Catra awakens from another dreamless night. She rolls her eyes behind closed lids and huffs out an exasperated breath. She has so much to tell Adora. Why can't she just dream with her already? Ugh! I really need to figure out how this stuff works, she thinks.
She reaches up and pulls away the blanket that wound itself around her body and she leans into a big stretch. She is not used to the softness beneath her. The couch offers a bit more structure in its' firmness, but she hasn't felt her back be so comforted and supported at the same time.
The feline moves to stand as her bladder is screaming to be relieved, and suddenly, a spritz of magic is the only warning she gets before Glimmer appears.
Catra yelps a high screech and Glimmer just giggles as her fur and tail stand on end. "What the hell, Sparkles?"
Glimmer rolls her eyes, "I came to talk to you." She moves to sit down on the couch that's still warm from Catra's body. The corner of Glimmer's mouth twitches but is quickly replaced by confusion. "My mom didn't put you in a magical barricade?"
Catra runs her hand over her face as she tries to calm her racing heart. She sighs heavily, "yea, your mom mentioned something in the realm of 'I may be nice like sunshine and rainbows, but I can also beat you into submission." She laughs with a short exhale through her nose. She's not going to mention how hot she found the whole ordeal. Can't give Sparkles the satisfaction.
A loud abrupt snort comes from the pink princess, and she says, "yeah, that sounds like her." She looks back down to the cushion as she collects her thoughts once again. "Anyways, I wanted to tell you that I was able to convince my mom to make a diplomatic mission to Salineas –"
"Okay, what does that have to do with me?" Catra rests her hands on her hips as she eyes Glimmer.
"Well, if you'd let me finish," Glimmer says not so subtly under her breath, "we told my mom that this was purely diplomatic and that there won't be any fighting. After the meeting though, Bow and I talked it over and we want to bring you."
Catra makes a bemused face and Glimmer continues, "we'll have to convince my mom, but I figure it's better than lying to her. She can actually try and learn to trust you instead of being so afraid." Glimmer rolls her eyes.
Catra's hand comes to rest on her face as she listens to this half ass plan. "You're telling me you want to convince your mom to take a prisoner out on a mission where 'said prisoner' could potentially run, or kill you, or both?" She actually uses air quotes as she speaks.
Glimmer deflates some, "well, yeah, if you say it like that it sounds bad." Glimmer shakes her hands across the front of her body like she's trying to physically clear the air. "Look, you want to find Adora, and we could use an extra pair of hands. Salineas isn't doing too well due the Horde's repeated attacks against their city. It's also one of the most direct routes to Brightmoon by water. With them on our side we could control the seas. We need to secure an alliance with their princess, Mermista, to strengthen the rebellion. So, this is a pretty huge mission for us."
"Why are you telling me all of this? I'm your enemy. 'Horde scum,' remember?" She points a razor-sharp claw to her chest.
"I don't know, are you my enemy? Would someone save their enemy from a disgusting pack of alphas, or prevent their enemy from being crushed by a giant monster, or play along with a lie an enemy had told their dads?" Glimmer's indignation rises as she recounts their adventures and feeling the need to question every moment like it hadn't mattered at all.
"Yeah, well, that last one I got something out of it, so…" Catra picks at her nails as she talks, then she looks to Glimmer who scowls.
"I really thought we started making headway and that maybe…" she sighs heavily. "I thought maybe we could be friends. But if you're telling me not to trust you, then I guess… I shouldn't." She crosses her arms over her chest and drops her eyes to the floor.
The feline's eyes widen slightly. Something in Catra felt like she was losing control of this situation very quickly. Without the princess on her side, she's as good as done for. She has to recover this. "Yeah, well… you'd probably be a really annoying friend. So…" She trails off. It's honestly the only way she feels she can fix this moment: cutting the tension with sarcasm; like they'd done before. She's never been friends with anyone new. How the hell do you even make friends? The people she knows in the Horde she's known her whole life and they were all just forced together in their shitty situation. This is all awkward and new territory.
…Part of it feels like a betrayal to Adora…
Glimmer pulls her from her mental spiral, "being annoying is just a tactic I use to torture my enemies." She looks at Catra sourly, but then releases all her frustration with a sigh. "I know it sounds like a long shot, but we could both benefit from this."
Catra looks into Glimmer's eyes to see if there's an ounce of doubt. The feline is sure that Glimmer won't hesitate to remind Catra of her fury if she were to betray the princess. "Fine." Glimmer begins to brighten at her acceptance, "But! We need to come up with something better to tell your mom."
