught the canary. "See? He gets it."
Bow's smile is wide, and he clasps his hands together in front of his chest.
Glimmer looks at Catra with disbelieving eyes and approaches her prison. She raises her hands and Catra flinches the smallest twitch as she touches the perimeter, not sure what to expect.
The princess gives a sly smile, then releases the magic and turns to walk away. "Well, we should get going. My mom is going to flip shit if she sees us." She turns to face the two of them and holds out her hands with a smug grin.
Catra knows where that grin is coming from, and she despises her for it. The electricity in the air sparks and Catra closes her eyes as she reaches out her hand.
They poof somewhere outside of the castle and Catra falls to the ground on her hands and knees. She dry heaves as her stomach doesn't sit well with Glimmer's magic.
Glimmer giggles annoyingly and they start walking off behind Bow as he leads the way. "It's not too far from here, but it is a trek."
"Great," Catra says sarcastically. She notices that Glimmer isn't carrying the sword and a part of her deflates. Well, she won't be able to make any daring escapes without it, so it looks like she must surrender herself to this new kind of torture.
"So," Glimmer interrupts her thoughts. "Do you guys ever do anything other than train in the Horde?" Glimmer asks.
Catra assumes it was directed at her considering her company, but she wants to play dumb to get on Glitter's nerves. "Yeah, Arrow Boy. Did you guys have fun?"
Glimmer rolls her eyes, "that's not even clever. You'll have to try harder than that, or is that how you had fun? Seeing who could be the biggest ass?" She giggles at her own snarky comment.
"Actually, yeah. How'd you guess? Been reading my diary?" Catra walks and launches herself over a large tree root.
"No, just a guess. You're pretty easy to read." Glimmer also climbs over said tree root and continues keeping a watchful eye on their prisoner. "What about Adora?"
The name catches Catra off guard, and she stumbles.
Glimmer teleports and grabs Catra's wrist before she falls down a steep hill. They look at each other momentarily, almost like they're acknowledging what just happened, and it makes Catra uncomfortable. She whips her arm away from Glimmer and she continues marching on.
"What about her?" Catra grumbles out.
Glimmer huffs out a heavy sigh, "well, I don't know. She seems pretty important to you. You mentioned her a few times." The princess prods purely based on her curiosity.
Catra rolls her eyes since she is not sure she wants to tell them anything. They don't seem the manipulative types – she looks in Bow's direction as he whistles a tune. I mean, he's whistling for fucks sake, she thinks. Her eyes shift and she focuses on her surroundings. It makes her racing heart a bit more calm before she starts talking again. "She's my closest friend." She looks down at the ground as she climbs over more roots and fallen foliage. Those words sound wrong coming out of her mouth, but they're much safer than what she thinks Adora might be – what she calls her in her deepest thoughts.
Bow and Glimmer glance at each other and he nearly squeals as hearts form in his eyes.
Catra shifts directly in front of him with her finger pointing in his face. "Alright, whatever this crap is," she swirls the appendage in a collective gesture, "stop it. People in the Horde have friends, too, idiot. Now, just shut up and listen." She pivots on her heel and continues walking in the vague direction Bow had given them earlier. "We did everything together. She uh… used to pull pranks with me and beat people up that gave me a hard time."
She hears Bow straining to prevent himself from gushing at her words. She appreciates the attempt, but still rolls her eyes. "Recently she uh… started showing signs of being an alpha. They train alphas in a different…" she realizes she might say too much about the Fright Zone, but then she remembers who she's talking to. She continues, "it's just a different area. They tell everyone that their training is separate to protect others from their instincts, but I think it's bullshit."
The two don't make a sound as she continues to talk, "So my, uh," what was Weaver technically? Oh, right, "Well, this bitch, she took Adora as soon as she heard about her shifting in her sleep." Catra's face rushes with blood at that admission. It's innocent by itself, but the actual events that took place are quite personal. "Shipped her off without even giving us a chance to say goodbye," her voice cracks a fraction – she isn't sure they could've heard it with their average hearing, though.
