Adora's Pov

"I want you to explain it again, for me. What happened during that fight?" Shadow Weaver knows I'm dancing around the subject. This whole week, she refused to speak to us. I know she was employing a scare tactic, I've seen how the rest of my team gets tense every time she's around. I guess she finally decided we've sat with it long enough, because she pulled me into the Black Garnet Chamber not long ago. It's been an interrogation ever since, with me trying to spare the image of my team.

"I told you, Catra and I were pinned. The rest of my team and the people on site did their best, but we were overwhelmed and outgunned."

"You know that's not what I'm asking. I am aware that the situation was complicated by the arrival of two princesses. What I want to know is why Catra sabotaged you."

She finally asked explicitly. I can tell she's mad that I made it take this long. But the truth is, I don't know. "She took in the surroundings, knew we were beat. We needed to get out of there before we were taken down."

"Taken down? Adora, you had them. You could've taken the princess of Bright Moon off the map, but you didn't. Because Catra got in your way."

Except I wasn't trying to. We were losing, and I was going to level the field by making sure the archer couldn't use his bow anymore. I was going for his bicep, not his throat. "It wasn't sabotage, Shadow Weaver. Catra is completely devoted to the mission, you saw how she was fighting out there."

"I saw how both of you were distracted. Every time one of you got hit, you panicked for the other. I know you saw Catra get hit in the side by that sword, because you were sloppy you could've watched your precious Catra's last moments. You're lucky your opponents were sloppy, too. The princesses and the rebellion are not known for being merciful."

I freeze at the mention of the sword. There's been way too much coincidence with it, and the stupid flashes and dreams came back the night after the fight, yet Catra hasn't mentioned anything like that, so why is it happening to me? Not to mention, Shadow Weaver isn't lying. "I know, you're right. I messed up. I wasn't at my best."

"Of course you weren't. That part was obvious. You cannot allow yourself to be distracted by how Catra is doing on the field. If she is messing up, you must not be brought down with her."

"Catra can handle herself, just like everyone. Half that station was taken down during the fight by a princess and a bunch of would-be civilians, my team was the only group that held them off."

Shadow Weaver leans forward, inching closer to me. I want to back away, to keep my distance, but I can't show weakness here. Not now. "Do not allow yourself to become distracted on the field again, Adora."

"I- I won't. I promise."

"I care little for promises. If you wish to prove you intend to keep your words, do it with action, on the field."

I look down again. Good, no one is getting demoted, I guess. "When do we get to prove ourselves?"

"Soon. I have taken an interest in the princess of Bright Moon following your two encounters with her and her apparent partner."

"Glimmer? You're tracking one of the most high-valued targets in the rebellion? Just like that?"

Shadow Weaver begins pacing back and forth in front of me, speaking. "I will not deceive you, it is difficult to maintain my shadow spies in such a well-watched presence like Bright Moon, but I've spoken of her appearances with Hordak. She has been spotted several times on the field in this last month, becoming a sort of key player in the rebellion's effort to counter our advantage."

"Yeah, and it seems like it's working. According to the briefings, our wins are down. Too much for it to be coincidence, or a bad week."

"Then you know how she needs to be stopped. I am unable to watch her within the halls of the Bright Moon castle, their anti-subterfuge magic is on par with that of Mystacore. That being said, she is currently seeking a sea-captain, on a trip through Seaworthy, no doubt."

"Well, that definitely sounds like useful intel. But, uh… what do you want me to do with that?"

"You are going to Salineas. If my suspicions are correct, that, "Glimmer," will be traveling to speak with princess Mermista, following her approachment of princess Perfuma."

"Sorry, princess Mermista? What happened to King Mercia?"

"Recently retired, I believe. My intel suggests the Salineas Sea Gate is falling apart, I suppose the stress was too much for him. Is your intel not up to date?"

"Not on that front, no. But I'm sorry, again, but I'd like to clarify. Currently, the active combatants in our war are the kingdoms of Bright Moon and Plumeria, and their respective town dependencies. You want us to march on Salineas, opening up the front?"

"Adora, the Horde is already at war with all of Etheria. The rest of the planet just doesn't know it yet."

"Oh. Understood. I'll go tell my team then, we'll get ready to go."

"Not quite so fast. Send Catra to me. I would speak with her about Plumeria."

"What- Shadow Weaver, if we want to get to Salineas before the princess, I don't think-"

"I gave you enough lee-way before Thaymor, do not push your luck Adora. Send her here, or I will get her myself." I clench my fist involuntarily, and she shifts her glance, but says nothing. But there isn't much I can do now, she's clearly had enough.

"Yes, Shadow Weaver," I say as I turn around, heading to exit her chamber.

"Oh, and Adora?"

I pause at the door, not turning back around. "Yes?"

"You will be accompanied by Force Captain Scorpia, to ensure the mission goes well." I keep walking. Catra is not going to be happy about this.

I make my way down the hall, thinking. So much of that conversation is replaying in my head. Is Shadow Weaver being honest about why she's tracking Glimmer? Does she know about the sword? Is she going to hurt Catra? Why do we need to be shadowed by Scorpia? Surely, Octavia would have been much more experienced. Then again, Octavia and Catra don't get along very well.