Glimmer's brow pinches together signaling her understanding and immediate formulation of another plan. Then, a memory spikes from their trek in the Whispering Woods together. "What if I tell her we could use you as a bargaining chip. Tell her that we discovered from the last mission how much their forces want you back. We could use you as like a shield if we run into any more Horde soldiers – as like a backup plan in case we run into trouble."
If she was worried before about their lack of plan, then Catra is definitely losing hope after that one. The feline's face screams 'you're and idiot' and she pinches the bridge of her nose. "I guess we could use the lack of intel on the Horde in our favor, because I am telling you I'm currently worth less than a bargaining chip." She laughs mirthlessly. Her experience in the Horde has always taught her that she is expendable, especially from Shadow Weaver. "We might be able to swing it. But she'll want to take precautions. What would you propose?"
"Um," she pauses to think, "we could bring an extra guard to watch over you?"
"No, that'll be such a hassle and you don't actually have to watch over me." She rolls her eyes.
"Don't I? What was it you said? Oh yea, 'you could run, kill us, or both.'" Glimmer beams quite proudly at her jab, but Catra just rolls her eyes.
"Real cute. Would you just… tell her I'll be chained up. I don't have any magic abilities to get out of it, so she can rest easy." Catra folds her arms over her chest again.
After a moment of pause Glimmer says, "you know, now that I think about it… there wasn't really anyone but Adora asking about you."
Bringing up Adora reminds Catra of what the Rebellion wants most. "What if we tell her that you should bring me to draw out Adora and that we think she has something to do with She-Ra? You could bring the sword and we could make a whole thing of it." Her stomach churns with something unfamiliar. She didn't need to mention bringing the sword, but she knows it's for Adora. And with that sword they could both escape together. No more Horde, or Rebellion. But… why does a part of her feel this darkness inside? She's lied before, no problem. So why does this not feel right?
Glimmer interrupts her hidden crisis, "how are we supposed to tell her about She-Ra without telling her about your visions? She'll need proof, or a reason, that we know she might be She-Ra." Glimmer chews her lip nervously.
"Shit… well, what if you tell her about the Whispering Woods when I lifted the sword, and her form came out? You can tell her you saw her at Plumeria when she landed on you –"
"You mean when she attacked me? Yeah, that sounds pretty good." She says contemplatively.
"Yeah, whatever. Well, go and tell her. You barged in right before I was about to relieve myself."
That gets a cackle out of Glimmer. "'Relieve' yourself?" she mocks.
Catra's temper flares. She growls and lunges for the princess.
The princess teleports away with an undignified squeak and Catra lands on the couch where her body was previously perched. The feline huffs and makes her way towards the bathroom.
Bow's tracker pad comes to life while he is tinkering with one of his arrows. He notices and grabs it to answer a call from his dads. "Hey, guys!"
"Bow?" George says with ear piercing loudness. "Ah! There you are!"
"Dad! You don't have to yell," he says while lowering his own tone. "You just talk normally, and I can hear you just fine." Bow's smile disarms his father's agitation with technology.
George smiles back. "Ah," he clears his throat "yes. Hello. We just wanted to get back to you now that we've discovered a few tidbits about Catra's Magicat situation."
That gets Bow to give his full attention to his dad as he grabs the tracker pad with both hands. "So, what did you find out?" he asks.
Lance squeezes his face in front of the screen while pushing George's out, and interjects "well, it seems there's a location where Queen C'yra – the magicat queen that was saved by the previous rebellion – had stayed. It's located near Seleneas. Apparently, the queen was hiding out there temporarily, but the reason is unknown. She may have left further knowledge about the whole situation. It just seems so unlikely that the queen of the Magicats had no knowledge of a child chimera born within her lifetime."
George clears his throat and steals the tracker pad back, putting his entire face back in the center of the screen. Lance at least has the awareness to look remorseful. "We think that there could be more knowledge at this last known location. It could even lead to why she was captured by the Horde. We can send the coordinates to your tracker pad." He smiles awkwardly, "that is all we have to report. Bye-bye for now." He waves and the screen cuts out before Bow can respond. He chuckles softly at their antics and feels relief and love wash over his heart. Then, reality sinks back in, "I've got to tell Glimmer."
Bow runs to Glimmer's room and as soon as he opens the door he's greeted with a leaping hug from the princess.
"Bow! She said yes! Mom said yes to our mission. We have to take like five hundred precautions, but she said yes!" Glimmer nuzzles into Bow's neck and he can feel her smile on his skin. He breathes in her scent and as intoxicating as it may be, it is also so soothing.
