A/N: She-ra and the Princess of power were made by J. Michael Straczynski and Larry DiTillio, I only take credit for my own added character's and storylines. Similarly, any references will be attributed to their original creators when they pop up.
Recommended story: Vader's Last Apprentice by Browncoat_Valentine_335
A Star wars She-ra crossover were Catra leaves the Horde just after Adora does and becomes the apprentice of a self-exiled second death star survived Darth Vader. An interesting read, since there's a surprising amount of similarities between Anakin and Catra, especially when you see Vader learnt from his own life and is now trying to help her.
BTW, I also have an A03 account where I'm also publishing, if you prefer reading it there~.
Enjoy!
Chapter 3 ~ Unearth II
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Content Warning! Implied depression, dissociation and some other mental illness will take part as well as implied death. If any of the above is something you are not comfortable with, then you might want to skip this fic.
There's also LGBT, but what are you doing here if that's a surprise?
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Catra rubbed her cheek, half-heartedly listening to the tumbling behind the door. The problem with creating a persona as it overlapped her own was that it was exhausting to actually differentiate which of the two was her. How Shadow Weaver had oscillated between metaphorical mask's for years was beyond her, let alone the fact that she had more than one. But she'd learnt it, memorized it, carefully implemented it to a point she could easily picture one for her own. Sometimes, she'd pretend that Shadow Waver had known, distantly naturing her rather than-
"You both did well." She praises the guards. "You can take a break, you've earned it." Barely noting their salutes, her eyes dart around the... room? Chamber, perhaps? It's... built disturbingly similar to that of the Whispering Woods. Brightly coloured crystal gleam as if their reflected sunlight, building the main structures of the room, such as pillars, pathways and the door.
Thought... it is not identical to the one of her memory, it is clearly built inside of a natural cave, visible grey of smooth stone and the faintest traces of nature a visible present, and, if anything, it's been unattended for far too long if the cracks and half standing structures are of any indication.
Scorpia shifts uncomfortably, and it's only then that her eyes finally land on her expression. A slight tenseness on her facial features, much like-
"Scorpia?" She calls, her throat filling dry as she can't help but note her smile, so similarly strained to the one Adora's was whenever Catra did- "Something wrong?"
"Eh? No! Nothing at all. Just... thinking, you know?" She mumbles, and Catra bites her tongue as her eyes narrow.
"Don't lie to me!" She hisses, a sudden pounding at her chest as she grits her teeth. "If you don't want to say it then don't. But don't lie to me!" When Scorpia flinches, Catra feels something rise in her stomach. "If you rather not do something then just tell me." She repeats, jaw still clenched but somewhat softer than before. "I'm not out to make you uncomfortable, idiot.
"...Sorry. It's... I mean... that man..."
Catra raises her eyebrow, anger replacing for confusion as she considers what Scorpia's trying to say between stutters.
"I-Is this going t-to happen often?"
"You're... going to have to specify on that one"
"I-I mean, the... being crushed alive."
"No." She shakes her head slowly. "He was already dying and we didn't have the resources to save him... He died instantly if that helps." Catra bites her cheek, unsure as to what exactly Scorpia wants her to say. "Would you mind checking on the squads?" She offers instead.
"...Sure."
Catra doesn't initially turn away as Scorpia starts walking away, a faint frown on her features as she notes another thought in the back of her mind. Shadow Waver didn't have to deal with any of this, she mutters faintly irritatedly once Scorpia's out of hearing range. But then, Shadow Waver had been an eery, wrath like creature that practically towered every other soldier in the army.
Catra, on the other hand, is shorter than the huge majority of individuals she's met. She pretends otherwise, usually standing with her heels off the ground, she has unruly hair, because she's small and barely developed muscle, and she wears a headpiece, since a teenage girl isn't exactly the highest form of intimidating features to posses.
(It's the only gift from Adora she still has. A simple logic from a ten-year-old, that if she wears protection on her cheeks, Shadow Waver won't strike her on the face.)
Sometimes, I wonder if I should just make a run for it towards the mounting regions at the edge of their lands.
Nonsense, of course. She's too much of a megalomaniac to ever truly consider it.
"Oh! Catra! Could you put this on?" Barely having time to process, her breathing mask, which she'd been told she needed, was removed and replaced with something on her ears.
"Wh- Entrapta! What the hell?"
"Wait! Listen to it! Can you hear it?"
Catra's eye twitched, sending the scientist a glare as she focused on the strange sound from the headset.
"It's..." She frowned as she started focusing on the strange noise that seemed to-"Patterns? Is this... a language?"