I keep heading down the corridors, my head spinning. But most of all, I'm thinking about Catra. Why did she stop me? What did she think I was going to do? Even still, If she thought I was going for a kill, why did she suddenly decide compassion was good in war?

I reach the bunker. Most of my team is playing with a deck of cards, I don't know what game, probably something Kyle made up again since the horde doesn't exactly teach leisure activities. Catra is sitting on her bed. Things have been tense between us ever since Thaymor, and I hate it. I need to fix this. I guess we'll have plenty of time to talk on the way to the Sea Gate.

"Alright everyone, listen up," I start. Everyone except Catra turns immediately, but she isn't trying to be mean today, so does turn after a second. Good, it could be worse. "Shadow Weaver finally broke the silence. She's upset we lost, and I owe you all an apology. It's on me, I let myself get distracted."

"What?" Lonnie stands up, obviously confused. "Adora, I didn't get to see much of what you were doing, but I saw some of the 2v2. How were you distracted? Unless I missed something after you tackled that archer, I got pushed back behind the corner of the building after that."

"Don't worry. I just wanted to make sure you all wouldn't be punished for it. We were ambushed, it wasn't a fair fight."

Catra gets up too, definitely mad I took most of the blame. I knew she would be. She walks up to me, and gets in my face. "You don't need to shoulder the blame for us, Adora." That's all she says, and she heads to the other side of the room.

Lonnie backs her up. "Catra's right, you didn't have to do that."

Kyle, ever the same as always, says, "I actually think that was nice. Thank you." He's scared of Shadow Weaver more than Catra is, I don't know whether that says more for Kyle's fears or Catra's bravery. Rogelio says nothing, but voices his disapproval by shaking his head.

"I know, it's controversial. But we have another chance. She spoke to me because she wanted to send us on a mission. We're going to Salineas."

"What business does the Horde have with Salineas?" Catra asks, not looking back at me.

"Shadow Weaver is tracking Glimmer, the princess we saw both times on the field. Now, she and her friend are heading there. Shadow Weaver wants to know why, and make sure we get there first."

"Okay," Lonnie says, "I guess we'll get ready."

"We'll head out asap, but there's more we need done first. Thanks for your time." I finish, and approach Catra.

"What?" She says. There's no anger or snappy tone, but there's no warmth either. It sounds hollow.

"I know you're mad, I'm sorry I tried to take the blame."

"I'm not mad at you, Adora." She says, as if it was obvious. "You're the one who's mad at me right now." What? Where did that come from?

"I'm sorry?"

"You already said that." She is so annoying sometimes.

"Look… I tried, okay?"

"I know. Thank you. I mean it."

I don't say anything, I don't know how to tell her.

"She wants me, doesn't she?" That'll do it.

"I'm sorry," I say again.

"Whatever. You tried, like you said. I'll be okay. But I meant what I said about you not needing to protect me."

"Okay. I'll see you later?"

"Why say it like it's a question? Of course you will. I'm sure it'll be quick." I doubt it.

"I'm gonna get ready, I'll meet you at the port."

"Yeah. Bye, Adora." She turns to leave the room, I can tell by the way her tail is motionless that she's scared. I wish I could do more to help her. Why did I have to slip? If I would've kept my cool, she wouldn't be in trouble again. I sigh, and walk towards my bed, and sit down. Worse still, I haven't been able to ask her why she stopped me, yet. I guess I'll just save it for the boat.

Glimmer's POV.

It took a lot of convincing, but my mom finally agreed to let Bow continue our mission. She was, understandably, very unhappy we directly ignored her orders last time. But I don't really care, if I'm being honest. Plumeria needed our help, and he helped them. Even Bow knows we made the right choice, he's always had the heart to match his shirt.

And now, we're one step closer to uniting the princesses against the Horde! Mom still seems fit to remind us that Dryl is too far away when the horde is pressing against Bright Moon and Plumeria, so she yet again puts that on hold in order to secure our eastern borders by establishing an alliance with Mermista. It's a little frustrating, Bow hasn't made any progress in figuring out the sword, but Perfuma did have one idea: it belongs to a mythical hero of legend. I'm not sure though, I didn't really listen to her. We're after answers, not fairy tales.

Still, we'll get there eventually. Now, we need to focus on the mission. Securing travel to Salineas was tricky, but we were able to meet a well-known pilot: Sea Hawk. It took a lot of negotiating to get him to compromise on his fee, but apparently he knows Mermista, which should make Bow and mine's days a lot less stressful. Unfortunately, I can't say my first impression is too great, but he just needs to get us there.

So far, he was annoyed that Bow knew how to tie a knot and that I didn't need to climb whatever a ratline is. And after Bow and Sea Hawk unfurled something called a jib, he broke out into a song about how cool he is. Suffice to say, I'm annoyed. At least Bow is having a good time.

I'm confused though. I'm looking at this map, and it seems like we're not going in the right direction. We're not too far off, but it's enough degrees that we're going to miss Salineas and instead hit… uh oh.

I look down at where Bow and Sea Hawk appear to be arm wrestling. I don't think anyone's won this whole time. Nearly effortlessly, I'm down next to them.

"Oh, hi Glimmer." Bow says, not picking his head up from the arm wrestling.