Bow sighs as he gently lowers Glimmer to the ground but keeps their hands connected. "That's great, Glim." He looks at her fondly and continues, "I just wanted to thank you for the other day. Yano, with my dads. I know it was a bit of a shock, but you were there for me at every weird turn."
Glimmer just looks at him softly with a sweet smile. "You don't need to thank me, Bow."
"I know, but I want to, because you're amazing and that was so thoughtful. You were there when I needed you and I really appreciate it." Bow says it genuinely and Glimmer can tell.
The princess pulls him into a softer embrace, and they just take a moment to let themselves be. She inhales his smokey scent, she's assuming from tinkering with his tech, and she's never felt safer. Her stomach clenches as the end of her heat is just around the corner. She reluctantly pulls away, not wanting to ruin the moment with any of her weird hormones scaring off Bow. She clears her throat. "Well, of course, you've been there so many times for me and my crazy mom. It's only fair." She smiles and fiddles with one of his soft hands.
"Right," Bow says nervously. "W-what was it you were saying before?"
She stops touching his hand and looks back up into his eyes. "Right! My mom said yes – to bringing Catra for our mission. I told her about how the sword show me She-Ra in the Whispering Woods and that she looks just like that girl who we met in Plumeria."
"Princess Perfuma?" Bow asks confused.
"No!" she says swatting his arm. "The one who jumped me."
"You mean the alpha who attacked you?!" Bow's face is appalled. "Does she know about that part? Because I doubt she would've said yes –"
"Exactly! That's why I didn't mention that part in full detail. But, with a few precautions we'll be allowed to take Catra with us and try to lure out Adora. Bow, this could be huge for the Rebellion! Having She-Ra and her magic could end the war." Her voice quivers with a lifetime of hope.
Bow looks to her with an uneasy expression. "Glimmer, that's great. But. She was pretty tough too, and I just don't want you to get all of your hopes up on this one person."
"I'm not!" she lies through her bright smile. "If that doesn't work out, then worst case is we'll still be able to talk to Princess Mermista about joining the Rebellion." She snorts a little, "I mean, she's no She-Ra, but it's better than nothing."
He smiles weakly at her explanation. "Okay, so when do we leave?"
"Well, there were a lot of stipulations. We have to chain up Catra – which she agreed to in the first place!" she says in response to his wide-eyed expression. "Then, we have to use one of my mom's recommended sea captains to get us there." She continues counting the conditions off on her fingers. "And we have to acquire a boat, call her when we leave and when we get there as well as show her proof that Catra is 'still in custody.' Her words not mine." She takes a deep breath to refill her small body with oxygen. "Should be a piece of cake."
Bow laughs again nervously and rubs the back of his head with his palm. "And we'll need to get Catra on board with all of this."
"Too easy. She's the one that came up with most of the plan, anyways." She turns and leaves Bow confused as she makes her way to the feline's room.
They burst through the door and startle Catra. She tries her best for it to seem imperceptible, but she fails as her tail poofs out behind her. She quickly runs her hand along the appendage to lay the fur down flat. "Well, I didn't teleport into your room this time." Glimmer says not so sympathetically.
Catra just hisses in response.
"Okayyy," Bow says in a placating manner. "So, we have a plan and also, I have news from my dads."
Both women turn to him surprised.
"Apparently, we'll be heading in the right direction because they told me that the queen of the Magicats was hiding away in a location near Seleneas. They think there could be something left over from her stay there that might give us clues about her people, or even Catra." His excitement grew with each word.
Catra huffs in disbelief – and maybe terror. She doesn't know what to make of the whole thing, except that she's been trying to be more focused on getting Adora. She can't dwell on that other stuff too much, because it'll probably drive her mad. "Let's just get this over with. What's the plan Sparkles?"
"This!" She disappears for what seems like a second and returns with these gaudy looking chains in her hands.
Catra takes a step back and before she can squeak out a response they're already on her wrists. She deflates as she was about to tell her she was going to relieve herself before they left, but she also realizes she doesn't want to deal with Glimmer's teasing.
"Alright, let's head out. My mom set us up with a few of her recommended boat captains and we can be on our way."
Catra clears her throat. "Aren't you forgetting something," she says.
When Glimmer just squints at her in confusion Catra reminds her, "the sword, dumbass."
The lightbulb turns on immediately and Glimmer is gone and back within a few moments. "Now, we're ready."
The three make it down to the port where Angella had instructed them to find their boat captain. A few men were standing around the front talking to one of the queen's guards. They ushered Glimmer over, but before she got too far Catra had stopped her with a 'pst.'