"That is so awful, Catra. I'm so sorry." Bow's voice is calming and not at all filled with pity, there's only pure remorse.
"Yeah, well. Shit happens, I guess." She continues marching on as they enter a clearing in the woods.
The pair make eye contact at hearing her story and something inside them just bleeds for Catra. They couldn't imagine being separated for something so stupid. The moment impacts them deeply as it's the first time Catra has ever opened up about anything without it dripping with sarcasm or snark. Bow reaches for and lightly squeezes Glimmers hand, and then, they continue moving to stand behind Catra.
All three of them look up at what appears to be a large building with vines and roots creating a modicum of concealment.
Bow sighs, "Okay, we're here." He turns to face them both. "But here's the deal. My dads, they don't know everything about me or what I'm doing, and I'd like to keep it that way, okay?" The pair nod hesitantly. "I wrote home a while ago about how Glimmer and I are taking classes together and, that recently, we met this bad chick who teaches martial arts on campus." He smiles with a huge awkward grin.
Catra nods her head approvingly and Glimmer just gapes at him.
"Bow, what are you talking about classes? What is going on here?" Glimmer's voice was starting to raise as the new information just keeps revealing more insanity.
The young man holds his hands up, pleading. "I know it's weird, but they think I'm secretly in a historian's academy and they can't know that I've been fighting Horde soldiers and putting myself in danger. They just… won't understand." He sighs from the stress of their impending situation.
Catra's arms are crossed and looks between the two dramatic ones and starts marching towards the door. "So, what kind of martial arts did you tell them I know? I don't want to look like an idiot, oh, and did you say I was a blackbelt? I could totally pull that off."
Glimmer groans sliding her hand down her face. "Of course, you'd be okay with lying about this."
"Hey! Don't hate the player, hate the game master over there who lies to his dads." She snickers.
Bow looks down as he sighs deeply. Then, he smiles awkwardly at Glimmer, and she sighs resigning herself to this little charade. All three step up to the main door and Bow knocks before entering.
"Dads? I'm home on break! I brought a few of my friends from the academy. Hello?" He calls out into the… library?
Catra stage whispers to Glimmer, "who the hell lives in a library?" she asks sarcastically.
Bow turns to glare at her, and she frowns remorsefully waving him off.
They continue walking in further when they hear a commotion coming from another room. They walk towards the sound and enter another larger room. There are tons of vases and other primitive artifacts lining the walls. One of them has the form of a woman riding the back of a dragon. She's holding a sword in her one hand and Catra feels like she's getting déjà vu. She blinks away the dream like memory and continues moving into the room behind the others.
A man with long dreads sashays into the room with another man behind him. It startles Catra, but only for a moment, because the men see Bow and rush to him, crushing him in a hug.
"Dads, how's it going? Y'ano, since I've been gone… at the academy?" His smile is pinched, and a dead giveaway.
Catra turns to look at other weird stuff that lays around the room and Glimmer stands close by Bow.
"It's been great! We found a new artifact after some research near a first one's ruin." The dad with dreads continues to chatter to Bow about their adventures while Glimmer sidles up to Catra.
"This is just too weird." She says it like Catra is supposed to care or something, but the feline just nods her head. "I mean look at him. He put on a sweater! That covers his stomach! It's like I don't even recognize him anymore." Her voice turns into a petulant whine.
Catra rolls her eyes. She was about to retort, but Bow's dads interrupt them.
"This must be Glimmer and…?" The one with short hair responds.
"Catra." The feline says proudly.
"Yeah," Bow intervenes, "remember I told you about our new friend that was into martial arts?" He turns and points his arms in her direction as if they needed visual guidance. Catra rolls her eyes.
"Dads we actually were wondering if you could help us out with something." Bow says matter-of-factly.
"Sounds great!" The short haired man says. "Let's get you guys some tea and have a seat. Let's catch up, son." He looks at him with so much pride, it churns something in Catra. It's like seeing this thing she's always wanted, but never received. It hurts and she doesn't know why.
