Over the course of the next few months I was taught combat, taught how to speak English and finally became known to the battle we faced against the princesses. Catra would tell me every night before I went to sleep about She-Ra and the adventures they had together. It seemed to me that all Catra cared about was Adora and bringing her back to the Horde but I never really told her.
One morning I woke up before everyone else did and bolted from the bunks. I leapt through the hallway and left home for a while looking for someone to play with. A mouse suddenly scurried ahead of me and I chased after it but then it ran into the woods; a place Catra had forbidden me to go into. As I turned around, I heard a whisper utter my name and call me towards the woods. Intrigued I walked forward but suddenly felt someone grab onto my tail with their massive claws.
"Hold it Pink Panther, where do you think you're going?" Scorpia questioned.
"I heard something." I replied. "Can you get off of my tail?"
"Sorry." She said.
She opened up her claw and my tail moved back and forth slowly. We walked back to the Horde training facility only to find Catra and Entrapta wrapped in warm clothing. As I walked over, I looked up at Catra who touched my nose with one of her claws.
"Get ready Parker, we're going to the Northern Reach." Catra said.
"Why?" I asked.
"We're looking for some first ones tech, I've located some on my tracker." Entrapta chimed.
"But Lord Hordak says I have to stay here where I'm safe." I said.
"You're under my command and I say that my troops come with me." Catra said.
"What about Lonnie and Kyle? Or the big green-" I began.
"They're practically useless, especially Kyle, but you are special and my secret weapon." Catra whispered.
"I'm a kid and powerless." I pouted.
"Maybe this can be your opportunity to break out." Catra smiled.
During the ride over I curled up by Entrapta and had a quick nap as she stroked my fur. After a while I woke up and started playing with Entrapta's hair which whacked me onto the other side of the ship.
"Sorry Parker, I just really need to work, why don't you go scout the perimeter with Catra and Scorpia." Entrapta suggested.
I nodded and sprinted out of the room and onto the deck of the ship. I saw both Catra and Scorpia by the deck talking to one another and from a distance they looked like they were sharing a secret. I hid behind a container and listened to their conversation.
"Parker went to the woods? Are you kidding me?" Catra hissed.
"She said she heard something, I never let her go in." Scorpia said panicked.
"What if she did go in Scorpia? Hordak would have my head!" Catra suddenly burst out.
"I'm sorry Catra, it's just hard being...a parent, in some aspects anyway." Scorpia said.
"Well, you won't have to take care of Parker anymore seeing as you clearly can't handle it." Catra said walking away.
As she walked back inside, I slowly walked over and placed my paws on the bottom barrier separating us from the ice gorge.
"I'm sorry I ran away Scorpia, I was chasing a mouse and I heard someone call my name." I explained.
"Hey, don't worry about it. It was a mistake and you're still a kid and learning but just don't do it again." Scorpia said comforting me.
"I don't like it when Catra yells at you, you're supposed to be her friend." I commented.
"I know right, I bet she never yelled at Adora that way." Scorpia muttered.
"Maybe it's because of Adora she's mad." I suggested.
"Maybe but Catra's always like that with me." Scorpia said. "For now I guess I'll just be waiting for her to return the favour."
"You should spend more time together." I suggested.
"Yeah we should." Scorpia agreed.
At an instant the big bug ran back inside to tell Catra her plan but I remained on the deck watching the ice. It looked smooth, shiny and soft but I had a feeling that it's appearance was deceiving. I stuck my head out from the barrier to take a closer look but then heard a warning signal coming from inside.
"Parker, stop that! You're gonna fall!" Catra shouted.
Suddenly I felt my back foot slip from the edge of the barrier as I slowly descended into the gorge that was beneath us. As I was about to plummet to my doom I felt a strong grip around my tail and froze mid air. Slowly I was hoisted up and finally taken back inside.
"First the woods and now you're trying to skydive off of the ship into a gorge? Do you have any idea how hard it is to take care of you and make sure that you're not constantly trying to kill yourself?" Catra shouted.
"Catra I'm-" I stuttered.
"Don't try and say sorry Parker! Sorry would have never brought you back to me! Sorry never brought me a childhood! Sorry never brought Adora ba-" She said.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked back at us all. I backed away as all eyes turned on me and ran into the supply closet where I remained for the rest of the day.
I crawled through under a blanket and found a space heater amongst some other things. I turned it on and curled up beside it whilst I listened to the voices outside.
"Where is she?" Catra demanded.
"Still hiding in the supply closet, maybe I should go talk to her." Scorpia suggested.
"I'll go." Catra said.
She opened the door and walked in trying to look for me.
"Parker, where are you?" Catra questioned. "Parker it's too cold to do this."
Suddenly an alarm went off and Catra pulled out her tracker pad to check out the danger.
"Guess you're finally gonna meet Adora Parker." She said with a giggle.