"I say, we agree to one of these captains and then ditch 'em. They're gonna know too much about our situation and I won't ever be able to take these chains off. We need to find our own captain." The cloak Catra was wearing was a good enough disguise to hide her chains from public eye. The queen's biggest concern was alerting too much attention to the group.
Glimmer looks to Bow as they weirdly telepathically contemplate her words. Glimmer speaks first, "you're right. I'll talk to them while you two slip inside and try to find us someone better. When no one is looking, we'll make our way out of the harbor." Her confidence shines through each word and Bow smiles exuberantly. He pulls Catra towards the tavern and they sneak in while Glimmer engages with the guard, distracting them completely.
The two walk inside and look around. There are tons of people guzzling down their drinks and a few on the verge of passing out altogether. Catra lowers her hood and makes her way further inside, while Bow trails behind with his hands gripping the backside of Catra's cloak. His face looks left and right as if to determine where the good guys are. Catra huffs at him and stalks confidently towards the bar. She places just her hands on the counter and looks to the barkeep. "Hey!" That got their attention, and they spared a glance at the feline. "You got any boat captains in here?"
The person huffed, barely giving her an acknowledgment, and they turned back to the patron they were fetching a drink for. Catra growls and looks around. She tries to look for anything identifiable of a boat captain.
Bow grabs her attention with a yank on her cloak and says, "there. I heard him talking about his boat and he has a mustache!" His heart eyes sicken Catra, but she rolls her own gold and blue and they make their way over to the guy.
"Hey," Catra demands and the guy's feet fall from the table. "Are you a boat captain?"
"Am I- am I a captain of these fair seas, you ask!? But of course! The name is –"
"Yeah, cool I don't care." Catra knows this kind of fool and isn't in any mood for shenanigans.
The guy scoffs at her audacity and places his hand over his chest, appalled.
Bow intercepts, "what she means to say is, 'Hi! We're looking for a captain to take us to Seleneas. Would you be able to help us?'" Bow's eyes sparkle at the opportunity to be within the man's orbit.
This whole place reeks of alphas and all Catra can do is think about Bow being an omega. At least he's not in heat, because anyone with eyes can see this place isn't filled with the most honorable of people. She grabs Bow roughly and not so quietly whispers to him, "knock it off."
Bow gulps but continues to smile.
"The name is Sea Hawk and you're talking to one of the greatest sea captains of all time!" He flourishes his hand into the air and Catra starts grinding her teeth.
"Look, I don't care who you are. You're coming with us to Seleneas. Now are you coming the easy way," she pauses to gauge his fear, "or the hard way?"
"I will not be intimidate- Ah!"
After a short scuffle Catra waltzes out of the back door of the tavern with Bow dragging the unwilling captain by his boots. "Did you have to knock him out? I think if we just would've asked nicely and offered him a reward he would've –"
"He would've continued to annoy me, and we don't have time. Who knows how long Glimmer can distract those people before they start to notice we're missing?" Catra realizes she said the princesses name a moment too late when Bow smiles fondly at her. "Shut up, Arrow Boy."
As if summoned, Glimmer materializes. "Okay, we have like 5 minutes before the captain we 'hired' realizes I'm not on the boat anymore." She reaches out for the tracker pad and uses it to call queen Agnella back. After the second ring her mother answers and Glimmer waves at her through the screen. "Okay, mom! We're about to shove off." She quickly turns the camera around to Catra who raises her shackled wrists along with a bored look. "Prisoner is all chained up and we're ready to go!" She brings the camera back around to herself.
"That's great Glimmer, why don't you give the tracker pad to the guard and –"
"Actually, mom I have to go! They're signaling us right now! Thanks for everything, bye!" The short princess hangs up on her mother knowing that she'll be satisfied enough. She releases a breath of air she felt like she was holding through that entire situation; and then, Glimmer looks between the two and their expressions are bewildering. She looks down at the ground by Bow's feet. "Wha-who the hell is that?" She nearly screams.
"Calm down, Sparkles. This" she gesticulates to the man with his rear end up in the air and face planted into the pier "is our new captain. Plucked him right out of the tavern." She smiles smugly.
"He's unconscious!" She looks down at him and stares dumbfounded.
"Yeah, he was getting on my last nerve." Catra crosses her arms in defense.
"He was so nice though, before Catra beat him up." Bow says giving the feline a disapproving look.
"Yeah, tell us how you really felt about him," she calls him out, "something about his amazing mustache?" She flares her hand in a questioning manner.