At the same time, Sea Hawk shouts in apparent fear, causing Bow to immediately push Sea Hawk's arm into the table. He stands up suddenly, turning to face me. "Shimmer, so nice of you to join us for the action."

"Action? Sea Hawk, do you know where we are?"

"Of course, on route to Salineas. Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm pretty sure we're sailing straight into a ship graveyard!" I say, putting the map into his face.

"Huh. So you say." He says, putting his hand to his chin.

"You… you don't care? This is a graveyard for a reason, and I'd rather not find out why!"

"Glimmer," Bow says, getting up, "I'm sure Sea Hawk knows what he's doing, he does this often, remember?"

"Thanks, Bow, my Dearest Mermista and I see each other far too often for me to not know the route."

"Seriously? I'm the only one here who is worried that we're-"

The boat shakes, we just hit something big. Or something hit us. Bow and I scream out in shock, I struggle to not instantly fall over.

"The Serpent of the Sea," Sea Hawk remarks, "I knew he'd be lurking in these waters."

I glare at him. "Seriously? I knew we were off course."

"You see, I don't just provide sea transport," Sea Hawk maneuvers in between Bow and I, putting an arm over each of us. "I give you a tale to tell your friends!"

I push him off of me, "I don't want to hear your rehearsed speech. We need to get out of here, or my mom is going to kill me!" Sea Hawk looks at me, seemingly annoyed that I'm annoyed, and Bow draws his bow. Suddenly. The waves break the water on the starboard side, and the creature roars.

Sea Hawk leaps to the edge of the boat, shouting, "Adventure!"

Bow draws an arrow, and I ready my fists, looking at Sea Hawk. "How do you suppose we fight that?"

"Oh I've done it before. Remember the Dragon's Daughter II story?"

"Um, no," Bo says, lowering his aim, "just that you set it on fire."

"Well that's what worked! Unfortunately, this boat does not come equipped with an escape raft, so we are going to have to improvise."

I turn to face him again, I can feel my eye twitch in frustration. What an absolute moron.

The creature roars, and begins to swoop downwards from its position hovering out of the water, and Bow releases the hold on his arrow. A small explosion rocks the creature, but barely phasing it overall, and I put my hands together and fire a small blast of energy towards it. It barely reacts.

Sea Hawk begins climbing the ratlines, but I don't pay much attention to him. I'm more worried about flinging energy from my hands, shouting as I try to deal enough damage without depleting my reserves.

Bow, meanwhile, does not seem too worried about his arrow count. However, I do notice he has already gone through his entire supply of explosives, and is slowing down on his draw consideration.

"Bow! What do we do?" I shout, teleporting a few feet to my left as the creature rams its head into the deck. Uh Oh.

"I'm not sure, but we can't let it hit us again. Glimmer, do you think you can keep yourself behind it, draw its attention?" Bow asks.

"Seriously?" I shout, not in anger, but general frustration. "You want me to keep myself up in the air above the ocean for how long while we try to figure this out?"

"I don't have any other plans!" He shouts to me over the roar of the creature, drawing a gel-trap arrow he fires for what I assume to be one of six of the creature's eyes, and it roars in response, again.

I sigh, and with a quick poof, I'm behind the creature, a few feet above it. Already falling, I charge up as much of a shot as I can, and send it into the creature's back.

Halfway to the water.

It turns around, and moves for me. Coming in from a downward angle, I judge my distance from the water.

Quarter-way.

As its mouth nearly covers my field of view, I poof up above it again, a little higher this time. It slams into the water, its whole body following through, and I wait.

Three-quarters. Halfway. One-quarter. Nearly there, I go back up again. The constant teleporting is already starting to feel tiring, and I feel like my skin is crawling with static electricity.

It breaks water again, and as I'm falling this time, I hear a shout from the boat. "Glimmer! Come back!"

I listen as it nears me, and I'm next to Bow again. "Was that enough time?"

"I have no idea, ask him," he points up, Sea Hawk is mid-swing using a rope from the top of the ship, holding a shiny golden rapier in his hand as he makes his way towards the serpent. He lands on top, and drives his weapon in between the scales of the creature, and it roars out in what I assume to be mild discomfort.

Bow fires another arrow at a different one of the creature's eyes, and actually hits it from the distance we're not at with how the serpent is thrashing around. Sometimes I forget just how good of a shot he is. The monster tries to throw Sea Hawk off with its shaking, but the man just starts laughing as he tries to twist his sword deeper. Whatever he's doing, it's working, because the serpent is getting more desperate… wait.

"Bow! Give me the sword!"

"What? Now?"

"Yes!" He seems confused for a second, but quickly catches on, throwing the blue sword towards me. I go to catch it and- embarrassingly drop it. "Oops," I let out a slight chuckle, and bend down to pick it up. As soon as I have my palm on it, I plan out my teleport. If it keeps thrashing about, and I give myself three feet of clearance…

I'm in the air again, and move the sword into a downward position, and it goes straight through as I land on the creature.

"Oh, Shimmer, welcome to my newest sailing story- Serpent of the Sea wrestling!"

"It's Glimmer! Now, shut up and hold on!"

Surprisingly, he actually closes his mouth and seems to focus more. The creature isn't letting up, and with my left hand, I put as much magic into it as I can and drive it into the creature's scaly skin. It tries once more to buckle us off, but almost like you could sense its change in heart, it stops, and begins moving back for the water.

