Chapter 8

Part 2

He couldn't understand how someone could live in this place known as the Fright Zone.

It had such a dark and dreary atmosphere that he almost regretted staying here. His tail twitched anxiously as he walked down the hallway.

Hordak said to go down the hallway,take a left turn then head into the first room to my right.

He took a left turn and continued walking straight until he reached the room to the right and went inside. The room was rather large with a big bed in the center,a desk at the wall on the right and a small nightstand with a lamp on it. He sat down on the bed and sighed heavily,closing his eyes as he processed everything. I did it. I found the one who will save my people. Now I simply have to find a way to get her as my mate.

It would be both considerably easy and difficult since while Catra was in the same place as him,the small encounter he had with her was enough for him to get a small understanding of her and knew that it would take some time to get her as his mate. Before he got into any planning,he needed to contact his father. He raised his hands to his headpiece,removing it from his head and turning it around so the gem in the star piece was facing away from him and said,"Nightshade." The gem began to glow then light rays shot from it as a hologram of his father appeared before him.

"Father."he greeted politely. "Storm,"Nightshade said. "I assume by you contacting me that you've reached the destination?" "I have and I have news,"Storm said. "I have found the female that the prophecy spoke of."

A pause of silence followed afterward.

"So the prophecy is true."he said softly,more to himself than Storm,before adding louder,"Do you know what race she is apart of?"he asked. Storm shook his head. "She does not look like anyone from Fedalius." Nightshade stayed silent in thought for a moment before looking back at him. "Tell me more about this place."he said. So Storm did a quick summary of the place,his encounter with Catra,the war between the Horde and the Rebellion and his deal with Hordak. "You know we are not in the state to join in a war,"Nightshade told him. "Not with our people already in a bad state." "I know that father. Which is why I'm stalling as long as I can. However,if I am to fulfill the prophecy and obtain Catra,I'll need to keep my end of the deal."Storm said.

Nightshade sighed.

"Very well. I'll start separating the sick and healthy and prepare the troops for battle." "Good. I'll report to you if I have any more news."Storm told him. Nightshade nodded then the hologram disappeared. Storm put his headpiece back on his head and rubbed his temples.

Nothing is ever easy for me he thought to himself.

"Storm." He whirled around to see the woman,Shadow Weaver,standing in front of the door. "Yes?"he replied not in the mood to deal with her. "Walk with me."she said as she turned and left. Storm sighed as he got up and went to her,fast enough to not irritate her but not too fast to tell her that he wouldn't be ordered around like some child. "Hordak told me that you are with us."she said as they walked down the hall. "Yes I am."he replied simply. "Hordak also said that your involvement with the Horde must be kept a secret."Shadow Weaver continued."Is there a reason for that?" "As much as I would like to tell you the reason,Lord Hordak told me to not tell anyone and I won't."Storm told her.

He felt a small bit of satisfaction at seeing Shadow Weaver narrow her eyes in annoyance but she didn't push the matter as they entered into a room. The first thing he noticed was the large,opposing dark reddish crystal in the center of the room. It gave off a dull red glow and he felt like it was pulling him towards it. "Since you're going to be with us,I suppose we should make you useful to us."she said.

Storm twitched his tail in annoyance but stayed silent,watching her lean a stone bowl containing a greenish-yellow liquid in it. "I haven't seen Adora or Catra in some time. I don't doubt that Catra got her into some sort of trouble."Shadow Weaver said and Storm picked up on the hint of annoyance in her tone.

"What am I needed for?"Storm asked sharply,wanting her to get to the point. "I need you to go find them and bring them back."she told him. Storm cupped his chin in thought. Maybe this mission can help me learn some information about the Rebellion. He did need to gather information for Hordak and he couldn't exactly stay here and do nothing. He must've taken some time thinking for Shadow Weaver added,"Think of this as your first mission to prove your loyalty to the Horde." Storm growled lowly,though he knew she had a point considering he was a stranger and he had attacked two Horde soldiers which would make some people question his loyalty. He looked up at her.

"I shall retrieve Adora and Catra."he said. Shadow Weaver nodded. "I'll prepare a few tanks for you. If my guess of their capture is correct then the Horde needs to send a little message."

"Exactly how far are we from your castle Sparkles?" "We're not far now. We just have to go through a village."Glimmer replied. "Don't see why you can't teleport us there."Catra muttered,though she wasn't too keen on that idea. Minutes afterward,they finally reached the village.