She follows the crowd as they set down on a few couches. Catra sits with her tail swaying slightly.
"Lance," the short haired man calls out, "don't forget the snacks, too." He smiles at them.
"On it, George!" Comes the other voice from another room.
Glimmer is utterly in shock as she takes this all in. They're just so nice and normal, she thinks.
"So, how do you all like the academy? It must be rigorous. Oh! You must've come here to look at our First One's artifacts. We have one of the largest collections." George gets all of that out in nearly one breath.
Glimmer smiles awkwardly as Catra just picks at her claws. Bow finally interjects, "it's great! We all just finished finals and boy are we sure glad it's over." He laughs stiffly as Lance comes out with the tea.
"Oh! I'm just so excited you two are here. Bow doesn't really bring by any friends. Y'ano he's just so shy. Do you want to see baby pictures of him? I even have some of him taking his first bubble bath." Lance clasps his hands together in the exact same gesture Bow does.
Catra laughs, "Oh I gotta see this –"
"Nope!" Bow stands up and pushes to get the two off of the couch. "I'm going to show Catra and Glimmer my room, now!"
They're all rushed out the doors and Catra turns on her heel with a hiss. She doesn't like being man handled, but she tried to remember it was Bow she was talking about.
"Guys, I'm so sorry. I know this is weird –"
"Yeah!" Glimmmer interjects. "Talk about weird. I thought you didn't want to talk about your past because it was painful and dark, but your dads are so nice and normal!" Glimmer's exasperation is evident in her hair pulling and Catra just leans against the wall looking bored.
"Shhhh," he motions for her to calm down some. "I know this isn't what you were expecting, but you saw them. They hardly let me get a word in. It's just so tough to tell them what I want. They just don't listen. I know this is all made up, but it's been the easiest way to do things." He looks downtrodden when his eyes raise back up to meet theirs. "Look, let's just get in there and ask what we came here for, then you two can head back while I finish up my 'break from school,' and we can figure it all out when we get back."
"No," Catra says nonchalantly. "We need to figure this out now and make our next move. Adora is going to be out there again, and I don't want to miss my chance to get to her. We need to take care of this today."
Bow grunts in frustration especially when Glimmer agrees with Catra. That's a damn first. "Catra's right, Bow… That felt weird to say, but we need you. And your dads need to accept you for who you are. Not some made up story that they want to hear. If they love you as much as I think they do, then they won't care."
"You don't get it Glim. My dads are completely against the war. That's why I trained myself in archery and ran away and told them I was in a made-up academy." Bow looks flustered as he tries to explain.
"So, you're just going to lie to them forever?" Glimmer says frustrated.
"Not forever, just the foreseeable future." His eyes are pleading as he looks at them. "Plus, with all their knowledge and artifacts I'm sure we can learn all we need to know about Catra and She-Ra."
Catra moves off the wall, "I'm in, but only because I can't wait to see this boat crash and burn." Her laugh is squeaky and high pitched as Bow drops his head.
The three find themselves back in the large study. Catra walks around the perimeter of the room as she eavesdrops on what Bow is trying to get out of his dads. She could tell by the men's scents that Lance was an omega and George was an alpha. She supposes that's how Bow has so many siblings. Yeah, Lance let that little bombshell loose a few moments ago and Glimmer looked like she might blow a gasket. Then, she hears her name being mentioned and she turns fully back to the group.
"- Castaspella said she was a chimera, and we were…" Bow's voice is cut off as Lance and George look at each other with strange expressions.
"We wanted to ask as soon as we saw, but" George rubs his hand on the back of his neck shyly, "we just didn't want to make any assumptions and offend your new friend." He smiles sheepishly turning his attention to Catra. "I've never met an actual Magicat before, only read about them. It's a pleasure to meet you." He reaches out his hand and she just glares at it. He awkwardly puts his hand down as Bow continues to speak.
