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.
I post on both A03 and FanFiction, take your pick in whichever you prefer to read.~.
I hope you enjoy!
Book 2: Of Schemes & Gathering
Chapter 2 ~ Clashing thoughts
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Lady Catherine of the noble house Kullman leans into her chair. A half-finished glass of wine lays forgotten at her side as she stares contemplatively into the fireplace's soft flame.
The door opens, a few footsteps padded along the wooden floor as she hears the slight movement of a chair.
"Good evening to you too, Potemkin." She comments drily.
"My Lady." He greats, somehow finding amusement in their year-old greeting.
"Why is it?" She sighs, eyes still on the embers as she points at the map on the wall. "That years of planning, decades of alliances and centuries of traditions-" She looks up, a frustrated expression crossing her features. "All come falling apart with a single misplaced string."
"I," The man sighs as he reaches for the bottle. He poured himself a generous amount, taking a sip before he offered a mirthless smile, "Do not believe that this jacquerie could be predicted by anyone, much less us." With a shake of his head, he stands, glass still in hand as he takes a closer examination of the map. "The Horde has always been a power-hungry insurrection. It was not reasonable to believe that we could-, well, reason with them."
"And yet," She smiles back, crossing her legs as she meets his gaze. "Here we are, plans in ruins because of a single girl."
"And now I know you're being purposely overdramatic. Our plans have been set back, yes. But in the grand scheme of things? We were never part of this table. We were never players. We are, as we have always been, neutrals. The tables turning will require some twists in our plans, but the plans are still effective." And here he does chuckle, "But I know you've already realised this. Why else would you be offering me such lovely drinks?"
"I don't recall offering anything." She replies drily, reaching for her glass as she savours her last sip. "But I am happy you reached the same conclusion. It makes this so much easier to process when hearing an outside perspective."
The man frowns, tilting his head as he lowers his glass. "What's wrong?" He examines her, eyes returning to the map in thought. "You would hardly be this melodramatic over a simple setback.
"I suppose," She grimaces, "I might feel somewhat peeved that a virtual unknown is causing me such problems. We don't even know her species! Much less her ideals and agenda!"
"Well," He concedes, "While we don't know what she wants, we do know what she doesn't." He smiles now. More of a smirk if one were to examine it with enough care. "What does she do the moment she replaces Shadow Weaver? She pushes, and then she pulls back. The Horde's forces are growing, true. But they are also more careful. Attacks are both rarer and accurate."
"And then there's the weapons."
"And then there's the weapons." He echoes with a nod. "So, the question isn't what we do from here, but rather how much do we deviate from the plan."
And she does smile, a faint but sharp thing on her lips. "I've got some people to talk with, it seems. But before that," She reaches for the bottle, pouring them both another glass. "A toast, perhaps?"
The man chuckles, picking his glass with a smile. "To our careful plans."
With a smirk of her own, she adds, "And new opportunities."
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"Are you trying to kill yourself?!" The screech, sharp and so very loud, echoed throughout the headquarters.
Entrapta's gaze spoke of how little she thought of Catra's intelligence at that moment. Disbelief mixed with genuine horror as she seemingly attempted to process such a level of idiocy.
Catra bristled, swatting her hand away with actual irritation.
"Yes," She said dryly, "it had nothing to do with being outnumbered. Or, you know, choosing the better of two bad choices. Not that I'd expect you to understand that."
The moment Catra hissed her last sentence, she winced. Guilt instantly welled inside her as she awkwardly shifted her weight.
She hadn't meant to say that. She didn't mean to say a lot of things if she was honest, but the barb had left her tongue before she'd even started to process it.
"Of course, I don't." Entrapta rolled her eyes. "I'm a scientist! I look for the correct choice with maths! Not bad choices."
Catra grimaced, realising it'd gone entirely over her head as the woman continued to prod her with different tools. "As you have repeatedly expressed." She attempted to apologise, picking up the latest report as Entrapta continued with whatever it was she was trying to find. "So, any mathematical results yet?"
