The Crimson Waste was as desolate as it had always been. Catra sighed dramatically before grumbling:
"I don't want to be here, Adora."
"I know, but you heard what Glimmer said. We need to find out who this mysterious magicat is. She's been stealing from Huntara and even formed a gang to rival hers." Catra rolled her eyes.
"I'm the only one of my kind. The report is wrong. Sparkles just wants me out of the palace after I set the kitchen on fire." Adora raised her eyebrow.
"That's not what Madame Razz said…and I also set the kitchen on fire…" Ignoring the latter statement, Catra groaned:
"Yeah, well, she's crazy! Nothing she's said has ever made sense!" Adora smiled at her wife. Even though Catra was in a bad mood, the wind was blowing her now shoulder length mane around in the cutest way. Catra glared at her:
"What are you grinning at?" Adora blushed:
"You're looking…extra ferocious?" Catra gave a snarky grin.
"Damn right I am." After another ten minutes, the couple saw the familiar skeleton concealing the tavern in the middle of the desert. Catra gave a sigh of relief:
"Finally! I'm so ready to terrify some patrons and re-form my old gang!" Adora raised an eyebrow:
"Would you be offended if we maybe tried a more 'diplomatic' approach?" Catra groaned:
"Sparkles should never have taught you that word."
Once they entered, the two women were surprised to find the place almost empty. Only Huntara sat by the bar, looking even grumpier than usual. When Huntara saw they had arrived, she turned and gave a giant smile:
"Hello She-Ra! Long-time no see!" Her smile fell once she saw Catra.
"Is that who I think it is?" Catra scowled at Huntara. She had never really interacted with the purple giant, but knew she did not like her. Before Catra could respond, however, Adora calmly explained:
"Yes, this is Catra. She's also a magicat and is here to help us find whoever it is you're looking for. Also, she's good now and we're married." Huntara eyes went wide before her giant grin returned:
"'Married'? Well, why didn't you say so? Congratulations!" Huntara then turned to Catra, saying:
"And Catra, so long as you help us like you're supposed to, I'll keep my mouth shut." With that, Huntara turned back towards the bar and Catra nudged Adora, whispering:
"Yeesh, how long since she defected from the Horde?" Adora jabbed Catra playfully in the ribs.
Catra used to get a lot more upset when people looked down on her. However, now that two years had passed since her trial (and Adora was well and truly by her side), Catra had gotten over it. Mostly.
The Valley of the Lost was just as Adora remembered it: noisy, dusty and generally dangerous. Catra and Adora stuck close to Huntara as they headed to her unofficial headquarters in the centre of town.
They soon came upon a shack which Huntara wasted no time in entering. The two protagonists quickly followed Huntara inside.
The shack only had one room. It was covered in random junk, presumably because the place was supposed to be some kind of antique store.
As Adora scanned the room, she noticed Huntara already deep in conversation with the store owner – a bear hybrid. She hurried over to join them while Catra began examining what looked like a gold-encrusted dagger.
"…only a mile from here. If you hurry-" Adora interrupted the store owner as soon as she came within earshot of the conversation:
"What's going on?" Huntara sighed before saying:
"Right, I forgot you were here too. This is my…associate. She's got a lead on our mysterious magicat. They were spotted about a mile away." The bear lady nodded, saying:
"Yeah, but you better hurry. They never stay in the same place long. Double Trouble's keeping an eye on them but-" Adora laughed mockingly:
"Double Trouble is watching her? Well, we certainly know how trustworthy they are! Let's take everything they say at face value and rush over there right away!" As Huntara and her friend raised their eyebrows in confusion, Catra began tutting Adora from across the room:
"Tsk tsk Adora. They're good now and working with Huntara. Let bygones be bygones." Catra then walked over to the bear lady and held out the dagger:
"How much for the knife?"
As the group approached the cavern, Catra could not help but gasp. She recognized it as the same place she had hidden Mara's ship all those months ago.
Catra shuddered at the memories, and it only got worse when Double Trouble appeared from behind a rock.