"Exactly, and that's why we're here. Castaspella, who is Glimmer's aunt, said that she's a chimera and we weren't sure what that is exactly. We were wondering if you had any information that we could look through? Also, we found a pretty cool artifact while we were…" Bow's eyes widen at his inability to come up with a lie on the spot and he turns to Glimmer.
" – we were on an expedition for our mutual class." She finishes for him.
"Right! It's a class about ruins and we both stumbled into a new section where we found a sword. It looks like First One's tech, and we aren't sure what it's for." His statement sounds more like an opening for explanation by his parents.
Lance just clasps his hands together with all this new information being brought to his attention. "My, you two have just been so busy. Stars, where to even start?" He looks to George. "Did you bring the sword with you? We might be able to take a closer look."
The pair in front of him both look downcast as they hadn't brought the sword. Glimmer perks up, "we didn't, but I bet I could tele –"
"What Glimmer was about to say," Bow looks at her sternly because she was just about to spill the beans about her magic and she smiles sheepishly. He continues, "…is that she might be able to use my tracker pad to contact someone who could bring it for us?" He looks at her skeptically.
"Yeah, totally was going to message someone to uh, bring it! Yeah, they'll bring it out for us." Glimmer chuckles awkwardly and tries to figure out a moment she can escape to teleport back to Brightmoon.
Catra chuckles a squeaky laugh at Bow's lack of confidence. She marches forward, "yeah, I wanna hear about me, now."
"Absolutely. I'd never in my life think that we'd see a Magicat in person. Y'ano, since they went underground." Lance states nonchalantly, like he wasn't about to destroy Catra with a single sentence.
"They what?" She says a little perplexed.
George runs up and down the stairs quickly, grabbing a scroll in the meantime. He unfurls it dramatically and places it atop the large table they were near.
Catra gets up to look over his shoulder at the parchment. "What does it say?" she says a little breathless.
"From what we can tell," George starts, "the Magicats are a feline race that were thought to have gone extinct with the arrival of the Horde. But!" he exclaims with his index finger in the air, "Lance and I uncovered old records from the previous rebellion officials."
Lance cuts in, "from what we found, it appears that there was a gentleman by the name of Prince Orwahl who was gathering and distributing supplies to the rebellion. He mentions that he was close to being discovered by overhead Horde aircraft carriers and was in critical danger if he were to be discovered aiding the rebellion."
"Then!" George interrupted his love, "he was introduced to a being that could perform illusionist magic that made his cargo invisible, thus protecting him from the Horde's wrath. He described the being as someone with cat like features and briefly mentions the species 'Magicat' in some of his other personal records."
"Some even say that She-Ra had introduced the pair after rescuing their queen from the Horde. But it was most likely a member of the previous rebellion alliance since She-Ra hasn't been seen in nearly a thousand years. The queen was kept in imprisoned for years under the Horde and the Magicat people wondered if they'd ever see her again." Lance gesticulates his hand across his body like he could wade through time itself.
"Wait," Bow says, "so they are alive?"
"We believe so," says George. "However, it is only speculation and there isn't anything concrete about their location, but there was one, and only one, mention of a place called Halfmoon." His excitement of sharing information dies down as he looks over to Catra. Her face is one of confusion and bitterness. She continues to stare at the scroll as if she could simply force it to reveal more answers. But George continues, "It's uh, said to be located underground. That's why the Horde hasn't found them, and it's also why there appears to be so little on record about them."
Catra's hair stands on end as she feels everyone's eyes on her. She straightens and moves to sit on the couch clutching her hands into fists.
Glimmer moves to sit next to her, but she's also aware that she should leave enough space between them as to not smother the other woman. The princess asks, "what is there about her being a chimera?"
Lance's eyes light up somewhat. "Well, there's even less about that. I believe there was a prophecy told from even before the First One's inhabited the planet. It states that chimeras were to be revered. Their dualities were a source of great and powerful magic. See, Magicats were already capable of magic – simple illusions, tricks of the mind that sort of thing. But! Chimeras were known to have far greater powers. They're said to be of two spirits that inhabit the same body. They reasoned that having two souls created a stronger source. This made them sacred amongst the Magicats."