"You can't rush science!" Entrapta defends, frowning contemplatively at her data. "But yes, I do believe that I've found something. Not that it's helping since I wasn't actively recording this before." She lets out a frustrated grunt, crossing her arms as she glares petulantly.
Catra exhaled, leaning at one of her sides as she gazes at the data. "Right." She taps her finger on the screen, moving through the different active graphs before grimacing. "Note-?" Entrapta passes the notebook, muttering under her breath as she starts pacing.
Catra raises an eyebrow, staring at the woman before she opens the notes, frowning as she realises this would take her a while.
It's migraine-inducing. In a good way, she supposes.
"There's antimatter," Entrapta explains after a good few hours, "which in itself isn't all that surprising since the body does produce a limited amount of antimatter. But I think you might be producing a greater amount than average."
Catra leans on the wall, attempting to make sense of Entrapta's brand of science. "Right. Antimatter was matter's counterpart, only with opposite charge and spin."
"Yes." Entrapta nods, barely paying attention as she seemingly contemplates another idea.
"But the opposite charge is still charge." Catra scowls, not particularly enjoying being an idiot. "I don't see why that doesn't explain it."
"Because," Entrapta takes a seat, reaching for her notebook as she starts to write. "there is no increase in Positron decays of radioactive isotopes. I would have noticed this a lot sooner if there were."
Right, Catra frowns; the body produces a limited amount of radiation. That makes sense. "Okay," She nods, "Does it have to be the reason? It could be a simple coincidence."
Not that Catra believed in coincidences. Much less when it was her body that was making said coincidences.
Entrapta's expression implies a similar line of thought.
"Or," She frowns, drawing something in her notebook that completely goes over Catras head. "We're looking at this the wrong way round. Electricity is a form of energy. If it's the cause rather than the by-product, we could understand-, oh. Oh!
"What?" Catra sighs, resigning herself to another migraine.
Not that she doesn't enjoy them. Good conversations are so hard to come across nowadays.
"What if," Entrapa says slowly, "the reason I haven't found anything that caused the infection is that nothing is affecting the biological matter.
Catra frowns, linking the idea with the previous concept with relative ease. "Okay." She nods, a slow, thoughtful expression etching her features as she thinks, "When can you look into that?"
"Not now." Entrapta sighs, her hair grabbing one of the many tools on the table as she glanced at her spear. "Someone," She says in a mildly offended tone. "damaged my creation. Again. So I'm going to have to fix it. Again.
"...I thought you enjoyed modifying your creations?" Catra asked tentatively.
"I love improving my creations. Yes. Not so much when I don't know what's causing their deterioration."
"I mean..." Catra shrugs, feeling unsure in the direction the conversation took. "True enough." She sighs, realising that science was something she wouldn't be of much use with. And then she blinks. "If it's antimatter instead of electricity, then doesn't that mean I don't need to limit the amount of electricity I can run through it?"
"Sure," Entrapta says absentmindedly. "If nothing else, I get more data from this."
Not that she could produce much of it, Catra thought with a frustrated frown. And even then, heating the blade to a sufficient point was exhausting in another way. Anything past a few uses tended to tire her. After the seventh, she'd found it rather unwise to continue.
It wasn't a physical type of fatigue, she knew, and it wasn't mental either. If anything, she would have said it was a spiritual type of fatigue.
Not that she believed in such nonsense.
"Wait," She blinks, her train of thought reaching a sudden halt. "How did you figure my body was producing antimatter and not the first one's relic?"
"Hm?" Entrapta barely heard. "Oh, I tried some new equipment," She waved towards the storage area, focus already returning to her creation as Catra's brain paused.
"What?"
"The antimatter. I wanted to see if I could see anything else in a biological body, so I made a detector. Now stop distracting me! Science waits for no one in discovery!"
Catra stares somewhat incredulously, unsure how to feel she'd effectively been a guinea pig.