"Why, yes! I do believe that is that case, which is absolutely fascinating since Etheria only has one language." Entrapta grins, reaching for her notebook as she starts writing something that's still beyond Catra. "But! This is the most fascinating part!" Entrapta tears out the page, drawing a circle before she thrusts it into her hands. "Do you recognise this?"
Альянс
Catra stares blankly, unsure as to how to even begin to pronounce that as she looks up. "No?"
"It's in Brightooms royal chamber, it was the symbol that represented alliance. At least, we were lead to believe it was a symbol."
"So... the princesses have a secret language to communicate with each other?" Catra mused at the thought, somewhat apprehensive at the prospect with her hopeful plans of starting infiltration into the rebellion. Of course, she could probably get someone to spill the secrets, but if it was an ancient language, the prospects of finding anyone that knew... it... "We?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fairly sure the rebellion doesn't know that it's a word. Or a language." Entrapta smiles gleefully at the discovery. If it's the knowledge of a new language or the knowledge that the rebellion never realised such is something Catra debates.
"Huh." And Catra... had no idea what to make of that. The idea that at one point, there'd been a language in an era advanced enough to be digitally recorded and yet not remembered-
Not remembered.
"They wanted to bury this place."
"Yes. That is usually what occurs when you blow up a cave." Entrapta offers, opening one of the terminals metallic covering as she starts fiddling with the wires.
"Yeah." Catra hisses, annoyed. "But they wanted to burry this specifically. Which makes no sense, technology is the Horde's biggest asset, why wouldn't they try to use this to even the field?"
"...Catra, you do realise that technology isn't exactly cherished in the Rebellion, right?"
"You're the princess of technology!" Catra frowns, biting her tongue as she notes Entrapta's uncomfortable shift. "...Explain...please."
"It's... first ones were considered the most advanced civilisation... but while records of their disappearance are lost, it's widely agreed that the cause was due to advance in technology, science in general, truthfully." Entrapta frowns, staring at the panel blankly. "Before the Horde started expanding, Dryl was the only kingdom where scientific research was legalised.
"They... made it illegal? Seriously?"
Entrapta hums, pulling on one of the wires as she holds it with her mouth. Catra twitches, stopping herself from snatching the -almost certainly- still powered wire.
"Yes. I was rather worried about that, actually. As someone that lives in a kingdom of robots, the only thing that actually stopped other kingdoms from attacking my own was, ironically, the horde. I was rather surprised that they offered me a place in their alliance. In retrospect, I supposed they realised they needed the ability to hijack the Horde's technology without wishing to actually have to develop their own."
Catra bites her lip, leaning on the wall as she wonders what exactly is wrong with the rebellion. She always knew what the Horde told her was propaganda, but while they were off the mark, the rebellion felt... off. Honestly, it would help if the Horde actually had reliable data to actually base facts on, and not the terrible half stiched reports that were far in between.
The problem, she thought tiredly. Is that while there's little to work from, I get the feeling the rebellion popped up a little too fast and effective for there not to be something off about it.
"Oh! Look, it works!"
"Wh-"
"Greetings, I am D-0023. How may I be of assistance?" A transparent circle floats at the centre of the panel, innocent looking and guilty of Catra's growing migraine.
"Oohhh! It speaks!
Half guilty.
"..." Of course it speaks! Why ever would she think something that Entrapta touched wouldn't. "What are you?" She askes instead.
"I am D-0023, Interactive assistant, How may I be of assistance?"
"I... see." Catra frowned, ignoring the building irritation as she pondered her questions. "What is the purpose of this installation?"
"Warning, information restricted, please state unit's code."
"Ah... Who built this installation?"
"Warning, information restricted, please state unit's code."
Her eye twitched, glaring at the machine as she bit her tongue.
"...How old is this installation?"
"This installation was constructed 2867 Циклы ago. Last manual maintenance recorded 2102 Циклы ago."
Of course, it wouldn't give me a straight answer. Hordak forbids it be easy.
"Are there any other installations like this one?"
"... Error, user unknown, conclusion, hostile presence, initiation self-destructive system."
...Did she say easy? Oh, how silly of her.
"Don't worry about it." Entrapta waves away, pulling some cables as the screens power's cuts off. "The alliance used all the detonations to blow the place up." Entrapta blinks, smiling widely as she lets out a disturbing sound. "Oh! How clever! They didn't actually-"
"I'll have someone make a tent nearby" Catra interrupts, far to disorientated to care that she's being ignored. "Try not to scare them off this time."