It was more than what Adora thought it would be.

Bright colored flowers were woven around tents and on trees,people laughing joyously along with kids running around. She went to take a closer look but Glimmer grabbed her arm and pulled her into the bushes. "Alright the jacket comes off."Glimmer said. "Why?"Adora asked. "Because if the villagers see I Horde soldier they'll freak out,"Glimmer explained. "So we got to fix all of this."she added,gesturing to her. Reluctantly,she took off her jacket and gave it to Glimmer who draped a light blue cloth over her.

She looked down at herself and frowned.

"I look ridiculous."she commented. "That's because you don't have something to pull it all together."Bow said,looking at her closely for a moment then snapped his fingers. He turned around and picked a flower from a nearby bush then put it into her hair. Her face grimaced. "I don't like it."she whined. "Should I call you princess Adora now?"Catra said with a laugh. She narrowed her eyes at Catra. "I don't know why you're laughing,"Glimmer told Catra. "You're giving to have the same thing done to you."

Catra immediately stopped laughing.

In the blink of an eye,she turned and leaped towards the tree branches above them. "Hey! Get back here,Horde scum!"Glimmer yelled. She teleported from beside her and Bow right beside Catra,grabbing her arms,then teleporting back to them as Catra struggled. "Let me go!"she snared,fighting desperately against Glimmer. "Will you just stay still!"Glimmer hissed in annoyance,holding Catra's arms behind her and forcing her to keep still. "Bow,help me here!" "Coming!"Bow said,walking over to Glimmer and helping to tame the fighting Catra. Adora had to stifle her laughter at the sight of Catra,who had finally given up at running away and resorted to grumbling and growling at Bow and Glimmer as they redecorated her.

They finally moved away from her and Adora couldn't hold back the burst of laughter when she saw Catra. She had a flower crown on her head and one around her neck and a white cloth draped over her shoulder. "I guess I should call you princess Catra."she told her laughing. "Oh shut up!"Catra retorted. "I look so stupid in this." "The point is you both don't look like Horde soldiers anymore. Just try to keep a low profile,we'll be in and out."Glimmer said,walking ahead with them in tow. Adora noticed that everyone seemed to be so calm and happy. "What is this?"she asked Bow. "It's a festival. You know,like a big party." Adora's face scrunched in confusion as she looked at Bow. "Party?"she heard Catra asked,her face also scrunched in confusion.

"You don't have parties at the Fright Zone?"he said. The way Bow had said that and been watching them suggested that this party thing was supposed to be a normal thing. "Oh right parties,"Adora said. "We...um..totally got-" "We don't have parties or even know what that is."Catra stated bluntly,giving Adora an eye roll. Bow's eyes widened in horror as he made a noise of horror. "Did you not hear what I just said Bow?"Glimmer hissed at him. "In and out!" "Glimmer,they have never been to a party before. This is serious!"he said sternly.

Without missing a beat,he grabbed both her and Catra's hands and dragged them over to a wooden building with a person behind it who gave Bow some sort of pinkish food. He said his thanks,broke it in two and gave both of them a piece. Adora raised her piece to her mouth and tentatively took a bite from it. The fruit was sweet,sugary and one of the best things she had ever tasted in her life. She looked over at Catra and smiled as she saw her ravenously eating the fruit,her eyes lighting up like the sun.

Bow smiled,seeing the expressions on their faces. "If you like that then there's more where that came from."he told them as he grabbed them by their arms and dragged them over a cluster of tables with a few other people around and bowls filled with the fruit they had just tried. "Plus,you get a nice show to watch."Bow added as he gestured to the people dancing on the tables. Adora glanced at Catra smiling when she saw her watching the dancers in amazement,like she was in a trance,and she contented herself with ravenously eating all the fruit within reach. Once the dancers finished their performance,Bow quickly dragged them over to a group of kids who were circling around some sort of object hanging from a tree branch. One of the kids noticed their arrival and gave her a long,hefty stick. Adora nodded her head in thanks and glanced at Bow in confusion.