"Time to go!" I reach over, grabbing Sea Hawk. Normally I'd have to be careful and focus on exactly what I want to come with me and not, but this thing is *way* too big for me to move, so I think back to the boat and Sea Hawk and I are there, right behind Bow. Sea Hawk seems dizzy and confused, and I fall back from exhaustion.

"Glimmer!" I hear Bow shout, and he's already supporting me, leading me towards the barrel the two guys were arm-wrestling at earlier.

"What was that! You can move other people!?" Sea Hawk shouts, rubbing his forehead.

"I cannot believe you." Is all I say back. I sit down, Bow grabbing the sword back from me, and he turns to face Sea Hawk.

"Put this boat back on course, now." He says to Sea Hawk. He's calm with his voice, but his tone makes it clear he finally decided to be done with the games, too. Sea Hawk seems taken aback, as if he is shocked that even Bow wants him to knock off the games, and he hangs his head down slightly, moving towards the steering.

I close my eyes, laying my head down on the table, across my arm. "Bow, we're lucky the horde hasn't been interested in Salineas so far. I don't know how much more I have in me."

"It's okay, Glimmer. Just rest for a moment. We'll be there soon, and get the alliance set up."

"I know. I just… this mission needs to go right. We need to get the alliance back together, or we're…"

"Try not to worry too much. I'm sure Mermista will understand the need to fight on our side, and then we'll get down to Dryl, and then the kingdom of Snows. We got this. Now get some rest, we'll be there soon.

"Thanks, Bow." I feel bad. I should be able to do a lot more than distract a monster for a minute, two max, before I'm drained. At least it isn't like I'm out of magic, I just need to get my body to readjust, but it's still a detriment. At least Bow is taking this more seriously now. Part of me feels bad he isn't still laughing with Sea Hawk, but I need this to go right. It has to go right.

"Glimmer, hey, wake up." I feel a hand on my shoulder, shaking me.

"Mmm. Why?" I ask, but I don't even know if the words made it out.

"We're coming up on Salineas now, are you… going to have a speech prepared this time?"

I pick my head up, slightly out of it. "I didn't even… say it last time."

"You still gave a speech, just more so before the, "join the alliance," one."

"I guess. I don't know. I probably won't prepare one this time."

"That's fair. But it wouldn't hurt."

Had Bow not woken me up a moment ago, I would be now, because Sea Hawk just screamed from the wheel.

"What's wrong?" I ask, standing up quickly. Maybe a little too quickly, I steady myself against the table as a quick dizzy-spell hits me.

"The- the gate… it shouldn't look like that."

Bow and I put our attention forward, and sure enough, the gate is just in view behind this cliff face we're passing by. And sure enough, also, it is falling apart.

"That can't be good." Bow steps closer to the port side of the ship, looking out towards the Salineas Sea Gate. It looks like the barrier is coming completely undone. Bow and I actually read about it being in a state of, "disrepair" earlier, but this? It looks like it is days away from crumbling.

As the "Dragon's Daughter III" approaches the shore-line, Bow and Sea Hawk begin preparing for docking. Unlike them, I actually don't know too much about how boats work. Although, I did get a nice kick out of not needing to climb to get to the lookout point. So all in all, I kind of just meander around for a bit, and help Sea Hawk or Bow when I'm asked. It doesn't take long before we're able to disembark, and make our way towards the castle, when we hear a voice call out for us to, "halt! Halt I say!"

It's sudden, and we see a man inside of a guard tower. Then just as suddenly, he's gone. I look at Bow in confusion, and he just shrugs, and I look back towards the tower. I see the man on the ground now, he's running up to us, panting. "Halt…" he clears his throat, "What's your business in Salineas?"

I step forward, only slightly. "We've come to speak with princess Mermista-"

I feel someone rush into me, and am completely unsurprised to see Sea Hawk. He steps forward, boldly proclaiming to, "tell her Sea Hawk is with them, she'll be excited to see me."

Adora's POV

The water of the open Etherian waters is very different from what is in the Fright Zone. In the Fright Zone, the water is either green or brown. Murky. Of course, it's clear when within the buildings due to processing and treatment, but outside, the waters surrounding our home, it isn't very pretty. Out here, it's blue. I know this, it's about as well known as the color of the sky or grass, but I never really got to see it like this before. There's no land near us, we're staying far out from the coasts to reduce the chances of us being spotted.

"Put me down!" I hear Catra shout, turning around. "What is wrong with you?" she shouts at Scorpia from the port side. I have no idea what I missed, but it seems like Scorpia isn't going to be everyone's favorite person. She turns around, coming face to face with the rest of our team. "What are you looking at? Get back to doing boat things!" I can tell she isn't enjoying this. She never did like water, always being the quickest in the showers after training was its hardest.

I walk up to her, crossing the deck, watching her visibly try to calm herself down. "Catra… you doing okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Not like we're on a boat miles out from anywhere I don't have to worry about sinking."

"I know, sorry. You didn't have to come with."

"Sorry Adora, you can't get rid of me that easily."

"No, I guess not." I chuckle, putting my arm on the side of the boat. No land this way either, we really are far out.