For a moment longer, Catra stares at the -definitely mad- scientists, letting out a tired sigh knowing full well that nothing she's said has been heard as she starts walking towards the heart of the camp.
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"I'll have you through in a minute, commander."
Catra nods absentmindedly. Her claw tracing over her worn mask's lines as she contemplates what exactly she knows of the 'First ones'. Which, by the name, implies very, very little.
The problem, she thinks, somewhat irritatedly, is that what people tell her and what she finds counter each other out. Such us the description of a peaceful race. Peaceful cultures can't suddenly disappear without a trace. Or the countless locations only touched by time, but not a single corps remains to be found. Or the fact that the lounge they've found on the terminal, and the language they found in temples differ.
It doesn't add up, she knows. But she doesn't know why it's being hidden. And what else could it be, if not a clear attempt of hiding something significant?
That worries her. The sheer amount of knowledge lost in such a little amount of time. Her orders in the mine, for example, had been based on the assumption that the rebellion had been planting bombs and not that they had telepathic invisible bombs. Because, as one of the few sane people on this planet, Catra wasn't particularly comfortable with the thought of magical non-logical detonation's. There had to be some form of rules it followed or the rebellion would have never lost the amount of territory it had.
"Ma'am! Force Captin Kodiak is on the line."
Catra nods, making another note to look into later as she straightens her posture. "Put him through, then."
"Yes Ma'am!"
For a second, the screen stays blank, and Catra can't help but wonder if something else isn't going to work today.
To her relief, she's proven wrong, screen flickering to life as they -finally- contact outside forces.
"Commander." His voice was a deep, pleasant one. So very different from Grizzlor's. She'd made the mistake of assuming they'd be similar, which, in a way, they were. Tall, muscular and radiating confidence. But that was where it ended.
Because Kodiak is clearly half-human, unlike Grizzlor, whos entirely... well, she doesn't think there's an actual term for the varying sentient species - not that she knows of, at least- since they always referred to as Etherian's. But half human's aren't exactly a rare sight in the horde. If anything she'd say they make up over half of their numbers. Sometimes, she wonders if she's a half-human herself. Not that it matters, she doubts anyone alive still knowns which village she was taken from as a newborn.
Anyway, it mostly catches her off guard that he's so... amiable looking, even with the faint scars on his face, grey mane-like hair and... she's not sure how to call it, but he has a presence that's just difficult not to note.
He looks nice, she thinks. "Force Captin." She greets with the pleasant tone she's used for years with members of the Horde she didn't want to cross. "I apologise for the lack of arrangments, I'm afraid a much higher number of rebels past through the border that was originally stated.
"Oh, I see." He replies, nodding sympathetically. "I suppose you wish for some reinforcements?"
Seems nice, but his well within his late eighties. And Catra knows the mortality rate of the Horde. Just like she knows how dangerous this man must be to have lived through it.
"If possible." She replies with an 'I won't order it but if you don't comply and I'll have you court-martialed tone.
Not that it's something hell note, but the subtext implication is something he without a doubt knows. After all, he survived Shadow Waver.
"Of course, we've already received the scouting data, I'll have two hundred troops there by tomorrow by 6:00."
"Thank you." She can't help the slight relief that escapes her.
It's been a long day.
"Commander, if you don't mind me asking why did you become the commander."
She's taken aback by the blunt question, somewhat off footed and very much on guard. "What?"
"When the previous commander was seen unfit for duty, you could have given it to someone more experienced. After all, you yourself barely had two months of experience in the field." Catra frowns, wondering whether he's implying that she's incompetent or not. It matters little, since before she can reply he shakes his head. "Ah, I apologise. An old's man stray thought, Commander."
Even as the screen cuts off, Catra continue's to frown, staring where he was for minutes more.
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She stares.
It must be dark outside by now, she thinks as she idly watches the ceiling. It's a strange thing to see, a light so bright that it illuminates as far as one's eye can see.
As long as she can remember the sky has always oscillated between dark red and pitch black, blurring out the outlines of their capital while the edges are eaten by shadows. Not the strange brightness that radiates from the sky, as if a giant light bulb illuminated the entire land.
A very, very strange sight to see indeed. One that's not visible hundred of meters below ground.
Letting out an irritated sigh, she leaves her sleeping bag and starts to walk around the edges of their set up base. Only thirty left. of the original ner seventy that she'd brought.
She... didn't particularly like thinking about it.
I could have stooped it, she thinks tiredly. She could have easily brought more troops. She could have easily requested more troops, at any point before she entered the mine. She could have abandoned the mine, united her forces to eliminate the enemy.