George remembers solemnly, "there's also only mention of one that we've found in any archives, and he was said to be the greatest weapon against war. He delved in magic that hadn't been conjured yet, and he brought forth some of the techniques that are used today." His tone is grave in a way that shows his distaste for magic.
"So what does this mean?... I-I have magic?" Catra's voice started to get a little high pitched as all the information dawns on her.
Glimmer reaches out and grabs her hand. Catra was digging her claws into her skin and Glimmer's sweaty hand makes the sting in her palm worsen. She's grateful for the grounding sensation, but also awkwardly looks down at their combined hands.
The princess saves her from her thoughts when she continues to speak. "She hasn't exactly shown any signs since we've known her. The only thing that's actually happened is that she gets the sword that we found to do things. I think… I think She-Ra saved us once."
The men in the room all glare between the two in some level of shock. "She saved you?" asks Lance.
"Yes," Glimmer says firmly.
Bow chimes in nervously, "yeah! She told me all about it. There was a small incident at the school when… uh this bully was picking on Gimmer." Bow chuckles awkwardly and hid dads start to notice his odd behavior.
"Anyways," Glimmer grumbles after hearing that tall-tale, "Catra held up the sword and this woman in gold light saved us – I mean me," she looks at Bow's concerned expression shift.
"Huh," Lance said before George interjects. "You should probably give that sword to your teachers. You kids shouldn't be messing around with magic. It's dangerous." His face is stern as he says it.
"What is your problem with magic?" Glimmer asks a little defensively.
"My problem is that I was there when the first princess alliance failed. It was a waste of time, resources and precious lives." George's whole body is tense as Lance comes up behind him to rest a hand on his shoulder.
Glimmer glared at him, and she decided he didn't need to see any swords today, thank you. And that she wasn't going to be making any daring attempts to retrieve it.
George continues, "magic is unstable and unpredictable. People all throughout history," he raises the scroll about Magicats, "have tried to control it and manipulate it for their own purposes. It's only a weapon and nothing more."
"Dad stop," Bow raises to his feet. Hearing his dad unknowingly talk about Glimmer, and potentially Catra, it angers him. "You don't know what you're talking about. Not as much as you think you do."
"Excuse me?" George responds.
"There is nothing wrong with magic. You're right, that it matters who the wielder of that magic is and that in some cases it can be used incorrectly. But not all magic is bad and not everyone who uses it is bad either." Bow's hands are raised visually showing his frustration and Catra's ear twitches at the statement.
George's face is in shock. "And how would you know?"
"Because, I…" he pauses as the sweat beads on his brow and his pulse quickens. He decides resolutely that this is the right thing to do. Bow rips the fabric from his abdomen, and it tears away turning his sweater into a crop top. Bow gestures to the women on the couch, "I'm friends with Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon and I'm fighting in the rebellion."
Glimmer chances a small sparkling wave as she's properly introduced.
The men's eyes widen dramatically as Lance audibly gasps.
Bow continues, "We're doing good and I'm so happy to be fighting to protect people." He glances down, "I'm not a shy bookworm and I'm not interested in becoming a historian."
"Bow," Lance says, "why didn't you tell us?"
"Because! You don't listen when I try to tell you things and you just always assumed I was going to run the library when you retired, but I don't want to do that. I want to be a fighter and help save Etheria from the Horde. I just can't lie about who I am, even though I know I'm breaking your hearts." Bow lets out a sigh as he finishes.
George walks over to him, and hugs Bow. "What breaks our hearts is that you felt you needed to lie about who you are."
Everyone, except maybe Catra, started to get a gleam of mist in their eyes at the gesture.
"But, I'm a fighter and you hate fighters." Bow tries to explain.
"I could never hate you. Never." George says to his son. Then Lance joins them and they're all hugging. George pulls his head back and addresses the other two in the room. "Get over here, your family too."