"So," Catra says, standing next to me, but not facing out into the water. "What is it?"

I sigh, standing up and facing her. "Can we talk?"

"What are we doing right now?" She asks, studying her nails, flexing them.

"I mean like, actually talk. We haven't since before Plumeria."

Catra pauses, she says nothing.

"Catra, we can't keep not speaking to each other every time we head out into the field."

Catra turns to look at me finally. "Adora, you know it isn't your fault."

"I didn't say that, I'm not trying to imply it's all you being difficult-"

"You think I'm difficult?"

"Catra, I-"

"Adora, relax, I'm messing with you. Sorry, I know, not the time."

I pause. She is not making this easier. "Just… What did Shadow Weaver want?"

She tenses up, turning away again. "Just to yell at me. It's fine."

"That can't be all. You're not going to tell me anything she said?"

"She… told me not to hold you back again. That's all. Can we not talk about that?"

I frown. I hate when she's like that, giving out a sliver of information in hopes that I'll accept it as everything and leave her alone. But it never helps to push her, so I sigh again and turn back to the water. "Your turn."

"What?"

"Your turn. I know you want to ask."

"I… fine. Why were you mad at me when I stopped you at Plumeria?"

"Because I knew Shadow Weaver saw it. And that I wouldn't be able to help you. And I was right."

"Adora, I told you, Shadow Weaver barely did anything."

"This time, if you're even being honest with me."

"Adora, I'm not lying! I might not tell you everything but that doesn't mean I'm lying to you."

"It still sure feels like it…" I whisper.

"Look, I know to you it might always seem like a big deal when I get in trouble with her, but I promise, she didn't do anything worse than she usually does. Just a… slap on the wrist."

I look back at her and give a simple, "okay."

"I do have another one, though."

"Go ahead."

"Were you… going to, you know…?"

"No, Catra. I was going to take him down, not out."

"I know. I shouldn't have… just don't let Shadow Weaver get to you. When she says things, they're always to get her way. Not to help you."

"I know, it's just… I don't know. She thinks I'm not trying my best. That I'm holding back."

"Are you?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if you are… I know my limits, Adora. And I push them, to keep up with you. But you don't need to push yours to win. You need to be careful, because if you start doing everything she wants from you, you might lose yourself."

"I… I know who I am, Catra. I know that this is what I have to do. The princesses are bad for Etheria, simple as that. I'm not doing this for Shadow Weaver, I'm doing this for… well…"

"Adora, there's nothing I want more for us than for our dream to come true."

"And we'll get there, Catra. We will be calling the shots, one day."

"I know, and I believe you. Just, be careful. You know what she's done to us before."

"Yeah… I'm okay, really."

"Good, because we aren't too far out. We were running out of time for this."

I pause, not sure what to say next. I settle for, "thank you. I don't want us to do this mad at each other." The ship starts turning, Rogelio must have figured we're getting close.

"Of course. We're best friends, Adora. We're going to fight. You're the one always telling me that talking is important though, so… I talked. Happy?"

"Happy." I stand up, and hug Catra. She tenses for a second, but hugs me back for a short moment before pulling away.

"Alright!" I shout out towards the crew. "Everyone, over here!" I walk towards the center of the deck, where Kyle already was. It doesn't take long for the rest of the team to follow me, although Rogelio is staying put at the wheel, probably for the best. "We're coming up on Salenias. We're here to figure out what the princess of Bright Moon is doing going from kingdom to kingdom, and stop it if need be. We don't have much direction from higher ups, so keep your ears open for what Force Captain Scorpia and I say. Understood?"

Lonnie and Kyle both say, "yes," Rogelio giving us a thumbs up from the wheel, and Catra gives a single nod.

"Anything to add, Scorpia?"

"What? Oh, no. I'm sure you guys got this, I'm only here to- well I'm not sure why I'm here, actually, which is probably not good, so I should probably figure that out."

"You're here to babysit us," Catra remarks.

"What? That doesn't sound right, I'm sure you're all very capable."

"Okay…" I give a questioning look at Scorpia. Why did Shadow Weaver send her? "Anyway, be prepared everyone. I can't say for sure what to expect.

"This time, if a whole town comes charging after us, we leave immediately, right?" Kyle asks.

Catra looks at him and responds with another question, "What, scared when the numbers are against you?"

"Well, I'm going to lie, a little."

"I'm with Kyle here," Lonnie says. "You and Adora got the princess, so I don't really think we had it any harder, but we still had to fend off over three times our numbers behind. I don't even want to think about how badly those in the station felt going against the flower princess."

Catra looks like she wants to say something, but actually decides against it.

"Yeah, I don't think fighting a whole town is a good idea," Scorpia chimes in, and Catra glares at her. "Well, that's just my opinion. Er, um, not just my opinion, as I'm actively agreeing with them, but uh… I'm gonna stop talking now."

I have no words to say back to her. "Alright, well, it's settled. If any alarms are rung and we get charged by too many people, we retreat. Simple. The horde doesn't teach us to never run away-"

"Yes, they do, "Catra cuts me off.

"Well, they do, but it's pretty known that some battles aren't worth the risk."

We all hear Rogelio give a quiet roar, signaling us that we're nearing the Sea Gate.

"Lonnie, do you have the binoculars?" I ask.