Bow's face turns bright red. "I just meant that it was impressive is all." He shoves Catra's shoulder and looks over to Glimmer who's smile is a bit stilted.
"Whatever, can we please get him out of sight now? We need to wake him up so he can take us on his ship." She peers down at him, "if he'll even take us, now." She gives Catra an admonishing look that seems familiar.
Catra can't place it and turns to walk away behind some cargo. They drag him and sit him upright against a box when Catra slaps his face. The other two look at her like she murdered the man. "What!? He needs to wake up." She goes to slap him again when Glimmer interferes and grabs him by the collar shaking the life out of – or into – him.
"Momma, no!" Sea Hawk exclaims as he comes to. He clears his throat as a pink blush fills his cheeks. He clears his throat, "I mean, where am I?" He rubs the side of his head, then looks up and sees Catra. He visibly flinches his entire body and reaches to Bow for protection.
The young man blushes as Sea Hawk cowers near him, then he speaks as soothingly as he can. "Hey, buddy, we just want to know if you could still take us to Seleneas, like you said."
Sea Hawk gapes up at all of them and then quickly rises to his feet. He wipes away the dirt that gathered on his clothes and says, "I absolutely will not!... until she apologizes to me." He literally pouts afterwards.
Bow and Glimmer look to Catra waiting for her to make the next move and Sea Hawk dramatically looks the other way wiping a tear from his eyes.
She grunts, "fine! Sorry. You all better, now?" Catra is completely condescending as she says it, but Sea Hawk's eyes are as clear as the sunny skies above them.
"Why, yes! Thank you. So, what's this about – taking you to Seleneas? I am very close personally with Princess Mermista." He holds his hand to his chest.
"You are!?" Glimmer says with too much naivety, in Catra's opinion.
"Why, of course. We are on a first name basis I'll have you know. But I do wonder, what's in it for me?" He pulls the edge of his mustache between his fingers.
That get's Catra's attention, "how bout I don't beat you into submission, little man?" She clenches her fist tightly with the weight of the shackles digging into her wrist.
The captain makes a ghastly scoff and once again flinches towards Bow's protection.
Glimmer growls under her breath. "Alright, I've had enough. Catra, quit antagonizing. You!" she points at Sea Hawk, "take us to your boat. We're shoving off in the next 2 minutes." The pink hair powerhouse storms off towards… "where's your boat?!"
The man lifts his hand pointing delicately towards his ship, "th-there it is." The two women make their way to the boat – Catra reaches out her wrists to Glimmer signaling the removal of her cuffs and the metal drops to the ground. Sea Hawk faces Bow. "My, aren't they pleasant." He says with derision. "Didn't even ask me about any of my adventures." He sulks as the two men also make their way to the boat – Bow patting his back, consoling him as they go.
"Alright guys, my tracker pad says the coordinates for the hideout location isn't too far from where we are." Bow places his tracker pad on a table so everyone can see.
After an hour or two at sea, Catra is so glad to hear they might be on land soon. She's thrown up probably 3 times, but at least she's got nothing left at this point. "Thank the stars! I need to get off this boat," she grits out.
A giggle comes from the princess's mouth and Catra shoots her a death glare. "That might've worked on me a few weeks ago, but not anymore." Her smile is genuine, and she reaches over to pat Catra on the shoulder.
Bow interjects, "thankfully, it's not too far from the Seleneas Sea Gate. We might be able to trek the rest of the way, but it might just be safer to go by sea." Bow's knowledge of maps is quite helpful, but Catra doesn't care how far it is. She will fight tooth and nail not to get back on this damn thing – her face flushes green just thinking about it.
The captain of the boat had thankfully shut up after Catra vehemently threatened to throw him overboard, but he pipes up. "Ah! But of course, you all know about the mermads? They live close in this area, we will, as Bow put it, want to be cautious." He rubs at his chin like he has something important to think about.
"Don't you mean 'mermaids?'" asks Bow.
"I most certainly do not! 'Mermads' is a term coined by yours truly. I've encountered them on rare occasions and the last time nearly led me to my own demise! They literally almost drove me mad as my boat started veering towards the land – thus the name. We must be cautious." His arms rest on the bow of the boat looking out in all directions as if he could spot them.
Catra and Glimmer share a mutual look of unamused skepticism. They then move past him and continue over to Bow like they never heard anything.
Suddenly, the boat comes to a lurching halt, and everyone flies forward. Catra landing on Glimmer who lands on Bow. The three of them grunt in pain. Then, they hear a loud cry.
"Land, ho!" Sea Hawk exclaims as the crash has him bent over the mast.