Catra is milliseconds away from declining the polite gesture when Glimmer drags her by her hand over to the huddle. The feline is on the outside with her free hand patting Bow's back near his dads clasped hands, making sure to keep her body physically distant from this gushy freak show. She laughs internally at her description.
The group untangles themselves and Catra finally tears her hand away from Glimmer's sweaty, but freakishly strong grip. Catra rubs at her wrist and discretely checks the small pin pricks in her palm.
As they all compose themselves Bow steps forward. "So Catra hasn't shown any signs of magic, do you think it could be something the Horde did?"
Catra shakes her head in contemplation, "not directly at least. I had a master torturer back in the fright zone who used magic to punish me. If I had shown a hint of magical abilities, her ass would've been all over mine. Trying to steal it somehow. The woman is obsessed with power." Catra rolls her eyes.
Bow's dads look upon each other after hearing that concerning statement. George speaks, "you're a Horde soldier?" The concern is clear in his voice as he laces his arm protectively across Lance's chest.
Bow stands to ease their minds. "She was, yes. But she's… on our side, now." He looks over his shoulder with a sheepish smile and a shrug at his inability to come up with anything better.
Then, Lance speaks, "There are techniques to incapacitate one's magic that I could see them potentially using. Even something as simple as a drop of elixir would do it."
The feline's stomach just drops at hearing the information. Something so simple could be so life altering. Her breath comes in a little faster than normal and she feels like she's being suffocated.
Glimmer puts her hand on Catra's again and this time it doesn't elicit an outward reaction. The princess asks to no one in particular, "Do you think it could be her magic connecting to the sword?"
As the other people in the room speculate about Catra's powers having influence on potentially She-Ra's sword, Catra sees blue eyes and blonde hair dancing in the back of her mind. She clears her throat. "I don't think I have magic that's connecting to it, but I think it might be something else." She pulls away from Glimmer and rubs her hands together nervously. She can't believe that she's about to do this.
"What else could it be?" Bow asks genuinely.
"I, uh… have a connection to… to Adora. The one you saw fighting –"
"You mean the one who nearly took my head off?" Glimmer rolls her eyes.
Catra huffs, "yeah, she uh… we're a lot more connected than I let on. We're really close and I keep…" she sighs heavily. All the weight of this afternoon weighing on her heavily. She decides she wants to concede a little. Give and take are important to sharing information. She'd be dumb not to share this now considering what else it could lead to. "I'm having visions of her and her golden vibrant form. She's radiating light and… magic, maybe? She might actually have something to do with all of this." She couldn't imagine how crazy they'd think she was if she told them about the shared dreams, so she keeps that tidbit to herself.
"You can't seriously believe someone from the Horde could possibly be our She-Ra?" Glimmer's tone is full of incredulousness.
Bow's brow is furrowed as he looks at Catra. "I mean, why not?" he asks. "The Horde takes in people from all over Etheria."
"Exactly," Catra interrupts. "And Adora and I don't have any parents that we know of. We've only had each other the whole time we were in the Horde. She's… she's all I have." The slight tremble in Catra's voice betrays herself as she tries to hide the vulnerability away.
Glimmer's face softens at what she hears and nods.
That's when Bow's tracker pad starts blaring with an alert. He checks it, "oh this is not good." Then, the tracker pad starts ringing in his hand.
"What Bow? What is it?" Glimmer asks.
He turns around the communicator and they see the queen's face on the screen with an incoming transmission.
Glimmer squeaks with shock. "Well, answer it! Just um," she says as she moves to stand next to Bow and completely encasing the screen with only their own faces. "There."
He presses a button and the call answers. "Glimmer where are you?" the queen demands. "The prisoner has escaped and we're on full lock down." The queen's voice is stressed and dire. "Get back here immediately so that we can ensure both of your safety."