Wordlessly, she walks up and hands them to me. I take a look at the Sea Gate, trying to make out exactly how falling apart it is, if Shadow Weaver is to be believed and… yep, that definitely looks like good news for us. Then, I see them. On the other side of the Sea Gate, there's a floating rock formation, and three people standing upon the closest one. Exactly who I thought I'd see, too. Another thing catches my eye, some guy is slowly making his way down towards the shore, near a boat. That must be the princess' ride.

"What do you think they're doing?" Catra asks me, making me jump.

"Geez, thanks for that."

"No problem, it's fun watching you lose yourself in your thought process. What's going through it now?"

"That Glimmer and the archer are there to fix the Sea Gate. For some reason, the archer is holding the sword."

"That surprise you? The symbol patterns on it match those of the gate."

I lower the binoculars and look at Catra. "What?"

"I got a good luck at it when he was swinging it around at me, it's got some sort of pattern running up the blade, and they're similar to those on the gate."

"You… wow, okay. That means… Scorpia!" I shout, wanting her input on something I'm working through my brain.

"Uh, yes Adora? Catra?" She walks over, looking over at the gate, too.

"Scorpia, did the report we read mention anything about what powers the gate?"

"Yeah, it was front and center on the third page. It's her runestone. You didn't get that far?"

"I was… distracted," We went over while Catra was being yelled at by Shadow Weaver. Regardless, I can't worry about that now. I turn back to the gate. "If the gate is powered by a runestone, that has to mean… that the sword is powered by one, too?"

Catra looks like she's thinking about it. "I don't think so. You saw the jewel on the hilt?"

"Yeah?"

"I think that sword is a runestone." She says, leaning over the front side of the ship.

"Who for?" I turn to face her, confused.

"Maybe we should worry about that later?" Scorpia says.

"Why?" I ask her, turning back to face her.

"Because the guy with the bow definitely sees us."

"Oh. Catra, ready the canon. Punch a hole through the Sea Gate, we're going in."

"Wait, I thought we weren't going straight to war?"

I think back to what Shadow Weaver said in the Black Garnet chamber. "We're already at war with all of Etheria, Catra"

She seems confused for a second, then nods, and pounces up onto it, charging the shot.

"Wait!" I shout. "Scorpia, tell Rogelio to slow down. Catra needs time to line up a second shot."

"On it," she says, running back towards him.

"What's the second shot for?" Catra asks me.

"The Princess' boat. We're going to have a chat, first, and I don't want them running off."

"Can't she just pop on out of wherever she is?"

"She needed one to get here, didn't she? Maybe we just need to wear her out."

Catra seems to focus, and adjusts the aim slightly.

The boat slows down, just a little, and Catra fires. The shot hits the gate, and we're close enough that I can see the trio up on the rock formation trying not to lose their balance from the resulting shock-wave. Catra is already turning the canon to our left, readying another shot, setting it up for the weird floating boat. I don't take my eyes off the trio, though. Slowing down was partly the right call, as we were moving so fast we're already in the gate. Unfortunately, they had just a few extra seconds to gain their footing, and suddenly, I watch as princess Glimmer and the archer disappear. The other one, princess Mermista, leaps off of the rock and, um, gets a mermaid tail? She dives into the water. They formed a quick plan. I have too.

Glimmer's POV

This was supposed to be simple.

*Poof,* Bow and I are about 20 feet above the horde ship.

This was supposed to be easy.

He fires an arrow aimed at the big lady, with claws. The scorpion-lady?

It hits, she's knocked to the ground in a net.

*Poof,* we're on the upper deck, above the five people. Bow and I share a look, and he moves forward, towards the three closer to us.

*Poof,* I'm at the front of the ship, already starting to feel the static as it clings to my skin after the teleport, and look at the- Oh, you have got to be kidding me!

"What's up, Sparkles, it's been a while." The cat says from a cannon-like structure that took down the wall.

"Now!" Shouts the blonde, and the cat slams down on a button that causes the cannon to fire again. But, they're already through the gate? I turn to look where it hits. Oh, no. Sea Hawk's boat?

"What- what did you- Ugh!" I turn back to the blonde girl. "I had the wrong idea about you back in Thaymor!"

"I think that's more of a problem for you than it is for me!" She shouts back, readying her taser-stick thing. At the same time, I hear the scraping of a foot from the cannon, and teleport a few feet to the right, watching the cat land on the spot I was just standing on, and watch as the scorpion-lady finally breaks free from her ropes.

"Are you guys following us? How!?" I demand, not quite expecting an answer.

"Better question, "says the cat as she deplots her claws, "what is your plan here?"

"There really is no use to a civil conversation!" I say mockingly, and fire a blast of energy at the blonde girl. She takes the hit, and is knocked back on her feet, as the other two charge at me. I pop off back towards Bow, trying to get a read on his situation. He's fairing a lot better, having already dispatched one of the three people.

Turning back towards the other two, the cat has already closed the distance. Someone's quick. I pop off a quick burst of light, hoping to shock her, and then I teleport over to behind the scorpion-lady, putting as much magic as I can muster into a hit on the back of her head, and I again hear movement behind me. I'm not quick enough this time, having caught it later, and I feel the blonde girl slam her full weight into my back, putting us both on the ground. As she tries to pin me down, I teleport again, conscious to leave her behind.