But she hadn't, and now there were forty people dead for a curiosity that might be of passing interest.
She wanted to throw up.
Leaning on one of the large pillars away from the camp, she slides down and buries her head in her knees.
The strangest part, she ponders, is that she's surprised that she's feeling... like this.
It's not that her orders hadn't gotten soldiers killed before. And it wasn't even that at the end she decided to pull back empty-handed...but...
Closing her eyes, she pictures Dawn's radiant smile, skipping with her team as Edmond sends his friend an expatriates glance.
Her breath hitches and she knows the worst part is that she doesn't understand why. She's always been fairly self-aware, usually more negative than positive, but self-aware none the less. But... at some point, something inside her changed, broke, maybe.
Or... or maybe she always has been broken. Maybe that's why Adora left.
Letting out a hiss, she stands, muttering under her breath as she starts walking back towards camp.
She can do better, she thinks, moving the tent's material for a door. She can learn, and she has learnt, and next time, she won't make the same mistakes.
"Found anything interesting?" She asks curiously, ignoring the dark spiralling of her own mind.
Entrapta frowns thoughtfully, typing to fast for Catra to actually understand as she takes a seat next to the bed. "I think so... my program is still running diagnosis, but I'm fairly certain that the materials we've found surrounding Etheria are-" She trailed off, unsure as to how to put it as she hands her one of the screens display.
"A machine?" She offers, reaching for one of Scorpia made sandwiches.
"...No, machines have proven to have no compatibility with magic. This... this is... significantly more complex than the first one's tech you brought me."
"How come? I know you've been struggling to perfectly reverse engineer it, but I thought it was simply time-consuming."
"No. It's... The First one's tech works together with magic, yes, but that's superficial. The deeper I look the more I realise that they are completely separate mechanisms in the same place. Saying that the techno-organic was correct, but it seems that their similarities are superficial alone."
Catra blinks. "...Entrapta... is this the First one's tech at all, or...?
"I think, that this is something completely unimaginable that the first ones found." She answers slowly. "They then imperfectly reversed engineered it with a minimum understanding, and built everything we know on top of it."
"...Unimaginable, huh." Her lips form into an amused smirk as she purrs. "And how long is it going to take you to figure them out?"
Entrapta grins her ridiculous happily smile that Catra relishes far more than she cares to admit, pulling out a tablet as she starts scrolling through it. "To start reverse engineering it, I probably do have enough data. The wall I'm hitting is how it works. Oh! This is absolutely fascinating. Different technological cultures have been built on top of each other, and the further we dig, the more complex the puzzle gets!"
"Wait, backtrack. How many cultures are we talking about?" And where are they now? The First ones existed millennia ago, from what Entrapta had told her, but there was nothing of their existence in the Horde arcades. Catra had checked. Twice.
"No idea! So far I've found three main different forms, thought the most prominent is that of the first ones." She answered thoughtfully, showing Catra different diagrams that make her head spin.
"...And it's... underground? Actually, everything we find seems to be underground, doesn't it? And it's not something like two or three meters that happens because of time. We've already gone a good five hundred meters deep." Was it built underground? Why would they do that? The only reasoning Catra could come up with were military-related. Thought that would support her theory that they hadn't been as peaceful as most claimed them to be.
"Currently five hundred and eleven! But yes, it's curious that you would also notice that! As a matter of fact, I've been brainstorming all night trying to figure that out! And I believe it likely that the whole planet was artificially made." She practically salivates as her eyes sparkle. "Evidence is supported by the techno-organic readings that increase the deeper we reach! Oh, the things will find if we reach the end!"
"...Made? Wait, I thought you said it was modified? You telling me that someone made a planet?!"
"Why, yes! I was under the impression it was only modified as well. The reasoning behind this is because it was the First-Ones that modified Etheria, not the ones... that..." She trails off as her eyes slowly widen.
"Entrapta?"
"You... understood that?" She murmurs, staring at her as if she's only just seen her.
"Yeah?" Catra frowns, somewhat affronted as she wonders if her intelligence is being put into question. "Someone made the planet before the First ones modified it."
"...Yeah... that's... It's just that you didn't understand it when I was hacking the black garnet."
Catra's cheeks redden slightly as she looked away. "Yeah, but you gave me notes, remember? I like to not be stupid, so I read through them."
"...Oh."
And there's a weird tone in her voice. It's... something that makes her shift uncomfortably. "Entrapta? ...you okay?"
"...No one's read through my notes before." She whispered as her lips trembled.