The women grumble as they get up. Glimmer reaches out a hand for Bow and he offers her a small smile as he grasps it. After they all stretch out their bodies from the crash landing, they try to assess and look around. At least, Catra is. She doesn't know what kind of weird stuff they're magically trying to do.
Bow begins to climb down off the ship to scan the area with his tracker pad. He hopes he can pick up on any magical creatures. But as he waves it one final time he looks back up to the others with a wide grin. "All clear!"
Catra grumbles something about not trusting dumb technology under her breath as she uses her keen nose to sniff out anything weird; unfortunately, all she can pick up on is ocean water – she gags slightly.
They all dismount the ship and make their way further inland. Bow cuts the mounting tension, "it –"
"Aaaah!" The ear piercing screech comes from Sea Hawk, "Y-" he clears his throat "you startled me." He sounds more than a little embarrassed and it makes Catra snicker.
"As I was saying," Bow grimaces and looks back down to his tracker pad, "the coordinates for that hideout location is about a hundred meters ahead."
Catra's heart speeds up almost uncontrollably as a wave of panic courses through her. She notices her nearly gaping appearance and takes off immediately in the direction he was pointing. No going back now, she supposes.
They make it through thick brush when Catra finally sees this crumbled mess of brick and stone. If you look at it from the right angle you might be able to tell that it once was a structure with a roof. But the roof is caved in at the edges and all other pieces of it have been decimated. The wood from frames and windows is blown out and scattered near their feet. She continues walking forward in awe of the destruction.
"We're here," Bow says softly.
"Stars, what happened here?" Glimmer's voice is just as gentle if not more so in sadness.
Catra lifts a tattered remnant of cloth. It's a deep red, a red she would recognize anywhere. "What do you think?" Her tone is sardonic; although, it's laced with something more somber.
Sea Hawk manages to keep any retorts to himself as he just gapes at the wreckage.
The feline makes her way closer to the building. It can't be anymore than a 5x5 meter hut. The claws on her feet dig into the rubble as she scales some of it to enter.
"Be careful," Glimmer reminds her as loose debris falls next to her. "It doesn't look stable."
Catra looks back momentarily but continues forward. She isn't sure what she should be looking for. This place is trashed. Literally. There's broken glass on the floor from plate ware, ripped shreds of cloth are strewn throughout, and scraps of paper are charred and ripped throughout. She goes to sniff the air and old dust is all she picks up. She can't help what comes next and she sneezes a high-pitched squeaky noise.
A gasp can be heard from behind her. She turns her torso to the sound and Bow has heart eyes. He's staring at her like she gave him a new bow or something. She doesn't exactly know what Bow likes… "What's with you?" she tries to sound gruff.
"How did we not know you had the cutest sneeze of all time?" His hands clasp together as he continues to stare at her in awe.
She growls, "Shut up! I am not cute!" As she stomps a foot to the ground, some of the retaining wall against the hill begins to topple towards her. She screeches in fear and suddenly the sparkly air around her encompasses her being and she's warped out just before it falls on her.
The pair land back by Bow and Catra is still cowering like she was about to be crushed. Déjà vu hits her like a bullet train from that dream she had, weird. Then, reality grips her, "get off me!" She flounders and catches her breath. She looks at Glimmer who looks a bit miffed for her efforts. "No, it's just… ugh. Can we please just get this over with?"
"Hey, look." Bow says with sincerity as he points to the fallen wall. From where the stone had been previously sitting, there is a box peeking out of the hillside.
Catra gathers her nerve again and makes her way carefully towards it. She reaches for it while she balances on some of the fallen debris. She grabs it by the tips of her claws and just barely yanks it free. The dust covering it wipes away by her hand as she makes her way back to the group. She lands gracefully just as a cat would and she hands the case to Bow.
The archer lifts it to his eyeline as he examines it. It has some intricate designs on the outside, but the locking mechanism is what catches his eye. His brow furrows as he looks at it. The circular hole isn't for a key he's seen before. "Wow, this isn't something I've seen before." He hands it to Glimmer, and she takes it carefully. She turns it over a time or two in her hand and takes note before passing it.
Her hand extends towards Sea Hawk to look, but Catra snatches it back out of her hand with a glare. Sea Hawk deflates.
The feline's gut is telling her to shove her claw into the lock, but she isn't sure why. She's picked locks before with them, but it takes forever, and she usually needs an additional tool. She inhales and lets out a deep sigh. She decides to trust her gut and places her pointer claw inside. She feels something clicking into place as her nail is fully sheathed. She then slowly rotates her finger, and the box opens. Her eyes reveal her confusion, but she reaches inside anyway. She pulls out a bit of paper that had scribbles on it and hands it over to Bow. She continues to look bewildered at the case as she removes her claw.