"Catra! Long-time no see! And Adora, always a pleasure!" Catra's hair stood on end. She had nothing against Double Trouble personally, but seeing them here was reminding her of the last time they were here together. She did not need any more reminders of when she and Adora were fighting. Catra muttered:
"Hey DT." Huntara then approached them, saying:
"Well, are they still here?" Double Trouble nodded and pointed towards one of the large caves, saying:
"They went in an hour ago with at least ten goons. There are no other exits or I'd know about them." Huntara nodded and handed Double Trouble a bag of money:
"For your trouble, Double Trouble." The lizard hybrid hissed their thanks before scampering off. Huntara then turned to Catra and Adora.
"Think we can handle this ourselves?" Adora raised her eyebrow provocatively:
"Easily." Catra sighed in annoyance:
"So when I want to have fun we have to be 'diplomatic', but when you do we don't have to? Make up your mind, Adora!"
As they walked further into the cave, both Catra and Adora started to have some misgivings about the situation. While Catra could see in the dark and Adora could transform into She-Ra, it was just them and Huntara against an untold number of thugs in a cramped space under literal tonnes of sand.
As they came around another corner, Catra was the first to notice the glint of steel a few feet away.
"Adora!" Catra pushed Adora out of the way of the spear. Huntara growled and charged forward, taking down a couple of thugs foolishly standing in her path. Meanwhile, Adora was smiling up at Catra, who was leaning over her protectively:
"Did you just jump in front of a spear for me?" Catra smirked as she got up, winked and said:
"This is not because I like you."
As Catra ran to join the fight, Adora laughed to herself. Even though she was in the thick of yet another battle, she could not have been happier. Then another spear flew past her and Adora was bought back to the present. She frowned and raised her hand, yelling:
"For the Honour of Grayskull!"
The fight lasted longer than expected when it turned out there were way more than ten people in the cave and they were nearly all magicats.
Catra was caught off-guard when the first one jumped on her – a young male with a scrawny mane and beard. Catra had pushed him off her easily enough, but had quickly been subdued by two others. That was when She-Ra arrived and sent them all flying with her rainbow magic.
A few more blasts from She-Ra's sword cornered the assailants, forcing their leader to surrender. The leader was a tall magicat, who wore a large cloak which concealed their face. Judging from their voice, they were female.
Once the leader surrendered, all the goons put down their weapons and sheepishly put their hands in the air. Huntara then marched up to the leader, shoved her torch in her face and demanded she reveal herself. The magicat then slowly pulled back her hood to reveal a carbon copy of Catra.
The female magicat had much longer hair and a large ornamental earring on her left ear. Once she removed her hood, all the other magicats suddenly bowed to her, thoroughly confusing She-Ra and panicking Catra. The female magicat then said:
"Rise." All the magicats immediately returned to their standing positions, causing She-Ra to ask:
"Okay, what was that? What's going on?" Huntara added to the list of questions:
"Who are you? How many more magicats are there?" Catra's carbon copy looked at Catra, raised her eyebrow and answered:
"Only one apparently." Catra hugged herself uncertainly. She remembered what Madame Razz had told her all those months ago, and she was beginning to wonder whether there was any truth in it after all. The female magicat continued:
"I'm the queen of Halfmoon. I wear the earring of the royal house and demand the respect I deserve." She-Ra gasped:
"Halfmoon? Madame Razz wasn't wrong?" She-Ra then transformed back into Adora, turned to Catra and reached her hand out to her. Catra tentatively took it and moved closer to her wife. Adora then said:
"Well, your majesty, it's an honour to finally meet you. This is Catra. She…um…" Catra sighed and stepped forward:
"Did you leave me in the Fright Zone twenty years ago?" The queen's eyes went wide and she silently approached Catra. Once she was close enough, she reached out her hands, gently touching the sides of Catra's face.
Catra gave an involuntary purr, now recognizing the scent of the woman holding her. This made the queen cry and pull Catra in for a hug:
"I thought you were dead…" Huntara then turned to Adora, whispering loudly:
"Am I missing something?" Adora nodded, thinking back on what Catra said Madame Razz had told her when they had first met all those months ago:
"Yeah…that's Catra's mother."
Catra, the queen and Adora sat outside the cave in awkward silence. After the initial hug, Catra had pushed her mother off her, hissed angrily and stomped off. Adora had run after her. The queen had tried to do so as well but Huntara had stopped her. After a long discussion about gang warfare, a temporary truce was agreed to and the queen had finally emerged from the cave.
The leader of the magicats had found Adora and Catra sitting by the entrance in silence. The queen pulled her cloak off, lay it on the ground and sat down elegantly. She was wearing a very tasteful blue outfit that made Adora feel things she was not sure she should be feeling.