She left me alone in the supply closet for a long time. I didn't really hear anything but Entrapta making obnoxious noises on the telecom so I walked around looking for something to play with. I noticed a window in the top right corner and climbed the massive stack of weapons all the way to the top. I glanced out of the window and saw something in the distance that made me jump.
Scorpia held the mighty She ra in her arms and a powerful glow followed as she was transformed into the girl from Catra's stories. I saw Catra walk over with the giant sword and press the handle against Adora's chin as she whispered. They headed back in my direction and for a split second Catra caught a glance of me before entering the place. Quickly I descended down from the stack and snuck back to the space heater. I heard them enter and Catra mock Adora as she lay unconscious on the floor. After a few minutes the supply closet door opened up but I didn't recognise the footsteps. I pressed my ear against the blanket only to feel a nose poking into the sheet. Slowly I peeked out from the side and saw the blue eyed blonde looking emptily into the blanket. Her glance slowly turned to me as she squealed and grabbed me. She wrapped her arms around me and rolled around the floor with me pinned against her chest.
"Kitty!" She screamed.
Suddenly the door opened again but this time it was Scorpia who separated us both. Adora ran in the opposite direction and grabbed a mop as she attacked Scorpia with it.
"Give me my kitty!" Adora demanded.
"She's not yours, she's mine and Catra's!" Scorpia yelled.
"Catra? I remember her, she scratched me and it hurts!" Adora yelled.
"She scratched you because you attacked her." Scorpia said.
She travelled over to where I was perched on a box and sat next to me. Gently Adora rubbed my ears which made my legs shake. Adora giggled and brought me back down from the box and held me in her arms like I was her pet. I listened to her heartbeat and pressed my cheek against her warm chest.
"I'm in heaven!" Adora whispered.
Frustrated Scorpia got up and picked Adora and I up. She tried to press the code to open the door but then she had forgotten the code so began jamming in random numbers. Adora stretched over and began typing in random numbers when Scorpia tossed her to the other side. Again Adora made her way and typed some more numbers, then was tossed again. The door bleeped and opened but to a snowstorm with eaten up technology. Adora walked forward swaying around and as she did, I saw something move around outside. Suddenly it came forward and opened up its mouth but then Scorpia dragged Adora away and brought her inside.
"How about we stay inside?" Scorpia asked.
"Yay! Girls night in!" Adora said.
She fell into Scorpia's arms and slid down slowly.
"I can't believe I am stuck inside a closet with you. I should be by Catra's side, protecting her, why do you always have to get in our way?" Scorpia said frustrated.
The door opened once more to reveal a man dressed in a large winter coat and bright glasses. I bounced and hid behind Adora who pulled me up against her again.
"Adora, I am here to save you!" He announced.
"More like I'm here to save you." Adora corrected. "Do you like my new cat?"
"That doesn't make any sense, are you ok Adora?" He asked.
"I don't know but she's not going anywhere." Scorpia said.
"We'll see about that, en garde!" He said leaping forward.
As he pulled on one of Adora's arms, I jumped onto him and began ferociously biting his arm. Suddenly they stopped moving as Adora leaned in closer to both of them.
"You guys are my best friends." Adora cried.
She fell to the floor once again and the man grabbed Adora again but Scorpia was too fast and held onto Adora.
"Catra entrusted me to watch her, let go!" Scorpia yelled.
"You let go!" He said.
"I can't let her down! I'm trying to be her friend and if I let Adora go, there's no hope for that. I just can't seem to break down her walls." Scorpia broke. "It's like she doesn't even acknowledge my presence."
"I know how you feel." The man sniffed.
Whilst the two of them spoke I leapt onto Adora and sat on her chest as she laughed to herself.
"What's your name?" Adora asked touching up my ears.
"Parker. Catra told me all about you." I answered.
"Catra's mean." Adora muttered.
"Yeah, sometimes she is but she cares a lot for the people she loves." I said.
"Does she love you? You look like her daughter." Adora said with a smile.
"I don't know." I said. "She did rescue me from the woods."
"I like the whispering woods, I almost died in there once." Adora muttered.
"What?" I said.
"I'm gonna take a nap now." Adora said.
As she fell asleep Scorpia and the pirate got up and grabbed us both. The door opened up to a large insect with glowing red eyes as well as two rebels fighting the creature. Scorpia sprinted over to Catra whilst one of the rebels tried to stand Adora up. In that second I forgot about all my training and just froze watching everything unfurl.
"Look Glimmer, that's my kitty cat! She's not mean like her!" Adora yelled pointing at me.
The brightly coloured Glimmer squinted her eyes as she tried to look at me.
"Princess Panthera?" Glimmer said.
I raised my brow at her and raced off to hide under the desk. I watched as Catra and Glimmer fought one another and the bug burst through the wall. Immediately Catra jumped off of Glimmer and ran towards me. She picked me up from underneath the desk and rushed towards Adora but then the giant bug burst through. It separated us both; Catra held its mouth open trying to tackle it and I was tossed out of the building completely.
"Parker!" Catra's voice echoed.