"I can't read any of this." Bow's frustration rises and hands off the paper to Glimmer.
She holds it out and rotates it as though she just needs to see it from the right angle.
Catra gets tired of their antics, and she reaches for the paper.
Glimmer looks like she's about to argue, but immediately concedes the paper over to the other woman.
The feline looks back at them with a raised brow. "What, no one ever taught you how to read?" She snickers and her eyes begin to scan the page.
"Wait," Bow gets her attention. "You can read that?" She nods. "Catra that isn't a language I've seen before – trust me, my dad's have taught me few." He shakes his head.
Blue and gold eyes squint in his direction. "You can't read this?"
The two shake their heads at her and something like bile rises in the pit of her stomach.
"Well, what does it say?" Glimmer asks.
Catra looks back to the paper. It's dated from almost two decades ago. "Someone is talking about running away in search for their lover, cliché much?"
Bow coos softly at the revelation and silently nudges her to continue.
"It's a woman, she's talking about being pregnant and trying to find her partner. Their love was forbidden." She rotates the paper as the scrawling continues. "She came here to have the baby in secret, but she's worried th-… the Horde will find her." Catra gulps and a sickly feeling rises to her throat. "A prophecy says that her child will be born a…" Catra stammers and drops her arm to her side, clenching her fist but also trying to remember the delicate parchment between her fingers.
Glimmer asks, "what does it say, Catra?" She reaches out slowly to offer a hand.
Catra's entire body is shaking. She isn't sure the words will come out past the raging fire in her throat. It feels like it might combust.
Then, Bow reaches out to grab her arm and puts the other behind her back. Glimmer inches forward too, and lightly places her small hand on Catra's wrist, hoping she can save the paper in her hand.
Catra takes a sharp inhale and finally has the capability to get a word out, "chimera." A sob racks her body and everything within her is demanding she leave. She can't let them see her this way. She's too vulnerable. She drops the paper and runs.
Adora's standing in the middle of the chow line, when unexpectedly she starts to feel a deep sadness in her chest. It starts out small like she feels like she lost something, but then it grows stronger. The pain is indescribable. She reaches her hand to her chest, her tray clatters to the floor and she falls down to her knees.
Demetria and Scorpia look at her with questioning looks. "Did she eat something?" Demetria asks disbelievingly.
But Scorpia shakes her head quickly. "We haven't even gotten that far in line yet." The larger woman reaches down to grab at Adora's shoulders and investigates her face. "What is it Adora?" Her voice starts to take on a worried tone.
Yet, Adora can't do much of anything but let tears stream down her face. Her grip on her chest turns her knuckles white, and the physical pain feels better than the intense grief she suffers from within.
The pair look at each other and Demetria is the one to speak first. "We have to take her to Shadow Weaver, maybe she'll know what to do."
Scorpia grimaces, because deep down she knows that's not the choice anyone would choose, but she has a point. Adora has been changing and maybe this is a part of it. She can't let Adora continue to be in pain. The larger woman collects her resolve and picks up the blonde and throws her over her shoulder – making sure to avoid any sharp spikes from her shell.
Adora just continues to writhe in her grasp and the tears don't stop. She tries to breath and get her emotions under control. Something feels off. She has no reason to be sad, so where is this coming from?
Scorpia gets closer to Weaver's sanctum. She knows she isn't allow to disturb her, but considering the circumstances, she's hoping for reprieve.
Thankfully, Scorpia doesn't have to worry about knocking on the door, because Adora's cries of pain bring Shadow Weaver out into the hall. "What is all this –" her tirade halts as soon as she sees Adora. "What's happened?" She reaches for the younger woman desperately, nearly blowing Scorpia in the head.
"I-I don't know! We were in the chow line, when she just fell over in pain. She didn't say anything about feeling sick." The fear in Scorpia's voice rises as Adora's cries get louder and Shadow Weaver's anger ignites.
"Out! Get out!" She yells it over her shoulder, waving her cloaked arm in Scopria's general direction.
The larger woman cowers, and tears begin to form in her eyes. She doesn't know what's happened, but she feels responsible somehow.
Once Scorpia leaves, Weaver begins to assess Adora's body. She's giving off a magical energy that seems familiar, but ancient. Something Shadow Weaver hasn't seen in a long time. She raises her hands and the magic she uses is like a scan that goes down Adora's body. Said woman is so distraught she's inconsolable as well as incredibly distracted.