This isn't good, I can already feel myself moving slower, being slower to react. I'm running out of juice.

The blonde and Cat slowly move to flank me, the blonde going to my left and the cat goes right. "So," I try to sound in control, knowing I'm outnumbered and Bow has only just managed to take down the girl he was up against, turning his focus to the lizard, "Why are we being followed?"

"You're going from kingdom to kingdom, princess." The blonde says casually. "It isn't hard to guess your plan."

"Please, this is about the sword. We all know it. Why do you want it, why didn't you grab it the first time you saw it, in the woods?"

The blonde slows down at her encircling, while the cat actually seems to be more… frustrated? Whatever, the more the talk, the more time I buy.

"Do you even know what it is?" The blonde continues to ask, neither of us answering each other.

"Do you?" I think back to what Bow and I discussed in the castle with Mermista. We noticed the similarities on the patterns, leading Bow to guess that it was some sort of runestone-connected item, but we don't know how, given that it doesn't seem linked to any princess. We're hoping to get more out of Entrapta, when we're finally able to make it to her.

This time, the cat talks, "why all the questions, Sparkles? Did you exhaust yourself too fast? You made it a lot farther than at Plumeria."

"Please, I'm just warming up," I say, hoping the plan is working. The scorpion lady comes to already, slowly getting back up, looking around.

The blonde takes a quick glance at her, and says, "Scorpia, go help Rogelio. We have this." Well, that's a few names confirmed. Scorpia nods, and takes off.

The cat scoffs, "Yeah, Arrow Boy will need all the help he can get." Seriously? That's even dumber than 'sparkles.'

"Are we done wasting time?" I ask. I need to bluff them into thinking I'm not the one stalling.

"Well, the plan was to talk." The blonde says.

"You showed up and blew up our ride, that isn't talking! And I don't exactly believe you after you moved on my friend's life in Plumeria!"

The blonde pauses. I got to her, good. "That wasn't a move on his life, you're the one who nearly threw away yours."

"Whatever helps you Horde Scum sleep at night!"

"We're not getting anywhere," the cat says, "let's get this over with."

"Not yet," The blonde shuts her down. She keeps walking, back towards the cannon. I turn more towards her, I'm going to have to teleport soon, I can't watch both anymore. Then, I see Bow from the corner of my eye. Scorpia has him by the collar, just as he finished fighting Rogelio, and I watch her throw him off of the ship.

"No!" I shout, teleporting to him, and grabbing him. We're over an engine? I focus back on the deck, and we're back. I'm panting now, and Bow instantly steadies himself and draws another arrow, deciding to fire on Scorpia. She's covered in a brown foam, a less-restrictive version of his gel-arrow that he used all of on the Sea-Serpent.

"Bow," I whisper, "I don't have much more in me."

"She'll be done soon, just a little longer."

He draws another one, slowly, firing at the cat, who starting to make her way towards us. She effortlessly swipes it out of the air, and he draws a third arrow, firing at the cat again. This time, she moves her head slightly to the side, the arrow taking off a few strands of hair from her mane. As she leans over, I see the blonde, back on the cannon, having swiveled it completely around.

"Bow! The cannon!"

"I see it," he goes to draw again, but the cat gets to him, and they wind up grappling for control of his Bow. I put what magic I have left into my right hand, and push it towards the cat. It hits her leg, causing her to stumble, Bow pushing her off of him.

He aims for the cannon with an arrow, and the boat suddenly lurches, throwing everyone off their feet. Yes! Mermista did it!

"What just happened?" Scorpia asks, pushing off the rest of the foam.

"They must've taken out the engine, somehow! Adora!"

The blonde was thrown hard off the cannon, I see what I guess is her hand, she almost went overboard. The cat is racing for her, and Bow and I glance at each other. We move for the cannon, Bow aiming his arrow as he draws, firing. The arrow dings against the side of the cannon, and Bow seems confused.

"What happened?"

"I'm out of explosives!"

Suddenly, water starts pouring in from the port side of the ship, it's going down. Mermista shoots up from the flooding area, landing on the deck.

"Sorry it took so long, there were like, six engines."

"Mermista, take out the cannon!" Bow shouts, and she looks over to it. It's aimed behind us, back towards the gate, and she nods at Bow before using the water on the ship's deck to propel her forward. I watch as the cat pulls the blonde girl back into the ship, and Mermista meets them right as she gains her footing. I feel someone grab me, and I'm lifted off my feet.

"Bow!" I shout out, panicking. I'm struggling to pull magic into my hands again. He turns around, and draws one of his last arrows.

"Drop her!" He shouts.

"Sure thing." Scorpia's voice booms into my ear, and I feel her move her pincer back, and then I'm thrown forward, straight into Bow. We tumble around into the rising water, and he scrambles back to my feet. I pick my head up, the cat and Mermista are on top of each other, and Adora struggles back up to the cannon.

"No…" I try to scream, and I see her glance between me and Mermista, almost hesitating, before she slams down on some sort of button I can't make out. The cannon releases its charge, and Mermista stalls and it feels like everyone still standing watches the ball of energy soar over our head, to the top of the Sea Gate.