She takes solace that Emily - who'd patiently waited at the door - seems equally frustrated at her creator's decision.
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Julij thinks it to be a good day to rest.
The sun rules the sky with not a cloud in sight. The tree's shade offers a refreshing breeze as the crickets sing merrily.
All in all, not the dark, umbra coated region parents liked to tell the children of the newer generation.
Not that it was an untrue tale, of course. From what he last heard, his home village - a beautiful sight near waterfalls, the cold of the icy mountains and the carefree of the animals on the pastures - had long since been converted into a factory. The sky filled with smoke as its lands were left bare.
He never did learn what had happened to the princess of his home kingdom. Perhaps, she'd died defending it, losing everything in the flames of battle.
Or perhaps she still lives, dishonoured and a remnant that only remains in the oldest of memories.
Julij can't bring themselves to care. It's been far too long since they'd tangled themselves in politics.
"Hey!"
Which makes this entire situation all the more frustrating.
"-listen dammit! This-"
Really. It's one thing to go on borderline suicide missions. Quite another to have someone nag you through them.
"What," Julij sighs, opening one eye as he lifted himself next to the tree, "is so important that you had to interrupt my nap?"
The immature soldier - for Julij refuses to see them as anything but - glowers, sending them a glare which one might have considered threatening.
Maybe.
"We," Is what is snarled, "Are in the middle of our enemies territory. Her Majesty herself trusted us with this mission, and you decided to nap?!"
Julij blinks, somewhat put out by the attitude directed towards someone that technically outranks them. Then again, when put like that, it did sound rather bad.
...
"Ah." They hum, tilting their head in a thoughtful expression. "I'm going to have to go with yes."
At the edge of their conversation, Julij can see the rest of the troops not so discreetly eavesdropping into the conversation. Great warriors and fighters they may be, the Raduga were rather lacking in their ability to spy.
"Y-You-!"
"There isn't much point in advancing," They wave away, eyes darting towards the rather hostile mountains in front of them. "There is a reason the war's been at an impasse for years. Those things are a nightmare for whoever invades them. Which, in this case, is us."
"Our orders-!"
"Were, if I recall, to invade to the point we could not be ignored. We've succeeded. Now we wait." Julij stretches, a careless yawn escaping their lips as they offer a lazy smile. "And if we're waiting, I see no reason why I can't wait asleep."
"I can't understand how her Majesty could possibly appoint someone like you in charge of such a vital mission!" The sleep slayer snarls, face reddening as they waved a hand towards the shoulders rainbow-like symbol, "The Raduga has existed for centuries! Centuries in which we were her Majesty's most loyal and trusted! It's a disgrace that it was trusted with someone like you!"
"Ah." Julij nods, feeling completely and utterly bored as they watch the sleep blocker point a threatening finger towards them. Idly, they wonder if they realise that, by insulting them as a leader, they've insulted Queen Angela's judgment. "Okay. Cool."
Somehow, their placement backfires. The sleep destroyer snarls, letting out an actual growl in anger. "No wonder you're called the Cowardly Knight!" They snap. The insult makes little sense in Julij's head, who only wanted to sleep. "You're a disgrace to your art and the woman who taught you!"
Ah. Well.
For a moment, Julij is younger. The mountains fall as the forest blazes, screams dulled by the sound of infinity gears, twisting and turning as a storm of chaos is swallowed by flame.
Nobody says her name nowadays, Julij thinks idly, genuinely offended she'd been brought into the conversation.
Staring at the threatening finger, Julij frowned. As a student, dead mentor or not, they found themselves forced to take appropriate actions at the insult.
And bit the finger. Hard.
Not hard enough for blood, of course, they think, watching the sleep interrupter scream, pulling back as they hold their finger in pain.
Ignoring the howling laughter of the crowd, they lean back into the tree, closing their eyes in hopes to return to their dreams.