After a full minute of no one saying anything, the queen finally spoke:
"My name is Cyra. That's your name too." Catra growled:
"I could not care less." Cyra sighed before saying:
"Look, I can never make up for what I did. It was a horrible mistake that I've regretted every day since I made it. When the Horde destroyed Halfmoon-" Catra interrupted her mother:
"-you lost faith in the Princess Alliance, went into exile and somehow thought it would be best to leave me with the enemy?" This was news to Adora. All Catra had told her about her talk with Madame Razz was that she had been told she was a princess, her mother was alive and Catra and Adora were going to be married someday.
As Adora turned to Cyra in shock, the queen tried to explain her actions:
"You have to understand, Halfmoon was completely destroyed - burnt to the ground! Thousands killed in the blink of an eye…the magicat species itself on the verge of extinction…the Horde was going to do that to every other kingdom and the Princess Alliance had already shown it was incapable of stopping them! I was injured, alone and a target. I wanted you to be safe so I did the unthinkable…I knew the Horde were taking in children…I genuinely thought it would be better for you to grow up on the winning side…" Catra hissed angrily before saying:
"Well, it must have been a real shocker for you when King Micah beat Hordak and stopped him invading Brightmoon – even with Shadow Weaver's help!" The queen gave Catra a confused look:
"Who's Shadow Weaver?" Adora's face went white. She felt Catra start to hyperventilate and pulled her closer, muttering to Cyra:
"Oh you shouldn't have said that…" Catra then screamed, jumped up and tried to scratch her mother. It was all Adora could do to stop her. Cyra gasped in shock as Catra then began to yell:
"Shadow Weaver was my real mother! You want to know what she did me? She hurt me! She turned me into a child soldier who ended up being the cause of so much death and destruction! The last thing she did was try and kill me! You still think it was the right thing to leave me…with her?" Cyra gasped in horror while Adora fought to keep Catra from attacking her mother.
After a few minutes, Catra calmed down to stop moving. Adora then said:
"Look…um…I think we all need a break…how about we head into the Valley of the Lost and get…um…"
"…lost?" Catra gave the tiniest hint of a smile. She then glared at her mother, saying:
"Be my guest." Cyra sighed and stood up. She picked up her cloak, flinging it over her shoulders like only a queen could. She then looked sadly at her daughter, muttering:
"I'm truly sorry, Cyra." Catra gave a guttural growl:
"My name is Catra."
"I don't believe this! This is exactly why I didn't want to come! I hate the Crimson Waste! I hate hate hate it! I mean, look where we are now! This is where I met Double Trouble for the first time…where I ordered them to fight you…"
"It's okay, Catra! Just breathe-" Huntara interrupted Adora:
"Just give her a minute – she needs to get this out of her system." Catra stomped back and forth across the cavern, yelling at no one in particular and not caring who was listening. Cyra's gang were long gone after having agreed to a meeting at the tavern the following day. Catra continued:
"And you know what's worse? There's not just her! There's, like, thirty of them! And they're all totally cool with having my mom as their queen and me as their princess! All of them bowed to me when they left! Bowed! I'm not a…a…princess!" Huntara laughed quietly:
"Can you hear her trying not to swear?" Adora frowned at Huntara:
"Hey, back off! She's been getting weekly therapy with Perfuma ever since her trial and was told that swearing was not helping her negativity. She's following her advice which, considering what just happened, is extremely impressive!" Huntara raised her hands defensively:
"Okay, okay! Sorry! Man, you really must love her to defend every little thing she does…" Adora scowled:
"I love her more than you could ever know. She's my wife, Huntara." Huntara was about to apologize again when both she and Adora heard someone mewl behind them. They both turned around to see an extremely cute little magicat kitten. Huntara smiled, saying:
"Well, maybe this could be your child! I'm loving the blonde hair!" Adora ignored Huntara, leaned forward and freed the little magicat kitten from the rock it had managed to get stuck under. It was tiny, with blonde hair, green eyes, a white shirt and black shorts. As soon as Adora picked it up, it mewled happily and snuggled against Adora's shirt. Huntara laughed:
"Aww! Now that's adorable!" Adora smiled awkwardly, looking down at the kitten in her arms.