"I-" Catra sighed, moving next to Entrapta as she leaned onto her shoulder. "Honestly, I only got half of it. The other half used words like 'P-waves', 'seismicity' and... 'plates'?. Where do you even learn these words? I didn't see anything like that back in Dryl."
Entrapta sniffed, a faint smile forming on her lips. "Bow's Dad's live at a library. It's significantly better stocked than any other I've seen, so I usually just borrowed books from there."
"Huh... pity they not Horde, or I'd pay a visit."
"They actually neutral, so I don't think they'd mind." Entrapta mumbles. "Maybe I can take you and Scorpia there for a visit. It'd be nice to see them again."
"...Do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?"
"...Feelings? I guess? ...I mean, you did defect from the rebellion." Catra offers awkwardly. Entrapta seems to realise what she's saying anyway.
"...Not really? I... wasn't really a popular princess. I've mentioned Etherias view on science, yes? I've noted a... lacking the ability to read other people, particularly as to what is and isn't expected of me. And while I do bere the title of princes, I was adopted by my parents, so..."
"...You... don't speak about them?" She askes tentatively.
"They passed away. They were robots, made by the previous princess some few centuries ago. I... tried repairing them, but-" Entrapta hugged her knees, burying her head into them as her shoulders started to shake. "I was so, so stupid, they'd died, and I was arrogant enough to believe that I could... that'd I'd be able to-"
"Hey." Catra bites her lip, is she having a mental break down? Oh, Hordak, Catra was not suited for this. "Oh, Entrapta, it's-" Well. It probably wasn't okay, was it? If Catra was reading properly beneath the lines. "Entrapta," Catra called in a gentle tone. "I'm here, okay? I'm-" Catra swallowed thickly, realising that she was generally scared for Entrapta. "I'm not going anywhere, yeah?"
Weekly nodding she berried her head into her Catra's chest.
"Promise?"
(It doesn't matter what they do to us. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.
Promise?
I promise.
Because I-)
Catra flinches, a moment of hesitation before she awkwardly pulls Entrapta into an embrace as she hides her poisoned heart.
"Entrapta. I promise you I won't leave for as long as you want me."
"...Thank you." She murmurs quietly.
"Don't thank me just yet." She huffs. "I'm a complete mess. I'll drive you mad by the month, you'll see."
"Oh... I've noticed that. You've shown constant symptoms of Borderline personality disorder as well as possible Generalised anxiety disorder as well as dissa-.
"Wait, what-" Catra bristled offendedly, not knowing what any of that means but knows her well enough to know it's unlikely to be flattering.
"It's okay." She murmurs. "I know you do love."
"..."
"Scorpia and I aren't going to leave you either. You know that right?" Entrapta tells her with conviction.
"...People tend to leave me. One way or another."
"...Well. I think I'm selfish. I don't much care for the war, and I don't really get half of the ethics people always shout at me. But I care for my research. And now I care for you."
"Selfish, hmm?" Catra's embrace tightened as she buried her face into Entrapta's hair. Absentmindedly realising that tears are falling as well. "Thank you." She whispered.
"...Does this mean I can pet your ears?"
"Entrapta, don't ruin this."
"Sorry.
"..." She lets out an irritated huff of air. "You have ten seconds, any longer and It's the claw."
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Catra's book of idiots:
Kodiak: A Force Captain that was born during the last King's rule. Amiable looking, thought there is far more than meets the eye if only due to him still living.
Catra's book on how to not be an idiot:
P Waves: A seismic wave that travels in the opposite and same direction of the moving wave.
Seismicity: Frequency of earthquakes in a given region.
Techno-Organic: A technological and biological merge into a single entity, fused at cellular level.
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I'll get Scorpia and Catra friendship eventually, really! It's just... Scropia's entered Catra's life at the worst time possible, so there's going to be a lot of awkwardness before they start to understand each other.
On another note, I finally put some Entrapta and Catra screen time, so that's one out of two down. Honestly! I thought Scorpia would be the easiest to write, but so far she's been the hardest to understand. Not to say the other two an easy, Catra in particular is interesting to write. Truthfully, the more I try to figure out Adora's and Catra's bond, the more complex it gets. Which is the main reason it took me so long to write this chapter in particular.
On another note, Альянс is Russian (which hopefully was correctly translated) that means alliance. I won't further that subject until some few later chapters since I only now putting my own twist to Princess of Power.
Thoughts? Anything you enjoy in particular?
Anyways, Ill See you next time! Ciao!
~ Sapphire and Emeralds