While Julij was greatly disliked by the average soldier, the sleep remover wasn't particularly well-liked either. It was why they'd drowned out the argument to start with.
After all, the more noise directed towards the no-sleep idiot, the less noise got directed towards them.
Of course, that didn't change much, they knew. It'd still be some few hours before anything serious started, and from there it'd slowly escalate as more and more soldiers were sent from the Horde.
It was moments like this, that Julij genuinely wondered why they'd stuck with the alliance. Certainly, with their options, this was the best they could achieve in self-interest. But-
Well. There were times like this when it really wasn't
Urgh. Julij would kill for a grave nail right about now.
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Dawn grimaces, leaning onto the wall as she hears something explode nearby.
"Don't move!" Edmond clicks his tongue, reaching for his pack before he grabs her wrist. "And get down dammit!"
"Don't move. Get down. You really-" Dawn ducks, scowling as a ray of something flashes over her head, "Aught to decide."
"Funny." He mutters, pulling some bandages around her shoulder with precise speed. "Almost as funny as getting my face blown up."
"It's not my fault the princesses have actual, decent fighters!" Dawn glares, more annoyed that she was surprised rather than having a bleeding shoulder. Honestly! The alliance had been pushed around for years, barely delaying the inevitable as they slowly retreated. And now it turned out they had elite warriors in reserve? Dawn had never had much for strategy, but it sounded dumb, even for a princess. "Besides! Look at the commander!" Dawn waves with her good arm, "She's doing perfectly well!"
More than well, if I'm honest. Dawn thinks with a fascinated glance.
She's dancing, bouncing from one opponent to another, barely exchanging a blow before they'd fall to their demise.
And she wears her charming smile throughout the entire experience. A bright, somewhat childish and playful smirk, as if-
"Stop being a flower." Edmond hisses, putting unnecessary force into the bandage. "And help me move the injured."
"I'm not a flower." She hisses back, a momentarily flare of panic at the thought.
Or rather, at the implication of the thought.
It's not like she was unaware of the idea of romance and love. Just like everyone else, she had been mentored in these things. But it wasn't that long ago that Shadow Weaver had been the commander of the Horde.
You did not show romantic love in the horde. For that matter, you did not say the word love, period.
There were horror stories. Of what that monster did to the people that had started expressing romance. One soldier was tortured so cruelly, she heard, that their execution had been a relief they'd begged for.
And while there was an unspoken agreement that law was unlikely to be continued, it was a habit that had integrated into their survival.
"Could have fooled me." He huffs, rolling his eyes as he finishes, "with all the eye fluttering, the smiling, or, you know, being nice."
Dawn makes an offended noise because- "Excuse you? I'm always nice!" She sends him a betrayed glare, feeling somewhat hurt.
Maybe because, as much as she hates it, he wasn't wrong.
Dawn had been kinder. Before.
And then her team had died. And her family of five was cut to Edmond and her. And yes, there'd been others. Some she even considered friends.
But there was nothing more important than your squad. And when hers had died, half of Dawn's heart had followed.
That void had also taught her how to be cruel.
"You're being a little too nice if you catch my drift." Edmond's glance is more concerned than reproachful. A slight frown adorns his features as they watch the battle start to die down. "Oh! She's lovely." He echoed, imitating a higher-pitched tone that mocked her own. "A little prickly, but she cares about us! You should have seen her; dragging half-dead soldiers back to the camp! Oh, she-!"
"Shut up!" Dawn hisses, punching his shoulder as her face lights a flame. "It was a strategic move."
"See." He sighs, more exhausted than argumentative. "I believe it started as one. Just like I think you've got it hard. Very, very hard."
Dawn mutters under her breath, helping him lift a half-dead body away from the blood as she sends the commander another glance.
It wasn't her fault the commander had turned out to be a decent - very pretty - person.
And yeah, she had made sure to spread rumours throughout the entire army to solidify them in a single block behind Catra.
But it wasn't because she was infatuated.
Mostly.