Shadow Weaver assess as much as she can about the situation, and more than she should be allowed with Adora in such a vulnerable state.
The older woman hums to herself as she begins to detect a connection of some kind, a link.
Before Weaver has a moment to investigate it longer, Adora's cries begin to subside, and her body seems to relax. The older woman huffs in frustration. She was so close, but as soon as she raises her hand to further examine the young woman Adora opens her eyes. She wipes at her face and looks around the room. "Where am I?" She turns her body to face Weaver and she looks around to get her bearings.
"You're in my sanctum. Scorpia brought you here as you were writhing in pain. What happened to you?" She questions her with an air of exasperation.
The blonde blinks a few times to get the tears to clear from her eyes and gets herself into a seated position. "I'm not sure." She rubs her head in attempts to clear some of the headache that was rising in her temple. "I was in line for food when this spot in my chest started aching. It was like nothing I've ever felt before. Well," she remembers when Catra was ripped from her life, but she refuses to bring that up in front of Weaver. "Well, it kind of felt like I lost someone, or something."
The older woman nods sagely, "I scanned your body to assess for any immediate emergencies that may have been taking place in your body, but whatever you felt wasn't physical." Her mind is twisting with the information, wondering how she could play this appropriately. "There is something called Maho. It's an old form of magic that leaves traces with the people we love."
The word "love" makes her stomach drop.
Weaver walks around the table to get behind Adora. She watches her stiffen and she gets a moment of gratification. "It has been said that intense emotions can be felt through the traces." She lays her stiff hand on Adora's shoulder. Now for the blow. "This pain you were feeling could've been from an interrogation being carried out. Those princesses need to know our plans." She can feel Adora's body vibrate, and her breathing pick up.
"It did feel like… anguish." Adora's mind races with the possibilities. She starts to feel her own pain build in her chest. She fails at every turn, even when she's doing nothing. She can't sit here anymore. She jumps up and rounds on Weaver. "I have to get back out there."
"Child, you just had an episode, maybe you should take it easy." She reaches out as if to appease the younger woman.
"No!" Adora swats away Weaver's hand. "We need to make plans, now. I'm going to go get Scorpia and we can start formulating." Adora storms out.
Weaver's smile begins to form behind the mask.
"Gee I don't know Adora. This sounds crazy!" Scorpia trails behind the woman while Demetria looks at the Scorpioni with disappointment. "Do you even know where to start?"
Adora glances to the side acknowledging Scorpia, but she doesn't respond. Instead, she just leads them to Shadow Weavers office.
The older woman is standing there patiently as they all enter the room. She had already set up a holographic map anticipating how this may go.
Adora walks up to the map and analyzes their positions. She's spent so much time preparing for a moment like this… she should be excited, but all she's filled with is dread. "We have forces just outside of Seleneas that have yet to breach the Sea Gate. Look here," she points at a path along the borders of Seleneas that wraps around tightly to the land leading to Brightmoon. "We can see here that our most direct route would be through Seleneas. It's our best bet. And since we saw princess Glimmer at Plumeria, she may be on a mission to scout other princesses for support. Seeing that The Land of Snow is furthest out of reach, it's the most probable target. Worst case, we can capture access to the seas and extend our reach even further than before."
Shadow Weaver hums lightly as she eyes the map. "We'll need a large enough force to take down any remaining forces. The Seleneans are a proud people not willing to give up their territory."
"We'll take it from them. I'm sure of it." Adora's tone is determined, and it causes some concern to Scorpia.
Demetria clenches her fist and chimes in. "Great, I'll get the paperwork started for one of the units to mobilize on Seleneas at the earliest chance. If we do this right, we could be out by sunrise."
"Great, get it done. We'll need backup. Get two ships to accompany us. It should be more than enough. Scorpia," she turns to the larger woman noticing her raised eyebrows.
"Uh-uh, y-yes?" Scorpia raises her arm into a salute as she awkwardly fumbles.
"We'll need to get a few alphas in our ranks, can you get on that?" Adora points her finger right at her.
"Sure!" The Scorpioni turns to Shadow Weaver who nods. Scorpia gathers herself to leave and scampers out the door.
"Nicely done." The older woman pats her back lightly. "You will lead the unit to victory and recover what you've lost."
Adora clenches her fist and nods. Her brow is furrowed and serious as she plans her own personal strategy.
A/N
Thanks for sticking with me. Had a lot going on, but I haven't forgotten this fic. More to come, friends.