"Mom, trust me it's fine! We were just finishing up. We'll be back in a jiff, okay bye!" She taps the end transmission button and Bow's eyes are wide at Glimmer's decision to hang up on the queen. "Okay, well sorry for rushing out the door, but we really should get back to Brightmoon. Right, Bow?"
Bow shakes himself from the shock and agrees. "Right," his voice squeaks, "we should totally get back and clear up that mess with the prisoner. Dads do you think you could look into what Catra said and let me know when you find out?" They nod, "Great! Love you!" Bow tries to awkwardly remind everyone that his dads don't know that Catra is a prisoner who just recently had been captured.
The pair move closer to Catra and she starts to get an uneasy feeling – mostly due to the impending magic ride back to Brightmoon. Before she can protest, they're all covered in bright pink magic being whisked away.
Bow's dads just look at each other wondering: 'what the hell?'
The three end up back in Glimmer's bedroom and Catra is at least already sitting down on a soft surface when her body catches back up with space and time. She still reaches a hand to her head from the dizziness of it all.
Glimmer paces back and forth as soon as she landed. Catra supposes if she had magic her entire life, then she'd probably wouldn't have had an issue either. Her bitterness churns in her stomach.
"Okay, everyone just stay calm. I'll go find my mom and tell her everything and…"
"Wait," Catra demands, "you can't tell her anything." Panic starts rising under the surface of her skin. She hasn't lived a life where she could ever trust adults with her life.
Glimmer turns to her, and her eyes are pinched in confusion. "Why not? She could help us figure this out."
"Because I don't trust her. I don't even know her and for all I know she'll just interrogate me more and punish me." Catra's body is shaking, relying on it's baser instinct, like when she knew she'd be in trouble with Weaver. It was almost like her mind was operating on it's own accord.
"What!? She isn't going to punish you. You haven't done anything wrong –"
"I escaped Glimmer! As far as she knows I'm on the run slicing peoples' throats just to get out of here." The panic is obvious now that the feline uses the princess's actual name.
It unnerves Glimmer seeing Catra like this, seeing someone so impenetrably strong that could unravel so quickly at the thought of facing a woman with magic at her disposal. She sighs as she looks to Bow. They share a look and understanding begins to seep into Glimmers bones. Catra said she was tortured with magic, I can't even… her thought fades as she faces the feline. "Alright fine. I'll go find her," Catra visibly tenses, and her eyes widen a fraction. Glimmer raises her hands in a placating motion. "I'll find her and let her know," she gestures vaguely as she contemplates her options. "I'll tell her we took you to the yard so you could stretch your legs."
Catra scoffs because she doesn't think it's a strong enough excuse. She is at least somewhat positive Glimmer won't reveal any of her truths that they uncovered today. "Fine," Catra concedes as her hopes lie in the princess, her captor, her… well she doesn't really want to explore that train of thought further.
Glimmer teleports away without another word and the two are left alone.
Bow glances at the calculating look on Catra's face. "Hey," he says and her eyes dart to his. It almost makes him flinch. "I know this all seems… different than what you expected, than what the Horde portrayed. But Gimmer and the queen are decent people. They don't want to hurt you or… torture you."
His face is of concern, and it makes bile rise in her throat. Today, had been another intense day of getting gob-smacked around with information that was still flooding her brain. "Whatever." She holds her arms to her chest, and she begins to pace. Keeping her body moving prevents her brain from short circuiting.
Suddenly, a spritz of magic fills the air and the queen and Glimmer are amongst them.
Queen Angella looks livid. The sight raising Catra's hackles as though she needs to prepare to evade her wrath. Her arms are out from her sides and she's heaving heavy breaths.
Glimmer grabs Angella's arm and halts her forward movement. "Mom! I told you we had her out in the yard. We tried to stay out of sight, because we didn't want to get in trouble. I was hoping we'd be back before anyone noticed."
"Glimmer, she is a prisoner. A dangerous one at that, you can't just let her out on your own accord. There has to be measures taken into place for something like that. Extra security, and a secure location where she can't escape." Angella ticks off each item on her fingers.