Catra was the best bet they had of making the Horde more than a ticking time bomb. And while Dawn had initially been wary of someone that replaced Shadow Weaver...
Well, she was going to make damn sure Catra had every resource available to change the Horde. It was why Dawn had chosen to follow her, after all.
It helps that she's very pretty to look at, though.
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Catra almost loses her head.
It's fast enough that the logical side of her brain takes a moment to catch her instinct, already forcing her body to crouch as she leaps backwards.
The man - Woman? Catra isn't entirely sure - lets out a low whistle, flickering their ponytail out of their sight as they study her thoughtfully.
"Not bad." They comment idly, twirling a large sword with far too much ease as they tilt their head. "Though your technique needs work."
Catra blinks, taking a moment to process the statement before bristling. "What?"
"I mean-" The warrior shrugs, offering her a faux apologetic glance. "There was no grace in that whatsoever. You looked like you were walking in mud. If anything, I'd say-"
Catra aims for the throat, clicking her tongue as it's easily dodged. "You talk too much." Using the angle of her spear, she stabs it into the ground, slamming both feet into their chest with extreme prejudice.
Or she aimed to, at least.
"See, that was better." They smile, blocking the attack with their sword.
When fighting She-ra, Catra would move her balance onto the sword, trapping the woman with her own blade as she used her claws to finish the battle.
But that is not here, and here she hasn't the chance to blink. Blinking as the warrior lets go, the blade is left in the air, a fist slamming into her ribs.
Hard.
Letting out a pained choke, she's thrown into the ground, rolling some few meters back before she manages to find her balance.
That hurts, she grimaces, wary of what's broken as she tastes blood in her mouth.
"Oh, you can roll." They say in surprise. And Catra hates the sound of their voice. As if she should be dead by now. "Not bad." They smile, nodding in mild approval. "I'm Julij. Technically I'm in charge of this little get together we-"
"Catra," She frowns, index tapping on her spear as she carefully studies her opponent. "And now; die."
"Wow, rude. You could at least-"
She doesn't give them a chance, the tip of her spear sharp as she rapidly approaches them.
Julij smirks, tilting their head as their sword is held with one hand. And then their murmur. "Third art: Trigonos Link."
And she almost trips, both the glowing sword and the statement of an attack catching her off guard.
But she's fast. She always has been, eyes sharpening as her blade starts to emit heat.
The sword falls down, barely missing her head as her spear shields her body in time. The attack is deflected, the sword slamming into the ground as they both meet the other's glance.
Catra's hand is already on the back of the sword's blade, legs twisting as she aims a kick towards Julij's neck-
Only for them to - again - release the hilt of the sword, twisting their body as their elbow aimed towards her face.
Catra deflects the blow with her forearm, grimacing at the pain as she aims her claw towards the eyes.
They punch her forearm, jumping onto the base of the sword, a hand still on the hilt as a leg slams into her knee.
Ballance destroyed, she uses her spear as a leg, using the force to twist her body to body tackle the soldier with her weight.
Julij smirks, twisting the hilt as their eyes sharpen with something Catra can't quite identify.
Her features form into a frown, watching as a far thinner blade leaves with the hilt, barely deflecting it with her spear as her back slams into the ground
She grabs their wrist, blade millimetres from her neck as her spear falls with a dull thud nearby.
"Not bad at all." They smirk, the force on the blade increasing as they pin her on the ground.
Eye twitching, they glare defiantly, claws digging into Julij's wrist as her mind runs faster than ever.
Their weight and size are similar, she notes. Knowing that, had it been someone with a larger, more muscular body type, she'd be dead.
"Yes, well, I aim to impress." They growl, frustrated how they ignore the blood dripping down their wrist.
"Then let me assure you," They smile, "impressive, my dear, would be an insult to how mesmerizing you are."
They ignore what they think might have been a compliment. Tail grabbing her spear as they lash it towards the warrior.