"Yeah, but…um…where are their parents?" Huntara shrugged:
"They probably left with the other magicats. That being said, they would've surely come back by now if their kid's missing…"
"I wouldn't bet on that. Magicat parents are apparently totally cool with abandoning their kids." Catra had come over to see what was going on and raised her eyebrow when she saw the kitten. She then muttered:
"It looks like you, Adora." Adora gave a big smile:
"It really likes me too! Listen - it's purring!" Lo and behold, the little kitten was purring in Adora's arms. Huntara laughed loudly, causing the child to stop purring and stare at her. Huntara then said:
"Well, you may as well name it now! You also better figure out who the primary carer's gonna be. Remember how it worked in the Horde?" Catra growled:
"Yeah, we'll be sure to do the exact opposite of that." Adora then turned to Catra and offered the kitten to her:
"Do you want to hold them?" Catra shook her head:
"I probably shouldn't…I'm not the best with kids and I don't want this kitten confusing me for their parents…" Adora smiled at her wife adoringly:
"What are you talking about? You're great with kids! You've babysat Bow and Glimmer's twins more than anyone else!" Catra coughed awkwardly:
"Yeah, well, I just do silly faces and stuff. Their kids aren't exactly demanding…" Adora laughed:
"Liar! You feed them and even gave them a bath that one time! I remember - you were soaking!" Catra moaned:
"They got covered in flour while playing in the kitchen. Can you imagine what Sparkles would've said if she'd seen them?" Huntara laughed:
"That's what you were concerned about? What about the fact you let two babies play in the kitchen?" Both Catra and Adora stared at her in confusion. After an awkward silence, Adora asked:
"Is…that not okay?" Catra then added:
"We played in the forge when we were kids…" She then laughed and turned to Adora:
"Remember when you almost got impaled by that sword they were making for Hordak?" Adora laughed:
"Or that time you almost fell in the fire?" Catra stopped laughing:
"I did fall in the fire. My tail got badly burned…do you not remember that?" Adora frowned before saying:
"Oh yeah…Shadow Weaver banned us from ever going to the forge again…" After another awkward silence, Huntara said:
"Okay, forget what I said. We need to find this kid's parents immediately."
Cyra and Huntara sat on opposite sides of the bar, discussing a truce between their two gangs. Catra and Adora sat at a table near the back of the tavern, watching as the child they had found chased its own tail in front of them.
Adora was clearly struggling to not pick it up and squeeze it. Meanwhile, Catra was trying very hard to focus on the kitten and not on her mother, who kept glancing at her with an annoyingly guilty look.
After a while, the scrawny young male magicat walked over from where all the other magicats were gathered on the other side of the tavern. Once he stood in front of Catra, he bowed and said:
"Your highness, I hope you won't be offended if I offered to help look after this child so you wouldn't have to?" Catra raised an eyebrow and said:
"It's not my kid. I was actually going to ask you guys who their parents are. Also, don't 'your highness' me." Adora sighed and picked up the kitten. She then turned to the male magicat, asking:
"Shall we head over to where everyone else is and figure out who this little one is?" The magicat nodded hesitantly before saying:
"Of…course." He then coughed, bowed again and said:
"With your permission, your high…um…ma'am." As the magicat turned and walked away, Adora put a hand on Catra's shoulder. She squeezed it reassuringly before following him with the kitten in her arms.
Catra sighed. After a long twenty minutes had passed, and Huntara and Cyra seemed to be concluding their negotiations, Adora returned to Catra's side with the child still in her arms.
Catra frowned. As soon as Adora was near enough, she asked:
"Why is that kid still attached to you?" Adora looked at her sadly.
"They don't have any parents – they're both dead. Everyone's been helping to look after the kid but…" Catra lowered her eyes and finished Adora's sentence.
"…it's getting difficult to keep tabs on them." She then looked back at Adora, who was now looking fondly at the kitten asleep on her lap. Catra raised an eyebrow:
"While I appreciate how tragic the kid's backstory is, it still doesn't explain why you're still holding it…" Adora then turned to Catra with a hopeful smile – the kind of smile she knew Catra could not resist. Catra's ears went down in realization. She knew what Adora would say before she said it.
"It's name is Finn and…I was wondering how you would feel if we…you know…looked after them for a while?" Catra rolled her eyes and smiled. How could she say no to Adora?