"That's a pinata. All you gotta do is hit it until it breaks open."Bow told her quietly. She nodded to him in thanks before walking over to the pinata. Once she was near it,she got herself into a battle stance and slowly approached the pinata. She could feel the gazes of the kids on her and decided that she would give them a show. With a small smile,she rushed over to the pinata,slashing the stick in a sideway arc and hitting it on its flank. As the pinata swayed back and forth,she jumped towards it then raised the stick high above her head and smashed it onto the pinata. The string snapped off the tree branch as the pinata broke into two halves as it fell onto the ground. All the kids erupted into cheers and ran over to the pinata. Adora placed the stick on the ground as she watched the now defeated pinata with a proud smile before turning to the others. "Show off."Catra said with an eye roll. Adora laughed. "Hey,I was just giving them a show."she replied. Catra just shook her head but Adora saw the smile she was trying to hide.

"The fun doesn't just stop here,"Bow exclaimed happily. "There's lots more of this so come on!" For the next hour,despite Glimmer's protests,Bow had shown them multiple shows,given them various types of foods and more than Adora could even remember. She never knew that life could be so joyous,easygoing. So vibrant with happiness. Soon,Catra,her and Bow found a nice,quiet spot between a house where she and Catra were eating some of the food. "So you guys don't have parties at all? What about on your birthdays?"Bow asked them.

Both of them turned to him with blank looks on their faces.

His eyes widened as he looked at them with a horrified expression. "No birthdays! How is your life this sad?"he asked. Adora opened her mouth to answer but got cut off as Catra grabbed Bow's arm. "What is that?"she said softly,pointing to something in front of them. Adora turned in the direction she was pointing at and her eyes widened along with her mouth making an O shape.

Not too far away from them,seemingly eating the grass below,was a four-legged creature with a light brown coat and slightly darker brown mane from its head to its neck. "That would be a horse."Bow answered. "It's...majestic."Adora said in awe as she watched the creature. She saw Bow look between her and Catra with a small smile. "You guys wanna meet it?"he asked. "What? No!"both her and Catra said in unison but their protests were ignored as Bow pushed them gently towards the horse. "It's alright you guys. Look see,he likes you."Bow told them as he grabbed their hands and lightly put them on the horse's nose. Adora felt her heart nearly explode as the horse leaned into their touch,making soft noises.

"This is the best day of my life!"she said happily as she gently patted the horse's nose. "For once,I got to agree with you Adora,"Catra replied as she lightly scratched its chin. "If I had known about this type of lifestyle,I might have left the Horde sooner." Adora nodded,finding herself agreeing.

That peaceful moment was soon distrubed as she heard a loud bang soon followed with screaming. Shocked,she turned around to see columns of smoke raising ahead of them.

"What's going on?"Bow asked them. "One way to find out. Come on."Glimmer said as she ran off with them quickly following behind. They soon reached the source of the noise and Adora felt her blood instantly run cold. The once vibrant and joyful village was now a gray pile of rubble. Horde bots were crawling all over the place,shooting at everything in their sight as people ran to get away from the destruction. "It's the Horde!"Glimmer yelled. "Why are they here?"Bow asked her. "The people of Thaymore aren't a threat to them."

If her blood had turned cold before then it was pure ice now.

"Wait,"she said,turning to face Bow and Glimmer. "That's not right. This can't be Thaymore!" A look of confusion crossed Glimmer's face before anger quickly replaced it. "Did you know something about this?"she growled,taking a step closer to her. "No! I mean yes but this has to be a mistake. Thaymore is supposed to be a heavily fortified rebel fortress not a civilian town!"she protested. "Seems like their information was off."Catra remarked. "Do you really think that matters to them!"Glimmer yelled,gesturing to the frightened people and the destroyed town.

Adora looked at the destruction before her in dismay and horror.

They must have not noticed. The Horde wouldn't do something like this. They wouldn't! She told herself.

"We can get them to stop. This is all just a big mistake,we just need to talk to them."she told Bow and Glimmer. "Get as many people as you can out of here and don't let them see you." She removed the cloth off her body as she turned to Catra. "You ready?"she asked. "I was born ready,Adora."Catra replied. Adora nodded then looked over her shoulder to face Bow and Glimmer. "I'm really sorry."she told them sincerely before she and Catra took off towards the invading Horde army,ignoring the yells from Bow.

Athor's note: Alright,first thing to address is that no I am not dead still very much alive and I'm still working on this story. If you read my update post then you'll know why updates will be slower than I would like. Next up is that this chapter will be split into three parts since it was a little too big to make it into only two parts. With all that said,I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one!