Bow chimes in, "Your Majesty, it was my fault. I told Glimmer that with my new arrows that I've been tinkering with that I would easily be able to keep an eye on her."
The queen glares at Bow, "that is a reckless and naive thought to assume, Bow. You both could've been at risk."
"Of what?" Glimmer exclaims. "She doesn't have magic and I had tied up her arms for extra security. Please, just trust me, mom. We didn't do this without thinking it through."
Angella sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose. "Glimmer, you know I trust you, but you have to be careful. What about your heat? Have you even gotten the mages to perform another spell?"
"I know, mom and yes I'm fine. That's why we made sure to be prepared. And she did great!" She gestures to Catra. "She was even able to open up and tell us about her time in the Horde. It's terrible there, mom. They torture them with magic."
Catra felt uneasy as Glimmer began to bring up anything they'd talked about, but the princess lands on a less complicated topic and the feline's tail slows from franticly twitching.
"I know, my love." She turns to Catra with a look of pity and Catra rolls her eyes and looks elsewhere. "People in the Horde are known for the atrocities they put others through." She sighs again, like she's lost at least 10 years on her life from today's events. She reaches her arm out in a gesture towards Catra. "Come, we'll be escorting you back to your prison." Catra looks between Bow and Glimmer and nods curtly.
Angella walks with a few guards towards the prison room. She opens the door for Catra and the feline walks in preparing to be encased again.
"I'll leave you." She gestures lightly towards the room for Catra to enter. "There are guards outside of your door and along the exterior of your balcony as well as on the ground." Her face is unreadable as she continues, "I can't imagine what you've been through," Catra wanted to gag assuming she knew where this was heading until, "but do not mistake my kindness for weakness." Her eyes bore holes into Catra's and she turns abruptly to leave the room.
The feline exhales as though she'd been holding it for some time. She replays the events from today as she wanders over to a couch that looks much more comfortable than that poofy bed. The cushions are firm and sturdy. Her shorter stature allows her to fit on it with her limbs extended, but she finds more comfort curling up on a single cushion.
She sighs as the revelations hit her again. She could have magic inside of her, or she did. Before the Horde ruined her. She probably had a family. She never deluded herself to dream, or hope, of a family out there waiting for her return. It had just always been Adora. No one else gave a damn about her, but the realities cause her stomach to wretch as she gags on nothing. She could have someone. There could be other's who wonder what happened to her.
Stop deluding yourself. You were abandoned and worthless little wretched thing. Nobody wanted you and that's exactly why you're here, the thoughts make her head hurt as she refuses to let her body have the oxygen it desperately craved. Weaver's voice had always been the one to rip her hope to shreds, but Adora… The thought of bright blue eyes shine in her mind and she releases the grip she has on her closed throat and allows the air to gush back in to replenish what she lost. She heaves gaping breaths and tears prick at the corners as Adora and all of this confusion makes her feel so out of control. She hasn't felt like this in ages, since Weaver had thrown her into a hole without food for two days. She emerged so weak and exhausted even though she spent what time she could asleep. Seeing Adora's face had been the reprieve she desperately yearned for – she hadn't let Adora go as they held each other that night.
Adora had been the only light in the Horde.
As she drifts off she thinks of Adora and her living in their home one day just outside of a town. She had been raised to fight, but with everything ripping her mind in two, she just wants simplicity and freedom from all her trauma.
She doesn't feel as though the Horde can offer her much more now that she's gone.
Who's she kidding, she's always stayed for Adora. She's the only reason that place is bearable and the Horde is Adora's life, her mission. She's so headstrong.
It has been nice not to be at the end of Weaver's wrath. She's probably grateful for Catra's capture. She always resented their friendship and how Catra was always holding Adora back, even though she came up with just as many schemes and ideas along the way.
The bitterness rises at her and Adora's complicated past.
Her head hurts from thinking so much, she'd probably just be better off letting sleep take her.
Maybe she'll be there…