Twitching, they twist their wrist, a slight snap of something echoing throughout the arm as Julij throws their body back.
Catra takes advantage of the gap, jumping back as her spear returns to her hand. The blade is still hot, a slight red hue to the edge as she meets their gaze.
Despite herself, a shiver of excitement travels down their spine.
It's so very rare for anyone to last past the first few seconds of exchange with her.
She-ra can, she knows. But any excitement those battles might bring is easily destroyed by the bitterness and anger the woman can so easily bring out of her.
The only other fighter that can keep up is Scorpia, Catra knows. And that in itself has become difficult for an entirely different reason. Often leading to more awkward, choreographed movements than the more instinctual blade and blood dance she's having here.
A sharp grin forms on her lips, teeth sharp as they move their left leg towards the warrior, shoulder slightly raised between them as her left arm holds the spear in a reverse grip.
It's an idea she only recently started to play with. More complex, well-practised movements rather than a half instinctual acrobatic advantage she's used to.
And there's a thrill of delight now. An echo of happiness and ease she hasn't felt in months.
These are the fights she truly enjoys. The type that truly brings her to life.
Of blade and blood, with cunning and edge hid in the shadow of every exchange.
With her body facing them at an angle, her right arm is hidden from sight. Carefully moving to reach for her dagger as she carefully studies the distance between her arm and their throat.
Julij, her mind echoes, growing respect forming as she attaches a cemented memory towards them.
And then she blinks, watching as the blade falls into the ground, eyes sharpening as she watches both of their arms raised.
"Ah." Julij smile's sheepish, eyes trailing their surroundings before they meet her gaze. "I surrender." Their smile grows.
And maybe, if Catra's eye wasn't twitching, they'd believe it sounded apologetic.
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Chapter two finally allows me to start rolling the plot! And I', so looking forward to finally writing the many, many ideas I've had for... close to two years at this point.
To start with, Entrapta. Or more appropriate to say, the bonds.
That you are here focuses on Catra, and Catra alone. Yes, scenes might be from other sides, and sometimes it might not have anything to do with Catra. But it does build her as a character. The problem is that I can't just make Scorpia, Entrapta and Catra BFF and make a happy ever after. It doesn't work like that.
So growing those bonds is complicated, because Catra and Scorpia have very little in common. Entrapta and Catra, on the other hand, do have similarities, and that's where the development starts to build.
More specifically, they both have difficulties understanding people, which in itself is a problem because I'm trying to have these two start to understand each other where they can claim to be best friends at a given point in this story.
AKA. Emily. In case I hadn't made it obvious, Emily is going to become a rather major character, and that's exactly how Catra and Entrapta will start.
On the note of characters. I'm really happy that I got to write three of my original ones, all of which are going to become main secondary characters. Julij, in particular, is a character I've been really looking forward to introducing. Thought Dawn is going to become a major player as this story progresses.
Talking of which. Dawn hasn't as much a crush on Catra as it is a significant appreciation towards her. She wouldn't lift a finger if she thought Catra was more interested in power than she was in the members of the Horde.
And in one universe, that was exactly what she saw.
Ironically, when going through previous chapters to figure how to write this one, I remembered the reason I started writing was to one day reach a point when I could write my own original book. So while I am sorry some of this story will have experimental writing, I do hope you end up enjoying whichever way I manage to improve my writing.
And so, I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and write a particular long fighting sequence between two combatants.
It wasn't originally supposed to be that long, but...
Well. This was pretty close to being one of the fast scenes that started to really cement how I wanted this story to develop. Catra and Julij clash against each other, Catra slowly grinning as she starts to experience bloodlust, only for Julij to ruin it with their rather amusing surrender.
And yes. Julij will be rather important. You have three tries to guess how.
Nonetheless, if you felt I should have written something differently, be it personality and/or displays of different states of mentality, please leave a comment! Any advice is welcome and appreciated!
Anyways, I'll See you next time! Ciao!
~ Sapphire and Emeralds