It connects, and the overall framing of the gate begins to crumble. With no form to hold the structure together, the gate powers offline completely, and as the marble figure begins to crumble, I watch in horror as one side of it begins cracking apart, spiraling out from the impact site, and begins to crumple. The large spear-like structure snaps off the tower, and the sudden weight imbalance pulls it off the other half, too, and the spear structure falls into the crumbling side, causing it to fall apart nearly entirely.

"No! Mermista shouts, letting go of the cat. The cat smirks, readying her claws, when Mermista turns and pushes a full wave over her and the two horde soldiers, throwing both of them off the boat into the water.

I hear Scorpia shout out too, and turn back to face her, she's in the process of grabbing the girl and the boy, as Rogelio gets up on his own.

"Glimmer," Bow says, leaning down to me. Can you get us to land?"

"I think… so…" I say, grabbing his hand. Focusing on the shoreline near where the Dragon's Daughter III was, I try my hardest to get the picture clear in my mind. There's so much static crawling up my skin, but it's the opposite of being energized. I take a deep breath in, focus, and the picture gets just clear enough. With a bit of effort, we pop over to the shore, watching as the boat continues to go under water. I can't make much out, I just watch as it continues to sink.

The water ripples from the boat to us, and Mermista pops out of the water. She slowly walks up to us, and I can tell she's angry.

"This wasn't the plan!" She shouts.

"Of course it wasn't!" Bow responds, "they got us by surprise."

"Why were they here? The horde hasn't bothered Salineas for most of the time since the last alliance disbanded. You come here, wanting to bring it back, and suddenly they're here, and my home is defenseless!"

"Mermista, wait!" I say, struggling to get up. "I- I'm sorry. You're right, they shouldn't have been here. But, we'll fix this!"

"How do you expect to fix that! Without the Sea Gate, there's nothing stopping the horde from showing up with a few ships loaded with troops and burning my home to the ground!"

"Bright Moon will offer troops for garrison and guards! And help with the resources to fix it! We'll make this right!"

Mermista seems like she can't figure out what to say next, before turning to me and saying, "That would be good."

"Mermista! You're okay!" Sea Hawk's voice calls out.

"Sea Hawk, you're okay?" Bow asks, relieved, as Mermista somehow seems more irritated.

"I said I would wait by the boat, not on it. I'm sorry, I couldn't help out, I had no way to get through the water like your friend or Mermista did."

"Maybe I could have brought you over, if I didn't have to waste most of my energy today fighting that Sea Serpent because you wanted adventure."

"I… well, you see, I…"

"I could've gotten to the cannon! I could've just picked everyone up and thrown them overboard, but no, I had to teleport 10 times just to keep your ship from being eaten, but what good was that!"

"Glimmer," Bow places his hand on my shoulder. "Us all throwing blame at each other isn't going to fix things." He throws a quick, but not-really-accusatory, glance to Mermista. "We all screwed up, we lost. But we don't have the luxury of sitting around hating each other. We need to contact Angella, tell her we were ambushed, and get some relief over here."

"Whatever," Mermista says. "They were bound to attack sooner or later. I guess.. Thank you, Glimmer, and Bow, for being here when you were. If we weren't able to stop their boat, well, things would be worse, I guess. I don't feel like I have a choice, but even if I did, I would accept joining your, well, new princess alliance, or something." I can hear her voice cracking nearly every sentence. This shouldn't have happened…

I turn back to the water. Scorpia is in the water, helping the girl and Rogelio pull the blonde girl, Adora, and the cat into an escape raft. This doesn't feel like a tie like Mermista is trying to convince herself it is. They lost a boat. Mermista lost her security. Adora steadies herself on the raft, and helps pull Scorpia in. She sees me starring, and we lock eye-contact against each other. Knowing that they followed us, that this was intentional, is infuriating. We're going to see them a lot more from now on, I guess. From now on, we'll be ready.

Adora's POV

We've been drifting out for about an hour now, the small motor on the raft moving at a fraction of the speed the big boat was moving at. We're cold, cramped on a raft that can barely support our weight, and tired. No one's said much, except for Scorpia, who's been trying her best to maintain morale.

Scorpia already seems to be fine, and I'm mostly warm, I had to take off my jacket, though. We have another hour on here until we get back into horde waters, we don't have any way to communicate otherwise. Poor Catra, her fur has retained so much water she's still shivering, and we don't have anything to help her.

Yet all the same, this isn't a loss. We didn't exactly confirm what the Bright Moon princess was doing at Salineas, but getting that gate torn down is going to be huge for future Horde expansion into the seas. This isn't a grade A situation, but we still did damage to the rebellion, and probably learned more about the sword in the process. Assuming Shadow Weaver won't consider the loss of one boat a failure, I think I get everyone to see this as a win, eventually.

I look at Catra again, who's still trying to deal with how cold she is. Screw it. I scoot closer to her, and put my arm over her back. I'm warm, so why not try to help? She pauses for a second, tensing up slightly, as I get close to her, but quickly relaxing into it. No one else says anything, it's not like no one sees how she's shared my bed with me so much growing up, and Scorpia isn't paying any attention. Before long, Catra is shivering just a little less. I close my eyes, we still have a while to go out here, and I'm tired. I might as well rest for a little.